Updates and Observations

First things first:  I did get the internship at A and B Publishers!  About 4 hours after the interview, I got a call from Andrea in Westminster's internship office saying that A and B has offered me a position.  Of course I accepted!  So starting in January, I'll working working roughly 2 days a week there--depending on how my course schedule hashes out.  I need at minimum 15 hours a week.  So it should be great!

It is getting towards the end of the semester.  I have three more papers to write before December 15th and 16th.  My theatre paper and American Lit. paper should be decent--I think I have a firm grasp on those subjects and my topics for both are solid.  My Critical Perspectives essay however tend to shoot me into immediate frustration and anxiety--I don't really know where to begin and that worries me.  But, I am good at asking questions and getting the information I need, so it's just a matter of time I guess. 

Last week I took a detour on my walk home from Regent Campus to Marlebone High Street's Tesco to pick up a food supplies for the next few days.  Since I had some time, I did a little roaming just to check out the street a bit more.  It has become one of my favorite streets I think.  It is close, has lots of little shops, cafes, and pubs.  There are two great bookstores--one is a discount secondhand store and the other is an adorable cozy shop.  The Tesco carries more things than the one of Baker Street.  It is usually pleasantly populated but not overly crowded.  It isn't really a destination like Oxford Street is so it feels very local and home-y.  I like it quite a lot.

For my Modernism class, we are reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, which I actually haven't read before.  I have come across it many times, it was often an option for reading assignments in high school, but for some reason I've never actually read it even thought I know a decent amount about the story and the author.  Anyways, I am glad that I am reading it for the first time here because the locations mentioned in the book really are as much of a character as Clarissa is and I am basically living in the exatct spot where the book takes place.  Regent's Park, Baker Street, Bond Street, St. James Park, Harley Street--I have been to these places, I living in these places, I walk by, through, around, in these places often.  It definitely has given the story and the book more meaning to me because I have a very clear picture of what is going on in the story since I have such a clear vision of the setting.  While I've always been one to imagine the plot going along in my head when I read books, it is a different experience to have more factual components in my imagined vision.  It is a little surreal.  Reading any specifically English writer, like Dickens, is like this now--I can see how if you grew up here, how these stories really would have a deep meaning, a big place in heart and mind and soul of a literary person.  American books sometimes do the same thing--if you read something about where you are from.  But because America has so many different kinds of places in it--the South, West coast, East coast, etc., we don't always have the same connection to it unless it takes place in our specific region.  The only thing I can kind of equate this to is the T.V. show Home Improvement.  That took place in the suburbs of Detroit.  And I love that show not only because it is funny and the acting is great and the stories are true and relatable, but I've always thought it was really neat how I understood ALL the cultural references--which not everyone else in the rest of the U.S. would necessarily get unless they had lived in or been to Detroit itself.  Supporting the Lions even though they're a terrible team, the inncessent talk about cars, references to Joe Louis Arena, "up-north", etc., these things are more specific to our area and not as many people understand the references.  It is the same with this book.  Because I'm here, I feel like I know more about it just because I've physically been to the setting.  It is quite a cool feeling.

I only have one more play to go to, Joseph K, and it is a musical.  I recently saw Hungry Ghosts, which centered on British motorcar racing in China.  Strange combo, I realize.  But it was actually REALLY good.  The plot had a lot of political sub-storylines running through it, along with commentary on the effects of capitalism in China and the rise of China as a dominating world power.  I've always had an interest in Chinese culture--I think it stems from my love of Amy Tan novels.  So this play I found just plain fascinating.  It took place in the Orange Tree Theatre, which is basically Fringe theatre (like off-broadway).  So the space was set up in the round and was very small.  I liked it a lot because I could watch other audience member's reactions to the play as well as the play itself.  One woman in particular who sat across from me was my favorite to watch.  From eavedropping a bit during the intermission, I gathered she was Chinese herself, attempting to make it as a West End theatre actress in England but wanted to start off in Fringe theatre as a stepping stone into her career to gain experience.  She spoke English very well, even with a bit of an English accent--she must have been living here for a while.  During the play, when the brother and sister in the story recall the terrible things they were forced to do as kids to betray their family during the cultural revolution, I found myself tearing up a bit, but she was so moved, her whole face crumpled into this intense emotion of sadness mixed with understanding and empathy.  I don't think I've ever seen an audience member react so openly to a scene like that before.  Her face was very open to her emotions.  It was just as moving to watch her as it was to watch the play sometimes. 

I decided to do my Theatre class presentation on the Handspring Puppet Company.   I finished it this past Thursday.  I have such an appreciation for the sincere thought that goes into the philosophy of puppeteering after doing all my research.  The company is based and founded in Cape Town, South Africa.  It started out as an educational tour group for primary schools to help teach kids basic lessons.  But after about 5 years, the company wanted to branch out into adult puppetry, so they started writing their own plays and making their own puppets for that.  It turned out to be a very successful decision, as they've been touring the world ever since.  I found myself actually enjoying working on this project--I tend to not like presentionations just because they take so long to put together since it has to look nice and include audience participation.  But I've come up with the idea of putting on a mock press conference, so each student in my class will have a question to ask, which I will pass out at the beginning of my presentation.  And those questions link up to my different power point slides and those will give the information about the company.  Hopefully it goes well.  I present it in a couple weeks.

I also recently went to the National Gallery and Portobello Road with Callum.  Both places were quite nice.  The National Gallery is very much on par with the DIA--it made me proud that Detroit has just as good an art museum as London. haha.  The museums here are free--which is quite nice.  I really like that I can do something like that for no money, it is good on a university student's wallet.  Portobello Road had a very nice street market. Fruit is a big thing--there were literally stands of fruit for about a block or two all in a row.  So if I ever need cheap fruit, that's the place to go.  They also had other vendors, some selling jewlelry, others hot food, still other clothing.  It was a good mix. 

I have put up pictures of my walk to Regent Campus and some sight seeing pictures that I took on the day I spent with Anne in Westminster.  Check them out if you wish. :)