I Left My Heart In...?

Every college senior has their answer to the perennial question of "what are you doing after you graduate?" (even if that answer is a lie).  My answer was, "I'm going to stay in DC and hopefully start a career in media, communications, or the arts."  As vague as my career ambitions were (and still are), I knew that I definitely wanted to stay in Washington.  I love DC and was looking forward to learning a bit more of the city beyond the "Georgetown bubble," plus I already had a built-in network of college friends who were also planning on staying in the District.  Up until about mid-July, I wasn't even interested in looking for work anywhere other than DC, and I fully expected to live there for a few years, at least until I decided to go to grad school.

But now I'm in London, and if I learn nothing else from this experience, I'll have learned that I have no idea where I want to end up after this.  I'm already in love with London, and honestly, DC seems quite small in comparison.  I would still be perfectly content to end up in DC when I return to the States, but my mind is now much more open to the possibility of moving somewhere else, like New York....or Chicago....or San Francisco....or even staying in London!  All last year I said that if a job opportunity arose somewhere other than DC, I would accept, but I think now I'm much more willing to actively seek out work in other cities.  Given the fact that I am perpetually unable to make decisions, your guess is as good as mine as to where I'll be three months from now.

So what's so great about London that has contributed to this new life philosophy?  First and foremost, the weather.  To go from the oppressive heat and humidity of Georgia and DC, where the temperatures in both places are regularly in the 90s, to a place where it actually feels like fall is amazing.  It can still get pretty warm in the afternoons here, especially when I'm out walking Xavier, but I still wear jeans every day.  And occasionally jackets.  It's wonderful, especially since fall is my favorite season.

I'm also enjoying my job in the House of Commons.  It's very different from my college internship in the Senate--in my office on Capitol Hill, there were about 15 interns and an entire team of staffers; here, I work with one other woman in my office.  Even though my responsibilities are mostly relegated to dealing with mail and email (typical intern duties), I already feel like I have more independence and responsibility than in my previous political internship.  With only two people in the office, things just have to get done!  Oh yeah, and I have a view of Parliament.  And I can hear Big Ben chime the time throughout the day.  Not a bad set-up at all.

Portcullis House, where my office is

And of course, I'm having a blast with Xavier.  We go on lots of walks together--because he won't take a nap otherwise--and I've gotten to spend a lot of time exploring the neighborhoods around us.  I walk all over the place, and I already feel like I have a much better knowledge of the city, or at least of my little corner of the city.

We walked by Abbey Road on one of our walks this week

When I'm not busy with my jobs, I get to play tourist.  Friday I set out on my own to see the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace, which are only open for two months in the summer when the Queen is away.  The tour was quite impressive!  From there I managed to find my way to the Victoria & Albert Musuem (my navigational skills have been improving since I've been here) where I saw a fantastic exhibit on Grace Kelly and her clothes.  On Saturday I got to take my first dance class in over four years!!!  I took a jazz class at the famous Pineapple Dance Studio in Soho, and it was wonderful.  My body protested a bit at first--I've lost quite a bit of my formal dance technique--but it was so great to take class again and to get to do some fun choreography.  I'd like to try to make it to at least one class a week--I'm especially intrigued by the bhangra class and the Michael Jackson class.  They clearly offer a huge variety of classes!  Sunday we enjoyed a lovely picnic in Regents Park, where Xavier did battle with a peach, much to our amusement.  In the afternoon I checked out the Thames Festival, an annual London farewell-to-summer celebration on the banks of the river.

Xavier vs. peach.  The results were...sticky.

It's funny, I feel like my life, at least in college, has always been in a state of lots to do and no time to do it (Georgetown) or lots of time and nothing to do (Dalton).  Here, at least on the weekends, I have lots of time AND lots to do, and the variety of things to do and see can be a bit overwhelming!  I guess that means I'll just have to do my best to take advantage of everything London has to offer while I'm here.