Internship: Week 10 - Earth Day and a Visitor!

Last week was such a drag.  I’m not sure why, but I was perpetually tired and my body refused to wake up.  I’m really mad at myself for that because I am only here for a short period of time.  At the start of the week I only had 30 days left in this amazing place.  It might be a sign for something.

Monday kicked off tdg’s Earth Week promotion.  I was to find, organize and tweet out 40 articles about sustainable packaging, topped off with the publication of a tdg thought piece.  It was a very successful week because we gained over 20 followers.  We usually only get about 10 a week.  I spent most of the day reviewing articles and finding ones that would be relevant.

Tuesday was very, very similar to Monday starting out.  I was reading a lot of articles and finishing up the planning for the rest of the week.  For lunch I experienced Pret a Manger for the very first time.  It’s a really good, cheap food option.  I can’t believe it took me this long to try it.

I left work about an hour early because my friend Katy was in town.  She is still on break from school and was spending a layover in London before heading out to Germany to visit another friend.  Sadly for Katy, there was Iceland Volcano that erupted whose ash disrupted the whole World.  Travel was suspended for days in and out of the UK.  She had already missed a trip to Poland because of it, and would later learn that she was going to miss Germany as well.  Major bummer.

I met Katy at St. Paul’s Cathedral and became her tour guide.  I showed her the Millennium Bridge, the Monument, Leicester Square (where we were going to see The Last Song movie premiere that was cancelled due to the volcanic ash), Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross and ended at Brick Lane.  We had a traditional Indian Dinner, but not until after we were hassled by every restaurant on the street.  Men ran from across the street to try and sell us on their restaurant.  It was exhausting, so finally we just picked a place and sat down.  It was really good to spend some time with her.

"To a Summer's Day"  (1980) by Bridget Riley.

It's a lot more colorful and fun to look at in person.

Wednesday was class as usual.  We watched a video in Advertising.  Hopefully we take a field trip this week.  Art was in the Tate Modern and I had to do a real quick presentation on a piece of art.  That night we celebrated relays one more time with a case race.  My team got second.  It made for a very entertaining evening, but a not so fun Thursday morning of class.  Thursday’s topic of discussion was Broken Britain.  It’s rather depressing to tear apart a country that I hold in such high esteem.

After class and our weekly burrito stop at Tortilla, I headed to Holborn to walk around.  There were some really interesting sites there.  One was the Templar Church which was featured in the DaVinci code.  There were a few museums that I checked out as well.  Holborn was hit pretty badly during the blitz and there is evidence of that everywhere you look.  Quite a sad reminder when you think about it.

From Holborn I went to the Imperial War Museum.  There was a lot of interesting stuff in there.  They had a mock trench set up so you could get a glimpse inside of trench warfare.  Talk about an emotional museum.  At the very end there is a tribute video to the Holocaust and if that doesn't make you at least want to cry, then nothing will.  I wouldn't mind going back.

Thursday night we left for Edinburgh (pronounced ed-in-bur-ah), Scotland on an overnight coach.  Stories from day one in Edinburgh are next.

Pip Pip Cheerio!