Days 41-45 : A Rant

To begin with I must say that I am frustrated with people at the moment. So before recapping the last 4 days of my life I feel like it is necessary to explain the things that I will NOT miss when I go home to Kansas in 57 days.

I will not miss having to eat pizza with a fork and knife

I will not miss having to worry about pick pockets (more on that later)

I will not miss paying 10 for something and when it goes out of my bank it takes 15

I will not miss being squished in the tube next to men who need to wear better deodorant

I will not miss being cold without the satisfaction of having snow all around me

I will not miss being unable to find the brands I want in the grocery store

I will not miss the crap beef that London supplies

I will not miss having to wait a month after everyone else back home to see a movie

I will not miss having to look decent everyday as opposed to comfy in sweats

I will not miss having to specifically make sure that I ask for tap water otherwise they bring me a bottle of water that I must pay for

Now these are 8 things… I can’t possibly list all the things that I will miss because it would be 17 pages long (I might attempt to later though). So while at the moment I am sick and tired of eating my pizza with a fork and knife I am actually still quite in love with this city. I just miss some American customs that I didn’t even know were customs till I came here and realized they are not a worldwide thing.

Thing #2 I am frustrated with that I must discuss before I recap.

I had one of those moments yesterday where I question humanity. I have seen the following numerous times on the tube; a pregnant woman walks on and even though its crowded someone ALWAYS gets up and offers their seat to her because that is the right thing to do.

Yesterday as I walked on the tube, covered in purple I might add, I witnessed something quite shocking. Two women entered the tube that were obviously pregnant. One was a Caucasian woman of some sort of British decent and the other was obviously of Middle Eastern decent and was wearing a modern burka.

Immediately multiple elder men jumped out of their seats to offer it to the Caucasian woman but this wasn’t the case for the other one.

She was standing near the aisle of seats obviously hoping for one to open up. Each time a person would get up to get off the tube it the seat would quickly be replaced before the woman could make it to the seat. I wanted to give the people the benefit of the doubt that maybe they couldn’t tell that she was pregnant and yet stop after stop she would get closer to where the seats are and yet even while in clear vision not a single person offered their seat to her.

Are we so blinded by hatred and prejudice that we stop acting like humans? I didn’t and don’t understand why people would deem this woman undeserving of a place to rest her feet. Why does the Caucasian woman have any more right to a seat on the tube then the Middle Eastern one? She was obviously tired and kept wiping her forehead and anyone could see that she needed a place to sit down.

That just really made me mad about people for the day. I can’t understand how people deem others as worthless but I guess I never will.

Day 41

So today was 99.999% amazing. I convinced Izzy to go to the Sunday markets with me. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go but about 5 minutes after getting there she was very pleased with my making her do this.

The Sunday markets are basically amazing. Plus there is all this ethnic food that is super cheap. Izzy and I both had beautiful burritos that were the size of our faces and they were delicious.

We searched through all the Sunday up markets stands and then after venturing down the rest of brick lane we headed to spittle field markets. It’s difficult to tell any stories about all the shopping experiences because people who I bought presents for read my blog and so this would give away Christmas and I don’t want to do that!

However, after today I only have 5 more people to shop for and then I am DONE!!! Huzzah!!!

So all day long I had been looking at journals because I am going to run out in the one I currently have and I am very picky about them and need to pick them out myself. So in spittlefields I found the PERFECT journal. It was hand made and leather bound and on the front was a little seahorse and stars and I haggled the price from 25ish down to 15. It was my most exciting purchase of the day and as I’m gushing to izzy about it on the tube, some EVIL man stole it from me.

That is all I have to say about that. I hope he enjoys the journal…I hope he writes in it everyday and turns it into a book that is his best selling novel. Then one day in interviews someone will ask him what his biggest regret was. He will say that he always regrets stealing his first journal with a little seahorse on it from the poor American on the tube.

That’s when I’ll strike!! So for now…he can enjoy his little journal because one-day ill find him and vengeance will be mine.

Day 42

Today I spent the day doing my mothers job a.k.a. legal work. After dealing with legal papers all day at my internship I decided that if I ever become a lawyer I will hire an assistant for this crap because otherwise I would lose my mind.

I also respect my mom much more for being able to read legal documents without an ipod and yet stay awake.

I can’t remember what I did that night so I must have stayed in and slept or something else boring.

Day 43

Today was awesome because instead of class we went to see the cardboard citizens. They are a group who do forum theatre, which is this very therapeutic kind of theatre that puts the audience in charge.

I finally did my laundry after needing to do it for a week then the group played an awesome round of things.

Day 44

Wednesday was awesome because I got to observe a British class on Meisner and funnily enough the director who taught it was from San Francisco.

Then was the grand adventure…

In an effort to not have to pay to get to the theatre to see Parade I decided to get off at the last stop in Zone 2 and then just walk to the theatre because on the map it didn’t look that far away.

I should have looked at the distance because it was 3 miles. That isn’t that far but when you are alone and not quite sure where you are and your ipod is dead; you walk slow. So after an hour I was FREEZING and confused and was kinda emotional anyway so I gave up and took a cab anyway paying 2 more pounds then I would have if I had gotten off at the tube station that was close.

So I got there an hour early and needed something to do so I wandered into this bar and grill that really was a bar that served French fries. It was cool if standoffish people who don’t speak English and obviously don’t like you are your thing.

It was a greek or turskish bar but I can’t tell which one because I am not an expert on language. From the tv screen in the corner that was playing news I gathered it was one of those 2 countries because the writing running along looked familiar to the writing I had seen in Greece 2 years ago.

I went to the counter to order a cranberry juice. The woman bartender couldn’t quite understand me and then proceeded to tell me that they didn’t have cranberry juice there. The man next to me was drinking cranberry juice so I asked her what was in his drink…she refused to answer the question. So I got an orange juice and then drank it in the corner while I texted my mom to tell her that I missed her whilst the people in the bar were staring at me yacking on in some undefined language. I left promptly after finishing my juice and thanked the lady.

However the night was rescued by Parade. It was chilling and amazing and beautiful. AND I bought the soundtrack on itunes within 10 minutes of getting home. How I never owned the soundtrack to JRB’s 3^rd best musical I do not know. I say 3^rd because L5Y and SFANW still are my top two.

But seeing all these senior musical theatre majors perform was quite a rude awakening. I had never thought about the fact that when I graduate I’m not just competing with all the Americans…there are people over in England just as talented as Americans are and just as able to take those roles that I have coveted for so long.

I am determined more then ever to train to be the best that I can be because there is some hefty competition coming from the other side of the pond.

Day 45

Today has been pretty chill. I went to class this morning and discussed the production of Faust that we saw last week.

Then I came back here to the res hall and have been resting ever since in preparation for tonight when I see the 4 hour Hamlet at the National Theatre.

I am quite excited for this experience since Hamlet is my 3^rd favorite Shakespeare play.

Shows seen to date= 18

Wicked

Merry Wives of Windsor

RADA staged reading

Pieces of Vincent

Love Never Dies

Les Miserables

Clybourne Park

Jason Robert Brown

Catwalk Show

All My Sons

Les Miz 25^th Anniversary tour

I drink the air before me = modern dance show

Enlightenment

Faust

Avenue Q

Cardboard Citizens

Parade

Hamlet

Days 31-40

Day 31

So today was the tail end of my sickness. I slept until 3pm and then woke up feeling a little better and glad that I had spent the day in bed.

I got up all of my energy and got dressed to go see the show of the week which was Enlightenment.

I still don’t quite know how I feel about this show. It wasn’t good but it also wasn’t bad. It was supposed to be a psychological thriller and it didn’t really have that either except for a little in the first act. Overall I wouldn’t really recommend the show.

After the show we went back to the dorm and played pass the stack and went to bed early.

Day 32 – OXFORD!

What a day! We went on a day trip to Oxford! However, I was disappointed because our tour guide was a meanie because he informed us that all the buildings were closed because it was freshers week.

I was FURIOUS! After all…the only reason that I was going to oxford was to see the harry potter sites!

So, after that concluded, me and my friend Alexa snuck off to break into Hogwarts!!! I was able to see the hallways and the steps where Professor Minerva McGonagall leads all the first years up to welcome them to Hogwarts before the sorting ceremony.

The great hall was being used for testing which really made me mad! So, after my grand break in we went to an alice in wonderland shop.

Apparently it was written on campus…CRAZY! I bought some fierce souvenirs and then we went searching for food!

We ended up at this Italian place called Fasts Pasta. It was quite yummy!

Then we proceeded to shop till we dropped!

I found these totally ABFAB shoes. Then before we went home we stopped in a hotel and had a drink.

Friday night also ended up being kinda epic! Kelly and I ended up at O’neils and had lots of fun dancing!!

Day 33

I cant even describe all of today because it takes up 8 pages in my journal so I will have to give you the readers digest version which is in 4 parts!

Part 1: Morning!

So after waking up at 1030am Steve came in and hung out with Izzy and I before the group went down to Trafalgar for some burgers. I must admit that I am still shocked at how much I love their burgers!! They are totes delicious!

Part 2: Voice Lesson!

I had my second lesson with my voice teacher I just LOVE her! She is amazing and just totally changing my voice for the better and I love it! That’s really all I have to say! SO EXCITED!

Part 3: Harrods

So I was on the tube on the way home and the stop before South Kensington is Knightsbridge which is where Harrods is. Before I knew it I was off the tube and walking into Harrods. I ended up have the most fun time getting pampered!!!!!!! Plus my hair needed some trimming as I’ve had hair people tell me to chop off my 1”+ of split ends since April.

I wasn’t planning on going out that night but when I came back to the res hall everyone was like…YOU MUST GO OUT TONIGHT YOUR HAIR LOOKS FAB…so I thought…ok!!!!!!!!

Part 4: The Ministry of Sound

I can first put out that that I love that the word of ministry is in the title because then I can call it the ministry of magic! Lol

So, Kori, Stacy, Kelly, Brandy, Jenny, Alec, Miles, Matt, Dan, Garret, and Miles’s Best friend and I went to MOS. We had all heard that It was amazing and it must be because the line to get in was an HOUR long.

So after the worlds longest hour we got into the club around 1245am. It was pretty awesome but I expected better. First of all if im going to wait outside in the cold for an hour and pay 10 pounds to get in im expecting freaking Disneyland kinda awesome!

However, I’m glad I went because it was a fab experience and I would feel bad if I came here and didn’t go to the MOS. So after dancing for around 3.5 hours I headed home. After almost getting lost because we couldn’t find the correct bus we asked for directions and made it back safely in enough time to go bed at the very respectable time of 530am.

Day 34

So after sleeping off all the dancing I got up at 11 and made pasta with Stacy before watching the season premiere of gossip girl on my puter! I worked on my homework for a while before going to the movies with Jenny to see “Life as We Know It”

See around 6 months ago I saw the preview for this movie and I KNEW that I needed to see it with my mommy. So I planned it so that the same time I was seeing it in London, mom was seeing it in Kansas. So right after the show I ran home and we skyped about how amazing the movie is…which it is…I love it!!!!!!!!!

Day 35

So, today was really amazing!

First I had my internship which was great cause

One: I got to leave early

Two: My boss said that I deserved a reward so this and next Wednesday I get to take acting classes!!!

Then after going home early I got to rest before going to My Old Dutch. I had the Chili Con Carne which was AbFab! After a hurried dinner, Josh Jamie and I headed to the Dennis Seavers House to do the tour we were supposed to do the week before.

It was awesome! I could totally see myself living there. Was that the point of the exercise…no but oh well!!

Day 36

Playwriting was fun and during it I thought of a good creative writing story and I might use that for the monologue I have to write.

So, after that was acting where a guy from the Royal Shakespeare Co. came and talked to us about Laban.

Then we got to leave early from theatre industry which was good because I was falling asleep.

I headed to waterloo to see Faust and stopped at this Chinese Restaurant for dinner where I had wonton’s and rice. Fortune wok still remains the best I’ve ever had.

So after gallivanting about I walked to the theatre and bought my program. Faust was amazing for many reasons.

One: the lead guy was really hott

Two: it was totally moving

Three: everything was AMAZING!!!!

Day 37

So I had my acting workshop on auditioning and it was amazing! I basically took 7 and a half pages of notes.

This was followed by an even more exciting adventure in H&M

Which was then followed by my internship seminar where I listened to a lecuture about world economics for 2 hours that might as well have been in Chinese for all I know because I didn’t understand a single word the guy said.

Which was bad because he kept looking at me which I think is because either

One: I looked so confused that he thought I might start crying from being so confused

Two: every time he looked at me I nodded in agreement as if I knew what he was saying. So he might have been looking at me cause I appeared to know what he was saying.

So that was delightful. But the night was then recaptured in fun-ness by going to dinner at my FAV restaurant the Stock Pot!!!

Day 38

Today was Isobel Browns birthday. So after a minor asthma attack blowing up 30 balloons to fill up her side of the room I created a film to celebrate her birth.

So we went to dinner at carluucios and I had a heavenly lasagna! This was followed by an epic game of pass the stack and a super fun dancing extravaganza at O’neils!

Day 39

I literally didn’t do anything today until 5pm…Oops

At 5 kori,stacy, and I went to dinner at a pub and had yummy burgers which was followed by AVENUE Q!

AVENUE Q WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words

I cried…and yes I know it’s a comedy…

Day 40

So today I had my 3^rd voice lesson and I am just amazed at how amazing she is!.

Then I met up with Maddy and had delicious pizza!

And now im writing this blog and I realize that between days 35-40 are pretty boring…im tired. Ill write really descriptive posts tomorrow!

Shows seen to date= 15

Wicked

Merry Wives of Windsor

RADA staged reading

Pieces of Vincent

Love Never Dies

Les Miserables

Clybourne Park

Jason Robert Brown

Catwalk Show

All My Sons

Les Miz 25^th Anniversary tour

I drink the air before me = modern dance show

Enlightenment

Faust

Avenue Q

Days 25-30

So this is chronicling my trip to DUBLIN and the few days after! I am quite excited to tell you all about it!

Day 25

So the trip started at the crack of dawn…and by dawn I mean there it was pitch black outside.

After waking up at 430am to shower and get dressed we headed to the tube station, bags packed and eyes half open, at 530 in the morning. Now personally I don’t believe in 530 in the morning. Actually I don’t believe in 8, 9, or 10 in the morning either. So I wasn’t shocked that as we were walking to the tube station we saw maybe a total of 2 people.

The same thing went on in the tube station. As we were walking in and down the escalators there was no one around and THAT got me excited. This is it, I thought. I had been waiting for my chance for all of us to have an empty tube car to ourselves so that I could film us all singing and dancing while we pranced around the tube car and have a total “Santa Fe” from RENT moment.

But when we got to the platform all of these people were there. Then the tube came, and it was PACKED. PACKED? I mean it was 545 how in the world was the tube packed? It was shocking that there were this many people up at this ungodly hour…I didn’t like it one bit.

So after listening to some of The Little Mermaid soundtrack on my ipod we zoomed to the airport. Personally I consider Heathrow to be my favorite airport in the world. It has everything you could ever need, clothes, food, and designer shopping. So I basically was peeing my pants in enjoyment looking at all of the shops that surrounded me after we checked in with Aer Lingus and went through security.

Speaking of security lets discuss the difference between British and American security. First of all I went through security and found out that you have to do it twice and I thought…wow they are really hard core here. So the group all goes through security and while we are sitting down Izzy finds out that the IES leader gave her the wrong boarding pass that says Daniel Brown instead of Izzy Brown. So the problem is that when you go through security they scan your pass and then take your picture, which then becomes associated with that boarding pass. Now I could understand them looking at a pass for Izzy and thinking that her name was Daniel but pronounced Danielle. What shocks me is that they let Dan go through with a pass that said Isobel because trust me he looks nothing like an Isobel. Then when they went through the 2^nd round of security with their boarding passes switched back the security officer didn’t seem at all concerned that they got through the first round of security.

So after a little bumpy ride we arrived in IRELAND. Upon landing I was quite excited as I saw us fly over greenery and hills and I realized that this was going to be just as magical as I imagined. We headed to the bus to take us into the city of Dublin and very quickly what I thought Dublin was going to be deteriorated in front of my eyes and here I was staring out the window a city that was not that pretty and was kind of dirty. Truth be told it looked a lot like downtown San Francisco. After checking into the hostel, which was totally ABFAB. I’ve seen/been in hotels that weren’t as nice as this hostel, which is saying just how awesome this place was. So we dropped off our bags and headed out to meet our guide for the exciting walking tour.

As we were walking to the meeting point I realized something about Dublin. The only buildings that I thought were remotely pretty were ones that reminded me of London and had that British influence in there.

We met at Trinity College for the walking tour and by walking tour I mean the most boring 3 hours of my life. Because actually this wasn’t a walking tour at all; It was this irish man who would stand in really boring places and talk for 45 minutes about the history of Ireland. History which I neither cared to know, nor could listen to for more then 3 minutes at a time without starting to doze off.

First we stood at Trinity College and listened about its history for 45 minutes and then we moved into the national bank of London into the room of lords or something and he talked at us for another extended period of time which was followed by standing in some alley way while he talked and then he took us to Dublin Castle.

Now as we were approaching Dublin Castle I was quite excited. I saw the sign “castle” and after watching numerous movies of Ireland I knew to expect something magnificent. This did not happen. There was a tower that was totally gorg and the rest of it (and by rest of it I mean not the inside) looked totally modern and not pretty just like the rest of Dublin. After this he did take us one place that was really beautiful and that was Christ Church.

I will always have fond memories because this is where I found a four leaf clover!! A real four-leaf clover. I felt so Irish that on my first day one just came to me.

After the worlds most boring walking tour we scampered home to the hostel. I ended up in a small room with just Jenny, Izzy, and Emily, which I was totally ok with since I can only take so much estrogen at a time. After taking a nappy and then getting all ready we headed out to the dinner paid for by IES! It was at an Italian restaurant, which I found odd because I would think that if we were supposed to have the Irish experience then going to an Italian restaurant wouldn’t be the proper choice.

However I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. It was a little spicy though. I felt like the time I went to chipotle and asked for mild salsa and they gave me medium and I couldn’t feel my tongue for 5 days after. They didn’t make it clear that the pasta’s sauce had chili’s in it and was spicy so that was an interesting surprise.

After dinner we decided to paint the town red! I have to admit that Dublin’s nightlife is pretty awesome mainly because

One : there are no visible creepers in Dublin

Two: it was pretty relaxed and chill

Three: no creepers is really important

So after checking out the nightlife we all traipsed back home and went to sleep!

Day 26

So day 2 in Dublin was significantly more amazing then day 1. First of all I didn’t feel well in the morning because I had started to come down with something (which im pretty sure is the something that has now fully manifested itself and is torturing me now on day 30) but after taking the morning easy and taking a Tylenol I was ready to explore.

We went to sandy cove, which is a little beach a 20 minute DART right outside of Dublin. Sandy Cove, which also looks like San Fran, was totally ABFAB and is my favorite part of Dublin.

We went exploring and climbed on the rocks and played in the seaweed. After seeing Joyces Tower we continued to explore and play when we met a new friend.

Jamie Joyce, who was James at first but upon further examination became Jamie, is the most adorable dog. She was all alone and she wanted some friends to play with so we adopted her for the better half of an hour.

After our sandy adventure we headed back to the hostel and chilled with enough time to take a good hours nap. Josh, Izzy, Drew, Steve and I went to dinner at a pub down the street. This was one of the most awesome experiences in Dublin. We went there for dinner and all of the sudden I look at the clock and its 3 hours later. We had just sat around and talked for 3 hours and it was awesome. I think it’s so Irish to go to a pub with your mates and just chill for a few hours.

After that I was so tired that I went to bed early, which I think is ok because I was still tired from Friday. Lol

Day 27

Day 3 and our last day in Dublin was spent going to the Guinness factory. Now personally I don’t like American beer so I had high hopes for this experience. We toured the factory and learned everything you ever wanted to know about Guinness and more. Which included looking at the old ads that they used to put out which I thought was cool because I have always found PR to be a fascinating area.

So in the middle of the experience you can have a taste of the Guinness. So, in order to not waste any beer I decided to take a sip of Josh’s first to see what I thought. Personally, I find Guinness to taste something like horse manure smothered in cat urine but that’s just one gal’s opinion.

After the tour we headed to the Sky Bar, which was basically the reason to go the factory. This bar is so high up in the air and all the walls are windows (think space needle) and so you got a birds eye view of London. With our ticket you get a complimentary beer so I cashed mine in and got orange juice. I know…I’m so cool.

After returning to the hostel and then taking the bus to the airport I boarded the 2^nd scariest plane ride in my life. It was one of those rides where you aren’t quite sure if you are going to make it out alive. However I had bought a coloring book in the gift shop and so I used that to distract me from the impending doom that surrounded me.

After reaching my pretty pretty dorm I realized just how much I love London and just how much I miss it when I’m gone. I also realized that leaving in December is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Day 28

Today was hectic because it was just filled with Drama which all occurred in a 3 hour slot of time.

For playwriting we had to go to this house to be inspired by the ghosts and everything. So we leave with more then enough time to get there since traffic is bad and the tube strike was going on.

First we board a bus and these two guys are screaming at each other in a way that told me (someone is about to get decked). All of the sudden the screaming stops…not sure why because I was on the top deck but then 10 minutes later the bus pulls over. So we are sitting waiting for the bus to move and then after waiting 5 minutes he announces “sorry for the delays they say we can’t move”. This is when the red flag pops up in my head and I’m thinking that maybe we should switch buses but no one wants to which is understandable. Then 10 minutes later after still not moving the bus driver comes back over the intercom and saying “you might consider getting on another bus, we can’t leave until the police arrive”.

So at this point everyone jumps out of their seats and hauls ass off the bus. I don’t know why the police were coming but I feel it had something to do with those two guys. So after getting a new bus we finally got to the area where this house is supposed to be. However, due to this whole debacle we are already 15 minutes late for our appointment.

Apparently, it didn’t really matter if we were late or not because even if we had arrived 45 minutes early we still wouldn’t of found the house. After looking around back and forth for over an hour we finally give up. Only to find out that we had passed by this house at least 3 times. Apparently, this house is unmarked. Now personally I don’t exactly how I’m supposed to find a house museum that has no markings so we were all VERY frustrated. So we will be going back next Monday and I will have to tell you how it was.

Day 29

As of today I have officially been in London for one month. I find this crazy because it does not feel like a month has gone by. It feels like just got here. There just isn’t enough time. In many ways I wish I had decided to do a whole year abroad but in other ways I know that being away from my family and friends would have been so hard if I had done that.

Today was a pretty awesome day. In playwriting we met at white chapel and walked to brick lane where our teacher showed us a vintage shopping store and a baigel store and a chocolate store. Truth be told the most moving part of the experience was when we walked into this church. I don’t remember the last time I went to church and so it was a chilling experience to be back there. I don’t particularly like church and the “democracy” of it all, but I am a very religious person. So seeing something that beautiful really struck a cord in me.

After acting in the afternoon Jamie and I headed to the Barbican area since we had to see a show there that night. After my last debacle with getting to the Barbican we had decided that it would be best to just get there 3 hours early, find a pub, and then chill until the show.

We stumbled upon this pub called the red cow. At first Jamie and I were questioning whether it was a gay bar because there were only men in it but we also were in the financial district so that could just be a coincidence.

The craziest part of the evening was about an hour into being in the pub this guy walks in. He is totally gorgeous and I nudge Jamie and tell her to look at the hott guy at the counter. I keep staring at him because I cant believe how good looking it is…all of the sudden it dawns on me. OH MY GOD. I knew this guy! I had met him 2 weeks earlier at O’Neil’s and we had talked for a few hours! Any question in my mind was washed away when he saw me and did a double take and we both just stared at each other trying to figure out if the other one realized who we were. But I didn’t say hi because personally I think that’s a guys job so I continued doing my homework. Shocked by the odds that in a city with this many million people you could run into someone like that.

So even if this had been a gay bar let me tell you, I would not have cared. I had the best meal I have had since I left for London. I had roast beef and roasted vegetables and potatoes and it basically was a religious experience what followed was not.

Now I don’t know a lot about dance so I guess I’m not the best judge on what is good and what isn’t. I knew that everyone in the show was extremely talented. You could see it in their techniques and their lines. But this piece was the most boring thing I have ever seen. I was literally dozing off in a theatre, which is a thing that I never do. This piece was so boring that I had to go home and go to sleep because I was so exhausted!

Day 30

Today!!!!

So today has been pretty boring considering the fact that I spent it in bed. I woke up feeling puky and my throat hurts. This all accumulated in me going to Boots and finding out that I have a 101 temp and a flu according to the pharmacist/nurse person. After stocking up on soup on my way home I took a lovely nap and caught up on glee and grey’s anatomy. This has led to now where I am finally blogging and catching up to today.

Since I can guess what will happen I will tell you what are my plans for the rest of the day. I plan to take another nap then watch an episode of friends followed by soup and then sleep. Today has not been the best day but I have lots of medicine so tomorrow could be a better day.

Shows seen to date= 12

Wicked

Merry Wives of Windsor

RADA staged reading

Pieces of Vincent

Love Never Dies

Les Miserables

Clybourne Park

Jason Robert Brown

Catwalk Show

All My Sons

Les Miz 25^th Anniversary tour

I drink the air before me = modern dance show

Days 17-24

So I really meant to do this in like 2 day segments. But I planned to recap my weekend on Sunday night after I finished my homework…it took my 14 hours to finish my homework…SO that never happened

And here we are again…and I must re-cap a week all at once!!

Day 17 continued!

I have to continue from my previous description of this Thursday because the rest of the day was just so EPICLY AbFab!!

So we went to see Clybourne Park which has now announced that it will move to the West End this spring. And I would bet good money that it will be on Broadway VERY SOON!

This is exciting because then I can say that I saw the original cast! This play was so amazing. It was funny and sad and offensive and thought provoking. The acting was phenomenal! Speaking of the actors…

I MET MARTIN FREEMAN!!!

This doesn’t even fully describe how excited I am about this experience. He was one of the leads in the play so Jennifer, Charlotte and I waited for him by the stage door because they also share my love for him!

He signed my script!!!

So basically Martin Freeman is the guy from Love Actually who plays the porn star. I mentioned to him that Love Actually is my all time favorite move and that I watch it all the time. Which it wasn’t until after I had said this that I realize it sounds like “Hi…I love your films…especially the one that you are naked in for 95% of it…I watch you naked all the time”

So I’m assuming that’s why he just sorta laughed over that statement. However, he did ask what I thought of his accent in the show (it had to be American). So I told him it was totally AbFab!

After running home in excitement and shouting to the mountaintops! I changed clothes and Kelly and I met bunches of people at O’Neils. This has basically become my favorite bar in London thus far. Mainly cause the people aren’t creepers and there is live music and the cover bands are always good so far.

At O’Neils Kelly and I met up with Kori and Stacy and danced the night away!

Day 18

Today was the best day ever and I will tell you why! Because this evening Jamie and I went to see JASON ROBERT BROWN!!! First of all

1. we were in super amazing seats

2. it was the most amazing thing ever

3. I love Jason Robert Brown

4. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER!!!

There are literally no words to describe this experience. And he premiered lots of new music and I’m so excited that I got to be one of the first people to hear it. I mean I think in musical theatre everyone has his or her MT god. For some its Andrew Lloyd Webber for some its Stephen Sondheim for some its Stephen Schwartz. For me…its JRB. He is MY musical theatre god! Is this because he wrote my dream role as Cathy in the last 5 years…yes

So after feeling thoroughly pumped and excited and being super close to downtown. Jamie and I met up with the group at……. O’Neils! I know it’s totally shocking.

The rest of the evening was just some super fun dancing with the group.

a.k.a. izzy, jenny, Jamie, me, josh, steve, ben, and drew (though drew wasn’t there)

Day 19

So I have been looking forward to this day since sometime at the end of June. I had a vision in my mind of what fashion weekend would be like…it was so much BETTER!!

So basically I was already having the best weekend ever but then it got multiplied by 1000. The only way to understand this is to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic because that is basically my life story. So going somewhere like this where there are discounts on labels of 70% off or more is crazy exciting!

The whole day was just amazing! I got to the catwalk show early because I wanted a good seat and we ended up being in the first row! Being in the front row of a catwalk show is an amazing experience and I highly recommend it to people. Kori and I decided that since we were in the front row then we needed to be important people. So during the show she was Blake Lively and I was Leighton Meester (I’m probably spelling that wrong).

The fashion show was amazing. All of the clothes were so beautiful and it was hilarious because this one model couldn’t stop laughing. After much observation I have come to the conclusion that this happened because she probably ate a carrot or something and her body was so happy to have food that she couldn’t stop laughing in joy.

What followed after the show can only really be described as Nirvana; just room after room of designer shopping. It was like someone had dipped into my brain and found my biggest fantasy and then brought it to life. All that was missing was Robert Pattinson and some Lasagna and it would have been perfect!

After buying lots of adorable designer items I left full handed and confident in my choices and very proud of myself for spending 5 pounds less then what I had budgeted myself!

Day 20

So today was the day that I was going to write all of the above and then post it on this blog. I was going to do this after I had finished my homework. Too bad I didn’t realize that this assignment was going to take me 14 hours to finish! So I apologize for the long wait because this week (day 20 – on till now) was CRAZY!.

Day 21

Sometimes there are life experiences that are painful….like root canals. I’ve never had one but the word root canal doesn’t sound like its ABFAB. Tonight was one of these experiences.

After having an amazing first day at my internship doing amazing things that I cant talk about because I’m pretty sure they are top secret. I headed to My Old Dutch with the group and had the Italian pankakeeen. It was amazing and I plan to have it again next Monday.

This is because the Italian one has cheese and tomatoes and onions and veggies and its super yummy and makes me happy!.

So everything was going great and then it happened….Monday Night

Monday night = I had to go see All My Sons

First of all, I loathe Arthur Miller plays. I have tried over and over and he just doesn’t play to me. I don’t like suicide plays and all of his plays end in death or some other morbid ending. This is also why I don’t like most operas. Life is already depressing. Why would you go to the theatre to then become more depressed? I go to the theatre to see the world as it should be and not as it is. It’s very Aristolean of me as that’s what he thought drama should be too (read Poetics). Meanwhile Brecht wants us to see the world how it is…I don’t like that.

So anyway what already was going to be a long night was even longer because of 5 things

One: we were in the next to worst seats in the house

Two: our seats were SO LOUD that if anyone moved at all during the show it creaked and made me want to scream

Three: the woman playing Ann obviously learned how to do an American accent by watching Marlee Matlin movies and copying her accent because she sounded like a deaf person

Four: I hate Arthur Miller

So, all in all there was really only one redeeming quality about the evening and that was that Madam Hooch from Harry Potter was the star!

Days 22-24

Days 22 through 24 were very chill because I wanted to rest up for Dublin that weekend. However there is one major story to report!!

On day 23 I went to see the 25 anniversary show of Les Miz. This is the world tour that is starting here and going around the world. They totally revamped the show. This was chilling! It was everything I had wanted Les Miz to be the week before and more. I cried almost the whole time.

Partly because I was so happy to be there at the beginning because I almost didn’t make it. This is because

TFL lied to me and told me Circle line was open, but it wasn’t

I had to take a cab to the theatre

The man in front of me at the ATM literally put in the same card 10 times before realizing that it actually was DECLINED

It was pouring rain and all the cabs were taken and when I finally found one and was running to it a man runs past me and steals it…RUDE

When I finally got a cab after bawling my eyes out it was 705 and the driver said it would take 40 minutes to get there

Speaking of the cab driver. He was amazing he booked it to the theatre and I was only 5 minutes late and was able to sneak in right after Jean Valjean gets the candle sticks from the priest.

Then I was crying because I was in 8^th row center and I had paid 85 pounds for this seat and I was so happy that

A. a tall person wasn’t sitting in front of me

B. the show was so amazing that I would have paid 100 pounds for this seat because it was so amazing

A. the youngest of the jonas brothers was sitting in the row behind me

The show was amazing. There aren’t words to describe it except for “perfection”. People were standing before it even got dark at the end and there must have been at least 10 curtain calls. It was chilling

So that is all for now. I will post my blog all about Dublin later today!

Shows seen to date= 11

Wicked

Merry Wives of Windsor

RADA staged reading

Pieces of Vincent

Love Never Dies

Les Miserables

Clybourne Park

Jason Robert Brown

Catwalk Show

All My Sons

Les Miz 25^th Anniversary tour