Internship hours

My classes were good this week and I have no homework for the week! I found out today that my internship site is closed for 3 weeks for school vacation while im here but I think I will still be able to get the set number of hours even when taking off 3 weeks for school vacation and my week long break. I need to figure it out a bit more and need to figure out a way to make up 2 hours but if I can I should be all set and then I'll have 3 weeks to travel around London! I recently booked two 3 day trips, one to Paris for Feb 5-7 and one to Amsterdam and Bruges for March 12-14th. I'm really excited for those trips and hopefully I'll go to Ireland and Italy over Spring break but we still need to figure out the details. Everything is going great and I'm really enjoying my time here!

Notting Hill and the Clink Prison Museum

This weekend we did some site seeing. Saturday we went to Notting Hill and Portobello Market. We went shopping at the market place for a few hours and had lunch at a pub. I had fish and chips for the first time! At night we went to a bar called Miss Qs. Sunday we went to London Bridge and went to the Clink Prison Museum, which was really small but interesting.

Stonehenge and Bath trip

Today we went on a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Unfortunately the weather was really bad especially while we were at Stonehenge. Stonhenge was pretty cool but the weather was unbearable, it was so cold and rainy and windy that we couldnt stand to be outside for to long. Bath was really nice. We went to a Mexican restaurant there for lunch and went on a guided walking tour of the town and to the Roman baths. It was nice to see a different part of England!

1st day at my internship

Today was my first day interning at Collingham. I absolutely love it! I got in at 8:15 and recieved my schedule. I'll be working Monday 8:45-12:30, Tuesday 1:30-4:00, Wednesday 8:45-4:00, Thursday 8:45-4:00 and Friday 8:45-4:00. However, I only need 20 hours a week so I will be able to take of Fridays and Monday mornings on weekends when I am going away. Today I worked with the oldest group which was a group of 3 boys. They were all very well behaved surprisingly and really fun to work with. In the morning I read through the kids files and they made me a cup of tea. Then when the school day began, we went on a walk around town and then I had a 30 minute break. Then the kids had English class where they were writing descriptive animal poems and then I sat in on a meeting. Then I had an hour long lunch break and then we went to the Thames River to look for ancient artifacts in the mud with the middle and oldest classes until the end of the day. So far it's been really easy and the kids are really great and excited to ask me questions about what America is like. I'm looking forward to going back on Monday!

Internship meeting

Today I had a meeting at Collingham where I’ll be interning. The manager Amanda showed me around and I met a few of the kids. The kids range from autistic to conduct disorder to complex but so far undiagnosed cases. They range in age from 5-13 and are divided into 3 classrooms based on age but also on level of functioning. It is an inpatient facility but the kids go home on weekends in order to try to rehabilitate them. 4 of the 16 students are outpatient. I met some of the staff and they all seem really nice. During the tour I saw the cozy room, which despite my initial belief is not a room for naps but actually a padded room without a door handle on the inside for kids to sit in when they are out of control and a threat to others and themselves, that was really hard to see and to imagine that children need to be put in that kind of environment but Amanda told me that they rarely use it it’s just there incase its necessary. Also she told me I’ll have full access to the children’s files and possibly could even sit in on a therapy session with some of the kids and the clinical psychologist, so that would be really great. The first 2 weeks I’ll be going between the three classrooms but after that I can choose which age group I like best or continue to work with all three depending on what I want to do. The program seems really flexible and I’ll be able to do whatever I’m interested in and I’ll be able to take off a Friday here and there to travel also so it should be really great. It will definitely be really challenging but I’m really looking forward to it and I do my first full day tomorrow 8:45-4:00!

Class and Interview

Monday was my first day of class and my internship interview. We arrived at CAPA (our school) early to sign up for walking tours, so I’m going on the Jack the Ripper tour, the Beatles tour and I’m also going on the London eye (which is a HUGE ferris wheel in which you can see the entire city of London). Then I had my first class which was Child Development in a British Context, it seems good but really intense and our 3 hour classes are going to go by REALLY SLOW, but atleast I only have them once a week. However, I also found out that our classes here won’t affect our gpas which will be nice. During my Child development class I had my interview so I had to leave an hour into class and go to St. Mary’s hospital which is right down the street from where I live. It was a group interview with 5 girls and my friend Danielle was in it too. The woman was really nice and it was laid back it was really just to place us in one of 4 hospital schools based on our interests. I was placed in Collingham which is a school at an inpatient psychiatric hospital, with children with severe psychological disorders and this school is their last chance at an education (a lot of the students have conduct disorder), so it will definitely be challenging but should be good for my major. I set up a meeting there for later this week and I will start probably next week. After the interview we had to go back to CAPA for our Leadership seminar for our Internship class.

On Tuesday, I woke up at 8 and left the flat at 8:50 for my 10:00 class just to be safe on my first time taking the tube alone. However, our normal line was messed up and wasn’t running so after waiting 15 minutes before I figured that out, and I ended up having to take 3 trains to get there and finally arrived at CAPA at 9:50 so luckily I wasn’t late for my class. My class was 20th Century British History and it seems really good and the teacher is nice. When I got out of class I went to a travel fair and found where my internship is (fortunately it’s just a 2 minute walk from CAPA- some people’s internships are up to 2 hours away from where they live!). At night, 7 of the 8 girls in our flat went to Imperial College (which is a nearby college that we have access to their student union) and went to a bar there. It was a lot of fun. We were all drinking pints of cider and a British guy we were all talking to told us that apparently that drinking pints is unladylike and girls here actually just drink white wine or mixed drinks at pubs, meanwhile we were all doing it to try to fit in. It was a really fun night and Wednesday I don’t have any class or anything since my internship hasn’t started yet!

Weekend!

Today was the first sunny day since we've been here. Tara, Jordan, Danielle, Ellen and I went to Sainsbury's (a huge supermarket which was a nice change to all the tiny markets near by) and bought grocerys but unfortunately could only get a few items because we had to carry them back on the tube. Then we walked around and discovered that Oxford Street which is a big shopping area and a really beautiful park are 2 streets away from us. We went window shopping for a bit and then headed back home for dinner. Tomorrow is my interview for my internship and my first day of classes- both my Child Psych and Internship classes. Wish me luck!

Bus tour of London

Today we went on a guided bus tour of London. We saw a lot of historical sites and got a good feel for where we want to visit while we are here. We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Bridge, London Tower and many other sites. When we got back from the tour we went to a Pub right down the street from our flat with some of our flatmates for dinner. We decided to stay in tonight and tomorrow we don’t have any planned activities so we are planning on wandering around the city.

First night out in London!

We took the tube (underground train) for the first time to CAPA (the building where our classes are) and had orientation during the day which was long and boring (2:00-6:30). When we got back we hung out in the flat and watched tv with all the flatmates and ate dinner. At around 10:30 we decided to go out and took the tube to Picadilly Circus which is like Time Square and Broadway. Tara, Jordan, Danielle and two of our roommates from UPitt, Ellen and Scarlett went out. It was really nice and we walked around and eventually found a Bar in SoHo (which is kind of like P-town) and we went there. We ordered 2 pitchers of Boston Beach Party (which was kind of like a fruitier long island iced tea) which ended up being about a drink and a half a person but was cheaper than buying 1 drink. Then we went upstairs to the "Club room" which we thought would be dancing but it was really just a room of people cuddling. Downstairs was the "dancing room" and they had kareoke which was SO much fun. We all sang and danced and met some British people who were really nice, and they were actually telling us that they loved our accents which was really funny to hear. Then we walked back which was about a 30 minute walk. Then, today we had a tea party at the Regency Hotel which was really nice with tea and finger sandwhiches. So far I'm having a lot of fun but I miss everyone at home!

Just arrived!

I just arrived in London! The flight wasn't bad and when we arrived customs and baggage claim were very easy. We went to an information desk and booked a van to drive us to our flat and it came at 8:00. Our driver was amazing and helped us with our bags and showed us around London, we arrived at 9:00 at our flat. Our flat is absolutely beautiful!!! Tara and I got the biggest room and we have a full bathroom attached to our room! Our kitchen is huge and our living room has a flat screen tv and dvd player, 2 leather couches, a nice suade chair and a dinner table. So far we went on a walking tour of the area which is beautiful and grocery shopping for some food. My new roommates seem nice and when we entered the flat it was like being on the Real World. I miss everyone at home but everything is great here so far! I'll update more soon!

The pictures are of our living room (with my flatmates in it!), the kitchen, our personal bathroom and mine and Tara's beds! (sorry I dont know how to flip them).