Friday, June 17, 2011
Last Night in London
Tonight is my last night in London. I leave tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. for my 12:30 p.m. flight. Everything is packed and now I'm just relaxing with some friends from halls. Reena and I had our last Friday pancake day. Jess, Callum, Reena, and I hung out in the kitchen for a while. Jess, Reena, and I were all packing, so it didn't feel like I was the only one leaving, which was really nice. Callum and I made a nice dinner and later we joined Reena to watch some T.V. After a little while Reena's friend and her boyfriend came up to our floor to visit too. It's been a rather relaxed day and I've really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to going home for a couple of months and then heading back to Alma for my last year--seeing and spending time with friends and family. But I'm definitely going to miss London and all the things, places, and people here. I guess that just means I'll have to come back! :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Animals, Big Hills, and a 3-Hour Queue
Last week Tuesday, Callum and I went to the zoo for his birthday. We had decent weather--sunny and pretty warm--which was wonderful! Originally we were supposed to go Monday, but the weather was rainy and cold...not good for walking around seeing animals. I had a coupon for buy one get one free tickets the catch was to use the National Rail service to get to London. Technically we live in London, but we had tickets left over from traveling back from Norwich, so we used those to validate the coupon and it worked! As Callum's favorite animal is the penguin, we mainly went to see the new penguin exhibit. It was pretty amazing! It was set up like a mini beach, with some breezy trees and a pile of sandy-based land towards the back and a huge tank that had clear sides so you could see the penguins swim underwater. They even had a little cubby-hole option to view them underwater for kids (you had to be short to use it, unfortunately!). We watched them swim for quite a while and also caught their presentation/feeding time later that afternoon. The London Zoo is a bit unique because it is also a very active conservation-based facility too. So the presentation included the ways that the zoo is helping penguins in their natural habitats, which was interesting.
Some of the other exhibits were really cool too. We went to the monkey area and saw this family of monkeys (I don't remember exactly what kind, I should have taken a picture of the sign) but it was the cutest thing. There was a momma and a daddy monkey sitting on a platform with some other grown-up monkeys and a baby monkey. The baby was really active and literally leaping all around their area on the ropes and things they had but the momma and daddy wanted the baby to stay by them. So they'd go off and cart the baby back every time he left them. But he always managed to escape and leap back in the ropes--it looked like a family, you should almst hear the parent monkeys saying "You come back here this minute! It is dangerous to jump that high and so far, you are too little!" And in another area, we saw another kind of monkey that had a bit of attitude. I have a picture of this one up on facebook--this monkey standing on his back legs, holding onto the fence with his body and head cocked looking like "hey, yea, what's up, you talking to me?" haha. :)
We also saw Galapagos tortoises--SO enormous! One was out quite close to the fence and we could watch him eat--he's pretty cute for being so big. And the ones they had (there were about 3) were relatively young. The oldest was only 45 years old or so, considering they live for about 150. Can you imagine if people lived that long? That's just crazy. Close to this exhibit was the reptile house, which was really cool and I didn't realize until Callum pointed out the sign--it was there where that snake scene in the first Harry Potter movie was filmed. I thought that was kinda neat, considering we basically stumbled upon it.
Later that week we went to Oxford. I much prefer Oxford to Cambridge I think. The city just felt a bit more alive with it's history, if that makes any sense. It was more in-tun e with all the people and events that are tied to the area. We walked around the uni campuses, saw Alice's Shop (the former sweets shop that inspired the Sheep Shop in Alice in Wonderland), enjoyed all the art that is just built into the city, and had a really great, cheap meal at a unique pizza place. One of my favorite parts of the day though was visiting the castle grounds. We didn't go into the castle itself (you had to take a tour, and it cost about 7 pounds and was a bit long) but we did explore the man-made, former look-out point, hill. It was made from the earth dug up for the moat that used to encircle the castle (now it is replaced with concrete roads). You got to climb rather high up and get a great view of the city. We also visited the oldest building in Oxford, which is a chapel that has a bell tower you could climb up. It was beautiful up there as well because it was more central to the city and you could see the spires of all the other churches and historic buildings--Oxford is known for its spires. It was a really relaxed day, mostly wondering about between the handful of places we both wanted to make sure to see. Towards the end of the day, it got really cold though, so we were glad to catch the train back home. :)
Two nights ago, we had our "last" flatmates dinner. It was the only night everyone was free in the evening, so even though we'll still see each other this week, our official "last" dinner was then. But it was actually better this way because it wasn't sad at all since we knew we'd still see each other as we pack up. Anyways, Jess has a card that gets 50% off meals at certain restaurants around Marylebone Road. So we went to an Italian restaurant not too far away. The food was quite good and not too expensive with the coupon. We were the only ones there though for the second half of the meal, so that was a little strange. But we were able to talk and hang out, which was nice. Afterwards we went to a flat party with the handful of people still left in halls--sad that the group has dwindled so low! I'm the last American to leave. But the night was still fun.
Yesterday, Callum read about the Hard Rock Cafe in the newspaper. They were having their 40th "Birthday" and to celebrate, they set their menu back to their original prices from 1971. Though drinks were not included, you could get a whole meal (hamburger, ribs, club sandwich, etc.) for 60p! Aside from spending about £4 each for drinks, our whole bill for both of our dinners totaled £1.80. Anyways, so we decided to check it out. First we went to Oxford Street--I needed to pick up a birthday gift for Reena. Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus for a bit of food to keep us going for a bit. And after that we headed straight for the Hard Rock Cafe. The queue went around one corner of the block, but we thought we'd wait about an hour and a half. Well, after about an hour, we finally reached the corner. (Though we did come at a decent time, at the hour mark the line was even longer than when we originally came). At this point we thought that we were half-way there and would only be another hour. Yea well...no. It took about another hour and a half to get to the door and once there, we were given one of those buzzer things that lets you know when a table is ready with an estimated hour and half wait while inside! (Luckily, we only waited half and hour, but still, before we knew that, it was a bit daunting!) Anyways, once we had the buzzer, we were allowed to at least be inside at the bar. So we got a drink and talked in the basement area for a while. Then once we were buzzed, we were told that due to the crowd, they've been putting people together at tables to save space. So we sat with another couple--I'd say about they were about a decade and a half, maybe two decades older than my parents. When we got to the table, they were sitting across from each other, so we had to do the same. But because it is so loud in there, we ended up talking to them a bit more initially since they were sitting next to us. I was sitting next to the gentleman. Come to find out, he was born in Michigan, lived in Detroit for the first 4 years of his life, his father worked for Ford, and he knew all about Dearborn (where my mom's from). What are the chances of that happening? After a while, we switched seats so we sat next to our respective partners so we could hear each other better. But we still would talk with them every once and a while. They had been going to the Hard Rock Cafe for years--it is where they met and they used to meet there every Friday night. He used to know the manager and still has his VIP pass to get him in without waiting. Both looked like the stereotypical, high-class Englishman/woman. But I think that was only because they live in Mayfair (very expensive part of London where the Cafe is located...a bit of rebellion in the middle of the rich, haha) and come to find out, both bobbed their heads to most of the songs they played and loved the loudness of it all. They even shared that "All Night Long" was "their" song. It was just the cutest thing ever. :) We stayed to have dessert and they left, so we got the table to ourselves for a bit and have a look around. The place is chalk full of authentic guitars, costumes, albums, etc. collected over the years. The big front room is exactly how it was in 1971. And I even recognized most of the names--I knew more about rock 'n roll than I thought! haha. It was a great place and I never would have checked it out if Callum hadn't see that advert.
I've got a few days left now--leaving Saturday. Today I am hoping to get to Greenwich and spend some time with my flatmates. Then I need to pack in the next couple days. It's almost over, but I'm going to enjoy it until the very last minute! :)
Some of the other exhibits were really cool too. We went to the monkey area and saw this family of monkeys (I don't remember exactly what kind, I should have taken a picture of the sign) but it was the cutest thing. There was a momma and a daddy monkey sitting on a platform with some other grown-up monkeys and a baby monkey. The baby was really active and literally leaping all around their area on the ropes and things they had but the momma and daddy wanted the baby to stay by them. So they'd go off and cart the baby back every time he left them. But he always managed to escape and leap back in the ropes--it looked like a family, you should almst hear the parent monkeys saying "You come back here this minute! It is dangerous to jump that high and so far, you are too little!" And in another area, we saw another kind of monkey that had a bit of attitude. I have a picture of this one up on facebook--this monkey standing on his back legs, holding onto the fence with his body and head cocked looking like "hey, yea, what's up, you talking to me?" haha. :)
We also saw Galapagos tortoises--SO enormous! One was out quite close to the fence and we could watch him eat--he's pretty cute for being so big. And the ones they had (there were about 3) were relatively young. The oldest was only 45 years old or so, considering they live for about 150. Can you imagine if people lived that long? That's just crazy. Close to this exhibit was the reptile house, which was really cool and I didn't realize until Callum pointed out the sign--it was there where that snake scene in the first Harry Potter movie was filmed. I thought that was kinda neat, considering we basically stumbled upon it.
Later that week we went to Oxford. I much prefer Oxford to Cambridge I think. The city just felt a bit more alive with it's history, if that makes any sense. It was more in-tun e with all the people and events that are tied to the area. We walked around the uni campuses, saw Alice's Shop (the former sweets shop that inspired the Sheep Shop in Alice in Wonderland), enjoyed all the art that is just built into the city, and had a really great, cheap meal at a unique pizza place. One of my favorite parts of the day though was visiting the castle grounds. We didn't go into the castle itself (you had to take a tour, and it cost about 7 pounds and was a bit long) but we did explore the man-made, former look-out point, hill. It was made from the earth dug up for the moat that used to encircle the castle (now it is replaced with concrete roads). You got to climb rather high up and get a great view of the city. We also visited the oldest building in Oxford, which is a chapel that has a bell tower you could climb up. It was beautiful up there as well because it was more central to the city and you could see the spires of all the other churches and historic buildings--Oxford is known for its spires. It was a really relaxed day, mostly wondering about between the handful of places we both wanted to make sure to see. Towards the end of the day, it got really cold though, so we were glad to catch the train back home. :)
Two nights ago, we had our "last" flatmates dinner. It was the only night everyone was free in the evening, so even though we'll still see each other this week, our official "last" dinner was then. But it was actually better this way because it wasn't sad at all since we knew we'd still see each other as we pack up. Anyways, Jess has a card that gets 50% off meals at certain restaurants around Marylebone Road. So we went to an Italian restaurant not too far away. The food was quite good and not too expensive with the coupon. We were the only ones there though for the second half of the meal, so that was a little strange. But we were able to talk and hang out, which was nice. Afterwards we went to a flat party with the handful of people still left in halls--sad that the group has dwindled so low! I'm the last American to leave. But the night was still fun.
Yesterday, Callum read about the Hard Rock Cafe in the newspaper. They were having their 40th "Birthday" and to celebrate, they set their menu back to their original prices from 1971. Though drinks were not included, you could get a whole meal (hamburger, ribs, club sandwich, etc.) for 60p! Aside from spending about £4 each for drinks, our whole bill for both of our dinners totaled £1.80. Anyways, so we decided to check it out. First we went to Oxford Street--I needed to pick up a birthday gift for Reena. Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus for a bit of food to keep us going for a bit. And after that we headed straight for the Hard Rock Cafe. The queue went around one corner of the block, but we thought we'd wait about an hour and a half. Well, after about an hour, we finally reached the corner. (Though we did come at a decent time, at the hour mark the line was even longer than when we originally came). At this point we thought that we were half-way there and would only be another hour. Yea well...no. It took about another hour and a half to get to the door and once there, we were given one of those buzzer things that lets you know when a table is ready with an estimated hour and half wait while inside! (Luckily, we only waited half and hour, but still, before we knew that, it was a bit daunting!) Anyways, once we had the buzzer, we were allowed to at least be inside at the bar. So we got a drink and talked in the basement area for a while. Then once we were buzzed, we were told that due to the crowd, they've been putting people together at tables to save space. So we sat with another couple--I'd say about they were about a decade and a half, maybe two decades older than my parents. When we got to the table, they were sitting across from each other, so we had to do the same. But because it is so loud in there, we ended up talking to them a bit more initially since they were sitting next to us. I was sitting next to the gentleman. Come to find out, he was born in Michigan, lived in Detroit for the first 4 years of his life, his father worked for Ford, and he knew all about Dearborn (where my mom's from). What are the chances of that happening? After a while, we switched seats so we sat next to our respective partners so we could hear each other better. But we still would talk with them every once and a while. They had been going to the Hard Rock Cafe for years--it is where they met and they used to meet there every Friday night. He used to know the manager and still has his VIP pass to get him in without waiting. Both looked like the stereotypical, high-class Englishman/woman. But I think that was only because they live in Mayfair (very expensive part of London where the Cafe is located...a bit of rebellion in the middle of the rich, haha) and come to find out, both bobbed their heads to most of the songs they played and loved the loudness of it all. They even shared that "All Night Long" was "their" song. It was just the cutest thing ever. :) We stayed to have dessert and they left, so we got the table to ourselves for a bit and have a look around. The place is chalk full of authentic guitars, costumes, albums, etc. collected over the years. The big front room is exactly how it was in 1971. And I even recognized most of the names--I knew more about rock 'n roll than I thought! haha. It was a great place and I never would have checked it out if Callum hadn't see that advert.
I've got a few days left now--leaving Saturday. Today I am hoping to get to Greenwich and spend some time with my flatmates. Then I need to pack in the next couple days. It's almost over, but I'm going to enjoy it until the very last minute! :)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
More Summer Adventures
Recently, I've been kept quite busy with day trips and friends, and it rounded out the end of May very nicely.
Callum and I went to Cambridge--it was lovely. The weather was really warm and we spent the whole day outside. The Cambridge campuses were closed for visitation due to exams, but we could still walk around on the outside. We happened to catch a short music concert in a little cafe--really nice. And we spent a lot of time at The Banks--the rivers that run through Canterbury--just sitting, talking, enjoying the sun, and watching the "punting" boats go by (think of gondolas, only in England). We also had a fabulous Spanish lunch at a really great restaurant--yum!
Niki Green came to visit soon after. The first day she was here, it poured and we just stayed in watching movies. That Saturday, we went to Canterbury with Beauty and Callum. It was wonderful! I really like the city of Canterbury--a very nice pedestrian-friendly area. And everything was so lovely to look at. Beauty and I visited the Cathedral while Niki (who had already seen it) and Callum (who prefered not to see it) stayed outside reading and looking around. The Cathedral was beautiful and has much history associated with it--I love all the little stories places like that tell. Afterwards we met up and did some wandering. We visited the original city wall and took a nice long walk. We had a great dinner at a nearby pub as well. It was a very good day. Visiting Buckingham palace and my area of London and a day trip to Greenwich rounded out the rest of her stay. I really liked Greenwich! It is only across the river, but it is so much quieter, more space, yet still a thriving city. It was beautiful, home of the very first enclosed Royal Park and beautiful architecture. It is one of my favorite places so far. Then Niki continued on to Germany the coming Tuesday.
I headed straight to Norwich the next day for Callum's birthday. We spent the day at his Dad's and had a great birthday dinner of lamb, yorkshire pudding, peas, and stuffing. It was delicious. The following day we celebrated with his friends out in the city of Norwich, going to a pub and a club down there, which was fun as well. We came back to London the following day.
Today I visited Beauty's home and met her family. They are really sweet! Her mom insisted I have a traditional Indian lunch and had this whole spread of rice and curry and chicken and things with names I couldn't quite pronounce! It was all delicious and it was really nice to meet all her family. We watched a movie and she took me around her area of London near Bethnal Green. It was a very relaxing summer's day.
I'm looking forward to going to the Zoo on Monday and possibly Oxford this week. I posted some pictures of my other events on facebook. :)
Callum and I went to Cambridge--it was lovely. The weather was really warm and we spent the whole day outside. The Cambridge campuses were closed for visitation due to exams, but we could still walk around on the outside. We happened to catch a short music concert in a little cafe--really nice. And we spent a lot of time at The Banks--the rivers that run through Canterbury--just sitting, talking, enjoying the sun, and watching the "punting" boats go by (think of gondolas, only in England). We also had a fabulous Spanish lunch at a really great restaurant--yum!
Niki Green came to visit soon after. The first day she was here, it poured and we just stayed in watching movies. That Saturday, we went to Canterbury with Beauty and Callum. It was wonderful! I really like the city of Canterbury--a very nice pedestrian-friendly area. And everything was so lovely to look at. Beauty and I visited the Cathedral while Niki (who had already seen it) and Callum (who prefered not to see it) stayed outside reading and looking around. The Cathedral was beautiful and has much history associated with it--I love all the little stories places like that tell. Afterwards we met up and did some wandering. We visited the original city wall and took a nice long walk. We had a great dinner at a nearby pub as well. It was a very good day. Visiting Buckingham palace and my area of London and a day trip to Greenwich rounded out the rest of her stay. I really liked Greenwich! It is only across the river, but it is so much quieter, more space, yet still a thriving city. It was beautiful, home of the very first enclosed Royal Park and beautiful architecture. It is one of my favorite places so far. Then Niki continued on to Germany the coming Tuesday.
I headed straight to Norwich the next day for Callum's birthday. We spent the day at his Dad's and had a great birthday dinner of lamb, yorkshire pudding, peas, and stuffing. It was delicious. The following day we celebrated with his friends out in the city of Norwich, going to a pub and a club down there, which was fun as well. We came back to London the following day.
Today I visited Beauty's home and met her family. They are really sweet! Her mom insisted I have a traditional Indian lunch and had this whole spread of rice and curry and chicken and things with names I couldn't quite pronounce! It was all delicious and it was really nice to meet all her family. We watched a movie and she took me around her area of London near Bethnal Green. It was a very relaxing summer's day.
I'm looking forward to going to the Zoo on Monday and possibly Oxford this week. I posted some pictures of my other events on facebook. :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Royal Wedding and Phi Sig!
It is now well into my "summer" here in London and I am loving all the time I have to enjoy.
After going over both my essays one last time, I finally turned them in on May 3rd--a day early. It was a great relief to finally be done with them! On the 10th, I took my fictional writing exam, which was quite easy. So my Westminster school year is officially over!
Now that I have all this lovely time to spend however I wish, I've been enjoying the company of friends and flatmates. I have been to the cinema and long walks around my area here--still discovering things right outside my own front door.
I was here for the Royal Wedding. Now, I'm not completely enthralled with the Royal family, but it was definitely a wonderful experience to be here for such a historical event! I went to Green Park (by Buckingham Palace) with Callum to watch the ceremony, which was being projected on huge screens there live. Afterwards, I thought I would try to wiggle closer to the palace and catch the processional at the end, but by then the streets were blocked off to prevent over-crowding so I wasn't able to get very close and didn't see anyone in person. But I could still hear everything and watch the planes fly by overhead and be a part of the crowd. It was a great experience!
The next week, Emily Lambrix came to visit me from Ireland!! It was lovely to see her again and catch up. I also got to play tour guide, which was awesome. I love that I know London enough now that I can do that. We crammed lots of places and things into her 5 day stay, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, St. Paul's, the Globe, Tower of London, to name a few. We also saw Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre, which was amazing. And we attended an evening church service at Westminster Abbey. (It was the only way we could get in without paying a tour fee. You weren't allowed to take pictures because it was a service, but it was enough to just sit and listen to the choir sing as we looked around.) We also met up with Niki Green, Lydia Anderson, Allison Eaton, and Carrie Frame from the London Spring Term for lunch. I introduced Callum to them and we had a very nice meal at the pub across the street from my flat. Lots of hugging and laughing occurred, and it was a lot of fun. :)
Last Friday was my flatmate Jess's birthday. So Callum, Reena, and I joined Jess's boyfriend Owen, mutual friends from halls, and her friends from her hometown going out to her favorite cocktail bar and a club. It was actually really fun. I had been to cocktail bars before, but not a club yet--they aren't really my thing. But being with such a great group of people made it really fun. And Jess seemed to have a great 21st birthday, which was the most important part of course!
I still have a decent amount of time left in London, which I really like. I have lots of things planned. Niki Green will be staying with me in a week. Callum and I are going to Cambridge for a day. It is also Callum's birthday June 1st so we're going back to Norwich to celebrate. I'm currently trying to work out a day trip to Canterbury with my friend Beauty, Niki, and Callum. And there are still a few places I'd like to see, like the London Zoo, now that it is warmer! :)
I've posted a hodgepodge of pictures recently--read the captions, they explain when and where. :)
After going over both my essays one last time, I finally turned them in on May 3rd--a day early. It was a great relief to finally be done with them! On the 10th, I took my fictional writing exam, which was quite easy. So my Westminster school year is officially over!
Now that I have all this lovely time to spend however I wish, I've been enjoying the company of friends and flatmates. I have been to the cinema and long walks around my area here--still discovering things right outside my own front door.
I was here for the Royal Wedding. Now, I'm not completely enthralled with the Royal family, but it was definitely a wonderful experience to be here for such a historical event! I went to Green Park (by Buckingham Palace) with Callum to watch the ceremony, which was being projected on huge screens there live. Afterwards, I thought I would try to wiggle closer to the palace and catch the processional at the end, but by then the streets were blocked off to prevent over-crowding so I wasn't able to get very close and didn't see anyone in person. But I could still hear everything and watch the planes fly by overhead and be a part of the crowd. It was a great experience!
The next week, Emily Lambrix came to visit me from Ireland!! It was lovely to see her again and catch up. I also got to play tour guide, which was awesome. I love that I know London enough now that I can do that. We crammed lots of places and things into her 5 day stay, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, St. Paul's, the Globe, Tower of London, to name a few. We also saw Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre, which was amazing. And we attended an evening church service at Westminster Abbey. (It was the only way we could get in without paying a tour fee. You weren't allowed to take pictures because it was a service, but it was enough to just sit and listen to the choir sing as we looked around.) We also met up with Niki Green, Lydia Anderson, Allison Eaton, and Carrie Frame from the London Spring Term for lunch. I introduced Callum to them and we had a very nice meal at the pub across the street from my flat. Lots of hugging and laughing occurred, and it was a lot of fun. :)
Last Friday was my flatmate Jess's birthday. So Callum, Reena, and I joined Jess's boyfriend Owen, mutual friends from halls, and her friends from her hometown going out to her favorite cocktail bar and a club. It was actually really fun. I had been to cocktail bars before, but not a club yet--they aren't really my thing. But being with such a great group of people made it really fun. And Jess seemed to have a great 21st birthday, which was the most important part of course!
I still have a decent amount of time left in London, which I really like. I have lots of things planned. Niki Green will be staying with me in a week. Callum and I are going to Cambridge for a day. It is also Callum's birthday June 1st so we're going back to Norwich to celebrate. I'm currently trying to work out a day trip to Canterbury with my friend Beauty, Niki, and Callum. And there are still a few places I'd like to see, like the London Zoo, now that it is warmer! :)
I've posted a hodgepodge of pictures recently--read the captions, they explain when and where. :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
A Week in Norwich
This past week I spent in Norwich--which is where Callum lives. We are officially on Easter break. I had two essays to write the first week of break, so I met up with Callum the next week. I took my very first English train, which was a great experience. I haven't taken trains very much in the U.S. and the English countryside is very pretty, so the two hours of traveling went by quickly.
Norwich is the biggest city in the county of Norfolk. Callum actually lives in a neighboring village called Costessey. So when I arrived at Norwich station, we took a bus to his mom's house. That first day, we stayed around his neighborhood--a friend of his was having a party. So we went and I met his friends from home, which was nice. But there was a lot of people there and I didn't really remember too many names. The next day, we went into the city of Norwich to visit the castle. Norwich was actually bigger and equaled London in importance during the 11th century. The castle was very impressive and gorgeous. It's history was very interesting, including a period when it was converted to a prison.
Throughout the week, we did various things but kind of made it up as we went along, which was really relaxing, especially after a rather stressful end of the school year. We went bowling with his littlest brother and mom one day (I still am not very good, but I did manage to get two strikes in the tenth frame of our first game, which was cool!). We also went back to the city two more times to walk around and enjoy the city. I took lots of pictures. The city is just a very historic place, everything is used and re-used and has a lot of character. We visited Norwich Cathedral around Easter, which was nice, especially since I wasn't home for Easter. It is enormous and has lovely stained glass windows and a beautiful cloister. There is also a place called The Forum, which is a very modern building that houses the BBC news station, a library, and various restaurants. It was a very interesting combination of scenes--this modern glass building next to and ancient cathedral, among landmark statues and street vendors. The city felt small town--very cozy, very friendly, very approachable, yet had many components that equalled to London and all that it had to offer. It wasn't as busy on the streets, which was a refreshing change from the hord of people seemingly to deliberately step in front of you. Yet it still had a nice bustle about it. We had a few meals at his favorite pubs, which was delicious. And between the three days we spent in the city, I really enjoyed it.
We also visited his dad's house, who lives right down the street from his mom's. I had English fish and chips for the first time with him and his dad and brothers. It was greasy and salty but SO delicious. :) Being a house full of boys, we watched a load of football whenever we hung out with them. I also went to a couple "pub quizzes" with Callum and his friends. I got to know his friends a bit better and found that pub quizzes are actually really fun. It is essentially a question and answer game that local pubs have on Sunday nights. You pay a couple quid to play and if your team wins, you get all the money that people contributed--kind of like a lottery. The first pub quiz, I contributed three whole answers, which I thought was pretty good considering I don't know too much about English-y t.v. programs, or historical politics, and the like. But there were some international questions that I could help with. The first night, our team tied for first place with two other teams. Callum went up as the spokesperson to answer the tie-breaker question. Ironically, it was "In what year did Ford Motor Company begin?" I knew it to be 1903 since I live right next to Detroit and my Mom grew up in Dearborn. But Callum had to answer the question and was about 5 years off, so we came in 2nd place.
We also went to the East coast with Callum's mom and mom's boyfriend. The North Sea is about 2 hours away. So we drove to a half-way point, and then caught a steam train to go the rest of the way. And we walked along to coast back to the car. It was lovely. I felt so small next to the sea and the cliffs. The beaches are a bit different. Some have sand, but some are just pebbles and rocks. Both I think are really pretty. We lucked out and had gorgeous weather that whole week, very warm and sunny, so it was perfect day to go. I loved the train ride as well--it was old-fashioned with the sitting compartments. I felt like a passenger in Agatha Christie's Oriental Express, haha.
Because I stayed with Callum at his houses, I got to watch T.V. I haven't been able to at uni because I'd need a T.V. license, which was too expensive/not necessary for me. But as a result, I hadn't really seen any adverts or news. So it was interesting to compare commercials and watch the news (both about Norwich and local issues, but also about big things like the Royal Wedding and international news too. Newspapers are nice, but I always seem to prefer to listen to news than read it...). I also watched some corny t.v. shows like "Bargain Hunt" and game shows and soap operas like "East Enders"--it was funny and entertaining.
Overall, the week was wonderful and relaxing!! I posted pictures already. I also posted some older pictures that I forgot I hadn't put on facebook yet.
In other random news:
My computer got a virus a few weeks ago. I took it to a shop on Tottenham Court Road (the electronics street in London) and got it repaired no problem. But because they had to re-install the main programs on my laptop, they had all the settings set to UK instead of US. So, my spell-checker in word corrected everything to British spellings, my keyboard was set like a UK keyboard so the key strokes were different, the time and date were written in military time and dd/mm/yyyy, all the measurements for page settings were in the metric system, and a bunch of other little things I took for granted to just be US standard. It didn't take too long to figure out how to change them back, but it was rather funny--I just assumed everything would come US standard. :)
A girl from my Critical Perspectives class named Beauty and I have become rather quick and close friends over the last few weeks. During the school year, we both seemed too busy to hangout, but now that classes have ended, we've met up for lunch and found ourselves talking about anything and everything for about three hours! We had lunch in a plaza, and it felts a bit like SAGA at Alma and conversation was so easy, I felt like I was back home. It was lovely! And we've also met up a few times to work on our essays since we share two classes--she's an English major too so we have lots in common. It always surprises me when I meet someone that I just get along with so well right off the bat--as if we've known each other for years. I love it when that happens. :)
I got to skype with my lovely Daffodils two weeks ago! It was great to talk to everyone! :)
The Royal Wedding is this Friday and I'm going to try to finagle my way through the crowds and see what I can see! Americans tend to make a bigger deal over the wedding that they are doing here in England (that whole Disney Princess complex ingrained in us as kids I think...), but there is definitely a buzz around London now, excited with anticipation. It feels very surreal to think that 50 years from now, when I am talking to my grandkids, I'll be able to say "I was in London and got to watch the Royal Wedding when it happened in 2011". How neat is that!? I'm not sure if I'll be able to see much, but I sure am going to try!
Norwich is the biggest city in the county of Norfolk. Callum actually lives in a neighboring village called Costessey. So when I arrived at Norwich station, we took a bus to his mom's house. That first day, we stayed around his neighborhood--a friend of his was having a party. So we went and I met his friends from home, which was nice. But there was a lot of people there and I didn't really remember too many names. The next day, we went into the city of Norwich to visit the castle. Norwich was actually bigger and equaled London in importance during the 11th century. The castle was very impressive and gorgeous. It's history was very interesting, including a period when it was converted to a prison.
Throughout the week, we did various things but kind of made it up as we went along, which was really relaxing, especially after a rather stressful end of the school year. We went bowling with his littlest brother and mom one day (I still am not very good, but I did manage to get two strikes in the tenth frame of our first game, which was cool!). We also went back to the city two more times to walk around and enjoy the city. I took lots of pictures. The city is just a very historic place, everything is used and re-used and has a lot of character. We visited Norwich Cathedral around Easter, which was nice, especially since I wasn't home for Easter. It is enormous and has lovely stained glass windows and a beautiful cloister. There is also a place called The Forum, which is a very modern building that houses the BBC news station, a library, and various restaurants. It was a very interesting combination of scenes--this modern glass building next to and ancient cathedral, among landmark statues and street vendors. The city felt small town--very cozy, very friendly, very approachable, yet had many components that equalled to London and all that it had to offer. It wasn't as busy on the streets, which was a refreshing change from the hord of people seemingly to deliberately step in front of you. Yet it still had a nice bustle about it. We had a few meals at his favorite pubs, which was delicious. And between the three days we spent in the city, I really enjoyed it.
We also visited his dad's house, who lives right down the street from his mom's. I had English fish and chips for the first time with him and his dad and brothers. It was greasy and salty but SO delicious. :) Being a house full of boys, we watched a load of football whenever we hung out with them. I also went to a couple "pub quizzes" with Callum and his friends. I got to know his friends a bit better and found that pub quizzes are actually really fun. It is essentially a question and answer game that local pubs have on Sunday nights. You pay a couple quid to play and if your team wins, you get all the money that people contributed--kind of like a lottery. The first pub quiz, I contributed three whole answers, which I thought was pretty good considering I don't know too much about English-y t.v. programs, or historical politics, and the like. But there were some international questions that I could help with. The first night, our team tied for first place with two other teams. Callum went up as the spokesperson to answer the tie-breaker question. Ironically, it was "In what year did Ford Motor Company begin?" I knew it to be 1903 since I live right next to Detroit and my Mom grew up in Dearborn. But Callum had to answer the question and was about 5 years off, so we came in 2nd place.
We also went to the East coast with Callum's mom and mom's boyfriend. The North Sea is about 2 hours away. So we drove to a half-way point, and then caught a steam train to go the rest of the way. And we walked along to coast back to the car. It was lovely. I felt so small next to the sea and the cliffs. The beaches are a bit different. Some have sand, but some are just pebbles and rocks. Both I think are really pretty. We lucked out and had gorgeous weather that whole week, very warm and sunny, so it was perfect day to go. I loved the train ride as well--it was old-fashioned with the sitting compartments. I felt like a passenger in Agatha Christie's Oriental Express, haha.
Because I stayed with Callum at his houses, I got to watch T.V. I haven't been able to at uni because I'd need a T.V. license, which was too expensive/not necessary for me. But as a result, I hadn't really seen any adverts or news. So it was interesting to compare commercials and watch the news (both about Norwich and local issues, but also about big things like the Royal Wedding and international news too. Newspapers are nice, but I always seem to prefer to listen to news than read it...). I also watched some corny t.v. shows like "Bargain Hunt" and game shows and soap operas like "East Enders"--it was funny and entertaining.
Overall, the week was wonderful and relaxing!! I posted pictures already. I also posted some older pictures that I forgot I hadn't put on facebook yet.
In other random news:
My computer got a virus a few weeks ago. I took it to a shop on Tottenham Court Road (the electronics street in London) and got it repaired no problem. But because they had to re-install the main programs on my laptop, they had all the settings set to UK instead of US. So, my spell-checker in word corrected everything to British spellings, my keyboard was set like a UK keyboard so the key strokes were different, the time and date were written in military time and dd/mm/yyyy, all the measurements for page settings were in the metric system, and a bunch of other little things I took for granted to just be US standard. It didn't take too long to figure out how to change them back, but it was rather funny--I just assumed everything would come US standard. :)
A girl from my Critical Perspectives class named Beauty and I have become rather quick and close friends over the last few weeks. During the school year, we both seemed too busy to hangout, but now that classes have ended, we've met up for lunch and found ourselves talking about anything and everything for about three hours! We had lunch in a plaza, and it felts a bit like SAGA at Alma and conversation was so easy, I felt like I was back home. It was lovely! And we've also met up a few times to work on our essays since we share two classes--she's an English major too so we have lots in common. It always surprises me when I meet someone that I just get along with so well right off the bat--as if we've known each other for years. I love it when that happens. :)
I got to skype with my lovely Daffodils two weeks ago! It was great to talk to everyone! :)
The Royal Wedding is this Friday and I'm going to try to finagle my way through the crowds and see what I can see! Americans tend to make a bigger deal over the wedding that they are doing here in England (that whole Disney Princess complex ingrained in us as kids I think...), but there is definitely a buzz around London now, excited with anticipation. It feels very surreal to think that 50 years from now, when I am talking to my grandkids, I'll be able to say "I was in London and got to watch the Royal Wedding when it happened in 2011". How neat is that!? I'm not sure if I'll be able to see much, but I sure am going to try!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tid Bits from Work
This past week at work, I was given the tedious but necessary task of converting all our contracts from paper to electronic. This way, when returning customers phone in an order, we'll have their details already and it makes the process much quicker. Plus, it makes the customer feel like we remember them, which goes with our whole small-independent-familial-publisher mentality. Some are print-outs from online orders, so all I see is the name, address, phone number, and book(s) that the person ordered. But some people still write in and send a check. These people are generally of the older generation. And recently, we had a special running in a magazine for a novel called "The Girl at the Farmhouse Gate". It is kind of your stereotypical, old lady, cheesy sweet, romance novel. We have a lot of these kinds of books--it is a rather stable demographic for A and B. They all tend to have the same kind of theme, most often set in WWII. The storyline usually conforms to: American GI goes to England and falls in love with proper Englishwoman. OR WWII wreaks havoc on a family, but through their struggles, love blossoms between those that the war has thrown together. They are all easy reads, really sweet, and either have happy endings or bittersweet endings.
Well, as I completed the online print-out contacts, I got to the hand-written letter ones. Some are very straight forward. "Send 'blah blah blah' to 'cute English cottage name, cute English road name, some abbreviated form of their city/county, postcode'". The names of people are always intriguing to me. We had a Mrs. Allison and a Mrs. Busby (ironic, as those are the two last names of the founders of this publishing house). And I also came across a Mrs. B Still, which I thought was humor since it is kinda a sentence..."Be still!" haha. In other letters, the handwriting is atrocious, calling for the need of the Royal Mail's address finder website. And sometimes, the spellings are just plain confusing, especially if from Wales. For instance, one area is named "Ceulanamaesmawr". But some are still written out as actual letters, as if speaking to an old friend. I read one written by an older gentleman, and it said, "Could you please send me 'Girl at the Farmhouse Gate'. It is for my wife. She was the girl at the farmhouse gate and I was the boy who waited for her." Aw! How adorable! I loved reading the letters that had an actual story. It made the dull task of constant typing of contacts must more enjoyable.
I have two more weeks of my internship and then I'm finished. I've learned a lot and the length of this internship was just perfect--not too long but not too short. I've definitely enjoyed the experience. :)
Well, as I completed the online print-out contacts, I got to the hand-written letter ones. Some are very straight forward. "Send 'blah blah blah' to 'cute English cottage name, cute English road name, some abbreviated form of their city/county, postcode'". The names of people are always intriguing to me. We had a Mrs. Allison and a Mrs. Busby (ironic, as those are the two last names of the founders of this publishing house). And I also came across a Mrs. B Still, which I thought was humor since it is kinda a sentence..."Be still!" haha. In other letters, the handwriting is atrocious, calling for the need of the Royal Mail's address finder website. And sometimes, the spellings are just plain confusing, especially if from Wales. For instance, one area is named "Ceulanamaesmawr". But some are still written out as actual letters, as if speaking to an old friend. I read one written by an older gentleman, and it said, "Could you please send me 'Girl at the Farmhouse Gate'. It is for my wife. She was the girl at the farmhouse gate and I was the boy who waited for her." Aw! How adorable! I loved reading the letters that had an actual story. It made the dull task of constant typing of contacts must more enjoyable.
I have two more weeks of my internship and then I'm finished. I've learned a lot and the length of this internship was just perfect--not too long but not too short. I've definitely enjoyed the experience. :)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Underneath London
This past Sunday, Callum and I decided to visit Fleet Street--or rather, I wanted to visit Fleet Street and I took Callum with me. :)
Fleet used to be a river, until the city kept growing and eventually paved over it so that now it runs underground and can't be seen. Instead, there is Fleet Street--which use to be the home of the biggest, best, and richest publishing and newspaper companies. Being an English major, I naturally wanted to go check it out, even if there aren't any publishers there anymore. We had to walk by the financial district, which Callum enjoyed because he's studying economics. As we got closer, the building became more and more office-y and really tall. As we were walking, I saw a little mews that had a really pretty archway and lamp, so we went over to investigate. Turns out, it was the entrance to St. Bride's church. I wanted to explore, so we went in. It was a gorgeous church, with stained class windows and a really elaborate steeple, which the sign outside claimed to have inspired the tier-shaped wedding cake. That sign also said there was a crypt underneath it. Maybe its my love of secret passageways, but I REALLY wanted to go see that. We go explore for free, so down we went! And lo and behold, one of the coolest crypts (and so far the ONLY crypt) that I've ever seen. It used to be where the parishoners and notorious people were buried. They had part of it set up like a museum and it was really informative. Apparently St. Bride's wasn't always just a church, it use to be where the original and first printing press in England operated from and continued to be in the epicenter of the publishing sector on fleet street until the business started moving away in 1980s with the advent of computers. This crypt also happened to lie on a foundation built by the Romans when they owned the land long before England existed as it does today. They discovered this when they were renovating the church. Under the crype is authentic Roman pavement--bricks laid down by the Romans. It was amazing! The U.S. has some cool sites, but just plain doesn't have any that old! It was really neat to stand there where Romans used to walk and publishing tycoons used to worship. And we hadn't even really planned to tour anywhere or even knew that St. Bride's existed. It was a really nice surprise and I learned a lot about the publishing industry in London--yea for educational adventures! :)
Since then, I've just been working on wrapping up the school year so I can enjoy the rest of my time in London. My classes and internship end in 2 weeks and I'm using the first week of spring break to write my two final papers. Then I'll be filling my time with non-obligatory things like enjoying London, visit Norwich with Callum, hosting Emily Lambrix and Niki Green in May, and spending time with my flatmates. I leave London and return to Michigan on June 18th--though I technically have my flat until the 25th, my summer job begins on the 20th and I need to be back for that. So all-in-all, I have a lovely 2 month-ish chunk of time to enjoy and relax in and I can't wait until that time is here! :)
Fleet used to be a river, until the city kept growing and eventually paved over it so that now it runs underground and can't be seen. Instead, there is Fleet Street--which use to be the home of the biggest, best, and richest publishing and newspaper companies. Being an English major, I naturally wanted to go check it out, even if there aren't any publishers there anymore. We had to walk by the financial district, which Callum enjoyed because he's studying economics. As we got closer, the building became more and more office-y and really tall. As we were walking, I saw a little mews that had a really pretty archway and lamp, so we went over to investigate. Turns out, it was the entrance to St. Bride's church. I wanted to explore, so we went in. It was a gorgeous church, with stained class windows and a really elaborate steeple, which the sign outside claimed to have inspired the tier-shaped wedding cake. That sign also said there was a crypt underneath it. Maybe its my love of secret passageways, but I REALLY wanted to go see that. We go explore for free, so down we went! And lo and behold, one of the coolest crypts (and so far the ONLY crypt) that I've ever seen. It used to be where the parishoners and notorious people were buried. They had part of it set up like a museum and it was really informative. Apparently St. Bride's wasn't always just a church, it use to be where the original and first printing press in England operated from and continued to be in the epicenter of the publishing sector on fleet street until the business started moving away in 1980s with the advent of computers. This crypt also happened to lie on a foundation built by the Romans when they owned the land long before England existed as it does today. They discovered this when they were renovating the church. Under the crype is authentic Roman pavement--bricks laid down by the Romans. It was amazing! The U.S. has some cool sites, but just plain doesn't have any that old! It was really neat to stand there where Romans used to walk and publishing tycoons used to worship. And we hadn't even really planned to tour anywhere or even knew that St. Bride's existed. It was a really nice surprise and I learned a lot about the publishing industry in London--yea for educational adventures! :)
Since then, I've just been working on wrapping up the school year so I can enjoy the rest of my time in London. My classes and internship end in 2 weeks and I'm using the first week of spring break to write my two final papers. Then I'll be filling my time with non-obligatory things like enjoying London, visit Norwich with Callum, hosting Emily Lambrix and Niki Green in May, and spending time with my flatmates. I leave London and return to Michigan on June 18th--though I technically have my flat until the 25th, my summer job begins on the 20th and I need to be back for that. So all-in-all, I have a lovely 2 month-ish chunk of time to enjoy and relax in and I can't wait until that time is here! :)
Friday, March 11, 2011
Happy Birthday...to Me. :)
So, my relatively faithful once-a-week blog entries of first semester have now turned into once a month entries...this was not my intention! Balancing my internship and classes with fun things and exploring London has forced me to triage my time I had dedicated to my blog. However, I am going to update it now!
In the beginning of February, Callum and I went to Ronnie Scott’s—London’s oldest jazz club. I went because some of my Dad’s favorite performers have played there and I said I’d go visit and see a show for him. And since Valentine’s Day was a Monday this year and we both had classes, it also served as Callum and my “Valentine’s Day night out”. We saw Kenny Barron—a really good pianist, 6 time Grammy nominated. He had dedicated his whole life to performing and has played all around the world. He was amazing to watch. The place itself was really nice. On the outside, there’s just simple posters hanging in display boxes with a neon light hanging above beaming “Ronnie Scott’s” with a saxophone next to it. As we walked in, we were greeted by two very well-dressed men, complete with awesome zoot suit-inspired hats, and they were very pleasant when they directed us to the hostess’ desk. We were taken to our table—a very skinny booth-style up against a back wall and lit by the red glow of two table lamps—and watched the intro band. They were a very raggedy looking trio, but they were very talented none-the-less. And though it made me miss the music part of my life a little bit, the whole night was very fun and relaxing.
Another weekend, Callum’s mom, mom’s boyfriend, and little brother came up to London for the day. We all went out for lunch and walked around the British Museum for the afternoon. The British Museum is amazing! It has a very wide collection of everything from Egypt to China and the building itself is amazingly beautiful. We only toured around the Egyptian and Greece exhibits that day. So the following weekend, Callum and I went back and did some more exploring. We still haven’t seen all the exhibits yet! It is quite an expansive place, with large Roman columns marking the entrance, high glass ceilings, a quaint open café area, and a giant staircase in the middle leading off to various floors. It was very nice to walk around and read all the history.
On the same note of history, we also went to the Imperial War Museum—Callum’s pick. We went at the beginning of half term for younger school kids here in England, so the place was flooded with little school kids—mostly boys with cute caps—going “ah, wow, look, a bomb, a truck, a ‘name of cool big-kid-war toy here’” haha. It was a smaller building, and the exhibits were very close together, but I liked learning a bit more about England’s war history—it was more in-depth than what I’ve ever had in high school.
Classes are still going well. With only 4 weeks left of term, the school year seems to have gone by quickly. But I have lots of time after classes official end, which is really nice so that I can enjoy London and everyone I hang out with here in a non-stressed, summer-like context. It’ll be great and relaxing—I can’t wait!
My internship is still strong as well. I’ve been doing a lot of proof-reading, research for book/blog tours, and previewing new manuscripts. I definitely want to look into this as a career—I am really glad I took on this internship. J
When I’m not in class, at work, are walking around a museum, I’ve just been doing normal, average things. Reena and I still make pancakes every Friday—I enjoy sitting around in my p.j.s until 1. We also saw a movie—Black Swan. Rather good, but not the best flick to see late on a Wednesday night—too much thinking involved! Haha. I also spend a lot of time in our kitchen still, sitting and talking and drinking tea.
And now, like the title of this entry states, it was my birthday a few days ago!! I am now 21, which strangely feels so much better than turning 20. Don’t ask me why…I think it is just because I am more comfortable with “being in my 20s” now than I was last year, which is good. J I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. We had gorgeous weather! I mean, really gorgeous weather, even for London. It was warm (ish) and REALLY sunny. I had one class in the morning and actually really enjoyed my walk to and back. Then when I got back at my flat, I find that my door and the kitchen has been decorated with streamers and balloons—all Reena’s doing. I knock on her door and she was there, along with Callum and Reena’s friend Sophie, which apparently helped blowing up the balloons. We sat and talked for a bit there. Reena gave me her gift—a silver necklace of a set of keys. It is a tradition in her family that when you turn 21, you are given a key—there is some kind of folklore behind it that I need to look up still. It was really sweet. When Reena and Sophie went to their class, Callum and I went for a walk in Regents Park before his class, which was really nice. I saw lots of daffodils and other flowers springing up, which was lovely. That evening, Callum, Reena, Jess, and I went out to dinner—we had Italian food, complete with wine. Even though I’ve had wine before here, it was nice to have wine that night especially to mark my 21st. We came back to the flat afterwards to eat the beautiful cake Callum bought for me. It was chocolate with fruit and a kind of buttercream frosting on the inside and milk and white chocolate covering the outside. YUM! I like cake, haha. My parents had sent me a gift in the mail, which Reena held hostage until my actual birthday day in her room. So I opened that up next on skype with my family so they could see. It was a really nice day, filled with family, friends, and food—always a good combination.
I have posted pictures on facebook of Regents Park a few weeks ago—Callum and I like to walk there whenever there’s good weather to do so. I’ve also put up the handful of pictures that I’ve taken since there—at the park again and of my birthday celebration.
In the beginning of February, Callum and I went to Ronnie Scott’s—London’s oldest jazz club. I went because some of my Dad’s favorite performers have played there and I said I’d go visit and see a show for him. And since Valentine’s Day was a Monday this year and we both had classes, it also served as Callum and my “Valentine’s Day night out”. We saw Kenny Barron—a really good pianist, 6 time Grammy nominated. He had dedicated his whole life to performing and has played all around the world. He was amazing to watch. The place itself was really nice. On the outside, there’s just simple posters hanging in display boxes with a neon light hanging above beaming “Ronnie Scott’s” with a saxophone next to it. As we walked in, we were greeted by two very well-dressed men, complete with awesome zoot suit-inspired hats, and they were very pleasant when they directed us to the hostess’ desk. We were taken to our table—a very skinny booth-style up against a back wall and lit by the red glow of two table lamps—and watched the intro band. They were a very raggedy looking trio, but they were very talented none-the-less. And though it made me miss the music part of my life a little bit, the whole night was very fun and relaxing.
Another weekend, Callum’s mom, mom’s boyfriend, and little brother came up to London for the day. We all went out for lunch and walked around the British Museum for the afternoon. The British Museum is amazing! It has a very wide collection of everything from Egypt to China and the building itself is amazingly beautiful. We only toured around the Egyptian and Greece exhibits that day. So the following weekend, Callum and I went back and did some more exploring. We still haven’t seen all the exhibits yet! It is quite an expansive place, with large Roman columns marking the entrance, high glass ceilings, a quaint open café area, and a giant staircase in the middle leading off to various floors. It was very nice to walk around and read all the history.
On the same note of history, we also went to the Imperial War Museum—Callum’s pick. We went at the beginning of half term for younger school kids here in England, so the place was flooded with little school kids—mostly boys with cute caps—going “ah, wow, look, a bomb, a truck, a ‘name of cool big-kid-war toy here’” haha. It was a smaller building, and the exhibits were very close together, but I liked learning a bit more about England’s war history—it was more in-depth than what I’ve ever had in high school.
Classes are still going well. With only 4 weeks left of term, the school year seems to have gone by quickly. But I have lots of time after classes official end, which is really nice so that I can enjoy London and everyone I hang out with here in a non-stressed, summer-like context. It’ll be great and relaxing—I can’t wait!
My internship is still strong as well. I’ve been doing a lot of proof-reading, research for book/blog tours, and previewing new manuscripts. I definitely want to look into this as a career—I am really glad I took on this internship. J
When I’m not in class, at work, are walking around a museum, I’ve just been doing normal, average things. Reena and I still make pancakes every Friday—I enjoy sitting around in my p.j.s until 1. We also saw a movie—Black Swan. Rather good, but not the best flick to see late on a Wednesday night—too much thinking involved! Haha. I also spend a lot of time in our kitchen still, sitting and talking and drinking tea.
And now, like the title of this entry states, it was my birthday a few days ago!! I am now 21, which strangely feels so much better than turning 20. Don’t ask me why…I think it is just because I am more comfortable with “being in my 20s” now than I was last year, which is good. J I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. We had gorgeous weather! I mean, really gorgeous weather, even for London. It was warm (ish) and REALLY sunny. I had one class in the morning and actually really enjoyed my walk to and back. Then when I got back at my flat, I find that my door and the kitchen has been decorated with streamers and balloons—all Reena’s doing. I knock on her door and she was there, along with Callum and Reena’s friend Sophie, which apparently helped blowing up the balloons. We sat and talked for a bit there. Reena gave me her gift—a silver necklace of a set of keys. It is a tradition in her family that when you turn 21, you are given a key—there is some kind of folklore behind it that I need to look up still. It was really sweet. When Reena and Sophie went to their class, Callum and I went for a walk in Regents Park before his class, which was really nice. I saw lots of daffodils and other flowers springing up, which was lovely. That evening, Callum, Reena, Jess, and I went out to dinner—we had Italian food, complete with wine. Even though I’ve had wine before here, it was nice to have wine that night especially to mark my 21st. We came back to the flat afterwards to eat the beautiful cake Callum bought for me. It was chocolate with fruit and a kind of buttercream frosting on the inside and milk and white chocolate covering the outside. YUM! I like cake, haha. My parents had sent me a gift in the mail, which Reena held hostage until my actual birthday day in her room. So I opened that up next on skype with my family so they could see. It was a really nice day, filled with family, friends, and food—always a good combination.
I have posted pictures on facebook of Regents Park a few weeks ago—Callum and I like to walk there whenever there’s good weather to do so. I’ve also put up the handful of pictures that I’ve taken since there—at the park again and of my birthday celebration.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
London Life Got Busy!
It is February....wait...IT'S FEBRUARY!?!? The last two weeks in January seemed to fly by. And looking back, I realize that I've done a lot with my time.
This realization came about when Callum and I went out this past Friday night. He had a friend from his classes who was celebrating his birthday at a cocktail bar near Oxford Circus. Initially, Callum was going to go himself, but he asked me to come too. I haven't really met many of his friends from classes who don't live in Marylebone Hall, so I decided to go. It was a nice bar, stylish-y casual in design, big U-shaped couches with living-room-coffee-table inspired tables in the center. A barrel of ice filled with bottles of champagne and Jack Daniels sat in the middle with small firecracker-esque candles shooting off. The people there were a bit of a hodge-podge of students and upper-20-somethings. James, Callum's friend, was turning 19, so there were many student-aged people, some from Westminster and others from James's A-levels and high school years. But James's brother, Alex, who is about 10 years older, was also there as well, and so some of their mutual friends of Alex's were there as well. Once the candles died down, and drinks were passed around, so commenced the mingling. And it was through this mingling that forced me to actually say out loud very defining aspects of my life that I hadn't really thought of before.
When talking with one of Callum's friends from his classes, I could rely on talking about course work, Westminster, studying abroad, Alma at home, asking questions about their course work and home, etc.--basic student-y small talk, which I am now used to--being defined as the American studying English for a year. But when talking with the slightly older crowd, who have been in the working world for some time and have been finished with university, I realized that now have "work" talk that I can discuss because of my internship. I no longer was lumped into the student stereotype, not that that is a negative thing, it just has certain pre-conceptions that don't necessarily fully describe me anymore. So, when Alex told me all about his financial management job on Oxford Street and then asked what I did, I started saying things like "Well, right now I'm working at A and B Publishers. It's a small company, but I actually like the smallness because I am able to help with every department, not just editorial." And as the words came out of my mouth I was thinking, "Wow, I sound like a grown-up, when did this happen?" I don't know when this shift from student to actual grown-up started moving, and being aware of it is even more surreal, but I definitely like how this year is evolving.
In other news, I still am terrible at bowling, no matter what country I'm in. Last weekend, Callum and I tried to keep our evening low-budget and we went bowling. There was a really cool mall-like building in Leicester Square that contained an arcade, movie theater, bowling alley, spots bar, and laser tag venue. (Crazy, right? This building was enormous and had lots of fancy flashing lights and music--like two kids drawn to an ice cream truck, we had to check it out!). Despite it being extremely busy, we only had to wait about half an hour before we were able to get a lane. We played two games.....my scores for both games combined equaled less than 100...yup, that's how terrible I am at bowling. However, the gutter and I became quite good friends...I realize I may be a bit too old for those bumper things...but those sure would have improved my game! haha.
My internship is still going strong. I'm learning how to use InDesign, which is what they use as their formatting program for basically everything. I've been working on making their catalogue of books they will publish for April through December. This catalogue is dispersed throughout the London Book Fair coming up at the end of February. I've also been proof-reading a series of "old-lady romantics" as Georgina likes to call them. They are sappy and cheesy and sometimes makes you cringe at the sheer corniness of them, but I actually don't mind proof-reading them. They are rather comical at times, and for fluffy reading, it isn't half-bad. I'd say these were the upper-crust of soap-opera inspired writing, haha.
Speaking of this internship--because I work a normal work-day, I am now part of the normal work Tube traffic. And I'd like to say that I've mastered the commuting strategy! Because the tube gets so crowded, you have to be aggressive if you want to get on the train, and get on the train in a timely manner. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get on the very first train that comes to you and not have to wait on the platform for the next one. In order to do so, you must make your way down towards the ends of the platform, the parts where all the lazy people refuse to continue walking towards. That way, the ending cabins are a bit more empty and you'll be able to fit in just fine. However, you forgo this rule if you know you need to do a switch-over to another line in the middle of your commute (like I do...twice). In this case, you need to try to stay towards the middle because that is where most of the change-over hallways are. And if you aren't close to those change-over exits, you get stuck behind a flood of people who I swear have forgotten how to move one foot in front of the other, they go THAT slow. But of course, staying the middle poses the problem of possibly missing the train because there are more people to contend with. Well, this is usually remedied if you make your way to the yellow line, it marks where you no longer can walk for safety reasons...closest to the front of the platform and to the train doors as possible. Once the doors open, you wait for the passengers that need to get off the train to leave. While you are watching the stream of people get out, you pick one person and find where they stood and as soon as they leave, you make your move to replace them. By replacing a person, you don't seem to be in the way of anyone else and you know you'll have a space to occupy. However, if that doesn't work...you must resort to the final, last-ditch effort...and that is to just press yourself into people until this move. You see, most trains have a middle section where the seats are that also have poles for people to stand and hold. But often times these spaces are left open because people are reluctant to move away from the doors--easy access to get out without needing to walk all over people. Well, if you press yourself into the train, people will eventually move out of discomfort and will be forced to overflow into this area. Is it a bit rude, impatient, and selfish? Perhaps. But is always works. :)
In my "spare" time, I've taken up cooking. Callum and I try to make dinner together every Monday--gives us something to look forward to on the first day of the week. And Reena and I continue to have our pancake day, which has moved to Friday mornings--my day off and her early-morning class. So as a reward to Reena for getting up early and as a good way to stay my weekend, we have added listening to Michael Jackson songs (Reena's favorite) while we make and eat pancakes.
I still want to do some more exploring of England and London while I'm here. I want to make a new list of places and things to see. We get a lovely 3 week holiday for Easter and my exams are rather early, so I have a great chunk of time at the end of the school year to plan however I want without the constraints of homework and work. But right now, I am really very content and happy with just going to class, working at my internship, spending time with my flatmates, and enjoying "being a Londoner" while I can.
This realization came about when Callum and I went out this past Friday night. He had a friend from his classes who was celebrating his birthday at a cocktail bar near Oxford Circus. Initially, Callum was going to go himself, but he asked me to come too. I haven't really met many of his friends from classes who don't live in Marylebone Hall, so I decided to go. It was a nice bar, stylish-y casual in design, big U-shaped couches with living-room-coffee-table inspired tables in the center. A barrel of ice filled with bottles of champagne and Jack Daniels sat in the middle with small firecracker-esque candles shooting off. The people there were a bit of a hodge-podge of students and upper-20-somethings. James, Callum's friend, was turning 19, so there were many student-aged people, some from Westminster and others from James's A-levels and high school years. But James's brother, Alex, who is about 10 years older, was also there as well, and so some of their mutual friends of Alex's were there as well. Once the candles died down, and drinks were passed around, so commenced the mingling. And it was through this mingling that forced me to actually say out loud very defining aspects of my life that I hadn't really thought of before.
When talking with one of Callum's friends from his classes, I could rely on talking about course work, Westminster, studying abroad, Alma at home, asking questions about their course work and home, etc.--basic student-y small talk, which I am now used to--being defined as the American studying English for a year. But when talking with the slightly older crowd, who have been in the working world for some time and have been finished with university, I realized that now have "work" talk that I can discuss because of my internship. I no longer was lumped into the student stereotype, not that that is a negative thing, it just has certain pre-conceptions that don't necessarily fully describe me anymore. So, when Alex told me all about his financial management job on Oxford Street and then asked what I did, I started saying things like "Well, right now I'm working at A and B Publishers. It's a small company, but I actually like the smallness because I am able to help with every department, not just editorial." And as the words came out of my mouth I was thinking, "Wow, I sound like a grown-up, when did this happen?" I don't know when this shift from student to actual grown-up started moving, and being aware of it is even more surreal, but I definitely like how this year is evolving.
In other news, I still am terrible at bowling, no matter what country I'm in. Last weekend, Callum and I tried to keep our evening low-budget and we went bowling. There was a really cool mall-like building in Leicester Square that contained an arcade, movie theater, bowling alley, spots bar, and laser tag venue. (Crazy, right? This building was enormous and had lots of fancy flashing lights and music--like two kids drawn to an ice cream truck, we had to check it out!). Despite it being extremely busy, we only had to wait about half an hour before we were able to get a lane. We played two games.....my scores for both games combined equaled less than 100...yup, that's how terrible I am at bowling. However, the gutter and I became quite good friends...I realize I may be a bit too old for those bumper things...but those sure would have improved my game! haha.
My internship is still going strong. I'm learning how to use InDesign, which is what they use as their formatting program for basically everything. I've been working on making their catalogue of books they will publish for April through December. This catalogue is dispersed throughout the London Book Fair coming up at the end of February. I've also been proof-reading a series of "old-lady romantics" as Georgina likes to call them. They are sappy and cheesy and sometimes makes you cringe at the sheer corniness of them, but I actually don't mind proof-reading them. They are rather comical at times, and for fluffy reading, it isn't half-bad. I'd say these were the upper-crust of soap-opera inspired writing, haha.
Speaking of this internship--because I work a normal work-day, I am now part of the normal work Tube traffic. And I'd like to say that I've mastered the commuting strategy! Because the tube gets so crowded, you have to be aggressive if you want to get on the train, and get on the train in a timely manner. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get on the very first train that comes to you and not have to wait on the platform for the next one. In order to do so, you must make your way down towards the ends of the platform, the parts where all the lazy people refuse to continue walking towards. That way, the ending cabins are a bit more empty and you'll be able to fit in just fine. However, you forgo this rule if you know you need to do a switch-over to another line in the middle of your commute (like I do...twice). In this case, you need to try to stay towards the middle because that is where most of the change-over hallways are. And if you aren't close to those change-over exits, you get stuck behind a flood of people who I swear have forgotten how to move one foot in front of the other, they go THAT slow. But of course, staying the middle poses the problem of possibly missing the train because there are more people to contend with. Well, this is usually remedied if you make your way to the yellow line, it marks where you no longer can walk for safety reasons...closest to the front of the platform and to the train doors as possible. Once the doors open, you wait for the passengers that need to get off the train to leave. While you are watching the stream of people get out, you pick one person and find where they stood and as soon as they leave, you make your move to replace them. By replacing a person, you don't seem to be in the way of anyone else and you know you'll have a space to occupy. However, if that doesn't work...you must resort to the final, last-ditch effort...and that is to just press yourself into people until this move. You see, most trains have a middle section where the seats are that also have poles for people to stand and hold. But often times these spaces are left open because people are reluctant to move away from the doors--easy access to get out without needing to walk all over people. Well, if you press yourself into the train, people will eventually move out of discomfort and will be forced to overflow into this area. Is it a bit rude, impatient, and selfish? Perhaps. But is always works. :)
In my "spare" time, I've taken up cooking. Callum and I try to make dinner together every Monday--gives us something to look forward to on the first day of the week. And Reena and I continue to have our pancake day, which has moved to Friday mornings--my day off and her early-morning class. So as a reward to Reena for getting up early and as a good way to stay my weekend, we have added listening to Michael Jackson songs (Reena's favorite) while we make and eat pancakes.
I still want to do some more exploring of England and London while I'm here. I want to make a new list of places and things to see. We get a lovely 3 week holiday for Easter and my exams are rather early, so I have a great chunk of time at the end of the school year to plan however I want without the constraints of homework and work. But right now, I am really very content and happy with just going to class, working at my internship, spending time with my flatmates, and enjoying "being a Londoner" while I can.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Weekend is Over Already!?
Now that the first week of classes are over and I actually have gotten enough sleep, I realize that I really like my schedule for second semester despite its busy-ness.
I am still taking Modernism and Critical Perspectives, since those classes run year-long. I am really starting to enjoy Modernism even more because for some reason, more of my class is showing up to our seminars so there are more people who contribute, which is really nice. Before, it seemed like it was just me and maybe 3 other people who would keep the conversation going...on a good day. And if any of us weren't in the talking mood, the talking stopped, haha. But now we have about 30 people attending, and about half contribute! Critical perspectives is still my hardest class, looking to only get harder, unfortunately. But I will struggle through--in the end I hopefully will have learned what I wanted to get out of that class. We'll see how it turns out.
But these two classes pale in comparison to my new fictional writing class. It is technically at a 3rd year (that's technically senior year) level and I thought I may switch out of it if it was too much work to handle with my other two classes and internship. But it is actually proving to be my favorite class of this whole year. The course work for outside of class is relatively light, as we do a lot of writing, discussing, and brainstorming in class during our 2 hour a week lesson. My professor is amazing. He's extremely intelligent and says wonderful, punny, English-y things like "Let's edit these desks, shall we?" when he wants us to re-arrange ourselves into a version of the Lord's Supper table. Everything we've read in class is new to me--no repeats of material for once! And that is actually kind of refreshing. I think it is because I've read many novels, but not as many short stories. And the short story is the focus of this class (we are going to write one as our final assignment). The structure of the class is really laid back and reminds me of an English class at Alma. And I have yet to be bored. In yesterday's class, we talked about characters and how to start thinking about how to develop a person in a story. So try our hand at it he had us take half an hour to leave campus with the specific instructions to "find someone interesting and follow them". Yes, my professor effectively gave us permission to stalk a random person on the street in order to inspire our writing. I really like having a creative writing class--modernism and critical perspectives keeps me almost too focused on academic writing and it kind of becomes more of a chore than an enjoyment, which I think is a shame because writing is supposed to be fun. So this class is serving as my reminder that yes, writing is still fun.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I work at A and B publishers for my internship. I really like it there! It is a really small office, only 6 full-staff work there, all female, which gives the workplace a really interesting vibe--laid back and easy-going. I work under Georgina Phipps, officially, she's in charge of most things editorial. But I also help out wherever else I'm needed. They don't have an intern desk or spot for me really, so I just bounce around to wherever is available, which I actually like a lot because it gives me an opportunity to talk to everyone on staff at least once during the day. My first assignment was plopped down in front of me immediately when I got there--a 400 page manuscript. It had gone through the initial proof-reading and my job was to do the second one, checking for grammar errors, typos, punctuation, etc., specifically formatting things. The novel was published in American and now it is being re-released in London. And formatting here is a bit different. For example, single quotation marks are used instead of double around dialogue and double is used for a quote within a quote--backwards to the way we do it. So learning the "new to me" grammar rules has been interesting. And I really like the genre of books A and B publishes. They aren't too intellectual, but they aren't your run-of-the-mill trashy novel either. It is like the kind of book you'd feel good to bring on vacation with you--easy reads, good substance and characters and plot, but nothing too deep or philosophical. They are relaxing with a cup of tea books. And I'm glad I like them so much--reading a 400 page manuscript of a book I found boring would be terrible!
My only issue still left unsolves is the fact that I have two lectures that run at the same time...and be being brilliant and stubborn, decided that this would be okay. And in theory, it will be okay. The first lecture starts at 2, alternating between modernism and critical perspectives every other week and the second starts at 2:30 for my internship lecture. At first I thought I could just not go to the internship one because its a powerpoint based lecture, an I could just teach it to myself through the notes. But after reading the first set last week, that isn't the most realistic thing because if I ever have any questions, I won't be able to ask them. Then I thought, I'd try to go to both, the beginning of one and the end of the other. However, because they are one two different campuses 20 minutes apart, that makes it a bit more difficult, though technically if worse came to worst, still do-able. And I'd rather not miss ALL my mod./crit. lectures because even though my friend Raj is in that lecture with me and is willing to share her notes, listening to the lectures for crit. are sometimes rather helpful for clarifications. So, my plan is to talk to my internship lecture professor, get her advice. She works with international students all the time, maybe she can come up with a solution.
This past weekend was really nice. I have Fridays off, so I finished all my homework that day to free up my weekend. On Saturday, Callum and I went to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, kind of just walking around. The weather was relatively warm and not raining so we thought we'd take advantage of it. Sunday was kind of my rest day--I slept a lot and caught up from jet-lag craziness. So now I'm feeling back to normal again. And periodically, throughout the weekend, I'd catch my flatmates in the kitchen, and we'd just sit and talk when we could, which is always relaxing. I like sitting in our kitchen--it usually means food, tea, and friends, which is great combination.
The fire alarms in Marylebone hall have not forgotten us...the first one of this semester went off this morning at 9:30. It's only been a week and half...I will never get used to these! But aside from the noise intrusion, I'm all settled back in to life in London, which feels nice. :)
I am still taking Modernism and Critical Perspectives, since those classes run year-long. I am really starting to enjoy Modernism even more because for some reason, more of my class is showing up to our seminars so there are more people who contribute, which is really nice. Before, it seemed like it was just me and maybe 3 other people who would keep the conversation going...on a good day. And if any of us weren't in the talking mood, the talking stopped, haha. But now we have about 30 people attending, and about half contribute! Critical perspectives is still my hardest class, looking to only get harder, unfortunately. But I will struggle through--in the end I hopefully will have learned what I wanted to get out of that class. We'll see how it turns out.
But these two classes pale in comparison to my new fictional writing class. It is technically at a 3rd year (that's technically senior year) level and I thought I may switch out of it if it was too much work to handle with my other two classes and internship. But it is actually proving to be my favorite class of this whole year. The course work for outside of class is relatively light, as we do a lot of writing, discussing, and brainstorming in class during our 2 hour a week lesson. My professor is amazing. He's extremely intelligent and says wonderful, punny, English-y things like "Let's edit these desks, shall we?" when he wants us to re-arrange ourselves into a version of the Lord's Supper table. Everything we've read in class is new to me--no repeats of material for once! And that is actually kind of refreshing. I think it is because I've read many novels, but not as many short stories. And the short story is the focus of this class (we are going to write one as our final assignment). The structure of the class is really laid back and reminds me of an English class at Alma. And I have yet to be bored. In yesterday's class, we talked about characters and how to start thinking about how to develop a person in a story. So try our hand at it he had us take half an hour to leave campus with the specific instructions to "find someone interesting and follow them". Yes, my professor effectively gave us permission to stalk a random person on the street in order to inspire our writing. I really like having a creative writing class--modernism and critical perspectives keeps me almost too focused on academic writing and it kind of becomes more of a chore than an enjoyment, which I think is a shame because writing is supposed to be fun. So this class is serving as my reminder that yes, writing is still fun.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I work at A and B publishers for my internship. I really like it there! It is a really small office, only 6 full-staff work there, all female, which gives the workplace a really interesting vibe--laid back and easy-going. I work under Georgina Phipps, officially, she's in charge of most things editorial. But I also help out wherever else I'm needed. They don't have an intern desk or spot for me really, so I just bounce around to wherever is available, which I actually like a lot because it gives me an opportunity to talk to everyone on staff at least once during the day. My first assignment was plopped down in front of me immediately when I got there--a 400 page manuscript. It had gone through the initial proof-reading and my job was to do the second one, checking for grammar errors, typos, punctuation, etc., specifically formatting things. The novel was published in American and now it is being re-released in London. And formatting here is a bit different. For example, single quotation marks are used instead of double around dialogue and double is used for a quote within a quote--backwards to the way we do it. So learning the "new to me" grammar rules has been interesting. And I really like the genre of books A and B publishes. They aren't too intellectual, but they aren't your run-of-the-mill trashy novel either. It is like the kind of book you'd feel good to bring on vacation with you--easy reads, good substance and characters and plot, but nothing too deep or philosophical. They are relaxing with a cup of tea books. And I'm glad I like them so much--reading a 400 page manuscript of a book I found boring would be terrible!
My only issue still left unsolves is the fact that I have two lectures that run at the same time...and be being brilliant and stubborn, decided that this would be okay. And in theory, it will be okay. The first lecture starts at 2, alternating between modernism and critical perspectives every other week and the second starts at 2:30 for my internship lecture. At first I thought I could just not go to the internship one because its a powerpoint based lecture, an I could just teach it to myself through the notes. But after reading the first set last week, that isn't the most realistic thing because if I ever have any questions, I won't be able to ask them. Then I thought, I'd try to go to both, the beginning of one and the end of the other. However, because they are one two different campuses 20 minutes apart, that makes it a bit more difficult, though technically if worse came to worst, still do-able. And I'd rather not miss ALL my mod./crit. lectures because even though my friend Raj is in that lecture with me and is willing to share her notes, listening to the lectures for crit. are sometimes rather helpful for clarifications. So, my plan is to talk to my internship lecture professor, get her advice. She works with international students all the time, maybe she can come up with a solution.
This past weekend was really nice. I have Fridays off, so I finished all my homework that day to free up my weekend. On Saturday, Callum and I went to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, kind of just walking around. The weather was relatively warm and not raining so we thought we'd take advantage of it. Sunday was kind of my rest day--I slept a lot and caught up from jet-lag craziness. So now I'm feeling back to normal again. And periodically, throughout the weekend, I'd catch my flatmates in the kitchen, and we'd just sit and talk when we could, which is always relaxing. I like sitting in our kitchen--it usually means food, tea, and friends, which is great combination.
The fire alarms in Marylebone hall have not forgotten us...the first one of this semester went off this morning at 9:30. It's only been a week and half...I will never get used to these! But aside from the noise intrusion, I'm all settled back in to life in London, which feels nice. :)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
New Year, New Semester
I am now back in London, ready for second semester...or at least I think I'm ready for second semester. In theory, I will have plenty of time for three classes and an internship. I've planned, I've organized, I've prioritized...so hopefully all that prep will prove to be right! Tomorrow starts what is going to be one of the longest weeks ever. Why did I schedule my flight to arrive the morning before classes start? I am going to be a jet-lag zombie! But a smart jet-lag zombie, because I read the first 4 chapters of James Joyce's Ulysses and an article on the history of critical theory. Somewhere in my sleepy brain is the capacity for greatness!! Or at least comprehension of what we'll be discussing in classs tomorrow. :)
My flight back was quite nice. No one sat in the seat next to me, so I got to stretch out and capitalize on the extra pillow/blanket combo Delta supplies. It was relatively quiet, despite the baby sitting two rows in front of me and a child that reminded me of Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Callum met me at the airport. It was nice to have a friendly familiar face to look this time around. But the flight did take a little bit of a toll on me and my luggage. Having just gotten over an ear infection, my ears couldn't "pop" like they normally do when you come down for the landing. Though it didn't really hurt too much, when I spoke I sounded to myself like I was underwater. But thankfully my ears have slowly returned back to normal pressure. My luggage on the other hand...didn't fare so well. Yes, my medium wheel-y suitcase has been through alot. It suffered through a flight to Kansas for an alternative break where one of the "feet" began to get loose. Then it came with me to Scotland, where it got lugged around from bus ride to bus ride as we toured, acquiring a few bruises and stains to the cloth covering. Most recently that loose foot completely fell off in the middle Marylebone Road somewhere when I went home for Christmas. Now, that bag has a cracked handle and a busted zipper seam. Both my other two sizes of suitcases--all a part of the same set--are perfectly fine and durable. But this one seems to have just plain bad luck!
Now I am sitting in my room, all unpacked and ready for tomorrow, eating some spaghetti. Though I do miss home still, it is nice to be back!
My flight back was quite nice. No one sat in the seat next to me, so I got to stretch out and capitalize on the extra pillow/blanket combo Delta supplies. It was relatively quiet, despite the baby sitting two rows in front of me and a child that reminded me of Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Callum met me at the airport. It was nice to have a friendly familiar face to look this time around. But the flight did take a little bit of a toll on me and my luggage. Having just gotten over an ear infection, my ears couldn't "pop" like they normally do when you come down for the landing. Though it didn't really hurt too much, when I spoke I sounded to myself like I was underwater. But thankfully my ears have slowly returned back to normal pressure. My luggage on the other hand...didn't fare so well. Yes, my medium wheel-y suitcase has been through alot. It suffered through a flight to Kansas for an alternative break where one of the "feet" began to get loose. Then it came with me to Scotland, where it got lugged around from bus ride to bus ride as we toured, acquiring a few bruises and stains to the cloth covering. Most recently that loose foot completely fell off in the middle Marylebone Road somewhere when I went home for Christmas. Now, that bag has a cracked handle and a busted zipper seam. Both my other two sizes of suitcases--all a part of the same set--are perfectly fine and durable. But this one seems to have just plain bad luck!
Now I am sitting in my room, all unpacked and ready for tomorrow, eating some spaghetti. Though I do miss home still, it is nice to be back!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Spreading Christmas...Germs
Christmas Eve morning breaks...I wake up and trapse downstairs to snuggle up on the couch with my Phi Sig blanket to watch some quality Christmas cartoons. But then, I sniff, and I swallow and I realize...I have a rather annoying cold, stuffy nose, sore throat, and all. As the day progressed, so did my cold, eventually adding a headache and a fever to the mix. I wrapped only a few gifts and didn't go to church. But I at least was able to have dinner with my aunt and uncle that night, which was nice.
Christmas morning arrives, and I'm feeling still stuffy but better. And after a good hot shower and some ibuprofen, I was read to go! Dinner at my aunt's house was really fun. I was able to see everyone that I couldn't see at Thanksgiving.
The day after Christmas, which is always a sad day anyways because Christmas is over, was a Sunday. And on Sunday, my lovely cold decided to upgrade a massive ear infection. From the mid-afternoon to evening, my right ear went from being merely blocked to having shooting pains every few minutes. Though calling the on-call doctor, an eventual trip to the ER, and a follow-up with an ENT the next day, I was given antibiotic for the infection, ear drops to heal the ear drum, and vicodin and motrin 600 for the pain.
Today, I am feeling much much better. The antibiotics have taken started to kick in, the ear drops seem to be working as well. The vicodin seemed a bit extreme to me--so I've only taken that once on the first day. And the motrin 600 keeps the pain down to a dull pressure.
Silly sickness. Doesn't it know that it was a holiday?
Christmas morning arrives, and I'm feeling still stuffy but better. And after a good hot shower and some ibuprofen, I was read to go! Dinner at my aunt's house was really fun. I was able to see everyone that I couldn't see at Thanksgiving.
The day after Christmas, which is always a sad day anyways because Christmas is over, was a Sunday. And on Sunday, my lovely cold decided to upgrade a massive ear infection. From the mid-afternoon to evening, my right ear went from being merely blocked to having shooting pains every few minutes. Though calling the on-call doctor, an eventual trip to the ER, and a follow-up with an ENT the next day, I was given antibiotic for the infection, ear drops to heal the ear drum, and vicodin and motrin 600 for the pain.
Today, I am feeling much much better. The antibiotics have taken started to kick in, the ear drops seem to be working as well. The vicodin seemed a bit extreme to me--so I've only taken that once on the first day. And the motrin 600 keeps the pain down to a dull pressure.
Silly sickness. Doesn't it know that it was a holiday?
Thursday, December 23, 2010
My Michigan
Now back in Michigan, I realize just how lucky I am to be here. My flight out of Heathrow Airport was litereally the very last one that was able to take off to Detroit. As soon as we left, terminal 4 cancelled or delayed all their subsequent flights due to the mass amount of snow that apparently hit London. So I am quite thankful that I was able to get home on time.
This past week has been quite busy! I was able to visit a few of my high school friends--some I haven't seen since the summer, and a few since even before then! I've been baking Christmas cookies, talking, and visiting the Henry Ford Museum while it was all decorated--all was a lot of fun and I like doing all these Christmas-y things.
And tomorrow is Christmas Eve! My family will be wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies all day, as per tradition. Then my aunt and uncle will come over in the evening and we'll all go to church together and eat a light dinner afterwards. And we'll exchange gifts just between us then as well. And on Christmas morning, we'll have eggs benedict for breakfast, open gifts, and later go to my aunt's house for dinner. Yup, Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. :)
This past week has been quite busy! I was able to visit a few of my high school friends--some I haven't seen since the summer, and a few since even before then! I've been baking Christmas cookies, talking, and visiting the Henry Ford Museum while it was all decorated--all was a lot of fun and I like doing all these Christmas-y things.
And tomorrow is Christmas Eve! My family will be wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies all day, as per tradition. Then my aunt and uncle will come over in the evening and we'll all go to church together and eat a light dinner afterwards. And we'll exchange gifts just between us then as well. And on Christmas morning, we'll have eggs benedict for breakfast, open gifts, and later go to my aunt's house for dinner. Yup, Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. :)
Friday, December 17, 2010
I'll Be Home for Christmas
First semester is officiaIlly over. I'm sitting in my room--it's my last night in London before Christmas. And I'm thinking how surreal it is that I am leaving half my life in London and taking the other half to Michigan. Michigan is my home, but I've found that I use the word "home" to describe a lot of places in this world. Of course, my family home in Sylvan Lake I call home. I call Alma home. I consider a few of my high school friends' houses home. And now, I find myself calling my flat in London home as well. I like that I have so many places that I can call home.
This past week was very nice. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral with Callum on Wednesday--the last place I wanted to visit on my list of places to go for first semester. I went Christmas shopping with Reena on Thursday and out to dinner with her and two of her friends from her course to celebrate the end of first semester. Today I slept in quite late, did some last minute errands, cleaned my room, did some laundrey, and packed. This fluffy stuff, preparing to go home and see family and friends I haven't seen in a long time, always gets me into that Christmas-y spririt. It even snowed last night and actually stuck to the ground this time. I love Christmas time--I'm a bit of a sucker for all the warm-fuzziness and cliches that go with it. Call me an idealist, but I think it is important to keep up traditions to make the holidays special. I'm looking forward to going to church Christmas Eve, eating eggs benedict on Christmas morning, visiting friends as much as possible, making every minute of Christmas break count. Perhaps it is because I watch too many holiday movies, but I still think this time of year is when we can catch our breath in the midst of our crazy schedules and appreciate what and who we have in our lives.
Studying for my classes, adjusting to city life, meeting and making friends with some really great people, and exploring as much as I can--I have learned so much this first semester. And while I am going to love being back in Michigan for the next month, and am very much looking forward to all that second semester will bring!
This past week was very nice. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral with Callum on Wednesday--the last place I wanted to visit on my list of places to go for first semester. I went Christmas shopping with Reena on Thursday and out to dinner with her and two of her friends from her course to celebrate the end of first semester. Today I slept in quite late, did some last minute errands, cleaned my room, did some laundrey, and packed. This fluffy stuff, preparing to go home and see family and friends I haven't seen in a long time, always gets me into that Christmas-y spririt. It even snowed last night and actually stuck to the ground this time. I love Christmas time--I'm a bit of a sucker for all the warm-fuzziness and cliches that go with it. Call me an idealist, but I think it is important to keep up traditions to make the holidays special. I'm looking forward to going to church Christmas Eve, eating eggs benedict on Christmas morning, visiting friends as much as possible, making every minute of Christmas break count. Perhaps it is because I watch too many holiday movies, but I still think this time of year is when we can catch our breath in the midst of our crazy schedules and appreciate what and who we have in our lives.
Studying for my classes, adjusting to city life, meeting and making friends with some really great people, and exploring as much as I can--I have learned so much this first semester. And while I am going to love being back in Michigan for the next month, and am very much looking forward to all that second semester will bring!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Places and Pictures
This past week was filled with mostly writing and work for end of the semester deadlines (which are now completely finished and turned it!). But I still was able to find some time for picture-taking.
Destination: Royal Opera House
Last Wednesday, I went on the Royal Opera House's Backstage Tour. I used the tour as part of my research for my theatre performance paper, but that was just a convenient perk. The tour was actually extremely interesting and fun. The theatre has actually experienced two devasting fires in its past and had been rebuilt from the ground up both times. The building that exists now is actually the completely updated and refurbished theatre. Before, the work spaces needed were not all on site. Set construction, rehearsing, and storage were all located in completely different parts of England. Part of the latest modernization of the ROH was to make everything consolidated and under one roof. Now they have a bigger stage, a complete stage-sized storage area underneath the stage that can be raised up and down as needed, a stage-sized practice room, complete with floors that have springs in them just like the actualy stage. (Apparently the springs in the floor help absorb some of the shock and weight placed on dancers' feet when they dance and jump and whatnot.). They have a storage unit in Wales still--only for practicality purposes, as they do 300 performances a year and have a lot of props and things like that to archive. When I went, I was able to watch the lead dancer playing Cinderella run through her rehearsal of that song when Cinderella is dancing through her house with the broom and thinking. She was in full costume and incredible to watch up close. She was shorter than I had imagined a ballerina to be, but her posture and stance made her seem a million miles tall. And I still marvel at the concept of point shoes--beautiful, but how does she do it!? Especially when she flickers her feets, shifting her weight back and forth quickly to keep the movement going. Her instructor was there as well, pointing out what to improve--hand gestures, facial expressions, head tilts, etc. It was gorgeous.
Destination: Covent Garden
After the tour, I decided to hang out and wander through the area there--called Covent Garden. The property used to be owned by Westmisnter Abbey and was eventually sold to an Earl (I don't remember which...) and built up into the marketplace it is today by the crown's favorite artist and designer of the time. So it definitely has a more sophisticated atmosphere about it. But more importantly, the second I stepped into the market area, I was transported into all that is Christmas-y! There was music and gift wrapping and decorations and christmas trees, and even a hedge in the shape of Rudolph!! haha. I wandered around, taking pictures and browsing through everything. It definitely got me in the Christmas-y spirit!
Destination: Camden
On Saturday, Callum and I went to Camden. We had gone before, but at night. And my camera doesn't like the dark very much. So this time we went during the day so I could take pictures of Camden Lock. The bridge there is amazing. It seemed like it was older than the whole of the U.S.--and it very well might be. It was made of light and dark grey bricks and had a slight curve as it rounded over the top of the water. I think I stood and looked at the bricks, periodically jumping up an down just to feel them beneath my feet, for a good ten minutes--that how much I loved those bricks. :)
Destination: Library
Though I have no pictures that correspond with this place, it was where I could be found for most of this past week. I liked to stake out one of the few long tables next to a plug in the basement of the Regent's campus library usually...so I could plug in my computer and spread out my stacks of books and papers and drafts and whatnot. I like my space. :) And I was actually quite productive there, moreso than when I work in my room. I've found that that is something opposite of at Alma. My study habits here are different. I find I can't really work well in my own room and need to go to the library to get any real writing done. I get far too distracted in my flat. But in the basement of the library, my cell phone gets no reception. It takes a good 15 or 20 minutes walk to get there, so once I'm there I need to stay there to make my walk worthwhile. And there is less noise (usually) so I can concentrate better. All nice to know for second semester.
Destination: Michigan
My flight leaves this coming Saturday morning. Only 4 more days. And as I have no other work responsibilities, I intend to make my last 4 days fun. This is a good way end the semester. :)
Destination: Facebook
All the pictures I mentioned are posted on facebook.
Destination: Royal Opera House
Last Wednesday, I went on the Royal Opera House's Backstage Tour. I used the tour as part of my research for my theatre performance paper, but that was just a convenient perk. The tour was actually extremely interesting and fun. The theatre has actually experienced two devasting fires in its past and had been rebuilt from the ground up both times. The building that exists now is actually the completely updated and refurbished theatre. Before, the work spaces needed were not all on site. Set construction, rehearsing, and storage were all located in completely different parts of England. Part of the latest modernization of the ROH was to make everything consolidated and under one roof. Now they have a bigger stage, a complete stage-sized storage area underneath the stage that can be raised up and down as needed, a stage-sized practice room, complete with floors that have springs in them just like the actualy stage. (Apparently the springs in the floor help absorb some of the shock and weight placed on dancers' feet when they dance and jump and whatnot.). They have a storage unit in Wales still--only for practicality purposes, as they do 300 performances a year and have a lot of props and things like that to archive. When I went, I was able to watch the lead dancer playing Cinderella run through her rehearsal of that song when Cinderella is dancing through her house with the broom and thinking. She was in full costume and incredible to watch up close. She was shorter than I had imagined a ballerina to be, but her posture and stance made her seem a million miles tall. And I still marvel at the concept of point shoes--beautiful, but how does she do it!? Especially when she flickers her feets, shifting her weight back and forth quickly to keep the movement going. Her instructor was there as well, pointing out what to improve--hand gestures, facial expressions, head tilts, etc. It was gorgeous.
Destination: Covent Garden
After the tour, I decided to hang out and wander through the area there--called Covent Garden. The property used to be owned by Westmisnter Abbey and was eventually sold to an Earl (I don't remember which...) and built up into the marketplace it is today by the crown's favorite artist and designer of the time. So it definitely has a more sophisticated atmosphere about it. But more importantly, the second I stepped into the market area, I was transported into all that is Christmas-y! There was music and gift wrapping and decorations and christmas trees, and even a hedge in the shape of Rudolph!! haha. I wandered around, taking pictures and browsing through everything. It definitely got me in the Christmas-y spirit!
Destination: Camden
On Saturday, Callum and I went to Camden. We had gone before, but at night. And my camera doesn't like the dark very much. So this time we went during the day so I could take pictures of Camden Lock. The bridge there is amazing. It seemed like it was older than the whole of the U.S.--and it very well might be. It was made of light and dark grey bricks and had a slight curve as it rounded over the top of the water. I think I stood and looked at the bricks, periodically jumping up an down just to feel them beneath my feet, for a good ten minutes--that how much I loved those bricks. :)
Destination: Library
Though I have no pictures that correspond with this place, it was where I could be found for most of this past week. I liked to stake out one of the few long tables next to a plug in the basement of the Regent's campus library usually...so I could plug in my computer and spread out my stacks of books and papers and drafts and whatnot. I like my space. :) And I was actually quite productive there, moreso than when I work in my room. I've found that that is something opposite of at Alma. My study habits here are different. I find I can't really work well in my own room and need to go to the library to get any real writing done. I get far too distracted in my flat. But in the basement of the library, my cell phone gets no reception. It takes a good 15 or 20 minutes walk to get there, so once I'm there I need to stay there to make my walk worthwhile. And there is less noise (usually) so I can concentrate better. All nice to know for second semester.
Destination: Michigan
My flight leaves this coming Saturday morning. Only 4 more days. And as I have no other work responsibilities, I intend to make my last 4 days fun. This is a good way end the semester. :)
Destination: Facebook
All the pictures I mentioned are posted on facebook.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
First London Snow
I am not a morning person. I hate alarm clocks. I am not happy or perky even if I am well rested, and that sentiment rapidly turns worse and worse with the less sleep I get. Therefore, my morning routine does not include opening my curtains, because that would mean I'd let the happy, bright, "let's get going" attitude known as the sun beat unwantedly into my room. So I usually don't really know what to expect of the weather when I leave my flat, but since this is London I've become accustomed to rain. But, this morning, when I walked through the 3 sets of double doors to get outside, instead of the flat wet drops of foggy precipitation plopping on my head, dampened white flakes were gently falling. It was snowing!
Now, because I live on what seems to be one of the busiest streets in central London, the city doesn't allow snow to stay on the ground. Grit has been scattered across the sidewalks for weeks now in anticipation for any kind of icy liability. But, I could still see it falling, polka-dotting my blue peacoat. After a while, I didn't really care that it wasn't sticking to the ground. The air has that universal crisp snowy taste in it--that means Christmas is coming! There are only three weeks left in the semester--I will be on my way home the morning of December 18th. And I am exciting! Knowing that I still have another full semester, I don't really feel any sense of sadness about leaving London yet. I know I'll be back. And I get to be home for Christmas. I can't really ask for much more.
But in order to get home, I need to finish up this semester and only three papers stand in my way. Slowly but surely I plod along. The expected writing style here is slightly different. Alma English papers tend to emphasize original, independent thought--not relying on others critiques to form your own opinion. But here, being aware and able to reference others' work is important--the notion of being well-read must be present in addition to your opinion to support it. We view these as two separate entities, the first being a critical textual anaylsis paper, the second a critical research analysis paper. But here, research is a given, the first form doesn't exist as much. I think both skills are valuable. Though there is, of course, always room for improvement, I feel like I have at some level mastered the first way. I can form an opinion and use a literary text to back it up. I can take text and dissect it. I can look at form and function, symbolism and poetic asthetics, and comment on their use, effectiveness, and meaning. My writing skills definitely have been challenged while working on the second way of writing. And though at first, I was overwhelmed with the concept of doing research in addition of such an in-depth analysis, I am finding that the extra reading, the extra hunting is often rewarding because it tends to help me clarify my own thoughts in different ways. It also sometimes ignites different ideas that aren't readily apparent in just the literary text alone. And I'm discovering that reading others' opinions doesn't really shape or influence mine as much as I thought it would. Instead, it adds more layers and prompts more discussion. My goal isn't to read and absorb--it is to read and digest. It is very rare that I am aware of a time when I am learning and compounding skills, but this is one of those times where I can actually feel myself making new connections that I know will impact what I do in the future. It is kind of rewarding to be able to know the end benefits while going through the struggling part--makes it more manageable.
Speaking of this learning process, I have taken enough of a break from my American Lit. paper. So for now I'll stop writing here, and start writing in a Word document again. :)
Now, because I live on what seems to be one of the busiest streets in central London, the city doesn't allow snow to stay on the ground. Grit has been scattered across the sidewalks for weeks now in anticipation for any kind of icy liability. But, I could still see it falling, polka-dotting my blue peacoat. After a while, I didn't really care that it wasn't sticking to the ground. The air has that universal crisp snowy taste in it--that means Christmas is coming! There are only three weeks left in the semester--I will be on my way home the morning of December 18th. And I am exciting! Knowing that I still have another full semester, I don't really feel any sense of sadness about leaving London yet. I know I'll be back. And I get to be home for Christmas. I can't really ask for much more.
But in order to get home, I need to finish up this semester and only three papers stand in my way. Slowly but surely I plod along. The expected writing style here is slightly different. Alma English papers tend to emphasize original, independent thought--not relying on others critiques to form your own opinion. But here, being aware and able to reference others' work is important--the notion of being well-read must be present in addition to your opinion to support it. We view these as two separate entities, the first being a critical textual anaylsis paper, the second a critical research analysis paper. But here, research is a given, the first form doesn't exist as much. I think both skills are valuable. Though there is, of course, always room for improvement, I feel like I have at some level mastered the first way. I can form an opinion and use a literary text to back it up. I can take text and dissect it. I can look at form and function, symbolism and poetic asthetics, and comment on their use, effectiveness, and meaning. My writing skills definitely have been challenged while working on the second way of writing. And though at first, I was overwhelmed with the concept of doing research in addition of such an in-depth analysis, I am finding that the extra reading, the extra hunting is often rewarding because it tends to help me clarify my own thoughts in different ways. It also sometimes ignites different ideas that aren't readily apparent in just the literary text alone. And I'm discovering that reading others' opinions doesn't really shape or influence mine as much as I thought it would. Instead, it adds more layers and prompts more discussion. My goal isn't to read and absorb--it is to read and digest. It is very rare that I am aware of a time when I am learning and compounding skills, but this is one of those times where I can actually feel myself making new connections that I know will impact what I do in the future. It is kind of rewarding to be able to know the end benefits while going through the struggling part--makes it more manageable.
Speaking of this learning process, I have taken enough of a break from my American Lit. paper. So for now I'll stop writing here, and start writing in a Word document again. :)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
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. :)
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. :)
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Interview
13 Charlotte Mews, Camden Town. Such a small street that it isn't even on the map. But on this little alleyway of an road is Allison and Busbsy Publishers. In my opinion, because the company includes my name, I believe it's fate that I should work for them. So at 9:30 a.m. this morning, I set out to Goodge Street Station. Though it isn't far from Baker Street Station (which is the one by my flat), there is no direct line to it, so I had to take three--Bakerloo to Picadilly to Northern. Thankfully none of these were of the 5 or so lines that were experiencing delays this morning. Sitting on the train, I felt all business-y, blending in with the rest of those toting briefcases and newspapers quite nicely. Upon arriving at Goodge, I saw that this station was underground moreso than the average tube station--there was a sign on the staircase saying that there were 136 steps and those who may have trouble with such exertion should take the lift instead. I don't have trouble climbing stairs, but I took the lift anyway. It spat you out on Tottenham Court in the middle of Camden. Camden is known for its markets. So the whole street smelled delicious--fresh fruit and vegitable venders lining the sidewalks and drifts traditional English breakfast wafting from little cafes. I immediately turn left onto Tottenham Street (naming two streets similarly--a bit confusing, but I guess it's no different from Commerce Rd. and Commerce Rd. in Commerce in MI) About a block down, there's a little archway between a nail salon and a dry cleaners inconspicuously marking Charlotte Mews. It looks like a a back-alley, but is actually lined with offices for a design studio, a PR firm, and other such businesses. I walk up to number 13--a gold-plated sign with the words A and B Publishers swirled on it was posted next to its blue door. I pressed the intercom button and was greet by a very friendly voice and was let in.
Swinging the door open a bit too hard, as it was lighter than I expected, I found myself standing on the base platform of an extremely long staircase, down which Leslie was coming. Leslie is in charge of the marketing aspects of A and B. Extending her hand, she introduced herself and opened a door precariously positions off the middle of the staircase. Inside I met Georgina, who oversees the editorial end of things--I would be working primarily under her. The three of us sat down at a conference table next to a bookshelf that took up the entire wall, displaying most of the books that they have published within the last few years.
Conversation was very informal and relaxed, which I liked a lot. They did have questions for me, but they were posed in such as way that I wasn't nervous. I also asked them questions about A and B too. And every once and while we got off topic and talked about other things we do in our lives--which to me is a rather good sign. I think that shows that our personalities are compatable to work together.
Half an hour later, all questions were answered. Leslie took note of my schedule for next semester and told me that she'll be in touch. Though I didn't get a definite "yes, you have this internship," I feel pretty good about my chances. Considering my schedule and saying they'll contact me soon are pretty good signs I think. I know they are interviewing a few more candidates today and early next week, so I should know relatively soon.
Overall, I think the interview went really well and I can't wait to find out officially if I have the internship. I can definitely picture myself working there--it is exactly what I'd want to do for gaining work experienc.
In other news, I finally explored all the quintessential London sites with my friend Anne from my theatre class--and I did so unintentionally!
On Thursdays I have my theatre class. Typically we just meet at Regent Campus, but some weeks we meet at different theatres for tours. This week we saw a play at the National Theatre and we have a corresponding tour to go with it. So yesterday I woke up earlier to get to the theatre on time for class. But when I got there, no one else was there, not even my professor. So I texted Anne to see if I was in the wrong part of the theatre and got the meeting place wrong. She was running late but said that it sounded like I was in the right spot. When she eventually got to the theatre, we walked all around the building, walked through every entrance, but still could not find our class. Then Anne pulled out her planner. It was then we realized that the National Theatre tour was NEXT week, not this week. Usually if we see a play in a particular theatre, the tour is in that same week. But this was the one exception.
Now, by this time, we had already missed about a half hour of our 3 hour class. And it would take another half hour to get back to Regent Campus. We reasoned that since we had already missed a third of the lecture, we might as well just skip the rest of it. So instead, we did some site seeing and did the proper tourist-y thing of going on our own walking tour and taking pictures of everything. Anne is from Canada, and one of my closest friend who is also in the study abroad program. Though I love doing things with my flatemates--they are all from the U.K. so they don't necessarily want to see the obvious London sites. So it was nice to have someone who was coming from the same place as me and do the tourist thing. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park and Green Park, and Buckingham Palace. We also walked through the other end of the city of Westminster (which is where my flat is, I didn't realize Westminster extended so far--it's one of the biggest cities in London). We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch--Anne had a craving for pizza and me for pasta. It was a little on the expensive side, but it was delicious! I'll just eat a bagel for lunch every day this week to balance out the expense, haha. It was worth it.
I have gotten a little behind on posting pictures because it takes some time. But I will try to put them up this weekend.
Swinging the door open a bit too hard, as it was lighter than I expected, I found myself standing on the base platform of an extremely long staircase, down which Leslie was coming. Leslie is in charge of the marketing aspects of A and B. Extending her hand, she introduced herself and opened a door precariously positions off the middle of the staircase. Inside I met Georgina, who oversees the editorial end of things--I would be working primarily under her. The three of us sat down at a conference table next to a bookshelf that took up the entire wall, displaying most of the books that they have published within the last few years.
Conversation was very informal and relaxed, which I liked a lot. They did have questions for me, but they were posed in such as way that I wasn't nervous. I also asked them questions about A and B too. And every once and while we got off topic and talked about other things we do in our lives--which to me is a rather good sign. I think that shows that our personalities are compatable to work together.
Half an hour later, all questions were answered. Leslie took note of my schedule for next semester and told me that she'll be in touch. Though I didn't get a definite "yes, you have this internship," I feel pretty good about my chances. Considering my schedule and saying they'll contact me soon are pretty good signs I think. I know they are interviewing a few more candidates today and early next week, so I should know relatively soon.
Overall, I think the interview went really well and I can't wait to find out officially if I have the internship. I can definitely picture myself working there--it is exactly what I'd want to do for gaining work experienc.
In other news, I finally explored all the quintessential London sites with my friend Anne from my theatre class--and I did so unintentionally!
On Thursdays I have my theatre class. Typically we just meet at Regent Campus, but some weeks we meet at different theatres for tours. This week we saw a play at the National Theatre and we have a corresponding tour to go with it. So yesterday I woke up earlier to get to the theatre on time for class. But when I got there, no one else was there, not even my professor. So I texted Anne to see if I was in the wrong part of the theatre and got the meeting place wrong. She was running late but said that it sounded like I was in the right spot. When she eventually got to the theatre, we walked all around the building, walked through every entrance, but still could not find our class. Then Anne pulled out her planner. It was then we realized that the National Theatre tour was NEXT week, not this week. Usually if we see a play in a particular theatre, the tour is in that same week. But this was the one exception.
Now, by this time, we had already missed about a half hour of our 3 hour class. And it would take another half hour to get back to Regent Campus. We reasoned that since we had already missed a third of the lecture, we might as well just skip the rest of it. So instead, we did some site seeing and did the proper tourist-y thing of going on our own walking tour and taking pictures of everything. Anne is from Canada, and one of my closest friend who is also in the study abroad program. Though I love doing things with my flatemates--they are all from the U.K. so they don't necessarily want to see the obvious London sites. So it was nice to have someone who was coming from the same place as me and do the tourist thing. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park and Green Park, and Buckingham Palace. We also walked through the other end of the city of Westminster (which is where my flat is, I didn't realize Westminster extended so far--it's one of the biggest cities in London). We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch--Anne had a craving for pizza and me for pasta. It was a little on the expensive side, but it was delicious! I'll just eat a bagel for lunch every day this week to balance out the expense, haha. It was worth it.
I have gotten a little behind on posting pictures because it takes some time. But I will try to put them up this weekend.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Drills, Drama, Dance, and Deadlines
Remember that glorious fire alarm that wakes me up every...Thursday....morning...? Well, it now seems to have found a new habit: To go off on random days too. Apparently too much steam from our showers set it off, too much smoke in the kitchen will do the trick as well, a whole conglomeration of menial possibilities could set of that alarm, which shuts down the lift and requires me to trek down 20 flights of stairs to be told that it's a false alarm. And these are worse because unlike the Thursday drills, the fire alarm was actually set off by something, meaning it doesn't stop until the firemen come and turn it off and reset the system. So the piercing shriek continues for at least quarter of an hour. I've learned that the alarm isn't just a paced "beep beep beep". Nope, in fact, I've heard it so much that I now know that it is actually has 3 different tones. Two tones are high pitched at a 3rd interval, a "do" to "mi" alternating back and forth. And the third tone, higher, goes off with each of the other beeps, registering at about a "la" I'd say. Yes, that is the solfege of my fire alarm. And it just repeats over and over again, flat straight 4/4 time drone of beeping with a quarter rest every 5 beeps. And when it FINALLY dies down, it chirps quickly then shuts off with a long whole note of "do". So annoying. I truly hate fire alarms!
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing "Broken Glass" by Arthur Miller at the Tricycle Theatre. This theatre is the cutest little place in the middle of Kilburn. Though the surrounding area isn't the ::best:: part of London, one can clearly see this theatre is very much loved by the locals. There is a wavey art-deco stylized pipe swiggling above the entrance with the letters of "Tricycle" dangling down from it to mark your way into a short corridor that has a pully system in the ceiling dragging adverts of plays and movies currently being shown across your line of vision (in addition to the theatre there, there is also a movie cinema). At the ticket window, you see a box asking for donations and a podium inviting you to become a "friend of the theatre". Being a friend of a theatre makes you like a patron of the arts, middle class style. You get good seats and special deals if you are a friend, and in return you are expected to help support the theatre in whatever area they need it in. Because the Tricycle had this set-up, it very much had a community theatre atmosphere to it. Even sitting down on their bench-style seats in their open-metal beamed auditorium gave you the sense of going to support your friends in your high school's production. The setting was intimate and the stage was close to you no matter where you sat.
That night, I waited for the typical over-voice to tell me "Please turn off all mobiles, no flash photography," but instead found myself in complete darkeness as the house lights shut off abruptly and a long, sinew-y note was brushed from a cello. A back-light illuminated a scrim to reveal a woman sitting on a stool, stradling her instrument. She stroked a melancholic melody punctuated with sharp plucks as the sole piece of set, a move-able bed, glided into its opening position. From this moment, I was completely captured by this play. In the scenes that followed, depicting the struggle within the marriage of a Jewish couple living in New York in 1938 right after Kristallnacht, I became completely lost in Sylvia's passion and plight, Phillip's neurosis, and Dr. Hyman's frustrated refusal to not give up on the couple. A play never went by so fast. I'm contemplating using this play as basis for the paper I need to write for this class--anything that inspires me to write deserves to be written about in some way and here is just a start. I honestly can say I found nothing I would change in this production. I even liked the over-done Minnesota accent by Dr. Hyman's wife. Definitely a play worth watching--it wouldn't have had the same affect had I just read it.
To continue this good streak of performances, I saw "La Valse, New Brandstrup, Winter Dreams, and Theme and Variations" at the Royal Opera House this past Monday. The instant I walked through the sky-scraping etherial pillared entrance, I thought "Oh, I have to come back!" It was absolutely gorgeous. From the rich red carpeting to the showcases displaying past costumes, to the detailed sulpture and design, the building itself was a work of art. And despite it being a Monday night, the place was packed. I had gotten a little dressed up--skirt, blouse, heels, whatnot. But some people were dressed to the nines--fur coats, formal evening gowns. It much resembled our ticket prices actually...the high up you got in the ampitheatre, the more casual the audience became. But those people down by the pit...they were beautiful. The opera house also had a level dedicated to a restaurant, where it was hosting a "champagne dinner". Above this level is where our seats were. Now, the seating arrangement was not as bad as it could have been save for the family that happened to sit directly next to me. Despite the fact that we were in the last row on the far left with a slightly restricted view of top of the theatre, I happened to sit next to a family of four. Now, there were only three seats next to me, and there were 3 standing-only seats (contradictory, right?) behind us. So three of them sat and one stood behind. But during the course of the evening, they all kept shuffling around, taking up too much space, invading into my space, and of course they all spoke no English, so there was nothing I could do about it. However, because one of my friends couldn't come that evening, we ended up giving our 3rd seat to a wonderful elderly woman who had a standing seat at first. She was so short! But so sweet. She thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she not only could sit down, but could actually see better because she could barely see over our heads when she was standing behind us before. So that made up for the such ill company to my left.
Now, only the actual ballet. It actually was a split ballot, so the first portion was La Valse. This was a very traditional style. The dancers were different colored long skirts, each saturated with a royal deep color like emerald or ruby or sapphire. I have never actually seen a live performance of a professional ballet in a professional opera house before. I expected to like it, but it completely took my breath away. I literally could not take my eyes off the dancers. It was beautiful and fluid and so elegance. The music was equally exquisite--a sonatina-style classical piece accompanied them. The second part was New Brandstrup, which was much more modern. It had a black and white theme, and the set consisted of a grey scrim-like solid wall that light played over throughout the piece. The light fashioned buildings, displayed key words, swirls time-piece images, and added an extra layer of symbolism, almost like a play in that respect. The third portion, Winter Dreams, was my favorite by far. It had piano as its main component for melody and music, driving the drama of the dance. I hadn't been so inspired by a live piano performance like that in quite some time. I wanted to just run down and join in right then and there (though that might have been frowned upon, uh? Me, leaping down, sitting next to the pianist at that lovely grand piano and adding my hands to his on the keyboard....most likely. haha). It made me feel so connected to music in a way that has only happened a few times in my life that I can recall--playing Berkley's piano during choir and being joined by one of my friends on cello and the orchestra teacher on violin impromptu, or singing Loch Lomond for the first time in Scotland this past May. I like that feeling. It's rare, but it's very powerful. The music fit seamlessly with the choreography. It was fashioned a bit like a Shakespearian play, with one part depicting the "commoners" like the "chorus" would function, and the other part focusing on aristrocratic drama. The commoners part was very humorous--they are at a party and so show all the drunken-ness and promiscuity that goes along with scene. At one point, a group of men pass around a girl...by the ankles. Another man makes a pass on another girl and she slaps him. A mother is angered and walks off stage haughtily by tiptoe-ing on her point shoes very quickly so that her skirts look flustered. This was a great comic relief to the aristocratic scenes, which follows the sad story of three sisters and the men in their lives. It was very well done. And lastly, Theme and Variation concluded the ballet--a very traditional Tchaikovsky piece. When the curtain rose up on the opening scene, the audience literally gasped in sheer wonder at the beauty of the costumes. It was kind of funny actually at the predictability of it. But it was lovely at the same time that so many people had such a reaction. I will forever be amazed at that toe-pulsing thing they can do in point shoes...just stepping back and forth quickly in one place to give the body of the formations movement--most impressive. It was wonderful ending to a great performance.
After about 4 weeks of great experiences, I am now beginning to embark on the more serious side of school--deadlines. I have my very first paper due in about 2 weeks time--my very first British-style paper to be written, by me, and up to my standards but in this new system, in about 2 weeks, and I am feeling rather lost as to what to do. Questions will be asked, research will be done, but still. Deadlines make me nervous.
And also: I have more pictures to post from the ballet and from around my school campus, but I haven't put them up yet. Just be aware that they exist and you'll see them eventually when I have some more time. :)
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing "Broken Glass" by Arthur Miller at the Tricycle Theatre. This theatre is the cutest little place in the middle of Kilburn. Though the surrounding area isn't the ::best:: part of London, one can clearly see this theatre is very much loved by the locals. There is a wavey art-deco stylized pipe swiggling above the entrance with the letters of "Tricycle" dangling down from it to mark your way into a short corridor that has a pully system in the ceiling dragging adverts of plays and movies currently being shown across your line of vision (in addition to the theatre there, there is also a movie cinema). At the ticket window, you see a box asking for donations and a podium inviting you to become a "friend of the theatre". Being a friend of a theatre makes you like a patron of the arts, middle class style. You get good seats and special deals if you are a friend, and in return you are expected to help support the theatre in whatever area they need it in. Because the Tricycle had this set-up, it very much had a community theatre atmosphere to it. Even sitting down on their bench-style seats in their open-metal beamed auditorium gave you the sense of going to support your friends in your high school's production. The setting was intimate and the stage was close to you no matter where you sat.
That night, I waited for the typical over-voice to tell me "Please turn off all mobiles, no flash photography," but instead found myself in complete darkeness as the house lights shut off abruptly and a long, sinew-y note was brushed from a cello. A back-light illuminated a scrim to reveal a woman sitting on a stool, stradling her instrument. She stroked a melancholic melody punctuated with sharp plucks as the sole piece of set, a move-able bed, glided into its opening position. From this moment, I was completely captured by this play. In the scenes that followed, depicting the struggle within the marriage of a Jewish couple living in New York in 1938 right after Kristallnacht, I became completely lost in Sylvia's passion and plight, Phillip's neurosis, and Dr. Hyman's frustrated refusal to not give up on the couple. A play never went by so fast. I'm contemplating using this play as basis for the paper I need to write for this class--anything that inspires me to write deserves to be written about in some way and here is just a start. I honestly can say I found nothing I would change in this production. I even liked the over-done Minnesota accent by Dr. Hyman's wife. Definitely a play worth watching--it wouldn't have had the same affect had I just read it.
To continue this good streak of performances, I saw "La Valse, New Brandstrup, Winter Dreams, and Theme and Variations" at the Royal Opera House this past Monday. The instant I walked through the sky-scraping etherial pillared entrance, I thought "Oh, I have to come back!" It was absolutely gorgeous. From the rich red carpeting to the showcases displaying past costumes, to the detailed sulpture and design, the building itself was a work of art. And despite it being a Monday night, the place was packed. I had gotten a little dressed up--skirt, blouse, heels, whatnot. But some people were dressed to the nines--fur coats, formal evening gowns. It much resembled our ticket prices actually...the high up you got in the ampitheatre, the more casual the audience became. But those people down by the pit...they were beautiful. The opera house also had a level dedicated to a restaurant, where it was hosting a "champagne dinner". Above this level is where our seats were. Now, the seating arrangement was not as bad as it could have been save for the family that happened to sit directly next to me. Despite the fact that we were in the last row on the far left with a slightly restricted view of top of the theatre, I happened to sit next to a family of four. Now, there were only three seats next to me, and there were 3 standing-only seats (contradictory, right?) behind us. So three of them sat and one stood behind. But during the course of the evening, they all kept shuffling around, taking up too much space, invading into my space, and of course they all spoke no English, so there was nothing I could do about it. However, because one of my friends couldn't come that evening, we ended up giving our 3rd seat to a wonderful elderly woman who had a standing seat at first. She was so short! But so sweet. She thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she not only could sit down, but could actually see better because she could barely see over our heads when she was standing behind us before. So that made up for the such ill company to my left.
Now, only the actual ballet. It actually was a split ballot, so the first portion was La Valse. This was a very traditional style. The dancers were different colored long skirts, each saturated with a royal deep color like emerald or ruby or sapphire. I have never actually seen a live performance of a professional ballet in a professional opera house before. I expected to like it, but it completely took my breath away. I literally could not take my eyes off the dancers. It was beautiful and fluid and so elegance. The music was equally exquisite--a sonatina-style classical piece accompanied them. The second part was New Brandstrup, which was much more modern. It had a black and white theme, and the set consisted of a grey scrim-like solid wall that light played over throughout the piece. The light fashioned buildings, displayed key words, swirls time-piece images, and added an extra layer of symbolism, almost like a play in that respect. The third portion, Winter Dreams, was my favorite by far. It had piano as its main component for melody and music, driving the drama of the dance. I hadn't been so inspired by a live piano performance like that in quite some time. I wanted to just run down and join in right then and there (though that might have been frowned upon, uh? Me, leaping down, sitting next to the pianist at that lovely grand piano and adding my hands to his on the keyboard....most likely. haha). It made me feel so connected to music in a way that has only happened a few times in my life that I can recall--playing Berkley's piano during choir and being joined by one of my friends on cello and the orchestra teacher on violin impromptu, or singing Loch Lomond for the first time in Scotland this past May. I like that feeling. It's rare, but it's very powerful. The music fit seamlessly with the choreography. It was fashioned a bit like a Shakespearian play, with one part depicting the "commoners" like the "chorus" would function, and the other part focusing on aristrocratic drama. The commoners part was very humorous--they are at a party and so show all the drunken-ness and promiscuity that goes along with scene. At one point, a group of men pass around a girl...by the ankles. Another man makes a pass on another girl and she slaps him. A mother is angered and walks off stage haughtily by tiptoe-ing on her point shoes very quickly so that her skirts look flustered. This was a great comic relief to the aristocratic scenes, which follows the sad story of three sisters and the men in their lives. It was very well done. And lastly, Theme and Variation concluded the ballet--a very traditional Tchaikovsky piece. When the curtain rose up on the opening scene, the audience literally gasped in sheer wonder at the beauty of the costumes. It was kind of funny actually at the predictability of it. But it was lovely at the same time that so many people had such a reaction. I will forever be amazed at that toe-pulsing thing they can do in point shoes...just stepping back and forth quickly in one place to give the body of the formations movement--most impressive. It was wonderful ending to a great performance.
After about 4 weeks of great experiences, I am now beginning to embark on the more serious side of school--deadlines. I have my very first paper due in about 2 weeks time--my very first British-style paper to be written, by me, and up to my standards but in this new system, in about 2 weeks, and I am feeling rather lost as to what to do. Questions will be asked, research will be done, but still. Deadlines make me nervous.
And also: I have more pictures to post from the ballet and from around my school campus, but I haven't put them up yet. Just be aware that they exist and you'll see them eventually when I have some more time. :)
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