Sooo...I've gotten a bit behind on my blogging...sorry everybody, it's been really busy. I will get better at this.
I guess two weeks ago now? The 12th and 13th were relaxing - I ended up planning my two week trip with Britt (we're going to Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), France (Lisieux), Switzerland (Zurich), Italy (Milan, Venice, Rome), and Greece (Rhodes)! It's going to be amazing - I'm so excited. We also discovered this Church in an area we love, where the music is gorgeous. We also went to the Victoria & Albert Museum for awhile, as well as a Modern Film Exhibit at the Serpentine Gallery (which was a little odd, but I really enjoyed it).
Monday was Valentine's Day...went to class, typical day. Britt and I went to this random museum - the Brunnel Museum - which was all about the construction of the Tube (British metro). Our tour guide took us in this underground chamber that hasn't been open to the public in 145 years, which was cool. He was really awkward, so of course I loved him. It was pretty fun, and afterwards we went to dinner at this really cool place (had the best dessert ever).
Tuesday we had class (Physical acting was really fun - we did some improv, and it was hilarious)...we went to the National Gallery, which was incredible. We were taken on a tour by this really sweet woman, and looked specifically at three paintings. We stayed and looked around for awhile after - there was SO much to see in there.
Wednesday we had a master class with a renowned theatre critic, which was really interesting. I also had acting with Kathryn, who is amazing. She had us do a bunch of different exercises involving the specific characters we're working on. That class is really intense - it's really challenging, but I love it. She gave us an assignment to go to the zoo (for free - the zoo is huge here and expensive, so we're really lucky), and pick an animal that we think has similar physicality to our character (it's more complicated than that, but I'm not going to go into it).
Thursday we had our private lessons - I made a lot of progress in Alexander Technique (my teacher is so zen haha...that whole class feels like a massage), and I got a new monologue in private acting. We started cockney accents in Dialects, with our teacher, Tim (love him). That class is so much fun, but we sound ridiculous trying to do all the accents correctly. We learned about Cockney Rhyming Slang (they actually have their own made up language - sounds like something I would have done with Janine when I was little - they call a face a 'boat' - why? boat race, race rhymes with face)...I dunno if that made sense to you all, but anyway. It's ridiculous.
Friday was the last day of classes before break...we watched a video in Richard's class of Margot Fontaine and Rudolph Nureyev at Covent Garden (ballet - it was gorgeous). We worked on our individual speeches in Shakespeare - I love mine, it's this crazy ranting woman basically - Constance from King John. Finally, we had Stage Combat (I actually look like I can hit people with swords! It's cool).
FIRST BREAK!!! Yay.
Some of my friends went to Copenhagen/Amsterdam, one went to Italy, and two stayed because they had people visiting. Britt and I stayed in planning most of the day, and finally headed out to the London Eye! It was really beautiful - the view was incredible, and I took a gagillion pictures (still trying to find a way to load them on here without my USB chord thing). We saw a carousel as we were leaving, and me being me, I obviously wanted to ride it. So Britt was nice and let me haha. Later, we headed to The Castle, a local pub, to wait for Ryan and Katie to meet us. We had a good time talking at first, but I ended up being a hot mess at the end of the night.
Fast forward to Sunday! Britt and I left for Oxford! The bus ride into the city was amazing - we were freaking out as we passed all the old stone buildings. I love the feel of the whole city - everything has so much history (just like London, except there are so much stone/castle looking buildings in Oxford). We got to our hotel - Eurobar - which happened to be perfectly centrally located : ) It was a block away from pretty much everything we wanted to see. Our room was a burning heat cloud though, but it was good. We dropped off our stuff, and ran to the Ashmolean Museum right before it closed...I would love to go back...there was SO much to see, and the layout is really interesting. They have all these ancient artifacts, including an entire room of extremely old instruments (saw some ancestors of the mandolin!). Britt found this gorgeous little church for Mass...the archways and stained glass were so intricate and beautiful. We were able to get to confession beforehand as well, which was really nice. After Mass, we were starving...wanted to try something new...so of course, we settled on pizza. Haha. Our waiter was really strange...kind of avoided actually doing anything, which was entertaining to watch haha...the bartender was on our side though, so that was good. Then, we went to see True Grit (the movie theatre was super cheap, and there was a Ben and Jerry's inside...score). We went to a pub, and Britt was nice and bought me hot chocolate : )
Monday, we got up, got a "traditional English breakfast" at the hotel, and headed to a tour of Oxford Castle (which was also a jail up until the mid-90s). We took a tour, learned stuff, and I got in trouble for trying to play in the kid's corner, as per usual. We left, and headed to lunch at Gourmet Burger. We stopped at Christ Church (there's a Cathedral and a Hall that inspired the Harry Potter film Great Hall - scenes from Harry Potter were shot in there!). I got upset though, because we missed the "Pottering in Harry's Footsteps" tour...poo. It's ok though, because our next tour was of Bodleian Library and the classroom beneath it, both of which were used for filming in Harry Potter and in X-men! I felt so legite. The library was incredible, and all pretty much in its original condition. The library gets a copy of every single book published in the UK or something ridiculous like that...it's crazy. We were also right across the street from another University library that has the original Shakespearean folios! Can't see them though; they aren't on display...I asked : / Anyway, while we waited for that tour, we also saw a really interesting exhibit on Percy and Mary Shelley...it was a little sad though - their lives were kind of depressing. We went to the Giraffe for dinner...the waiter saw me taking a picture of the giraffe on the wall...he asked, "Did you get a good photo?" I was really awkward, like I always am with waiters (haha Janine)..."Umm. I like giraffes." Britt laughed at me a lot. A minute later, the waiter came back with a plastic giraffe for me. He then decided he was obsessed with our table cause I was a freak, and he came back like 800 times. Yep. We student rushed a show after dinner - a straight play called "The Journey's End". It was extremely moving, and most of the actors were fantastic. I'm SO glad we saw it (thanks Britt! I was whining about going cause I was tired, but it was awesome...definitely the highlight of the trip for me).
Tuesday I went to the zoo...it was raining a bit, and I waited in line for an hour. This lady was taking pictures of every family and couple in line, and she assumed I was with the family in front of me. Needless to say, it was really awkward. Once I got in, I saw as much as I could...the zoo was HUGE. They had so many animals...including a bunch of new babies - a new gorilla/new monkeys : ) It was so fun, and I think I picked a couple of really good animals for my character (choosing between a meercat and a bird). I met Britt for lunch after I finished, did some work, and went to bed.
Wednesday was a typical class day...had class with our artistic director, Richard Digby Day. He showed us this movie of an incredible one woman show..."A Woman of No Importance." We did some really interesting work in acting too, and got a new assignment to do all of this very specific research on the time period of our characters. I'm really excited...I have to go to the British Imperial War Museum as part of the assignment.
Thursday was awesome, as usual. My private lesson went really well - I did the Portia monologue, and she has two more in mind for me, as well as a really difficult dialect piece she thinks I can handle (hopefully I can - I'm pretty terrible at some of the dialects so far haha).
Friday, we had Shakespeare - my monologue went pretty well (I wanted to make Michael Winter proud so badly). We had class with Richard again as well, and we asked him all about his career - the man has done so many incredible things and worked with so many amazing and famous people...seriously, google him. Right after school, we got on a bus to head to "As You Like It" at the Rose Theatre. Michael Winter showed us some important landmarks in the area (a stone and a really old bridge...when we got to the bridge, we were all typically ADD and distracted by a swan, and Michael was upset because we weren't looking closely enough at the bridge. Oops). We ate at a local pub, and went into the show. Overall, I really liked some individual performances, especially the lead woman - she was incredible. Some of the directorial choices were a little odd. There was this one part where this ripped shirtless guy just comes on out of nowhere dressed like Zeus or something in a toga...I kind of lost it haha. I did really enjoy the show though -parts of it were really impressive. Apparently, Judy Dench peformed in Midsummer there last year! So upset I missed that.
This weekend was completely relaxing, which I really needed. I went to the gym Saturday, and watched Grey's Anatomy most of the day (why do I watch that show? I honestly don't know. It's pretty terrible and it makes me mad). Today, Britt and I went back to Our Most Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas More (the Victorian Church we went to two weeks ago). The Mass was nice...there was a homeless woman in the back though who was a little off, and I felt terrible for her. We saw her outside after Mass...I hope she's ok - it's so friggin cold out.
Agh. Whew. So that was my last two weeks in a nutshell. I'm pretty exhausted and I didn't edit any of this...so I'm really sorry for any typos, terrible grammar, redundant language, or boring anecdotes.
Things learned about England in the past two weeks:
1. Oxford makes me feel like I'm in Harry Potter.
2. I have awkward relationships with all waiters in England too
3. Michael Winter makes the world a better place
4. Richard Digby Day knows a lot of famous people
5. Don't wear flats when it's raining
6. Hover on the Tube...only way to get a seat
7. Always listen to your best friend when he tells you he thinks seeing a show is a good idea
8. Always carry an umbrella, even when it looks sunny...it's secretly going to pansy rain at some point during the day and mess up your hair
9. Go as many places as possible, even when you don't feel like it. It's worth it.
So as I'm writing my blog, my roommate, the lovely Kulas, gives me a goodnight rant about Historical Dance - the first class of the week.
Kulas: Ready to dance historically tomorrow?
Me: :groan:
Kulas: I mean, I don't remember the dances and Angela just likes to tighten my corset. And then she takes my coffee. Ugh. Goodnight...
:whines: it's just...SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME...she tightens it and I can't breathe! Ugh. Whatever.
Me: Night, Kulas.
10. I love my roommate.
Everyone keep messaging/e-mailing me/skyping!...I miss you all : )
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