Busy Week

After returning from Italy and having a great time, Amy and Caitlin came with me back to London, along with John and Billy. I did the tour guide thing, showed them around London and what not. It was nice to see both of them, especially in my city! They all really loved London and I am glad they had a good time. On Monday night, we even went to see The Phantom of the Opera on stage in London's West End. It was really cool to see it!

On Tuesday, my British Life and Cultures class went to Brick Lane and ate at a traditional Pakistani restaurant. Yep, that's right. My class went out to eat and the school paid for it. What a great learning experience! The food was so fantastic. They just kept bringing out some of the more traditional meals one right after the other. It was amazing! I ate so much. I said that it was like a spicy Thanksgiving meal, it was that good!

On Wednesday, I started my internship with Penal Reform International (PRI). It is a Non-Governmental Organization that works with foreign governments to reform the prisons in their countries. They push for things like health and safety in the prison, stopping overcrowding, finding alternatives to prison, trying to rehabilitate prisoners too. I really enjoy working there. The staff is very friendly, and very very passionate which is so exciting to see! I really look forward to going to my internship all the time. Plus, who can beat working 5 hour days, with a paid lunch? That's right, I got a great deal!

Also, the Election is this Tuesday!! I am sooooooo ready for this. I have been anticipating this for some time now, following it for close to 2 years diligently. Hopefully, America, you do the right thing and VOTE! I would like to tell you who to vote for, but I won't. I just want everyone to vote if they are eligible. If I can vote from London, you can vote from home!

I plan on staying up all night here to watch the live coverage. Remember, there is a 6 hour time difference from home, so I will be up until the wee hours of the morning (5-6am) to see what is going on. There are also huge parties all over London where you can go to watch the coverage. Most serve food and drinks, and you can win prizes and play games, all while celebrating the election. It is so fascinating to see a different country get so into another country's election. But that just shows how much the world looks to us for things, whether they like it or not. I already told my supervisor that I won't be in the next day after the election as I will be passed out for the entire day catching up on my sleep! So I will just go in on Monday to make it up.

Finally, this is the big time for guests. Besides Amy and Caitlin coming to visit last weekend, my mom and aunt are hopping the pond to visit next weekend for 6 days I believe. That will be exciting. Then, the next weekend after my family leaves, Jenn and Autumn are visiting from Toledo, Spain. Also visiting that weekend, is my roommate Dave! He is studying in Marburg, Germany (just outside Frankfurt I believe). So it will be great to see some fantastic people in the next few weeks!

Side note: If you didn't notice, quick links to all of my pictures abroad are posted on the right hand side of this page, just scroll down. Enjoy!

That's about it for now! Cheers!
Justin