Weekdays and Weekends here in the TWC Program

I step off the tube at West Kensington station (not South Kensington...I got lost for a good half-hour making that mistake) and follow the crowd of business people through a space in a long brick wall past a guard and a gate into a business courtyard to get to Glu. (Since our office shares a floor with one of the RDF Media offices, we were able to spot David Hasselhoff outside our building last Tuesday!)

Then I make my way up to the office to see 4 of the coolest people I've ever met. Andres, Kat, Etienne, and Joe make up the product management team here in London. They look after the assets and marketing of all of our titles in EMEA.

L-R: Andres leads the team as Head of Product Management, Kat is our creative genius, Etienne & Joe are the awesome product managers!

Then I sit down at my desk and get to work. I've been creating game assets for Diner Dash 3, Millionaire 2010, Gemini Division, Cops and Robbers, and a new game yet to be revealed! I write marketing text, create powerpoints, analyze competitors, and help with urgent projects (which always seem to happen when I'm busiest). It's a casual environment but we're always working hard!

I was talking to the leader of our Malaysian contingent a few weeks ago when he told me something very interesting. We were discussing the casual nature of the office when he said that Glu has an unwritten policy that they only hire rockstars. They know that each star has their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, so the company does its best to welcome them and, in turn, rockstars are ultra-productive for the company.

This explains a lot! It explains why have a full kitchen with all the free toast you can eat. (Yeah TOAST!) It explains why there's an arcade game in the break room. It explains why we listen to headphones and play a combined playlist on Fridays. It explains why there is a room dedicated entirely to gaming complete with Guitar Hero, Xbox, Wii, PS2, a pool table, board games, and a giant connect 4 game. It also explains why the team works until 7:30-8:00 every night, why we win mobile gaming awards, and why our team has some of the most talented people in the industry.

After 9 hours of work, it's time for a Guitar Hero break!

So my weekdays are fun, but what about my weekends?

Weekends:

One of the cool parts about being here in London is the close proximity to the rest of Europe. So a few friends and I decided to explore Scotland and Ireland.

Scotland was first. We ventured off to the land of Sean Connery and Ewan McGregor for a weekend. We took a tour through the highlands and saw some of the most beautiful countryside. We saw the birthplace of the real Braveheart, William Wallace, where the Hogwarts Express runs through, bagpipers, and Loch Ness.

The highlands of Scotland!

James plays the bagpipes for us tourists

Look it's the Loch Ness Monster!

Then we went to explore the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. We walked the royal mile, saw the Edinburgh castle, and watched Wimbledon from a Scottish pub.

Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland

A monument on a hilltop in Edinburgh

I met a living statue while walking the Royal Mile

I also met Michael who was playing Wonderwall (one of my favorite songs!) on the streets of Edinburgh.

Next was Dublin, Ireland. We took a day trip to Wicklow and went down to the coast. There was a lighthouse and cliffs stretching out into the sea. What we thought was sea spray turned in to full out rain and didn't let up. We sought shelter in cafe's and art galleries but eventually decided to cut our journey short and head back to Dublin. There we cooked dinner at our hostel and played killer uno... the best version of uno ever! Later that night, we walked around Temple Bar and found a great cover band playing at the Porter House.

A bird's eye view of Ireland

The coast at Wicklow

Dublin's famous spire

The next day was really fun; we walked everywhere. We started the day at the Guinness store tour -- a 7 story building shaped like beer glass was filled with exhibits displaying the history, production, distribution, and marketing of Guinness. We poured our own pints and saw the Dublin skyline at the "Gravity" bar. Then we walked on to the Gaol, Trinity College, and Dublin castle before catching our flight back to London.

Edith, Emma, Stuart, Me, Adam, and Kristal take the Guinness Store tour!

There are so many beautiful places in Europe! While London is an incredible city, it would have been a shame to only spend my time there.

Rain, Hail, and Harry Potter

Tuesday morning I woke up (and unintentionally woke my roommate up) at 5:00 in the morning to catch a bus to Leicester Square. I'm sure you're asking why would one subject themselves to such torture? The answer is this: To gather with people from all around the world that share a common bond... and for a chance to see movie actors up close.

The highlight of this week (and perhaps my entire trip) was the World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince here in London. Stars, photographers, press, and thousands of fans gathered together to watch the first public viewing of the latest HP movie. So please forgive me non-Harry Potter fans for geeking out about this for a few minutes.

Upon arrival in Leicester Square at 5:30, we found a group of people already waiting in line to see their favorite stars; many of them had spent the night. Snuggling up to a cement post, I spent the next few hours getting making friends with the people near me. This is one of the coolest parts about going. You never have to worry about making friends at this type of gathering because you instantly have a connection with complete strangers. I met Xi from Mexico and Kara from Ohio just sitting in line. We banded together promising to save each other spots, watch each other's things, and share our pictures on facebook.

L to R, Xi, Kara, Me

Then began the big wait; the boredom of which we combated with reading, napping, and playing cards, a few times the sky would onpen up on us and give everything a fresh layer of rain. We watched as about 10 crew men rolled out the red carpet for the show. About 3 hours before anyone was scheduled to arrive, the press showed up. For the folks that had been camping out all day were enthralled. Most of the people around me were from America; this intrigued a newscaster from Channel 4. We were interviewed by Alex Zane, popular from hosting shows like TRL and Balls of Steel on TV.

Before

After

Alex Zane interviewed me for about a minute, and found out that I'll be on TV this Saturday on Channel 4 in London!

Finally it was time for the actors to arrive... only 5 more minutes to go when we were hit with a torrential downpour. Rain soaked everyone of us despite numerous umbrellas and ponchos. This was where the true test of fandom kicked in. We were all standing there pressed up against everyone freezing and soaking only to catch a glimpse of some of the actors. The first to arrive was Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), he ran right past us and into the theater. We were devastated. We'd waited in line all day just to see him walk right past and leave. This was turning out to be one of the worst days. But then, just as some people had given up hope, Dan came back into the crowd ditching the umbrella and braving the rain. Soon after followed Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Daniel runs past

Soon, the rain stopped coming down in buckets and the sky lightened up. The first star to come close to us was Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy). I think if he had time, he would have signed everyone's autograph. He made his way down the line of people crushing each other against the barricades. When he approached my friends and I he asked, "How's it going," but then thought about that for a second and replied to himself, "never-mind that was a stupid question." I laughed because at the time, I was leaning at a 45 degree angle due to 2 people wedging themselves between me and Kara.

Tom Felton signs our autographs

It wasn't long before we encountered more stars. Evanna Lynch, Michael Gambon, Oliver & James Phelps, Matthew Lewis, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Daniel Radcliffe, and many more came by to see us.

Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)

Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)

Oliver Phelps (George Weasley)

Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)

Dan came back through the rain and talked to us!

And in my opinion, the most exciting person we saw that day was J.K. Rowling herself - Author and creator of all this madness. Thanks Jo!

At the end, I was soaked to the bone, bruised from people crushing me against the barricade, and freezing from it all... but it was so worth it. This was hands down the best time I've had in London.

Me after all the craziness had subsided. What an incredible adventure!