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.

Out There, Strolling By The Seine

The day after Christmas my dad and I went to up the towers of Notre Dame. We contemplated the climb of the Eiffel Tower, but decided against it because of the crazy lines. We waited about an hour to go up to the bell towers, but it was well worth the wait. They let you climb right up to the top where the gargoyles are so you can see them in detail. It's really cool how they seem to be watching over the city and commenting in their own way. As we walked around, we found a door that led us inside the tower where you can go right up to the big bells. It was amazing to hear the bells ringing from up there too. Not to mention, it was an incredible view of the whole city. Unfortunately the dark haze you're seeing on the horizon in my pictures seems to be air pollution... but the city is beautiful nonetheless! After the bell towers, we had the opportunity to climb to the very top - the roof of a bell tower, which was only a 5 minute long visit, but allowed us to see a great panoramic view of the city.

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After Notre Dame we wandered over to see Hotel de Ville and check out the ice skating scene, then we walked over to the Pompidou Museum but didn't really have time to go inside. I really wanted to see Plaza de Bastille, so we walked over there. Even though it doesn't seem like much, I thought it was amazing that they outlined the perimeter of where the Bastille once stood with the tile in the pavement. It was strange to be standing at the bus stop right inside this perimeter, knowing hundreds of years ago I would have been standing right inside a huge fortress wall.

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We then got a bus back to the apartment and I made french onion soup for dinner.

On Sunday, we got up and dad checked out the Arab Institute, which I wanted to see, but we didn't have too much time so I went to check out the Comedie Francaise instead. I wrote a conference paper on French Neo-Classical theatre, so I was thrilled to go here. It was a beautiful, cozy little theatre. We then went to the Louvre for a second visit. I went to the classical Greek sculptures and stopped by a few that interested me on the way to the Venus de Milo. I then browsed some more of the paintings, including some Gericault, Vigee-le Brun, Watteau, and Delacroix.

I then met up with my dad again and we walked down the garden outside the Louvre, checked out Place de la Concorde (where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded), and then walked along Champs Elysees.

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Theatre dork alert

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Memorial to fallen actors - probably drafted

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Comedie Francaise

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Dionysus...

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Doesn't this look like Lyle?

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Pierrot by Watteau

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Place de la Concorde

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Our Charlie Brown-Merlot-Stolen Louvre Branch-Christmas Tree


In the evening we got some savory crepes for our last dinner of our visit.

On Monday before we got the train to London, we took a bus to use up our tickets and tried to go to the Edith Piaf museum, but it was closed. We wandered around Belleville for a bit and got a nice bite at McDonalds haha.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday and I absolutely fell in love with Paris. I can't wait to go back and hopefully get to Versailles and all of the other great things in this city.