Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Halloween from Home!


I would like to take a few moments and appreciate this
Halloween card that came from my parents today:




HAHAHAHA!!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad, it made me laugh and smile!



xx, Kristin


Sunday, October 23, 2011

My New Best Friend

I have a new friend, and his name is Saxon.



In other news, I do not think I am allergic to dogs anymore!!!

xx, Kristin



London, London, London

Sebastian and myself in the
Cafe in the Crypt, I am going to
have to eat here sometime!
Taken by Justin White.
Close up of the
London Eye. 
This has been such an incredible weekend. I am not very good at the weekday part of my schedule - with the reading and the academic writing - but I am very good at the weekend part of my schedule where I am allowed out into London!

This should come as a surprise to no one.

On Friday, I did complete my writing workshop piece - which you will all be able to read in a few days when I post it on my writing blog. I had been working on it over the last few weeks, and I am pretty happy about the result. I put this in print now, so that when my class gives me feedback this coming Thursday, I will remember a time when I was proud of it - haha.

After I finished up with my work, it was time for me to take on the fun side of my schedule. (From Friday night to Sunday night, I am allowed to do whatever I want - says me). I met a few friends for dinner, and then we went to see the movie Contagion. I really enjoyed it, and the cast was incredible, but if you are even a slight hypochondriac DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. You will never touch anyone or anything again. Then, we went out on the town - hit one of our new favorite bars and then crossed the street to do a little dancing at a local club. I was exhausted by 1:30am, but did not get into bed until 3ish in the morning - do to peer pressure, I'm looking at you Stace, haha!

Andy, Alyssa, Justin and myself in the Maple Leaf pub.
Taken by Justin White.
Saturday, I met up with a few people from my course at Waterloo Station and we headed into London. It was really crowded with tourists, but we could not resist walking to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. While I love this walk because of how beautiful the buildings are, and the many memorials along the way, my favorite part this time was that I actually remembered how to walk there! We made a goal of taking 50 pictures each, I only got to 17 pictures for the day. I was having too much fun just being in London.

After strolling through the gallery we headed to a Canadian pub called the Maple Leaf. It was a nice sports bar, but it had a homey atmosphere - even though I am not from Canada. I also tried a new beer called Moosehead. It was delicious. It was really nice getting to know the people in my course a little better and I have to say, we are really cool people!

Andy, Sebastian and myself walking...
somewhere . Taken by Justin White. 
Tomorrow, I have to get back into work mode. I think it will be easier after having such a busy, exhausting weekend. I have some big assignments coming up that I really need to focus on so that I can use my reading week for something exciting, like traveling. I was thinking somewhere easy in the United Kingdom, Wales or Scotland perhaps.

In other news, does anyone want something specific from England for Christmas?



xx, Kristin


Thursday, October 20, 2011

"I'll be home for Christmas..."

One of the hardest parts of my decision to come to England was leaving behind my family. I come from a very close, and supportive family. Every Christmas we get together, and while the celebration only lasts a few days, the comfort that comes from lasts the rest of the year. There was nothing I wanted more for Christmas then to be able to join my family in the celebrations.

AND - I got my Christmas wish! 

I love being here. I love Kingston. I love being in Uni. (And I know you would love it all too)! I feel really great about everything here, and I am feeling more inspired and motivated to work on my writing craft. But I am still really excited to see everyone for the holidays!!!

So, without further ado - here is the information on my coming flight:


LEAVE LONDON:

From my flight from Italy - 2009

  • December 20th, 2011 @ 2:40pm
  • Flight Number: British Airways 189


ARRIVE IN NEWARK:

  • December 20th, 2011 @ 5:40pm
  • Flight Number: British Airways 189

and then... 

LEAVE NEWARK:

  • January 17th, 2012 @ 8:50pm
  • Flight Number: British Airways 188


ARRIVE IN LONDON:

  • January 18th, 2012 @ 8:35am
  • Flight Number: British Airways 188



xx, Kristin


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Show and Tell



This is the view outside of my window: 



This is a spider inside my house:


This is me and some friends at a bowling alley:


This is me, and a friend, and a stranger, on the train:


This is my attempt to balance school work and socializing:



T H E  E N D. 

xx, Kristin


Thursday, October 13, 2011

One Month in London

I have hit the one month marker for my time in London. Last time - this is when I began to get homesick. This time - I am not.

I miss my family and friends - like whoa.

I miss my home and my car - for their small comforts.

I miss knowing where I am and where I am going - because, I am here now and haven't created the next goal yet.

But, I am not really that homesick. I have been in a weird funk, which could be attributed to homesickness, but in further thought, that does not seem to be the case. It actually seems more logical that I am trying to figure out how to balance be a student, being social, and being in London. I give up and, with exasperation, I fall on my bed to never rise - while thinking of the massive amounts of things I could be doing, or should be doing.

Okay, so I do rise.

I do go to my classes.

I do meet up with friends.

Etcetera. Etcetera.

But I am still funked nonetheless.

In other news:

  • I am getting ready to by my plane ticket for the winter break. The dates I am looking at are the 20 to the 8th, but they might change. I am aiming to buy my ticket by the end of the week, so we will know for sure then.
  • I am trying to arrange a time to visit my family in Norway. Right now we are looking at the week of October 31 - November 7. This is my fall break, when I should be doing work - but I'll just make sure to be a little more productive and a little less funked. 
  • My friend, and fellow dork, Ruth and I have just bought our tickets for the STUDIO TOUR OF HARRY POTTER IN LONDON!!! I am beyond, beyond, beyond excited for many inexpressible reasons, which I don't think need to be expressed anyway. We will not be going until mid-April however, so I have to hold onto my pants until then.
  • OMGOMGOMG! ... And now, this 23 year old is moving on ...

These current ramblings are no where near the mental state I thought I would be in after my first month. I guess this is the fun of trying new things, you never know where - or what - you will be in a month. One month ago, I was freaking out in an airport. I was lost between my emotions of being afraid to fly, and leaving my family. I had little, but dear, friends waiting for me here, and now I have more international friendships than I can handle. I was excited to see what this whole publishing thing was about, and to challenge myself as a writer, and now, I am more sure I will be a happy career woman surrounded by books. I knew I wanted to try living in a new place, start fresh, and now I know I want to grow up to be an American. I know want to be the New Yorker that I undoubtedly am.

However, some things never change, like my bewildering and obsessive love of Harry Potter. 

I am very certain the next month will go much faster. I will have more work, less time, higher ambitions and a larger appreciation of a good cup of tea. Also in the next month, I hope to get outside of London and see something new, perhaps make a solid trip to Wales or Edinburgh, maybe Dublin. Maybe I will just get on the train and head north, hoping I am lucky enough to find a small town, with a smaller hotel. I imagine northern England to be much like Cooperstown; right on the edge of a massive collection of culture and excitement - of which it absorbs - but still able to reamin calm, and friendly. 

xx, Kristin



Sunday, October 9, 2011

Care Package

Good News everyone - My inhaler is here!

Just wanted to send out a little public THANK YOU to my parents for sending me a care package that includes chocolate, my inhaler, a compass and some pumpkins. It was really fun to open that bag up.

It seems that my parents really understand me, (note the listed items) - weird.

Other than care packages, I have been having a very lazy weekend. I realized yesterday as I looked at my to-do list, shopping list, and reading list, that it had been a very long time since I did absolutely nothing. Probably before this whole "I want to go to graduate school" thing started.

So yesterday, I took a guilt free break and did nothing.

Now I feel slightly guilty though, because I have no food.

xx, Kristin





Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Timetables & Critical Thinking

Do you ever pause for a moment and ask yourself:

  1. "What am I doing?"
  2. "How did I get here?"
  3. "Is this a good idea?"

They are three very important questions, that inspire a thought provoking answers - if asked.

Today, I woke up decently early to prepare for my 10am class. I struggled to leave my bed, hitting snooze for an additional hour. My body was already arguing with my brain as I sat down in the front of class. Even though I held a distinct smile on my face, there was not much going on behind the deceptive, curtain of my electric-blue eyes. As I tried to shake my mind into action, I tried to remember why I decided to audit this course. I am not required to take it, I will not be assessed for it, and it requires me to accomplish 100% of the weekly reading list.

Ladies and Gentalman, I give you: Product Development and Editorial Management. It filled me with an energy larger, and more explosive than the latte I was sipping at a consistant rate. My tutor, Anna, practically danced in front of the class with the excitement of her material. It filled me with an itch for understanding. I wanted to fully comprehend the depth of her passion for this topic. This feeling grew wider, and within the next two hours I had added another class to my auditing plans.

I wanted to know. 


I needed to know. 

Anything and everything to do with Publishing became a valid interest, and in the security of being surrounded by other book-dorks, it was perfectly acceptable. However, perhaps I should have glanced at the following schedule - my schedule - before letting my excitement get away with me.

As my mother always tells me; "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach." I believe this idea is very similar to what happened to me today, and explains the following intense, and voluntary timetable:

On Monday... 
  • 6-8pm: I attend a Publishing Master Class. This is a guest speaker who comes in and fills us with information of their particular field. This week we had Peter Ashman who works with STM publishing, which involves the lucrative area of medical and scientific journals.
On Tuesday...
  • 10-12am: I attend Product Development and Editorial Management. This is one of the many classes I am auditing this term, however unlike the others, I will have to attend the seminars. So far, Anna has begun talking about developing products and being a commissioning editor. 
  • 12-2pm: Catch up on reading in library. 
  • 2-4pm: I spontaneously decided it would be important for me to learn / audit the Evolution of Publishing. I was right. To know where you are going, you have to learn where you came from. We will be discussing large publishers now and how they got to the top. I volunteered to put a presentation together for next week on John Murray Publishing House, because I have the time. 
  • 4-6pm: Catch up on reading in library. 
  • 6-7pm: I am auditing 10 Critical Challenges for Writers. So very, very interesting but most of the time so very, very over my head. I get so lost in the vocabulary used by our tutor - James Miller - that I find myself dancing and skimming over the main points. But with that in mind, I am absolutely engrossed with the theories and thoughts he brings up in discussion. I find myself in the second week of this class beginning to step back and look at myself as an aspiring writer - it is terrifying. Sentences beginning with, "What if..." as I leave the room, and I have to shut myself up with an encouraging, "You're good." Leave it to me to massage my own ego - which I have learned this week, is a good thing
On Wednesday...
  • As far as I know there are no classes possible for me to audit on this day, and I am not even going to look. This will become a catch up on reading day, PLUS a personal writing day. When am I going to see friends? Or London? 
On Thursday...
  • 6-8pm: Writer's Workshop. This is officially the only class I am responsible for this term. I am really excited for the chance to read the work of my peers - sort out the competition - and have my peers read 'me,' to give feedback. I love feedback, and with the years of art critiques and other strengthening experiences - coughcough - I should be okay. However, that annoying and frightening, "What if..." phrase keeps finding it's way through the chaos of my brain. 
On Friday...
  • 2-3pm: Yes, I am auditing even a class on a Friday afternoon - Narrative Techniques in Popular Fiction. It is also important to mention that this is an undergraduate course. It is also important to mention that I love the basics - you can never get enough basics to build your expertise on. Currently, this class is a hell-of-a-lot-of-work. I have three books to read by Friday, and to balance that with the articles, chapters and essays from other classes, plus spontaneous presentations and my own writing to accomplish, I don't know when I'll find the time to breath... yay being a student again!
Now back to those important questions, I must keep remembering to ask:

What I am doing, is taking advantage of my time as a student at a great university. I am creating the time to learn my field; from the evolution of publishing, to the current workforce. I am focused on gaining the confidence through the knowledge found in classes, and through the guidance of my peers. I want to get every ounce out of this degree, even if it means attending more classes as an auditor, than a registered student. The only downside to my current plan is the growing multitude of valued texts suggested at the beginning and end of every class. They are texts I desperately want because lets face it - I love books. Even if I never read them, they look damn pretty on my collapsing book shelves. 

I am here, because I am serious. I am not here to waste my time or the time of someone else. I am hear to learn, to experience and develop myself as a writer, and as a professional. Sitting in the back of class might be easy, and keeping quiet might save me from looking like an idiot, but I will not gain anything from those bad habits. While I would find it completely acceptable to be the janitor at The New Yorker just to have their name on my paycheck, I am capable of more. I want more. This is the catalyst to reach the next level of achievement, and I am aware of that. 

This is a good idea. This is a wonderful idea. Before I even left the states I was doubtful of my abilities of being a student. Knowing my weaknesses, I feared that I would fold back into my lazy ways and do the minimal required, gaining a decent understanding of the experience, but nothing extraordinary. Once I stepped outside the classroom and used my skills in the workforce, I learned how valuable experience can be if you take advantage of the resources around you. I think it was in the fear of not achieving, and in the inspired awareness, that I have begun to find my success. The drive to learn more, and be more, than the required timetables, and reading lists. In one year, I must build a confidence that will propel myself in the direction of my goals. How can attempting to achieve your goals be a bad idea?

Now, on a completely unrelated note: I appear to be one of youngest students in my programme. Still evaluating the positives and negatives of this one...

How is everyone doing State-side? I ask in the hopes that someone made it to the end of this wordy post on my inner-monologues, and timetable organizing. But really, How is everyone back home? Anything exciting to report?

xx, Kristin


Saturday, October 1, 2011

The Business of Publishing

What about it?

This week I was responsible for attending classes and lectures from 10am - 4pm. With my group we were instructed to create a publishing presentation on how to raise more awareness and money for Ostomy Lifestyle. We excelled.

This week I begun my course in The Business of Publishing, and this week it ended.

I - am - exhausted.

Penrhyn Road Camps at night. This is the building where all my classes are. 

In other news, it's been nearly three weeks.  An unbelievably long three weeks where I have been almost too busy to remember I am in London - other than that day I went with Ruth to visit the Big Ben. Too busy to go food shopping, too busy to sleep - most nights - and too busy to unpack.

I am planning on auditing 6 courses, while being responsible for 2 others that I am signed into. There are lectures, events and contests for writers and publishers and since I am both I have to attend them all. If my first three weeks are foreshadowing this master programme, I might not realize I am not home until I return.

Also, I may not eat.

xx, kristin