In America!

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!

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)!

It's been too long!

I cannot believe how long I have been in between blog posts. I'm really sorry everyone! It's just that things are starting to get crazy. I've been working a lot, I've started babysitting and school is getting to be a lot busier. Since I last posted, I still didn't have a placement. Well, now I sort of have three! The two unofficial ones came along when I was getting fed up still without a placement. The first is one hour a week in a school with a group of under confident girls doing a workshop with two other classmates. We will be facilitating whilst the teacher is elsewhere in a meeting. I'm looking forward to putting the skills I've learned into practice as it will be just us teaching the group. The second "unofficial" placement is with a group of 16-18 year olds creating their own film. I happened upon this as I started talking with a group of people who run the project at the bar where I work. The project takes place at Wembley Stadium and the group leaders meet for a drink every week after the project. They are getting me involved and I'm actually heading over for the first time today! And finally, my official placement is with The Almeida Theatre and their educational department. I'm really excited to spend my last three weeks of the term working with them as they are a very reputable company here in London! So now you can imagine how busy I have become and with babysitting and work on top of that!







Thanksgiving is this week and Christmas is right around the corner! The holidays are already here in London and have been for a few weeks because they don't have Thanksgiving to really kick off the season. The lights are stunning down all the main shopping streets. My mom is in town as of tonight and I plan on bringing her shopping ...especially at night so we can see the lights! Speaking of Christmas I have to make a little complaint about London. I am sad to report that UK Starbucks disappoint me. This time of year obviously, Starbucks rings in the holidays with their iconic "red Christmas cup"...always an exciting time. HOWEVER, my all-time favorite drink at Starbucks is NOT on the menu over here. That would be the CARAMEL APPLE SPICE. If you have tried this, you know how AMAZING it is! I don't understand! First iced coffee, now this? Can it be true? Anyways, I am being denied which is probably a good thing as I cannot afford Starbucks on a daily basis. I am proud to say I went in today for THE FIRST TIME since living here. I have been drinking Costa and Caffe Nero because I find Starbucks so overpriced. Alright I'm done with my rant.

To finish up my blog I just want to mention two things. The first is that Matt and I went to his hometown this past weekend: Upton-Upon-Severn in Worcestershire (yes that's where they get the sauce). We spent time with his family and many many pets. I have been missing my pets so to get some furry TLC was amazing. He's got his border collie Darcey who is a love! Carl (Matt's Brother) has a little Jack Russel named Tink. And on top of that, four cats: Geb, Teal, Rocky and Cuffy. For those of you know my dad's store, I'll have you know that their cat was Cuffy BEFORE we met. It's a strange coincidence, I know. Anyhow, that was really nice! The second and final thing to mention is that I  had my Olympic callbacks. I have to be super secret about what I did, but all I will say is it was fun, hard/exhausting work and I don't find out for 6-8 weeks. I guess I can be patient.


Until then, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Lots to catch you up on!

Hi everyone!

It's  been a while. . . hasn't it? I'm sorry, I've just found myself pretty busy. What have I been up to? Let's see if I can give you the highlights as bullet points:

*Halloween happened and I dressed as Where's Waldo (or Where's Wally as they call him here)
-This was the cheapest costume I could make that fit the '90s Cartoon party  theme (red tape, white hat, yarn for the pom pom). The party was held at my old flat when I lived here as an undergrad student in Kilburn Park (2008).
*My friend Graig came over to visit from across the pond. He, Ian and I (my firends from Drew) spent the afternoon walking along the Thames.
*I auditioned for the Olympic Ceremonies. Can't tell you much about it as we were sworn to secrecy, but there was a lot of dancing and moving. It was a lot of fun.
*I got a callback for a role specific audition for the Olympic Ceremonies. Wish me luck!
*Matt and I celebrated Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night) by throwing a  bash at our place with all of our friends.
*AND I'M STILL WAITING ON MY STUPID PLACEMENT!!!! I was hoping to have started a placement at least a week or two ago, yet I STILL don't know anything! My tutor told me that she is almost 100% certain as to a pretty awesome place that will take me, but they haven't made it official. I know where it is, but I'm not going to tell until it's confirmed. I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Hopefully by next post, I will be able to discuss further. Obviously, this placement portion of my Masters is so important to me. I am dying to get started and gain experience as well as connections. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

So that's pretty much the update. Other than that, I've just been working and doing school work. Tonight I made my own recipe for the second time. I suck in the kitchen as I've mentioned in the past, but a couple weeks ago I concocted a delicious dumpling soup. Tonight I've made it again but with chicken and leeks this time. I snuck a bowl before Matt gets back from playing football and its tasting fantastic! I am very proud of my work and may even start enjoying it in the kitchen!


I am going to keep this post short and end with some pictures from the party. The night was a lot of fun and involved some Dance Central on the XBox Kinect, Beer Pong, card games, fireworks and even the Stadium was lit up for the Rugby. All and all a very successful night!

Making Friends

It's been a couple of days of recovery from whatever cold/flu thing many people around here and I had. They call it the Fresher's Flu because we've all been herded into different lectures and auditoriums constantly over the past week and our immune systems were completely unprepared. Luckily thanks to the help of many over the counter drugs I am doing much better!

My main task this week has been to find my first placement for school. I know I want to work with a well-established theatre or broadcast company and see how they run their educational programming. In particular, a company's programming for bringing the arts to children and teens. I can't wait to officially land my placement and tell you all about it. I'm looking at educational programming from programs such as The Royal Shakespeare Company's, The National Theatre's, The Old Vic's (Old Vic New Voices), The National Youth Theatre's and even programs included as part of the Cultural Olympiad (the arts part of the 2012 Olympics). Speaking of the Olympics, I have been desperately trying to get involved with the ceremonies and signed up to audition for as a volunteer performer. My audition will be in the beginning of next month.  Who knows what will come of it but it will be an experience.

Oh and good news, I've been making friends! We even had our first social tonight after a long day of lectures. Making friends and being in a new environment is so daunting and I was admittedly nervous but there are some great people in my program! It's so great to hear everyone's experiences and to just bounce ideas off of each other is so exciting. We are all passionate about (generally) the same thing which makes it so great. We have a HUGELY packed year ahead of us with everything from courses, practical work, projects, dissertations, jobs etc. All so scary but exciting at the same time!

Also good news, Emily, your clone on the X-Factor UK is STILL in the competition! The judges put her into this really cool girl group called Rhythmix and they are killing it as the only girl group in the competitiion. Em, I am so proud of you! (See earlier blog posts to better understand this joke)!

She's the one on the left but Emily is even prettier...for those of you who do not know her   ;)