Hey everyone :-)
So I left London on Saturday the 13th. I flew out of Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic at 2:40 and arrived in Boston at 5:30 (it was an 8 hour flight). The flight was relaxing, I watched three movies and ate a lot of food. I really suggest watching "The Duchess" it was really great.

So, I'm back in Rumney. It's snowy, and cold, and I can't walk down the street to the tube station and go out shopping. I also really miss my church in London, and hopefully I can find one similar here, or in Burlington.

OH, by the way, I dyed my  hair. It's black, and shorter too. I really like it, and I've been told I look even more like my older sisters.

Hey! So I haven't updated in awhile, I'm sorry. Lots of final papers. Wednesday the 3rd I went to the Twilight Movie UK Premiere in Leicester Square, and I got there early (learning from my HSM3 experience). I arrived around 12 with my roommate caroline, and we stood there until the stars arrived at 6. I didn't get a chance to talk to the stars or get their autograph, but I had a great spot for seeing them because I was right in front of the Media section. My friend got Rob Pattinson's autograph and talked to him and gave him her phone number, I'm very jealous.

Thursday night was my last Shakespeare play, I went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet starring David Tennant
(Dr. Who, Harry Potter) and Patrick Stewart (Star Trek). It was modernized but very cool. We stood outside the stagedoor afterwards and my friends got autographs.

Tonight my friends and I had a Christmas/ suprise birthday party for my pal Elizabeth. It was really fun. We had secret santa and cake.

I am very sad that I am leaving in a week. I have finals, then I pack, and.. fly home... Oh well, I'm not going to think about that.

Here is a video from the Twilight Premiere that I made: www.youtube.com/watch

Robert Pattinson, my love.

The sign for the premiere.

David Tennant as Hamlet

the Hamlet poster

Til next time,
XOXO
Krista In London (for a week longer)

I went to Ireland for the weekend! I left on friday night and got home sunday night. I stayed at Limerick University with my friend Sarah from SMC. My roomie Caroline and my friend Ellen came with me to Ireland, so it was a nice girlie weekend. We went to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday where the cliffs of insanity scene was filmed in the movie, "The Princess Bride." I'm home in London again, and I've got lots of essays to write. I don't plan on traveling anywhere else, but just focusing on school and exploring more of London before I leave December 13. Some of my friends who were studying abroad are already home!

if anyone wants postcards leave your address, and if you want souvenirs leave a note!

XOXO
Krista in London/ Ireland

I was a little disappointed when I realized I wouldn't be in america for the presidential election, but It's been covered by the media quite extensively here. I'm almost more excited to be here because I got to avoid annoying phone calls, but also because people in England are just as excited as we are for Change.

If I'm on the train or walking down the street and someone near me hears my american accent they will either 1) ask my opinion of the election results or 2) scream "OBAMA!" with excitement.

Today this excitement for our new president-elect was discussed in both of the church services I attended. First I went to the morning worship at the church i've been attending with my friend Jenna, Westminster Chapel. November 11 is Rememberance Day, which is like our Veterans day, but (i'm not positive about the details) today they had a moment of silence at 11am to remember all of our fallen soldiers and veterans. They have a charity that sells little red paper poppies and everyone, EVERYONE, has them pinned to their jackets.

After lunch at Westminster Chapel I went with some of the girls to EvenSong at Westminster Abbey. I hadn't been inside the Abbey because I didn't want to pay for it, but it is well worth the money. Fortunately when you attend a service you don't have to pay, so I got to see the amazing building for free, and attend the worship and listen to the heavenly choir. I walked on Charles Darwin and saw Winston Churchill.

The sermon was about rememberance and learning a lesson from history. The woman who gave it talked about Obama and how some people in the states are "weeping for joy" because they can remember a time when there were benches labeled "whites only." Without getting too political (oh, i'm taking a politics class next semester by the way), I just wanted to say that I am happy, and when people here ask me my opinion I tell them I support my government and pray for the future of my country.


XOXO
Krista In London

Ciao!!
I kept a written journal of every activity I did, every food I ate, and every penny I spent while in Italy and preparing for it. I will not attempt to write all of that information on my blog, but I will share with you the most enjoyable and interesting bits.


I arrived in  Rome on Friday night, and we took a bus to the metro station to get to our hostel. "hostel" is an interesting word. This turned out to be a "bed and breakfast" or, rather, a nice apartment where all of the bedrooms are for guests, a small kitchen, and two shared bathrooms. I enjoyed our stay there, it was a very cheap price. I was traveling with my friends Tasha and Ellen.

Saturday morning we woke up early and went to the Vatican. We met up with our friends Jenna, Megan and Sally. We went into St. Peter's Basilica and saw the tombs of the previous popes, then we also went into the actual building which was artistically astounding. I also got to see some Swiss guards in their funny uniforms. After St. Peter's we stood in line for over an hour to get into the Vatican Museum. Now, a word of advice, go to the museum first thing in the morning. Or, try not to go on a sunny saturday. The crowds are overwhelming. It feels like you're in a can of sardines, you can only move as fast as the people in front of you, and if you get there too late you need to rush to get to the Sistine Chapel, which is the only thing that I knew about in the Museum. I was very confused about this, because you go in one door, go through a lot of halls with art and papal artifacts, see lots of domes (that i kept thinking were the Sistine chapel...) and then you finally follow the signs and the crowd and end up in the chapel itself. Maybe it's just me, but on tv the ceiling looks round, and really big. The sistine chapel is rectangular, small, and.. it's a chapel. You're squished, silent, and craning your necks upwards. I couldn't take pictures, but it was beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't have gone to Rome without seeing it, but I just wish it were a more relaxed setting.

Rome overall, is very touristy. And, that's probably because I wanted to do all of the touristy things, obviously, but don't expect to go anywhere without crowds, rediculous prices, and aggressive souvenir vendors. Sunday we went to the Colloseum. We got there early so didn't have to wait in line, and it was really great. The weather was fabulous. One thing I forgot to mention, is in Italy they love cats. I love cats. I saw three at the Vatican, and two in the colloseum. There was also a cat sanctuary by the Pantheon for homeless cats.

On Monday we continued wandering around Rome, we went to the Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Stairs, the Pantheon and the Forum. .
Tuesday morning we got on a train (note: don't be dependant on trains to be on time, they aren't). Ellen and I went to Florence for the day. Then we got on another train and went to Venice. Venice was my favorite part of the trip. They also had cats, and lots of gelato, but they were on the adriatic sea too. We stayed on the island of Lido in a nice hotel and so we had to get a waterbus pass (big waste of money, they don't check your tickets on public transportation in Italy). We went to the island of Murano and saw how they made glass, and bought a lot of glass as well. We also went to the Doge's Palace, which I believe to be the most beautiful building I've ever been in, and I was even more impressed by this place than I was by the louvre or the vatican, and that could be because there was hardly a crowd, and I actually got to look at stuff. (but, alas, no pictures allowed).

These flowers are made out of glass and they are so gorgeous.

my attempt at being artsy.

I didn't actually ride in a Gondola, but they are pretty!


okay, that's it for now. I'll attempt more pictures later. I have a lot of school work to do, and I just registered for classes for spring back at SMC...crazy! My only trip left is a weekend to Ireland which I haven't confirmed yet. Hopefully tonight I will go see High School Musical 3!

XOXO
Krista In London/ Italy

Vanessa, Zac, Ashley and Corbin

zac efron: the love of my life

The Empire Cinema


I went to my first movie premiere last night! I stood outside with thousands of screaming fans to see the stars of High School Musical 3 in Leicester Square in London. I was so excited to see Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx4kj8G-hrM
above is a youtube video of my experience. be warned: bad quality and screaming girls.

It was so exciting, but my feet hurt a lot, haha. 9 days until Rome!!!!!!

XOXO
Krista in London

                                                
I know it seems like I'm barely ever actually in London these days, but Scotland is my last trip for a few weeks... at least until October 17 when I leave for Italy!

Scotland was absolutely breathtaking. It was wonderful to get away from hectic city life and just relax in the country, it reminded me a lot of home. There is a vast wilderness in the Scottish highlands filled with mountains and lakes. Edinburgh, the capitol, is also much more relaxed and smaller than London so that was nice. I left London on thursday afternoon and arrived in Edinburgh at around 6:30pm, we stayed in a very nice hostel and explored the city that night. Friday morning we met up with our Tour Bus and set off for the Isle of Skye. We saw lots of spectacular views and stayed in a hostel there. Saturday morning we continued up into the highlands and saw a lot of adorable villages on the shores of the lochs ( gaelic for lake). I had amazing food in Scotland, my favorites being Haggis and deep fried Mars bars. We stayed in another great hostel on staurday night, and sunday morning we explored Loch Ness, some important historical sites and got back on the train for london sunday afternoon. I loved Scotland and I hope to go back.

Now I'm going to read some Shakespeare and eat some chocolate and peanut butter. :-)

XOXO
Krista in London/ Scotland

Hey! I just got back from Paris last night, and it was really great! Friday morning at 5am we all loaded onto coach busses that brought us to the port of Dover, where we waited a few hours for the Ferry. I got to see the famous white cliffs of Dover. We took the Ferry across the channel to Callais, where another coach bus brought us about 4 hours I think, to Paris. I stayed in a nice hotel called Hotel Montparnasse. Friday night we went to the top of the "Tour Eiffel" (Eiffel Tower). The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World Fair and they were supposed to take it down, but they never did. You take an elevator to the top (if you want to pay). There are also lots of stairs. It was very crowded, but the view was fantastic because we got there right for the sunset. After that we went on a boat tour of the Seine river and saw the city at night. From the boat we could also see the tower, because at night they light it up in blue, and at 9pm they turn on flashing white lights so that it looks like a giant Christmas tree almost.

Saturday morning we went on a bus tour of the city. I saw a lot of historical and beautiful buildings, from the times of Louis XIV and Napoleon and it was really cool. We stopped at Notre Dame and I got to go inside, then we walked to the Louvre. The Louvre has so much artwork you can't even fathom how long it would take. I went straight to Mona Lisa, then ended up wandering around the Italian painters for nearly an hour, and by that time my feet were tired. My friend Ellen and I decided to walk back to the hotel, and it shouldn't have been that long of a walk but we got a litle lost right in the neighborhood of the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel we decided to get dressed up and go out to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Charlie Birdy's, it was very nice. I got "steak" which turned out to be a hamburger with a fried egg on top, salad, and "frites" which are what they call french fries. Real french fries are SO GOOD.

Sunday morning we got up and left after breakfast, bus to the port of Callais, then ferry, and another bus back ot the school. I was getting so restless on the bus, and couldn't wait to get back here. We were traveling for nearly 10 hours.

So, this week I have classes, and I am going to see Timon of Athens tonight at the Globe. On Thursday I am going to Scotland for the weekend.

XOXO
Krista in London/Paris

My first starstruck encounter in London!! Tonight after getting lost in Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square my friend Natasha and I stumbled upon the stage door for "Rain Man" where actor Josh Hartnett was signing autographs. We snapped a few pictures, then continued on our way. In front of the theatre we saw some other teen-aged girls taking pictures with another guy so we thought "hey, let's take pictures too!" Come to find out, it was Josh Peck, Nickeloden TV star from "Drake and Josh," his movie "The Wackness" just premiered here.

XOXO
Krista In London

Saturday I went on a bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. The English countryside is absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of something out of a Jane Austen novel. Stonehenge seemed very touristy and busy to me, but it was still very cool to see. Bath was a very pretty town, but also quite full of people. The Roman baths were interesting, but we had a very short amount of time to stay there. Saturday night I went out to Leicester Square with fellow SMCers Dustin and Ali, it was lovely to see them.




XOXO
Krista In London

Dream # 2: complete.. (dream #1 was Wicked)

I just saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe theater!!! ( not the real one that Shakespeare used of course, that burnt down, but a very nice replica!)

The actors were superb, the atmosphere was exciting, the costumes, dancing, music, were so good!! I was a "groundling" so I stood on the ground in front of the stage for three hours. The actors came out in the audience a few times. It was just wonderful.

Another week of classes gone by- hard to believe. I'm really enjoying 3 day weekends! This weekend I'm going to Stonehenge and Bath. I'll post pictures later!!


Hope all is well on the home front.

XOXO
Krista In London

Why hello!! Here's some random pictures that I have on Facebook, but I thought I would post them here too.

Today was the first day of classes, and all I had was one class at 4:30, Human Sexuality. It's a typical power-point-lecture-psych class. My prof. is an American. This morning after breakfast I went on a long walk with Caroline my roomate. We ended up at the Victoria and Albert museum.

Update on the rest of Orientation Week:

Thursday night my dreams came true when I went to see Wicked in the West End. Although it would have been better with people I knew, it was still great and the seats were right in the middle, the sets were gorgeous, the costumes amazing, the actors quite talented. For those of you that have read the novel or seen the show--- I did not know about the ending and I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Friday I went to the Natural History museum again, then walked to high street (which is like our main street) we had library orientation too. That night was the cruise on the Thames.. all my study abroad program people got on a boat and we went up and down the Thames. Other than seeing everything from the Tower Bridge, to the London Eye and Parliament at night, I also got to see the Greenwich Meridian Line.... which they light up as a huge green laser across the river.

Saturday was oodles of fun. We went to the London eye in the morning, and stood in line for awhile. The total time in the actual pods didn't seem very long, but I took a lot of pictures. We ended up walking around to Westminster, Buckingham, and St. James Park after that. There was a barbecue back at the school and then we went to the Jack the Ripper tour. When we got to the Tower of London I saw three girls from Saint Mike's there! The Jack the Ripper tour was very interesting but not scary at all.

Sunday was a day of rest, for sure. I went grocery shopping and watched the Johnny Depp version of Jack the Ripper- From Hell.


So yep, classes the rest of the week. September is going to be very busy. On the 13th I'm going to Stonehenge and Bath, then on the 19th I'm going to Paris, and on the 25th I'm going to Scotland.

xoxo
Krista In London

Hey everyone, sorry it's been awhile posting, I've actually been here since Tuesday morning but I haven't had the internet on my laptop. 

here's a summary of the first day:
 

I arrived at Heathrow airport tuesday morning around 5:30 London time, so 12:30 EST. The school met us with a bus and chartered the group of us to the school. We got our luggage and brought it to our rooms. Unfortunately for me, I’m on the top floor. My ID card that is used for access to the building, as well as my pin code for my room door, were both dysfunctional so I had to have security fix them, then I dumped my stuff and took a nap. Eventually my roommate Caroline came, and we unpacked our things. Caroline  and I went for a walk around Kensington and ended up at the Natural History Museum. It was free! As are the rest of the museums in London. So we went in for a bit but it was terribly busy. We got back here in time for the professional group walking tour of Kensington. This area of London is apparently the most desirable living area, the wealthiest, the nicest. All the homes are old, most have great history. I saw the home where William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound stayed, I saw H. Stuart Mills’ house.. . We went to Kensington Garden and saw the Palace. The only money spent so far today was 4.25 pounds for a power converter thing for my laptop.

2nd day:
Wednesday I was soooo tired. I went to the post office and sent my dad a letter, the stamp was .56 pence. We had computer registration and also had to sign up for orientation activities. I signed up for Wicked (25 pounds),  a boat party on the thames (10 pounds), a trip on the London Eye, (11 pounds) and a Jack the Ripper Tour (3 pounds). I also went to the tube station and bought a week-long tube pass for 24.20. We had orientation meetings and such wednesday night, then I went to bed early... which is like 11pm haha.

3rd day, today. (holy cow its been 3 days already?)
Today I woke up early for a professional bus tour of the city. We left around 9, and headed through kensington to the Natural History museum, the V&A, Buckingham, then went through where Westminster, Parliament, Big Ben etc. are. We also went to the Tate modern, the millenium bridge, saw Saint Paul's, The London Bridge & Tower Bridge, as well as the tower of London. Basically I saw everything there is to see in about 3 hours, and snapped as many pictures as I could. While i was in Convent Gardens watching a street performer I saw my friend from SMC, Ashley in the crowd! When we got back to school I bought a cell phone for $9.99, supposedly it has free incoming calls and texts but I think I'll only use it in emergencies. Tonight I go to see the musical Wicked, which is my favorite even though I've never seen it. 


So, updating and talking to people back home is harder than I expected. I just am always doing something and then when I want to tell everyone how wonderful things are here there are no words to explain. Hopefully this update was helpful. I certainly miss you all, but I'm very happy to be here.

xoxo
Krista[finally]inLondon

So I've finally started packing. Basically I went through my clothes and my bathroom and threw everything I thought I might want to bring in a laundry basket. Soon, I'll start stuffing it into my luggage and whatever doesn't fit I'll leave behind.

I signed up for two trips with the school. The day trip to Stonehenge, ($36) and The weekend in Scotland, ($419). The other cool trips were already full, oh well. I think traveling on my own will be less expensive anyway. I've been researching Ryanair and Eurail prices. 

OH, I don't remember if I mentioned it, but my orientation packet came and it has a detailed outline of orientation week. They have a theatre night in the west end, and one of the shows offered is WICKED. Yipee.

Also, here's that important info if you want to contact me!

Krista Tunnell C/O student mail Kensington House Richmond, The American International University in London 1 St. Alban's Grove London, W8 5PN (Don't forget to put ENGLAND, UK... or something.

If you'd like a post card, send me your address :-)

xoxo
Krista[reallysoontobe]InLondon

Hi all.

So, if you know me, you know I love Facebook. quite addicted actually. I decided as a way of meeting people at my school in London I would make a group (AIFS London Fall 2008) and so far 28 people have joined. One of them is the program director at the school.

He gave us this information, which I'm so excited about..:

"We have both an amazing trip and cultural calendar selection all set out for you all. Trips running this semester include 7 days in Turkey, 6 days in Iceland, weekend adventures in Wales, Berlin, Scotland and hopefully Rome as well as day trips to Oxford, Brighton, Stonehenge and Bath and Windsor!

If that's not enough to get you excited then we have cultural calendar events each week which consist of such London delights as tours of London's galleries and museums, Wembley Stadium, Westminster, Kensington Palace, quiz nights, movies nights, pub nights, etc. Also, if there is anything you would like to do them let us know and we will add it to the calendar."

see Richmond at http://www.richmond.ac.uk

It was one of my mom's dreams to go to Rome......

xoxo
Krista(soon to be)InLondon

First of all, hi everyone, thanks for reading. Krista here.


I leave in less than a month. August 25th out of Boston. Crazy!!

This summer has seemed to go by so quickly, basically consisting of working and reading..not much else.

So, the process of studying abroad, at least at St. Mike's.. started back in January when I met with the Study Abroad couselor at school, told her I had already decided I wanted to go to London to study theatre, and I asked for help looking for a program.

I decided on the American Institute for Foreign Study, (www.AIFS.com) and applied to St. Mike's to see if I could study abroad. You have to have transcripts and letters of reccomendation and essays.. I'm trying to remember.. I just know it was a hassle.. but i got through it.. and was one of the last people to find out because my teacher rec. didn't go through the first time.

So after being accepted to the St. Mike's program then I apply to AIFS, wait a few more weeks, then got their acceptance package, and a personal e-mail from my personal helper-lady, Shannon. She helped me a lot the last few months with really random questions via e-mail and phone.

I picked out my classes with the American University at Richmond.. knowing that I wanted some required classes out of the way as well as some from my major (theatre) and minor (english)

So, I got into the following classes... we'll see how they go:
1. Human sexuality ( will fulfill my psychology)
2. Shakespeare and his world
3. Modern Drama
4. Acting for film
5. Reading and Writing Poetry

I just remembered I need to have these classes cleared with the Dean at SMC because I forgot to.

Right, so after that's done, There's a big checklist on the AIFS website of things to do before you leave.

The most difficult is obtaining your VISA.... ugh.

$226, a trip to Manchester(NH), a hideous passport photo, and lots of confusing questions about my family history and my intentions for going England.. Later... My visa comes in the mail.. (which just FYI a visa is just a page in your passport that's stamped and has an ugly picture of you in it.)


So, the Visa itself was $226, but other expenses occur as well. AIFS has a pretty inclusive package, with tuition, room and board, their programs somewhere around $15,000 not including the flights. BUT, lucky me.. at St. Mike's we only pay the amount of our tuition for a semester if it's less than $19,500. And since i'm a super lucky girl I get a very affordable package. I basically wrote a check for less than $2,000 to go to London...and I'll just pretend for now I don't have $7,000 in federal loans.

Other little expenses they don't tell you about.. $250 for a damage fee, $176 for fuel flight charges, then whatever spending money..

Really nice luggage from Samsonite- a reasonable $103 I think.

So, this is the journey so far... next step is planning and packing...

xoxo
Krista(soon to be)InLondon