18 days....

Just booked my car to the airport......yup it's that close.


18 days....

20 days....

So somehow it has come down to 20 days until I leave London. I really can't believe how fast it's gone. Still, I miss home and I miss my family and my friends. So it will be nice to come home.

The rest of the week with Damon was a lot of fun. On Thursday a few of us took him sightseeing around London. We started at Kings Cross Station to take pictures at the Platform 9 and 3/4 set up. Funny enough, they don't actually have it inside the station. It's basically a moving set piece that they can put anywhere they want. That day, they had it outside. While we were looking for it we passed right by it...we felt pretty stupid since we spent the next half hour walking around the entire station.

After that, we headed to Westminster and took pictures around Big Ben and Westminster Abby. Then we walked from there to Buckingham Palace and from there to Hyde Park where we got something to eat. Next we took the tube to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and then walked to see the Globe Theatre. Finally, we walked back towards St. Pauls where I saw something first hand...and occupy movement. I have seen pictures and heard stories, but I had not actually seen it up close. A tent colony surrounded one side of St. Pauls. People were actually living there....realizing that this was happening like this in my own country was really weird to think about. Just got me thinking a lot.

Finally, we went to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Sarastro in the Covent Garden area. It was a really interesting looking restaurant filled with items from opera houses. There were raised booths for tables and things everywhere. The food was fantastic...but no turkey or stuffing. Still, it was nice to be with friends for Thanksgiving.

I've done so much in my time here...and I still have a bunch more planed. So away we go!


20 days....

I'm Thankful For...

This Thanksgiving I have a huge thing to be thankful for. I am so incredibly thankful that my parents are fortunate enough to send me to study in London for three months. And I'm even more thankful for the trips I've been able to go on. Stonehenge, Bath, Paris, Prague, Vienna...it has all been amazing. But it wouldn't have happened with out then.

I'm thankful for you mom and dad....I have been and will be every day for the rest of my life.

Damon in London!

Every year, the Theatre department sends a faculty member to London to check-in with the study abroad students at the two schools. They usually send this person around Thanksgiving so that they can take the students out to dinner on the Thursday. 

This year, the faculty member is Damon, the Technical Director and Shop Head. When we heard Damon was coming we all got very excited. I mean, how often can you say you had dinner and drinks with one of your teachers in London? 

When he arrived on Monday, I invited him to come for dinner in the New Cross area. When he got here, I gave him a mini-tour of the campus. After that, we went to the local pub, The Hobgoblin, for dinner. It was really good to catch up with him and hear what was going on for the past months at Muhlenberg. It was also nice to see a familiar face who I hadn't seen in a while. 

The next day, myself and a few others met up with Damon in the Notting Hill area to walk around and shop. Lot's of cool things there. Going to have to go back though to buy some things. After that, I brought Damon back to Goldsmiths for him to attend a class with some other students. He is required to sit in on at least one class at each school here in London...I guess to make sure they are actually teaching us something. After that, we headed back into Central London to the National Theatre for the backstage tour. This tour never ceases to amaze me. I've been on it twice and each time I get to see something different. We saw and learned about all three theatre's and even got to see some backstage areas. Really cool. It would be amazing to work there one day...who knows...it could happen. After that, we all went out for dinner and drinks. We were talking about everything, and eventually got on to talking about life in the theatre department. What made it special was that we could say exactly how we felt, and didn't worry about being disrespectful...because we weren't...we were just saying how we felt. 

Today, he is spending time with the Queen Mary people but some of us might see him later after our show. 

Overall, it's really nice to see a familiar face here in London...though it does make me miss home just a little more. 

24 days....

Seeing Friends...

So here's a funny thing...I got to see a friend yesterday who I haven't seen in a pretty long time...we live 40mins away from each other in New York...but she has to fly to London from Spain to see me. Funny how things work out.

I got to see my friend Gabi last night. She was in town visiting some friends and got in touch with me. It was nice to catch up. I will say, it's pretty surreal to meet up with friends while you are living in London. I don't think that part will ever get old.

I just wanted to post about that...because it was nice seeing an old friend.

Time moves too quickly...

It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost 2 months. I have my countdown app going...29 days from today, I will be flying back to the U.S.

I'm excited to go back...I miss family and friends and all that. I know as soon as I get home I'll want to come back. But I think that's how everyone feels. So far I'm definitely happy that I came here to study. I have experienced living in British culture. I have seen Stonehenge, Bath, Paris, Prague and Vienna. I have seen some cool things. And I've had some fantastic times. But now, it's time to enjoy these last 29 days. It's time to make more memories that I will never forget.

The Lion King!

So after a fantastic reading week and an ok monday, I went into central london on Tuesday to the Lion King box office and was able to get tickets for myself and 3 friends for that night! For 30 pounds we were able to get seats in the first balcony in row K. The sound was a little off, but as for the view, they were perfect.

I had been waiting to see this show for a really long time. That being said, it had been built up a lot for me. Unfortunately, I wasn't seeing it on Broadway...I was seeing it in the West End. I've realized now that the West End does not set as high of a bar for themselves as Broadway does. At one point I heard the drop bolts come out as a set piece moved....not supposed to hear that....

Still, the show was fantastic. The puppet work was incredible. There were people on stilts (in weird ways), birds flying through the air, elephants walking through the audience...pretty cool stuff. Out of all the actors, my favorites were Zazu and Timon. They just played the parts perfectly in my opinion.

Another problem I had with the show was the singing. They sounded like they were holding back. And they weren't holding out notes. I hate when performers do that. Really annoying. Fill the theatre damnit!

Anyway, it was a fun night. I'm still glad I got to see it. But now I need to see it on Broadway to compare...