Weather wise today started off kind of chilly but the sun ended up coming out for a couple hours, but then managed to disappear again. Towards the end of the day it did look like it could rain any minute, but didn't.
This morning I had all intentions at leaving at 9:10 for class because that would give me plenty of travel time plus extra time in case something happened. But when I got downstairs people from my group were waiting and they were only waiting on one more person, so I decided to wait, I gave them until 9:15 and then I was leaving no matter what. I don't do well with being rushed or late. But we left around 9:15. The trip wasn't bad. On the way one of them mentioned getting of at Oxford Circus, the stop I originally on getting off the day before because I knew how to get to class from there, but I said that after class the previous day I figured out how to easily get there so I could lead us there. When we got to the Regent Park tube station we got off and we usually take the life (elevator) up but there was only one working and there was a line and waiting in line would have made us late. Case in point why I wanted to leave earlier, for such delays. So ended up we took the stairs. Unfortunately, there were about 80 stairs in a spiral stair case we had to go up. My thigh were burning by the time I got to the top, but definitely got the work out in for the day. Then we managed to make it out of the station and I then lead the group to the building where our classes are held. It is actually fairly simple. Once exiting the tube station we head right and then we make a right at Cleveland Street and another right at New Cavendish Road and it puts us in front of the building.
For class today we talked about Porter's 5 forces and we did an activity with it. Following that we got to do an activity where we had about 45 minutes to go to 3 retail stores and look at the trends and what products they had to satisfy those trends. Being in central London made this a fun assignment because we ended up going to Blake's (outdoor store with high end product like North Face), Nike Town, and Zack's (a dress shop with cheaper prices). This class might end up being one of my favorite classes in my college career just because of the opportunity to have easy access to so much marketing just by walking down the street. It allows the class to be hands on and use real world application.
Following class I ate lunch in the cafe in the building, my 3 pound deal with a sandwich, chips and a drink. Not too bad for London meal expensive wise. After lunch I headed back down the street to Nike Town to check it out more in depth and I ended up buying a couple things. I was just really impressed by the store appearance. I will hopefully make it back down there and be able to get a couple pictures to show what it looks like. It makes it look like a really upscale store. Then after that I went back down to Argos, the catalog store, and found a mattress topper, the springs were killing my hips, and I managed to find a blanket, but I had to order it and it will be here Monday. Because there are no A/C's I have to use the windows and my fan to try to control the room temperature. There is a lack of A/C's because it doesn't usually get hot enough to need one and they don't have bugs here so you are able to leave your windows open. It is definitely different than the regular Kansas summer that I'm used to. Wearing jeans at the end of June is almost unheard of, but here it is a normal thing.
After Argos I headed back to my room and I managed to put my mattress topper on. I am quite excited to sleep tonight knowing it will be more comfortable. Then I got to Skype with Mom for about two and a half hours which was nice since I haven't really got to talk to her much since I left. But we decided that this would be a good time every week to Skype. Technology has definitely came a long way in the last couple decades. Following that I ate dinner and worked on planning out everything I want to do while I am in London so that I am able to schedule everything and not worry about not being able to do something.
Tomorrow should be an interesting day. They have a teacher/student strike that will be taking place from 11:30-2:30 and they have actually closed down certain main roads and will be on other roads that will cause more traffic congestion also. But in a city this big they at least plan the event so that people that use public transportation or drive are able to find other routes or allow for more time to get places. Our director sent us a message with the roads to avoid and what would be safe roads so we don't in up in the mass of people. I plan on leaving for class a little earlier to hopefully miss some of it and then I will avoid the certain roads on the way back so I don't have to worry. In addition on the way home tomorrow I will be stopping at the box office to pick up my Harry Potter ticket.
Link to article about the strike: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-104909/Teachers-strike-hits-capitals-classrooms.html
Extra Info: Saturday at 7:30am we leave for Wales and then we return on Sunday. Afterwards I will let everyone know how it went and everything we did and hopefully get to post some pictures!
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