It’s been a while since my last general check-in blog where I wasn’t talking about something I did on vacation. November has been a much more back-to-business month after fall break. My classes are all going well, I’ve been on some very interesting walks to see things such as the Inns of Court, I saw a national youth theater production of Shakespeare’s Othello, I got to go to an international brand museum, and I got to interview a successful spy novelist among other things. I’ve been really enjoying how my classes take advantage of the city and how we get to go out and experience it every once in a while instead of sticking only to lectures. However, the end of the semester is almost here and my final projects, papers, and exams are causing me some stress to say the least.

My internship is also going well. Alcohol Concern’s Alcohol Awareness Week campaign was successful and as a part of my involvement in that I was able to attend a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group of Alcohol Harm. I had a badge, went through security, and got to meet an MP or two. It was a very interesting and exciting experience. I’m getting busier at work as we get closer to January and Alcohol Concern’s Dry January campaign. I feel bad that I’m going to leave as soon as they get close to crunch time, but there’s not much I can do about it except make sure my work gets done.

In one of my earlier blog posts, I had mentioned wanting to meet actual British people, well mission accomplished! My friends and I had a “Friendsgiving” where we all made Thanksgiving food and had a large dinner together to celebrate Thanksgiving. Two of my friends invited some English people they had met, so I was able to befriend them as well. They were both very nice and very funny.

I think that I am getting used to some of the cultural differences. the only thing that still throws me for a loop is some of the vocabulary that exists in British English. For example, at my internship I found out that they refer to railroad crossings as “level crossings”. Thankfully this issue doesn’t come up too much, but it still happens occasionally.

Okay, now for the fun part where I go on about my day trip. One thing that I got to do recently was spend a Saturday in Brighton. I missed the CAPA sponsored trip earlier in the semester (I went to Stratford upon Avon and Oxford instead) so I was glad to get the chance to see Brighton. It was a very nice place and I can imagine that it is even nicer in summer when it isn’t freezing. I was surprised that the beach didn’t have sand, but instead was covered in small rocks. I can;t imagine that would be comfortable to lounge on. There were also a lot of cute shops, such as a chocolate shop that had several impressive chocolate statues on display. I also took a look around the pier, played some arcade games, and ate some tasty fish and chips. I didin’t spend too long in Brighton, but I was glad that I got to see a bit more of the U.K. before I go back to the United States.