Curious Incident and Wow I'm Tired- LD26-28, September 28-30, 2015

If you were starting to wonder what the hardest part of studying in London was, I finally have an answer for you:

Getting enough sleep. It is so hard to get enough sleep.

On the one hand, there's the typical drudgery of being a student and having homework to do every night after classes that go up until 6:15pm (not including the 40 minute commute back to your flat). Just because I'm an acting student doesn't mean I don't have work. Tonight, for instance, I'm supposed to be memorizing a monologue from Midsummer Night's Dream, practicing and refining the character and thoughts for previously mentioned monologue, looking for a new scene to work on in Shakespeare class, figuring out what I want to do for my next tutorial, looking over my new scene for High Comedy, reading a play called Volpone, and updating my theatre journal with information and my opinions on the show I just saw (more on that in a bit).

Then, there's the simple fact that I am an American in London. There is no time to waste. I keep having anxiety dreams that I'm back from London already and it's all over and I didn't get to do anything and I wasted my time. Every weekend is full, and if it's not yet it soon will be. Down time is a thing of the past, or it's spent doing some of the lighter homework, or it's spent doing something "British," like being in Hyde or Regents Park or going to a pub. There is way too much to do and see and so, so precious little time to get to it all. And I still haven't seen Buckingham Palace yet.

In between homework and exploring, there's additional books and plays that spark my curiosity. For example, I would love to read all of Shakespeare's History plays and the book on Playing Shakespeare by John Barton and everything else written by Noel Coward and the books I brought from home and the book that inspired the play I just saw (again, more on that in a bit). Then there's new friends that I can hang out with, British things on television, general care and keeping of our flat and of myself (making sure I eat every day, etc.), journaling, making plans... it really depends on the day.

Maybe I can just decide that sleep is a social construct and choose to ignore it. If humans didn't need sleep to survive, life would be much easier for me. Unfortunately, I've been suffering from the lack of this unfortunate necessity of my existence for the past few days.

After the weekend in Stratford and then at the Globe, going into Monday didn't really feel like the weekend. On top of that, when I get too tired, my self esteem plummets, which makes acting really, really hard unless I can find a way to use it. Monday, I had to do my monologue from Hamlet for Shakespeare class, and I was already having trouble with it before my tired-brain mess. Luckily, it worked out well and turned into a piece I'm fairly proud of. Monday was also the day that I laughed so hard that I cried during Movement. At the very end of class, we all made a huge chain across the ground, with everyone having their head on another person's stomach. You could feel it every time they laughed, which was the point of the exercise- everyone giving a certain amount of "ha"'s and going up the chain. However, being able to feel the person under you laughing, and to know that the next person could feel you, and hearing the people before you laugh, and the absurdity of the "ha" sound people made, was downright hilarious. I highly recommend this activity to any large group of people who don't mind laying on the ground and needing a stress reliever.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a great day as normal. Shakespeare class, again, went well- I got to put a new spin on Romeo which was really fun. And then there was Stage Combat with Philip. I really enjoy Philip. I also really enjoy Stage Combat. Maybe in an alternate reality, I would be a boxer, but I also like the idea of choking and kicking people without actually hurting them. After class that evening, the boys came down for tea again, which is always a joy and pleasure.

Today is the long day- Wednesday. And today was when the tiredness really, really caught up to me.

Today, I fought very heavy, droopy eyes; over-caffinated shakiness (the coffee at BADA is VERY strong); weak, post-coffee crashed still-shaky Modern Physical class; and feeling completely out-of-it for voice class until we, once again, got to lay on the floor.

Laying on the floor is a very common activity here in theatre school, and has become one of my favorite pasttimes. Actors and floors are the best of friends.

After class, somehow I mustered up energy from my brief encounter with the floor, because Olivia and I finally went to see a play we bought tickets for a few weeks ago: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime."

Holy. Freaking. Crap.

The play is brilliant- absolutely bloody brilliant. The writing and the themes and ideas are profound and meaningful and true. You could write essays on essays on essays about all the ideas and themes and situations presented in the play.

The set and the design and the technical aspects of the play were nothing short of spectacular. They utilized projections often, and very well. It was very theatrical, and sometimes overwhelming, but it was always theatrical and overwhelming in the exact right moments where the story needed to show you how Christopher's (the main character) mind was feeling overwhelmed, or when a particular action couldn't be done without it being theatrical. It was magic. It was brilliant.

The acting was, for the most part, so incredibly specific and high-energy. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and there were only a few characters I felt lack-luster about as far as their performances went. The leads were not included in that category. They did wonderfully, especially given the material and the complexity of their roles.

For those unfamiliar (as I was before I saw it), "Curious Incident" is about a 15 year old boy with Asperger's named Christopher. One night, he is out in the garden and finds his neighbor's dog dead- killed with a gardening fork. And that's where the action starts.

Highly recommend. Bloody brilliant. 10/10. Go see it if you ever possibly have the chance, either here in London or New York or wherever. However, maybe only see it if you're 13+, or at least at an age where you know what the f-word is and you're not shell-shocked every time you hear it. There are some adult themes and language.

But that's my pitch. And that's what I need to put in my theatre journal.

Sorry if that's not interesting, but I am legitimately still blown away by it. Olivia and I left the theatre exasperated and gushing about it to each other all the way to the Tube stop. Oh, but we stopped by the stage door first, simply because it was so good and we figured why not and plus we'd get to tell the actors how much we loved it. As actors, that's always fun to hear, especially if it's a compliment about the show as a whole and how it affected you. Lucky for us, we met the two actors that played Christopher and Christopher's dad. The man playing a 15 year old boy is actually 26 and taller than me. But man, he was amazing. He also looked very tired, but that's understandable.

And now, we're back at the flat. My monologue is not fully memorized, I have no idea what to do for my next tutorial, and I don't even want to read Volpone. I've read it before and I can't stand it. I'm a little homesick, I still adore the city, but overall I'm tired. Very tired. It's already late here, but I'm going to try to fix that problem tonight.

Fight on, friends.

The Hollow Crown- LD25, September 27, 2015

After a long day of Stratford yesterday, you'd think we'd had enough of Shakespeare.

Apparently not.

Alexa, Olivia, and I met up with Nahome, Alex, and Charlie around 11 this morning to head back to Shakespeare's Globe. It was nice to get to explore it and the area more in the daylight- last time we went it was the evening-time. After grabbing a quick lunch, we got some great spots right next to the stage, as groundlings again, of course. But that's part of the experience!

The stage was newly painted/decorated- deteriorating gold

Yay Theatre!

It was, for some reason, surprising to go back to the Globe and see it decorated differently than it was for Measure for Measure, but I shouldn't have been surprised. It's a different show- of course it should have a different set!

One cool thing about this production was that they added a bit at the beginning of the play, where we see Richard's coronation as a young boy. Apparently, the play normally begins later in his life. It was a really nice addition that added to the themes they were hoping to get across about the questionable divine right of kings.

"For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground 
And tell sad stories of the death of kings; 
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they ahve deposed; 
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of the king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits..." 

Cards on the table- This may have been the best production I've seen while in London so far. Act 1 was hard to understand (again with the histories!!) but after being told the jist of what happens, and thinking back on it, it makes much more sense. And then, in Act 2 (which was easier to understand), everything hits the fan and I started feeling so many emotions towards all the characters... I can't spoil it for you, but at the end of the show, I was tearing up. There is a character, the son of the Duke of York, who started out as quite a prat, to be honest. By the end of the show though... the actor did an amazing job. I felt so badly for him and could totally understand where his character was coming from, simply from how he delivered his lines and his very calculated gestures. And then there was Richard, who took on the role perfectly- his self-pity, work at being a king, doubt over his right to rule, and sorrow at his usurpation (that's not a spoiler- you need to know that if you're seeing this show). The show was phenomenal. Absolutely fantastic.

London friends, go see it!!!

We wandered back to the Landward, where I attempted to start on homework. I think I succeeded... there's a lot of work to do, both for school and around the apartment- it's a bit of a mess. The boys came back over for a little bit though to hang out and work on acting homework. Alex was helping me with my next monologue... it's really hard for me to do, for some reason, and I can't quite put my finger on why... Hopefully I'll get to run it tomorrow and figure that out.

Also, please pray. I'm on the tail end of the BADA plague/cold that went around, and it's moved down into my chest- been coughing like crazy. Prayers for health and recovery would be lovely! Thank you!

Fight on, friends.

Stratford-upon-Avon- LD24, September 26, 2015

The problem with visiting the places named in your history books is that such a visit requires history to hit you square in the face with its reality and significance.

I've known now that Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 15 something or other for years now. It's been the first rattled off fact whenever we started a class conversation about him, besides "Shakespeare was a genius" or something or other. "His father was a glovemaker, John Shakespeare, he married Anne Hathaway..." blah blah blah. Let's get to reading Macbeth.

It didn't quite hit me that we were actually going to Stratford-upon-Avon, and the force of what that meant, until we were waiting for the bus to go. Then, I started to get really excited. As real as history may get when you face it head-on, it's terribly exciting and fun. We were warned how easy it was to turn Stratford into a glorified Shakespeare-land, but seeing as that's its biggest claim to fame I can't really blame the town for making that particular fact important.

On the road here we go!

 The whole way there, I daydreamed and stared out the window. Upon arrival, I and many more of my friends were in a daze from the long bus ride and were very overwhelmed with the sudden onset of possibilities of activities we could venture on. Seeing as no one else had a plan, I took it upon myself to make one: Food, Shakespeare's birthplace, His grave, whatever else we had time for (other houses, theatres, etc.), then dinner. And then, of course, the show.

Welcome to Stratford!

Me and Brooke <3

Add caption

The plan worked swimmingly well. We found a lovely little cafe/tea shop that decorated itself with all the stereotypical legends of England and served a lovely cream tea. Alex even let us take pictures of him in the grand, throne-like chairs they had upstairs.

The ever-elusive Alex, in his throne

I got in on the fun

So British. Much British.

Next was visiting Shakespeare's childhood home, and also the place where he was probably born. Honestly, I've never thought about Shakespeare as a child- at least, not much.  But walking on the same floors as he did, and going through the same rooms, and in and out of the same house... it wasn't hard for my brain to wrap around the image of a tiny little boy waddling through the rooms, playing with his siblings and learning how to write...

THE First Folio- where his plays were published for the first time in a collection

 

 

 

Outside the house's back door

What his bed would have looked like- in the appropriate room

View from the master bedroom

Master bedroom/bed

This is where Mary Arden and John Shakespeare slept, which means Shakespeare was probably born in this room

The house was a pub at one point. Olivia found this amusing

Before we completely left, we hung around the courtyard a little while, where some random performers were taking requests for Shakespeare speeches. Being actors ourselves, we put them to the test and had them do a Richard II speech. Then, I missed the conversation, but somehow Alex got called up and allowed/convinced to do a speech himself from Titus Andronicus. Not going to lie- he did it better. The speakers there were just doing that- speaking. Alex became the character. And it was fun to watch.

Part of the reason we got Alex to do it, I think, is because Alex knows at least one speech from the majority of Shakespeare's tragedies. We've had fun playing "Name a play and hear Alex do a speech from it," so now that we knew he had the ability, I think it's natural we wanted him to be able to show off a bit :)

House from the back (+sun)

Alex, performing Titus Andronicus

The street when we finally left

We took our time wandering down the streets until we got to the next destination: Holy Trinity Church. It's an Anglican church that still holds services on Sundays, but has been around for years and years and years- before the United States was even founded. Next to a park and a waterfront, the front gates lead you into a pathway lined with lime trees and a cemetery in the front. The steeple is absolutely huge, reaching up to heaven like a spike in the ground. When you walk inside, the size and decoration of the place are overwhelming.

This is the church where Shakespeare was baptized, probably married, and where he is now buried.  We saw the exact bath thing where he was baptized, as well as his grave.

Walking in through the Avenue of Limes- 12 on each side (for the apostles and tribes of Israel)

Massive, massive steeple

Stained glass at the very front of the church. ALL the glass was this detailed and beautiful... and everywhere

Full view of the front of the church

There he is- Shakespeare himself. Surrounded by black cord.

More of the church

This place held a gravity that, I think, was very hard for us to shake off. It was emotional. As for me, I got to talk to a parish worker in the church who mentioned to me how he never felt alone while he was in it. I found that, and seeing the place where Shakespeare and his family are now buried, and all of the stained glass Bible stories, all strangely comforting. I left the church and wandered through the graveyard with a very full, grateful heart. Being there reminded me of a lot, I suppose.

Firstly, Shakespeare was a man, just like any other man. It's so hard to forget that, since we're all so used to glorifying him and dubbing him genius and discussing his work. William Shakespeare was a man with a bright and witty mind and a talent for writing. He had something to say, so he said it, and benefited the world by it. But at the end of the day, he was born somewhere, he's now dead somewhere. Under that stone are bones and dust that belonged to the soul of a man who changed the world. But that's what he is, either way- a man. It's so hard to remember that about him, or about anyone we look up to and admire in society. If you ever worried you're thinking about someone too much, think about this person doing very basic, banal human things. Like dying.

However, I'm also so grateful. We had this man in our world, at one time, who gave the earth so many immortal treasures that his name is on par with even religion's greatest. We have his grave conserved, we have the opportunity to visit where he once lived and worked. We also had the chance to go on adventures, explore, and run amuck. We have his legacy and his stories and his works and all that he added to the language that will never die. He was right, in his sonnets- one of the ways to live forever is to write.

On a deeper level too, I felt so grateful for life, and the chance we have to leave our own marks, and study those who came before us. We're born and we die, but there's so much that happens in between that time.

We talked to a parish worker inside the church, and he told us about how he never felt alone while he was there, in the church, even if there was no one else there. And I'm grateful for that more than anything. It's especially obvious in churches, but no matter where we go in our lives, we're never alone. Life is not a solo trip. Even when we feel at our lowest, we have a God who is always there. I left feeling very full in my heart.

I left my friends to go see a third house, Hall's Croft. This was where Shakespeare's oldest daughter lived with her husband, a doctor. They lived well, and the house was neat, but there were two parts that actually stood out to me as significant. His daughter's grave, which I saw next to her father's, has an epitaph that describes her as the "wittiest of her sex" and as having definitely inherited some of that from her father. I love how that's there. It tells us so much about who she was, and what her family must have been like. Secondly, out in the garden, behind a sundial, I found one of the most beautiful views in Stratford:

Beautiful

I couldn't find my friends again for a while after that, so I walked along the streets and by the waterfront towards the theater where we'd be seeing a show later that day. On the way, I got to have a short chat with some British people about Hamlet and Marie Antoinette, but when I got to the theater I ran into Brooke and Emily. Olivia texted us then, and we were able to meet up with everyone else for dinner. I finally got Fish and Chips!!! Then Brooke and Emily and I went on an adventure looking for dessert. We succeeded, and were then walking back to the theater when we got another text from Olivia: "Where are you? The show starts in 2 minutes!!!"

We thought it started at 7:30. It started at 7:15. Whoops.

We made it just in the nick of time to our seats, and proceeded to enjoy the Royal Shakespeare Company performing Henry V.

The Swan Theatre

Probably shouldn't have taken a picture of the set, but check out that throne

Yay!

 This is the first time I've seen a Shakespeare history play. It took me a while to understand what was going on, exactly, but once I got it figured out, I really enjoyed it! I loved the actor that played Henry, and also greatly enjoyed the man cast as the Chorus (he was in Star Wars, by the way! Saw in the programme).

Word of advice- when you see Shakespeare's history plays, see them after you've read them. When you read them, start at the beginning. It goes: King John, Richard II, Henry IV part 1, Henry IV part 2, Henry V, Henry VI part 1, Henry VI part 2, Henry VI part 3, Richard III, then Henry VIII.

Henry V has some beautiful speeches in it. The one that we've been quoting the most was the one that we worked on briefly in our Shakespeare class. It's a fantastic, rousing speech at the beginning of Act 3, and part of the first time we see battle in the play.

One thing I really enjoyed about Henry, and this portrayal, was how clearly he was such an innocent man, trying his best to rule the best he could and both be a good king but also protect his honor. He is doing his best, instead of just pompously flailing his kingdom all over the place. It's a battle fought and won.

After the show, we hopped on the bus and it was back to home. And here we are.

Overall, I'm honored, and feeling so blessed for this chance and opportunity. But as I said, even more than I feel honored, I feel grateful. And lucky. So incredibly lucky.

If you ever have the chance to go to Stratford-upon-Avon, I can confirm it is worth it.

Fight on, friends.

All the World's a Stage- LD19-23, September 21-25, 2015

Shakespeare is officially the idol of BADA.

I haven't gone a single day in this program, I think, without someone talking about, quoting, praising, cursing, and searching for a monologue/scene from Shakespeare. Everything is Shakespeare. He has multiple nicknames: Will, Shakespeare, Shakes, Billy Shakes, Billum Shaksburd, etc. Everything is Shakespeare, all the time, always.

I didn't realize this until yesterday, when I finally got to meet up with Annie and Elsie. They're both studying in London this semester as well, but didn't get here until this past Saturday. Finally, I had my first conversation where Shakespeare didn't come up... and then I remembered that there is life outside of theatre and Shakespeare. Besides me not actually knowing how I feel about this, it was so wonderful to get to see both of them. They've both been to London before, but it was fun for me to be able to discuss the city with them. Also, to catch up with them and their lives. I love those girls.

We were dear friends in high school, but I'm also happy to say that even after just 3 weeks, I can solidly say that I've made some really awesome friends in BADA. There's my flatmates, obviously, and also the boys from upstairs who have now come over for tea many, many times (they happen to be over as I type this, actually. Yesterday, they were here for tea and I fell asleep on the couch while they were here. We're at that point. They almost carried me to bed but didn't). There's also the super sweet girls from our group- Brooke, Sarah, Emily, Karli, Mikey, and more. We have a great group going on, and it makes me very happy!

Alexa and I have been having fun trying to assign Hogwarts professors to all of our BADA teachers. So far, we have a version of Snape, Trelawney, and we think, maybe, Lockhart. We're having a difficult time with Russ- Russ (our Shakespeare teacher) is so his own person that there is no equating his eccentricity to anyone in Hogwarts. We've also had fun deciding what Hogwarts houses we're all in. I am assuredly in Ravenclaw, and we've discovered Alexa, Bryn, and Charlie are Gryffindor; Olivia and Alex are Slytherin; and Nahome took a quiz that gave him Gryffindor, but he identifies as Ravenclaw so who knows?

Hmm... what else has happened this week...

My classes really are the majority of my life here. I have long days of classes, followed by long nights of homework. There was one particular High Comedy exercise this week that had me up working on it until 3am. It was helpful for my scene, but point taken. I'm hoping that I'm dividing my time well enough between class work and London exploration, but I still have not seen Buckingham Palace so... maybe not. I am very proud of the work I've been doing. In particular, in our Shakespeare class we're focusing on Romeo and Juliet. I've been doing a scene with Olivia- Romeo's first entrance into the play- with her as Benvolio and I as the love-sick hero. I have to say, it was a challenging piece that I really struggled with this week, but yesterday I went up and did it again and I think I've got the hang of it. It felt really good, and I'm very proud.

The best part of BADA and classes, besides my classmates and classes, is the theater we get to see. This week, we saw "Three Days in the Country" at the National Theatre. The show was only ok, by my standards, but it had an actor from my favorite TV show, Sherlock, in it. He was fantastic and very fun to watch in action.

Today was an adventure all of its own though. Alexa had to wake me up- I slept through my alarms- but I still made it to class on time and High Comedy went alright. Drama Crit was also great. We talked about The Beaux Stratagem (we're a week behind), and then I had a half hour until our first Master Class.

Fiona Shaw came to work with us and lead us in some exercise and direct some monologues. I didn't get to do a piece for her, but hearing her direction to my classmates who went up and hearing everything she had to say was a chance of a lifetime and an absolute privilege. She is a very wise and talented actress, and imparted some wonderful wisdom and wit to us. Once I got over being slightly star-struck, I had a great time!

Alexa and I got tea, then I spent some time wandering through Regents Park, taking some me time and exploring. I found a water-fowl viewing point, and wandered around the lake and then down Baker Street with the intention of stopping somewhere to read, though I never did. It was a beautiful day in London- peaceful, brimming with life, sunny, and content.

At some point soon, I need to do some journaling. There's so much that I'm learning, and that I want to dig deeper into as far as deciding what kind of actress I am and what I can bring to the work that I'm doing. More than that, I'd like to dig into some of the character analysis work we've done in class, and do a character analysis on myself. I think it would be fascinating- What are my given circumstances? What's my objective? What are my relationships? Who knows where that entry would lead.

I have so many books I'm hoping to read- mostly Shakespeare plays or books about playing Shakespeare, but also digging into Sherlock Holmes finally. After talking with Elsie and Annie, I'm reminded of their amazing relationships with Jesus as well, and it's reminding me of all the Christian-centered books I brought to London that I have yet to read as well. There's also my actual Bible, though I've been good on that (halfway through Psalms!)

Life is full and brimming. I've had a couple bad days, but I've had many, many more great ones. Sorry for not posting something every day, but it's been nice to settle into life and its routine.

Tomorrow, we go to Stratford-upon-Avon, kicking off our Shakespeare-saturated weekend. Because I'm starting to worry we don't discuss him enough ;)

Fight on, friends.

Brighton- LD18, September 20, 2015

Once more, unto the beach, dear friends, once more...

You know in Pride and Prejudice, how Lydia goes to holiday with the soldiers and Kitty is jealous but while at the beach Lydia elopes with Wickham? Well, she went to Brighton. And today, I went to Brighton- it's a real city, in the southeast of England, along the coast and with a little bit of fun history. So that's where that is.

We had to get up really stinkin' early in the morning in order to make it to St. Pancras station on time. When we got there, though, we had a lot of time to pick up our tickets and check out where all the trains in the station go to. Unfortunately, I found out there's a train that goes directly to Disneyland Paris. That would be fortunate news, but my wallet is crying and begging me to ignore this information. We'll see whether or not I listen...

Our total group included Olivia, Alexa, Brooke, Emily, Karli, Sarah, Alex, Nahome, Charlie, and I. Ten altogether, which is quite a lot. But our big group happily memorized Shakespeare the whole way there on the train, and once arriving, decided that the majority of the group was hungry. We made our way to a tea shop for breakfast. I had honestly hoped we would go there in the afternoon, but I won't complain, because at least we got to go at all! It's called the Blackbird Tea Rooms, and it's a very quaint, charming, old-timey place. The plates are beautiful and the food was fantastic. I'll have to go back for their proper afternoon tea sometime soon, if I can.

Then, we headed down to the shore and hung out on the beach for a while. Brighton's beach is very rocky, and the waves are small, but the water is fresh and cool- think Santa Cruz on it's best day water temperature. If you can get over your feet hurting sans shoes, it's great fun to skip rocks. We did just that for a jolly good while, also chatting and enjoying the sun as we went.

Pro tip- Don't go to Brighton if the weather isn't nice. A huge reason we enjoyed our time on the shore was the beautiful weather. It has to feel like beach weather, even if it's English beach weather (aka, colder than normal), you know?

We spent a nice amount of time hanging out in this way before putting our shoes on and heading up to the pier. The Pier is like a big amusement park- typical of most tourist piers. Brooke, Emily, Sarah, and Karli went on the roller coaster there, which was fun to watch. Alexa and I stood right in front of the one loop and watched them all go all the way around. The facial expressions were worth it.

When we left the pier, Olivia lost her hat, half of us were hungry again, and the other half wanted to go see the Royal Pavilion. So, we split. I went with the Royal Pavilion group, consisting of Olivia, Alexa, Karli, Alex, and Charlie.

A brief history of Brighton, from what I learned from Brooke today:
One of the kings of England, previous to Victoria, decided he wanted a vacation spot/summer home somewhere outside of London. So, he had people construct a highly extravagant, over-the-top pavilion in Brighton. The area belonged to the royal family and they could go and come as often as they pleased. Enter Victoria. She thought that there was too much extravagance and that she really didn't need all that space or much-to-do, so it was opened up to the public. Today, you can pay to tour the inside, where they've restored much of the original furniture.

Naturally, we are study abroad students who would rather not pay. I would've been willing, but alas, I was alone. Instead, we wandered up and down the Lanes of Brighton. The major streets are, for the most part, the type of European, mostly-cobblestone streets that make you nostalgic for the Charles Dickens days. Weaving in and around the street blocks, far too narrow for a car and almost too narrow for two people to walk side-by-side, are a variety of alleyways and byways and, well, lanes full of shops, food, and other fun things to explore. Surprisingly, there are a large number of jewelry exchangers or sellers in this area. Not sure why. It's thoroughly charming. While here, we finally decided we were hungry, and so went in for a Cream Tea at That Little Tea House in the Lanes. I had grabbed a scone near the pavilion, not thinking we would stop for food, so the second scone was a bit too much sugar for me (jam and clotted cream are sweet, believe it or not. Plus I had been sweetening my tea). Nevertheless, I liked it just as much as Blackbird, even though it was less posh.

Then, once more unto the beach we went. And this became our mantra. So you're fully educated, this is a play on the opening line of a speech from Shakespeare's Henry V. I don't think I've ever quoted Shakespeare as much in my life since I got to BADA. Goodness...

Back at the shore, I found a pretty piece of artwork that I decided to get, and for a long while we just chilled out by the water, throwing rocks and talking and playing a game and burying Alexa's feet in rocks. I found three perfect juggling rocks and spent a lot of our conversation practicing my juggling skills. When we decided to head back to the train and back to London, we picked up the other group at an ice cream shop, and marched back up to the train station.

Our original train got canceled, but that just meant we had to do an extra transfer on the Underground once we got back into London. I slept on the entire first train, so when we got to Victoria station and split off again by place of residency, I was what I'd call "tired drunk." It's fun times all around with tired drunk Rachel. She makes absurd conclusions and finds the smallest of details funny and can't quite think straight and has very little filter. Also, I was feeling the crummiest I have all day. Remember that cold? Yeah, I forgot about it until then too. Update on that- feeling better, but now my nose has decided to feel stuffed even though it isn't. Huzzah. Thanks, nose.

We made it successfully back to the Landward, where I had a nice, protein-filled, late dinner, and now I'm just chilling and contemplating getting ready for school tomorrow. If I have to do my monologue tomorrow I may cry. I'm prepared, sure, but I'm going to be so tired and I know it.

Despite the moments I've been feeling tired and sick, today was definitely worth it. I had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get out and explore. England is more than just London, you know.

Sorry for no pictures. Adding pictures requires a bit of effort, on my part, and I'm not sure I'm willing to go to that trouble tonight.

Fight on, friends. 

The West End- LD16-17, September 18-19, 2015

Oy, I am sick.

There's been a bit of a BADA plague going around these past two weeks. Alexa's been feeling very under the weather the past week or so, and yesterday, during High Comedy, I suddenly found myself starting to sniffle at the beginning of class. By the time we were done with Drama Crit, I was phlegmy and stuffed up. Let the plague begin.

That hasn't stopped me, luckily. It's just a head cold and I can survive with it.

During previously-mentioned High Comedy class, I had to learn how to serve a proper Afternoon Tea. Here were the big takeaways from class, and my later, subsequent research:
1. Here is the definitive order: Pour Tea, Add sugar, Add milk.
2. When pouring tea, hold the top of the teapot, so the lid doesn't crash off, and be gentle, leaving room for milk should they desire it.
3. The "pinky up" idea came from the upper classes only using three fingers to eat and hold utensils, while lower classes usually used all five. So, it's just a symbol of upbringing, and not actually lifting your pinky high into the air.
4. When serving food with tea, eat the savoury stuff, then scones (unless wherever you are is serving them hot), then sweets.

I can't wait to go to tea in London. I've been compiling a list of potential places to go, based on recommendation and Buzzfeed Articles. I have yet to organize it by location and price. Hopefully we can find some great places before the semester is up!

Dramatic Criticism, my other Friday class, is going to be interesting. Every week, we'll meet and discuss the plays we've seen, and we have to keep journals of all the performances we go to. Christopher, the same teacher from Theatre History, teaches it, and I like him a lot, so it'll be good.

Speaking of tea, after class on Friday, Karli, Olivia, Alexa and I went to get tea at Yumchaa- our local favourite tea chain. Turned out to be a good idea, since it started raining for a short while. We beat it walking back though.

The rest of the evening was homework, homework, homework, until the boys invited us down to the pub to hang out. By the boys, by the way, I mean Charlie, Alex, and Nahome (and usually Ari, but he wasn't there last night). We ended up having a very long and fun conversation, both at the pub and back at our flat over drinks, brownies, and tea. It was too intriguing to leave, even though I was dead exhausted (and by now, suffering from the worst of sinus headaches). I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late, but did anyways. At least it was worth it.

Today, Saturday, I dragged myself out of bed pretty early and walked somewhere new: Leicester Square! There, I met Emily and Brooke, and, after coffee, we went to the box office of the Prince Edward Theatre and snagged four tickets for Miss Saigon!

Before the show, though, the girls took me to Trafalgar Square. I haven't been around this part of London much before, but this is the center of the West End, and the beginning of the London area with all the tourist and iconic "London" attractions. For example, M&M World.

Because this actually exists.

Emily, Brooke, and Me!

Trafalgar Square was a real treat. Amid all the statues, and the Canadian consulate, and the theatre/Parliament/old building- full skyline and the National Gallery, I finally got my first view of Big Ben.

Why is this a big deal to me? I honestly don't know, but seeing Big Ben for the first time gave me, once again, that certainty that I am, in fact, in London, England. Sometimes, I almost forget just where on the map I am, and how special it is to be here and see and do what I'm seeing and experiencing. But, there it is- the iconic clock of London- and I'm seeing it, though far away, in person. And that... That's pretty cool.

On top of Big Ben, there are layers and depths of history saturated in every corner of this city- even the dark alleyways and suburban living areas. Even more so, though, at big places like this.

There he is... Hi Ben.

The whole Square, plus some Japanese festival happening there

These two cuties

View from the National Gallery

Art Museum.

 Our main goal of coming to the Square was to visit the National Gallery- one of London's primary art museums. We didn't get to spend nearly as much time inside as I would have liked, but some highlights, for me, included seeing originals from Michaelangelo, Leonardo di Vinci, Raphael, Van Gogh, Monet, several renditions of the baby Jesus (some more creepy than others), and many, many other artists of whose names I wish I could remember. My favorite artist I saw, I think, is Monet. I just adore the layers of color and texture he puts into his landscapes and pieces. They are so soothing and peaceful- I could stare at them all day.

One of the pieces I got to see in person.

We had to dash out of the museum and begin a frantic search for food, since the show was going to start in an hour and a half. Emily was luckily able to snag us a nice Chinese place around the corner from the theatre, so we burned our mouths on our meals and booked it back for the show. Emily's friend Maddy met up with us there (hence the fourth ticket), and we took our seats- three rows away from the stage!!!!

SO CLOSE

Yay!

In case you're not familiar with the show, Miss Saigon is a retelling of the Madame Butterfly story, set during and right after the Vietnam War. Kim, a Vietnamese girl fled to Saigon after her village was destroyed by the war, becomes a prostitute to support herself, but meets an American soldier, Chris, and the two fall in love. It's tragic and emotional, with passionate, wonderful music (by the same writers as Les Miserables). Plus, one of my favorite actresses, Lea Salonga, had her big break originating the role of Kim (way back when). What we saw was actually the revival.

The show, as a whole, was good. I got very emotional more than once, I admit. However, we were unfortunate being at the matinee because we saw the understudy for Kim perform. This woman, Tanya, was a very talented singer, but lacked dimension in her portrayal of Kim, I think. What came across was a variant of degrees of passion throughout the show. However, the man playing the Engineer (a pimp) was brilliant, as was the man playing Chris (the American soldier). What I most admired about Chris was the clear distinction between the character during his time in Vietnam and after. It's very hard to villianize him, during the show, because of this, which I find wonderful and fascinating. The ensemble was solid, the tech aspects perfect, and the orchestra lovely. But, we had cheaper seats, even though they were so close, because the sound wasn't optimal that close to the stage. Perhaps because of Kim's shortcomings, but I found that there was a kind of magic or energy or luster lacking from the show. I didn't latch onto the story as much as I wanted to as quickly as I wanted to. I can't quite name what was missing, but that's why I've given it my judgment of "good", and not higher.

After the show, Brooke and I met the actor who played Chris before deciding it was time to go home and get work done, though we did grab some cake on the way back. That was really funny, actually- we stopped right outside the cafe, in front of a table with two English men, and had this entire conversation in their earshot:
"Ooohh, cake. Do we want cake?"
"Do you want cake?"
"Would you want cake?"
"I always want cake"
"I think I want cake"
"Let's get some cake"
"Let's get some cake"

It's hard to convey, just through a blog, the tempo and tone of the conversation, but if it helps, we and the two men at the table were all giggling to ourselves over the exchange and the eavesdropping as we walked inside. It's the little things.

And the cake was delicious. I had mine once I'd gotten home and started getting work done.

Hopefully I got enough work done- tomorrow is going to be another big day, and not everything is crossed off my to do list. I wouldn't have traded today for more productivity by a longshot though. I had so much fun, and got to see so much more of London and culture than I thought I would when I woke up this morning.

Alas, it is late. I have another early morning tomorrow, and I'm sick. Bryn keeps reminding me how much later I stay up then everyone else in my flat- perhaps I should make writing my blog quicker, or start doing it sooner... Well, now we know one reason I got a cold. Lack of sleep.

Sleep well yourselves, and Fight on, friends. 

Best Views in London- LD14-15, September 16-17, 2015

Wednesdays are long. We had our first full Wednesday yesterday because we finally got to have our Theatre History class. Christopher, our teacher, has been out sick, but he's really quite a gentle, lovely gentleman and I learned/absorbed more history in his class than I have in all three semesters I got at USC. Perhaps because the class period doesn't happen as often, or maybe because it's the "I'm studying in London" phenomenon that makes every single class have my full, undivided attention like never before. Who knows?

High Comedy was next, then Modern Physical, then Voice, all as normal. But, not as normal was we fought the rain straight after class to get dinner in Camden, and then to the Underground to get to the National Theatre!

We saw a play called The Beaux Stratagem, a delightful bit of high comedy set in 1707. The production as a whole was absolutely fantastic. It was hilarious, witty, over-the-top, romantic, musical, and there was a large fight towards the end of the play. It was a real treat to see and I have to say, I think I liked it better than Measure for Measure (though there's no comparing the Globe to anything, even the Olivier theatre I was in.)

Plus, the building for the National Theatre and all its stages has some amazing views. It's a beautiful, modern structure overlooking some prime London architecture.

Beautiful.

If this works, here's the trailer for the show we saw! I found it on Youtube today. And again, it was absolutely wonderful. And I still have that "Trifle" song stuck in my head so forgive me for getting it in yours, if I do.

Today, Thursday, was pretty great! I like Thursdays and always have. I did get up late though. Someone please help- I don't want to fall into the bad habit of constantly waking up later than I should this early in the semester.

Classes were Voice, Shakespeare (my golly I love Russ, our teacher), and then Modern Physical- all wonderful classes. We got out earlier than we normally do, so I took the opportunity to do some exploring and walked up to Primrose Hill. I heard it had one of the best views in London, and I could see why:

Part of the full view.

While there, I did some homework before walking back to the Landward and continuing the homework/food pursuits. And now, here I am, up way too late, again.

I wish I could elaborate more but to be perfectly honest, I'm up too late and need to sleep.

Fight on, friends.

Professor Snape- LD13, September 15, 2015

Tuesdays are officially my favorite day.

On Tuesdays, unless I were to have a Tuesday tutorial upcoming in the semester (which would still be awesome- I loved my first tutorial and am very excited for the next), I don't have class until 11am, which means I get to sleep in a little more than usual.

The first class of the day is Shakespeare class then, which means I get to work with our teacher, Russ. I am loving Russ more every class- he is encouraging and eccentric and scatter-brained but he never lets us feel like our mistakes are signs of failure. On the contrary, it's fun to fail in Russ's class, and it's fun to work in Russ's class. I've learned the most about acting from this class so far, I think.

Then, I have my longest break between classes of the entire week- a solid two hours to eat, chat with friends, make plans, and get some work done- all of which happened today. I decided to go see Miss Saigon, but not tonight. During this break, two more people- Brooke and Emily- made it known they wanted to come, so we made plans to see a Saturday matinee. Yay, friends!

And then, to end the day off, we have one long class of Stage Combat.

Last week, our stage combat class was taught by a substitute, as Philip, our normal instructor, couldn't be there. Well, this week, we met Philip, and it is with great delight that I might be able to announce my favorite BADA professor. I love all my teachers- they are all fantastic and wonderful people- but Philip... He's something else.

We were greeted with a stoic stare, as we walked in the room. When it was time to start class, he commanded attention merely by walking to the front of where we were sitting and intensely, silently, staring at each one of us. When he speaks, it is with the deep, rolling, luxurious British voice that would have been boring if it wasn't laced with intimidation and quips. He informed us, again, of some of his class standards and rules and how our journals are meant to be. And if we do well on our journals, we get a gold star.... "metaphorically." If our journals aren't up to par, we get push-ups, "and that is not metaphorical." As today was the first day, we all started off with push-ups. And huge bouts of giggles. And intoxicating enjoyment of everything this man said and did. He's a captivating individual, even if he looks like he actually could kill you. He probably could- he knows exactly what he's talking about in class, and every one of his instructions was precise, to the point, respectful, and accurate. He's a wonderful actor; funny in his deadpan, serious way; but still stoic and concentrated and intense.

I think the point I'm wanting to make, and can't in any other way, is to have you imagine Professor Snape, before Harry came to Hogwarts.

I am learning Stage Combat from my own version of Professor Snape, and his name is Philip. And he hates pink.

He chose me as the subject to demonstrate how to do a hair pull on, which was really fun, actually. When he was demonstrating all the safety precautions and the step-by-step details of the move, I could tell that I was working with a very trained person and there was no chance of a mistake or anything going wrong. And, he was very easy to act off of. We finally did the move, and I could easily put myself, in my imagination, into a role where he would be giving me a hair pull like that, and how I could react in that given circumstance. Hair pulls with professionals. Huzzah.

Last week, it was so clear that the class lasted almost 3 hours. Today, it was just long enough, if not too short.

My day after that was fairly normal. Alexa and I walked back to the Landward, we all made dinner and hung out, then started on homework. Alexa, Olivia, and I read our play for tomorrow, "The Duchess of Malfi," together for a short while before they went to bed and I finished it on my own. I actually really liked the play much better than last week's "Doctor Faustus." It's a tragedy, and rightly so, but a good and intriguing one.

Since I had time after the play and wanted to get off the couch, I whipped together some chocolate-covered almonds (I had too many almonds and there's no way I can eat that many raw almonds without feeling sick), and now, well, here I am, working off the sugar from the chocolate-covered spoon I licked more than once by typing away at my blog.

It's finally starting to rain in London. I've seen the rain from the windows, during class, but have yet to be rained on. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I'm feeling indulgent in the cooler weather and it's a chilly delight to wear a scarf finally. I'm excited for this weekend, which is now planned (for the most part) and looking very full but very fun. I'm starting my next monologue for tutorials, trying to think of something to perform for Fiona Shaw (contemporary or classical?), not thinking about money as much as I should have (which means not worrying which is good), and am looking forward to Annie and Elsie's arrivals in London within the next week. Oh, and I called the Oyster card company and soon, I'll be able to travel around on the Underground without selling my first-born child to pay for the tickets, which is exciting. It's been nearly a week and I haven't gotten it yet, but they promised it would come in before Friday.

Sorry there's not much to report, besides Professor Philip Snape, but I suppose the update for today is primarily that I'm still very, very happy, and hopefully will remain so. I'm pretty confident I will. I do miss the voices and faces from home though. I'd love to Skype as many people as I can- just let me know if you're available!

Fight on, friends.

Acting School- LD11-12, September 13-14, 2015

Alright, the culture shock and vacation mindset is over. Welcome to school, Rachel.

Thanks, Rachel.

I say this because I had a very student-esque Sunday. I had, originally, plans to go to church in the morning before I worked all day on homework and getting super on top of all my BADA work. Unfortunately, I woke up way too early feeling very ill, and too ill to go to church, for sure. So I did get to stay indoors and work on homework all day, but the way I was feeling and general tiredness from the last week didn't let me be as productive as I'd have liked to be.

For the record, I'm not so sick that I'm dying or struggling or can't move. Actually, it was more of a 24-hour thing and I'm feeling better today.

Today, I had my first tutorial with Ian in the morning. This means I got some one-on-one time with Ian where we looked at the Shakespeare monologue I've been working on this week, and he worked through it with me. We found some common problems I had, one of which was not quite playing the comedy of the monologue. I felt much better about it by the end, but I need to practice it a bit more to make it more fun to get into. Next time, it'll be better.

Shakespeare class, I also worked on my sonnet in front of the class. That went ok, but got good pointers for next time and, again, next time it'll be much better.

During our all-school meeting, we got exciting news: our first master class is scheduled! It'll be next Friday, with Fiona Shaw. I'm so pumped. It's going to be amazing!!!

Movement class was a full-on workout. I wish I was joking, but all of our feet were disgusting by the end (barefoot-only class) and there was literally sweat practically covering the floor. We did play some super fun and active games though. I had a lot of fun!

Actually, here's a good opportunity to talk about theater school in general. Acting school, for those of you unfamiliar, is nothing like typical coursework. Your classmates are not normal, your professors even less so. Your classroom is almost a dance space, but there's ALWAYS plenty of chairs. If a circle isn't formed within the first 15 minutes of class then something weird is up. I walked into Shakespeare class today and was inspired to run through my sonnet- the room was covered with warming up students stretching, yawning, vocalizing, pacing, and muttering Shakespeare's words to themselves. Actually, if I hadn't have joined, I don't think I would have felt like I was preparing properly. We explore the ideas of being completely honest with each other without ever actually telling the truth of why we're being honest. We just trust we are, and use someone else's language to make that happen. Then we build trust and muscle with each other by skipping, crawling, running (so much running), lifting each other up, laying down (sometimes on top of each other), hugging, kissing (appropriately), and tickling each other. Yes, these and more all happened in movement today. And even after that, I still don't know everything there is to know about my group members, but I don't need to. We trust each other because we work together and we just have to. That's what you do in theater- you support each other and trust each other, even if you're going to be up for the same role in the height of competition sometime in your career. It doesn't matter. None of that matters. What matters is that each person can do the best they can in that moment. Acting is all about the present moment- the right now, the active, and the eccentric. You can curse, you can be the best and worst of yourself (at the same time, even), you can utterly fail in front of everyone, and absolutely no one will care too much, because most likely, they've all done the same thing before.
But what's the point? Why do we do all of this? Well, that's up to each person to decide for themselves, but the ultimate goal, no matter the motivation, is to tell a story and communicate truth about who we are as humans and what this world is we live in.

So there ya go. Tangent over.

High Comedy was last, and none of us are liking the class too much. I understand the ideas our teacher is trying to get us to think about- I get the point of the activities, but I don't necessarily agree with her methods of making those points.

By the end of school today, London had already been raining most of the day, and Olivia, Alexa, and I were really hungry, so it was back to the Landward with umbrellas in tow. Fortunately, we didn't get rained on- the showers died down right before we walked outside. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow though. Hooray for seasons!!!

Since getting back, it's been an evening of cooking, eating, chatting, singing, and studying with the flatmates. Nothing new, really. Welcome to student life.

Thinking about being a full-time acting student, at least for the moment, makes me really happy. I like this lifestyle, I really do. I spend the day working hard, physically and mentally and emotionally, so I feel at the end of the day both like I have so much more tangible work to do, yet also satisfied with the work I put in. I never got that feeling from any class I've taken before in college, at least that I can remember. If this is being an actor, bring it on!

Speaking of theater, hopefully I can make it to my first West End show tomorrow. Tickets are a bit pricey, but I've been following the news about this one for a few months and it would be a treat to see. Wish me luck!

Fight on, friends.

The Natural History Museum- LD10, September 12, 2015

Weekends are great because you have a few days off where you tell yourself you're relaxing, but actually you're going even more all-out and doing even more than you normally would on a weekday- even if you're an acting student. Although, at least you can sleep in if you'd like.

Our entire apartment slept in late this morning- a nice luxury, though I don't like losing hours in the day. After getting a little work done, Alexa and I left the Landward and walked to Hyde Park, with the intent of crossing it and getting to the Natural History Museum.

Hyde Park, according to Alexa, is more like Central Park in New York than Regents Park is. It's more wild, a bit more crowded, and absolutely huge. There's a lake in the middle of it where people can take out paddleboats and row boats, for goodness sake! We also saw a policewoman with a police horse, which was fun, and walked by several signs pointing to Kensington Gardens, memorials, statues, and more.

The Park- at the edge of the Serpentine

Exiting the park where we did left us on a posh road with grand white buildings. Almost all the courts and roads and buildings were named for Prince Albert, there were a lot of expensive cars, and several of the buildings turned out to be consulates for other nations. As we moved away from the buildings, we came up to old, but grandiose monuments that held museums, a Mormon church, and more. The Natural History Museum itself looks like it could have been a cathedral, if it had wanted to.

The most impressive part of the Natural History Museum, to me, was its design and how it displayed its artifacts. They are very good at creating an experience, and immersing you into the subject you're about to learn about. For instance, Alexa and I entered through a side door, where we were greeted with a dinosaur skeleton, a full-wall mural of constellations and stars and planets (on both sides of us), and a giant escalator going up through a glowing red sphere.

Here, just have a picture

 Going up into the escalator was along the lines of moving into the center of the earth. We reached the next level, and went right into an exhibit on volcanoes, earthquakes, tectonic plates, and gemstones across the hall. Again, the minerals room was set up beautifully. If I had stopped to read every plaque on the walls and in front of the rocks, I would be an expert on the subject. It's put in an order and arranged in a fashion that's so easy to move through and easy to get enthralled in. The Earth section of the museum (the Red zone, in case you go) ended up being one of my favorite parts of the whole museum. Their selection of displays was fantastic too.

In this magical room of shiny objects, we met up with Alex, Charlie, and Ari. Ari left to go check out Buckingham Palace, but the rest of us had either just gotten there or still had a lot of the museum we wanted to see. So, we headed to the Vault, which started with more minerals and rocks- too many to even look at them all- and then led into a small room with the museum's rarest stones. I saw a few rocks from Mars, the Aurora diamond collection, and a cursed amethyst, which all stood out the most to me. Actually, the Aurora diamond collection was my other most favorite part of the trip. This is a collection of diamonds that contains every single color you can naturally find with a diamond. There is one diamond for every color arranged on a triangle. Alone, that is incredible, even though the diamonds themselves are small. However, under an ultraviolet light, some of the diamonds begin to glow. It's gorgeous.

Right as they were beginning to glow...

The glow effect.

Alex and Charlie were excited to see the dinosaurs, so we went there next. Honestly, the Natural History Museum in LA has a better collection of dinosaur bones by a long shot. However, they set up their exhibits very well, as I've already mentioned. Plus, their T-Rex was an animatronic T-Rex, so it felt like you got to see one for yourself, in real life. So that was fun, even if a bit underwhelming.

T-Rex alert!!!

We wanted to see a skeleton of a blue whale, but the exhibit is under construction, so we left and found a late lunch. While wandering around, Alex found a place that sells Belgian waffles. I've never seen him this excited before, we had to stop and get some gelato and waffles on the way back. Throughout this entire experience, we bid God to save the Queen quite a few times.

Since we had daylight and time and a bit of energy, we took some time to explore Hyde Park. We ran into the Prince Albert Memorial first, mostly because it was HUGE and hard to miss. Victoria must have really loved that man.

To give you a scope of the size...

From the front. That's Albert, in gold

What's up, Al?

Apparently, it's meant to symbolize how Albert embodied the spirits of all of the super famous people engraved around the base of his platform- these are figures like Shakespeare, Homer, Davinci, Michaelangelo, William the Conqueror, and even more than I can remember. He also supported and cherished art, so there's the muses up near the top, and then Agriculture, Commerce, Engineering, and... something else, but they were all displayed right around the edges of his little gazebo in the center. Albert himself, of course, is elegantly posed, and made of gold. At the very edges of the monument, higher than we can reach but at the base of the stairs, are four more sculpture collections embodying the other continents of the world. I think this is either symbolic of the British Empire, and it containing colonies in all those continents at the time, or something else symbolizing Albert's goodwill and generosity or curiosity towards the world or something along those lines. But the Americas were included- lady liberties, buffalo, and Native American in tow.

'Murica

Next we visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It's certainly not as grandiose, but in my opinion, much more elegantly symbolic and touching. Much like Diana, I suppose. I'm afraid I don't know much about her or her story, or her legacy, really. Just that she was a great woman who died too soon.

Our feet were tired, so we headed back to the Landward. Alexa and I needed to zip over to Waitrose first, however, and while we were there, we made the best discovery:

CRUMPETS

We found Crumpets. They exist. They're real. We can have them with tea. Tea and crumpets. I'm having a tea and crumpet tomorrow for breakfast so help me or else I am not in London. I'm so excited. They're pretty much English Muffins, by the way. We just call them English Muffins because... Well, we're American, I guess. We just do.

A few hours later, we left for quiz night at the Liberty, the pub right across the street from the Landward. Normally, quiz night is on Thursdays, but it was Nahome's birthday earlier this week, and the manager made a deal with him that if he could get a group to come, we could do a special American-themed, birthday quiz night. Nearly all of BADA showed up, and my team pretty much got second place. It was a great deal of fun, and I got to know a lot of my classmates better. Good times, good times.

But if I don't wake up tomorrow, I won't be awake for my tea and crumpet. Also, if I don't spend a solid 10 hours off my feet, they might fall off and my knee might snap. Anyone out there know a helpful way to soothe aching knees as a result of walking so much? We did a solid 6 miles just today- probably more, and about the same yesterday.

Tomorrow will be more chill. Fight on, friends.