Well, I've just landed in Boston! Amazingly my flight got in an hour early! Unfortunately my dad thought it was meant to get in at 7:20... It was actually meant to get in at 6:30... And add an extra hour early to that...5:30! So basically when I called my dad he hadn't even left from Cape Cod! Awesome! So I'm sitting here with a Dunkin Donuts iced latte (its been 3 months since ive had one)on Logan Airport wifi. It will pass the time!
I was seriously envious when I got into baggage claim. All of us coming from London were pale and dreary, surrounded by sun kissed people in their summer gear coming from places such as Cancun and St. Maartens. Not to mention my mom just got back from Turks and Caicos and when I see her in a few short hours I will look see-through next to her. Ugh! Can someone please tell me why the heat-wave and beautiful weather had to come to London for exactly the week I was gone!? The weather here isn't even going to be that nice. What's up with that?
While I'm only here for one week, I have big plans of getting in the Spring/Summer state of mind. I plan to do a wardrobe flip to bring back to London and do some bargain shopping at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for my June Holiday to Greece! I have been craving a good hour spent rummaging through the racks of TJ's and Marshalls! They are two of my favorite stores! I am my mother's daughter!
I am also excited to see my pets. I miss them so much! Oh ya, and my family ... Obviously! This is the only time I will see them until the end of August. Because the Olympic rehearsals start next month, I can't skip out of town for more than 6 days as I am committed to that. Therefore, after this, I will have to wait until the Olympics are over. This week will be some intense R/R with the parents.
Will keep you updated!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
I'm Back!
You may have thought I had abandoned all of you, but fear not! I'm still here. It has been one of the busiest two months since I was in undergrad at Drew. Last time I wrote on this blog, I was just about to start my second term of my Masters degree. I am now in my last week of the term and about to head off to America for a week and then back to London to enjoy my month long Easter holiday with friends and family.
A LOT has gone on in the past two months that it's hard to even know where to begin. I think the most poignant is my placement at Shakespeare's Globe. I have been working with The Globe's education department for the past two months on an amazing project called Playing Shakespeare. It was a project that produced a full-fledged, professional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. There were 13 performances, all FREE for students (and only students) across Greater London. Working on the project was the highlight of my Masters degree so far. The people I worked with were amazing and I loved working with them. To top all off, I was on stage at the final performance to help close the program and thank Deutsche Bank for sponsoring the whole project. How many people can actually say they've been on The Globe's Stage? I am loving this MA so far! Not to mention, being able to work right on and walk along the Thames multiple times in a week was an ultimate London experience. The view of St. Paul's Cathedral directly across the river was breathtaking every time I saw it.On top of my placement at The Globe, I've been babysitting 10 hours/week for a little one year old baby and bartending 15-20 hours/week at Powerleague. I've been teaching drama one hour/week at a London school and have our final performance this week. Finally, I've been equally as busy with school and the work that goes along with it. I've been working on a big research project with three of my friends looking at intergenerational theatre. Not only did we do all our book research and never want to hear the word 'intergenerational' again, but we also held interviews and set up two workshops with participants ranging in age from 21 to 75. It has been interesting and we have been working really hard...keeping our fingers crossed for a solid final mark!
Speaking of marks, I finally receive d my first marks as a Masters student. Grading in the UK is very strange. anything between 49-69% is a pass (which is good) anything 70%+ is a distinction which is super/amazing and difficult to get. Coming from 18 years of anything below an 80% not being acceptable is not easy to comprehend anything different. While I'm happy with my marks, I'm definitely still confused.
I do promise to keep up more with my blog. It will hopefully be easier now that I have a month off of school. I have a lot of plans to enjoy myself over this month. I plan to read a book that I am NOT REQUIRED to read. I also plan to do some more things in London I haven't done. I will fill you in on all of it!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Back in London
After a long and relaxing holiday break in America, I have finally returned to London and of course my schedule is already jam packed! I do miss everyone already...especially these cutey pies:
A couple bits of exciting news since I've been back needs to be shared with all of you. The first exciting piece of news is that I received my placement for this term with the Shakespeare Globe. for those of you who don't know, the Globe is the replica theater in which Shakespeare produced most of his plays along the Thames. It burned down ages ago, but was rebuilt near to the original location in the 90s. They mostly produce Shakespeare plays, but have a variety of educational programming as well. It is set up as it would have been in Shakespeare's time where the peasants would stand as 'groundlings' in front of the stage. Today you can buy five pound tickets to stand for the show's entirety (which I've done...not fun).
The second piece of news is that my lovely boyfriend received Powerleague Assistant Manager of the Year 2011 from his company. He has only been working with them for nine months and was chosen from many other employees from about 45 different branches! I'm so proud that I had to brag a bit! He even got a trophy and certificate. We can't let his head get too big though!
The final bit of news is that after waiting about eight weeks since the auditions, I finally received word that I was cast as a dancer in the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. I haven't had the chance to perform in the longest time so I have to say I am so excited to be a part of such a huge performance viewed by billions of people worldwide. Not to mention, if the rehearsal process is anything like the auditions, it will be a seriously fun time...and a good workout! July 27th is the date, so make sure you turn on those TVs!
2012 seems to be off to a good start...let's hope it stays that way. I have big plans for this year. I know, London seems to be a big plan as it is, but now that I'm here and I'm in my second term, I really plan to work my butt off to make potential job connections (of course while trying to keep my income flowing with my current jobs). Figuring your life out post graduation is never easy but it's sort of exciting. I'm excited to see where this year leads me. Hopefully it will lead somewhere amazing!
I have to mention something funny that has been happening with me since I moved here and started working at the bar. I realized tonight how often it happens to me and I had to share. I wish I could film and assemble a montage of all the reactions I get when people first talk to me and hear my accent. Most of them ask me where I'm from (if it isn't obvious), but some of them just start guessing. And boy, have I gotten some good ones! Sometimes I will get Canadian, which is not unusual, but I've also gotten Italian, South American and Spanish (I got that one tonight). The most common that I get all the time is Australian. I can't tell you how many Brits think I'm Australian. This boggles my mind because to me a British accent and an Australian accent are close but I can tell the difference, and neither of them sound American. How can anyone mess up an American accent for an Australian? Especially a British person! The best reaction I've ever gotten was when I was serving some guy and he just says, "We don't get people like you around here...I feel like I'm in a movie or something." To most Europeans (and probably elsewhere in the world as well) America is what they see in the movies or on TV. More often than not, I am explaining what's realistic in films and what isn't. I loved when my Greek friend asked me if we had a "prom" for the last year of high school like in the movies, and if we really wore "those big flower things on our wrist." So many brilliant questions that I could answer all day long. I thought some of you may have enjoyed hearing those little instances I've had since being here. I hope there's more for your amusement!
Until next time...(or when I'm trying to avoid a school paper)!
A couple bits of exciting news since I've been back needs to be shared with all of you. The first exciting piece of news is that I received my placement for this term with the Shakespeare Globe. for those of you who don't know, the Globe is the replica theater in which Shakespeare produced most of his plays along the Thames. It burned down ages ago, but was rebuilt near to the original location in the 90s. They mostly produce Shakespeare plays, but have a variety of educational programming as well. It is set up as it would have been in Shakespeare's time where the peasants would stand as 'groundlings' in front of the stage. Today you can buy five pound tickets to stand for the show's entirety (which I've done...not fun).
The second piece of news is that my lovely boyfriend received Powerleague Assistant Manager of the Year 2011 from his company. He has only been working with them for nine months and was chosen from many other employees from about 45 different branches! I'm so proud that I had to brag a bit! He even got a trophy and certificate. We can't let his head get too big though!
The final bit of news is that after waiting about eight weeks since the auditions, I finally received word that I was cast as a dancer in the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. I haven't had the chance to perform in the longest time so I have to say I am so excited to be a part of such a huge performance viewed by billions of people worldwide. Not to mention, if the rehearsal process is anything like the auditions, it will be a seriously fun time...and a good workout! July 27th is the date, so make sure you turn on those TVs!
2012 seems to be off to a good start...let's hope it stays that way. I have big plans for this year. I know, London seems to be a big plan as it is, but now that I'm here and I'm in my second term, I really plan to work my butt off to make potential job connections (of course while trying to keep my income flowing with my current jobs). Figuring your life out post graduation is never easy but it's sort of exciting. I'm excited to see where this year leads me. Hopefully it will lead somewhere amazing!
I have to mention something funny that has been happening with me since I moved here and started working at the bar. I realized tonight how often it happens to me and I had to share. I wish I could film and assemble a montage of all the reactions I get when people first talk to me and hear my accent. Most of them ask me where I'm from (if it isn't obvious), but some of them just start guessing. And boy, have I gotten some good ones! Sometimes I will get Canadian, which is not unusual, but I've also gotten Italian, South American and Spanish (I got that one tonight). The most common that I get all the time is Australian. I can't tell you how many Brits think I'm Australian. This boggles my mind because to me a British accent and an Australian accent are close but I can tell the difference, and neither of them sound American. How can anyone mess up an American accent for an Australian? Especially a British person! The best reaction I've ever gotten was when I was serving some guy and he just says, "We don't get people like you around here...I feel like I'm in a movie or something." To most Europeans (and probably elsewhere in the world as well) America is what they see in the movies or on TV. More often than not, I am explaining what's realistic in films and what isn't. I loved when my Greek friend asked me if we had a "prom" for the last year of high school like in the movies, and if we really wore "those big flower things on our wrist." So many brilliant questions that I could answer all day long. I thought some of you may have enjoyed hearing those little instances I've had since being here. I hope there's more for your amusement!
Until next time...(or when I'm trying to avoid a school paper)!
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