My Job & Cambridge

What a week it's been! Yesterday I had my job "interview" -- really an introductory meeting. Another girl from Clark had her interview before mine & close by, so we went together to meet Elizabeth Watkins, the woman who runs the international internship program & arranged our jobs. She thought I had been to London before since I knew my way around, so I took that as a compliment! She's an interesting woman, she's posh & has a lovely accent & voice.

When she took me to National AIDS Trust, my organization, we met with my supervisor (Joe) & the head of the office (Deborah). We talked about when I'll be working, what I'll be doing, & an overview of NAT. I'm working on relatively new territory, immigration & asylum. I'll be doing research on destitution, the right to work, access to treatment, & that sort of thing. I'll be developing documents which the organization will use & organizing something to go up on the website. Elizabeth W. left & then Joe introduced me around the office, which consists of 16 staff members, & showed me where everything is. I have my own desk, computer, & phone! After we sat down & chatted for a bit, about where I'm from, some of my volunteer work, what I had done so far in London & my upcoming plans. He's actually American, from Seattle, but has a bit of an accent sometimes since he's been living here. He's also young, it seems a lot of poeple in the office are. They go out sometimes after work, so that will be a great way for me to socialize with Brits! He gave me his mobile number & told me I can text or ring him if I have questions about anything & want an American perspective. I also had him show me on the bus map the most direct route to/from my flat & work. It's only a mile away, so I plan to walk as much as I can instead of taking the bus or tube. He said the bus takes about 10 min, but I have to walk a little from each stop, & the tube took about 20 minutes. Walking took about 20 minutes & is free! I walked back to the flat after my meeting. I'm sure when it's pouring though I'll be taking the bus, which is cheaper than the tube. I'm very excited to start on Monday!

Today we went to Cambridge, which took about an hour & a half by bus. First we had a bus tour, which was full of historical information but very quick & fast-paced. After that we went to one of the colleges which is part of Cambridge University for lunch. It definitely reminded us of Harry Potter -- there were long tables in the hall & a long table at the front which was on a platform for the important people to sit at. The buildings are all gorgeous. I think we all would love to transfer! We walked around King's College, then went to the market. We were supposed to go punting (boating, similar to gondolas), but the river was too high. I bought a scarf for 3 pounds & love it. That was all I got though since tomorrow we're planning on going to Camden market.

Cheers!

Sight Seeing

Today I went sight seeing/walking with Rachel (one of my roommates), Liz, and some of the girls who live next door: Elizabeth, Amber, and Tara. We went to Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guard. We walked through a park and saw LOTS of birds! Two palace guards walked by and we were going to ask to take a picture with them, but they were giving someone directions or something like that. We saw Big Ben and then walked down Parliament Street and saw the outside of the Calvary Museum. We walked by the National Gallery then stopped for lunch. Alisha joined us after her internship meeting and we went to the National Portraits Gallery. Kim met up with us a bit later as well. We just did one floor of the Gallery before Rachel and I left. They have a room with pictures of Princess Diana that was put up for the 10th anniversary of her death.

I'm including some photos in this post. Please let me know if you would like to see more photos of anything and I can e-mail them to you!

Also, as a general notice, I'm unfortunately not going to be able to use Skype. :( My computer is terrible and at first I thought I just wouldn't be able to do the webcam myself, then I thought I wouldn't be able to see other people's webcams either, now it seems that I can't even do mic-to-mic. I'm pretty bummed about that. But I can still use the messaging on Skype, so if you have it please let me know your user name so I an add you to my list. I also have AIM, so let me know if you have that (if I don't already know).

Feeling at Home

I'm already feeling at home here in London. The flat is nice, I've figured my way around a bit, and who wouldn't love being just around the corner from the British Museum!

Today I set up my local bank account and then went to the British Museum. I was so giddy about going, I could hardly contain myself! It's so big and wonderful. I did the Egypt galleries (first on my own then the free tour), the Rosetta Stone & Egypt sculptures, and the Elgin marble. Those are the things I really wanted to see, so I did them first. Now I'm going to figure out what else is there and probably see everything before I leave. I plan on going back to the Egypt galleries & sculptures as well, because that's what I'm really interested in. I also want to see the Reading Room, but it's closed until 6 April because that's where they have the terra cotta warriors on loan from China. Luckily I will be here until the 21st and will be able to see the Reading Room once that exhibit is gone.

On schedule for tomorrow is a trip to Camden Town to go to the market with the girls in the flat next door. They went the other day and loved it, so we want to go now! They found cheap scarves that we all want to get and hopefully I can find a cheap set of sheets, since we weren't given a top sheet for our beds. I also have errands to run, like going to Birkbeck to, among other things, find out about joining the gym. So far there has been a lot of errand running! The refrigerator is so small and most things aren't sold in large packages, so it requires lots of trips to get groceries. There are tons of grocery stores though, all very close. On the way to the bank this morning we saw a stand selling fresh fruit and vegetables at very reasonable prices, so on the way back to the flat I picked up some strawberries. Finding deals like that is great, so hopefully I can find some more! I still haven't gotten used to the expense of everything. It's terrible. I'll most certainly be broke by the time I get back to the States! But so far it's well worth it.

Cheers.

PS -- Please do comment on these posts. It would be nice to know someone is reading them. :)

Safe & Sound

I'm in London! I already love it!

It's been an interesting few days. Saturday I met up with Alisha at the airport. There wound up being 4 other Clarkies on the flight, so we talked with most of them before boarding the plane. The flight was smooth for the most part, but the landing was a little rougher than I'm used to. I caught a cold last week, so my ears got blocked. We had a two hour layover in Iceland (I have the passport stamps to prove it!) and we just found couches & crashed for a bit. I didn't get my ears to pop until right before we took off for London. That flight was fine, but my ears got blocked again. :/ It was much easier to pop them the second time though.

Once we got to London, we went through immigration. After that we just collected our luggage & met someone from the program in the terminal. There was a problem with the bus that was supposed to be waiting for us -- it wasn't there -- so we had to wait a while for that. I called my mom VERY briefly from a payphone to let her know I was alive.

Taking the bus was nice because we got to see some of London. However, I was so tired because I have a hard time falling asleep on planes & got no sleep. My eyes kept closing even though I wanted to see everything. We were dropped off at 11 Bedford Place & they let us wickly go to our flats to drop off our luggage. I live at 12 Bedford Place, so I didn't have far to go. We had an orientation meeting and then were able to go back to our flats. They're huge! Well, the ones on Bedford Place are. We have a living room, eating area, and kitchen upstairs, then the bedrooms and bathrooms down a set of stairs. There's also a ton of storage space, which is great for our suitcases, etc. I've actually taken some pictures of the flat, so I'll get those up once I get them on my computer.

I put most of my stuff away -- we each have a closet & set of drawers -- but they only gave us a dozen hangers, so some of my stuff is still in a suitcase waiting to be put away once we get more hangers. We each have a cork board, but no tacks. I actually saw one on the board in the hall right when you come in the first door of the flat, so I took it because I only need one to hang up my calendar. I brought a board from home with ribbons to put pictures, etc. in, so I already have all my pictures and letters up from home. :)

Classes start this week, unlike what I thought. Mine is on Tuesdays, so it starts tomorrow. Alisha's class is at the same time, so we're going to walk over together. We were at Birkbeck today & it's very close. The building our classes are in was actually Virginia Woolf's house! I'm looking forward to my class. We're planning on going to get our Oyster cards for the Tube afterwards & looking for the A-Z guide of street maps, which has been quite hard to find. Today we already got our mobile phones and went grocery shopping.

I'm starting to settle in a little more, especially now that the internet is working (it wasn't until a few hours ago) and I have a way to get power to my computer! Long story. I don't really have my bearings yet directions wise, but I do know how to get to a few places. Yesterday I was so tired & it hadn't really sunk in that I'm in London. Today, walking around and seeing so many people, it's crazy!

The weather is actually nice. It rained last night & it raining for a few minutes today, and now it's raining again. Other than that, the temperature is very nice. Feels more like maybe late October in Massachusetts. There are a lot of parks -- one on each side of the block (Bloomsbury Square and Russell Square), and one by the building my class is in on Gordon Street.

I'm so sorry that I didn't get to call some of you before I left! Things were crazy because I was only home for two and a half weeks and had so much to do. I'll make it up to you. :)

What I Know So Far ...

Many of you have asked what I'll be doing in London. Mainly I will be doing an internship at National Aids Trust: http://www.nat.org.uk/. I will be there either four full days or three full days & two half days a week. At the organization, I will be on the policy & campaigns team working on immigration & asylum. Although I'm not sure what exactly that entails, here is some information from the website:

HIV and Asylum:
The National AIDS Trust undertook a survey of health care managers in the ten Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) in the UK regarding the management of HIV. The findings and conclusions from this survey have now been published and the National AIDS Trust is working to take forward recommendations arising from this survey, including the development of best practice guidelines that ensure consistency and transparency in the removal process and support high quality care for asylum seekers living with HIV and AIDS.
The National AIDS Trust is also currently reviewing what information on HIV prevention, testing and treatment is available to asylum seekers arriving at Initial Accommodation Centres (IACs). Working with Border and Immigration Agency officials and other key stakeholders, NAT is identifying potential opportunities to develop and distribute additional HIV-related information materials, including information about the benefits of accessing voluntary testing and HIV services in the UK.

Access to treatment:
The campaign for free access to NHS treatment for people of uncertain or illegal residency status continues. After the National AIDS Trust gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in February, the Joint Committee published their report; 'The Treatment of Asylum Seekers', which calls for an end to charging people of uncertain or illegal residency status for HIV treatment and maternity care. The National AIDS Trust will continue to lobby key decision makers for this inhumane policy to be changed.

I will also be taking a class, Social Psychology, at the University of London at Birkbeck. The university is just a few blocks away from the flat I will be staying in. My flat is just a block away from the British Museum, which is very exciting! I can't wait to explore the Egypt galleries & the reading room! With free admission & the close distance, I'm hoping to spend a lot of time there.

My flight leaves on Saturday & I get to London on Sunday. I will be calling Mom both when I get to Rekjavik, Iceland for my layover & then when I get to London, so she'll be able to let you know that I got there safe & sound! My estimated arrival is 11:30am, which is 6:30am for the East Coast. Once I get there, I'll post as soon as I get a chance. :)

Taking Care of Business

Hopefully I'll be using this blog to keep you all up-to-date on how things are going in London. I'll write about what I'm up to, post pictures, all that good stuff. Below are various ways to get in touch with me. (For e-mail I prefer the Clark one, I will be checking it more frequently.)

My address:
Kimmy Coulombe
12 Bedford Place
London, England WC1B 5JA

E-mail:
kcoulombe@clarku.edu
or KimmyC626@yahoo.com

Skype ID: kcoulombe

AIM user name: BrownEyedGirlJ54

Please make sure you send me your mailing and e-mail addresses!