3/28/09 Part 1: Dachau

In the morning I went downstairs to get breakfast, and randomly Andrew, Ian, Greg, and Eric were there at my hostel. We headed out by train and then bus to Dachau, the famous concentration camp which all other German concentration camps were modeled after. There was a very large museum that went in depth into all aspects of the historical events of the time period and the workings of the camp, and the medical experiments section in particular really got to me.

From Munich Trip

From Munich Trip

From Munich Trip

There were several of the original buildings still standing, including the living quarters, which were severely cramped. Dachau also holds the only undamaged gas chamber left in the world. It was a very somber but nonetheless important and moving experience. A plaque inside Dachau reads:

“May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945, because they resisted Nazism, help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and respect for their fellow man.”

3/27/09 flight to Munich

Luckily I started feeling a bit better this morning. My group did our British History presentation on the Camden area of London.

Ironically the group of students I got on the easyBus to the airport with also were on my same flight to Munich. Once I got to Munich, I took the train from the airport to the Hauptbanhoff (central station) and my hostel 4 You Munchen was only a short walk away.

3/26/09 Pramerica and down with the sickness

Today we went to the offices of Pramerica (Prudential). I was still feeling really sick. We were forced to wear business formal even though all our presenters were in business casual, so I was sweating just sitting there. We had to sit through 2 hours of non-stop presentations and I didn't have any water so I was almost passing out by the end.

This was par for the course this week though, as we have been doing so much crap and haven't had time to do anything else. I have been trying to figure out my class scheduling for next year and also apply for summer internships but I am so overwhelmed at the moment.

When it comes to company tours what ever happened to quality over quantity?

3/25/09 the tempest play

Class during the day and then we went almost an hour by tube to the Richmond theatre to see the production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The production had an african tribal flavor to it, and was set in the time period of British colonialism. The special effects and acting were very good, and overall the play was enjoyable. However, we didn't get back to the flats until almost midnight.

3/24/09 sick and dancing with luthansa play

Still really sick today and feeling like crap. I had to sit through an awfully boring play about some sisters living in the 1930s and overreacting about everything and living pointless lives. I wanted to leave in the worst way but couldn't.

3/23/09 zurich, llyods of london, bbc... long day

Started out the day with presentations by execs from Zurich, the insurance company. They were ok, if moderately boring. It was interesting how they had an emerging risk radar and tried to work with their clients to reduce their risk.

Llyods of London was a huge sprawling multifloor complex where various insurance companies had sectors and did business. It looked similar to a stock trading floor, but for insurance. Seeing such a huge marketplace was quite the experience.

Later in the day we headed to the BBC for a standard tour. It was moderately interesting and walking behind the scenes of their live shows and seeing how the sets are dropped from the ceiling was neat.

Of course the tours took up the entire day for the most part. Not much time to do anything else.

3/22/09 lazy sunday

Felt kind of sick so I took it easy today and caught up with my photos and updating my journal.

3/21/09 back from Bath

Left Joey's place in Bath around 9am and took the train back to London Paddington and arrived by 11:30am or so. Took it easy today and caught up on some work.

3/20/09 roman baths, thai food, poonans

We headed out to eat an English breakfast at the Boston Tea Party, which was tasty but the portions were too small and we had to wait forever for the food. Our next stop was the Roman Bath Ruins that the town of Bath is named after and famous for.

From Bath Trip

Walking around the ruins was like stepping back in time, and seeing how the Romans used the temple to worship and relax was very interesting. The natural springs underneath still feed water up into the pools, and the water is warm to the touch. After the tour we sampled some of the natural spring water in the pump room, and it tasted similar to blood, because of the high iron and other mineral content.

From Bath Trip

For dinner we went to the Thai restaurant “Shang-Ri-La”, and I had some chicken type thing in sweet and sour sauce, which was tasty. We went back to the apartment and got ready to go out to the club Po Na Na. We headed out, and I was disappointed that Joey's other (and cuter) friends there didn't want to go with us since they all had to leave by 9am for their trip to Oxford.

We danced for a while at the club and then attempted to do karaoke. I chose the song Just Dance by Lada Gaga, and found out that it is really damn hard to attempt to dance while simultaneously singing at the same time, especially while inebriated.



After some more dancing Joey and I needed a break and we randomly sat down next to some girl and some drunk guy started taking his shirt off and dancing in front of us, which was slightly disconcerting. However, the girl sitting next to us said she was from Liverpool and that he was one of her drunk marine friends, and we started a conversation. I found out that she was 25 and has been obsessed with the Spice girls since she was young. She also apparently met her boyfriend on hotornot.com, which surprised me. After a while the conversation got stale so I headed back to the dance floor since the club was closing in like ½ hr (3am?). We left the club and got some Mr. D's, a fast food stand, on the way back.

From Bath Trip

3/19/09 Oxford, then Bath

Oxford was ok, we walked around the town and saw some cathedrals and learned some history.

From Stonehenge, Hampton Court, Oxford

Took train from Oxford to Bath, but apparently we weren't supposed to take the train that went to Reading, and we got bitched at by some train manager that I could barely understand. Eventually we got it sorted out and switched to a train to Bath.

From Bath Trip

Joey picked us up at the train station and walked us back to his apartment. We met a few of Joey's housemates, and then introduced Joey to the awesomeness that is the British TV show “Skins”. For dinner we went out to an Indian restaurant named Bengal something, and I had lamb curry type stuff, which was good.

Later at night we went to the Huntsman (a local pub), where it was student night with 1.50 pints of Fosters. I though that it was such a great idea, that I had a 2nd one. There were a lot of other people from Joey's study abroad program (which has 55 total) and we talked with them for a while.

3/18/09 girl talk concert

Headed out to the Girl Talk concert in Scala around 10 or so. The music wasn't really live as GT just hit a few buttons on his laptop and then stood on the table and danced around the rest of the time. It was basically just a huge dance party. The venue was really crowded and obscenely drunk dbags kept bumping into me constantly, which really pissed me off. I danced with some random girls for a while (from Chicago I think?) and overall I had a decent time.

From London - March, April

From London - March, April

3/17/09 st. patty's day, view from the bridge play

The view from the bridge play was mediocre but I had to pay attention since I will be presenting on it for my theater class. After the play we made our way to O'Neil's to celebrate St. Patty's day, but the line to get in was huge and JJ and Nate and I headed over to the Duke of York instead. At the Duke we got free Guinness St. Patty's day hats after a couple beers, and then headed back to the flat.

3/16/09 not much

Not a whole lot going on today, worked on my MOB assignment for tomorrow.

3/15/09 the Watchmen

Today we went to see the Watchmen at the Odeon movie theater. It was pretty expensive at 10.50 pounds. The movie gave a very interesting look into a 1980s alternate universe where the Cold War has left the world on the brink of nuclear war. The movie explored how morality really isn't divided into black and white, it is just shades of grey. I particularly enjoyed the irony of the character Dr. Rorschach, who wore a mask akin to the psychology test pictures whose interpretation is supposed to change with the perspective of the viewer, but yet he was the only character who was steadfast in his values and morals throughout.