So, as predicted, I gave up on this blog thing. I never stick to any journal. As soon as begin to fall behind, I decide its easier to just give up. But here I am! Writing. But by now I'm sure no one is still reading. Oh well. I feel some sort of moral obligation to write something. And maybe someday I'll go back and write in some things. Not daily entries, but maybe stories from trips and stuff. we'll see. No promises.
But here and now: I am in Milan, visiting Katie and rounding off my tour of Italy. I know its not really very comprehensive, not compared to everything Katie's seen and done, but it's what I can do. I spent a few days visiting Rachael's friend in Rome and then traveled done to Naples (Napoli) to visit with my mom and see Pompeii, Sorento,and Capri. Then i went back to London for a few days and now I am back in Italy, in Milan. And I've already lost interest. I'll be back.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
I'm back. Here's today and a Drag Queen
I just realized I haven't posted in a while, and I wanted you all (cause you faithful readers are numerous) that I haven't forgotten about you, i have just been my usual self at this point in any journal and haven't felt like posting. And when i did, i felt too far behind to catch up. So back stories will come as i feel like posting them and I will move forward from here. As always, anyone with burning curiosity can always email me.
First oder of business: Congrats to Katy for successfully downloading and using Skype! And to Laura as well, even though my internet has been fucking it up for her. I love you both and you should feel freely connected or something. Yeah.
So i'll talk about today. That is moving forward. But today was boring. Damn. I should stop subjecting you to pointless blah blah daily shit and say something interesting. I got run over by a double decker bus while drinking tea with the queen.
Ok, so that wasn't true, but it would have been interesting at least. I did do some running past Buckingham palace where it is possible the queen was drinking tea and there were double decker buses on the street, but i was on the sidewalk. Basically, today just involved getting to class an hour early cause i'm dumb, running some errands, going to class (ok, a bit boring but still better than the others)working on my lame ass art project, i now have 2 lame ass collages cause my teacher is a bit spastic, but the second only took 2 hours and i now have 2 before half the class has one. I am so fucking special, running more errands (i now have one mug. I have decided i need to learn how to drink tea) and goign to the library to return and check out an armfull of books. I am being super studious with my one class and doing all the reading and them some. woo education. i am still at the library, but tonight i'm going to see Twelfth Night! SO excited.
More intersting is yesterday/last night. SO story: I had a drama class meeting yesterday morning where we divided up lines that I now have to memorize. I am a real actot now, or something. I actually don't know how i'm going to do this. Usually, i just watch actors forget lines while i fix props and paint colors. The tables have turned. Then I met Rachael, my new friend (be proud) to head out on the town.
[side note on Rachael: she lives in Michigan and goes to school in Green Bay, Wisconsin. So, good midwestern girl. We actually get along really really well despite clashes in religion and politics (she asked) and have been having a really good time. We have a lot of similar interests in things and things we want to do. Her best friend also lives about 5 blocks away from me at home in the PR and went to school with Laura's cousin. It is a friggin small world.]
We took the tube to book train tickets to Spain at the Eurail ticket agency (yes i am going to Spain and Portugal a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) realized we forgot out passports, went all the way back to New Cross and all the way back into town. Booked our tickets, spent a ton of money doing so, and got really excited. We then walked to Leciester Square (pronounced Lester, silly Brits) to buy tickets to see We Will Rock You, the Queen musical for me and my dad and then thought we were wandering in the general direction of Sloane Square to see The Seagull and taking in the sights and doing a bit of tourist shopping. (I got the coolest sweatshirt, it zips from the left wrist up throught he hood. so super cool!) Turns out, we were walking in the exact opposite direction. We grabbed a kabob for dinner and tried to run about 2 or more miles of London while eating dinner in under 30 mins. Needless to say, we didn't make it. We got a nice sprint in. The Brits would say we properly legged it. I say my lungs collapsed and i remembered why i don't run. We gave up about a mile from the theatre at 7:30, when the show was supposed to start. Oh well. We'll go see it another day. After resting on some random person's front steps near Buckingham palace, we figured since we were in town, we should make the most of it and spend the night at a pub. SO we slowly walked back to Leciester square (we are fully exercised) and stared checking out teh pubs. The cute traditional looking ones looked a bit boring and filled with old people. Then we found Molly Moggs. It was also filled with older males and a few girls and young people mixed in, but there was supposed to be a drag queen doing a sing along that night. Since Rachael ahd never seen a drag queen (remember, good midwestern girl) we stayed. ;) I got a pint of Strongbow, which is an alcoholic apple cider and really good. they sell it by the 2 liter bottle in teh grocery stores here. Good beer replacement for games! Yummy. Then we settled in for teh drag queen. She was a pretty good singer, funny, and took requests. We had her sing Man, I feel like a woman. Yeah.... british man dressed as a woman singing american country about a slightly gender confused woman celebratiung being a woman. FUNNY. We stayed till 11:30 or so, singing along and then took teh bus home (for free cause we're rebels like that) and I settled in for bed. A bit of a poorly done day, but worth it in the end.
[EDIT: My daddy comes tomorrow! Yeay. I'm excited.]
First oder of business: Congrats to Katy for successfully downloading and using Skype! And to Laura as well, even though my internet has been fucking it up for her. I love you both and you should feel freely connected or something. Yeah.
So i'll talk about today. That is moving forward. But today was boring. Damn. I should stop subjecting you to pointless blah blah daily shit and say something interesting. I got run over by a double decker bus while drinking tea with the queen.
Ok, so that wasn't true, but it would have been interesting at least. I did do some running past Buckingham palace where it is possible the queen was drinking tea and there were double decker buses on the street, but i was on the sidewalk. Basically, today just involved getting to class an hour early cause i'm dumb, running some errands, going to class (ok, a bit boring but still better than the others)working on my lame ass art project, i now have 2 lame ass collages cause my teacher is a bit spastic, but the second only took 2 hours and i now have 2 before half the class has one. I am so fucking special, running more errands (i now have one mug. I have decided i need to learn how to drink tea) and goign to the library to return and check out an armfull of books. I am being super studious with my one class and doing all the reading and them some. woo education. i am still at the library, but tonight i'm going to see Twelfth Night! SO excited.
More intersting is yesterday/last night. SO story: I had a drama class meeting yesterday morning where we divided up lines that I now have to memorize. I am a real actot now, or something. I actually don't know how i'm going to do this. Usually, i just watch actors forget lines while i fix props and paint colors. The tables have turned. Then I met Rachael, my new friend (be proud) to head out on the town.
[side note on Rachael: she lives in Michigan and goes to school in Green Bay, Wisconsin. So, good midwestern girl. We actually get along really really well despite clashes in religion and politics (she asked) and have been having a really good time. We have a lot of similar interests in things and things we want to do. Her best friend also lives about 5 blocks away from me at home in the PR and went to school with Laura's cousin. It is a friggin small world.]
We took the tube to book train tickets to Spain at the Eurail ticket agency (yes i am going to Spain and Portugal a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) realized we forgot out passports, went all the way back to New Cross and all the way back into town. Booked our tickets, spent a ton of money doing so, and got really excited. We then walked to Leciester Square (pronounced Lester, silly Brits) to buy tickets to see We Will Rock You, the Queen musical for me and my dad and then thought we were wandering in the general direction of Sloane Square to see The Seagull and taking in the sights and doing a bit of tourist shopping. (I got the coolest sweatshirt, it zips from the left wrist up throught he hood. so super cool!) Turns out, we were walking in the exact opposite direction. We grabbed a kabob for dinner and tried to run about 2 or more miles of London while eating dinner in under 30 mins. Needless to say, we didn't make it. We got a nice sprint in. The Brits would say we properly legged it. I say my lungs collapsed and i remembered why i don't run. We gave up about a mile from the theatre at 7:30, when the show was supposed to start. Oh well. We'll go see it another day. After resting on some random person's front steps near Buckingham palace, we figured since we were in town, we should make the most of it and spend the night at a pub. SO we slowly walked back to Leciester square (we are fully exercised) and stared checking out teh pubs. The cute traditional looking ones looked a bit boring and filled with old people. Then we found Molly Moggs. It was also filled with older males and a few girls and young people mixed in, but there was supposed to be a drag queen doing a sing along that night. Since Rachael ahd never seen a drag queen (remember, good midwestern girl) we stayed. ;) I got a pint of Strongbow, which is an alcoholic apple cider and really good. they sell it by the 2 liter bottle in teh grocery stores here. Good beer replacement for games! Yummy. Then we settled in for teh drag queen. She was a pretty good singer, funny, and took requests. We had her sing Man, I feel like a woman. Yeah.... british man dressed as a woman singing american country about a slightly gender confused woman celebratiung being a woman. FUNNY. We stayed till 11:30 or so, singing along and then took teh bus home (for free cause we're rebels like that) and I settled in for bed. A bit of a poorly done day, but worth it in the end.
[EDIT: My daddy comes tomorrow! Yeay. I'm excited.]
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
But, we're cool!?
Its kinda funny to watch all the Americans (yes, me included but I can't watch myself can I?) go through mini crisisses of identity. Today before acting (while freezing our fingers off) I was listening one girl complain about freshmen. Here, all the foreign kids have been placed in flats with 'first years.' (They don't call em freshmen... or sophomores etc.) So naturally, thats who most of your friends will be, at least to begin with and most likely throughout the term since most of our classes are with Americans or are level one. This girl was saying how young they were, and how odd it was to be hanging out with them. She said "I would never hang out with *freshmen* at home." It made me laugh. We all have that contempt for freshmen in general social contexts cause we are so glad we have passed it, moved on and presumably up. We know where to party, who to hang with, how to not get arrested, and what classes to avoid. But now, he we are. Freshmen to the entire country, not just the school. We know nothing, are scared, lost and clueless, filled with that strange optimistic hope that filled our first semester of college all over again. In that regard, even these 'first years' we now associate with are more wise and knowledgable. Not only do they know what to do, where to go and who with, college has lost that shiny newness. And so, despite the fact that we cling to our wise, cool was of the American Junior, and quietly laugh amongst ourselves at the 'juvenile' first years, we secretly thank them for treating us as equals, not as old and unapproachable as we try to appear at home, nor as scared and pathetic as we see our past freshmen selves, but as students and hopefully friends.
SO now that I'm done with that essay..... my day:
I got up early to talk to the drama department about switching into a theatre history/theory class. She hadn't actually asked if it was ok, but she said she would and would call me later. I just realized that the unknown missed call must have been her, since there are like 3 people who even know my number. Woops. Hopefully she'll call back. I should set up my voice mail.... Anyhow. I'm taking (i think) a Postcolonial Theatre class. I don't even know what postcolonial theatre is, so it should be good. It isn't what I wanted, but when I realized that it was already approved by Lehigh to give me credit for the vile theatre history class I was trying to avoid in the first place, I figured I'd take the chance. So no matter how bad it is, its better than taking it at Lehigh cause pass is like a 40 here, and I only need to pass. Its also only one essay at the end of the term. Super easy. Now to do the million pages of catch-up reading by tomorrow morning... Half the time I think I'm nuts for making more work for myself (art classes have no tests or essays and I would have had NO finals, no homework, no reading and barely any classes AND with Wed. being party night, Thursday morning classes are stupid) but then I remember how bored I was and how I wasn't actually doing any work for the class I think I'm going to drop (computer art). It sucks, cause the computer class was what was really exciting, but it sucks as a course so its ok. Maybe I'll create a better one for summer. I meet with my tutor on Friday.
After my meeting I read about postcolonial for a bit (kinda interesting...realized I had read some postcolonial litterature, not plays but a start, namely Things Fall Apart and that Conrad book... Joseph Conrad... Heart of Darkness! - once again AP English has prepared me better for life than anything else...) and went to acting.
Oh yeah, big news: IT SNOWED IN LONDON!!! It melted after a few hours, but it was enough to freak out the Brits. They cancelled the trains...they do that a lot. So basically, my acting teacher was late and the room was frigid. Kept my coat on the whole time. But, since it was late, we didn't have to do mirror warm ups and dance to Abba. We went right into more cold readings of the script we're working on. I actually read today. I'm proud. I like language. Its funny, I'm more comfortable reading and speaking than moving, even after 13 years of dance.... odd... But the teacher told me I was the first person he heard read this one section right on the first try, ever. Mainly its cause the passage named a bunch of famous architecture in Europe and I'm an arch. dork, but I knew how to pronounce Duomo and bits of French, so I impressed him. Petty, but it felt good. 1 point for 7:55AM Arch History. I also realized that I am a huge dork for language. Thats what all of acting ahs been about so far and I find it fun.
Our assignment was to meet next week, divide up a section of the script (there are no characters, so we have to decide who says what) and memorize it. Luckily, we have next week to divide and another week to memorize. Shouldn't be bad. I'm a little worried about dividing cause there's a 'Conrad Birdie' (you know what I mean Laura) type guy in our class (the one who goes to Illinois Weslyan with Kevin) who totally thinks he is the shit, and his good friend. I'm worried that they will dominate and this script is too cool for him to have all the lines. I hope we can make this artistic. And I hope I have the confidence to speak up. I may do my homework and divide up lines before I go so I'm ready ;)
Well, after class I tried to get someone to come to lunch with me and failed so I tried out the cafeteria (average) by myself and went to work on my art project. I paste squares so well.... lame. Oh well, i think i'm far enough along. Only 1 or 2 other people had even started. Now I'm at the library and excited to head home for homework and Club Sandwich. I am so fucking long winded. Sorry! Later
SO now that I'm done with that essay..... my day:
I got up early to talk to the drama department about switching into a theatre history/theory class. She hadn't actually asked if it was ok, but she said she would and would call me later. I just realized that the unknown missed call must have been her, since there are like 3 people who even know my number. Woops. Hopefully she'll call back. I should set up my voice mail.... Anyhow. I'm taking (i think) a Postcolonial Theatre class. I don't even know what postcolonial theatre is, so it should be good. It isn't what I wanted, but when I realized that it was already approved by Lehigh to give me credit for the vile theatre history class I was trying to avoid in the first place, I figured I'd take the chance. So no matter how bad it is, its better than taking it at Lehigh cause pass is like a 40 here, and I only need to pass. Its also only one essay at the end of the term. Super easy. Now to do the million pages of catch-up reading by tomorrow morning... Half the time I think I'm nuts for making more work for myself (art classes have no tests or essays and I would have had NO finals, no homework, no reading and barely any classes AND with Wed. being party night, Thursday morning classes are stupid) but then I remember how bored I was and how I wasn't actually doing any work for the class I think I'm going to drop (computer art). It sucks, cause the computer class was what was really exciting, but it sucks as a course so its ok. Maybe I'll create a better one for summer. I meet with my tutor on Friday.
After my meeting I read about postcolonial for a bit (kinda interesting...realized I had read some postcolonial litterature, not plays but a start, namely Things Fall Apart and that Conrad book... Joseph Conrad... Heart of Darkness! - once again AP English has prepared me better for life than anything else...) and went to acting.
Oh yeah, big news: IT SNOWED IN LONDON!!! It melted after a few hours, but it was enough to freak out the Brits. They cancelled the trains...they do that a lot. So basically, my acting teacher was late and the room was frigid. Kept my coat on the whole time. But, since it was late, we didn't have to do mirror warm ups and dance to Abba. We went right into more cold readings of the script we're working on. I actually read today. I'm proud. I like language. Its funny, I'm more comfortable reading and speaking than moving, even after 13 years of dance.... odd... But the teacher told me I was the first person he heard read this one section right on the first try, ever. Mainly its cause the passage named a bunch of famous architecture in Europe and I'm an arch. dork, but I knew how to pronounce Duomo and bits of French, so I impressed him. Petty, but it felt good. 1 point for 7:55AM Arch History. I also realized that I am a huge dork for language. Thats what all of acting ahs been about so far and I find it fun.
Our assignment was to meet next week, divide up a section of the script (there are no characters, so we have to decide who says what) and memorize it. Luckily, we have next week to divide and another week to memorize. Shouldn't be bad. I'm a little worried about dividing cause there's a 'Conrad Birdie' (you know what I mean Laura) type guy in our class (the one who goes to Illinois Weslyan with Kevin) who totally thinks he is the shit, and his good friend. I'm worried that they will dominate and this script is too cool for him to have all the lines. I hope we can make this artistic. And I hope I have the confidence to speak up. I may do my homework and divide up lines before I go so I'm ready ;)
Well, after class I tried to get someone to come to lunch with me and failed so I tried out the cafeteria (average) by myself and went to work on my art project. I paste squares so well.... lame. Oh well, i think i'm far enough along. Only 1 or 2 other people had even started. Now I'm at the library and excited to head home for homework and Club Sandwich. I am so fucking long winded. Sorry! Later
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
!!! UPDATED CONTACTS!!!
I got a new British phone, so the old one may soon be no more. Not that anyone has taken advantage of my American number, but still. You now need an international package to call me.
New Phone number: 079 4207 0365
Basically this is loads cheaper for me. So I may be calling your dorm phones in the future. (make sure you look up international codes if you ever try to call me.)
Also, for those of you have been listening to my pleas, (not many of you)
my Skype name: cloudcover2
So please guys, get Skype so I can talk to you, unless you'd rather pay for international service.
New Phone number: 079 4207 0365
Basically this is loads cheaper for me. So I may be calling your dorm phones in the future. (make sure you look up international codes if you ever try to call me.)
Also, for those of you have been listening to my pleas, (not many of you)
my Skype name: cloudcover2
So please guys, get Skype so I can talk to you, unless you'd rather pay for international service.
Learning to be British
haha... I posted my 19th post on the 19th. I am so damn coordinated.
Anyway...relevance... right. So now its Tuesday, which means something must have happened since last Friday, I'm just drawing a blank as to what. Real exciting life, I know. I guess its cause I've talked in person to most of the people who read this. Leave a comment or send an email if I've missed you and you feel left out. I'd love to chat.
Lets see: Backwards from today. I have so far spent today trying to get fully settled in to London. I started the paperwork to open a UK debit bank account so I can set up gym membership so I have something to do on the 5 days a week I don't have class. It'll take a week, so no gym for me till Feb. They have some dance and pilates classes which is mainly why i want to join, but also their machines are shiny and new and some dumb voice in my head thinks I might actually enjoy it. Its better than staring at my ceiling. I am also trying to change my classes around since the ones i have kind of suck. Unfortunately the classes I want are either full (yeah, everybody wants them) or at the same time as the two pathetic classes I have. So I may be taking some very strange drama class. Its sad that I actually want a class that has homework. I'll probably regret looking for a more challenging semester later when it becomes more challenging and I'm used to being a bum, but for now I'm bored and want to meet people and do things. So yeah. I'll also have to figure out how to get them approved by Lehigh....yuck! Save that for a later date when I have all the paperwork. I had fish and chips for lunch just to feel British and now I'm sitting in the library hoping my tutor (the guy to help confused American art students) will email me soon so I can meet with him. Damn not having internet in my room....
Speaking of internet, the latest is I really can't set it up myself, but I am no going to try and bribe a neighboring flat to give me their password so I can log on in my kitchen. We'll see
Yesterday, Monday: I slept in late and went to the Lewisham shopping center to buy pants and a phone. For most of the day I bought everythign but pants and a phone, but I finally found the pants i was looking for (they;re a bit sparkly so I think I may have been a bit delerious when I bought them, but i still like them so its ok) and my new British phone! Its really crummy, but simple and it works and its cheap! So I'm happy. I'll post new contact info in a more obvious post so maybe people will see it. I also bought avacados and leechy nuts at a street market purely cause it was cheap and cool. They're not the best quality, but for £2 for a ton of food, you can't complain. I came back and made dinner (read: boiled frozen veggies and warmed up a can of bad chicken curry) and chatted with the flatmates. Then, swallowing my pride, I begged my flatmate Becky to let me come to a stand up comedy show with her. She thankfully let me come and the show was awesome! The headline comic was hilarious. I had a lot of fun and continued my quest to make friends, and though everyone was very friendly, i'm not sure if I made any headway. Anyway, the show was really really great and it was good to get out. Back at home I talked with my flatmates till 1am, they had gone to see Spamalot and I talked to them about that for a while before just generally talking. It was nice. We also finally met our new final flatmate. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, no one really can, and its not cause we're not trying, but cause he has a really odd name and its kinda hard to hear exactly what he said. He is shy, but nice. Glad to he's here. He scared the crap out of me when he moved in cause it was like 2am. Then I headed back to my room to call home, read, and sleep.
2 days ago, Sunday: I must have done something on Sunday. Probably slept in, read, ate, etc. Oh yeah, I watched Wimbledon (the movie) with Anna. She has decided I haven't seen enough films and has made it her personal goal to change that. It was cute and pretty good. Nice to hang out with Anna. I may have made a friend. I also tried a Penguin, its a chocolate thing that I can't quite describe but really good. I probablt just loafed about other than that, talked and slept.
3 days ago, Saturday: More of the same. Slept in, ate and hung about. I really can;t remember what I did during the day. Probably nothing very exciting. But I did convince Anna to go see Pippin, the musical that Goldsmiths was putting on, and met Becky there. It was nice to go out with my flatmates, but Pippin sucks. Not really entirely this production, just the show in general. The production was average overall. Kind of on par with an average high school production, which is kinda sad. That is not to say that elements of it weren't very good. There were some actors with really good voices and sang beautifully, and some who were good actors, and a couple good dancers, just not many with all three skills. And strangely, some actors played their character really well, but sucked in ensemble scenes. The really disappointing part was the tech, or lack thereof. There was no set to speak of and the lighting was really rather juvenile, and its odd that I should be able to tell that. The costumes and makeup were surprisingly good for there being no costume designer, but definitely would have been helped by one. I was actually impressed by ho unified they really were, but you could tell that the actors were told, go find a sparkly top, fishnets, shorts and a coat. Oh well. Maybe I can get a job on a production, even though I was told not to. It wasn't on par with what I have come to expect from college, and at least tech-wise Maine South would have been embarrassed by it as well, but I am guessing it was a low-budget student show in which case it was passable. Like I said, some of the performers were quite good, it just needed a lot of polish, and maybe a better script.
After the show i ran to the library for an hour two of internet and email and made plans to watch a movie later. Back at the flat, Anna and I watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which I have been meaning to read (yes read) forever. It was really good and funny but really confusing too. I may have to watch it again. Worth seeing. Its where my new facebook status comes from. Ask or watch the movie to be clued in ;)
And then Friday I just hung out. Most of my flatmates go home/to their boyfriend's on the weekend so its really quiet. Its so odd that most of the partying happens mid week. I'm not used to it. I need to throw a classic American party just to change it up a bit, not that I have really been going out mid week except for Club Sandwich (totally violating my no drinking before thursday rule). So yeah. Been pretty quiet, but two live shows and 2 movies is not too bad for 4 days. Maybe I'll be able to drum up some more excitement tonight. I'll let you know.
Anyway...relevance... right. So now its Tuesday, which means something must have happened since last Friday, I'm just drawing a blank as to what. Real exciting life, I know. I guess its cause I've talked in person to most of the people who read this. Leave a comment or send an email if I've missed you and you feel left out. I'd love to chat.
Lets see: Backwards from today. I have so far spent today trying to get fully settled in to London. I started the paperwork to open a UK debit bank account so I can set up gym membership so I have something to do on the 5 days a week I don't have class. It'll take a week, so no gym for me till Feb. They have some dance and pilates classes which is mainly why i want to join, but also their machines are shiny and new and some dumb voice in my head thinks I might actually enjoy it. Its better than staring at my ceiling. I am also trying to change my classes around since the ones i have kind of suck. Unfortunately the classes I want are either full (yeah, everybody wants them) or at the same time as the two pathetic classes I have. So I may be taking some very strange drama class. Its sad that I actually want a class that has homework. I'll probably regret looking for a more challenging semester later when it becomes more challenging and I'm used to being a bum, but for now I'm bored and want to meet people and do things. So yeah. I'll also have to figure out how to get them approved by Lehigh....yuck! Save that for a later date when I have all the paperwork. I had fish and chips for lunch just to feel British and now I'm sitting in the library hoping my tutor (the guy to help confused American art students) will email me soon so I can meet with him. Damn not having internet in my room....
Speaking of internet, the latest is I really can't set it up myself, but I am no going to try and bribe a neighboring flat to give me their password so I can log on in my kitchen. We'll see
Yesterday, Monday: I slept in late and went to the Lewisham shopping center to buy pants and a phone. For most of the day I bought everythign but pants and a phone, but I finally found the pants i was looking for (they;re a bit sparkly so I think I may have been a bit delerious when I bought them, but i still like them so its ok) and my new British phone! Its really crummy, but simple and it works and its cheap! So I'm happy. I'll post new contact info in a more obvious post so maybe people will see it. I also bought avacados and leechy nuts at a street market purely cause it was cheap and cool. They're not the best quality, but for £2 for a ton of food, you can't complain. I came back and made dinner (read: boiled frozen veggies and warmed up a can of bad chicken curry) and chatted with the flatmates. Then, swallowing my pride, I begged my flatmate Becky to let me come to a stand up comedy show with her. She thankfully let me come and the show was awesome! The headline comic was hilarious. I had a lot of fun and continued my quest to make friends, and though everyone was very friendly, i'm not sure if I made any headway. Anyway, the show was really really great and it was good to get out. Back at home I talked with my flatmates till 1am, they had gone to see Spamalot and I talked to them about that for a while before just generally talking. It was nice. We also finally met our new final flatmate. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, no one really can, and its not cause we're not trying, but cause he has a really odd name and its kinda hard to hear exactly what he said. He is shy, but nice. Glad to he's here. He scared the crap out of me when he moved in cause it was like 2am. Then I headed back to my room to call home, read, and sleep.
2 days ago, Sunday: I must have done something on Sunday. Probably slept in, read, ate, etc. Oh yeah, I watched Wimbledon (the movie) with Anna. She has decided I haven't seen enough films and has made it her personal goal to change that. It was cute and pretty good. Nice to hang out with Anna. I may have made a friend. I also tried a Penguin, its a chocolate thing that I can't quite describe but really good. I probablt just loafed about other than that, talked and slept.
3 days ago, Saturday: More of the same. Slept in, ate and hung about. I really can;t remember what I did during the day. Probably nothing very exciting. But I did convince Anna to go see Pippin, the musical that Goldsmiths was putting on, and met Becky there. It was nice to go out with my flatmates, but Pippin sucks. Not really entirely this production, just the show in general. The production was average overall. Kind of on par with an average high school production, which is kinda sad. That is not to say that elements of it weren't very good. There were some actors with really good voices and sang beautifully, and some who were good actors, and a couple good dancers, just not many with all three skills. And strangely, some actors played their character really well, but sucked in ensemble scenes. The really disappointing part was the tech, or lack thereof. There was no set to speak of and the lighting was really rather juvenile, and its odd that I should be able to tell that. The costumes and makeup were surprisingly good for there being no costume designer, but definitely would have been helped by one. I was actually impressed by ho unified they really were, but you could tell that the actors were told, go find a sparkly top, fishnets, shorts and a coat. Oh well. Maybe I can get a job on a production, even though I was told not to. It wasn't on par with what I have come to expect from college, and at least tech-wise Maine South would have been embarrassed by it as well, but I am guessing it was a low-budget student show in which case it was passable. Like I said, some of the performers were quite good, it just needed a lot of polish, and maybe a better script.
After the show i ran to the library for an hour two of internet and email and made plans to watch a movie later. Back at the flat, Anna and I watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which I have been meaning to read (yes read) forever. It was really good and funny but really confusing too. I may have to watch it again. Worth seeing. Its where my new facebook status comes from. Ask or watch the movie to be clued in ;)
And then Friday I just hung out. Most of my flatmates go home/to their boyfriend's on the weekend so its really quiet. Its so odd that most of the partying happens mid week. I'm not used to it. I need to throw a classic American party just to change it up a bit, not that I have really been going out mid week except for Club Sandwich (totally violating my no drinking before thursday rule). So yeah. Been pretty quiet, but two live shows and 2 movies is not too bad for 4 days. Maybe I'll be able to drum up some more excitement tonight. I'll let you know.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Mini-America or what I swore I would never do
I don't really have much to say, but I'll post so I don't fall behind.
1. this keyboard really sucks.
2. Today: I finally went to class!! Yeay!! But I don't really like it, boo :( Figures that 2/3 of my class time will be something i don't really like. Why I don't like it: 1. Its all foreign students. So I have no classes with real British kids, which is why I came here in the first place. 2. Its an intro class for dumb foreign kids so its not really indepth/doesn't teach major technique nor is it free artistic exploration like the real classes here. 3. Its about 4 weeks long. 4. Both of my classes (painting and digital media) are being rolled into one, so I don't know if Lehigh will give me credit for either and even if they did, i won't be able to take upper level painting or computer classes cause we aren't really learning anything. 5. the digital class is basic photoshop and doesn't really meet as a class 6. the teacher has no idea whats going on/how Goldmsiths works so he doesn't have any advice or suggestions, he's bsically an adjunct hired to teach the foreign kids for 4 weeks. its like babysitting 7. the damn class took so long to meet that now I can't change my class for something better 8. the two classes aren't running into the summer like they said they would, so i'm screwed for credits at lehigh and courses here. I really wanted 6 months of painting technique and 6 months of serious digital design.
Today was a horrible flashback to color theory (anyone remember how much i hated that class???). We got sweets and mixed colors based off of them in acrylics. Then we painted pieces of paper those solid colors. Then we ate lunch. Then we cut the paper up into small squares of color. Yup, we made bits of color paper today. The teacher set up a 'still life' (there was nothing living in it, just chairs and boxes and things) and told us we were going to use the pretty bits of paper to make a collage. Oooh! We're supposed to make the still like out of very colorful, but way too large, bits of paper. Later we'll paint with oils on top. Its kindergarden for college kids. I'm going to try to make the best of it, and try to be grown up and artsy, but there is no way I'm going to be able to justify this to Lehigh. I already have to talk to the interational office about figuring out what to do about summer, I think i'm going to see if I can get a tutor in painting technique and digital media so this semester isn't wasted. And there is little to no chance of learning maya (3D computer imaging) so there will be no more computer at Lehigh for me either. byebye second major. Not that Nyko reads this, but if he did he'd say teach yourself maya. And I would, except I can't get the software, the school doesn't have the software, and i don't have internet to download tutorials. Damn. I'm really sad. I just want a damn real art educations. Not this learning for American idiots crap. If they had told me that, I would have gone somewhere else. Oh well. Too late now. Just such a waste of a study abroad. I could have done this back in America. Yes I get to see a bit, yes I will see British theatre. Yes, that is good. But I'm not learning, not really, and not the way I wanted. I really wanted to round out my education by having some different teachers. No luck.
Well, thats all I did today. Two classes rolled into one. Now, to wait until Wednesday so I can go be an answering machine in acting for dumb americans. Oh, I can go in on my own time and paste colored squares too. I will, just out of sheer boredom. I think i'm going to be a bad student and paint in my room. At least I'll actually be painting. Off to kill time untill Wednesday! (yes its friday) And to make geeky freshman plans to meet people other than the creepy guy from the club who is popping up everywhere! And to see Pippin, the world's worst musical just because its £3 and at school. Wish me luck.
Oh, I may also join the gym. Ugh. And I may buy a British phone. So no more calls from you all... get SKYPE!
1. this keyboard really sucks.
2. Today: I finally went to class!! Yeay!! But I don't really like it, boo :( Figures that 2/3 of my class time will be something i don't really like. Why I don't like it: 1. Its all foreign students. So I have no classes with real British kids, which is why I came here in the first place. 2. Its an intro class for dumb foreign kids so its not really indepth/doesn't teach major technique nor is it free artistic exploration like the real classes here. 3. Its about 4 weeks long. 4. Both of my classes (painting and digital media) are being rolled into one, so I don't know if Lehigh will give me credit for either and even if they did, i won't be able to take upper level painting or computer classes cause we aren't really learning anything. 5. the digital class is basic photoshop and doesn't really meet as a class 6. the teacher has no idea whats going on/how Goldmsiths works so he doesn't have any advice or suggestions, he's bsically an adjunct hired to teach the foreign kids for 4 weeks. its like babysitting 7. the damn class took so long to meet that now I can't change my class for something better 8. the two classes aren't running into the summer like they said they would, so i'm screwed for credits at lehigh and courses here. I really wanted 6 months of painting technique and 6 months of serious digital design.
Today was a horrible flashback to color theory (anyone remember how much i hated that class???). We got sweets and mixed colors based off of them in acrylics. Then we painted pieces of paper those solid colors. Then we ate lunch. Then we cut the paper up into small squares of color. Yup, we made bits of color paper today. The teacher set up a 'still life' (there was nothing living in it, just chairs and boxes and things) and told us we were going to use the pretty bits of paper to make a collage. Oooh! We're supposed to make the still like out of very colorful, but way too large, bits of paper. Later we'll paint with oils on top. Its kindergarden for college kids. I'm going to try to make the best of it, and try to be grown up and artsy, but there is no way I'm going to be able to justify this to Lehigh. I already have to talk to the interational office about figuring out what to do about summer, I think i'm going to see if I can get a tutor in painting technique and digital media so this semester isn't wasted. And there is little to no chance of learning maya (3D computer imaging) so there will be no more computer at Lehigh for me either. byebye second major. Not that Nyko reads this, but if he did he'd say teach yourself maya. And I would, except I can't get the software, the school doesn't have the software, and i don't have internet to download tutorials. Damn. I'm really sad. I just want a damn real art educations. Not this learning for American idiots crap. If they had told me that, I would have gone somewhere else. Oh well. Too late now. Just such a waste of a study abroad. I could have done this back in America. Yes I get to see a bit, yes I will see British theatre. Yes, that is good. But I'm not learning, not really, and not the way I wanted. I really wanted to round out my education by having some different teachers. No luck.
Well, thats all I did today. Two classes rolled into one. Now, to wait until Wednesday so I can go be an answering machine in acting for dumb americans. Oh, I can go in on my own time and paste colored squares too. I will, just out of sheer boredom. I think i'm going to be a bad student and paint in my room. At least I'll actually be painting. Off to kill time untill Wednesday! (yes its friday) And to make geeky freshman plans to meet people other than the creepy guy from the club who is popping up everywhere! And to see Pippin, the world's worst musical just because its £3 and at school. Wish me luck.
Oh, I may also join the gym. Ugh. And I may buy a British phone. So no more calls from you all... get SKYPE!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Communication
Please get Skype! If you are a regular reader, you probably already have it, so this defeats the purpose, but it will soon be the only way you can contact me. I mean it. AIM doesn't seem to work on my comp here, but Skype does. Soon, I will probably also buy a UK phone, which means you won't be able to call me unless you have world service.
I miss you guys and Skype is free and easy. You can do IM chats on it too, so you don't even need a mic or speakers. You may say this is redundant if it works just like AIM, but I can't get AIM. So if you want to talk to me, Skype is the only way. Please? Please?
SKYPE!
I miss you guys and Skype is free and easy. You can do IM chats on it too, so you don't even need a mic or speakers. You may say this is redundant if it works just like AIM, but I can't get AIM. So if you want to talk to me, Skype is the only way. Please? Please?
SKYPE!
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