Daily Life in London

Well I haven't updated for a week now....I suppose things have happened. Hehe! I am getting accustomed to daily life here in London.

Tuesday I had my performance class but then we had a break before our industry class because we were having David Benedict(a big theatre critic here) come in later to talk & visiting theatre faculty form the US were joining us(including Susan Russell!). So I got to see Susan which was amazing! I have missed her and it was great to see a PSU face! yay!

Wednesday I started my new class at Queen Mary(Performance, Sexuality, Identity). I think it's gonna be really good. Right up my alley! hehe! I then did my first rush to Shakespeare because it is a half hour after my Queen Mary class & I have to travel there. It makes me anxious but it's what I gotta do..ugh! hehe! Oh well...should be worth it! Then at night I saw 365 for Text & Performance(normally we have Thursday theatre nights but it was diff last week). The show was so mind boggling! It was so intense & emotional, I am still processing it. It was really effective though & the performances were great! I actually get to do a presentation on it this week so that should be good(though I am still not sure where to start!)

Thursday I woke up early to go to seminars they were having for the US theatre faculty(getting to see Susan again & on her birthday!yay! hehe). The seminars were very fascinating, especially a guy who focused on musical theatre being an art form, not simple theatre as many people think of it. So fascinating! Then spontaneously after the seminars Marina, our performance & industry teacher, took me, Katelyn & Catherine, who all attended the seminars ,to a recording studio to watch one of her students make a voice cd. It was so fascinating & quite an unexpected trip! Then after my class, we had a rehearsal for a play reading of one of the visiting professor's play which we were going to do the next day. Also Thursday night my friend Katie & I ran around outside trying to get a picture with a bus. [Title of Show] for advertising before they close is making a video with the song "Nine People's Favorite Thing" and having fans take pictures with the words of the song with backgrounds unique to where they live. We applied & got the word tonight & not having a lot of time, thought to get a picture with a bus at night. Our friend Ryan was our photographer & had us running after buses & jumping in front of them trying to get a pic but it wasn't coming out in the dark. It was quite amusing though & we ended up getting a nice picture the next day to submit(I had uploaded it for you)

Friday, before the play reading, I went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace which was pretty cool. Exciting that there is like a parade every other day! Then we had the play reading which went well. After that though I had to say goodbye to Susan. It was SO great to see her though!!

Friday night a bunch of us girls went out, intending to go to a club but didn't make it before we didn't have to pay cover so we went to Pizza Hut while we thought we were waiting to meet up with more people. Now the Pizza Huts here are like classy & we got wine & such & it ended up being a fabulous night! Our waiter was wonderful, super funny & became my best friend because his pen wasn't working so I let him borrow mine & then I got his pen working but then it exploded & i let him keep my pen as a present. We took pictures with him & he gave me his email to send him the pictures & told us that we should all go out to drinks sometime(hopefully that happens!) It ended up being a lovely night, even though we didn't go to a club.

Saturday Kyle & I headed to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian! Greenwich is such a nice place! It was a really nice day which added to it. The buildings are all beautiful & there's a beautiful park & there were so many families with little children. So nice! We had to trudge up this steep hill to get to the Royal Conservatory, where the Prime Meridian is. After realizing we are both out of shape, we made it to our destination! It was pretty cool, including the awesome views! Then on the way down the steep hill was very amusing, being unable to control my speed. Hehe! We had a very lovely afternoon there though.

Later that night a bunch of us went to dinner at the Texas Embassy. Three of my friends here, Kinsey, Kristen & Ryan, are from Texas so we had to go. It was quite a great time! We all got yummy drinks & yummy food(mostly Mexican..yum!) It was a great time with great friends! After dinner we hurried & got ready to go out because we all convinced each other to go out at dinner. We went to Fabric which is supposedly the club to go to. Honestly it was just ok. It had really strange music & really strange people..haha! I also wore the worst shoes possible which made me sit quite a bit. However sitting proved to be a good thing cuz I met fun people. There was this one crazy, kind of creepy British guy Michael but then I met these two really sweet Australian guys. We then had quite the adventure getting back home on multiple buses with a stop at chicken cottage included(delicious! haha). I also forgot to mention how 2 of the girls who came out with us are from PSU & just got here because they are on a different program, though they are living here in the residence hall. They are both nice too!Plus the Illinois game was on that night & another guy who got here goes there so we had fun talking about the game, though we weren't able to watch it.

Sunday, though I was exhausted after getting home very late, I woke up to go to Buckingham Palace because it is only open to the public until today. It was absolutely gorgeous! I am so glad I am here when it was open! I also learned a lot from the audio tour! It was a very pleasant outing! I then spent the rest of the day hanging out & getting some work done.

Today I spent the day wandering, after I failed to bring my headphones to the library to watch a movie I need to for class. I went & saw when Sam lived while she was here this summer & then I wandered around the West End theatres area & ended up going to the National Portrait Gallery which I know was a good choice when the first room I went into was the Tudor room(PERFECT!). It was nice to have some alone time to wander the city a bit. Then tonight I was going to go see some musical on my own, but ending up joining Kinsey & Katelyn in seeing Fat Pig. It was quite enjoyable. The lead guy was especially fabulous! Also the girl who played Jeannie was in Love Actually which is pretty exciting, though her American accent was awful. On the way home from the show we had a very strange tube ride home when these British guys, mostly one of them, were giving a very drunk Irish man a hard time. It was hard to tell if they were joking around or being serious. At one point the Irish man threw a pack of meat at the guy & then was singing. We were like in the middle of it too & at one point the British guy asked if I was ok(probably cuz I kept hiding my face in my book to nervously laugh). It was quite a scene!

Well that is about all I have to say for now! Tomorrow starts another week of classes...woo! hehe!

PROUST!

Warning: This post will probably be long because I haven't updated in a week & I was in Munich for Oktoberfest all weekend(lots to say!) Oh & Proust is how you toast people in Germany...like Cheers!

So last week...my second week of classes was good. I am definitely getting more of a feel for them & they should be good. They are still pretty long but since they are once a week it really isn't bad. Tomorrow I register for my outside course at Queen Mary University so I am pretty excited about that!

Wednesday night a group of us went to see Billy Elliot the musical & OMG it was SOOOOO good! Def the best show I have seen so far here! I never saw the movie but the story is SO good! & the kids in it are so good, esp the lead. He was so little but was such a good dancer. I know that's thezn point of it but it still really was amazing! I also thoroughly enjoyed the kid who played Michael(him dressing/ acting like a girl= genius!) I really want to see it on Broadway now to see the changes/ see it again!!!

Thursday night I saw my first play here, Under the Blue Sky, for class. It was quite interesting. A bit boring towards the end, but it was enjoyable overall. Some really great acting!

After the show, I then headed to London Heathrow Airport to spend the night there to begin my epic journey to Munich. My flight for Munich(well Zurich..I had a layover) was at 6am on Friday but there was no way I could get there early enough in the morning because of the public transportation so I went at night. I slept for a few hours on a bench. It wasn't too bad. There were a good amount of people doing the same thing! hehe! After 3 hours in the air, with a stop in Zurich(& I got swiss chocolate on the flight..woo!), I made it Munich & met Kristin at the airport. It was so good to see her! We hopped right on a train, met her friends Jackie & Stephanie& then hopped on another train to go to Fussen to see pretty castles(most notably Neuschwanstein Castle aka Disney Castle). It was a 2 hour train ride(yea lots of traveling that day) but it was so beautiful! The castle is amazing! We had this really creepy yet amusing tour guide as well. It was kinda rushed though because we wanted to make a pub crawl back at our hostel, so we like trudged our way uphill after the tour to the buses(it's very complicated to get to the castle). After many hours on planes, trains & buses, I was quite exhausted but my day was not even close to being over...

We got back from the castles & went to our hostel where we got ready in like 5 minutes for the pub crawl. I am so glad we made it back though! It was crazy & super fun! There were tons of people & we went to beer gardens(where I got to have my first liter..yes liter..of beer). We met crazy American guys & crazy Australian guys(lots of them come for Oktoberfest) & then my favorite, crazy German guys(such as Wolfgang haha). The night was quite adventurous & hilarious, complete with Kristin trying to steal a road sign & being threatened with being arrested, her arguing with the lady at the pizza place &walking forever to some bar with hot Australian guy, among many other things. Finally at 3am, I got to bed... I survived that long with 3 hours of airport sleep(yea be impressed haha).

However we only slept for about 3 hours because we woke up at 6:30 to get ready to go to Oktoberfest opening day. On the train back from Fussen we met an American guy(who now lives in Germany) who has been to Oktoberfest & told us we should get there at like 6:30 to get in a tent. The beer is not served until noon but you need to be seated to get it so people line up to get into the tents really early. We still thought we would be ok getting up at 6:30, but we weren't. We probably got to Oktoberfest around 8 or 8:30 & the lines were so long & crazy! We still, however stood in them & got very smushed. It was also freezing..quite an experience. They opened the doors & we were so close to getting in, but did not. We finally gave up waiting & walked around a bit. There were so many more people there at that point. We finally were able to get into a tent, though we didn't sit down. Well we did for a bit at a reserved table for Kurz Manfred but we eventually got kicked out when he & his party came. We did, however, get to be in the tent at noon when the beer is served. There's big celebration & then the beermaids carry tons of liters at once to the tables & take no prisoners while doing it. Oh I didn't mention too how so many people are decked out in their traditional garb(beer maid outfits, hats, lederhosen the works!) it's quite fabulous!

We then left Oktoberfest, intending to rest up, but stopped by a bar in order to get beer(since we still didn't & it was past noon now!) The bar stop ended up being such a good idea. We met this crazy 43 year old man Christian, who though ended up being creepy was HILARIOUS! He was a regular at the bar & kept being served drinks & such. He also had the traditional trousers on & traded them with our friend Jon. It was the most hilarious thing. He eventually took them back though cuz they were like 3,500 euros & made of gost skin or whatever he said! haha! We had a great time with him. He kept telling me I looked like some family named Kelly in Holland & he made us guess his age. He also told us some weird drinking game & ordered drinks for some of us. We ended up being there for several hours & it was amazing(though we did leave when he was too creepy).

On our way back to the hostel, we made stops at stores where they were selling the outfits. We had fun trying them on, however none of us bought them. They were pretty expensive! We finally made it back to the hostel where I took a very much needed nap! Woke up a couple hours later &headed to this church next to Oktoberfest where you can look out at the whole thing. It was quite a trek up the tower but it was dark at this point & it was BEAUTIFUL to see Oktoberfest all lit up & such. We then headed back to Oktoberfest & met Seth & Chuck & this is where our night got totally fun!

We met them because they were drinking beer not in a tent, we we didn't think was allowed but there are outside stands so we got some beer there & hung out with them. They were in the air force & super fun! Jackie, Jon & Stephanie also met up with us then & we all drank & ate 3 roasted chickens(which were delicious, but super messy, making for hilarious times, especially since Kristin was so into it). We then decided to start going on some of the rides....

We started with the fun house where you wear these crazy glasses which make everything crazy & it was really hard to go through it all. A super fun time though!! Then we proceeded to ride some crazy in the dark with lights spinning ride & a roller coaster. We also all on the way found liter glasses which we claimed as our free stolen souvenirs..hehe! After leaving Oktoberfest we ended up in some bar for a bit, meeting more fun Germans & then we headed to the hostel. After hanging out a bit, everyone else went out dancing but I was too exhausted & went to bed. It was an incredible day though at Oktoberfest.

In the morning we got up & checked out of the hostel. Then Kristin & Stephanie left & Jackie already did, so I was left a bit on my own in Munich since my flight was not until later. I walked around a bit & saw some of the touristy sights, most notably New Town Hall with the Glockenspiel. I also went on part of a free tour where I learned some cool history about Munich. It was lead by an American which was nice because since I don't know German, I really didn't know much of what was going on all weekend & was glad to learn things! I left the tour early though to head back to the airport to go home. I finally got back to my room in London around 10pm. I was super exhausted but the weekend was super incredible! Today I spent the day resting & catching up on everything else ready for another week of classes. The weekend was totally worth it though!

Having the time of my life

Yes I am quoting Dirty Dancing cuz I just saw Dirty Dancing the Musical but more on that later...

Friday I headed with some of the girls to the Tower of London. It was super cool and different than I pictured it. We took a tour with a Beefeater & he was so awesome & I learned A LOT!(including that he & other Beefeaters live there! so cool!) I didn't realize all the purposes the Tower had. I only knew things pertaining to the Tudors & that there are jewels there(which were my favorite parts! hehe). I also excitedly saw a man with a Penn State hat & it ended up that he grew up in State College & attended Penn State. It was nice to meet someone from home, well my second home I guess. (there are also pretzels here called Penn State pretzels..haha). After the tower we had lunch at Wagamama, a noodle place that some of the girls have been bragging about & it was so good! It's true what the brochure said, history makes you hungry!

Friday night a bunch of us went out to the suburbs to meet my friend Katelyn's friend Sam(who lives here) & his friends or mates I should say. It was a blast! We went to a really sweet pub and all his mates were so nice! We had a very adventurous journey home, complete with a most satisfying McDonalds stop. It was a really fun night!


Saturday was definitely a sleep in day and a bunch of us were going to go to Buckingham Palace but you needed to get tickets ahead of time that day. After eating lunch and trying to decide what to do instead, we ended up just hanging out & planning trips we want to take. We very excitedly booked a trip to Paris in November. YAY! Then we just hung out because we were very tired & ended our night with watching Notting Hill, a very lovely experience to watch here. So we had a lazy day due to the night before and we were waking up the next day to go to the Eat End to check out the markets.

The markets were quite fabulous! We actually had a tour guide who told us history of the area & took us to the Petticoat Market, the Spitalsfield Market & the Flower Market. We also walked through the Brick Lane Market. I would definitely love to go back to all of them! Very fun, though I must be careful not to spend too much! ahh! hehe

THEN Sunday night we went to see the fireworks over the Thames for the Mayor's Thames Festival. They were absolutely amazing! The festival was a great time too! I had a very strange experience of a Jamaican man approaching me and asking me if I liked the festival. I said yes & then he asked my name & shook my hand. Then he asked where I was from & I said Pennsylvania & he kissed me on both cheeks & hugged me. I was so confused if he was trying to pickpocket me that I like clung to my bag. I also kept telling him I was trying to keep up with my friends & he went up to random people and asked if they were my friends. It was a very strange but hilarious situation indeed! It was a very pleasant night though! LOVED those fireworks!

Today I felt like i was lazy but I was actually productive. I started reading for my Shakespeare class. Also over the weekend I read a book for one of my other classes. I definitely need to keep up with reading! After reading today, I went to lunch at My Old Dutch, this pancake place across the street. They have an any pancake for 5 pounds deal on Monday & they are not ordinary pancakes. They are quite interesting, huge & delicious! I am def going back! Then I went on some errands & got some more books from the library. Earlier some of the girls & I decided we wanted to see Dirty Dancing the Musical tonight so we headed to the theatre to see if we could get student tickets(or concessions as they say).

We got them! yay! The show was a lot of fun! Pretty much followed the movie exactly, with some add ins. All the dances were exactly the same & almost all the songs. It was less like a musical than the movie on stage, but loving the movie it was great, despite the bad acting that occured(mostly Johnny..meh he was hot & could dance....no Patrick Swayze though..haha). The end was absolutely amazing with him bursting through the door near us in the stalls(orchestra), saying "No one puts Baby in a corner" & the final dance! SO GOOD! SO FUN! hehe!

Tomorrow I have classes & it will be more than just an introduction to the class so we'll see how those go!!

Discovering The West End & more

Classes have started. It looks like I am going to have to do TONS of reading that hopefully I can keep up with! ahh! It should be interesting...

Other than classes on Monday, my day off, I wandered around the theatre area hoping to get tickets for that night. I ended up getting tickets to We Will Rock You(more on that later). Then I met up with Stephanie & Kristen to go to London Eye/Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament area. We were touristy & took pictures & then decided to go into Westminster Abbey. It was so pretty inside & pretty sweet to see tombs of past royalty & others plus memorials & such. Then we took more pictures..haha!





















That night then I went & saw We Will Rock You, the Queen musical. The plot was pretty dumb but it was fun. I love Queen music & at parts every clapped & sang along.

Tuesdays I have class til 7 so I didn't do anything exciting. But last night after classes we went out to dinner for Kyle & Stephanie's 21st birthdays! After our delicious Italian dinner, we were gonna go to the local pub but it was super crowded due to a HUGE football match. So we bought some drinks instead & had a lovely kitchen party. It was lots of fun! Good night indeed!

Today I only had one class at 3:15 so I was productive reading a bit & doing laundry. Then tonight was our first show for class, Marguerite. It's a musical by the same people who did Les Mis. I didn't particularly like the lead but the story was really good & the lead man was beautiful which is always good! hehe. I also enjoy the story a lot, it centering around WWII and I love history things like that.

So I am getting more used to things here. I am a little overwhelmed with all the reading I will have to do plus everything else I want to do, but I am sure I can work it out!

Getting to Know You London

Think of The King & I while reading the title of this blog..haha!

Greetings! I am much more adjusted here now. I was tired all day yesterday but then was like wide awake at night & stayed up late like I normally do at home. Now I feel much better.

Friday I did some more class orientation stuff and took my first tube ride alone to see where my outside University is. I did pretty well. My only trouble is knowing where to go once i get off the tube. Then after a travel fair, I ventured with people to the big Sainsbury grocery store and got a few more things. I feel like I will never stop buying things...ahh! I am not spending a lot though and they are things I need. Then we had the first group dinner, which will hopefully become normal. Then I hung out for the rest of the night since I was tired and was getting up early Saturday morning to go to Hampton Court Palace.

Hampton Court Palace was beautiful (see left)!Loving the Tudors it was a sweet place to go. The gardens are amazing!! We took a sweet tour with a costumed guide. I think I would really enjoy that job...performing & history in one..perfect! It was just sweet to walk through and imagine all the people who have been there before. Oh I love
royalty history!



After the Palace I was hanging out & then went to dinner & then was hanging out with people and we decided to go out to a club. However a couple of us, including me, forgot IDs and went back and were too lazy to return. Of course I am actually able to get in too! Oh well! I had a nice night and was able to talk to people and all.

Today we took a bus tour of London which has been my favorite thing because I finally got to really go out and see London. Now that I saw the tourist spots, I know I am here! hehe! We went all over & I got to see Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, The London Eye, Big Ben/Clock Tower plus lots of museums & theatres(yay!) & lots of other places! I took lots of pictures(which will be on facebook). Then we went on a highlights tour of the British Museum(saw Rosetta stone & lots of Egyptian & Greek things & mummies). I am excited to explore all the museums. Then we came back to the residence hall and had another group dinner. It was a nice day.


Tomorrow classes start, but I have no Monday classes so I am going to wander, hopefully get show tickets, and then meet up with some people to wander around Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament area. I am excited to explore!

Well I hope you enjoyed. I am going to leave you with a short paragraph of things I have done, but in British terms(the ones they taught us at orientation):

I have gotten dosh(money) at the hole in the wall(ATM) and eaten delicious biscuits(cookies). I also have taken the lift(elevator), but try not to too much because I only live on the second floor. Our loo(bathroom) is very small but will do. I walk on the pavement(sidewalk) everyday and even did to visit the uni(college) I will be taking classes at. Ta(thanks) for listening!

Pubs!

WOOO PUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I MADE IT!

Greetings all! I AM IN LONDON!!!! My flight went well and all...long but not too terrible. I got to watch the Sex in the City movie and the food wasn't too bad. However the screaming kids from my flight from Philadelphia to Washington DC were also in front of me on the way to London. They fell asleep fast though thankfully. When I got here, I had to wait in a long line for immigration. They did let me in though...hurrah! Then I went to get my baggage and try to figure out how to get to the residence hall. Thankfully I ran into people who were also going there. We all took the Heathrow Connect together and then hailed our first black cabs together. The very nice driver fit all of the luggage between 3 girls in so we tipped him a lot though we realized it was prob ridiculous for tipping standards here. One of the girls I took a cab with ended up being my roommate, Kat (who is really nice!). We got to the residence hall and got our rooms and such. The room is very tiny but it works. We immediately got our beds raised for more space which helps a lot. We got something to eat at this cute French cafe across the street and then unpacked a bit. Kat & I eventually both passed out unplanned. Then we woke up & had our first of I'm sure many visits to Boots, a local pharmacy store like a cvs. Then we had a couple meetings with the residence director & our RA, with dinner in between at Stockpot, a cheap local restaurant which was very good. After the meetings we went to the grocery store to get some things & then came back & hung out, showered & went to bed. I was quite tired.

Today was a day filled with orientations. We first went on a walking tour of Chelsea, the area we are living in(which apparently many celebrities live in...Hugh Grant, Mick Jagger, Pierce Broslin...). It's a very nice area, expensive though. After the walking tour we took our first tube ride to the IES Center we will be taking classes at though we first went to the University of London where we had lots of orientation meetings talking about safety & classes & blah blah. hehe! We had a lunch break where we roamed the area a bit. We went to a little sandwich place which was good. Then after more meetings, we headed to the IES Center and met our professors or tutors as they call them. They all seem nice and a crazy old man like Michael Kiernan teaches Shakespeare here too. Hope he is just like Michael Kiernan! hehe! After that, we went to the Sainsbury grocery store and I stocked up a bit more on food. Shopping and making things for myself should be interesting..haha. Then we took the tube back here to the residence hall. I think I should master the tube quickly....hopefully! I think I just need time to explore everything and I will figure things out quickly. There's just so much to do, and I am still tired. Hopefully I will adjust more soon and get out & about more! I think I will though!

So that is all for now I suppose. Hopefully I will have more exciting things to talk about soon!