First Week of Classes :)

After a long awaited time, classes have finally started this week.  This semester I am studying Fashion Buying 1, Financial Management 1, Product Technology Management 1 and Fashion Theory 2.  I am very excited about my classes -- they seem to be very interesting and about things I love and enjoy.  


So far this week I have only been to Fashion Theory 2 and Product Technology Management 1.  Fashion Theory 2 is a course that has a learn how modernity and postmodernity have influenced fashion.  We will be taking a field trip to the Manchester Art Gallery and looking at art work.  Product Technology Management 1 is a CAD or computer aided design classes but specifically for fashion.  We will be doing 3 projects on the computer and our first one is a mood board.  Once I am finished maybe I will post my work on here.  


Stay tuned for more about my classes and adventures in Manchester.  This afternoon I have Fashion Buying 1 and then tomorrow I have Fashion Buying 1 again and Financial Management 1 as well.  


Love you all, Allie

LONDON CALLING

MY TRIP TO LONDON IN PHOTOS

 Myself and Miya on the train waiting to leave Manchester Picadilly Station.

 After getting lost and it taking 3 hours to get to our hostel.  We decided we needed a picture with our bed.  The hostel turned out to not be in a bad location at all, we just had the wrong directions in the first place.  All things considering the conditions of the hostel could have been worse.  We had a bed, a shower to use and they fed us continental breakfast.

 Our first destination was Tower Bridge.  We arrived there right at dusk on Thursday evening and walk over the bridge and also saw the Tower of London where all of the jewels and possessions are kept - because of the darkness of night, I never got a good picture of the Tower of London.

 Friday started with an early rainy morning and seeing Big Ben.

 After Big Ben, we saw the House of Parliament.  Both are located in Westminster along with Westminster Abbey.  This is a picture of Aaron and I in front of the House of Parliament.

 Then on to see Buckingham Palace.  I heard from someone that if the flag is at full staff, the Queen is in the House.  In the back of the picture you can tell the flag is fully up.  Maybe the Queen was in the Palace while we were there?!?!  

 My view from the London Eye.  Unfortunatley, Friday was a rainy day and my pictures are gloomy, but on a positive note the London Eye was an amazing experience.  It is so neat to see everything.  In this picture you can see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

 Me from inside the London Eye!!! :)

 Saturday brought us a relaxing day of shopping and looking at unique stores.  We went to Harrods and had afternoon tea there.  Because of many restrictions I was not allowed to take any photos.  Also, we got to see the New Shoe Galleries at Selfridges London that just opened in the past couple weeks after London Fashion Week.  The shoe galleries is 35,000 square feet and displays over 4,000 styles of shoes!!! What more could a fashion Diva ask for?!?!?

Lastly, we visited the Tate Modern Museum of modern art.  It was very neat and interesting.  Once again because of the restrictions of photographs I didn't get to show you anything that was inside!  I would recommend, if you ever are in LONDON.

Overall, my trip in London was absolutely amazing.  I will have to say half the reason it was so fun was because of the people I was with.  These were just a few highlights of my trip.  We also went to the British Museum and the National Art Gallery and had dinner in China Town.  

Now we are down to business.  Classes officially started this morning and I am excited to be back on a routine.  I will let you all know how they go!

Until next time.  XoXo & love, allie

Exciting News :)

I have exciting news for all of you across the seas.  I am going on my first adventure beyond Manchester.  I will be traveling to London this weekend with Miya and Aaron.  Miya is a Fashion Buying student from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City but from Seattle, WA and Aaron is an International Business student from his hometown university, Buffalo State.  We are leaving Manchester on Thursday by train and then exploring London until Sunday morning when we venture back to Manchester to start out course units.  


I also have officially been in Manchester one week.  I arrive last Tuesday and I have made it one week on my own in a big city.  It is great here.  I am loving the places and the people I have met so far, but it will never be like home.  Home sweet home.  


One last thing.  This is an exciting week because tomorrow I will get to know the classes I will be taking.  So I will be taking for courses/classes in the program of Fashion Buying, but I will know specifics tomorrow.  That will be nice because I have been waiting for this "timetable" or what we would call a schedule for ages.  In America we get our timetables months in advance, but here they wait until the week before classes.


Keep up with me as I travel to London this weekend!




love and miss you all. allie

Out Exploring Manchester

I went out and explored Manchester on this lovely Sunday after noon.  And when I mean loving it was only spitting rain drops.

Took a few pictures but here is one of myself with the Midland Hotel -- was told by a friend of Danielle's, who lives in Manchester but studied at SDSU that the Midland Hotel is where the Prime Minister stays if he is in town.  Iisha was nice enough to show us around this afternoon. :)

love and god bless, allie

Happy Birthday :) & Are you from America

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALEX AND CARLY!  LOVE AND MISS YOU GUYS!   I HOPE YOUR DAYS ARE WONDERFUL!!!

"Are you from America?"


This is one line that has been over used by the British people in only 5 days of being here.  British people are obsessed to meet people from America.  I have noticed they really love to meet us and I have heard several say just talk to me so I can hear your accent and that is the way I feel about them.  Isn't it the truth that people always want and love the things they can't have.

Later today I will be uploading my pictures of my room and the Hollings campus, the one I will be studying at.

So far my time in Manchester has been a blast, but love and miss all of you :)

allie

Differences

England and the US have many similarities such as we speak English, have 4 seasons, and humans invading space, but there are plenty of differences that have made my trip what you would call interesting so far in the first four days.  

First off.  They call the restroom or bathroom toilets.  I felt so awkward today asking the lady at the amusement park where the "toilet" is.  It just seems kind of blunt like you mise well tell them I have to pee or take a poop.

Another thing that is weird is that they drive on the other side of the road and on the other side of the car.  Also, they drive like they are on the autoban even in town.  I think I am more likely to get ran over on my trip than anything else happening to me.  

They don't believe in water fountains in the UK.  I have been drinking tap water, but at the university and out at the mall they do not have a water fountain in sight.  I think there people just drink beer. 

And last but not least,  I have been freezing my tail off here.  They don't have quite the heating system we have.  They have wall radiators that run for an hour and then you have to click it on again yourself.  So I am not getting desperate and will be purchasing heavy fleece or flannel pajamas.  I did see adult footie PJs and was considering those.

love you all!  allie

The Begining

So...where do I begin...  My journey yesterday began at 9am in the Sioux Falls airport.  I checked my baggage and off I was through security (which went fine).  Once up in the gate terminal, I started talking with the other 3 gals I am traveling with Danielle, Chilee, & Rebecca.  We had a wonderful flight to Chicago and then has a horrendously long lay over of about 5 and half hours.  But overall the time went fast as we discussed things we wanted to do while in Europe and our fears and so on.  


The real journey began as we boarded our flight for Manchester at 5:15pm in the afternoon.  I was lucky to sit by and older native couple from York, England, to which they helped me answer some questions and they gave me tons of knowledge on things to do and see in Manchester.  We landed in Manchester at 7:30 am (1:30 am 9/14 at home) and off I was to customs and baggage claim, which all went well.  Last but not least I found my MMU student who was suppose to be picking me up and getting me to my accommodation.


After getting settled my afternoon consisted of just walking manchester with the Girls and a guy we met from North Carolina.  We all walked down to the town's city centre and saw all of the great shopping areas and checked in to bus passes and cell phones for safety reasons.  The shopping centre is going to be very dangerous for me, so I will try to stay away.  But I did find one place that was quite interesting and that is ASDA (aka Wal-Mart).  ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart and operated just like our stores with many different selections of products.  


So far the most exciting part of my trip as been listening and seeing all the people.  I am excited to get to know them better and learn their culture better.  I will say this, if they are driving a car, it is very expensive and nice and they drive like bats out of hell.  So if you think Americans are bad please come visit Manchester, England.


Pictures tomorrow.  I am tired!  I have calculated and I believe I have been up for 30 hours and couldn't really sleep on the plane (tight quarters and uncomfortable).  I am going to shower up and get some rest for tomorrow.


So long!  Love, Allie

Carly, Anni, Carson, & I at Huset's this summer.  These are 3 of the people I will miss the most!  

Love, Allie

2 days

Well today is official, only 2 days left until I get on a big bird and fly towards Manchester, England.  I am very excited, but the nerves have finally set in.  I am curious what to expect and I am very curious just to see and take everything in.  With such little time left in the US, I have packed, but mainly spent time with family and friends.  Oh and on my cell phone.  I will miss all the people dear to me, but being in England without a cell phone will definitely be different.  I will have to get used to using other means of communication to talk to friends and family across the ocean.

I will let you all know how my flight from SF --> O'hare goes and beyond.  Thank you to all of you who have wished me good luck in the UK, I plan on having an experience of a lifetime.

Love & Best Wishes, allie

SKYPE

Hey all,


I wanted to let you know that I know have Skype.  My Skype name is alliedubya or search for Allie Wolfgang.  I would enjoy talking to all of you while overseas, it would make time go faster, but also keep up to date with things going on back in SF and USA.


Were now down to about 10 days before I leave and I am just finalizing some paperwork and going to finish packing later this week.  But until then I have a birthday party for Alex and Carly tomorrow and Robby is racing Saturday, Sunday & Monday.


Love & Best Wishes,  allie

12 days and counting!

Hey Everyone,

As many know I am off to Manchester, England in 12 days to start a new chapter of my life for a short while.  I am taking on a study abroad adventure and studying at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).  While there I will be studying in the program of Fashion Buying.

I wanted to create a central place all of you (friends & family) can go to read about my time in Manchester and traveling around Europe.  I want to keep you updated at least once a week, but hopefully more often with stories and photos.

Just a little update as to where I am at in my pre-MMU planning.  I have all of my paperwork lined up and on a logistics stand point I am ready to go.  Mentally, I am ready to go, but not quite physically left.  It looks like a tornado has gone off in my room the past few days as I have been looking through my clothes and trying to sort out what will be brought and what will be left.  You know that is very hard for a fashion diva like myself.  :) But I think I found the solution to it all, space saving bags.  I will put things in them and then vacuum out the air, it shrinks the clothes down quite a bit.  I thought by starting to pack early I would save my mom some laundry next week, but oh I forgot we are still not caught up for being gone at the Nationals for 10 days....so once again laundry will be an never ending project for her.

I will write again soon.  September 13th is where it all begins at the Sioux Falls airport with 3 other lovely ladies.

love and best wishes, allie