Can I just start by
saying that all of my dreams came true when I saw The Phantom of the Opera in London?
Well, there. I said it. The Phantom of the Opera will
always be among my favourite musicals of all time. The musical and the
original novel by Gaston Leroux explore themes of unrequited love, jealousy,
innocence, horror, appearance versus reality, and the social outcast.
Above all, the novel-turned-musical explores the power of music and its
potential to unite. For reasons unknown to me, I have always been
fascinated by this show. Although the
novel is much darker than the musical, the general plot intrigues me. I
was fortunate enough to see the show at Her Majesty’s Theatre, produced by
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Really Useful Theatre Company. And I
cried. The music was beautiful. The acting was great. The set was excellent. I was actually crying and smiling (at the
same time, like a complete idiot) when the overture started. I probably looked emotionally unstable, but I
was fine. Just completely overcome with
happiness.
PhotoCred - Beth
Her Majesty's Theatre!
PhotoCred - Ann
PhotoCred - Ann
PhotoCred - Ann
PhotoCred - Ann
Anyway, after the show,
we checked into our hostel in Elephant and Castle. WISH I WOULDA KNOWN THAT IS A SKETCHY PART OF
LONDON. Oh, well. Overall, the hostel was… nice? If you can call a
hostel “nice.” I was pretty sure we had
booked an all-female room, but apparently we didn’t because I woke up in the
middle of the night to the sound of a random guy using our toilet. Anyhow, the evening after the show was pretty
low-key: after some dinner at Garfunkel’s,
we met up with another friend from NCC who was already staying in London for
the weekend for church. We tried to get
to the London Eye in time, but it was closing for the night when we
arrived. Instead, a few girls wanted to
walk through the London Dungeon (it was Halloween,
after all). I couldn’t afford it, so I
sat at a café nearby with two friends and waited for the rest of our
group.
Yup, this is how we slept.
Thankfully, the night
at the hostel wasn’t too bad. The beds
were actually comfortable (or was I just really tired?) and the rooms were
clean and neat. For those who don’t
know, a hostel is similar to a hotel, but very inexpensive. The rooms are large and filled with
beds. Each bed has a lock box underneath
it where guests can lock their belongings up overnight. How thoughtful is that?! Our room had four sets of bunk beds, eight
beds total. We were placed in this room
(there were four of us traveling together) with four complete strangers. I slept with my phone under my pillow, just
in case there was any funny business.
Breakfast was served
from 7 – 9am. I guess I should explain
what I mean by “breakfast.” We had
bread, corn flakes, yogurt, and coffee.
Considering the fact that we paid £15/night, this was not too bad. We stuffed ourselves with as much food as
possible to avoid spending money on lunch later.
The day was rainy and
dreary, but we managed to shop at Camden Town for almost three hours. We also had tea at The Muffin Man, a cute little
tea shop where we met up with another American friend whom we had met on the
Paris trip.
I didn’t buy anything
at Camden Town market because a) I was overwhelmed by the complete insanity of
that place and b) I didn’t really see anything suitable for souvenirs. Being around all of those people in such a
cramped space was really taxing. We
ended up eating dinner at a food festival at Southbank Centre, a nice plaza
near Big Ben.
Camden Town Market!
I’d say the weekend was
a success! Phantom was definitely the highlight of the weekend. :D
Now, I would like to discuss
my schoolwork, since it has been drawn to my attention that this blog is making
my life seem like it’s all play and no work (thank you grandma for your concern). Obviously, I am working hard in each of my
four modules. In fact, I’ve spent most
of today working in the library to finish two of the five essays which will be
due in the coming weeks. My academic routine
has definitely changed since my arrival in England. I spend a lot of time reading (that part hasn’t
changed) but I am rarely studying in
the traditional sense of the word. There are no quizzes or tests, just
essays. Therefore, I don’t have to spend
hours memorizing facts and figures and dates, like I do back home. I actually miss the academic system from the
States because there are plenty of chances to boost your grades. Here, there are no points for participation, attendance,
discussion, etc. Your grade is based
solely on three (or, in the case of my American Modernism module, TWO)
essays. This is quite terrifying for
several reasons. One – I don’t know the
grading style of the tutor (professor) until right before the term is over because
that’s when my essays are due. Two – If
for some reason I completely bomb one essay, even a perfect score on the second
essay would not be enough to save my final grade.
Here are some books. I read books.
On the bright side, I
am enjoying all of my modules very much.
My favourite is called “Ethnic American Literature.” We have covered quite a bit of material in
that module, and much of it I have never read before, which is always a
treat. My favourite text in the module so
far is a novel called My Antonia by
Willa Cather, which mainly about an immigrant woman who learns to find her way
in America.
It’s so fun to listen
to the Brits discuss “the American Dream” and the hardworking pioneers of early
America. They are all very critical of
Americans in general and sometimes I feel awkward expressing my opinions in
seminars. But this is part of the
experience; my tutor often asks questions specifically directed at me (I’m the
only American in that module – see previous post). It’s scary but definitely a good experience
for me.
This morning, I went
for a lovely bike ride to Chartham with my friend Georgia. Yeah, she’s named after a state in the
US. Isn't she cool? Her mum wrote these adorable notes to my
friends and me to welcome us to England.
She put chocolate in the notes.
Need I say more? She’s the
sweetest. Anyway, that bike ride lasted a
good portion of the morning and thankfully we didn’t get rained on.
This week, the American students started planning THANKSGIVING! It will be PERFECT!! We will stop at nothing!! Seriously, this is going to be a fun night of feasting and partying. The CCCU International Office is helping us and the Student Union is throwing us an afterparty at the Lounge (they're calling it 'American Invasion' - too funny). The feast will be catered by the CCCU chefs, so we all brainstormed some traditional Thanksgiving items to add to the obvious - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. We also decided that we are going to put together a slideshow of pictures of the things we are thankful for. Each person will get one picture in the slideshow and we will play it on a loop during the feast. I am soooo excited for this! It will ease the homesickness I am sure to feel on Thanksgiving day. And the day after Thanksgiving, guess where this girl is headed? ....Rome! Not to brag or anything. But really. How. Cool. Is. That?!
Thanksgiving from home :)
Can't wait to see this crazy family again!
Here's a bit of news: all of Canterbury has turned into a winter wonderland. I'm talking about Christmas decorations, not the white stuff. Since November first, Christmas displays have been popping up everywhere. There are Christmas lights hung throughout the city centre. It makes me miss Naperville! Christmas means home! My time here is running out. Let's not talk about this now, actually. I might cry.
This weekend we are
headed to Stonehenge, Bath, and Oxford. If you've read this far, pat
yourself on the back. Thanks for reading
and I’ll be sure to post some pictures from the weekend as soon as we get back!
- - K
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