SUN!

Hello Hello

First off, Happy Birthday mom! There had better be cake tonight. :)

Well here's the update from the past couple of days. The internet has proven to extremely awful here at 270. It's super shotty and utterly frustrating. If it works, it doesn't work well. For instance, right now I can't respond or comment at all on facebook. So for those of you who have commented or messaged me to no response, my apologies. But beyond the internet, the past couple of days have been wonderful.

On Sunday, the whole group officially settled in. My roommates are great. One, Laura, turns 21 today and we are all going out tonight to help celebrate. Karoake anyone? Another roommate (I have 3) went out this morning and bought a bunch of donuts and surprised Laura with birthday candles and singing. It was adorable and I think went a long way in helping her feel special so far from home and without knowing anyone really well yet.

Yesterday was our first day of class. We started with an introduction to our theater course, going over guidelines and such. I lovee the professor (he's from the Forest and this is the 5th time I've had him) and so that makes it fun. We then went to the London National Theater to see Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. We went to a platform where the directors talked beforehand. The play was insanely wonderful. It was super short, only an hour, but had some of the most ingenious stage work and blocking I've ever seen. The play, written by Brit superwriter Thomas Stoppard, takes place in a mental hospital in Russia. One man is a schizophrenic, the other completely fine being held there for slander against the KGB. All I can say was that it was wonderful and a really great way to start off the school part of the program. We came back and stayed in for the night. I made a grilled cheese, fought with the internet, and called it a night.

Today we started our other class, London as a Visual Text. Basically it's going to be a combination of art, architecture, and history. It's comprised entirely of fieldtrips all over the city. The teacher, Sarah, is a sweetheart and extremely knowledgeable. Today we went to the Thames and took a book ride. I hadn't seen this part of the city and it was beautiful. Took a bazillion pics that will be posted sometime soon. Then class ended and a group of us went to the Dickens Tavern for fish and chips. Delicious! Then we walked over Tower Bridge. Breathtaking, so stunning.

Oh, and did I mention THERE WAS SUN TODAY! ALL DAY! SO WONDERFUL! Its insanely chilly but the sun was out so it doesn't even matter!!

The people in my program have proven to be really cool. It's funny how quickly people group off. But I've found a great couple of girls that are really fun and into traveling about as much as possible just like me. In fact, in just a bit my friend Claire and I are going to plan our spring break travels. Spain here we come! Also, today we're going to start planning weekends to Paris, Dublin, and Bath/Stonehenge. So excited.

I'm working on budgeting my money. London is crazy expensive but I'm doing my best to finding a balance. I'm adjusting and settling in and going with the flow. Tomorrow is another night at the theater.

So, I'm doing well, seeing a lot, and only getting really frustrated by the internet because it makes me feel rather disconnected from home. I can't believe I've only been here about 4 days now, seems much longer.

Until next time... :)