Sigh.

Well, I'm back in the States and have managed to completely fail at keeping my blog updated from London. That was the whole reason I started it in the first place. Alas...I suppose all I can do now is transform it into whatever I want it to be! Summer is here and a new adventure is beginning...here goes.

Fighting and Florence

We had a crazy-amazing day today in stage combat and I'm testing my typing skills. My hands have been tremoring non-stop for at least twenty, twenty-five minutes, and when we sat to write things down, it looked like the chicken scratch of a three-year-old. Not even joking. We got to punch things today...and no, not just staged combat where no one gets hurt. Well, nobody really got hurt in this, either (minus the skin that is now missing from my middle knuckle), but we got to actually throw punches with a partner wearing mitts. Ethan tried to teach me to punch a year ago but I was too nervous. Now I've done it, and I think I'm pretty good at it. This is brilliant. Maybe I'll know how to defend myself in Italy!! Well, perhaps that's not funny.}
Meanwhile, Danny and I are prepping to go to Italy for spring break, starting this Friday! SOO excited. I am so fortunate to have an opportunity like this! Looking into tickets for Amsterdam in April as well, but that's not going as easily. Anyhow, looking forward to beautiful sights, stereotypical accordion music and legit pasta dishes! Hoping that with all my dieting and exercising, I won't lose all the hard work to lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, bruschetta, shrimp scampi...mmmm...anyone else hungry yet?

Still on the job hunt for NYC. Hard to do when you don't have a "current address" or telephone number while in the UK. Using Ethan's address in the city and telling them in my cover letter that my temporary number is my UK number. Turning in my internships on Thursday (need to go buy large manila folders and international stamps...I should get stamps anyway so I can finally send all my postcards!), and have applied to about ten jobs so far (five of them being Starbucks). Still searching!

I really wish I had a keyboard...I realized that my small crappy one is in Ithaca, so if I'm in NYC for the summer, I won't have a way to make music...guess I should start saving up to buy a good one...or bug my parents.

So much to do, so little time...Up, up,and away!

Cheers!

As We Roll Along...

Ah, life seems to be moving slowly, but is truly moving quite quickly. I can't believe that it's already halfway through February. That means two more months a few days left until I'm back in the states, and goodness knows I've got some stress over there already! I'm looking at job applications, as I'm planning on living in New York City for the summer. This means that the two weeks I spend when I return, I must apply like crazy. Then, I'll be home for a week or so, I think, then headed back to the city. I have a place to live, but I do have to help pay for it, so that's more or less where the job comes in. I'm hoping that my parents will let me stay even if the job falls through (but I promise, folks, I'm trying my hardest!). I've been creating a lot of stress for myself thinking about summer...I don't know if I'll have to plead with them or what! I hope they love me enough to let me do this for myself and have a new growing opportunity haha.
Meanwhile, here in Londontown, the weather's been pretty nice and I'm meeting some cool kids. Nothing new or exciting has happened lately, though I saw a production of Frankenstein last night at the National Theatre and it was AMAZING. One of the best shows I think I've seen. The lighting, sound/music, set, movement training, and several of the actors were simply phenomenal. Plus, it was a cast filled with people I didn't recognize by name, but with one look at their credits, I realized how many movies I've seen them in (including Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean). It was a wonderful show, and I think it's so awesome that the actors playing The Creature and Victor Frankenstein alternate the roles nightly. Magical.
Money sucks. A lot. Keeping track of expenses (especially when rent is involved) is absolute horror. Add needing to pay for internet on top of that, a Stratford trip I'm required to pay for today, and more groceries, and I'm falling apart! I think I'm losing weight trying to afford my groceries, though, which I guess isn't the worst thing! That, and going to the gym is one of my favorite things to do right now! I'm getting better at comparing prices and buying healthy foods, so that's been a big plus. I just bought two packs of ground lamb for £5, the same price I can pay for four chicken breasts or two packs of ground beef. Good deal, in my opinion. I spend lots of my money on milk, actually, since I drink protein shakes whenever I go to the gym (which is approximately five days a week). Luckily milk isn't too expensive, and I can only buy so much with four other people putting groceries in the fridge, too! I think I'm getting better at budgeting, so hopefully it will only be uphill from here!
Sorry I haven't updated in awhile (clearly nothing too exciting has happened). Praying I'll have something exciting to talk about soon!
Cheers!

Ah, Life...

I apologize for the lack of blog posting as of late! I've been relatively busy and/or had very little internet for the last week or so. Hopefully we'll be getting connected in our flat very soon (fingers crossed)!
Last weekend, we took a "class trip" to Avebury, Glastonbury, Wells, Bath and Stonehenge. All very beautiful locations, mostly outdoors, and it was cool to see historic architecture. The Glastonbury abbey ruins were phenomenal. Stonehenge was a tourist-y joy. However, my favorite places were the Wells Cathedral and the Roman Baths. Both places were stunning and breath-taking. I quite literally teared up inside the Wells Cathedral because it was so overwhelming, especially when a group of men there starting singing. It was the most beautiful cathedral I daresay I've ever been in so far, and I don't know what will compare to it in the future. The Roman Baths were great fun as well. We all took an audio-guided tour and walked around, and I bought a postcard at the end of things. On Wednesday, we saw a play called "The Rivals" (from which I just learned a scene for Styles class), which takes place in Bath, and it was fun to see the accuracy of the set.
That's the short version, for time's sake!
A few things I've realized I miss, though.
Apples and eggs. Not that I can't buy them, but they seem to be two of the most expensive produce items EVER. HOWEVER. You can buy hazelnuts and pinenuts for cheap? Welcome to Europe, I guess!

I'm also using London as my time to re-evaluate my goals and re-write my life. There are things I want to do, ways I want to be, and things I need to get out of my system...so when else would be a better time than now? I am a free bird with so many options in life. And a recent jolt to my personal life (shouldn't have been a jolt as it was nothing new, but it hit me harder this time), I've decided to do what I want for myself. That means get back into shape, get flexible, make healthy eating choices, spend money wisely (as that has been an issue since I moved here and I am an unhappy girl about it), make friends, and just live my life. I want to live. So what's stopping me?

Cheers.

Dublin

Just returned from a lovely weekend trip in Dublin. It was a little weird at first, since the hostel and area we stayed in (City Centre) were very urban...it was almost like still being in London, or in New York City, for that matter. But the five of us arrived, wandered around a bit, napped, then went out for a little nightlife. First thing's first...nightlife, in terms of dinner, is awfully hard to come by in the UK. Lots of places stop serving around 7 or 8. That's complex for college students from the US. Anywho, the first day was very chill, since we were all so exhausted from our wakeup time at 2AM Friday morning.
Friday, we looked around a few shops, took lots of lovely pictures of cathedrals and nice buildings, and went to this cool museum called Dublinia. It's a great place that goes through Dublin's history of the Vikings, Medieval times, and the Archaeology behind the discoveries. I learned quite a lot, actually, which was refreshing, considering my general dislike for history classes. Christ Church Cathedral was right outside the door, so we took pictures of it as well--you had to pay to go inside, though, which deterred us.
Saturday, we discovered that the hostel breakfast didn't quite work the way we had anticipated, so we went out for a cheap bite to eat (namely Subway--American food companies are incredibly popular in the UK...I don't think I've seen as many McDonald's, Burger King, or KFC restaurants in my life), and then began our day. We started by checking out the Guinness Factory, because I mean, come on, we're in Ireland. It was actually really incredible to learn the process of beer-making and how they did it. I gained a much greater appreciation for tasting it, and with their "guidance", you could pick out individual flavors and notes. Very cool. Then, while the girls went shopping and to St. Patrick's Cathedral, the boys and I continued our journey to the Jameson Whiskey Factory. Again, I learned so much more than I ever thought I would care to know about how they make whiskey, and we even got to do a taste-comparison at the end. Fancy. After that, we all met up again and decided to try a Musical Pub Crawl. We went to two different pubs as part of a paying group, and two men played and discussed traditional Irish music with us. Ah, there it was. A real taste of what I had been looking for! And it was just brilliant. Absolutely so much fun.
Sunday, we traveled to this lovely peninsula town called Howth. Right on the water, lots of farmer's markets and small shops (Danny and I bought delicious pepper jelly but forgot we couldn't take it back to London at the size it was and got it taken away at the airport :( Alas), and mostly, it was phenomenally beautiful. THIS was the view of Ireland I wanted. Nothing seemed more breath-taking, or even calming, as this sight was. I loved every freezing-cold moment of it. When we returned, we shopped around a bit (and I got some nice gray boots, finally!), went out to The Boar's Head for a last hoorah, then hit another pub for some more Irish music. One man there even played a didgeridoo and did Tibetan throat singing (yeah, not Irish, but still incredible!)!
Bedtime, then up at 5AM to return today. And now I'm sitting in the London Center, still with no internet at the flat, and waiting for my first voice lesson. Can't wait to take a nap after Styles before seeing "Once Bitten" tonight.
Cheers!

Week One

Wow, it's so weird to think that week one is over. I've officially moved into the flat with four friends (Danny, Hannah, Denzel and Ariana), and we had our first flat-family photoshoot to christen the place. It feels so weird to live in this place, because it doesn't seem real. I feel like I shouldn't decorate or unpack because we're going to be moving and leaving shortly...which is completely untrue. But we finally have a place to call home, and I am so grateful. Now to get the internet set up, the stovetop fixed (doesn't work at all), and figure out some more necessities!
Yesterday was mostly focusing on grocery and household item shopping, but I'm going to hopefully finish that up this afternoon after class. Indeed, my first day of class! But it always frightens me to see my money going down the drain in the manner that it does. Yes, groceries are expensive. Yes, toiletries and such are expensive. But man, I have never felt more poor as I do in London. Not to mention that traveling by the Tube every day adds more expenses as well. It's exhausting to think about! People have said to try and think about the £ as an equivalent to the $ so you don't stress yourself out too much, but it's hard not to! When I spend £20 and it's really closer to $40, I feel like I've lost a lot of money. But I'm working on it. I don't want to psyche myself out for the next four months; that would be painful.
Meanwhile, I accessed a bit of American culture last night by joining Ned, Danny L, and Graham in one of the only sports bars that broadcasts American football. So we watched the Seahawks/Bears game (poor hawks didn't do so well; but they got a couple touchdowns, which is all I asked for), followed by the Jets/Patriots game. We left early because we were sleepy, but it was a fun time.
I've started saying "excuse me", "sorry", and "thank you" with a British accent, and I've started asking questions sometimes with British inflection...it's been a week...I'm not really intending to come back to the states with a British accent...but I don't know how to stop my "sponging", as I shall call it. Anywho, I'm looking forward to the first week of classes! Hopefully things will run smoothly. We see shows very frequently with the Interrelationships course, so our first show, The 39 Steps, is on Wednesday. Cheers!

Moving Right Along!

The five of us have successfully found a flat! After around a dozen viewings, we decided on a lovely little place in Bayswater. It is such a great area with lots to do, ranging everywhere from a mall to pubs/bars, a bowling alley/ice skating rink to an Asian food market (obviously my favorite part). It's a mere walk away from the Tube, and we have friends close by. The location is great and most everything is literally within blocks. I believe we're signing the lease today and moving in this weekend, so things are finally starting to move along before classes start on Monday. Meanwhile, I should probably begin to figure out my class schedule and what times I need to be where. I have a couple more days, so I'm not too worried. I should also print out my Dublin tickets so I'm prepared when my friends and I take our journey there next weekend.

And now, I shall address an ever-popular subject among Americans: British food. Personally, I don't really like it much. Tuesday night, we traveled to a pub near the hotel, and Danny and I decided to get the fish and chips. Mind you, I absolutely love fish and chips. I was ecstatic to try the "real" thing in a "real" pub. Our food arrives, accompanied with a whiskey and lemonade (apparently nobody likes to make whiskey sours in London...I've tried more than once already), and I'm thrilled to dig in. Unfortunately, there was more breading than fish--I dug the fish out of the batter and ate it. :( The chips are fabulous, though! Sarah, who was in London the previous semester, said that when you go back to America, the chips are never the same. I need to stop ordering things that come with them, though, or I'll gain too much weight! Damn delicious carbohydrates.

Speaking of losing weight, Ned and I asked about gyms in the area, and I think we might be in luck. The idea of paying between £40-60/month is not the most appealing, especially after the free use of the fitness center in Ithaca, but I'm willing to pay it. I haven't been to the gym or stretched since the Sunday before I moved and I'm definitely paying the price already. Five days gym-less makes me sad. The lack of stretching is my own fault, I'll admit...BUT. Things are looking up! Plus, in my defense, I have been walking around a lot in the last couple of days. :)

Well, that's all for now!