Exams

...are over! Thank goodness. Preparing for 3 two hour exams took out most of the past two weeks. Studying and stressing out is pretty much all I had been doing.

I had two papers to write in two hours for Studies in Contemporary Music, Biological Psychology, and Music and Politics in Tudor England. Let's just say it made me miss conference week at Sarah Lawrence more than anything.

Next on the list is Summer Cabaret! We go up this coming Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Should be a lot of fun. It was hard to have rehearsals during exam month, and I think we could all use some extra rehearsals, but I think it'll come together. We're doing 21 songs each from different shows. Some are solos, some are small group, and some are full cast. I'm in the chorus of "Both Reached for the Gun" from Chicago (Jess is Mary Sunshine!), we're reprising "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, and I've got a little solo as Cosette in "One Day More" for the show's finale! I'm really excited. Some of my favorite numbers are "Fame", "Be Italian" and "Officer Krupke".

Besides that, I'm enjoying the weather and making lists of things to do in London while I'm still here.

Candace and Jess and I have a sort of 'bucket list' going on:

Places:
Tower of London
Covent garden
Borough Market
Portabello Road
Notting hill
Buckingham Palace
Platform 9 3/4
Hampton Court Palace
Abbey Road
Hamstead Heath Park
Hyde Park
Regent's Park


Museums:
British Museum
National Gallery
Tate Modern
Tate Britain
Victoria & Albert
Wallace Collection
National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Science Museum

Plays:
Enron
Billy Elliot
Globe production
The Real Thing
The Habit of Art
Peter Pan

Food:
The Orangery
Ice Bar
Mahiki


Here's hoping we can do all of it!

Amidst the Madness

... that is writing 2 term papers, preparing a recital, and beginning dress rehearsals for "Guys and Dolls", I thought I'd post some pictures and videos of the goings-on.

Founder's Hall on a beautiful sunny day (it's beginning to feel like spring!)

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Guys and Dolls rehearsal!

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Check out videos of rehearsal! (Isn't our choreographer just the best?!)

Runyonland

Bushel and a Peck

Luck Be a Lady

Take Back Your Mink

The buzz!

Since my last post, nothing too incredibly eventful has happened. I'm basically in the groove of school. It is very much like a semester at SLC - go to class, do work, rehearsal, go to class, do work, rehearsal. It may sound boring, but for me it's ideal. I love being busy and putting together a show.

My classes are going well, but things are going get stressful very soon. It hit me when it became March 1st. By the end of the month, I have 3 academic papers to write (including music analysis and psychology - both very new to me), programme notes to put together, 6 songs to learn and memorize, a 20 minute recital to give, and a musical to be in!

Singing, memorizing, and rehearsing every day in preparation for the 22nd - 24th (both musical and recital combined) is beginning to feel like (a miniature version of) Olympic training.

It's been a long time since I've felt this buzz.

And why are musicals so much fun?!

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Pretty trees from my window

By the sea

It's been, yet again, a busy few weeks. I went on a homestay as part of the Arcadia study abroad program. Candace and Sky and I went on an adventurous train ride down to the southern coast - Fareham to be exact. My host family was very sweet. It was a great feeling to be in a home... to be able to watch TV, to sit up and read, to have a bedroom, and to ride around in the car and just see what it is like to live in England. Plus the family had a puppy! A little black and white king charles spaniel named Buddy :-) Reminded me of our black and whites back home.

On Saturday, Sky's host mom took us to Portsmouth for a little sight seeing and shopping. Despite it being a frigid day in January, the little shore town was bustling. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer. We went up Spinnaker Tower for some great views of the bay. Then we hit up the outlet shops for pretty much the rest of the day. In the evening, Candace and I went to a local pub called The Vanguard that is actually built out of a church. Pretty funny to go inside a church and find a pub! On Sunday we went back into Fareham for a bit, but then had to catch an early afternoon train back to Egham.

The next weekend I went back to London to check out Camden Market. It was AMAZING. Like a mix of St. Mark's and Chinatown and a flea market. But a couple miles long. Seeing this completely new side of London made me fall in love with the city even more. I went back with some friends later that night to go to a pub/club which was playing soundtrack music all night. Pretty fun. On Sunday I went to the National Gallery and browsed the paintings for a while.

More recently, I've just been hanging out on campus. Guys and Dolls is going really well. I'm starting to get so attached to the cast. But it's mid February, so class work is also piling up. So hectic!

On the bright side, I turned 21 this week! I wasn't in the States to celebrate and test out my completely legal license, but it was still a lot of fun. The cast organized a trip to a restaurant/bar called "Que Pasa" for some salsa dancing as part of our preparation for the Havana scenes. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday. I tried a Sex on the Beach, a Pina Colada, a Margarita, and a "Monkey's Nuts". Needless to say, it was an awesome night.

Now it's another long week... but I'm happy because I really feel like I'm a part of this school now.

Until next time!

And here are some random pictures from the past few weeks:

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Glass floor in Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

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My room in my homestay

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Pretty Egham sunset :-)

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Camden Market, London

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For the brosephs

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In a pub in London

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China town

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Trafalger Square

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View from doors of the National Gallery

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Must I always take pictures of desserts? Yes.

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And you thought the food in London was bad

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Royal Holloway Pics!!

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My housing (on a rare non-rainy day)

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I get to walk on this path everyday going to class

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Founder's Hall (aka Hogwarts)

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I go to Uni!

So it has been a while since I've last posted. Busy busy! I officially moved into my dorm room on the Royal Holloway campus exactly two weeks ago, and since then it's been quite a whirlwind.

Figuring out my schedule has been the most stressful thing so far. I didn't have it all completely set until today actually! Unfortunately this semester I won't be able to take Italian, which stinks because I was really enjoying it last semester. But, on the bright side I'm signed up for four really great classes. Music and Politics in Tudor England, Studies in Contemporary Music, Practical Performance, and Biological Psychology. It's a cool mix - the music classes are wonderful and the psychology one is totally new and interesting.

On top of that, I'm joining a choir, taking voice lessons (with a lovely lady named Eileen), and most exciting... I was cast as Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls"! Jessica and I auditioned the second day of the semester and we both got in :-) Even though it's a student run production and it's a rather small cast, I think it will be a great production and will be loads of fun. It's been a long time since I've been in a musical, but it feels just like home to me.

Some other things about Royal Holloway!
-My dorm room is AMAZING! I get my own bathroom and a double bed.
-The campus is beautiful. There's a castle (well thats what I call it at least) and a cool patch of forest with paths.
-There are great student life activities happening. I've been meeting tons of people, hanging out at the campus pubs, and going dancing at the student union.
-We're just a short train ride from Windsor, Staines, and London. Can't complain.

All in all, these past two weeks have been hectic, but also fantastic.

Here are some pics from random English activities.

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On Dad's last couple days on his visit, we took a walk up to see Big Ben! If you squint, you can see Peter Pan on the clockface.

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Walking through Kensington Gardens on a chilly morning with the Arcadia troupe.

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Scavenger hunt activity with Arcadia. We got to see a lot of cool stuff this way.

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My team won a free ticket to the London Eye. We didn't want to wait, so we went ahead and got some gorgeous views of the city at night.

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The top!

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We got to go on a day trip to Windsor Castle.

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St. George's Chapel. I should mention that later on in the evening I went to a very small and moving service at the chapel. It was 5pm on a Saturday, and I and four others, all strangers, sat in the choir and listened to the Choir sing a truly captivating service. The service was only half an hour long, but it was very powerful.

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Pie for lunch :-)

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Kate Gosselin's home away from home.

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Bye Windsor!

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I found the sink in our flat looking like this the other day. Priceless.