Count down

4,5 months adventure and learnings in London have come to an end. I am having mixed emotions about it, as I am soon about to leave this great city and all the great people I have met. I am sad to leave you London but I am on the other hand also excited to moving back to ol' Copenhagen and to see my family, my friends, my apartment! and believe it or not.. going back to my studies.. I know ;) who would have thought.

Yesterday we had a goodbye (for me) and welcome (for their new Danish flatmate) dinner here at the flat. When having dinner here, it means at least 3 courses - I am so! gonna miss that. I think I have been quite lucky with finding this great shared flat - kinda fantastic for my first flatshare-experience. Thanks Merim, Williams and Carlos - I am expecting to see you in Copenhagen and then I will make up for the Danish dinner I promised to cook here.

I haven't packed yet. Fitting 4,5 months plus 10kg of books in two suitcases worries me a bit.. or maybe   it is the thought of dragging it all the way to the airport that worries me. I guess people will have a good laugh that Wednesday morning of the girl trying to juggle that up and down the stairs, am excited to see how that goes :)

My last day tomorrow will be spent at the library and later I will meet up with Anna and Cecilie at the local pub to say "see you in Denmark".

.. and guess what was in the mail today - this sweet and thoughtful card (in connection to my assignment) from family in Germany:

At the library

Am currently sitting at the Westminster Reference Library near Leicester Square, taking tiny steps towards writing and finishing my Internship assignment. The process is ongoing and has been for a while. It is a tough process I must say and I miss my classmates and the peeps whom I usually write assignments with. I miss the discussions, the ideas and most of all the synergy and the results that are coming out in the end.
I am really looking forward to the day this project is finished and ready to hand in.

Later today I will join my former colleagues at the Au Pair outing taking place near Great Portland Street station. It shall be great to see them again. What I am also looking forward to is meeting the Au Pairs that I have been involved in placing :)

Btw .. I am not the only one procrastinating right now ;) It is an international thing I guess..  

Internship assignment and procrastination

After I finished my internship I have this internship assignment that needs to be handed in the 1st of November, the day after I return to Denmark, yay! But how come that low priority tasks become so fascinating and hard to resist, when I have a high priority assignment that needs to be done? I would rather clean the bathroom and vacuum the apartment than sit and take an actual look at my work.

Ha.. guess blogging is also a displacement activity and I really should go back to my 17 pages assignment and welcome an all-nighter with my coffee and Oreos. Goodbye real world.. at least for a while.. hope to see you soon ;)

Last day at internship

Had my last day at work friday the 12th October - 4 months of internship have passed by. I have been very happy that they took me on and I have learned a lot from it. A huge thanks to my colleagues whom I have been really happy to work with.

Working with Childcare International have brought so much new along - who would have known 4 months ago that I would start up my own little business in the hope to send lots of girls to England and have the time of their lives. I am looking very much forward to work with them in the future.

I love traveling, meeting new people, discover new places, learn about other cultures etc. and that gives me a big passion for letting others know of the big world out there. I believe that we do not only learn from school, college, university, work etc. but we also learn and develop from traveling.

So when I helped my colleague with the Au Pair in America program at Childcare International it was so clear to me that I would like to work on the program in Denmark. Luckily the Danish agent Travel ALOTT needed more interviewers.

Check out Au Pair in America with ALOTT here

The Mayor's Thames Festival

The day after our Cambridge tour I had a nice and relaxed sunday that ended with fireworks at the Thames together with Anna. 

We strolled along the Thames to see all the things going on there and then we found a good spot where we could enjoy the fireworks.

I had never heard about The Mayor's Thames Festival but apparently it always ends with beautiful fireworks. For me the fireworks was as much to mark the end of the Olympic and Paralympic games as it was to mark the end of the Festival. Beautiful indeed.

Cambridge - next stop train depot

Once upon a time two danish girls went on the train from London to Cambridge. Yes, we did! Another tick was made on the must-see-list.

3 weeks ago on a very sunny day, Anna and I decided to explore Cambridge. Actually, we wanted to rent a car and explore the countryside, but came to the conclusion that it was too risky when none of us have tried to drive on the left hand side before.

Off we went ..
We could not have picked a more warm and beautiful day to go sightseeing in Cambridge. For the first time we had done juuust a little research on our destination. Here is the list of what we wanted to see:

- Punting*
- Bike tour
- Fitzbillies (Cambridge's oldest craft bakery)*
- The Eagle (traditional English pub)*
- The Corpus Clock (apparently a must-see thing in Cambridge)
- La Raza (Tapas & cocktail bar)*
- King's College*
- People's Portraits Exhibition
- The Orchard Tea Gardens
- Baroosh Bar & Kitchen

Unfortunately we did not get to see everything but the places with a * behind are the places we went.

After arriving to Cambridge we were met by a nice warm breeze but also a very indescribable smell. I hope it is not how it usually is!?
Anyway, we followed the crowd from the train to what seemed like the right direction into the city centre.

Walking past an old charming church we then came to a nice green area where people were playing football and others sunbathing or just hanging out - Parker's Piece.

Although we had a tiny  before-lunch-thing back in London, we started to get hungry again and decided to eat lunch at The Eagle. Sadly we were left much disappointed as there was full to the brim with people who apparently had the same idea as us.
But as the saying goes; April showers bring out May flowers (på dansk; intet er så skidt at det ikke er godt for noget) and we bumped right into a guy (acutally, first we met a girl but she did not sell the tickets quite as well as "sunburned CJ") who offered us a punting ride we could not say no to - so we rushed to find a little something that was eatable on-the-go.

Our guide and punt-driver(?!?) - I think we were the only ones lucky enough to have a shirtless guide - uh la la

After 40 minutes our ride had come to an end - we could have kept our tiny butts in the comfortable seats all day, but we had to give up our space for new arriving tourists.
I bet these punting rides are good for hungover days - just like our canal boats in Copenhagen.

Giddy up and go on - so we did. By foot we explored the small and charming streets, book shops, graduating clothes shops, faculties etc.

After enough of walking we bought ice cream and went sunbathing in Parker's Piece. A nap and an ice cream later we met with some locals who invited us out for a pool game and as we always take up a challenge we gladly followed them. How the game ended will go into the unknown ;)

We then said goodbye to our new Cambridge acquaintances and went on to new adventures which led us to La Raza where we had delicious tapas and cocktails for dinner before jumping on the last train back to London

Very much exhausted after an amazing day in an old and historic city Anna and I took the last train back. Unfortunately we could not help but falling a sleep.

Groggy and disorientated we woke up around 1am and could not understand why the train was not moving anymore. From the time to judge, we should have been at Liverpool Street station around 00.30.

It then dawned on us that no one else was in the compartment and the train was not near a platform and even worse - the doors were locked! We realized that we were stuck somewhere in a locked train and had no idea how to get out.
The only thing that came to our minds we to laugh and we laughed all the way down to the end of the train and knocked very friendly on the door to the train cab.

No reply.. but out of nowhere another train came in next to us and had some technical staff onboard. Looking very lost at them they just started laughing as well but came and unlocked the doors (a bit traumatic haha).

They were really kind and also told us that it was not the first time this had happened. They had even checked the train at Liverpool Street station before departing, but guess how... from outside the train(?) - and as we were laying down on the seats they had not seen us!!
Apparently we were on the borders to Hackney and Leyton (not so close to Liverpool Street station as we had imagined) at the train depot, not a very comfortable area to be at in the middle of the night, so they figured it was best for us to take a cab home. Yet, it just made our trip more fun and exciting :)

Damien Hirst Exhibition @ Tate Modern

Slowly I can tick off places, events etc. that are on my must-see list. The latest was the Damien Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern. Garrett whom I met at the beginning of my stay went and he could only recommend that I did the same, so I did.

Anna and I went friday last week after work and bought our tickets to the 21 o'clock tour. As we got there about 7.30pm we had a little time before we were allowed in, so we went for a drink at one of the pubs near Tate with a nice view over the Thames. The weather was perfect that weekend so we sat outside.

I found the exhibition absolutely fantastic and fascinating. I loved all his thoughts behind his creations - even though some of them made you think "how the h*** can one come up with such a thing". In one of the rooms were a big glass vitrine full of flies, a head of a cow and a electric lamp-thing which was his way of describing a life cycle. Maggots hatching then developing into flies, feeding on a head of a dead cow. As they fly around, many of the flies meet their end on an insect-o-cutor and others survive to continue the cycle.

The big shark in the tank was not as frightening as I thought it would be - it might have something to do with it being a liiittle wrinkly but I guess that is how you would look after spending 21 years in that tank.

More bizarre was the cow and calf that had the title mother and child divided (I guess this one have two meanings) - they were in each their tank and sliced in half and each half in separate tanks, so you could have a look of the inside by walking through.

His way of placing natural things together and in positions you would never have thought of really fascinated me. Towards the end of the exhibition there were a white dove in a glass vitrine. It had its wings spread out as if it was about to fly off or land - it seemed like time had stopped and the dove had frozen in its position - amazing! Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the dove.

These were just some of the things - the exhibition had so much more to offer like the Butterfly Room, all the pharmacy, the surgical instruments, paintings etc.

London and I

Today is my 3 months anniversary with London. 

May we have many more amazing days together.

I cannot believe time is flying by so fast, it definitely does not feel like 3 months. 

Random walks and random pictures

Over the last couple of months I've had the pleasure of discovering the picturesque and charming streets of Hampstead, Archway and High Gate. I would like to share some pictures from the walks with you.

Quick trip to CPH and back + new job

The last weekend in August I went for a quick trip to Copenhagen and Sønderborg. I had two main things to do 1. was to pick up my study books so I can get started on my assignments and 2. was to go to a training session with Au Pair in America. It was a very hectic weekend but I did get to see some friends while I was back home.

I arrived around noon in Copenhagen and the weather was amazing so when Anette got off work we met at her place and later went for a spin to get an ice cream at Lydolph + a walk at the beach.

Unfortunately I did not have the time for a night out in Copenhagen and had to call it the night quite early as I was going to catch the train to Sønderborg at 5.30am the following morning - think I was still sleeping by the time I got there.

Some of you might already know that in connection with my internship where I have been assisting my colleague with Au Pair in America, I have now become an interviewer for the Danish Au Pair in America department.
They were having a training session in Sønderborg at the Danish agency Travel ALOTT and therefore I was so lucky to be invited along.
It was really great meeting everyone and even though I know quite a lot about the programmes, it was great to go through every step in the nice surroundings, not only in the Travel ALOTT office but also Sønderborg in general.

Even though I want time to stand still here in London, I really look forward to getting started as an interviewer when I get back home.

We were staying at Comwell Hotel and this was our beautiful view from our room

This weekend was all about getting up early as we had to catch the train at 7.53am (a bit more humane). I still had some time to do some shopping and meeting Mette before I had to fly back to London.
Wish I had had a bit more time for catching up, but next time I am in Copenhagen I will have plenty of time.

Enjoyed this incredible sight from my seat

Notting Hill Carnival 2012

When the Notting Hill Carnival was in town Anna (who took my bed at K ;) ) and I decided to go and check it out. We had been up quite early for a morning run and then went back home to get ready. Actually we both went back to bed and then got ready for a lovely day.

We arrived around noon in Notting Hill and had actually no idea of what direction we were supposed to go, but we decided to follow the crowd of people from our bus. It is a fairly common theme that neither me or the people I am with do some research on the places we are going :) Although I did read that the carnival is the biggest in Northern Europe ..me thinks!

It did not take us very long to find the parade where the lightly dressed ladies in their fancy outfits were swinging their hips to the deafening but good music - the atmosphere was amazing!
Sadly our morning run did not do any good for us (as we had hoped) and we were both quite sleepy, so we just walked around for a little while, bought a beer and danced slightly to the exotic samba rhythms.

After we had seen what we wanted, we decided to go to Ikea and end the day.

BBQ in Hammersmith

Saturday I was invited for a BBQ in Hammersmith together with my flatmates at one of their common friends place.
Although the weather forecast promised rain showers all day and evening we were hoping for the best. We got picked up by car and as we drove closer to our destination the weather cleared up and the sun came out.
Unfortunately the weather gods wanted it different and if it was not for the host and his garden pavilions we and the grill would have drowned.

Despite the weather it is was a really great BBQ event and I met some really nice and friendly people. The most remarkable thing that evening was the tasty food and definitely all the countries that were represented. I do not think I can remember all of them but these were some of them Estonia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, Ireland, Turkmenistan, England, Italy, Colombia, Spain, Denmark
- the beauty and diversity of London.

Moving - saying goodbye and hello

This posts is a little outdated as I moved out from the hostel and into my new room 3 weeks ago. Never the less.. I do not want you to miss out on this post.

My new room is quite small but the fact that I have my own room is amazing! I must say that I have been happy to stay at the hostel in the great area of Hampstead and getting to know some nice people. But you kind of get to a point where living with up to 6 people (some random, coming and going) in a room gets too crowded and where you just need your own private sphere.

I was really lucky to find this flat, both affordable, clean and home-ish, and I am really happy with my new flatmates. Considering that I have never shared an apartment with "random" people before I kinda like it.. much - especially the international environment as they are respectively from Venezuela, Spain and Kyrgyzstan.

All this has again meant that I have had to say goodbye and hello. I guess that is what London is about during these 4,5 months - although I have renamed goodbye to see you again.

Another thing I love about London is the hills - even when I jog (who should have known, haha). They give the most amazing views over the city.

This one is taken from outside our front door

Close up of The Orbit and the Olympic stadium