deck the halls...

Well hello! My time here is almost at an end, I only have ten days left. It's starting to feel really wierd. I'm excited to go home and have Christmas and see my family and friends, but I'm also kind of nervous about it after being away for all this time. Things will be different, I will be different. They won't be the same as they were the last time I was there. That makes me kind of sad, and nervous for the homecoming.

This week was really really good. It was the last week of classes, and since we don't have exams over here it was the last week of everything pretty much. So there were a bunch of final things to see and do, and lots of photo taking at every oppotunity. Photos taken of every class and with most profs, and lots of fun photoshoots wherever we were because we knew our time together was short. It was really good though, the people here with me are pretty hilarious, and great to be around.

I went to a panto on Wednesday night at the Hackney Empire. BEST SHOW EVER!!! It was part looney tunes, part slapstick, part vaudeville, part Disney movie, and all fun! Tons of audience participation, tons of songs and laughter, a whole bunch of current and regional jokes added in, and two of the main characters were cross-dressed, including the main male hero who was played by a women. Amazing and hilarious! I wish I could see it again, I didn't stop smiling through the entire show, and I left feeling as giddy as a six year old. Pantos are where it's at.

OH! AND, Ian McKellen was in the audience! So we all had fun ogling him a bit. Good times. Brings my celebrity sightings up to two!

People have already started to go home. People already ARE home. It's such a weird feeling. I've still got a trip to Scotland and Chantelle coming to do/enjoy before I go home, and people are already there, reminicing about their time in the UK. I feel like I spent so much of my time over here waiting to go home, and when I get home I'm going to spend so much time and energy on thinking and missing London and this semester. Why is the grass always greener on the other side?

I should go, I leave for Scotland soon (eeeee! so excited!) and I haven't even packed yet!

I'll follow you into the dark...

Hey! Look at me, posting, and it hasn't been a week since my last one! Although, I hate to break it to you, not much has changed since my last post. School is still dictating most of my actions, but I'm at a point now where I can take breaks from it like watching Grey's, going for walks, watching movies (I watched Bridget Jones' Diary tonight!) or going to ISH bad trivia! So it's nice to not be doing one thing all the time, my brain kind of gets fried when that happens.

Talked to my mom for about an hour tonight on the phone, it was so good! We talked about tons of stuff, and it was just so nice to hear her voice again. I'm getting stressed over here so it's nice to hear an accepting voice.

I don't know what else to say. I'm seeing a concert on Thursday for music, Rachmaninov and Dvorak, I'm looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it is!

Back to the grind I suppose, until next time!

bop to the top

I got back yesterday from my Reading Week break. Dianne and I went to France and the north of England. We spent three days in Paris, two in the Loire valley near this small town called Fontevraud (I don't know how to say it!) and then about 5 days just outside Lancaster, near the Lake District. It was all so whirlwind and crazy, and a lot of things went wrong, but it was a great trip. Here are some tidbits:

I chose my courses for next semester from an internet terminal in Heathrow airport. Not sure if I think that's annoying or awesome, but it's done. I have all the courses I want. :)

The day we arrived in Paris was also apparently the day all public transport went on strike, so there were no buses, trains, or subways working in the city and we arrived so late in the day (about 6pm) that there weren't any airport shuttles happening either. We had to take a cab from Charles de Gaulle airport to our hostel. Sucked, but it had to be done.

We took a cruise on the Siene, and it was a great way to see some of the city. We also hit up all the major tourist spots: Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees.

The Loire was gorgeous, and I think I'd rather return there than to Paris. I think coming from London is just felt like another big city, but the Loire was like a different world. Pretty landscapes, nice people, comfy places to stay, and if I had more money I would be able to say good food and wine. Maybe next time?

Once back in Britian we went to Blackpool (on the west coast) to go to a big amusement park called Pleasure Beach. It was really great! We went on tons of rollercoasters and, despite the cold, they were really fun. It's been a while since I've been on roller coaster, it was fun!

We also spent a couple days in the Lake District. GORGEOUS. Such pretty hills (they call them the fells) and valleys. Cute little towns with yummy cafes and great shops. We went to the house Beatrix Potter lived in when she earned enough money to move out of her parents' house. Small and cute, and they've planted a garden like the ones she writes about. It reminded me of that Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit dish set I had when I was growing up. I wonder if that's still around? I'm sure it is, but whether it's out a moving box yet is an entirely different matter. We also drove up a really really windy road through a small mountain in the Lake District, to really get a sense of what it's like. Lots of winds, narrow roads, and sheep! Some sheep even posed for my camera.

And now we're back home, and I'm trying to get back into the school mindset. Today I don't have any set class (well, a show tonight...) so I'm going to catch up on life: write and mail postcards I bought while away, choose a topic for my British art history paper (suggestions, anyone?), and get caught up on schoolwork in general. Oh, and watch last week's Grey's!

I suppose that's all for now. That's not a very good glimpse at what my break was like, but it's hard to tell you everything you want to know without hearing your questions. So ask away if you want to know about something. In the mean time, I'll try to update in a couple days.

WOW

So much has happened since I last wrote! I'm going to try to get it all in! So since I last wrote I've seen four plays and two concerts (holy crap, I know!), been out to celebrate two birthdays, welcomed two of my best friends to London and done a bunch of schoolwork. (Look Martin, I'm talking about school!) I saw two productions of The Merchant of Venice, one at The Globe (which was such a fun experience!) and a fringe production at a theatre in London's east end called The Arcola. The first one was really good because they really tried to take your back to what it would have been like seeing a show during Shakespeare's time. So we stood in the yard, and they simulated daylight, and it was generally a raucous good time. The other production wasn't as good. I liked some of the concepts that were introduced but on the whole I was frustrated by it because they opened a lot of doors and set up a lot of themes and bigger questions and then stopped addressing them. It just felt half-baked.

The other show I saw was Cabaret on the west end, it was really fun too! I don't really like Cabaret but I liked the dancing and the set design, and it was still a show on the west end (in Picadilly Circus!) and the cherry on top was having one of the characters come to our class the next day to talk with us a little about the show and about being an actor in London. He was really nice and it was a great treat to talk to someone in the business.

The latest play I saw was another one at the National Theatre called Rafta Rafta. It's set around an immigrant Indian family and is basically a family comedy-drama. It was a good slice of life for a family like that, and was pretty funny. I think our class liked it.

The two conerts were also good. I saw a lack-lustre concert on tango music (the music was good but the singing and dancing were corny and lame), and a concert by the London Philharmonia on Brahms and Strauss which was really great! The music was so well done and the pieces were moving, I only wished the piano soloist had had more emotion in his playing. But overall it was a great concert.

Last week was Steph's birthday and we went out last Wednesday (though her birthday was Friday) to ISH bar, which was a great time. Jerrrard (our prof) and his wife Diana came out, which was hilarious, and I was really glad that the group just all (or mostly all) came out and was in good spirits. We all had a good time chatting and all that. And then last night Steph, Dianne, Cara, Evan and I went out kind of for Dianne's birthday, which is on Thursday. We wanted to go to the Ice Bar but got there too late (we might try to go back later in the week, even though it had a £15 cover - eek!) and then ended up at a bar in Picadilly Circus called On Anon, which was pretty good. We stayed for a couple pints and then headed home.

Saturday marked the beginning of Cara's & Evan's visit to London! They got here around noon and we've been doing things non-stop since then, with the exception of class. We've been to Regent's Park (duh, it's basically our backyard), Harrod's, Primark, out to dinner, and Cara and Evan have also been to Fortnum and Mason's (a high end dept store like Harrod's), Hamley's Toy Store, and the London Eye. I think theyre having a good time, and it's really great having them here, even with having to share my tiny single bed. Oh, and we've been trading all sorts of gossip and drama, us telling about random things that happen here and them filling Dianne and I in on the drama happening in our group of friends right now.

So I suppose now you're (mostly) all caught up! Tonight we're seeing Carmen for music class (yay!) and this weekend Dianne and I are going to Brighton, and Dianne, Cara, Evan and I might go to Stratford-Upon-Avon to visit Cara's friend from high school. And Steph's off to Amsterdam this weekend for lots of fun and debauchery. We're always busy, now I just need to find time to do work!

Ok! I'm back with more stories. Sorry I haven't posted pics yet, I'm not used to Blogger and haven't put the time in to figure it out yet. There are just so many other things to do!

So when I last left you I was talking about what... fireworks? Which brings us to the beginning of this week. Classes this week were good, we're starting to settle into a good groove which is relaxing. On Tuesday night we went to the Battersea Arts Centre in South London to see an adaptation of Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. Let me tell you, it was A-MAZING!!!! It was the best and most different play I've ever seen. Instead of having the play performed for us, we were totally incorporated into the performance of it. So instead of sitting in a theatre with the actors on the stage, we all got to take part in the play, walking through the building which was transformed into the world of the play. It was so crazy! You could be walking down a hallway and all of a sudden there is a actor walking toward you on their way somewhere. So you can stick in one room and see who comes and goes, or follow a specific cast member through the building, or just wander and take in the whole thing. There was even a saloon/cabaret room with a bar and band and people performing. It was just so crazy and amazing. If ever I doubted my love for theatre, this show just reaffirmed it.

So I guess it's obvious that that was the highlight of my week. Wednesday we went to the Tate Britain (an art gallery specifically for British art) for art class, and we looked at Victorian paintings and stuff, which was interesting. And last night the music class went to the theatre to see a show all about the Tango. So there was tons of great music and lots of dancing. It was a great show musically but the dancing was kind of lack-lustre. Nothing like So You Think You Can Dance!

Today we went to Portobello Market, which was really cool. It has a lot of antique shops and food and clothing stalls. I bought a couple scarves, a black one and a reddish stripey one like my other two. Oh, and Tuesday morning we went to Camden Market which is so cool and such a hippie place to be. It had tons of cool little handcrafted shops, and places to haggle and stuff. I got a bracelet and a pair of earrings for about £3. I can't wait to go back. :)

Tonight we're going out to dinner to a place called Giraffe. It'll be really nice to get away from the same old caf food for a night. I'll be SO looking forward to cooking and home-cooked food when I come home. And tomorrow the roomies and I are going to Buckingham Palace! We get to go into the rooms and stuff before it closes for the year, so I'm going to try to take some pictures.

I guess that's all. I'm off to watch Friends with Dianne and wait for everyone to get here so we can go to dinner. Thanks for commenting people! Keep 'em coming! :)

I have no witty title to put here...

Mainly because I'm so tired! I've been going non-stop since I got here. I've been out every night except one since I got here, and I've been here almost a week! I need to take it easy or I'm going to get sick or crash really hard, neither of which are good prospects.

So! Classes have started, and I'm really enjoying them. I'm taking Music in London, Drama in London, English Art, and Designing a Walking Tour, all of which I've had already. I really like all of them, they're pretty engaging and interesting and are very London-centric. Also, the workload isn't too heavy so I'll still be able to explore the city and travel. But the best part is that through taking the drama and music courses Dianne, Steph, and I go to two performances a week! Monday we went to the National Theatre to see George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, about Joan of Arc. It was amazing!!! The set design was pretty symbolic and SO beautiful, and the production had this musical accompaniment that was just so so good. It had this amazing intensity in some scenes that was just overwhelming, I loved it! Anyways, tonight for music class we saw an opera by Benjamin Britton called Alfred Herring which I really enjoyed. And we're going to see Carmen in a couple weeks - my nan would be so proud!

Also, I've discovered my London vice, and it's name is Primark. It's a clothing store where things are really nice and really cheap. I found a purse for £6, a cashmere cardigan for £10 and a whole bunch of shirts for £4 or less. It's like Winners, only I only get one brand choice. Anyways, it's a marvelous store, and I'm trying not to go back there daily to check out their £6 jeans and £1 shirt racks.

Anyways, it's getting on to 1am here and my roomies are already in bed so I think I should go. I finished reading Le Petit Prince and now I'm onto a new one, I borrowed Midnight in the Garden of Good and evil from Dana. Mom, is it scary? I don't like reading scary things before bed! I'm lame, I know.

Leave comments! Love y'all!