This Entry Comes to You In Two Parts

(If you got the reference in the title, you must be a Nerdfighter, and for that, I love you.)

PART ONE: The Day The Music Died, I Was Taken in For Questioning
I went on a bus tour today. It was one through the school, which meant it was in a classy coach and not one of those double decker red buses (though, as I've discovered, those are used for regular transportation, as well.) This meant that we stayed nice and warm inside inside of riding in the open-air second level; I am not so committed to my photography that I would have been willing to sit up there today. However, I might just do one of those tours when it gets warmer... maybe when my family comes to visit in June.

Anyway, because we were in the bus most of the time, I didn't get a ton of great pictures, though we did stop a few times to get out and snap away. Our tour guide was really funny (this section title is a quote from him) and pointed out some great stuff, including the placed they used for Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter movies! Here are a few random pictures I got on the tour:
















PART TWO: Ur Doin it Rong
I got a text from Laura earlier tonight asking if I wanted to hang out. She said that she didn't like being all alone in her room because it gave her time to think and that made her homesick. I totally understood and said sure, so she came over an Adrienne joined us. She, too, revealed that she had been suffering from homesickness. Me? I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. I'm not homesick. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm totally on board with the fact that I'm going to be several thousand miles away from my family for five months, but... I don't know, I'm just not right now. And it's the same as what I reported on my first night- everyone kept saying they constantly had second thoughts, and I never did. What is wrong with me?

I'm not stupid; I know that I will get homesick. I'm too close to my family not to, and its happened before. Maybe it will hit tomorrow when classes start. Maybe it will hit when I see a play and something in it reminds me of someone at home. But right now, while I do wish I could see my family and friends in person, I'm just too jazzed that I'M IN ENGLAND to be homesick. My friend Megan (who has been in France since August and is blogging about it, too) assured me that this is a normal reaction, which makes me feel a bit better.

In other news, I might be doing something else wrong, too, but I won't correct it until they tell me to; today, I installed this:




No, not the window, silly, the blinds! Though they're not nearly wide enough, this will allow me to open the curtains a bit more; I hate dark rooms even more than I hate the color yellow and rice, and these will let in a little more light while still keeping my room private. I'm not sure if they're allowed, but no one's said no yet.

First class tomorrow!

"This is a Service Announcement."

If I had a pound for every time I heard that today, I'd have... a lot of pounds.

I got an e-mail today saying that my official Oyster card was ready for me at the school office. Ironically, in order to go get it, I had to buy another temporary one to get there, since the office is located in Kensington, about half an hour away by tube. Laura and Adrienne decided to come with me and now I wish they hadn't because I made their day so long... and for nothing!

We thought it would be an easy trip- the stop we needed was on the same line as our school stop. We should have been able to just sit there for thirty minutes an arrive at our destination. But no- not only was our line terminating about six stops too soon, but two of the other main lines were being repaired, so we couldn't take those either! It's only day six and we already dread having to use the Piccadilly line, even when it's not during rush hour.
We ended up having to change trains three times before we finally ended up in Kensington... only to find out that the office had closed about ten minutes beforehand. Ugh! Going back was a little better, since we knew there would be problems and planned accordingly. It's those kinds of things that make me happy that I don't have to commute to school (er... university) like some of my classmates.


And now for a service announcement of my own: in case you're a new reader, first of all, hi! Secondly, subscribing and commenting to this blog does NOT require you to sign up for Blogger or anything like that. I'm not quite sure how subscribing without being a member works, but I know it does. As for commenting, you can just comment anonymously and sign your name at the end so I can see who wrote. I'd love to hear from all of you (and thanks to Alissa for being the first to comment)!

A (really) Long Entry from an Internet Addict

Sweet internet, we meet again! (Sadly, I am that much of an internet addict that I missed it for the ONE DAY I didn't have it.)

Anyway, I'm moved into school now. We left the hotel at 11 a.m. yesterday morning, and it was pouring. I read a statistic last year that it rains on Thursday more than any other day of the week in London, and apparently, London was trying to prove itself, because rain it did. We took a coach bus (again, redundant here) to the school, which only took about twenty minutes, and were dropped off in front of the registration building. We were asked to go in and show our passports and housing agreements.

Housing agreements? We all looked at each other when this was announced, very confused. None of us had housing agreements.

In the end, they said it was all right as long as we knew where we were living. Still, though, I wish my home school had given us all of the necessary documentation. Once we got our keys, we grabbed our luggage and hauled it to our respective dorms. My building, of course, is the furthest away and my bags were very heavy. My shoulder and hand muscles hate me today because of this, and my left knee has a gigantic bruise on it from using it to control my smaller suitcase. I dreaded having to open the door and get everything in before it locked. Thankfully, a very nice guy named Isaac helped me and a bunch of other girls get or stuff into the "lobby" (a very small area in front of my flat, flat two, the stairs, and the elevator.) Unfortunately, he was a little too helpful and sent my smaller suitcase up with the elevator before I could stop him. Of course I got it back and went into my flat.

First, the flat has about seven or eight rooms in it down a long hallway. The kitchen is right next to the "front door" (this picture is taken from the opposite end of the hall.)



My "entryway":




This is from the door of my room (obviously after I'd decorated... no point in showing you both versions :p)



The bathroom, which is right inside the door:


From my bed:


My armoire:


And the bed itself, where I froze last night:


Yeah. It's cold. It's really, really cold. It's bearable outside when it's not raining, but, well, for the last two days, that's almost all it's done. And the rain is FREEZING. And whether or not it's caused by the temperature outside, the hallway is very very cold and if I don't keep my door closed, it seeps in here, too. So while I feel anti-social, I am sitting in here with my door shut.

Speaking of my being anti-social, I've realized why I avoid immersing myself in social situations. Me meeting new people equals me being a total spaz. It's amazing I have any friends at all with the way I behave when I first meet people. But nevertheless, I've been spending the time since the airport with Adrienne and Laura and they haven't been scared away yet. So once we all had our stuff in our rooms and kinda sorta out of our bags, we decided to go get food and supplies. This was a great plan... except that it was still pouring, and the stores were about a half mile away from the school... and that's not including our far-away dorm building.

But we needed food and by God, we were going to get food! So we swam to the store... and I'm hardly exaggerating. Umbrellas or no, we were soaked. My hair was dripping. Adrienne's coat, which is supposed to be snow-proof, could not hold up to the driving rain and her clothes underneath it were damp. And what's more, we couldn't find the store we were looking for.

Eventually, after about thirty minutes of walking (though it seemed like hours), we saw the red glow of the Argos sign through the downpour and ducked in.


Argos is a kind of store that we don't have in the US. Basically, it's like WalMart, but without the store. You go in and go to one of the many touchscreens lining the walls. There's a catalogue in front of each touchscreen and you can either look through that or just use the computer. You locate what you need and find out whether the store you're in has it in stock. If it does, you write down the catalogue number, leave the touchscreen and stand behind a blue line until you're called to a cashier to pay for whatever it is you've chosen. Once you do, they get it for you from the selves behind the counter and call you up when it's pulled. I actually thought it was really cool- it had all of the (non-food) stuff that Wal Mart has, but since there's not merchandise for people to touch, it takes about 80% of the terrfying qualities away from a Wal-Mart-type situation (though it can still be a little scary... one man was getting very angry about how the Argos people were "forcing" him to get a cell phone.)
Anyway, while we were there, I got a duvet cover and reed diffuser. My bedding and kitchenware that my mom had ordered from a university site had already arrived at my dorm, so I didn't need sheets or towels or anything like that. The cashier called me darling, which was very nice.

We were in there for awhile, but soon, we had to get food, which meant diving back into the deluge. The food store was close-ish, but we couldn't remember down which side street it was located, which was kind of torturous, since we didn't know whether to have hope that we were getting close or if we should just fall down in the middle of the street/river that used to be the street.


(That would be a candid shot of me yesterday :p)

But then we saw the warm orange rays of the Sainbury's sign stretching their beams out into the main road and we went inside. The first thing we found out was that you have to pay to use the cartsl they're chained together until you put a pound into the handle of the cart. We were very indignant about this (possibly we were a bit dramatic in our frozen, soaked state), but after our trip, we found out that once you link them back up, the pound pops back out.
Sainsbury's is very cool and also well-priced. I got an overflowing basketful of food for 23 pounds! It was weird doing grocery shopping on my own (though they don't call it "grocery shopping" here.) I got some delicious things like Nutella, clementines, and stuff to make pasta!

We decided that no matter how much stuff we got, we would take the bus back to campus, even though we had never taken the city bus before. As it turns out, we all got a ton of stuff, and Adrienne and Laura had gotten some big stuff at Argos. So we asked for directions to the nearest bus stop, lugged our things there, stood there for two minutes before we realised that it was the wrong stop, and dragged ourselves to the proper one. Getting on the (red, double-decker) bus with both arms full of bags and flashing our Oyster cards (travel passes- used for the tube and buses) at the same time was super fun. We also had no idea what bus stop we needed because the East End isn't on any of the maps we got. Thankfully, it turned out not to be hard- there's a stop right outside our university gates. Therefore, we only had to make it to our dorms with all of the bags.

My cute Sainsbury's bag:


I unpacked a bit more before the welcome dinner, which was pretty impressive. First of all, they played grand opera and instrumental music really loudly. Secondly, the meal was HUGE- a giant piece of chicken, potatoes, some kind of bread bowl with a stuffing ball in the middle, a piece of chocolate raspberry cake, and water and/or beer. I keep being surprised by the casual presence of alcohol. (Speaking of drinks, I knew I chose the right uni when I saw that they had Dr. Pepper, which is not only my favorite soda, but is kind of hard to find here.) The dramatic music playing while we ate made me feel like every bite was a triumphant moment :p Adrienne, Laura, and I stuck around the Curve (the on-campus dining place) for awhile, talking, and then decided that we wanted to go to Top Shop, which is sort of like H&M (though they have those here too... on the same street, where we went.) I remembered seeing one when we had gone to St. Paul's Cathedral during the scavenger hunt, so we grabbed our Oyster cards, bundled up, and took the tube to St. Paul's.

Unfortunately, at this point, it was about 5:40 and pretty much EVERYTHING here closes around six. I still haven't figured out why this is. I guess we're spoiled in the States, with things being open until at least nine, and some things for twenty-four hours, but I can't help but wonder why they close sooo incredibly early. So though we did get to Top Shop, we were only able to drool over their clothing for about ten minutes before they kicked us out to lock up.

On the street again (thankfully, it had stopped raining), we looked around and realised that pretty much everything else was closed too. But we didn't want to go home yet, and Adrienne said she wanted some dessert. Laura and I thought this was a good idea and someone proposed that we go to Covent Garden, where there was a crepe place. But once we got off the tube and to the location, we found out that that was closed, too. At this point, though, we wanted dessert and we would not be denied! So we walked around Covent Garden, looking at pub and restaurant menus to find a place that a) served desserts and b) didn't want us to give them our first-born in exchange for them. Eventually, it came down to a frozen yogurt (or here, yoghurt) place or a small Italian restaurant. The latter won due to to cold and we soon found out that the Italian place was not small- down a flight of steps was a big, candle-lit room that smelled delicious. We also found out that this place serves the best garlic bread EVER, and their chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream is not any further down the scale. Yummm. Though we had already had dinner, we have vowed to go back and have it there one night.


I had planned to stay up as long as it took me to get everything organized- my desk was still piled with papers, school supplies, tea bags, kitchenware... everything, basically. But around midnight, I remembered that we had breakfast at eight before nine o'clock orientation, so I went to my freezing bed.

Can I just say how soon it gets dark, and how long it takes for it to get light here? I don't know if it's the weather or the season (or both), but it gets dark around 4:15 pm and doesn't get light again until about 8:15. Whenever my alarm clock goes off and I look out the window, I think it's four in the morning or something. I need the light...

In the morning, the three of us went to the "big English breakfast" being served in the same cafeteria. The English eat a lot of the same, but also a lot of different, stuff for breakfast. Here are a few of the things on the breakfast menu:

-Eggs, sunny-side up (though I don't know if that's what they call them)
-Sausage (fatter than ours)
-Ham
-Bacon? (I can't remember... I don't eat bacon, no matter what country I'm in.)
-Hashbrowns
-Scrambled eggs
-Fruit
-Toast
-Cereal
-Tomatoes


Here's what I have for breakfast most mornings:

-Cereal


Anyway, we ate quickly, since we had gotten to breakfast a little late, and headed over the orientation, which was in a giant lecture hall. It was only supposed to last about three hours, but it was longer. I swear they just kept finding people on the street and having them talk to us. "Oh, look, it's Professor So-and-So. S/he can certainly tell you some more things! Stop saying you're hungry and pay attention!" Of course, I didn't hear a lot of the presentations because the girl sitting next to me was hacking up a lung. I really enjoyed the reverend's talk, though- she's a hysterically funny Australian woman who gives movie nights. I'd go to Monday's if I wasn't going on a boat tour.
Evenutally, they let us go and I ran back to my room, scarfed down some bread and Nutella (mmmmm), and met Laura ten minutes later to go see our drama head. Laura and I don't have any classes together, but we're both taking multiple acting classes (me: two; her: three.) It took us awhile to find where we were supposed to go, since they sort of showed a slide of info about where to go, but they went through them so fast that we couldn't write anything down, and the stuff we did get down didn't help; knowing you have to press buzzer two on the H Hall door doesn't narrow anything down when there are seven doors.
But we did meet the department head, who was very nice. We couldn't tell where she was from, though. At first, she sounded English, but as we talked more, she sounded very American with only hints of Irish and English or... something.
Then we stood in a long, long line to get our i.d.s and information (internet passwords- YES!), after which I was sent to a million different offices in order to get the answer to whether or not I could audition for amateur theatre here without violating my no-working, no-volunteering visa (the response: probably.) Then just one more class to get approved and I was done. So I officially have all my classes- yay!


The original plan for after registration was to go to Camden Markets; Drew, the guy Adrienne, Laura, and I had gone to the pub with on the first night, had invited us to go. But since it was still raining a bit and he hadn't contacted us anyway, the three of us decided to visit Top Shop again. By the time we got there, it was almost dark- and it was only three-thirty! We got to inspect the shop more thoroghly, with me having to wipe the drool from my chin every five seconds :p Lovely stuff, though a bit expensive for me. We visited a few more shops and Adrienne got her cell phone and we got Pret (a Manger) for dinner. Then we decided that our feet would declare mutinty if we walked much more, so we headed to the tube station... which was evacuated as soon as we walked in due to an "emergency situation." It took us awhile to get back because of that, and we still needed to get more stuff at Sainbury's. We did, then took the "bendy bus" (the very funny name that one of the speakers today called those really long buses... I don't know if that's the official London term or not) back. Adrienne summed up our state very well: "I can't wait to take a shower, change, sit down, and eat my sandwich- it's going to be the BEST NIGHT EVER!" I've done all of these things and would be quite content to not use my feet for a few days... I think they hate me. However, I do enjoy that we can walk so much. I enjoy walking.

Now I will stop talking at you (for tonight.) Thanks for reading!

Academics,Jack the Ripper, and Chocolate

Last day of orientation, at least for the before-university part. We had a discussion about academics today, mostly how English academics differ from American academics. I was surprised to learn that if I get a 68% here, it’s something to be proud of; 35% to 70% are passing marks at university. Back home, that would be barely passing!

Academics here are, in general, much more self-motivated. While in America, we get handed the night’s/week’s homework, we were told today that at our universities here, we’ll be given the syllabus at the beginning with a giant reading list and we’re expected to basically do what’s there on our own. Obviously, we have lectures (which can be near 200 students) and tutorials (smaller groups that discuss class topics), but for the most part, we need to do the work on our own. This includes reading at least most of the suggested reading list. I’m kind of worried about this part. I’m a good student and am very self-motivated, but that’s been in the system I’m used to. It might be nothing here. Who knows?

(Random fact: In America, “college” and “university” are used synonymously. However, here this level of education is known only as “university”- it’s not even called “school.” In England, college is a program that comes before university, and “school” is primary school.)

After the general academics talk, we were split up into our university groups for more specific information. Tomorrow at eleven a.m., I’ll leave the hotel to move into Queen Mary University. That’s all there is on tomorrow’s schedule, but Friday, we meet with our academic advisors here. We also have to personally go to our teachers and have them sign our course selection sheet so we can officially take their class. This doesn’t all have to be done in one day, but I hope it goes smoothly no matter how many days it takes; we were told that registration is one of the most frustrating things we’ll face. But QMUL sounds great- it’s one of the few schools with a big study abroad program, which means that the people who work there are aware of our presence and the fact that we might have questions.

Also at this meeting, we were given our assignments for homestay! While some non-QMUL people are doing their homestay this weekend, we’re doing ours in two weekends (the 14th-16th.) Two Arcadia students are going to one home, but we didn’t even know who this person would be. Thankfully, my other person is Adrienne, which will make things a little more comfortable. We’re going to be spending the weekend in Herne Bay with a family of three, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Once this meeting was dismissed, we were free for the day. Adrienne, Laura, and I decided to go to Queen Mary and check it out, even though we’ll be moving there tomorrow. We took the tube to the Mile End station and walked to the university, which is much closer than the map shows. We’re actually almost equidistant from two tube stations, and only a bit further from another, as well as many bus stops, so we have lots of travel options.

I really like Queen Mary’s campus. It’s one of the few universities that has an actual campus that is all in one area. We have a really nice area with all of the residence halls, a student union, two cafes/eateries, a small shop, and two laundry rooms, among other things. We checked out a few of these (no pictures yet). We looked at our dorm building, which is many stories high and located by a small man-made river, which runs down an entire one side of campus and will be very nice when it gets warmer. Stopping in the on-campus store, we were very pleased with what we found- not only well-priced notebooks, pens, and binders, but lots and lots of cheap food; everything from candy to fruit, ice cream to eggs to frozen French fries, cereal to kits to make fajitas. And, forgetting where I was for a moment, I was surprised to see that they also sold alcohol and tobacco there, too! The store is going to be a great resource, especially because it’s so reasonably priced. I’m also grateful to all of these cheap food options because most of my current money is being spent on eating out, as only one meal a day is provided at the moment.

We wandered out of this area and down the street towards more of the campus, looking for the humanities building (we never found it.) There was a store that was more like the one we have at Arcadia, which sold books, school supplies, cards, candy, and drinks. The campus ended soon after that, but we walked a long way down the street, where I found a phone shop and bought the cell phone that I’ll use while over here. It’s the tiniest phone I’ve ever owned, but though it is small, it is very loud and loves to let out triumphant music whenever I receive any sort of message. I’m still trying to figure out how it works, since I’ve never had a phone from this company before (T Mobile.)




It was about 2:30 by this point and we were all very hungry. It took us a long time to get to a place to eat because we had to change tube lines and then found out that the one we had planned to get out at was closed, so we grabbed a quick bite at Pret a Manger, since we would have to eat again in just a few hours if we wanted to be on time for the optional guided tour.

Though London isn’t terribly small, it’s incredible how much you can cover with a combination of the tube and your own feet. We had walked at least a mile away from Queen Mary before we took the tube and after that, walked a good deal more and ended up at the Tower of London. We walked around that area for a bit, oohing and ahhing at the Tower Bridge all lit up at “night” (this photo was taken at 4:30. It gets dark really early here.)




We got dinner at Strada, which is a delicious pizza place (which is also in NYC and possibly elsewhere.) We got there a bit earlier than we’d planned, but it was good we did, because I think it had just opened, so the service was a bit slow while they got everything ready for the evening. Since there weren’t many people there, we hung out for nearly two hours, eating and talking and then trying to figure out the money again. I’m sure by the end of the week, we’ll be used to the system, but right now, we’re still fumbling around with the many coins and multi-colored bills.
There were two optional walking tours tonight: one of Westminster (including the Abbey, I think) and the West End, and a Jack the Ripper tour. While I am very interested in the West End, it’s something you can easily do on your own (in fact, Adrienne, Laura, and I were in that area last night,) so the three of us opted for the Jack the Ripper tour. A lot of people had expressed interest in going on this one, so I expected there to be a huge crowd, but by that point, it was really cold and I think that drove a lot of people away; there were only twenty three in our group.

Though it was very cold, the tour was really interesting and our tour guide was great. I only knew the very basic story of Jack the Ripper, so it was cool to learn more of the details… and a little gross.

So now I’m back at the hotel, watching a history show (they have good ones here- I had planned to go to bed early last night, but then a show came on about the Victorian era) and eating chocolate. I have to say I do like the texture of the chocolate here better than my local Hershey’s, but never will I ever give up Hershey’s for good!




I don’t know when I’ll next be able to update- I’ve been told that the internet isn’t always the best at the universities.

Scavenger Hunt!

Today was more orientation. We met the staff members first thing this morning after walking to City University. Then we had our introduction to British culture... though I think the best intro to British culture will be living in it! This involved doing a worksheet matching American words with their English counterparts. Most of them were easy until we got to "arugula." I had never heard of arugula... and that was the American word. (As it turns out, arugula is fancy lettuce. You can all laugh at me for not knowing its proper term. They call it "rocket" here.)

After the orientation, Adrienne, Laura, and I went on the scavenger hunt. This invovled us going all over the city and finding different locations. It didn't take look for Adrienne and I to get back on track with the tube- though it's simple in the first place- so she, Laura, and I finished about two hours early. We did see a lot, though. A partial list:

BIG BEN



WESTMINSTER ABBEY



PARLIAMENT



COVENT GARDEN




THE NATIONAL GALLERY




TRAFALGAR SQUARE



LEICESTER SQUARE

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL



THE EYE




(Note that we did not actually go on the Eye or tour the Abbey, etc. We just saw them today.)

Since we got done so early, we took the tube back to Covent Garden to browse, as it's full of shops. We stopped in at Boots (a drugstore chain) and I got a straightener, as I practice the sin of vanity daily. I also was able to find a copy of The Stage, which is an acting newspaper very similar to America's Backstage or Show Business (though, from my brief glances so far, I think it has less casting calls. This may be because it's strictly London, however, and not the entire nation.) I keep having to remind myself that I am here for much longer than a week, and so I don't need to buy everything I see.

I also managed to call home today!

Well, my internet is nearly used up, so I guess I'll go.

I've Arrived!

I am in London!


The sunrise over Wales.

Right now I’m sitting in my hotel room… alone, since the person who was supposed to be my roommate at the hotel (who also happens to be one of my friends) wasn’t able to come after all. However, I’m not as sad as I seem- I spent two and a half hours in a pub this evening with three fellow Queen Mary-ers. Don’t worry, I’m not living it up too much- I had a Coke and a delicious chicken sandwich with “chips” (a.k.a. French fries.) Then one of my university-mates, Drew, showed us a breakfast place he found, although we just found out that we get breakfast for free at the hotel- hooray!

But to start from the beginning…

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be feeling about leaving in the finals days at home. I love being at home with my family, so of course, I was sad to leave them. But really, I’m not going to be away for much longer than I usually am. True, I won’t be a two hour train ride from my hometown, but still, the internet makes it easy to keep in contact. Plus, I’ve been wanting to study abroad for years.
However, it seems my sad reaction was understated compared to everyone else’s. Adrienne, Drew, and Laura (my fellow QMs) kept saying how they had second thoughts several times, while I never really did. Not about going… maybe about leaving. At the airport, Mom and I took a long time to say good-bye, until finally I had to go or they wouldn’t let me through. Checking my bags was quick and easy, though when I went through security, I forgot to take the liquids out of my carry-on (sorry, Mom), so they had to send my bag through again. Then, getting on the plane, my ticket wouldn’t scan. Thankfully, they let me through anyway.

The flight was good. As usual, I didn’t sleep (I can’t in any transportation vehicle), though I tried. I did, however, watch two movies (The Social Network and Easy A- both very different, but both really, really good. I recommend them.)
We landed on time and while waiting for my big rust-orange duffel bag and turquoise suitcase, I skillfully fetched and steered two luggage carts through the baggage claim, only running over a few people with them.

A bus took us from Heathrow to our hotel, where I am now, and we didn’t have anything to do for a few hours. We weren’t supposed to sleep (or drink), but I’m pretty sure I dozed off for at least an hour. However, I’m glad I did- I was able to pay attention through the first orientation meeting, which led to a group walk to the nearest tube station, after which we branched off for the food we desperately needed. While dinner on the plane was lavish and delicious (yay, premium economy! We got, like… actual utensils and stuff), breakfast was a tiny cup of orange juice and an apple oatmeal muffin top. This is why we went to the pub (besides the fact that Drew wanted some beer.) When we got back, I tried to call home, but though I could hear my mom on the other end, she couldn’t hear me :(

So that has been my day. Tomorrow is more orienting, including a scavenger hunt around London. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that I’m going to be living here. Yes, I looked out the pub window and saw red double-decker buses and black taxis and thought, “I’m in London,” but it still feels like vacation. I don’t think it will sink in until I’m at school in a few days. Right now, though, I’m being super American and watching Friends :p

Some things I noticed today:

-There are seatbelts in their coach buses (though “coach buses” is redundant here… coach means bus), and not only are they there, but you’re expected to wear them.


There was a sink in the bus, too :/

-Stores that are along the highway- everything from clothing stores to car dealerships- advertise their sales so you can see them from the highway. Like, dresses are put on display in the giant windows so you can see them as you drive down the freeway (though they probably don’t call it a freeway here.)

-At least in the city, the houses are laid out like rowhomes, all right next to each other, with walled-off back “gardens” (yards) behind them. They all look identical… except for the tiny little touches like what they have in their back yards and the color of their curtains and the lights in their windows. It’s kind of cool to see the differences in what is outwardly the same.




-Their soap operas and teen dramas are just as ridiculous as ours.

I don’t know when I’ll next get to update; you have to pay for internet here and I don’t want to use up all my money on that! Hopefully I’ll save the time I bought wisely and be able to write soon :)

2010 Wrap-Up

A little bit of reflection on 2010 before I leave tomorrow. It was quite a busy year. I can't wait until England is part of my 2011!

January: With the film company I’m with, Enscribe Studios, filmed a short called Never, which is one of our best films to date. Nearly got arrested while filming it for accidental trespassing. Had a terrible audition at a big theatre; I’m still too embarrassed to go back. Dyed my hair (accidentally) black. Saw Spring Awakening for the first time with my friend Megan. Went to my first theatre festival, which was quite an experience. Started the spring semester of my sophomore year of college, including a lot of first time classes in things like Shakespeare, Children’s Theatre, and Directing. Turned twenty. Got asked to sing in my friend’s summer wedding, something I’ve always wanted to do. Started piano lessons. Read and saw Peter Pan for the first time. Went on a ton of auditions.

February: Found out that my acting type is an ingénue, which was news to me. Out of love for my friend, agreed to be in a scene that I hated because I had already done it and didn’t like the play. Started writing a play based on/around Peter Pan. Auditioned a lot. Half of my classes were snowed out for about two weeks. Auditioned for Peter Pan at a huge, you-will-never-be-cast-here scale theatre. Was inundated with schoolwork. Became obsessed with A Chorus Line, helped by the awesome documentary Every Little Step. Saw a casting session from the other side of the table. Was given the duet Sixteen Going on Seventeen in my school musical theatre club, a milestone for me there. Read some awesome plays.

March: Started to go crazy(er) over not having a show. Put on a fun version of The Princess and the Frog with my Children’s Theatre class for a class of sixth graders (and I got to play the princess!) Became a cheerleader. Obama came to my school (I didn’t see him.) Auditioned a lot. Dealt with the mold and mouse problems in my dorm room. Was cast in my first student film playing a murderous teenager; we shot for three days of awesomeness. Filmed an Enscribe teaser for a new miniseries that I was asked to write- action, something brand new to me.

April: Discovered ALL CAPS, which is now my favorite band. Got new headshots taken. My friends Stuart and Courtney visited me at school. My beloved dog Missy died at age fifteen. Auditioned a lot. Did my second student film at my own university. Did my third at a different school. Got accepted into a giant, hard-to-get-into audition. Performed in my first piano recital. Got my first non-acting job.

May: Finished my sophomore year of college. Auditioned for the national tour of Next to Normal. More auditions. Visited Stuart and Courtney at their college. Started my tour guide job. Started to become obsessed with Dr. Who. More filming with Enscribe, which resulted in the usual adventure/us getting in trouble. Got cast as Portia in The Merchant of Venice- my first Shakespearean role ever.

June: My sister graduated high school. Started Merchant rehearsals. Went to the Met. Participated in the ginormous audition. A playwright that I love sought me out on the internet and wrote me a letter. Got a new agent. Was forced to watch all three extended versions of Lord of the Rings in one day. Tried to begin the study abroad application process.

July: Got cast in a play of one-acts at the very first theatre I ever performed in. Rehearsal, rehearsal, work, rehearsal. Had a full-out Shakespeare rehearsal in my backyard. Opened Merchant.

August: Closed Merchant. Blogged Every Day in August (BEDA.) Upgraded cameras. Opened and closed the one-acts. Started and finished Mockingjay, a book that, no matter how I felt about it, hit me harder than a lot have. Moved into school for my junior year.

September: Started out my first full day of my junior year crying in my professor’s office. Declared a creative writing minor. Started a cheerleading club. Auditions. Was cast as Alice in Alice in Wonderland. The school finally let me start applying to English colleges. Saw Time Stands Still on Broadway.

October: Got accepted to Queen Mary University of London, my top choice. Injured my left foot to the point that it still hurts me three months later. My mom got a cat. I bought my plane ticker to London. Got cast in a duet from one of my favorite musicals, Chess. Saw ALL CAPS, among other artists, in concert, which was incredible. Opened Alice in Wonderland. Got a position as a teaching artist with Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Saw The Scottsboro Boys on Broadway. Was cast as Jane Moore in Life With Mother Superior. Dropped out of cheerleading. Dressed as Hermione Granger for Halloween.

November: Closed Alice in Wonderland. Participated in National Novel Writing Month for the third year and won for the second; in the end, the novel was 63,023 words long. Mother Superior nearly fell apart but magically pulled itself together and had a great opening weekend.

December: Closed Mother Superior. Finished the first complete draft of my Peter Pan play, Straight on ‘Til Morning. Saw Time Stands Still again, this time from the third row orchestra. Finished my junior fall semester. Went back to my alma mater for the first time since senior year. Began packing for England. Went to Washington DC with Enscribe. Rang in the New Year with Stuart and his family.