Anon is a Knight!

Yesterday Candace and I woke up very early to head into London to meet the Arcadia group for a little field trip. The event, which we signed up for in January, was a trip to Rochester, Kent for a May Day festival.

It was a rough morning, but once we arrived in the little town it was like the super nerd inside me woke up. I have this thing about revels, mummers, medieval festivals, re-enactments in general, caroling, and funny fat kings eating turkey legs that I find hilarious and too good to be true. Not that I like making fun of this sort of thing - it's more like I want to take part. Badly. In fact, there's a part of me that wishes I was born a peasant in a tiny village so I could get good and drunk and silly and sing songs and dance around the may pole.

But this is the next best thing I suppose. The town, Rochester, is absolutely beautiful itself. Set side the Medway River and at the bottom of a hill holding a real life castle, you couldn't have asked for a better setting. The buildings on the street are also very old so it really was like stepping back in time.

After we walked through the visitor's center, we immediately stumbled upon a troupe of Morris dancers in the street. Complete with live musicians, crazy costumes, face painting, and - literally - all the bells and whistles, it was shocking at first. I couldn't stop squealing with joy and saying "What the hell is going on?!". As we wandered down the street, we saw more groups like this with their own traditional costumes and style. It was almost like a street dance-off. Only Morris dancing.

On top of that, there were food stalls lining the sidewalks and antique stores up the wazoo. A huge portion of the day was spent just walking around, relishing in the sights, sounds, and smells and just enjoying spring.

Eventually we arrived at Rochester Castle on the hill. We couldn't go in, but the grounds surrounding the castle were taken over by a carnival. More food, music, and now lots of kids and families were up here. It reminded me of June in middle school at the Ridgefield Fireman's Carnival. But what a place to have a carnival! There was a gorgeous view of the river as well.

And I have to talk about the food. If you've been reading this blog at all, you'll probably know that a lot of my best experiences abroad have been somehow based around food. Now, even though I didn't try any of the beer, and therefore did not get to be a jolly peasant, I did have other exceptional treats. I had a pork and apple burger with onions and every sauce available, and I think it was honestly the best burger I've ever had. And for only £2.50! I later found the Hog Roast and had the most incredible sandwich - roast hog meat off the spit with home made stuffing and apple sauce on bread. Before we left, of course, I ducked into the local pastry shop and got not one but 3 scones. I'm still working on those.

We were there so early that by the time 4 o'clock rolled around, it felt like 8 pm. I felt like a kid again going to this festival. Not only was it just a great atmosphere, but for really the first time I felt very in touch with the history of England. There is nothing really like the Sweeps Festival in America, and since it was outside of London in a tiny historical town, there were hardly any tourists besides ourselves. I didn't feel out of place though. Just very happy to be in a small, lovely town, enjoying the history and culture of England.

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Candace matches the tree!

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Sir Cloudsley Shovel

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The happiest picture I think I've ever taken

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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

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.