I miss my family, and I'm sitting here, with a pad and pen, watching Friends, trying not to get distracted, but of course, I can't even sleep without getting distracted, because that is what I do lately I guess. I came up with an extensive list of things that I need to do. Actually, I came up with three extensive lists. One: short term , two: long term, and three: birthday.
They were somewhat successful, and I think being alone gives me a lot of time to think. I did a lot of research on MFA screenwriting programs, because, when it boils down to it, I think I'd rather have a day job that I can actually stand, and these programs are just so unbelievable, that I just can't help but want to apply to. If I can't get a thing going with music in the next year (which is my first goal) I'm going to end up going to get my Masters. I have to.
Lists are turning out to be a good thing, even when I put stupid things like Laundry on them. As well as appointments with various people. So far I have to make appointments with: my hairdresser, gyno, dermatologist, and my psychologist. Hm. TMI? Sorry about that.
Do I miss England you ask? A little. I miss my friends more I think. How am I going to sleep tonight? Too many questions, why can't my mind just be quiet for once.
There is something comforting about watching endless episodes of friends on my own couch. I love home. I'd never leave if I didn't have to.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Last Day
Well, its my last day here. I woke up with a kind of bittersweet feeling in my stomach, my flatmates and I made up a new word for that feeling "bum-cited." It means when youre bummed, yet excited. And that's what I am today.
Despite my feeling of bum-citedness, I'm EXcited to get up, and go out to breakfast with my roomies, then do some shopping. I think I'm either going to go
into London by myself, or Kingston, get some more souvineers for people!Class was so much fun yesterday, we didn't have it! Haha, after we handed in our final paper ::SIGH:: we went to a pub with our teacher Gregg and watched him chug a pint of Bitter in under 3 seconds! He kept his word, and he's such a funny guy. We had a blast with him and it was a great way to end the four weeks.
My class of Shakespeare girls with Gregg Eaves.
Its funny to look back over this last month and realize all that's happened, all the friends I've made, the habits I've gotten used to. Its going to be wierd to drive a car again, and stop drinking diet coke again! Nevertheless I'm going to get used to it, and I'm going to be so thankful to arrive in Newark and have someone ask me "How YOU doin!" It will be so refreshing to not have to ask for a "soya latte" and pay in "pounds." It will be nice to be able to Sit at a restaurant and get SERVED instead of walking up to the bar and ordering food. I'm going to see all my Ambassador friends when I go back to work, and it's going to be so great. I can't believe this experience is over. Its bittersweet, and again, I'm bumcited, but I'll be a happy camper to be able to sleep in my bed again, and go set up my new apartment with Emmy. I can't wait. Ah! only one more day!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Found a Pigeon in my Kitchen! And its Poop :(
Just got my departure information in an e-mail! Oh wow. I'm kinda sad!
I'm leaving at on Saturday at 12:00 for Heathrow with 4 other kids. I dont think any of them are on my plane, but at least I won't be traveling to the airport alone. I haven't written for the past 5 ish days only because I've been doing so much stuff!!! I don't want to forget anything I've done so I'll try to summarize from the last time I wrote.
Good news! They picked my essay to go into the newsletter! So I'll try to get my hands on a few of them before I get home.
I'll start with:
Weds, July 22nd- I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum with Jenna and Amber. This museum was unbelievably amazing. I wanted to stay in it all day long, and I couldn't believe we had to leave in about 2 hours. The girls had to get back to class, but it was such an amazing museum. It was a HUGE compilation of things spanning centuries. Like portraits, fabrics, statues, tools, JEWELERY! the Jewelery section was by far the most impressive and interesting part. It was halls and halls of elaborate jewelery from every century from Lords and Ladies to the common person's Jewelery. Mom would have loved it. Anyway, Amber and Jenna left for class and I decided to stay in Knightsbridge and do a little bit more shopping. I got some souvineers for Julie and Dana, and bought myself a small suitcase from London Luggage Co.
Thurs, July 23rd- I went into Stratford again, but this time with my Shakespeare class. This time was a lot more intimate than last time, and my teacher Gregg bought along
his lovely wife Julia, who was the sweetest woman. By the end of the day we were calling them mom and dad. It was really funny. They knew so much history about it, the two of them wouldn't stop talking all day. But I learned a LOT. It was a great trip and I really bonded with my girls from the class. They're all really great. We went into this church that was really extremely old, like from the 13th century, and there were remnants of a painting that had been scraped off and plastered over during the Protestant Refromation, which was very rare, because they didn't like to have paintings on the walls of churches once King Henry VIII became king, becuas they thought it distracted from the worship. Gregg told us th
at remnants of paintings like this were extremely rare. And this old church in stratford had it on the wall. It was actually really cool to see what would have been there before they took it down. Here is a small pic of what it looked like.
Someone actually scraped off the plaster that was put over it to try and restore what used to be there. Really cool, huh? After that we saw an amazing production of The Winter's Tale at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is the official Shakespeare playhouse in Stratford. It was amazing. The girls and I stayed in for a little bit and had a few drinks before the long train ride back to London, Waterloo.
Fri, July 24th- Had to leave 9am for Paris. It was a long journey. We took the Eurostar which was a hella trip for my eardrums. I felt all stuffed up and clogged. Not fun. But I got another stamp on my passport! After we got into Paris, we took a bus tour of the main attractions which took about 2 and a half hours. (They didn't even give us a breather! we still had our luggage with us!) It was great, and beautiful, but after such a long day of traveling, we all wanted to get back to the hotel and venture out by ourselves!
Once we settled into the hotel then ventured out for something to eat, and I desperatley wanted wine! We went to this cute cafe that we found a few blocks down from the Bastille (where we were staying) and had dinner. After that, we went to the Eiffel tower and relaxed for a long time out in the field! We watched the l
ights twinkle and had so much fun! Then bedime.
Sat, July 25th- Another walking tour of Paris, covered in video that I'm gonna put together! We saw Notre Dame and walked through it. It was beaut
iful, and larger than life.
Sun, July 26th- We went to the Louvre in the morning, which I also have a lot of videos of so I won't talk that much about it. It was beautiful, but we didn't get much time in there as we should have. Then, another walking tour! But this time, of Monmarte, a little village alllllll the way on the tippy top of paris. It was so cute up there, and they film movies there all of the time. Got a yummmy Banana and Nutella crepe and saw the Moulin Rouge!
Then I came back, (I skipped Monday becuase it was just traveling all day) and I've been working on this stinky paper all day long! I want it to be over, but It just won't quit! Tomorrow I'm meeting with my class at the pub, I don't think we'll be doing much Shakespeare talk. We've really bonded, and our teacher is really fun. Its the last day of classes for me tomorrow so i'm really excited that I knocked 3 credits out of the way and had so much fun doing it! I'll write more later becuase my hands are tired!! Ah! I miss you all!
I'm leaving at on Saturday at 12:00 for Heathrow with 4 other kids. I dont think any of them are on my plane, but at least I won't be traveling to the airport alone. I haven't written for the past 5 ish days only because I've been doing so much stuff!!! I don't want to forget anything I've done so I'll try to summarize from the last time I wrote.
Good news! They picked my essay to go into the newsletter! So I'll try to get my hands on a few of them before I get home.
I'll start with:
Weds, July 22nd- I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum with Jenna and Amber. This museum was unbelievably amazing. I wanted to stay in it all day long, and I couldn't believe we had to leave in about 2 hours. The girls had to get back to class, but it was such an amazing museum. It was a HUGE compilation of things spanning centuries. Like portraits, fabrics, statues, tools, JEWELERY! the Jewelery section was by far the most impressive and interesting part. It was halls and halls of elaborate jewelery from every century from Lords and Ladies to the common person's Jewelery. Mom would have loved it. Anyway, Amber and Jenna left for class and I decided to stay in Knightsbridge and do a little bit more shopping. I got some souvineers for Julie and Dana, and bought myself a small suitcase from London Luggage Co.
Thurs, July 23rd- I went into Stratford again, but this time with my Shakespeare class. This time was a lot more intimate than last time, and my teacher Gregg bought along
his lovely wife Julia, who was the sweetest woman. By the end of the day we were calling them mom and dad. It was really funny. They knew so much history about it, the two of them wouldn't stop talking all day. But I learned a LOT. It was a great trip and I really bonded with my girls from the class. They're all really great. We went into this church that was really extremely old, like from the 13th century, and there were remnants of a painting that had been scraped off and plastered over during the Protestant Refromation, which was very rare, because they didn't like to have paintings on the walls of churches once King Henry VIII became king, becuas they thought it distracted from the worship. Gregg told us th
at remnants of paintings like this were extremely rare. And this old church in stratford had it on the wall. It was actually really cool to see what would have been there before they took it down. Here is a small pic of what it looked like.Someone actually scraped off the plaster that was put over it to try and restore what used to be there. Really cool, huh? After that we saw an amazing production of The Winter's Tale at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is the official Shakespeare playhouse in Stratford. It was amazing. The girls and I stayed in for a little bit and had a few drinks before the long train ride back to London, Waterloo.
Fri, July 24th- Had to leave 9am for Paris. It was a long journey. We took the Eurostar which was a hella trip for my eardrums. I felt all stuffed up and clogged. Not fun. But I got another stamp on my passport! After we got into Paris, we took a bus tour of the main attractions which took about 2 and a half hours. (They didn't even give us a breather! we still had our luggage with us!) It was great, and beautiful, but after such a long day of traveling, we all wanted to get back to the hotel and venture out by ourselves!
Once we settled into the hotel then ventured out for something to eat, and I desperatley wanted wine! We went to this cute cafe that we found a few blocks down from the Bastille (where we were staying) and had dinner. After that, we went to the Eiffel tower and relaxed for a long time out in the field! We watched the l
ights twinkle and had so much fun! Then bedime.Sat, July 25th- Another walking tour of Paris, covered in video that I'm gonna put together! We saw Notre Dame and walked through it. It was beaut
iful, and larger than life.Sun, July 26th- We went to the Louvre in the morning, which I also have a lot of videos of so I won't talk that much about it. It was beautiful, but we didn't get much time in there as we should have. Then, another walking tour! But this time, of Monmarte, a little village alllllll the way on the tippy top of paris. It was so cute up there, and they film movies there all of the time. Got a yummmy Banana and Nutella crepe and saw the Moulin Rouge!
Then I came back, (I skipped Monday becuase it was just traveling all day) and I've been working on this stinky paper all day long! I want it to be over, but It just won't quit! Tomorrow I'm meeting with my class at the pub, I don't think we'll be doing much Shakespeare talk. We've really bonded, and our teacher is really fun. Its the last day of classes for me tomorrow so i'm really excited that I knocked 3 credits out of the way and had so much fun doing it! I'll write more later becuase my hands are tired!! Ah! I miss you all!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tips
This is a short essay I wrote and entered to be published in the next Kingston Summer school Newsletter based on some of the things I've learned here so far.
In London it’s not such a big deal to be un-British, but in the small town of Surbiton, where there aren’t many Americans, they will know you are a student. But don’t be taken aback by this feeling of being outsider, it will pass and you should embrace it. Maybe these tips will help.
• Be nice to everyone, and try to take public transportation (bus, train, tube) as much as possible to get really, thoroughly used to it.
• Study the tube maps! I can’t stress that enough. They are easy, and you will learn them if you just look over them once a day. Knowing which line goes where really helps you to blend in with the swarming crowds—you don’t want to be left behind staring at a tube map in the station, especially if you venture into London alone.
• Do what you want to do. Go to the main tourist attractions at least once, but if you can help it, try not to go places where you have no desire to be. This is your time; you’ll want to take as much time doing the things you want as possible. You will enjoy the day much more than going to a random museum and spending ten pounds. Do things that inspire you.
• Don’t let yourself be affected by jetlag. You can help this. Set your phones, clocks and computer’s times to London time as soon as you get there, and follow that. Try not to think about “what time it is at home” because you will just be haunted by images of you sleeping comfortably in your bed at home, which will induce homesickness.
• Get plenty of rest. With summer school, the classes take you on trips at least once a week per class, so that is at least two all day trips per week, most of the time more. Even the weekends are filled up with side trips.
• If you want to go to the pubs, that’s a great idea—but do not stay out into all hours of the night. In London, the trains and tubes stop running at a quarter to midnight, so that is good enough initiative to start “pubbing” early, and get back on the train by before midnight. It might sound lame, but when you’ve had your fun and are back in bed at a reasonable hour, you will be thanking me in the morning.
• Weather is extremely unpredictable. Extremely. You will need these three things at all times when you are in London in the summer: an umbrella, a sweater/light jacket, and sunglasses. I kid you not, these three extremes can and WILL happen when you are out for a day. Even if the sky looks like a Sandals Resort commercial, rain is coming. And you WILL get soaked.
• This might sound unimportant, but bring a change purse, or at least a wallet with a compartment for coins; there are eight types here. This is extremely difficult to deal with when there is nowhere to put them. Fishing for coins, paired with your American accent is a recipe for feeling severely out casted.
Hot Tips for Future Summer School Students
Before I start rattling off tips for your future stay at Kingston University, let me tell you this: I have never traveled to Europe before this experience, and although I knew things were going to be completely different, I don’t think I really could even comprehend how different they were going to be. I wish I could have read something giving me good, specific tips before I left. First thing’s first—don’t be alarmed when you open your mouth to speak and people look at you like you have just belched Budweiser in their faces.In London it’s not such a big deal to be un-British, but in the small town of Surbiton, where there aren’t many Americans, they will know you are a student. But don’t be taken aback by this feeling of being outsider, it will pass and you should embrace it. Maybe these tips will help.
• Be nice to everyone, and try to take public transportation (bus, train, tube) as much as possible to get really, thoroughly used to it.
• Study the tube maps! I can’t stress that enough. They are easy, and you will learn them if you just look over them once a day. Knowing which line goes where really helps you to blend in with the swarming crowds—you don’t want to be left behind staring at a tube map in the station, especially if you venture into London alone.
• Do what you want to do. Go to the main tourist attractions at least once, but if you can help it, try not to go places where you have no desire to be. This is your time; you’ll want to take as much time doing the things you want as possible. You will enjoy the day much more than going to a random museum and spending ten pounds. Do things that inspire you.
• Don’t let yourself be affected by jetlag. You can help this. Set your phones, clocks and computer’s times to London time as soon as you get there, and follow that. Try not to think about “what time it is at home” because you will just be haunted by images of you sleeping comfortably in your bed at home, which will induce homesickness.
• Get plenty of rest. With summer school, the classes take you on trips at least once a week per class, so that is at least two all day trips per week, most of the time more. Even the weekends are filled up with side trips.
• If you want to go to the pubs, that’s a great idea—but do not stay out into all hours of the night. In London, the trains and tubes stop running at a quarter to midnight, so that is good enough initiative to start “pubbing” early, and get back on the train by before midnight. It might sound lame, but when you’ve had your fun and are back in bed at a reasonable hour, you will be thanking me in the morning.
• Weather is extremely unpredictable. Extremely. You will need these three things at all times when you are in London in the summer: an umbrella, a sweater/light jacket, and sunglasses. I kid you not, these three extremes can and WILL happen when you are out for a day. Even if the sky looks like a Sandals Resort commercial, rain is coming. And you WILL get soaked.
• This might sound unimportant, but bring a change purse, or at least a wallet with a compartment for coins; there are eight types here. This is extremely difficult to deal with when there is nowhere to put them. Fishing for coins, paired with your American accent is a recipe for feeling severely out casted.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Alton, Stratford and Bath
Right now I'm compiling a video about my time at these three places where I saw the Jane Austen House museum in Chawton, then Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford upon Avon, and Bath, which was just an incredible, historic city. They were all unbelievable. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long, it was just so crazy and I'm trying to pack everything I want to do in this LAST WEEK that I'm here. I'm going into London again today to visit the British Library and the Victoria and Albert museum which has really cool Victorian era stuff, I could look at those things all day!!
I really miss home and can't wait to be back in NJ, but for this last week, i'm just going to keep going out and having fun, then PARIS this weekend, which should be awesome as well. I'll post the video when I'm done with it, then everyone can see the places I've been!
I really miss home and can't wait to be back in NJ, but for this last week, i'm just going to keep going out and having fun, then PARIS this weekend, which should be awesome as well. I'll post the video when I'm done with it, then everyone can see the places I've been!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Lord Chamberlain's Men
Yesterday I had quite an exhausting day! I went all over the Inns of court, which were extremely cool, our teacher Gregg showed us around all of the old Inns that all the people in the Elizabethan era stayed when they were going to see the queen. It was so cool. They were among the oldest Elizabethan buildings in London. They were amazing.
My favorite was the room in Gray's Inn where Shakespeare's company first performed 12th night. Ever. The room was exactly the same as it was back then, and i swear, I felt the energy! It was unbelievable to know t
hat THAT was the place that Twelfth night was first played. I saw it recently at the Pearl Theater in NY with Anthony, and it was such an amazing play. I can't believe I was there. How beautiful is that, can't you just see the ghosts of Shakespeare's company! So weird, right It was unbelievable to be there.
After walking for around three hours (UGHH) me and Jessie wanted to catch a tube to Westminster Abbey to go to Evensong. Its basically a short evening mass with an amazing choir. And, the best part-- free admission into Westminster Abbey. So, we got there and we actually got to go INSIDE!! It was unbelievably breathtaking. Accompanied by the choir singing in Latin, it was just heavenly. So spiritual. And plus we were so tired from walking, there was nowhere I'd rather sit and relax.
After that, me and Jessie went back to Waterloo and got ourselves a little picnic in Marks and Spencer, we got all sorts of goodies, a mini bottle of wine, and we sat on a bench by the Thames on the Southbank of London and ate and talked about Literature (she's an Englis
h major too) We had such a great time, I'd say that had to be one of my favorite parts of the night, especially after you hear what happened next!
Now, this is a disclaimer regarding Troilus and Cressida: it is possibly the most pointless, confusing works of art Shakespeare ever created. Underdeveloped characters, unresolved conflict, no hero, no heroine, no basic plot, nothing stronger than appetite imagery and disease imagery. Intolerable.
We attempted to see this at the globe last night... unfortunatley it wasn't as half as successful as the first one. As you might know, the ceiling is open in like an arena type thing, so it lets the sunlight in. Also, it lets the bad things in, like RAIN. And you could guess on a blustery night, what happened during the performance of Shakespeare's worst play ever written ( Sorry Bill) it rained!!! Ughh, me and Jessie ran at intermission into the gift shop. We were miserable, without a coat, we had an umbrella but we werent allowed to have them in the theater. For obvious reasons. Anyway, regretfully (not really) we left and caught a 10:00 train. It would have run so much longer had we stayed, and we were soaked and exhausted for walking for close to 4 hours... UGHHH! So we were ultimatley happy with our decision. :(
My favorite was the room in Gray's Inn where Shakespeare's company first performed 12th night. Ever. The room was exactly the same as it was back then, and i swear, I felt the energy! It was unbelievable to know t
hat THAT was the place that Twelfth night was first played. I saw it recently at the Pearl Theater in NY with Anthony, and it was such an amazing play. I can't believe I was there. How beautiful is that, can't you just see the ghosts of Shakespeare's company! So weird, right It was unbelievable to be there.After walking for around three hours (UGHH) me and Jessie wanted to catch a tube to Westminster Abbey to go to Evensong. Its basically a short evening mass with an amazing choir. And, the best part-- free admission into Westminster Abbey. So, we got there and we actually got to go INSIDE!! It was unbelievably breathtaking. Accompanied by the choir singing in Latin, it was just heavenly. So spiritual. And plus we were so tired from walking, there was nowhere I'd rather sit and relax.
After that, me and Jessie went back to Waterloo and got ourselves a little picnic in Marks and Spencer, we got all sorts of goodies, a mini bottle of wine, and we sat on a bench by the Thames on the Southbank of London and ate and talked about Literature (she's an Englis
h major too) We had such a great time, I'd say that had to be one of my favorite parts of the night, especially after you hear what happened next!Now, this is a disclaimer regarding Troilus and Cressida: it is possibly the most pointless, confusing works of art Shakespeare ever created. Underdeveloped characters, unresolved conflict, no hero, no heroine, no basic plot, nothing stronger than appetite imagery and disease imagery. Intolerable.
We attempted to see this at the globe last night... unfortunatley it wasn't as half as successful as the first one. As you might know, the ceiling is open in like an arena type thing, so it lets the sunlight in. Also, it lets the bad things in, like RAIN. And you could guess on a blustery night, what happened during the performance of Shakespeare's worst play ever written ( Sorry Bill) it rained!!! Ughh, me and Jessie ran at intermission into the gift shop. We were miserable, without a coat, we had an umbrella but we werent allowed to have them in the theater. For obvious reasons. Anyway, regretfully (not really) we left and caught a 10:00 train. It would have run so much longer had we stayed, and we were soaked and exhausted for walking for close to 4 hours... UGHHH! So we were ultimatley happy with our decision. :(
More
pics
of the Inns of Court
pics
of the Inns of Court
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Time is like a fashionable host...
...that slightly shakes his parting guest by th'hand
and, with his arms outstretched as he would fly,
grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles,
and farewell goes out sighing.
I got my Shakespeare to keep me company at least. That's from Troilus and Cressida, I read the entire thing in the library between my classes, took me 2 hrs. Haha. At least I got it over with.
Today is going to be a solemn day, only because my roommates are out on a trip, and I do not have anything to do, thank god. Except write my paper, which shouldn't be too bad. I'm so tired. I'm just going to go to a cafe and write it. But not before I go for a run on the queen's promenade..I hope it doesn't rain :/ it looks like it's going to. I better get going.
Yesterday was a good day too, relaxing. We examined the theme of love in a midsummer night's dream and compared it with that of Troilus and Cressida. So I've been thinking about that a lot lately. But otherwise, I just did laundry and stuff. I got to talk to mom on Skype so that was good. I was a little homesick, and I apologize for that, but I will be better I promise, and everything will be okay. Here's another quote from the ever so "false" Cressida.
Cressida:
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason stumbling without fear:
to fear the worst oft cures the worse.
Sigh. Now it looks so terrible out, maybe I'll stay in for a little and see if it clears up.
and, with his arms outstretched as he would fly,
grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles,
and farewell goes out sighing.
I got my Shakespeare to keep me company at least. That's from Troilus and Cressida, I read the entire thing in the library between my classes, took me 2 hrs. Haha. At least I got it over with.
Today is going to be a solemn day, only because my roommates are out on a trip, and I do not have anything to do, thank god. Except write my paper, which shouldn't be too bad. I'm so tired. I'm just going to go to a cafe and write it. But not before I go for a run on the queen's promenade..I hope it doesn't rain :/ it looks like it's going to. I better get going.
Yesterday was a good day too, relaxing. We examined the theme of love in a midsummer night's dream and compared it with that of Troilus and Cressida. So I've been thinking about that a lot lately. But otherwise, I just did laundry and stuff. I got to talk to mom on Skype so that was good. I was a little homesick, and I apologize for that, but I will be better I promise, and everything will be okay. Here's another quote from the ever so "false" Cressida.
Cressida:
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason stumbling without fear:
to fear the worst oft cures the worse.
Sigh. Now it looks so terrible out, maybe I'll stay in for a little and see if it clears up.
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