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.