Conquering Three Continents in Three Weeks - Troy Galyon

Hello world,

It has been quite some time since I last spoke to you all. A lot has happened since I last wrote. I'll give a brief but hopefully good post of my adventures over the past two months!

First.

I traveled to Lisbon, Portugal and then Spain (Sevilla and Barcelona) with Frat 15 and Petey and Sara. So much fun. We saw the streets of Lisbon, La Sagrada Familia, a bull ring in Sevilla, and most importantly THE SUN! It was an incredible spring break, and it only got better the longer it went on. The weekend before we had to return to London we took the crew to Marrakech, Morocco! It was by far my most amazing place I have ever been. Everyone was so friendly, and I felt like everyone loved seeing me. It is hard to describe, but everybody has their place, and I feel like Morocco is mine! I have to go back at some point!

Jen and Tuck with our friends Jawad and Abdoule

Second.

After that we came back to London and had our management class for two weeks. Such a great class, and Daves is a wonderful teacher. We learned so much, and I'm going to be a manager now probably. 

Third.

Although management was fun, my trip to Greece and Turkey with Harris was a tad more exciting and interesting.  I spent my birthday (March 1) in Athens and Corfu. It was amazing to see all of the history. 

The Parthenon (not in Nashville)

After Greece we went to the home of the Ottoman Empire and the crossroads of Western modernization and Easter influence. Istanbul, Turkey. I had a lot of firsts here. First time I stepped foot in Asia. First time I stepped foot inside a mosque. First time I have ever been questioned and frisked by a police officer. Very very interesting and eventful. 

Harris and I decided to go to the Asian side of Istanbul the first evening we arrived in Istanbul. As we were walking along and about to cross a street, we got stopped by Turkish police and questioned as to why we decided to visit the Asian side at such a strange time and what we were planning to do with our time in Turkey. Slightly freaked out, Harris and I got told to leave and walked back to the metro and took the train back to Europe. After our encounter, it was amazing to see the different cultures mixing and the food was so good. 

Our First Meal in Istanbul

Last.

After our great break, Harris and I decided to come back to London to see Dad (Andrew) and start our internships with Parliament. I've campaigned for the Labour Party, I've met some MP's, and I've spent time with my coworkers watching rugby and football matches. It has been an amazing experience to work on a campaign, and it is even more amazing that I am working for an opposing party in the same district Hampstead and Kilburn as my boy Gass. We've decided that a friendly rivalry is in order to see who can win the election. Clearly we will have changed the outcome for each of our candidates. 

The Current MP Glenda Jackson and Me!

Well, that is a super brief summary of my time over the past couple months. We only have one month left. It's very sad that everyone is going to be leaving. The time has flown by, and I don't think I ever want to leave. Luckily I'm not even halfway through my time yet! Much more to come hopefully.

I'm sorry if I left anything out, and I will already apologize to my father because I know he will say this isn't as well written as it could be. Oh well. 

That's all for now,

Troy Galyon

Taylor King: 10 Countries Down, but Who's Counting?

Well folks, It's been an exciting last few months to say the least. I truly wake up every morning and ask myself if this is really my life, and when I decide it is indeed, I then ask myself why I deserve it. I don't have a good answer for the second one, but I am so so so grateful. 

Spring break? Munich, Prague, Krakow (Auschwitz), and Buddapest

Mini break? Spain and Morocco

Work? Jenny Packham

First three months? Perfection

My favorite parts in each country for spring break were as follows:

In Munich, we spent three to four hours at this restaurant called the "Hofbraeuhaus" where we ate awesome food, met fun people, and listened to a live Germanic folk band play quite boisterously. Prague was just magical all around. The tour of the city was wonderful, and my favorite part was walking down by the river with Mikhail, Elizabeth, and Matt, sitting on a barge, listening to the water, and talking about how blessed we are to be where we are. Krakow was interesting. The town wasn't super amazing, but I loved eating in the Pizza place Matt found, going to Auschwitz, and eating in a cute cafe with Eric. The final leg was spent in Budapest where I met a new friend named Sara who is from Colombia but studying abroad in Prague. I also liked exploring the city, seeing the shoe statues, and the riverboat cruise (that was sooooo cool). Truth be told, I couldn't have been happier to be back in my own bed and see the fam once I got back, but spring break was the trip of a lifetime. 

Mini break favorites:

Everything? The sun was shining, I never had to wear a coat (pretty sure I didn't even bring one), and the sights were to die for. Spain was a much needed break from wintry London (though I love it), and I think I enjoyed it so much because I was finally in a non-english speaking foreign country where I could speak the language! It was so much fun communicating with the locals, eating at LB's host family's restaurant (and meeting PAPULI!), eating everything actually, and laying down in the grass next to the beauty of Spain and my pals. Morocco was a different experience, but I loved it in a different way. It felt very primal hiking through the ATLAS MOUNTAINS to see the giant waterfalls (the biggest in Northern Africa), and it felt so perfect. I loved how nice and inviting the people were, and I would love to go back when I could explore the desert more! 

Now I'm back in London working for the amazing Jenny Packham (fashion designer known most notably for being a favorite{favourite as they spell it here} of Kate Middleton), and exploring the city everyday. For example, this weekend I went to Dover with two of my flatmates, Ross and Laura Beth, and then I went to the London Zoo with two more, Hannah and Maggie. The countdown is on, because I have literally one week left here from today, and I'm going to make it count! 

I'm currently stuck in this painful limbo between excitement about returning home to be with my family and friends, and never wanting to leave because a piece of me will now always claim British citizenship.  For now, I guess that means I'll eat my scones, drink my hot tea, and dream about the day when popcorn is salted AND buttered and Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo can once again be consumed. 

XX Taylor 

(For some reason everyone in my office signs their e-mails like this, I thought I would try it out)

Buddapest

Primrose Hill, London

Madrid, Spain

Morocco 

Brighton, England

Madrid, Spain

Eniskerry, Ireland

The gals at work (Jenny Packham)

The Grimm Tales, London

Dover, England

Life across the pond- eric

  Italy, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Morocco, Ireland, France.. the list is to be continued. While abroad, I have learned so much about the world, others, and myself. It’s really amazing how fast time goes by when you are having such a great experience.               

            We all survived Dr. Mee’s statistics class in January, and we all survived Dr. Daves’ Management class in February. We are finally getting adjusted to the 9:00 to 5:00 life and it’s actually really nice going to work in lieu of class, even though we miss seeing Dr. Mee’s and Dr. Daves’ faces everyday.

            I am working at Intercontinental Hotels Group and am really enjoying it. The office staff is really fun and the work environment is not as intimidating as I thought it would be. My tasks include strategy planning, auditing and revenue analysis. This internship will definitely be a beneficiary to my future career.

           

Gross British Food: What You Need to Know --Bailey Callaghan

Here's a quick PSA about things you should and should not eat while in London.

The good:
Jaffa Cakes
Chips
Prawn Cocktail flavored crisps
Bangers and mash
Curry
Lots of tea

The bad (aka you should avoid at all costs):
Monster Munch (particularly the ones in pickled onion flavor)
Black pudding
Scotch eggs
Marmite (if you are given the choice of jumping off Tower Bridge or eating Marmite, go with the bridge)

         

Working in London is an interesting experience, to say the least. People here go for drinks at lunch, keep drinks in the office, and leave work at 5 sometimes, just to go get a drink. I'm surprised they don't just install a pub in the basement of every office building to cut down on walking time.

In all honesty, though, working in London is great. I work at Maxus Global, a media agency that has accounts with all kinds of big brands like Barclay's (where I work), L'oreal, and Fiat. I work on a team within a team, composed of about 5 or 6 people (I'm still not 100% on who is the boss of who here). My boss, Howard, thoroughly enjoys making me try horrible food and then making fun of American food. My co-worker, Rose, interrogates me regularly about everything from my favorite American politician, to the difference between a hillbilly and a hick, to the mystery of boneless wings (seriously they had no idea what boneless wings were).  Work is full of a lot of laughs and, occasionally, running to the windows to see what "crazy window girl" across the street is up to (really, this is what they are getting paid to do).

I'm learning a fair share of advertising techniques, channels, and how to analyze audiences. too. It's not all fun and games here, after all (Actually no it pretty much is all fun and games. 3 people in my team are engaged so all I ever hear are wedding plans). I haven't been given much to do so far (I mostly just sit around all day and listen to everyone else's conversations) but I'm enjoying my experience regardless.

Plus, every day that passes by is one day closer to going to the Harry Potter studio tour in April. And that's what really matters here.

Saturday Shenanigans - Maddie Rule

Is there any better way to spend a Saturday than with M&M’s, Portuguese food, art, princesses, grapes, and board games?  I didn’t think so either.  Well, let me start from the beginning since this was pretty vague.  We began our day by sleeping in a bit before heading out to see the Cinderella exhibition in Leicester Square.  Unfortunately, when we got there, they only had tickets for 7 in the evening.  This actually worked out really well for us though as we were all able to spend more time together.  So we moseyed our way to the nearby M&M’s World and explored the various levels of chocolaty goodness.  This place is incredibly interactive and full of cultural references like the M&M mascots crossing Abbey Road and one dressed as a Palace Guardsman.  After spending a lot of time and a little money here, we decided that we should probably grab some real food.  So we found a Portuguese restaurant called Nando’s.  The chips as they call them here were delicious, and I am definitely going back for the bottomless soft drinks… Anyways, we continued on after our nice lunch and found the National Portrait Gallery.  It was neat to see historic figures from centuries ago elegantly painted as well as new works as recent as the 2000s.  And finally, it was 7 and time for us to visit the Cinderella exhibit we had been waiting to see!  And it was spectacular!  It began with original sketches and old memorabilia that brought me back to the childhood animation that I grew up watching.  Then, we moved into the sets where we could see the stunning dresses and suits used in the actual movie.  We began in the main hall where the staircase climbed above a small study, then moved to the cellar where Cinderella worked, then to the chariot she rode in to the ball, and finally, to Prince Charming’s castle itself.  In every room, there were costumes that belonged to Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, the two ugly step-sisters, and others that attended to ball and each piece was laced with tens of thousands of Swarovski crystals.  And to top everything off, they had the crystal slippers were glittering in the light.  They were gorgeous.  Not practical, but gorgeous.  

This was an awesome experience with four amazing women that all deserve to be princesses.  But believe it or not, this wasn’t even the highlight of the night.  When we returned from the exhibition, Tayler decided she wanted some grapes.  And then she wanted to share them.  Naturally, the best way to do this is by tossing them so that the other person can catch it in their mouth.  This fun game turned into a serious competition when we had the great idea of trying to play football.  And by football, I mean soccer.  So it ended up with Tayler (aka Coach) tossing a grape at either Matt or Will who then tried to bounce it off his head and into the mouths of Kathryn, Tucker, Bailey, or Hannah.  It’s definitely a team sport.  After an hour of attempts, we finally had our victory and celebrated promptly afterwards (don’t worry, we have it recorded). 

We then ended the night on the right note with a board game known as Geek Battle.  This was tons of fun as we were all proving our shared love of all things geeky.  This lasted for a good two hours.  I would have to say, this is definitely going to be one of my favorite memories while in London.  We had a great day in the city as well as an exciting night with friends in the flat.  I can’t wait to see what not only the next month brings but also the next two years with all of my incredible GLS fam!  Goodbye until our next crazy adventures!

Cheers!

Maddie Rule

Simon Marcus for MP

Hey Everyone!

Well these past couple of weeks have been the most hectic that I have had in a while.  We started our internships. I am currently an intern at the Hampstead and Kilburn Conservative Party. The election is this May so there is always something that needs to be done. I deliver things, do data entry, canvas, and assist with meetings. The other day I was able to walk around with Simon Marcus, the conservative candidate, and Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State of Foreign and Commonweath affairs. It was quite interesting visiting small businesses in the constituency. Later that day I attended a meeting with the Bangladeshi community. Simon Marcus and Will Blair, the Conservative candidate from Holborn and St. Pancras, gave speeches along with other council members. We then had a bunch of Bangladeshi food. It was an interesting look into the local aspect of the political system here.

The job has been fun. I have gotten to meet a bunch of new people in the office. The Hampstead & Kilburn constituency is the most marginal in Britain. Because of this, there are almost always different interns that are sent to our office. Whit and Patrick spent the first week helping out. We have had seven different interns help out over the past couple weeks. There hasn’t been a shortage of British sarcasm.

I have really enjoyed getting out in to the community and seeing the different parts of London. The neighborhoods are really interesting because there is such a difference in the areas. The changes come fast so it is neat to see the diversity in the city. It is also kind of incredible seeing the massive urban sprawl when you see town houses as far as the eye can see.

These past two weeks have been great and there will only be more excitement as the election gets closer.

Cheers!

William Gass

 
Here are the links to the Simon Marcus twitter page. You can see some wonderful pictures of Whit and I working in the office. Also, you can't see me with Philip Hammond, but you can see my shoes behind him if that counts for anything.

 https://twitter.com/SimonMarcus/status/578133376437104640/photo/1https://twitter.com/SimonMarcus/status/576070228947439617

Work Week One - Sara Seaman

Work week one was, well, wonderful. That being said...there have been some true learning moments/panics/totally lost times.

This week I started my internship with dunnhumby - a data insight company that serves as the middle man between suppliers like H. J. Heinz or Kraft and retailers like Kroger to improve the customer's experience. Speaking of, did you know they created the Kroger Plus Card and whenever you use it data about your specific purchases go to dunnhumby? Well, it does! They use this data to help retailers and suppliers work together to give you what you need and want when you go to the store. But trust me, it's so much more complicated than that...and I don't totally understand it yet!

So what do I do?

That's a good question because I don't know yet! Basically this week I have met 1,000,001 people and tried to learn their software in an afternoon by myself...yeah that was interesting. I am learning so much every day - about the corporate world, data analysis and insight, and my new coworkers. Everyone is so casually smart at dunnhumby that I feel as though I should just ask them questions all day long...which I kind of do as I try to figure out the software and different systems they use. It has all been great though and I really feel like I am getting to know my team, the Insight team, better each day (Wednesday we all went out together and went to a comedy show where two of the comedians used to perform on "Whose Line is it Anyways?"!).

On Thursday though...there are few words for Thursday but I will try to give you a picture of how that afternoon went down.

A member from my team invited me to be a part of an afternoon meeting at the H. J. Heinz corporate office located on the outskirts of London. The plan was for me to work and meet with people in the AM, grab some lunch, take a short train to Hayes and Harlington, and grab a cab to the office. All went according to plan for the morning and lunchtime was lovely (I sat in the middle of a park lit up by the very rare sunshine with purple and yellow flowers scattered about walk paths and green fields). When I arrived in Hayes and Harlington after my short train ride where I enjoyed eating a very large chocolate bar, I expected to walk out of the station and see the classic black cabs that are all over Central London (where I live). But oh no... of course not. I was in an entirely foreign part of London with no black cabs whizzing through the streets and no cell service. Yeah, no cell service. I can't contact my boss, can't book a cab using a handy app, can't get directions to Heinz apart from the walking directions I had saved to my pictures.

"Okay then...looks like I am walking an hour to get to this meeting," I thought. I began to walk in hopefully the right direction when I noticed cars driving by with very similar stickers on the driver's side window. So I hoped for the best and waved one down.

The drive informed me I had to book in his small office on the corner. So I opened the door and was greeted with a white concrete wall with a small hole that revealed a very small view of what appeared to be an office. I peered through that small hole and Voila! There was man to help me. Sort of. He basically looked at me, asked for my name, and then didn't say anything else. So I asked him if I was set to get a cab and he slightly smiled and gave me a nonchalant thumbs-up before getting back to his computer screen.

I exited the 2-by-4 office and walked up to what I hoped was my cab and not a random Indian man in a car who would take me to who knows where. The Indian man driving the cab-van looked nice enough so I hopped in the cab...sorry, Mom. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing but I think it was obvious enough with my American accent and frazzled demeanor that I did not have a clue what I was doing. I tried to make some small talk as we winded through residential, tiny streets while internally I was definitely freaking out. I thought that maybe if he was going to take me out to who knows where that if I talked nice enough and asked him about his day he would take me to Heinz instead...which he did so I guess it worked. Just kidding, he really was a very nice man and we had a good little conversation amidst his broken English and my frantic brain.

So all is well, I made it to the meeting, and now I am happily sitting in my flat a day later listening to music and writing about my minor freak out to you fine people.

Moral of the story: if you don't have cell service and you're in a different country you might end up in a cab that looks more like a van...but you also might meet a very nice Indian man who has a nice smile.

Also, I have no pictures from this week...so here's a few snapshots of Venice, my fave spot in Europe so far.