And isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Okay, this post's lyrics come from Alanis Morresette's song, Ironic. I hadn't heard that song in such a long time and then someone mentioned it today. It made me smile because it brought back from crazy memories...haha. Also, it kind of fits the blog's theme...irony. So, what is ironic you ask? I answer to you, this entire week actually. I have been watching it fly by with everything to do, but then it seems to have been dragging on as well.

So, what did I do this week? Well, it was officially the first week of grad school! :) The weekend pretty much just flew by. I hung out a lot with some of the friends I made during the retreat (Residential, as the British call it). I've become really good friends with a lot of them...so yay for that! On Saturday I went to visit the Tower Hill area and walked across the Tower Bridge (which most people mistake to be the London Bridge from the song). Our group had an interesting dynamic as there was me, the typical American, three French girls, and a Finnish girl. I definitely had a blast...and almost was run over by a car. Yeah, that really ALMOST happened. Funny story, but too long to tell, even for me, in this blog...haha. That night we met up with another French girl (and one French girl left...so there were still 3) to see the movie, Julie and Julia. The funniest part to me was that it was about the time period when Julia Child was living in France! I found that...ironic. ;)

Sunday pretty much came and went. Didn't really do too much besides clean and cook. We did have several people over that evening for Chicken, Pasta, Wine, and Movie night. I made everyone Lemon-Peppered Chicken, Garlic Bread, and Pasta. The movie was Monty Python and the Holy Grail...a classic for here...and then afterward we watched another one of those movies, The Life of Brian. 3 of 5 of us fell asleep during the second movie, so it finished we called it a night.

Monday was fairly relaxing. I met up with one of the French girls, Virginie (in the States we would say Virginia), to go shopping for a bit on Oxford Street. (*Note* Oxford Street is one of the busiest streets in London. It's where fashion meets "semi" affordable.) So, we went looking for a couple of things and I finally broke down to buy an umbrella. It rains a lot here, and since I'm deciding to walk everywhere...I figured it would be a well-made purchase. Also, Virginie and I both bought these adorable little Disney ornaments from the Disney store (yeah, I know I'm a little kid at heart). They came in packs of 4 and there were 2, so we each got one and are now trying ti figure out who to give the other 6 to. If you're an IMCo kid and reading this, you may get one! LoL About halfway through our shopping adventures we realized we were given an assignment to be turned in by 5:00 that day, so I hurried back to finish it. Later on I hung out with two other French girls (told you, they're everywhere), Isabel and Clelie. They had had a cooking thing earlier in the day where Isabel made cake, so they let me have some. It was quite delicious. I can't bake worth anything. After then, I just hung out at the flat and relaxed, which was quite nice.

Tuesday came early for me. Well, after not having to wake up at any particular times, waking up at 8:30am was early for me. I met some of the other IMCo kids for coffee around 9:30 and then off we went to the "Academic Writing Class." It doesn't count for a grade, and I probably don't NEED to be in the class, but it's nice. The main point is to help international students learn how to write in the British academic system. Not too much was accomplished in the class this week, but next week is plagiarism and the week after is essay writing, both of which I could use a refresher course on. Not too long after we all headed to our first official grad school class, Service Marketing. And, wow...I'm not so sure that the professor and I will get along. He seems somewhat of a smart*** and I just find it weird. The class will be interesting, as we're going to be looking at two case studies (one group - IKEA, one individual - TBA) in the service industry. Once the seminar was over, we had about a 3 hours break in which just about everyone in the program took the opportunity to explore and figure out the library system and how that works.

The library over here is quite different that what I am used to. I'm still trying to figure out their "borrow/return/hold" thing, but I do know I eventually checked out a book on Service Marketing, which is due by Oct 14th (note to self). When 6:00pm rolled around we all met up again for our Service Marketing Seminar (Yes, the school system over here is very different from what I am used to in the States.) The professor read DIRECTLY from the PowerPoint presentation and I was immediately bored. Not only could I just read everything he was saying, but I had learned the material several times before in all of my previous marketing classes. Hopefully the next ones will not be like this one was. When school was finally over for the day, I met up with another American friend of mine, Katherine, who is in town from Texas staying with her Aunt, and three other (you guessed it) French girls for drinks and dinner. Eventually, Katherine and I went back to my flat for a bit to catch up on things and then I called it a relatively early night.

Wednesday rolled around and I woke up around 9:30 to meet Virginie for coffee around 10:00am, which wound up turning into me getting hot chocolate and meeting her in the library around 10:45am...yeah, I overslept and then just kept getting distracted. Oh, and it was Melissa's (my flat mate) birthday...so I set aside some things for her to see when she woke up. For lunch we actually ate at McDonalds (one of the very few times since I've been here) because it was quick and cheap...of course. I headed off to my French class, which I absolutely LOVE by the way! I feel like I've already learned quite a bit, at least in understanding and writing, but not necessarily the confidence in my speaking...though I am trying. As a part of our class, we're required to write a blog only in French, so if you understand French and are interested, here's the link for that: http://anamericaninpoitiers.blogspot.com. Feel free to comment and correct my French, as I am definitely still a beginner! :)

When French was finished I met up with Virginie and Heidi, as well as some of my other American friends from before (Deb, Jenn, and Erika) to go see the movie, FAME. Contrary to what everyone seems to say about the film, I thought it was okay. I haven't seen the original, nor the TV series, so I have no prejudgments. I really enjoyed the song, Out Here on my Own...it was probably the best thing about the movie. I definitely felt that I could relate to it. It had stopped raining when we all left the theater, which was a nice change. When I got back to the flat, I planned on going to bed early, but for some reason I just could not. I don't know why, but I just started getting all of these crazy feelings, so of course I wrote them down, and I must say, I'm considering doing that more often. I felt like a ton of bricks had just been taken off of me. I was able to vent, reflect, and just enjoy. It was nice...and no, I will not let you see this one as to protect the unknowing. ;)

This morning came WAY too early since I was up until nearly 3:00am writing, reflecting, and thinking about life. Class began at 9:00am and I slept until 8:30am, not giving myself near the amount of time required to be ready. However, living only 10 minutes away from campus really came in handy! Class today was on Marketing Research. The professor seems to be quite interesting. I'd consider her to be a little spit-fire. Actually, she reminds me of my good friend, Hina, from back in the States (shout out to Hina...hehe). She seems like she will be very tough, but like your efforts will be paid off. So, I think I am okay with that. After the hour and a half lecture, we were then divided into two groups for the seminar (I told you...weird British system). I wound up having another professor for this session and she too seems interesting. We are her first every post-graduate course module and I think she was trying to intimidate us. But, actually by the end of the class, I was feeling very confident about what to do for my dissertation thesis (which I'll give in full detail at another time). For this Marketing Research class, having had several TCO courses is DEFINITELY going to pay off! We're having to do all sorts of analytic crunches and I've already experienced a lot of that through Usability, Instructional Design, etc. So once again, having my BS in TCO is already paying off! :)

Tomorrow I have my 3rd official class, Marketing Communications, at 9:30am. It's supposedly taught by the same woman as Marketing Research, so I'm sure it will definitely be an interesting day. In between the seminar and lecture I have plans to head to check out the gym facilities. I've started losing weight over here (YES!) and I want to be fit as well. Also, there's a few IMCo kids who play basketball and such, so I'd like to join them every now and then. Yup, that's the competitive side in me coming out! I'm glad I brought my ankle braces over from the States...but I may have to make it down to NIKE Town or the ADIDAS store at some point for a gym bag and other misc items. But yay...I'm happy! :)

I know it hasn't been a full week since my last post, but I figured I should probably go ahead and start getting everything out now. As you can see, I apparently leave in a lot of details (yeah, probably boring ones...so sorry about that). I hope everyone reading this is doing well!

Au revoir!