Synchronized Skating Summer Update: Kristi King
6/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Synchronized Skating
Kristi King--June 1, 2009
I have been in England for about two and a half weeks now. My summer started out very quickly after I finished my last final. I headed back home to the Chicago area for a couple of days and then hopped on a plane on May 13. I have been to Europe numerous times before for skating competitions, so this was a different experience traveling completely alone. It was a strange feeling to look around and not see 19 other girls wearing the same clothing walking beside me to the gate.
I arrived safely in Manchester, where, after an interesting ordeal with customs, I met my boss for the first time. I almost went to the wrong side of the car. Since they drive on the left side of the road, the driver's seat is on the right side. I still have to think when walking to a car to not go to the driver's side.
I am living in a cute, little town called Staffordshire about 45 minutes outside of Birmingham with two girls from a university in France. I would call Stafford the "Oxford" of England. After driving for a while along the beautiful country side, you finally hit this small town that has a bunch of students from a nearby university.
I am completing a marketing and sales internship for a company called Rondol Technology. They build machines that mold plastics. The machines they make mainly produce plastic items for the medical industry. In the first week on the job, they put me right to work. I represented my company at an exhibition in a town near the one I am staying. While on the stand for three days, I was able to learn more about my company's industry and meet people from all around the world. Many of my new acquaintances--who, once they found out I was American--informed me of where I HAD to go while I was here.
I've traveled to London the past two weekends since it is only a train ride away from the town I am staying. I have been lucky because the weather was gorgeous both weekends. Since I am here through connections of my own and not through the school, I am essentially traveling by myself.
The first weekend I went to London, I met up with some friends who had just graduated from the University of Illinois who were traveling around Europe. That weekend there was actually a bank holiday, so on that Monday they had a huge festival, shut down a major street and had a lot of promotional areas since most people had the day off work. Free give aways!!!! Apparently "Night at the Museum" was a big hit over here because the promotional work for "Night of the Museum 2" was ridiculous. People dressed up as characters from the movie in the street and flat screen TVs were everywhere playing the trailers and interviews from the cast.
This past weekend in London, I walked around some more, showing the historical landmarks to my sister, Marissa, who came here on Thursday to stay with me for a little bit. She was here to help me celebrate my 21st birthday, which was on Sunday, May 31!! What a way to celebrate your birthday but in a great city like London.
I've seen a ton of the sights such as Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and the Tower Bridge. I even did one of those open-top, double-decker bus tours!
I was also able to stop and take in some culture at the National Portrait Gallery where I viewed some paintings by Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Monet and Michelangelo. It was very cool to see paintings that I have studied in school, in person. I also went to the Tower of London where I saw the largest diamond in the world and then to the British museum where I caught a glimpse of some real mummies. They looked absolutely disgusting but they were fascinating.
I have become very skilled at traveling around London using the underground "Tube" system which gets you to anywhere you want to go very quickly and it is extremely easy to use! I wish Chicago had a system so quick and easy. The tube actually lead us to a very famous spot in London, the King's Cross St. Pancras train station. This is where Harry Potter gets on the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾ , so of course we stopped for a photo op.
Sitting and having lunch in little outdoor cafes has become one of my favorite things to do since I have been here. The live music everywhere, people watching and sunny weather makes for an enjoyable atmosphere.
Next weekend I think I am heading up to Manchester, then staying local for a while until I leave for Barcelona to visit my teammate Kelly Smith. Then I travel to Rome to visit another teammate, Mary Halling, and then I head to California. It has been a busy summer so far, and I am just getting started.
This is the first in a series of updates from the Miami University synchronized skaters throughout the summer.
