Stuck in London

Hello, so this is what's going on with me right now. I was supposed to fly home this past Saturday around 5pm but because of the “Winter Wallop” Delta canceled all of their flights. They literally canceled all of their flights! I was able to get another flight on Air France to Paris and then another flight to JFK on Tuesday. If all goes well I should land in NY Tuesday around 7pm (which is tomorrow.) I was able to work it out with our housing company to move into a single flat, granted this flat does not have heat or hot water, but at least I have a bed. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone and seeing my friends off to the airport when I was supposed to go to the airport with them.
That first night I was alone was kind of depressing. It wasn’t that I was devastated to stay some extra days in London, it was just that I had been looking forward to going home, and that I was completely by myself. I went out to dinner at the Spaghetti House, which was delicious as always, but I just wished I had some company. I walked around the area and did shopping; only I didn't buy anything other than the new Michael Buble CD at Tesco because I actually have NO room in my suitcases. Then I went to sleep for 12 hours, which felt great.
Yesterday, my second bonus day in London, I went to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which I actually enjoyed a lot. After that I walked all over Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. I had dinner at TGI Fridays, ordered a strawberry margarita, and some Jack Daniel’s sesame chicken strips. It was nice to be in an American restaurant, and my waitress was even from California. After dinner I went to see Where the Wild Things Are. It was pretty good, not what I was expecting, but it occupied my time.
Today is exciting because when I woke up I called the War Horse box office right away and managed to get a ticket for £16.50, which is actually unheard of because it is so hard to get a ticket to that show, and they are so so expensive. War Horse is the most popular play in London. It was originally put on by the National Theatre, but it did so well that it moved to the West End. It is a story about WW1 told from the perspective of a horse. The play uses life size horse puppets absolutely beautifully, and when I took a tour of the National Theatre I saw one of the puppets, and I knew that I had to see the play. The entire time I’ve been in London I’ve been trying to see it and wasn’t able to get a ticket. It is so lucky that I finally got one on my last day here, plus one that is so cheap! Very exciting! So anyway, hopefully next time I post another entry will be when I am home safely in New York. I hope everything goes as planned. I cannot wait to be in the USA again!

Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, and Dalkey

I'm writing this blog entry on a rainy Monday afternoon after spending only a few hours at the Unicorn before being sent home because my supervisor was so tired from opening night of Cinderella. It was yesterday, I was in Ireland, but he had told me that while they were supposed to tech the show all week then have dress rehearsals on the weekend, to open Sunday. Unfortunately, they didn't get through all the teching so they called a dress rehearsal for Sunday morning right before the show, and this was their only dress rehearsal, plus one of the actors backs gave out that morning, but it all worked out fine. I get to see the show on Thursday for Press Night. I can't wait. Anyway, I'm listening to the free Irish CD that I got in Ireland while Leanne (my flatmate that broke her foot on the Acropolis in Greece last weekend,) elevates her foot right now. Yesterday I got back from Ireland. I went with my roommate, Celina, and one of my flatmates, Caiti. We stayed in Dublin in a 10 person hostel room; very interesting. We arriveed Friday morning at around 11, and bought tickets for a hop-on hop-off tour bus. This means that you can get on and off the bus at what ever stop you like, and then get on again when ever you like at any time. It was very good, and we were so tired form traveling from 6am that it was nice to sit, and then get off at certain areas we wanted to walk around more. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephan's Park, Oscar Wilde's house, The Irish National Gallery, Grafton Street, Temple Bar, and we took a tour at the Guinness Storehouse, which was really awesome. The tour was of the 9 story factory that Arthur Guinness leased 250 years ago for 9,000 years, paying 45 euro a year. Insane! We got a free pint at the Gravity Bar, on the top floor, that had a full view of the entire city of Dublin through all glass walls. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday night we met up with some of Caiti's friends from Siena that we had randomly run into (I also ran into someone I graduated high school with, along with Clark Jewish Studies Professor Everett Fox's nephew.) We all went to a restaurant in the Temple Bar area, then made our way to two different pubs and an ice cream place, both pubs with live music, and we checked out the crazy Irish pub scene. Since everyone goes out and drinks, every single pub was absolutely packed, but everyone was so friendly that it wasn't too bad. The nightlife there is so insane, and it was a ton of fun.
On Sunday before we had to catch our flight later in the night, we made our way to the Southern Coast of Ireland to two different little towns called Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey (which the Irish pronounce 'donkey.') Dun Laoghaire was a boating town, and had a long pier that we walked down. It was absolutely beautiful. We even walked down to the beach and climbed on some rocks, and got splashed by the crashing waves because it was SO WINDY. We were literally blowing away, it was insanity. It was just a really fun and gorgeous area, there was a gazebo, a little jazz band playing Christmas music, and dogs running freely everywhere. We then took the Dart, which is like the Tube or the Subway, to 2 stops away to Dalkey. Dalkey was very quiet, but with lots of tiny little shops, many of which were closed because it was Sunday afternoon, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We went to a small cafe where I happily ordered a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, which was so good. It was all just very relaxing. We walked around for a while, checked out a castle, wandered into an exchange bookshop, and strolled down a residential street with cute little cottages. It was so nice being away from the busy city life.
The best part about Ireland was the people. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I didn't feel like an out-of-place tourist like most of the other big European cities make you feel. Everyone was so helpful and would just strike up a conversation at any moment (speaking the same language didn't hurt either.) It was so refreshing because the people in London are very unfriendly as a whole, so having a weekend away from that was nice. I have been getting slightly sick of the way Londoners act. They are try to be polite and refined, but they are sort of just grumpy and not as friendly as they are in Ireland, or even back at home in the U.S. London is known for being a place where you don't make eye contact with people. On the tube it is unheard of to make as sort of eye contact with anyone, even when it is crowded and you are squished up against everyone. They don't get into conversations other than to be polite. Well, anyway, I won't get into all of that, but I'm just so glad I had a chance to experience Irish life, because it really was awesome. We all had such a good time and it was such a great last trip for the semester. I'll be home in less than 2 weeks! Insane!

A London Update

I've been writing so much about my trips that I've completely neglected the fact that I am actually living in London. Well, the fog and cloudy sky is really starting to get irritating. It's been raining almost everyday, and just really unpleasant. I guess that's typical London, and I have to deal with it. Things at the Unicorn are really starting to pick up. We are all getting ready for the biggest production of the year, Cinderella. It stars the Unicorn Ensemble, plus a few guest artists whom I've become very friendly with. It's nice that I am able to socialize with the actors, they are so nice and welcoming to me, and very fun to be around. Last Friday I spent the entire day painting the giant ship/staircase. Because the show takes place on a ship, which is actually a retirement home for magicians (this version of Cinderella is quite different,) and the other side is a giant staircase for the ball. The entire piece is on a revolve that moves about 4 and a half feet per second. Pretty fast. It is huge and we first textured the front of the ship with some gooey stuff called Artex, then spent hours and hours painting every part of this giant structure. The foyer also has been recently decorated with hundreds of giant butterflies in celebration of Cinderella (the ball is butterfly themed.) I had spent days tying 6 meters of fish wire to each side of each butterfly, and they were put up last week. It looks so festive when you walk in. It just looks so magical and welcoming with tons of butterflies swarming above your head. I've also been getting a good handle on the technical world of the theatre. While I strongly dislike rigging lights, doing set fit-ups, and being backstage alltogether, I'm enjoying getting to know what it is like to do other things in the theatre. It's good because now I know that I definitely want to be onstage, or doing something on the creative team. Putting a traveling set together requires muscle strength and getting pleasure out of using power tools. These are two things I do not have. Anyway, I'm really enjoying my time at the Unicorn, and I really have been feeling like I am a part of their team, and I can't wait for Cinderella to open. I've been watching it grow from nothing to a huge production, so it's going to be very exciting on opening night.
Last night our whole flat, plus a few, got together for a real Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone brought a dish, and we had a huge feast. Sadly and pathetically we did not have turkey because it is extremely difficult to get your hands on a turkey in Britain before Christmas, and when you can find one they are super expensive. So we had chicken and pretended it was turkey by putting gravy and cranberry sauce on it. Very pathetic, I know, but with all of the Thanksgiving foods everyone cooked and the company, it was really fun. I made a dish that started as butternut squash but turned into "Autumn Delight" after I had added apples, sweet potato, and pumpkin to it. It was very orange and autumny, and my new creation.
My parents get here on Wednesday morning for a weeks visit, and I am very excited to see them and spend time with them. For Thanksgiving we are probably going to go to a BBQ restaurant that is serving "traditional American Thanksgiving dinner." Hopefully it will be good, but it obviously won't be the same and being home with the entire family. Anyway, I'll be home in about 25 days, and while I love it here in London I am pretty sure I'm ready to go back home. This has all just been one really long vacation. It feels as though I've put my life on hold back home, and I'm ready to get back to real life now. I miss everyone at home, and at Clark, and I am excited to continue my life after having this experience under my belt. It really has changed me, and it has allowed me to really discover who I am and what I want to do with my life. I don't want to make this all corny until I actually have to write my last London blog entry, but I always think about how glad I am that I decided to study abroad here, and also how lucky I am.I'm just loving every minute of it.

J'adore Paris

I went to Paris this past weekend with a bunch of my flatmates plus a few others. I traveled in on the Eurostar train Friday night with Katie (my friend from Clark studying at LSE who speaks French wonderfully,) and got in just in time to meet up with Lilly, who had arrived earlier that day. We walked around Montmarte, where our hostel was, and then found a cute and amazing restaurant where we were even able to eat outside because it wasn’t even that cold. I ate an open-faced sandwich with goat cheese, honey, and almonds. I can’t stop thinking about it! It was so good! The second day we woke up and made our way towards the center of the city where we were meeting a few more friends at a different hotel that was right near the Eiffel Tower. This hotel was about a 2 minute walk from it. It was such a good location. We spent the day site seeing at the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, we walked down the Champs Elysees, and then we went to the Louvre, which I really enjoyed. We also got in free with our UK visa, which was awesome, and seeing the Mona Lisa was kind of unreal.
That night Katie and I met Blanche and Bernard (my Grandma’s first cousins, and only relatives) for dinner. They don’t really speak English, so I was really glad I had Katie there to translate most of what they were saying. The last time I saw them I was probably 10 years old, so I didn’t really remember them at all. It was strange meeting up with family in another country, but it was so nice. Blanche even resembles my Grandma a little. They made reservations at a nice authentic French restaurant, and even reserved a special table by the window that looked out on the city and insisted that Katie and I sit in the window seats. They also insisted that we order an appetizer, main course, drinks, and dessert. They were very nice to us. I just felt bad because while I could somewhat understand what they were saying at some points, I had no way of responding. The extent of my knowledge of French is “bonjour,” “comment allez vous,” “merci,” “wi,” and “au revoir.” So, I used what I knew when appropriate, shook my head a lot, and read from Katie’s French Phrasebook that we brought along. It was really fun having dinner with Blanche and Bernard, but it was stressful because our conversations were obviously very limited. After dinner Blanche and Bernard took Katie and I for a drive around Paris. They showed us all the sites, and it just so nice being able to spend time with them.
They next day we took a day trip to Versailles. It was absolutely incredible. Giant, absolutely giant and so extravagant. We also took a long walk down to Marie Antoinette’s house, which was very pink and girly. It was all very interesting.
Being in Paris was absolutely magical. The best site was the Eiffel Tower at night. It was all lit up, with lights blinking, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was also massive! It was a very good weekend, with the baguettes, crepes, cheese, crème brulee, beautiful sites, and good company. I had an amazing time. It is definitely a place that I will have to go back to in my lifetime.

Las Cuidades de Madrid y Barcelona

I am writing this entry with the help of some notes about my trip that I jotted down on the late plane ride back to London, with the help of Pat and Sarah. Spending almost a week in Spain with an upper respiratory infection, I realized that all I really needed was Sudafed Nasal Spray (works like a miracle,) a few packs of tissues, hazelnut gelato, siestas, and friends that rub your back when you feel like you're on the verge of passing out. The week prior to the trip every single one of my flatmates, yes all 5 of them, were sick. I tried to stay away as much as possible, disinfected every common area, and downed cartons of orange juice. While all of that worked for the week everyone was sick, I ended up getting sick right before I left for Spain. Greaaaaaat. The doctor put me on antibiotics, and while they made my stomach rather upset for the first few days, I guess they prevented me from getting worse, which I probably would have because I was traveling. Anyway, I'll stop complaining and start talking about the awesome things that I was able to do while I was away despite feeling sort of like death for the first half of the trip.

Day 1--Madrid: We left at 3:00am in London rain, but arrived in beautiful Spanish sunshine and palm trees. It took 3 transfers on the Metro to get to our hostel, which was in the center of the city, and right next door to a Starbucks...always a plus. We saved some money by staying in a 6 person room (there were only 3 of us,) which meant that we shared this tiny tiny tiny room with 3 strangers. One was from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Turkey. While it was a little frightening staying with people we didn’t know, and sleeping with our wallets, ipods, cameras, and passports under our pillows, it was pretty cool talking to them about the trips they were on and their own countries. After settling in the hostel, we then went to the Prado Museum. I don’t have much to say about it because I pretty much sat down in a chair every chance I got because I just simply couldn’t stand from being so tired and sick. After that we went back to the hostel and took a nice long siesta (nap.) It was great. We also learned that from about 2:00pm to 6:00pm many of the shops and restaurants close for siesta, so we thought we would join in, and it was very well deserved. We ate dinner that night at a place called VIPS, which was sort of like a Spanish version of TGIFridays.

Day 2 – Madrid: The second day we went on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. This tour let us hop on the bus at any bus stop, and hop off at any bus stop, to hop back on at any bus stop, etc. Pretty convenient. It was a nice was to see the city, and there was even a recording that we listened to through headphones that explained what we were passing. I also enjoyed sitting. We hopped off for lunch at restaurant that was not so much in the center of the city, so none of the employees spoke English. Pat, Sarah, and I all ordered the same thing because we heard a few familiar words thrown in. It was a special of chicken, eggs, and spaghetti. Not so Spanish, but still very good. That night when we got back to our hostel we were surprised to see an Australian couple in our room. They were John and Lucy from Australia. They both were 22 and taking a few months to travel Europe together. They were also both fluent in Spanish, and that night we all went out to a Tapas bar. It really was awesome, we even exchanged numbers and invited them to come hang out with us when they travel to London. We spent the rest of the night talking about the differences between The US and Australia, the US and Europe, and Australia and Europe.

Day 3 – Madrid y Barcelona: The morning before we left for Barcelona we took a walk that took about 3 minutes to the massive palace called Palacio Real de Madrid. It was huge! We took a tour of the inside, which also included entry to the Armory and The Royal Pharmacy Museum. Pretty neat. We took a lot of pictures, and even got an amazing view of the entire city from the back of the building. Walking back into the center of city we were graced with the wonderful music of an old Spanish man on an accordion playing Havah Nagilah, which I found to be very funny. In the center of the city we came across an overweight man dressed as Spidarman, smoking a cigarette, looking for people to take pictures with so he could make a few Euro. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take pictures with this guy because it was just too hilarious. He was actually very nice, and very hilarious, and Pat only paid him about 1 Euro for the handful of pictures that we took. That night we flew to Barcelona.

Day 4 – Barcelona: We had met up with 7 other friends in Barcelona and we all stayed together in the “Ideal Youth Hostel.” That was its name. I guess it was ideal because it was right in the center of the action, but the filth was not too ideal. Anyway, we dealt with it for 3 nights, and at least we were sleeping next to our friends and not strangers. That morning we went on a boat tour on the Mediterranean. Talk about turquoise water! It was beautiful. That night we had paella and tapas for dinner, and we ate outside on the most famous street in the city, Las Ramblas. It was a lot of fun.

Day 5 – Barcelona: Since I was still kind of sick I stayed behind while the rest of the group went on a bike tour. I walked around for the day with another girl from our group who also wasn’t feeling too well. We went to a market that was just incredible. There were immense amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, meat, chocolate, and candy. Everything looked so amazing, and we took so many pictures of all the vendors. We also went searching for one of the Gaudi houses. Antoni Gaudi was a famous modernist architect from Barcelona, and he built a handful of houses around the city that are just unbelievable. After roaming around for a while, and asking people on the street “derecha o izquierda?” (right or left,) we finally found La Casa be Batilla. It was so beautiful I can’t even begin to describe it. We took a tour of the house, and took tons of pictures. We then ventured to find El Palacio de Musica, which is a giant concert hall. That building was just as beautiful as Gaudi’s. Halloween in Barcelona was crazy. Instead of dressing up in cute or funny costumes people dress up in scary costumes. Everyone was all about blood and gore, but the night life was really fun. We attempted to stay up until 6 in the morning like the locals do, but us Americans just couldn’t keep up, and we ended up crashing around 4.

Day 6 – Barcelona à London: We started the day off with some Dunkin Coffee, which is actually an exact replica of Dunkin Donuts, which we found very amusing. We did some quick site seeing at the Olympic Park, another Gaudi house called La Sagrada Familia, and then even another Gaudi house called La Casa Mila, and then slowed it all down for some McDonalds at the end of the day. We hoped on a plane, and arrived in London around midnight.

It was a great trip, and despite being rather ill for most of it, I was able to experience Spanish culture in 2 different cities and I even got to practice speaking Spanish. It was very rewarding, and I’m so glad I went, and I am grateful for that nice lady that translated the pharmacist for me when I went in the middle of the night.

Quick Update

Hello.
The very first thing that I would like to do right now is write a brand new and long overdue blog entry, but I have to finish a paper and get to bed relatively early. Quickest update ever: Today I went to the Tate Modern, had a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, saw Jersey Boys. 2 weekends ago I went to Cambridge and went punting on the River Cam, I wrote a short story for my Creative Writing class, I went to Harrods, Camden Town Horse Stable Markets, and had a tour of Parliament. Last week I saw Mother Courage at the National Theatre, The Lion King, a play called Rigged at the Unicorn, and I went to the Cinema to see the newest and last Heath Ledger film. I've been sitting in on rehearsals for The London Eye Mystery, helping sand and paint sets, and creating a small wooden model of a seagull to assist in the making of Gavin the Seagull in the Unicorn's twisted and mixed up version of Cinderella. I've also been trying to stay relatively healthy because every single one of my flatmates are sick and think they have the flu right now. A week from today I'll be off to Madrid, then Barcelona for Halloween. That's 5 nights in Spain! Can't wait! Ok, I tried to push that all in somehow, but hopefully once all these midterms are over I'll have some more freeish time.
Til then,
Allie

"Wow guys, it's like really leaning!"

It is extremely late right now and I am so overly exhausted from the weekend, and while I have work tomorrow morning and have to wake up at 8am I feel as though I need to write a little something about my Italian adventure that was exciting, interesting, and a bit stressful. After taking a 2am train accompanied by a man sitting in the front of our car that was not feeling too great and vomiting everywhere, and then another bus to the terminal, 2 of my flatmates (Celina and Leanne,) and I arrived at Luton Airport, got onto the plane and landed 2 hours later in at Galileo International Airport. Pisa is a province in the Italian region of Tuscany, most commonly known for the ever-popular Leaning Tower of Pisa. Once we arrived we took a taxi to our hostel, known as "Ilton Bed and Breakfast." Little did we know that this hostel was situated in some sort of residential apartment complex. We were very skeptical but went up to the front door only to find that there was no sign of a bed and breakfast in the building. We asked a little old woman by a fruit stand if she knew of Ilton Bed and Breakfast. She proceeded to take us into the building next door, into an extremely small elevator, and in front of a door to a completely different bed and breakfast. We nodded and said thank you even though we knew it wasn't the place we needed to get to. She was very nice for taking us there. After banging on the front door to the building, ringing the front doorbell intercoms, and screaming to the open windows, we waited for a good 45 minutes until a resident walked out and we could finally walk in. We proceeded to climb up and down the 6 flights of stairs about 3 different times (with very heavy backpacks and no sleep) to realize that none of the doors said Ilton Bed and Breakfast. We even knocked on some one's door to ask, of course they didn't speak English so that didn't help. Eventually a woman asked if we were looking for Ilton and let us into the bed and breakfast. Now, this bed and breakfast had no sign on the door and the intercom didn't work, so how we were ever supposed to find this place was beyond us. It was a good thing we finally found it.

We quickly dropped off our things and found the nearest bus station, bought a ticket, and hopped on a bus that we hoped was going to the center of town. After getting off and then getting on a different bus we finally got to the Leaning Tower. It like amazing, we kept saying "Wow guys, it's like really leaning!" It really was! It was leaning a whole lot! But it was awesome, and the mountains in the distance made it look so beautiful. We took a bunch of pictures, and walked around a little, shopped for souvenirs, and ate lunch. We all split ravioli, margarita pizza, and gnocchi with pesto sauce, then we had some gelato. We went on to have gelato 3 times in the 28 hours we were in Italy. It was just that good. Having Italian food in Italy was pretty cool. We couldn't get enough of it!
After walking around the area a little more we went back to the hostel, took a well-deserved nap, showered, and got dressed to go out to dinner. We headed back into town to a restaurant that was recommended to us. It was incredible! We shared a capresse salad with really good balsamic vineger, bread with really good olive oil, lasagna, spaghetti, then chocolate souffle, and tiramisu. Amazing, and we even ate outside. It was a long and expensive meal, but really worth it.
The next day we woke up around 7am to pack up and go to see more of the countryside of Tuscany. We ended up not being able to catch the bus out of Pisa, but we decided to take a different route and go to the Marina Di Pisa. All we knew about it was that there was water, so we assumed it would be nice, and thank goodness it was. After not even knowing what stop to get off (the buses don't tell you the stops, nor do they have signs at the stops) we saw water and decided to get off. We walked down what seemed to be an authentically Italian village towards the marina. There happened to be a sailboat race and what seemed like an outdoor clothing sale along the water too. We walked down to the beach, hung out in the sand, took some pictures, walked around, took more pictures, ate more gelato, and then finally walked back to the bus stop to spend 35 minutes sitting on the curb hoping the bus would come so we could make it to the airport on time. We did, and we got home safely. Exhausted, but we made it through the weekend, ate Italian food in Italy, stuck our feet in Italian sand, and took the typical tourist holding-up-the-tower pictures. It was an experience, and I loved it.

Belgium...chocolate, chocolate, waffles, and more chocolate

I am SO full right now! I just got back from Brugge, Belgium. Probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Seriously, it was a gorgeous place! Today I went on a day trip to Belgium with 2 of my flatmates and one other friend from Clark. We went on a 2 hour bus ride to Dover then an hour and 15 minute ferry ride to Calais, France, then another hour long bus ride to Brugge. The ferry ride was amazing, we passed the Cliffs of Dover and sailed into France while on a giant Ferry with couches, shopping, and a food court. When we finally got into Belguim and got off the bus I couldn't believe it. It was really incredibly beautiful, I'm pretty sure I was speechless. There were little canals everywhere, and boat tours going through them, under bridges, and around the biggest swans I have ever seen. We only had about 3 and a half hours to walk around and explore the city, which wasn't enough time, but very worth the trip. We stopped at a little sandwich place where I had a baguette with salami and egg salad and some chocolate milk, and we ate outside on some benches. I'm so grateful that it was nice weather outside. After we ate we went to a tiny, little chocolate shop and bought some truffles, which were obviously amazing. I'm not surprised Belgium is known for it's chocolate. I also learned that Belgium is known for it's lace, and beer, and obviously waffles. We went to a classy homemade waffle shop to get some classic Belgian waffles. All I have to say was that this was the best thing I have ever decided to spend my money on. I only payed 3 euros, but I probably would have paid what ever the little waffle man asked because that waffle was seriously incredible. I had a waffle with chocolate and caramel drizzled on top, and my roommate had a waffle with whipped cream (which they actually call whipping cream in the UK) and strawberries. So good, really, so good. We spent some more time just walking around and going into little shops (every other shop was a chocolate shop) and taking pictures.
Apparently, there is this myth that in Brussels there once was a big fire in the city, and some little boy peed on the fire and put it out, and there is a statue of this boy in Brussels. So now they have this little boy's statues everywhere in Belgium. I just had to buy one. I also bought a kid's size t-shirt, and some postcards. Then we hopped back on the bus (thanks to Celina who found our way back without a map or any knowledge of the area) and went to a chocolate factory, which happened to be just a huge chocolate store called The Chocolate Factory rather than an actual chocolate factory. This is where we all loaded up on the chocolate. It was quite successful. We ended up getting back to our flat at exactly midnight (we left the flat at 5:30am) so it was quite the long day, but so incredibly worth it to take a 4 hour trip both ways to spend 3 and a half hours in Brugge. It really was amazing, and the coach bus was nice, and the ferry was nice, and Robin our tour guide was nice, and it was just so nice. I'm so glad we went, it was very much worth it, and I certainly want to go back to Belgium some day and spend slightly more time there.

L'Shana Tova from London!

Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah, and being one of only 3 Jews on this International Internship Program I felt it fit to cook a semi-traditional Jewish dinner for the rest of the flat. Dane and I went on a trip to Waitrose (the huge supermarket) and bought almost 50 pounds worth of food to cook. We had some trouble getting chocolate chips to dip strawberries into; when we asked where they were they pointed us to the chip section. When we asked where the marshmallows were they had no idea what we were talking about, first they thought we were talking about melons, then they thought we were asking about a frozen food. We eventually found them, but unfortunately they didn't have just white, so we got white and pink. We had to weed out the pink ones because we were making sweet potato pie, and strawberry flavored marshmallows on top would not taste very good.
So cooking took about 3 hours. We made matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, salmon, falafal, apples and honey, chicken, noodle kugel, sweet potato pie, and we bought bread that wasn't challah, but sort of looking like challah. We had 13 people and it was really good. It was nice to have a sort of substitute family for the holiday. The people that are on this program are so awesome, they are very welcoming and open to anything. I figure you have to be cool to choose to study abroad in London. I'm really lucky to be here with such great people to share the experience with.
Today I've stayed in my pajamas the entire day because it was "homework day." It has been tough to find time during the week to do homework so all of it was saved for Sunday. It was kind of like to relax and get things done. I also got some laundry done, though I had some trouble with our European washer/dryer and I washed my clothes 4 times because I couldn't figure out how to dry them. It was quite frustrating. All my clothes are hanging on every part of this flat. It's ridiculous.
Tomorrow I have work from 10 to 6, and later tonight one of my flatmates and I are going to Tesco (24 hour convenience store) to pick up some groceries for the week. I will hopefully post soon with some fun and interesting happenings in London!

What a busy shej-oo-wool I have!

Shej-oo-wool...that's the way they pronounce schedule here. I learned that today when I was at work at The Unicorn and I was punching the rehearsal and performance shej-oo-wools into the online computer office diary (calendar.) Today at work I also sat in on a meeting with a representative from the Shakespeare in Schools Festival. A number of different schools in the area are going to come to the Unicorn for Shakespeare workshops, and then for a final performance of a shortened Shakespeare play towards November. That should be exciting, and I'll get to see the whole process which is really going to be interesting. Monday was my first day of interning. After having a full tour of the beautiful and huge building I sat down and read the entire 32 page Unicorn Theatre staff handbook. Then I went with the assistant production manager, the technical director, and the wardrobe director to an event put on by the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA, for short.) It was a gigantic exhibition for techies to see new age lighting and sound techniques, fabrics, electric platforms, seat upholstery, rigging systems, and pretty much anything anyone can think of that can be used in a theatre or concert hall. It was BONKERS! Flashing lights, lasers, the works! It was really cool to get a taste of what is out there and available for theatres around England to use. Anyway, the greatest part about working at The Unicorn so far has been 11 o'clock tea time. Every day at 11 we stop what we're doing and go to the Green Room for tea. I love the British!
Anyway, other things I've been doing....hmmm, last Thursday we went on the London Eye. It was incredible to be in one of those huge cabins looking out on the entire city of London, and the day we went was absolutely gorgeous and clear. We also went on a bus tour of London. We made some stops where we got off the bus to take pictures and see the sites. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The London Bridge, The Tower Bridge, The Globe Theatre, The Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral. It was insane! I've certainly seen every touristy place there is to see here. We went on a Shakespeare and Dickens walk of London where we saw some sites where inspired by Shakespeare and Dickens like where King Lear took place, and a Christmas Carol. It was really interesting. We've been to SoHo, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, it has been crazy! Last night I even got to see Sister Act the Musical, and that was really cool because it's not even playing in NY. Every thing's just been great, it's just that I feel so run down because I've been doing so much, what with classes, interning, homework, site seeing, not to mention food shopping, cooking, and laundry.
As far as things I've been noticing about Great Britain, I've been keeping a mental list so I will just run some things off:
-If someone asks "Are you on the queue?" they are asking if you are standing on line.
-Coffee shops ask you if you want white or black coffee with whole or skinny milk.
-British people are more reserved when it comes to pride in their country.
-Most Irish or Scottish people don't consider themselves British even though they too are part of the union.
-You have to pay for everything! Playbills at the theatre, bread at restaurants, soy sauce at sushi places, you even have to pay extra for sitting in Starbucks rather than taking your coffee away.
-High Schools are known as Colleges, and Colleges are known as Universities.
-A cable box is known as a digibox.
-People love to ride their bikes everywhere, and they rudely disobey stoplights or pedestrian crosswalks.
-You have to walk on the left side of the sidewalk.
-You have to stand on the right side of the escalator so those who are in a rush can walk past you on the left.
-Allison is never spelt with 2 L's.
-Dental care is not a high priority.
Those are just a few things I can think off the top of my head that I've noticed about Britain in the past week and a half. I learn something new every day, and the more I pay attention to the people around me the more differences I notice between here and The States. I'll keep my ears and eyes open for more, but as for now I have to finish my laundry, get some work done, and go to bed at a reasonable hour because tomorrow I have quite the busy shej-oo-wool.

Experiences thus far...

Yesterday was my first day of class. The commute to class is about 40 minutes on the tube. The tube is almost as hot and sticky as the Subway, and it's also hard to get a seat, so it makes that ride rather unpleasant. My first class was Intro to Creative Writing in the Oscar Wilde Room (all of the rooms at FIE are named after famous people that have lived in the Kensington/Chelsea area...there is even a Freddie Mercury Room!) I was surprised to see that there were only 8 students in the class, but it made it feel more homey. All of the students are American and from schools all over the country. The tutor (what the British call professors) is Indian-Britain. She was very nice and seemed to be very passionate about writing. We'll mainly be focusing on fiction writing, short stories and screenplays. I'm excited to see what this will be like because I've never taken a class like this before.
My second class was British Life and Cultures, and the tutor is American! I found this very strange, but he obviously knows a lot about Great Britian. In this class we'll be studying many aspects of the UK compared to the US, such as transportation, educaton systems, news, and the overall lifestyles. It should be very interesting I think. We are also taking a bunch of field trips to places around London like Parliment, the Tate Modern, and the one I'm most excited for, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I'm really looking forward to this class. Later today I have my Contemporary British Theatre class, and I will update more in a few days about how that is.
Anyway, yesterday my roommate, Celina, and I took a walk around the Bloomsbury area to check it out and to take pictures. There are 2 parks that are very close to us, and they are both beautiful. We took a lot of pictures of the park, and the buildings nearby, and mostly of the black cabs and red telephone booths (which are actually really gross and smelly inside and I would never want to make a phone call from one.) Once it started getting dark we went to eat dinner at a place called Pizza Express, and while it sounds like a casual pizza joint, it was actually a very nice restaurant. I had a personal sized pizza with the middle cut out and salad inside, very interesting. We also shared some gelato. Great!
Today I had my interview for my internship at the Unicorn Theatre. I wasn't nervous about the interview, but I was SO nervous about finding my way there. I had to get there on my own, and what with walking to the tube station, getting on the tube, transfering lines, getting out of the next tube station, then walking to the theatre I was afraid I would get lost. I left about an hour before I had to be there, and I got there in only 30 minutes, so I walked around the area, got some Starbucks, and read some pamphlets. Southwark, the area the Unicorn is in, is very touristy. There is the London Dungeon, the London Bridge, and a bunch of theatres, but it was really nice and I was so lucky that I found the theatre so easily and quickly. The interview went really well and I'll be working 20 hours a week on a bunch of different aspects of the productions. I really can't wait, I start on Monday.
As far as the past few days have been, the one thing that I am having the hardest time adjusting to (other than being 5 hours ahead) is walking on the left side of the sidewalk. I always feel like I'm obviously American because I walk on the right side. I've been trying to get used to it and who ever I'm walking with will always remind me. However, when on an escelator you have to remember to stay to the right side because there are always people rushing and they want to walk up instead, and they will just push you if you are in the way. There are also little things that I've been discovering, like it's not really common to ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant because it's rude not finish the food they gave you. There are all of these little cultural things that are different that I need to keep discovering and then getting used to for the next few months. Expecially the words they use like toilet for bathroom, cutlery for utensils, skinny milk for skim milk and queue for a line of people. You would think that it would be easy because everyone speaks English here, but it is still very different. It really is interesting. Well I'm about to go out with some of my flatmates to get more things for the flat, like soap, trashbags, hooks. I will update more soon (tomorrow we're going on the London Eye!) I can't wait.

I'm here!

Greetings from London!
I finally arrived safely in London after a long plane trip and getting slightly lost in Heathrow Airport. I really don't have much time to sit and write a full and informative blog entry because it's almost midnight here and I have to wake up around 7am because I have an early class tomorrow. I'm still really jet lagged, so that's not fun, but other than feeling a little out of it and tired I'm having a jolly time! London is just like I pictured it; it's so cute, classy, and quaint, especially Bloomsbury. My flat is HUGE, and my roommate and I have our own bathroom which is always a plus! All the other students here are very nice and friendly and looking to have a good time. I also love the girls I'm living with, we all clicked so well. Tonight we even had a nice bonding night over a lovely dinner that one of my flatmates and I cooked ourselves! I'm very proud, actually. Last night a bunch of us went out to a place called London Pub and we sat outside because it was such a nice night. It was fun, but I'm surprised I held up because I hadn't slept in 2 nights, nor had I had anything to eat since the breakfast they gave me on the plane (which they served at 9am, but 4am US time!) Sleep felt really good last night even if the beds here aren't that cozy. Anyway, I really should start getting ready for bed so I can get through 2 three hour classes tomorrow. I will certainly tell more about London soon! Goodnight!
Allie

2 weeks to go...

So, I said that I wasn't planning on posting again until I arrived in London, but it's actually all I can think about right now, so I figured I'd just get my thoughts down while I have nothing else to do. Right now things are very slow. I leave in exactly 2 weeks from today, but it doesn't seem soon enough. My friends are starting to go back to school, and I'm done with work for the summer, so each day just seems so boring...I need to go to Europe! I just got my housing information, which makes everything more real. I'll be living in a flat at 1 Bloomsbury Place (such a cute name!) I'm in a 6 person suite on the 3rd floor. In the flat there are a bunch of other students on the same program, some from Clark, and some from other U.S. universities. I'm really excited to be living in a real flat in central London. As soon as I got my address I went on GoogleMaps and looked at the street view to see what the place looked like and what the surrounding area was like. It looks absolutely adorable, and right across the street is a nice park, and around the corner there are a bunch of shops. There is even a Starbucks down the block. How perfect! So yeah, everything seems to be coming together, and the day that I leave keeps getting closer and closer, so I can only get more excited as each day passes. Right now I can only continue to fill my days with getting ready to leave, doing errands, reading travel books on London, spending time with friends and family...and thinking about how to fit all of my belongings in one 32 inch yellow rolling duffel bag.

p.s. The picture above is a picture of my flat in Bloomsbury!

First blog entry 3 months before I write about interesting British happenings

As I lay in my bed with my laptop burning lap, watching Home Improvement on mute, I can't help but wonder in excitement and nervousness what it will be like living on my own in the city of London. Exactly 3 months from tomorrow I'll board a plane all by myself and start my semester abroad in a country that I have never experienced before. While there is no language barrier, the culture will certainly be different, and I'll be finding out new things about other people and places. Most of my learning will probably be exploring the city and other countries in Europe (I plan to travel a lot,) but my structured learning environment will be in a school called Foundation for International Education (FIE.) I recently received an email from the Study Abroad office at Clark informing all of the London Internship students that the school that we applied to take classes at while in London, Birkbeck College, would not send us acceptance letters, and without acceptance letters we could not apply for a student visa, and without a student visa we would not be able to live, work, and be educated in England for the semester. So all of the London Internship students had to register for different classes at FIE. This was a pain in the neck, but it turns out that the school has some very interested course offerings, and I picked out 6 new classes to take (I will only take 3 of them.) If all goes well and schedules don't conflict, and classes don't fill up, I will be taking British Life and Cultures, Contemporary British Theater, and Introducation to Creative Writing.
My fourth credit will be my internship at the Unicorn Theatre. I am very excited to be working in this Children's Theatre. I've always wanted to see what children's theatre was all about, and now I will have the opportunity to figure it out hands-on, and in a place where theatre is at it's best. I am majoring in Theatre, and minoring in Elementary Education so my placement in the Unicorn Theatre is just perfect. I'm still not sure what exact tasks that I will be doing, but I've talked to some people who have spent their semester abroad at the Unicorn, and they cannot stop raving about it. When I get into London I'll have an interview with my supervisor, and that should dictate what I will be doing for the semester. The Unicorn also has a program for children to participate in performing with youth theatre, and hopefully I will be able to be involved with that because I really enjoy directing kids on stage.
As for where I will be living in London, I still have not recieved any information yet. All I know is that I will be in some sort of typical London flat, and I'll be rooming with a few other college students on the same program; they may or may not be Clark students. It's so strange to think that come September I won't be going back to Clark, but I'll be on a plane to another country. It's all so exciting, but freightening as well. I'll have a lot to keep be busy this summer (I have 2 internships, and I am assistant directing a local musical,) but I know that these next 3 months will just fly by and before I know it I'll be drinking tea, eating crumpets, and trying to see every West End show playing. As for now, I just have to make it through the summer and try not to have every thought in my head be consumed by my upcoming living and learning adventure in London.