So...as I have learned this semester...nothing ever goes according to plan. Here I am at 10 am on Dec 21st and I am still in London, and will be for four more days (meaning I don't get home until Christmas). So basically in the last two days this amazing semester, probably the best of my life, has become a nightmare. As of right now 4 out of 40 people in my program are actually home, a few are enroute today and many go home tomorrow. But basically United screwed us over, completely and totally...they basically canceled ALL of there flights until Weds, who does that?? There is literally no snow on the ground, this is an absurd situation. I am now finally ready to leave, and can't.
But as easy as it would be to turn this blog into a giant rant but instead I am going to say how grateful I am that I found amazing friends on this program, this situation has definitely brought us all closer. Yes I will wake up in a holiday inn in London on Christmas morning but I will be with three of my best friends and am flying home with two of them. We are trying to view this as "bonus London days" or as an adventure, trying to do everything we haven't done yet.
Those of you I love at home, well you are the reason I am so upset, I love this city but I miss my family, my friends, my boyfriend, my bed and just being home. And these bonus London days make my break expentionally more chaotic, 2 or 3 days at home then Florida, then New Years, then Sarah and Beth visit...all exciting things but no time to decompress.
But I would like to say again thank you to my amazing friends here, who turn to chocolate and popcorn with me at 12 am and who won't let me cry or be alone for to long. We will enjoy our bonus London days and our bonus together days...we can get through this together team!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Last Day of Internship: Some Reflection
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I fail yet again. As I am sure you all know my last adventure got canceled...stupid snow, closed the airport -- no Rome trip for me. But instead we had a weekend of epic adventures, essentially mostly markets, shopping and enjoying London. But that isn't what I am writing about today and yesterday...
As depressing as this is it's officially the beginning of the end.Yesterday was my last day of internship and tomorrow is the last day of classes. I am so close to the end and essentially change my mind about how I feel about it a thousand times a day. It was very much a bittersweet day, I spent the day working the Christmas show for 3-5 year olds, which is essentially the cutest thing ever. The entire show takes place on a train and as a result we all wear train conductor hats. My favorite moment of all the shows was when after we let them all into the audience I went to sit in the back (still wearing one of that hats) and this sweet little girl looked at me with huge eyes and asked me "who's going to drive the train?" So precious. But beyond that moment of extreme cuteness in general this internship has done more for me in terms of figuring out what I want to do with my life. From observing and working with all the programs Quicksilver puts on for kids I have figured out that there are ways to combine theatre with education in classroom programs. Quicksilver does all sorts of awesome things like having 9-11 year olds write plays that are performed by real professional actors, shows that teach 3-5 year olds about death through play with everyday objects and story-telling classroom activities. Basically my work has affirmed my belief that theatre is an important vehicle in the classroom, it can be used to build confidence, teach lessons (especially reading) and explore emotional issues. Its also made me more confident that this what I want to do with my life so I have been reading about educational internships in theatres and TIE (theatre in education). Basically even though I have been spending alot of time in a office, doing busy work I have been able to observe the amazing things theatre can do for kids.
And today was my last day of classes which is equally weird and bittersweet. I have learned more about theatre and myself this semester than I normally do in an entire year of college. I am excited to go home and apply the things have learned but also nervous to leave an environment that fosters all the things I believe in. I am also sad to leave all the amazing people I have met here and to leave this wonderful city.
I have no idea what the future brings but I have faith at some point it will bring me back here. And I know now that I can pursue a career that uses everything I am studying and everything I believe in.
As depressing as this is it's officially the beginning of the end.Yesterday was my last day of internship and tomorrow is the last day of classes. I am so close to the end and essentially change my mind about how I feel about it a thousand times a day. It was very much a bittersweet day, I spent the day working the Christmas show for 3-5 year olds, which is essentially the cutest thing ever. The entire show takes place on a train and as a result we all wear train conductor hats. My favorite moment of all the shows was when after we let them all into the audience I went to sit in the back (still wearing one of that hats) and this sweet little girl looked at me with huge eyes and asked me "who's going to drive the train?" So precious. But beyond that moment of extreme cuteness in general this internship has done more for me in terms of figuring out what I want to do with my life. From observing and working with all the programs Quicksilver puts on for kids I have figured out that there are ways to combine theatre with education in classroom programs. Quicksilver does all sorts of awesome things like having 9-11 year olds write plays that are performed by real professional actors, shows that teach 3-5 year olds about death through play with everyday objects and story-telling classroom activities. Basically my work has affirmed my belief that theatre is an important vehicle in the classroom, it can be used to build confidence, teach lessons (especially reading) and explore emotional issues. Its also made me more confident that this what I want to do with my life so I have been reading about educational internships in theatres and TIE (theatre in education). Basically even though I have been spending alot of time in a office, doing busy work I have been able to observe the amazing things theatre can do for kids.
And today was my last day of classes which is equally weird and bittersweet. I have learned more about theatre and myself this semester than I normally do in an entire year of college. I am excited to go home and apply the things have learned but also nervous to leave an environment that fosters all the things I believe in. I am also sad to leave all the amazing people I have met here and to leave this wonderful city.
I have no idea what the future brings but I have faith at some point it will bring me back here. And I know now that I can pursue a career that uses everything I am studying and everything I believe in.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The week in which I see 3 plays, have 3 Thanksgivings and go to two Muesums
This week began, were I left off in the last blog, with the hopes of seeing shows and living London life to the fullest. The adventures began last Sunday night with the first of my three Thanksgivings. This one was hosted by IES and featured 4 or 5 turkeys and a mish-mash of other Thanksgiving food. It was fun but not particularly festive, it involved paper plates and grabbing as much food as possible before running to our respective lounges. But there was turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing so it was not a total loss.
Then on Monday, Charlotte and I went on an epic play adventure. We had planned to go see An Ideal Husband we were going to show up before the show and buy cheap student tickets. But as we all know, things often don't work out according to plan. So of course all the cheap tickets were gone but we had about a hour before shows started and were in a very theatre-full area so we decided to wander and see what other shows we could find. We then stumbled upon A Woman in Black a show some other members of our program had seen and liked, but it was supposed to be scary. For 20 pound second row seats we decided to risk it and I am so glad we did. So scary, at moments I thought Charlotte was literally going to squeeze my hand off but I am so glad we went. Scary theatre is something I had no experience with before I got here and I think I like it. It is much more effective than movies because it is real.
Ooh on Tuesday I went to the Imperial War Museum, which is not really my thing, its a little too depressing but it was definitely a interesting presentation of social history. We went for my Women in London class and we had to find the women in the world war one display.
Then on Weds I saw another piece of somewhat scary or least dark, theatre. I am a intern at the New Diorama Theatre and their piece that week was Schiller's Robbers. It was bizarre and I feel like I probably missed something without truly knowing the history or social context behind it but it was well acted and the staging really innovative. It was in the black box with white chalk drawings on the walls, everything felt symbolic.
Then on Thursday my friends and I had a giant Thanksgiving potluck. Basically first Thanksgiving way from home was a success. Rachel made a turkey and everyone brought some sort of food. I have never been that full in my entire life but it was so delicious.
Friday is mildly irrelevant to the theme of this post but there was shopping and adventuring to be had.
Saturday is Thanksgiving and play number three. For Thanksgiving I went to Neal and Lisa's house (my second cousins) I am basically in love with their children and love any excuse to hold a baby and get feed a home cooked meal. And then Saturday night Emily and I went to see A Glass Menagerie which was basically amazing, the staging was really interesting and it sort of proved to me that revivals can be successful (the show is not dated).
And on Sunday Emily and I continued our weekend of adventure with my second museum of the week, the V & A which honestly is sort of a strange museum, I didn't really understand the correlation between all the exhibits but it has a amazing theatre exhibit, awesome jewelry exhibits and a gallery devoted to Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter's drawings so I would call that a success in my book. And that day ended with the discovery of an amazing little crepe place hidden behind the tube station, all in all my first Thanksgiving weekend away from home, though at times difficult was a success.
And this weekend will be (weather premiting) our last grand adventure - Rome!
Then on Monday, Charlotte and I went on an epic play adventure. We had planned to go see An Ideal Husband we were going to show up before the show and buy cheap student tickets. But as we all know, things often don't work out according to plan. So of course all the cheap tickets were gone but we had about a hour before shows started and were in a very theatre-full area so we decided to wander and see what other shows we could find. We then stumbled upon A Woman in Black a show some other members of our program had seen and liked, but it was supposed to be scary. For 20 pound second row seats we decided to risk it and I am so glad we did. So scary, at moments I thought Charlotte was literally going to squeeze my hand off but I am so glad we went. Scary theatre is something I had no experience with before I got here and I think I like it. It is much more effective than movies because it is real.
Ooh on Tuesday I went to the Imperial War Museum, which is not really my thing, its a little too depressing but it was definitely a interesting presentation of social history. We went for my Women in London class and we had to find the women in the world war one display.
Then on Weds I saw another piece of somewhat scary or least dark, theatre. I am a intern at the New Diorama Theatre and their piece that week was Schiller's Robbers. It was bizarre and I feel like I probably missed something without truly knowing the history or social context behind it but it was well acted and the staging really innovative. It was in the black box with white chalk drawings on the walls, everything felt symbolic.
Then on Thursday my friends and I had a giant Thanksgiving potluck. Basically first Thanksgiving way from home was a success. Rachel made a turkey and everyone brought some sort of food. I have never been that full in my entire life but it was so delicious.
Friday is mildly irrelevant to the theme of this post but there was shopping and adventuring to be had.
Saturday is Thanksgiving and play number three. For Thanksgiving I went to Neal and Lisa's house (my second cousins) I am basically in love with their children and love any excuse to hold a baby and get feed a home cooked meal. And then Saturday night Emily and I went to see A Glass Menagerie which was basically amazing, the staging was really interesting and it sort of proved to me that revivals can be successful (the show is not dated).
And on Sunday Emily and I continued our weekend of adventure with my second museum of the week, the V & A which honestly is sort of a strange museum, I didn't really understand the correlation between all the exhibits but it has a amazing theatre exhibit, awesome jewelry exhibits and a gallery devoted to Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter's drawings so I would call that a success in my book. And that day ended with the discovery of an amazing little crepe place hidden behind the tube station, all in all my first Thanksgiving weekend away from home, though at times difficult was a success.
And this weekend will be (weather premiting) our last grand adventure - Rome!
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