England Post #1

So I’ve been neglecting this blog quite a bit, but here’s a (rather detailed) account of the last 3 weeks, from start to finish. Cheers!

January 13:

Arrived in Heathrow airport. Got through customs in 10 minutes. Thank you, student line! It was kind of ridiculous being in the airport because Ashley Oliver, my current roommate and friend from school who I travelled here with, kept making fun of me for staring at people and listening in on their conversations. Not that I was being nosey, I just wanted to hear their accents.

We met the other 17 kids in the program and most of them are from New York and kind of knew each other already, which was intimidating. Now, I’m not usually a shy person, but for some reason I just didn’t open up to any of them at that moment. It felt weird, not wanting to be around them. Too much newness for me perhaps? Or maybe I was tired from travelling? Well, anyway when everyone was together we drove to our flat, our home for the next 4 and half months and the place was soooo much nicer than I was expecting. We even have our own bathrooms!

Next, we had to take care of some business, orientation wise. The program director, Andrea, gave us sandwiches and hula hoops, which are like chippies in the shape of little hula hoops. Then there was Mark, the apartment manager, who told us about house cleaning and all that. He very thoroughly went through the rules and kept reminding us to “pick up your rubbish!” which is garbage… it was funny…. you had to be there… actually, no, I was the only one laughing. Ah well…. So then I unpacked and went out with 2 girls in my program to buy phones, even though I didn’t need one, but I wanted to walk around. (It was weird that I wasn’t tired at all because I didn’t sleep on the plane). Anyway we went to Oxford Circus! It was incredible fun. We walked around for a long time, but didn’t buy anything (besides phones) because we just wanted to be in the city. It was a great first night.

January 14:

Today was orientation. I got the group lost on the way there, which was a little embarrassing, but I was also the only one who bothered to look up directions so I didn’t feel too bad AND it was like our first adventure so most of us were in good spirits about it. No one even cared that we were late!

The actual orientation wasn’t super exciting or anything, but we all heard about our internships. I was seriously jealous of the students preparing to work in Parliament, especially considering it’s an election year, but I was also excited for mine at the New End Theatre.

After orientation at the NYU campus on Bedford Square we took a bus tour of the city. It was a little brief, but it was just so we could figure out the city in relation to where we live, which I thought was helpful. I was freaking out about all the monuments and history and whatnot, but I toned it down because some people were sleeping… Still adjusting to the time change, I guess?

Next we did dinner at this place called pizza express. It was fun except we were there for a little over 3 hours, which is funny because when you think express, you think ‘fast,’ but it was anything, but fast. It was still a pretty good dinner, though. We ordered bruchetta, 5 bottles of wine (unfortunately, I had to share), our own individual pizzas (margarita! yum.) and dessert (lemon tart---So good). Then, we checked out this pub across Great Portland St. called the Albany. Andrea came with for a glass of wine. It was great getting to know her. She was telling us about her kids. Her daughter lives in London and studies fashion and her son is in California, pursuing acting and he sounds like he’s making big things happen because he was the lead in this movie called Cry Wolf and he’s a regular on 24. Or maybe it was ER… or both. Anyway, she left the pub and it was time to explore the scene a little bit. I made my acquaintance with these 3 guys from Glasgow and before you know it they were mixing in and talking with Me, Max, and Lily (the students I was hanging out with at this point in the night on account of the rest of the group leaving for Piccadilly Circus to check out some clubs… w/ cover… which explains why I didn’t want to go). They were hilarious. We talked about sports (go Colts! they told me a place in Piccadilly where I can watch the Superbowl), politics, and places to visit. Lily kept getting mad at me because I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that I was American and a total and complete tourist, but it was all in good fun, I guess.

Finally, we left the pub after a few drinks. On the way out, we met another group from Glasgow…. Completely random… one of them thought Indiana was “the one by Oklahoma.” I corrected him on his geography and he apologized for being a “wanka” and obviously, he was immediately forgiven. We really left for home this time and when we got back to good ole Hampden House we hung out for a bit, chatting, then we went to bed.

Jan. 15:

This day was mostly devoted towards getting ready for the start of classes next week. There was a book fair at our school so I went and got all my books for classes, but then also happened to purchase The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Great Expectations, The Tower of London, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Lonely Londoners-books I’ve always wanted to own, but now getting them in my suitcase is the obstacle… but future Lauren can worry about that in May.

Next, I came home and cleaned my room up a bit . Ashley and I watched Iron Man starring the incomparable Robert Downey Jr. then some kids in the program were getting ready to go out, but I had no money left to spend for the day because I spent everything on books so I stayed home. I got yelled at (not really) for being lame and not wanting to go out. Believe me, I wanted to go, but I also really didn’t…. I wanted to read my books and that’s exactly what I did.

Jan. 16:

Woke up, went back to sleep, and then woke up way late on accident. Next, I went to Sainsbury’s, a grocery store, for the first time to do my own grocery shopping, which was terrifying. I came home, proud of what I had just accomplished, and waited for Emily Vernon, a friend and sorority sister of mine from DePauw, to arrive/call because she’s studying abroad here in London at Westminster University. She came over after a tedious explanation of where she got turned around at Regent’s Park. It was really great to see her and suddenly I knew that my wolf pack had grown by 1 ( …. There’s a little inside just for you, Vernon. )

We then left for Oxford St. to look for a place to eat. Turns out there’s basically only shopping so we went to St. James St. to a Garfunkel’s and we all ordered Cheeseburgers. I wasn’t ready for fish and chips just yet... We then went to Harrods, bought absolutely nothing, went to John Lewis- bought Towels, pillowcases, and a recorder for music lessons and then we walked around a bit more. We eventually went to Emily’s place (to see her matchbox dorm for the first time and to drop off her things) and then back to Hampden House. We watched the end of the Parent Trap with the program kids and thought about how we need to get to Kensington so we can check out all the bourgeois houses. Some people left for Piccadilly to party and some of us stayed and watched this movie called The Cell with J. Lo and Vince Vaughn—the story was stupid, but the movie was kind of artsy… interesting concept. After that ended, I walked Emily back to her dorm because she had no idea where to go and I then made it back all by myself without having to Google Map a single street! Huge accomplishment for me…. Then I came home, read a little bit of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, top 20 of my favorite books, and went to bed!

Jan. 17:

TOURED THE CITY WITH A.O AND EMILY!!!! SO MUCH FUN!!! SEE OUR PICTURES BELOW!!!!

Jan. 18:

First day of classes, except I have no Monday classes! I had an interview at the New End Theatre (shall we call it NET? Yes, I think so). I went to Hampstead for the first time, got lost a little bit, but it was great because I found the Everyman Theatre, a place I was told to visit and will definitely be going back to…

I also had my first music lesson in Stockwell with my teacher for the semester, Sam. He was nice, but tough. This dude does not mess around and he’s so smart, too! Guess you have to be to go to Cambridge ( That’s right…. ). Not that I haven’t had my share of tough teachers, but I’ve never been solely training my voice, either. I’ve always either been getting ready for a show or a jury or a studio class, so it’s really great to finally have some actual attention on technique as opposed to performance… because that I can handle on my own. I have no trouble being a drama queen on the stage… or anywhere for that matter.

After my lesson, I walked around Stockwell for a bit. There were cute little suburbs and schools. I hadn’t seen that area of the town yet, so it was cool, because I actually felt at home out there as opposed to where I am in the West End now where I feel like I’m on a 5 month vacation. It really put me in my place and reminded me that I’m still a student.

Jan. 19:

First day of work at NET. I sat in on a rehearsal of a show called, “Unveiling Hagar” (looked awful, but I didn’t say anything) and my one and only task was to move the flowers and stereo backstage whenever they repeated the first scene. It was cool to sit and watch the director at work though. He was the only reason I stayed in there because I had researched him the night before (not creepy, right?) and he had once directed Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in a West End show called the Breath of Life, so I wanted to see what his technique was, but as it turned out, he didn’t have a lot to say in what was happening so when I went upstairs and read the press night reviews on how this show was a flop and was all his fault, I was like, “No it isn’t!” and I won that argument with myself…so there.

Oh and I made the assistant director laugh when he one of the actors was like, “did you touch my mic?” because I threw in a subtle “That’s What She Said.” First day. Brass b’s, I know, I know…

The first day was basically just to get to know people and to let them get to know me, so… mission accomplished. Later that night, Ashley, Emily and I came back to see the other show (the good one as I called it) Rites of Privacy with David Rhodes. Yep, a one man show… and it was brilliant. It was basically a play about the dangers in keeping secrets. Rhodes played 6 characters and each of them revealed intense secrets to the audience in hilarious and oftentimes incredibly uncomfortable ways. When a 50 year old man plays a club hoping, drug induced 25 year old almost literally bouncing off the walls AND you believe him, that is when you know you are witnessing greatness. I was speechless in the end and this was probably the best part of working at NET. I got us in for free. Is that not a night to remember or what!

Jan 20, 21, 22:

These days I had class and more work… they were fun, but you don’t honestly want to read about that do you???

Jan. 23:

ELLEN VISIT ME TODAY! SEE PICS!!!

Jan. 24:

WINDSOR AND ETON!!! SEE PICS…. Or don’t because I’m coming back here again… season ticket, y’all! Whoo!

Jan. 25:

Work at the theatre. Blah.

Jan. 26:

Highlight of the day and ergo only important memory and fact… I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company do Twelfth Night at Duke of York’s Theatre in Leicester Square then had some Chicken and Noodles in Chinatown- perfect night? Methinks you’re right! Haha

Jan. 27:

Okay so I had to work all day today and today is the day I realized, I will never work in PR. And that is all I’m allowed to say because people from EPA and NET are following this blog.

Anyway, after work I had another show to go see, which was a perfect way to take the edge off. I was starting to get a little homesick at work (already, I know) and I needed something to remind me of what a great opportunity this is, being in London for a semester. I had to go see An Inspector Calls at Wyndam Theatre, also in Leicester Square, for my Modern Drama in Performance class. This play was beautifully done. There was a huge, probably expensive, set involved and when the curtain opened there was rain on the stage, which I had never seen before so naturally I was intrigued. The house got increasingly damaged throughout the play and I kept thinking, “Man, they do this every night? That’s expensive!” I found out before seeing the show that Stephen Daldry, the same guy who directed The Reader, The Hours, and Billy Elliot (movie and musical), directed this play as well and although I was a little skeptical still before watching, I could tell this play had this guy’s name all over it with his consistent use of dramatic metaphor and he loves fire imagery so much so that I was afraid the actors would get burned when the house was being destroyed right before all of us there on that stage. It was fun. Wish it would have ended happier. But I also wish I could see it again. It was brilliant.

Jan. 28:

Today I had class and it was the first one I had that I actually really legitimately enjoyed. It was my Modern Drama Class and we further discussed Inspector for nearly 2 hours! The discussion was so great and I feel like the NYU kids truly took my opinions and interpretations to heart. It was amazingly wonderful being in a class where we talk about theatre. It only further reinforced my decision to pursue the arts. The time whizzed by and it was the first time I can remember not checking the clock in a class since I took Acting I with Caroline Good my freshmen year at DePauw. Oh! Also, on our break for dinner, I went around the corner to look for a nice coffee shop. Didn’t find the coffee shop, but I bumped into the British Museum! So that was cool….

After class I went home and made dinner and just kind of caught up with everybody. I hadn’t seen anyone all week because we had all kinds of crazy schedules. It was like meeting them all again for the first time, only this time I actually liked them! Just kidding, I started liking them a lot later than today… earlier, I mean.

Jan. 29:

No class today so I went back to the British Museum with Emily and some of her friends from her program. I showed them my school on the way and they loved Bedford Square! The public garden in the middle was a particular favorite. It actually is kind of impressive how they keep it up even though it’s winter…

The museum was amazing. We spent most of our time in Egypt… haha. The Rosetta Stone was there, too! (See pictures) We also had afternoon tea in the Café on the 3^rd floor. It was hands down the classiest tea time I had experienced since I had arrived in London. Great day!

Jan. 30:

The highlight of today was the trip to Camden town! I wanted to go there to check out the markets, maybe get some cheap effects after negotiating a fair price only as it turns out, they’re not to big on negotiating out there because everything’s already “on sale” and is “marked down as low as it can go”… yeah yeah. I did end up buying earrings, a scarf, and some hipster glasses (why you ask? To wear them at parties and be the token artsy db). Then Me, Nadine, Neesha, and Lily went to a sushi placed called HI SUSHI for dinner. It was very reasonably priced and I tried sake for the first time. Oh and duck, which tasted like a porky chickeny beef. It was magical.

Jan. 31:

Sunday… oh Sunday. My recovery day. I pulled myself together, got up, showered and went back to the British Museum. I spent the afternoon in the Enlightenment Room and while I was there I found a really awesome space to study! There weren’t even that many people there, so I decided to make that room “my desk” since we don’t have one in our rooms. Haha. Brilliant. For lunch, I checked out this place I was told to go to called “La Fromagerie” on Marylebone st. and I tried some cheeses before I ordered, but the girl was like mad at me or something because I ended up getting a sandwich with no cheese… I maybe offended her by tasting the cheese, but not actually wanting to pay for it. Well, don’t offer it out like that then, lady! It’s fine, I’ll go back again and buy cheese. Don’t worry.

This evening was good and bad. Good because I skyped with mom, dad, peeps from DPU. It made me miss being on campus quite a bit.

February 1:

Worked at the New End Theatre all day. They sent me to hand out flyers.. again. It was kind of cool. Saw the O2 arena…

February 2:

Okay… so here’s the deal. I decided to ask my supervisor at the New End Theatre if I was going to be doing anything related to theatre and she flat out said, “no… and that I had a PR internship.” WHAT!!?! So I thanked her for her time with me, spoke to Andrea and demanded a new internship!

…

Not exactly. I was not that rude and it didn’t exactly go down that way with my supervisor at NET, but because the aforementioned explanation is more exciting than the actual truth… let’s forget the truth! Lovely.

Anyway, I have a new internship at a school! I wanted some actual real world experience this semester instead of being some theatre’s back up bartender/ “intern” so I am now a proud intern at the New Cavendish school and today was the day that I got to meet the students and the headmistress, Teresa. It’s a private all girls elementary school in Camden Town and I got such a great vibe out of this place. I was thrilled to be there and knew that it was the perfect fit for the semester. I helped the girls with math and Writing that day. It’s a weird combo, but that’s how they roll, I guess.

After work, I went out to try and look for this place my choir teacher told me to go to and as he is from England and his suggestions thus far have yet to fail me, I looked in earnest for… the QUEEN’S HEAD AND ARTICHOKE, a pub. I walked all over and it was getting quickly very dark, but I was not easily discouraged. I swore that I would not stop until I found it and got something really good for take away.

….

So 15 minutes later, I took the tube home, ate English baby potatoes and went to bed. Good/epic day.

Feb. 3:

No work today- had the day all to myself! BUT I had not been doing any homework really so I spent most of this day, working on a few things… Not so fun.

That evening, however, was magnificent. I got invited to dine with a fellow program mate at Parliament, and Ashley came with me, of course, for a lovely meal. Security was very strict, but once we got through, we took a little tour and saw a part of that glorious building that was only open for UK residents. I felt so amazingly privileged. While eating, we even heard the bell ring throughout the building that calls the MPs to the floor to vote. I thought it was the fire alarm at first. They were voting on something to do with assisted dying so naturally having dinner over that…. was amazing.

After dinner we said our goodbyes and then Ashley and I were off to the National Theatre off the Southbank to go see the Pitman Painters, a true story and a play about a small group of miners from a small town of New Castle (Ashington) who during their weekly classes through the WEA program during the World Wars, drew pictures every week that expressed their day to day lives in the pits and in their communities. It was a really interesting play that brought up many debates about art, talent, and originality, and what the artist owes to his or herself in that position. I wasn’t frightfully moved or anything by the performances, but the writing was unreal. The dialogue was funny and inspiring and I absolutely fell in love with the story. It’s done really well in the UK, but I don’t know if a typical American audience would receive it as well mostly because of the Socialistic and Marxist ideals expressed throughout the play. Maybe if the marketing for it is good, it could be successful in New York? Let’s hope so, because it’s coming there in September….

I had a particularly wonderful day today. It was very relaxed and I’m starting to really feel at home in this city. My navigating it is still bloody awful, but I’m getting better as I go.

Feb. 4:

I had work this morning, dreadfully early, because of a meeting the staff needed to attend. I decided I would take the tube today because it was still dark when it was time to leave. It’s amazing how much they depend on the tube for transportation over here. Some people hop on as opposed to walking 20 or 30 minutes, which is weird to me, but if you can afford London transportation, right?

Anyway, school meeting? Brief. I had 40 minutes to kill before the children arrived. So I went to the European Starbucks, Caffe Nero, and bought a Chai. I lost myself in the market and some of the booths were still setting up, but I was amazed at how they were trying to sell me stuff AND set up at the same time! Like they had it all down to a science or something. It was pretty impressive.

School was so much fun! I worked with year 2 today and they let me sit in choir. We sang show tunes from Mary Poppins and for little 7 year old girls, they sounded really good. It was adorable and I was absolutely delighted. When they had recess and lunch, I went back to the music room to talk to the piano teacher and found out that he also does private lessons and I’m thinking about signing up for them. Playing the piano is something that I’ve always wanted to be good at, but I quite at it when I was little and it’s expensive to take lessons at my college. He offered me a pretty good rate, so hopefully, I’ll make a decision on that soon. The only piano book I’ve brought over was my Pride and Prejudice piano book, half of the songs I don’t even know where to begin, but an opportunity has opened up for me to learn, so maybe I’ll actually go through with it.

After school was over, me and some other program kids went to O’Neill’s in Piccadilly… again. It was so fun. The music wasn’t as good as it tends to be on a Saturday night, but all that was fixed after I had a little chat with the DJ. Oh and by the way… the cure to any bad night, just put some GAGA on y’all!!!! Haha.

Feb. 5:

Woke up. Went for a walk in Regent’s Park. It was sunny and beautiful today, which was amazing because it’s been typically rainy, foggy (yup), and cloudy, but I actually got to use sunglasses today! And it was about 50 degrees out! It was amazing and Regent’s Park looks so plain from the street, but it is not. There was a beautiful garden inside and I even saw swans! Not Canadian Geese! SWANS!

Yes, I did just geek out about that.

When I got back to the flat, everyone was up and eating breakfast/lunch. Lily, Ashley and I decided we wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery so we started changing and getting ready for that. We got going and whuddya know??? I got us lost… again. It was fine though. We just ended up walking up (or down?) Oxford Street. It was a beautiful day so it didn’t really matter that we didn’t know where we were and if worse came to worse we could always just take a taxi back. Not a problem. It was actually really cool because once again, my being lost led me to finding out yet another wonderful building. I found the Charles Dickens museum, which was very befitting for this trip because a couple weeks back I had bought Great Expectations at our school book fair and I am now currently in the middle of reading it. We didn’t go in because it was 6 pounds, but when we left, I regretted not going in so I will definitely be going back.

We gave up on looking for the National Portrait Gallery and we sought refuge at the British Museum… my newest sanctuary. We went in and looked around for a bit then went to the Ground Floor Café for lunch/dinner. After the meal, we wandered around till closing.

On the way back home, Ashley, Lily, and I passed... wait for it.... HUGH GRANT!!! haha, yeah, he was right there on the street! Completely recognizable and weirdly kind of dazed. He looked kind of lost, but he also started walking faster once we recognized him. We almost turned around to try and get a picture with him, but we didn't because Lily was all, "oh hey, I'm from New York and I see celebrities all the time and they don't like that and I'm from New York City." I'm not bitter by that at all, by the way...

then we walked back to the flat for some tea…. and by tea, I mean, beer... and we told everybody about one of the weirdest days I've ever experienced.

So far, I love this city. There is always something to do and someone to do it with. I’m discovering a lot about myself, other people, and how the world generally works. It’s all mind boggling and I usually can’t go to sleep straight away after my days in London because I’m thinking more and more about what’s happening to me. I like to imagine I’m becoming a better, more well rounded individual, but really, I just think I’m having a hell of a time! Anyway, thanks for reading and I do hope all is well with you!

All Best,

LC