London Update, etc.

I’m supposed to be working on a paper for my Arts Policy class….but you know when you just have those moments…

“GAAAHHHHASSDFIJELFJLFFFFIWILLBELIVINGIN
LONDONFORTWOMONTHSANDIWILLJUSTBEWALKING
DOWNTHESTREETLIKEANORMALLONDONPERSONAND
IWILLBESURROUNDEDBYBRITISHACCENTSGAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!111@$@#!%!!!!!11!!!!!ZOMG”

It was like that.

I feel I haven’t explained my London program very well to everyone...so here goes. It’s strictly an internship program. For 8 weeks, I will live and work (most likely, for free…WAH WAHHHHH) in London. When you apply to the program through Mason, you actually get to choose/pick out what organizations you may want to work for – then once you’re accepted to the program, the “sister company” to Mason, Anglo American, works to help match you up with the companies you specified. Then you go over and become best friends with Steven Merchant and make out with boys with british accents, and…what? Oh, that’s Laura’s Daydream Program. Sorry.

So after about a month of road blocks, I finally landed an internship yesterday! I will be working for the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA), which is like the British version of Americans for the Arts. I am very excited, as they were one of my original choices. They do a lot of lobbying for arts funding, as well as educational and cultural research for other organizations to use for advocacy. I had a phone interview with the NCA director yesterday afternoon, and she used a couple of slang terms here and there that I had NO CLUE what they meant, and it took all I had to keep from squealing with delight. Holy crap I can’t wait to be over there. I’ll probably be doing a lot of writing – press releases, fact sheets (for advocates), governmental briefings, etc. This will be really really helpful for me. Woo!

So now that the internship location is confirmed, I’m just waiting to hear about where I’ll be living. That is also set up through Anglo American, but they have a number of student apartments all across central London, so I’m not sure yet in which particular flat (yes, I said it) I’ll be calling home for June and July. I’ll most likely be living with other Mason students, none of whom I currently know.

In other news, Dana’s wedding weekend was tons of fun. Too many shenanigans to go into, but I will say that it was SO great to see my PSE loves. I met a lot of new, fun people too. At one point Saturday night, I was in a hotel room hanging out with Katie (she and I repped the VT/PSE dem), Mona and a couple more of Dana’s Saudi friends, and a few of Dana’s family members. It was a sampling of Dana’s life hanging out together in one room. So fun!

I don't have a good segue for this, but did anyone watch How I Met Your Mother on Monday?? HOLY CRAP that episode was good. I mean, they all are, but that ending had me squealing. ...Apparently I have been squealing a lot this week.

Finally, Elyse and Meghan: you’re welcome. :-)

PS: I added more songs to the Mix Tape – the new ones are at the beginning. Can I just say…I am obsessed with that new Jason Mraz song. It’s so sweet and summery and I love it. The end.