Busy City, Busy Week

This was a very productive and interesting week. I continue to see so many things in London that I have yet to see. There is so much city to explore here! On my Museum Monday I went to the Natural History Museum. I was extremely impressed with this Museum. It is absolutely massive and full of interesting stuff about the world. There were sections on the planets, natural disasters, minerals, dinosaurs, mammals, creepy crawlies, Earth in the future, and much more. I spent over 3 hours just browsing the displays. I thought the Earthquake simulation room was impressive. It was basically a room that was set up to resemble a grocery store. Once you got inside everything started to shake from the floor up, stuff fell off the walls, and the lights flickered as if there was a real Earthquake taking place. In the mineral exhibit the collection contained stones from all over the world. I saw every color and shape of any stone or diamond that one could think of. It was interesting to learn where all the stones actually are found. I saw a clear diamond stone that was over 150 karats. It was quite impressive. I also really enjoyed the dinosaur displays. I have never actually seen a dinosaur exhibit before. I couldn't believe how large the displays of these creatures were. All of the bones pieced together to show the outline of the creature was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The rooms just to hold the displays were huge. The only part of this Museum that I didn't care for was the creepy crawly section. Pictures of the Museum below and the Dinosaur exhibit.

On Tuesday I had my internship again. The morning was a little frustrating because I stood outside the building for 45 minutes waiting for my supervisor to get there to unlock the door. She said that the traffic was bloody ridiculous, but at that point I didn't care because I was freezing! Being punctual is not really a huge priority over here, which is a little annoying sometimes. The rest of the day I worked on compiling information from my interviews of the Turkish students, nothing else to exciting. My supervisor took me out for lunch to a nice little cafe. We got to talking and she asked me if I had to get right back into classes when I went home. I explained that I would have a 3 month summer break. She suggested I just stay in Europe for the summer and apply with a family to be an "au pair" (which is a live-in nanny who watches young children). She explained that I would get free accommodation and meals. I didn't want to tell her that taking care of young children for 3 months would be my kind of nightmare so I just told her nicely that I already have a job I would need to be getting home to. I also learned she isn't married but thinks that it would be nice if she ever found a bloke (the word for guy here) she could stand. I almost laughed, but managed to just nod my head. Wow, sometimes she is a little too much for me to handle!

Wednesday I have my advertising class. I have come to find that I really like advertising. Now that we have covered the basics of advertising, my class is getting really interesting. This week we looked at some famous ad campaigns. For instance, do you know why Santa Claus wears a red and white suit? Santa Claus was invented through a Christmas song about St. Nick, but the Coke company actually created an image of Santa Claus when they put out a Christmas ad. Of course, they made his outfit red and white because those are Coke's colors. I also learned how wedding rings came about. Do all you married people know why you wear a band on your left hand? The tradition of the wedding ring was started in Egypt and spread across Europe. However, it was not very popular until the famous jewelry company De Beers' ad campaign. They started selling engagement rings and advertising them with "A diamond lasts forever." They also advertised, "How can you make 3 months salary last forever." Of course it didn't take long for the trend to spread and a tradition to be born. We also learned how Miss Clariol's hair dye became so popualr with the famous slogan, "Does she or doesn't she, only her hairdresser knows." We also learned about the famous Marlboro cowboy ad, the P.T. Barnum circus ads, and the listerine ad campaign. It is amazing how advertisements can alter how we think and what we do. Wednesday afternoon I went to the famous toy store in London, Hamley's. This store is 7 floors full of toys for children. It was a circus in there. Imagine a Toys R' Us times 25. Hamley's had every toy imaginable, but it will cost you. A small teddy bear was 25 pounds. I just had to check this place out, but I was glad I could get out of there child and toy free!

On Thursday I have my British classes. They were very interesting this week. We learned all about the Royal Family. The history behind it all is quite impressive. We discussed what the Monarchy actually does and if it will last. A lot of the British people think the Royal Family is useless and a money drain. However, everyone here respects and admires the Queen. The Queen has a few important jobs. She oversees Parliament, officially swears in the Prime Minister, and she decides which wars the country gets involved in. Otherwise the rest of the time she is basically a diplomat for the country. We discussed how the country feels about the Royal Family and scandals that the family has overcome. It was interesting for me to learn about Princess Diana's death and the effects it had on the country. Princess Diana married Prince Charles (the Queen's son who is in line for the throne). Diana was thought very highly of by the British people. Then Charles and Diana got a divorce, Diana ended up with an 18 million pound settlement out of the deal. However, she was no longer a Princess (even though people still think of her as one). When she died the British people were very upset with the Royal Family for not showing more sympathy and holding a Royal Funeral ceremony. It was quite the ordeal because Diana was no longer part of the royal family, but she was the mother to the heirs of the throne. The Queen was not a huge fan of Diana's, which caused great dispute since the people loved her. The Queen took a lot of critism for not making a statement about Diana's death and not crying at the funeral. Charles and Diana's divorce is another reason why Prince Charles is not very popular with the people of Great Britain. We learned how the Queen has had to cut back a lot of the Royal Family's spending in the last 10 years. She no longer has a royal yacht, she now has to pay income taxes, all of her financial reports are now made public, and now Buckingham Palace is open for tours to make a profit (however, the Queen's corridors are not accessible on the tours). It will be interesting to see if the Royal Family does last. I can understand both sides of the argument; the Royal Family does waste a lot of the country's tax money, however it is a long lasting tradition that would be very difficult to just throw out the window. Another interesting thing that I learned is that the British pepole are not citizens of the United Kingdom; they are subjects of the Royal Family. It really doesn't make a lot of difference, but still an interesting topic. On Thursday night I went to another movie premiere. It was the premiere of The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. It was pretty impressive and I got to see both stars. Jennifer Aniston is one of my favorite actresses as I am a huge fan of the "Friends" TV show. This premiere was not quite as busy as some of the others, but still crowded with people. Pictures below of the Premiere and a picture of the Queen.