There was a "Getting to know you" party at LAMDA this past Friday. I expected refreshments, snacks and awkward conversation. What I got, was high school dance. I walk through the door and the florescent are off, the colored strobes are flashing and the dance floor is...completely empty. I first of did not even expect there to be a dance floor, so to discover a barren one was a complete blast from the past.
As more and more people began to partake in the refreshments however things began to liven up a bit. Feet started migrating to the floor and hips started moving. Maybe if high school dances sold what they were selling on Friday, things wouldn't be so awkward...meh, another thought for another time.
So I dance dance danced to my hearts content that night and then headed back to IES (my residence hall) on the tube. This is when the best part of the night happens. As we step through the threshold of one of the train cars, I see two men (clearly buzzed) looking as if they are ready to hit the club. I decided to complement them on their appearance, at which point they begin to drunkenly ramble on and on for the rest of the train about any thought that happened to spawn in their head.
All the way from Barron's court to South Kensignton we listened to them talk about this club they were going to go to (a club which they invited us to about four to six time through out their vocal vomit session) and how they thought we were cool and were sure that we could get in if we wanted and how they loved the can of cider that they were passing back and forth to one another, helping to edge their buzz along.
This experience eventually culminated in them beginning to sing "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness with our promise that we would join in during the chorus "unfortunately" our turn to sing never came as we pulled into South Ken. right in the nick of time.
It was an experience I will not soon forget.
In other news. Went to the Sherlock Holmes museum on Saturday with a couple of classmates and a high school friend of mine. It was interesting, and I took lots of pics (I may post some once I figure out how). After that I had my first Fish and Chips...turns out its just a piece of fish and some french fries...you can get those at any carryout place in the states...I don't get what the big deal is.
After that:
Regent's Park - more pictures
Giant Toy Store - gazed in awe
H&M - Bought a sweater
So Ho - Wandered through the red light district - scarred for life
The White Horse - barely able to find a seat
McDonald - 99p cheeseburger
All in all, a good two days.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
By way of an update...
My cough is getting better! I mean, yes I'm still coughing, but it is nowhere near the level that it was this time last week. So that is good news. Hopefully it will be completely gone within a few more weeks.
LAMDA has been going smashingly well so far. I am loving every single one of my classes except, ironically enough, the acting class. The woman teaching it is difficult to understand at times and this is really frustrating at times. She will have an idea in her head and then speaking and there always seems to be something lost in the translation. Now I have nothing but respect for our instructor, and I have no doubt that she is a talented woman, but the fact that I she has difficulty getting her ideas and point across (and this is not just me who has noticed this, it is a consensus amongst the entire group) it makes it difficult to learn from her and at times creates conflict between her and the students. I can only hope things get better as we move on.
One a more positive note, Steve, our Improve teacher (he also taught my group Romances) is effing hilarious. I swear every other word that comes out of the mans mouth has me rolling on the floor. This, combined with the fact that he has an insight into working scenes and monologues that is astounding in its simplicity and effectiveness, makes him one of my favorite professors in the program. It's a shame that after today we only have him for Improv (since we are moving on to Jacobean plays, we are getting a new teacher), once or twice a week just is not enough Steve time.
Since today was the last day we were working on Romances, we all presented the monologues we were working on. I did a Leontes monologue from Winter's Tale Act 1 Scene 2 which I think went fairly well. I put a lot of work into it and got positive results, which is a good feeling. Especially because when I first started working on the monologue I was having difficulties both remembering it and understanding it. There were still little things that I could work on, but I feel like that is always going to be true. I think I'm going to add this to my stock and store of audition monologues (*sarcasm voice* because the list is soooo long...).
Moving on from the world of LAMDA, I have fallen in love with a drink here called Nutrament. It's kind of like Ensure (for those who are familiar) and it's designed as a dietary supplement to help those who don't manage to eat enough during the day (like me when I'm too busy/lazy to fix a proper breakfast). Not only are there 335 calories, a copious amount of nutrients and more vitamins than one actually needs in one day packed into a single can, it is also extremely delicious (at least the chocolate and vanilla flavors, the strawberry left much to be desired).
This may seem like an odd place to end a Blog entry...but that is exactly what I am going to do.
LAMDA has been going smashingly well so far. I am loving every single one of my classes except, ironically enough, the acting class. The woman teaching it is difficult to understand at times and this is really frustrating at times. She will have an idea in her head and then speaking and there always seems to be something lost in the translation. Now I have nothing but respect for our instructor, and I have no doubt that she is a talented woman, but the fact that I she has difficulty getting her ideas and point across (and this is not just me who has noticed this, it is a consensus amongst the entire group) it makes it difficult to learn from her and at times creates conflict between her and the students. I can only hope things get better as we move on.
One a more positive note, Steve, our Improve teacher (he also taught my group Romances) is effing hilarious. I swear every other word that comes out of the mans mouth has me rolling on the floor. This, combined with the fact that he has an insight into working scenes and monologues that is astounding in its simplicity and effectiveness, makes him one of my favorite professors in the program. It's a shame that after today we only have him for Improv (since we are moving on to Jacobean plays, we are getting a new teacher), once or twice a week just is not enough Steve time.
Since today was the last day we were working on Romances, we all presented the monologues we were working on. I did a Leontes monologue from Winter's Tale Act 1 Scene 2 which I think went fairly well. I put a lot of work into it and got positive results, which is a good feeling. Especially because when I first started working on the monologue I was having difficulties both remembering it and understanding it. There were still little things that I could work on, but I feel like that is always going to be true. I think I'm going to add this to my stock and store of audition monologues (*sarcasm voice* because the list is soooo long...).
Moving on from the world of LAMDA, I have fallen in love with a drink here called Nutrament. It's kind of like Ensure (for those who are familiar) and it's designed as a dietary supplement to help those who don't manage to eat enough during the day (like me when I'm too busy/lazy to fix a proper breakfast). Not only are there 335 calories, a copious amount of nutrients and more vitamins than one actually needs in one day packed into a single can, it is also extremely delicious (at least the chocolate and vanilla flavors, the strawberry left much to be desired).
This may seem like an odd place to end a Blog entry...but that is exactly what I am going to do.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Life/LAMDA/London
It has taken me quite a while to post this second blog entry. Part of the reason is because I have been thinking too hard about what I want to write in it and the other part is because LAMDA is keeping me so busy, that I scarcely have time to write anything at all, especially if I take forever trying to skillfully craft each word.
Since over thinking this thing is getting me nowhere, I figured I would throw thought to the wind and just write. Better to have an unrefined something than to pursue perfection only to end up with nothing at all.
Anyway, moving on, I'm going to break this entry into too sections: Life and LAMDA.
Section one, Life:
Life in London has been an interesting one thus far. I have been suffering from a cough for the past going on 4 weeks or so (maybe even a little over 4 weeks...I've lost track). It's nothing that is constantly crippling but I do have the occasional coughing fit that will make my eyes water and have all those around me expecting to see pieces of lung erupt from my mouth. This condition has made life a bit more difficult, but I am dealing the best I can
So far as what I have seen in London, I actually have not seen all that much. I am currently housed in a student dorm located in the Chelsea area. It is a lovely part of town. The houses are gorgeous the cars are shiny and the shops are chic. While this is great from a visual point of view, when it actually comes down to buying things (such as food and necessities) it gets pretty darn expensive. I learned quickly that in order to get the best value for my pound, I need to shop outside of the Chelsea area (I have found Hammersmith, an area not too far from LAMDA to have reasonably priced goods).
The weather is pretty rainy, and a bit cold. Whenever there are clear blue skies, it is a blessing from God. It actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it might though. I think I may need to make a run by Hammersmith mall however and pick up a few more long sleeve sweaters.
My room is a complete disaster area. Normally my living space ends up being very untidy, but this is the worst that it's ever been (next to the state that my room at home gets in from time to time). It is a combination of this space being small and me just being a very messy person. I keep telling myself I will clean it up later and yet...
Anyway, I feel like that is enough about life at the moment, now onto...
Section Two, LAMDA:
I can see why this school is such a big deal. So far, my experience here has been wonderful. Not everything is perfect, but everything has the potential to be really amazing. I have only just finished my second week of classes (my first week not even being a full one) so I cannot make any solid judgments just yet, but so far, so good.
I am worried about one thing currently though. When I first found out about this program, I was under the impression that we would be getting clowning classes (as were most people I've spoken to). I do not know for sure if this is true or not, but I have a fear that they might not be offering clowning this semester. On the first day they gave us this lovely two sided poster sized piece of paper that was our schedule for the entire program and granted, it's a bit hard to read, but on it I could find nothing that mentioned clowning. There was one series of classes that started in November sometime that was listed as physical theatre so hopefully that's it...
Apart from the classes, LAMDA also gives us tickets to see certain shows throughout the semester. We have already seen two: "Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford" starring Simon Callow and "Bedlam" a contemporary play written in a classical style. This particular show played at the Globe theater, so I got to be a groundling and stand down by the stage (luckily, not close enough to be spit on by the actors as one poor girl was during a particularly hilarious spit-take).
So yea, that's the brunt of it so far. This was very much a broad overview of the past two weeks. Hopefully as I get more frequent with these posts they will become more detailed, but we shall see :-P
Before I end this however I want to share the L1 British vocabulary for today:
"Take the piss" In American English, this means "to joke or to kid." So if someone were to say "Don't take the piss at me" they are not asking you to refrain from urinating upon their person (although I feel like you should just try and not do that to people on principle) but rather they are requesting that you not kid around with them or joke when they are trying to be serious.
Next entry, I'll share more nuggets of wisdom :)
That's it for now, thanks for reading!
Since over thinking this thing is getting me nowhere, I figured I would throw thought to the wind and just write. Better to have an unrefined something than to pursue perfection only to end up with nothing at all.
Anyway, moving on, I'm going to break this entry into too sections: Life and LAMDA.
Section one, Life:
Life in London has been an interesting one thus far. I have been suffering from a cough for the past going on 4 weeks or so (maybe even a little over 4 weeks...I've lost track). It's nothing that is constantly crippling but I do have the occasional coughing fit that will make my eyes water and have all those around me expecting to see pieces of lung erupt from my mouth. This condition has made life a bit more difficult, but I am dealing the best I can
So far as what I have seen in London, I actually have not seen all that much. I am currently housed in a student dorm located in the Chelsea area. It is a lovely part of town. The houses are gorgeous the cars are shiny and the shops are chic. While this is great from a visual point of view, when it actually comes down to buying things (such as food and necessities) it gets pretty darn expensive. I learned quickly that in order to get the best value for my pound, I need to shop outside of the Chelsea area (I have found Hammersmith, an area not too far from LAMDA to have reasonably priced goods).
The weather is pretty rainy, and a bit cold. Whenever there are clear blue skies, it is a blessing from God. It actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it might though. I think I may need to make a run by Hammersmith mall however and pick up a few more long sleeve sweaters.
My room is a complete disaster area. Normally my living space ends up being very untidy, but this is the worst that it's ever been (next to the state that my room at home gets in from time to time). It is a combination of this space being small and me just being a very messy person. I keep telling myself I will clean it up later and yet...
Anyway, I feel like that is enough about life at the moment, now onto...
Section Two, LAMDA:
I can see why this school is such a big deal. So far, my experience here has been wonderful. Not everything is perfect, but everything has the potential to be really amazing. I have only just finished my second week of classes (my first week not even being a full one) so I cannot make any solid judgments just yet, but so far, so good.
I am worried about one thing currently though. When I first found out about this program, I was under the impression that we would be getting clowning classes (as were most people I've spoken to). I do not know for sure if this is true or not, but I have a fear that they might not be offering clowning this semester. On the first day they gave us this lovely two sided poster sized piece of paper that was our schedule for the entire program and granted, it's a bit hard to read, but on it I could find nothing that mentioned clowning. There was one series of classes that started in November sometime that was listed as physical theatre so hopefully that's it...
Apart from the classes, LAMDA also gives us tickets to see certain shows throughout the semester. We have already seen two: "Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford" starring Simon Callow and "Bedlam" a contemporary play written in a classical style. This particular show played at the Globe theater, so I got to be a groundling and stand down by the stage (luckily, not close enough to be spit on by the actors as one poor girl was during a particularly hilarious spit-take).
So yea, that's the brunt of it so far. This was very much a broad overview of the past two weeks. Hopefully as I get more frequent with these posts they will become more detailed, but we shall see :-P
Before I end this however I want to share the L1 British vocabulary for today:
"Take the piss" In American English, this means "to joke or to kid." So if someone were to say "Don't take the piss at me" they are not asking you to refrain from urinating upon their person (although I feel like you should just try and not do that to people on principle) but rather they are requesting that you not kid around with them or joke when they are trying to be serious.
Next entry, I'll share more nuggets of wisdom :)
That's it for now, thanks for reading!
Monday, September 6, 2010
These streets have too many names for me
Before I begin to spew my first impressions of London town, I want to mention briefly the time I spent at Yale before I went away. To start off with, I want to apologize to anyone who wanted to see me but who I was unable to see while I was there. There were just too many awesome people and no where near enough time to chill with them all. But don't worry, I will be back in January and we shall have glorious times upon my return.
Are you familiar with that feeling you get when you first get back on a school campus after a long break? You pause for a moment, look around, fill your lungs deep with the surrounding air and then let the breath rush away as you propel yourself into another year, another fresh start. Well on my most recent stay at the beloved blue and white, I tried to do this. I paused for that moment (check), I looked around in a nostalgic manner (check), I took the deep breath (check), and I let it go (check). But for some reason something was different. For some reason, it didn't feel the same.
Now, I say for some reason, but I know exactly the reason why. I was not truly back on campus. I mean yes, I was physically on campus, but I wasn't truly back. Being at Yale for those few days, knowing that I was not going to be moving into my room, frantically bluebooking the night before classes start, planning what shows I was going to audition for, and deciding the best ways to fulfill my core requirements while doing the least amount of work, was an interesting experience. I felt very separated from the students around me, as if I was on the outside of a window, peering through it, seeing all of the business and preparation, yet not being a part of any of it.
While this brought with it a feeling of sadness, it also gave me an immense sense of freedom. My only goal in those few days was to chill with friends and enjoy the little taste of Yale that I was able to get before my trip across the pond (btw, New Morse looks amazing). And that free sense did not just simply come from me not having to get anything done in those few days, it also came from, and was rooted in, the fact that I was not going to be returning to Yale until January.
While I love my university to death, it is has become known for creating what is affectionately called the Yale "bubble." When on campus, it is so easy to get dragged into and blinded by all of the activities you want to be a part of, and groups you want to join, and auditions for this thing and that thing, and all of the awesome classes you think you are going to take, etc. (I could go on forever) that it is very very easy to lose sight of the big picture, not seeing the forest for the trees, to use a cliche.
This time around, I could see the forest, and while part of me wanted to jump back in and disappear in the foliage, the rest of me was sort of happy to get a semester's respite.
The feeling of freedom was a welcome surprise for me, but, by far, the MOST welcome surprise of my stay was a party that was thrown for me by a couple of my friends. It was in honor of my going away for a semester. Now what surprised me the most was no so much that there was a party planned (I mean, the thought is shocking, but the surprise was a bit ruined when I first got onto campus by a friend mentioning it and then hastily trying to cover up by saying he was misinformed) but the number of people who actually came to this thing. It was very touching to see so many people show up (and if you are reading this and thinking to yourself "why was I not invited?" I'm sorry, I was clearly not the one responsible for the guest list :-P)
I slept well that night.
The next day I saw a couple of other people that I had neglected for the past couple days and then I headed back home to finish packing for London.
Now that I've recapped pre-London, we have reached arou feature presentation.
The tube is one of the best railway systems I have ever ridden, but the layout of the streets make absolutely no sense whatsoever. My attempt to walk from the tube station to my residence hall was one that I will not soon forget. Picture this: me with a large rolling suitcase and a smaller duffel bag on top being dragged around by my right hand, a shoulder bag strapped around one shoulder, a laptop bag strapped around the other and a suite bag tightly gripped in my left hand. Now picture me walking around southern London for an hour and a half in what felt like circles looking for a road that everyone knew the general direction of but no one was able to give me exact instructions on how to reach. They were all only able to offer the advice of "zigzagging" in a vaguely diagonal fashion until by the grace of some higher power, I actually happen upon this elusive destination.
After about what according to my feet and arms felt like a years worth of walking (and I say walking, but what I mean is walking and stopping, walking and stopping - the stopping being due to the fact that after a while the already heavy bags began to feel as if they were made of solid marble) I decided to just give up any semblance of shame and whipped out an entire map of London in hopes of finding my tiny little road on a tinny little corner of the map that was clearly more catered towards those looking for large tourist attractions such as Big Ben and the like.
Thankfully, after about 15 minutes of rotating the map around in circles in the classically "I'm so effing lost" fashion, I was rescued by this wonderful British gentleman (and his American companion) who knew EXACTLY where the road I was looking for was and was able to even tell me how far down the building I wanted would be. Where was this guy an hour ago?? Oh well, no matter.
I thanked him, and I was on my way. With his direction I found the place no problem and was able to move my things into the room.
There is more than I want to say, but I will say it at a later date. It is about 1am at the moment and I need my sleep.
Until next time!
Are you familiar with that feeling you get when you first get back on a school campus after a long break? You pause for a moment, look around, fill your lungs deep with the surrounding air and then let the breath rush away as you propel yourself into another year, another fresh start. Well on my most recent stay at the beloved blue and white, I tried to do this. I paused for that moment (check), I looked around in a nostalgic manner (check), I took the deep breath (check), and I let it go (check). But for some reason something was different. For some reason, it didn't feel the same.
Now, I say for some reason, but I know exactly the reason why. I was not truly back on campus. I mean yes, I was physically on campus, but I wasn't truly back. Being at Yale for those few days, knowing that I was not going to be moving into my room, frantically bluebooking the night before classes start, planning what shows I was going to audition for, and deciding the best ways to fulfill my core requirements while doing the least amount of work, was an interesting experience. I felt very separated from the students around me, as if I was on the outside of a window, peering through it, seeing all of the business and preparation, yet not being a part of any of it.
While this brought with it a feeling of sadness, it also gave me an immense sense of freedom. My only goal in those few days was to chill with friends and enjoy the little taste of Yale that I was able to get before my trip across the pond (btw, New Morse looks amazing). And that free sense did not just simply come from me not having to get anything done in those few days, it also came from, and was rooted in, the fact that I was not going to be returning to Yale until January.
While I love my university to death, it is has become known for creating what is affectionately called the Yale "bubble." When on campus, it is so easy to get dragged into and blinded by all of the activities you want to be a part of, and groups you want to join, and auditions for this thing and that thing, and all of the awesome classes you think you are going to take, etc. (I could go on forever) that it is very very easy to lose sight of the big picture, not seeing the forest for the trees, to use a cliche.
This time around, I could see the forest, and while part of me wanted to jump back in and disappear in the foliage, the rest of me was sort of happy to get a semester's respite.
The feeling of freedom was a welcome surprise for me, but, by far, the MOST welcome surprise of my stay was a party that was thrown for me by a couple of my friends. It was in honor of my going away for a semester. Now what surprised me the most was no so much that there was a party planned (I mean, the thought is shocking, but the surprise was a bit ruined when I first got onto campus by a friend mentioning it and then hastily trying to cover up by saying he was misinformed) but the number of people who actually came to this thing. It was very touching to see so many people show up (and if you are reading this and thinking to yourself "why was I not invited?" I'm sorry, I was clearly not the one responsible for the guest list :-P)
I slept well that night.
The next day I saw a couple of other people that I had neglected for the past couple days and then I headed back home to finish packing for London.
Now that I've recapped pre-London, we have reached arou feature presentation.
The tube is one of the best railway systems I have ever ridden, but the layout of the streets make absolutely no sense whatsoever. My attempt to walk from the tube station to my residence hall was one that I will not soon forget. Picture this: me with a large rolling suitcase and a smaller duffel bag on top being dragged around by my right hand, a shoulder bag strapped around one shoulder, a laptop bag strapped around the other and a suite bag tightly gripped in my left hand. Now picture me walking around southern London for an hour and a half in what felt like circles looking for a road that everyone knew the general direction of but no one was able to give me exact instructions on how to reach. They were all only able to offer the advice of "zigzagging" in a vaguely diagonal fashion until by the grace of some higher power, I actually happen upon this elusive destination.
After about what according to my feet and arms felt like a years worth of walking (and I say walking, but what I mean is walking and stopping, walking and stopping - the stopping being due to the fact that after a while the already heavy bags began to feel as if they were made of solid marble) I decided to just give up any semblance of shame and whipped out an entire map of London in hopes of finding my tiny little road on a tinny little corner of the map that was clearly more catered towards those looking for large tourist attractions such as Big Ben and the like.
Thankfully, after about 15 minutes of rotating the map around in circles in the classically "I'm so effing lost" fashion, I was rescued by this wonderful British gentleman (and his American companion) who knew EXACTLY where the road I was looking for was and was able to even tell me how far down the building I wanted would be. Where was this guy an hour ago?? Oh well, no matter.
I thanked him, and I was on my way. With his direction I found the place no problem and was able to move my things into the room.
There is more than I want to say, but I will say it at a later date. It is about 1am at the moment and I need my sleep.
Until next time!
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