London = Palm Springs

Well, I guess I'm no longer gallivanting in London, but rather in Palm Springs. I've been told by multiple people that I have to start blogging again to tell you all my adventures in the old, hot town of Palm Springs. Well the "old" part isn't that true, I've seen a lot of youngins already so I guess the geriatrics haven't completely taken over. As for the "hot" part... that has not been embellished one bit. The only time it has been under 100 degrees is when it's three o'clock at night and my air conditioning is on. So getting used to the hot weather has been quite a task. I've never been so grateful for air conditioning in all my life.


The job itself is fun. I'm an administrative production assistant at the Palm Springs Follies, which basically means that I work in the office in front of a computer screen for 10 hours a day. It's not too bad because I work with some really fun people and it makes the day go by fast. I'm hoping once the show starts running, I'll have some more hands-on with the theatrical side of the theatre.

As for my apartment... pretty swank if you ask me. Two televisions, fully furnished, a hide-away bed in my couch (for any visitors who want to experience some warm weather this winter... *hint, hint) and it's all to myself. No messy or loud roommates to keep me up... just my own dirty, noisy self.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures and I doubt I will because 1) I don't have a digital camera, 2) I can't steal pictures from any of my friends like I did in London and 3) I don't really have that much time to blog. You are lucky you are getting something now. But we'll see.

Anyway, I'll do what I can to blog to keep you all updated on my boring office job and the excruciating hot weather, but for now, I hope this will suffice.

The long walk home

It's my last night here in London, and like all my last nights in England--there was no absence of tears. I woke up and packed up all my clothes and souvenirs to come home. There's two things that I hate... packing and leaving England... and this was both. So you can understand how I could be a little bitter this morning. After we had a pre-checkout, we went and did the last few things that we still wanted to do whilst we were here. My friend and I checked out the Peter Pan statue cause she really wanted to see it; I bought myself enough chocolate-covered hazelnuts that will last me the plane ride over the pond (I'm hoping they last that long); we became dorky tourists and sought out Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter) and took stupid pictures; we did some last minute shopping at Camden Town; and then we rode a double-decker bus home. That sufficed for me.

Then tonight, I went to a Relief Society/Young Women activity at church. It was the coolest, most creative activity. It was basically like speed dating, except you weren't trying to find a date. Basically, the Relief Society woman sat on the inside of the circle and the Young Women sat on the outside and we basically took about 5 minutes talking to one another before we switched seats and began talking to another person. It was such an awesome activity! I learned so much about the older women here (even in 5 minutes) and they were so fun to get to know. Every time they would introduce themselves, they all talked about how long they had been members of the church and how important the gospel was in their lives. And they would go off telling spiritual stories and what a blessing it has been to have been a part of the church. I hope the Young Women gained as much from this activity as I did, because I thought it was ingenious, as well as memorable. I'm truly going to miss the Lea Valley Ward so much. They have made such an impact on my life and to feel their spirit each Sunday was truly a great blessing. I hated saying goodbye because I don't know if I will ever see them again. It's not fun having to make friends, only to have to leave them in a short amount of time. It's so hard.

Walking home from the tube station tonight was probably the slowest I've ever walked home. I reflected on my time here and that's when the tears started to flow. I wish I could explain how much this place feels like home to me. I remember the very first time I came here in 2000 and being at the airport about to fly home. I remember looking at the English sky for what I thought would be the last time, and having my heart just break. I sat in the boarding area of the airport with my mum and just cried my heart out. I've never had anything hurt so much as having to say goodbye to a place that I had barely come to know. But I knew then, that England was a special place for me because only things that are the most important can make your heart ache so much when you have to leave them. My time here has been a very enjoyable one and I'm sad to see it end. I know I will probably come back here yet again... but there is always the foreboding feeling as if it may not happen, which is what scares me the most. It's like Robert Frost's poem, "The Road not Taken," where you have to chose a certain path and "...knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back." I just hope that whatever road I ever end up taking, still has a detour that will lead me back to my home--England.

I'M FINISHED! (mixed emotions)

I am officially finished with my college career.... AAAAAAHAHHHHHAHAHHHAHA! What a relief it was to take my last final and know that I will never have to study for an exam again; I will never have to write another 8 page paper again; I will never have to pull all-nighters for a class again (all-nighters for other purposes may still happen however). I had to seriously refrain myself from skipping down the pavement on my way back to the flat. What a glorious feeling! However, reality sort of came creeping in when I realised that I have no idea what I want to do with my life and now I don't have another semester to fall back on... I actually have to get a life. Weird! Anyway, those thoughts didn't bring me down too much because I'm done with school!

As a reward, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for tonight's evensong. You know, the multiple times I've been here, I've never once gone to St. Paul's. I recall stopping the coach there on my first trip around, but I was so infatuated with the coach driver, I never even stepped off the bus. Then, on the other occasions, I remember peering at the building from across the Thames as I was going to the Globe Theatre, but never actually walking over to it. I didn't even take the time to at least go up the steps and sing "Tuppins a bag." How pathetic! I now realise how much I've been missing out these past 7 years I've traveled over here. This building is absolutely beautiful! There are gold-platted paintings all over the ceiling and everything is so ornate. One of my favourites was that going into the building, we walked through a revolving door that basically said that this was the entryway to heaven... who knew heaven was so easy to get into? And that it was in London? (actually I knew that latter one already). Aside from that, it actually was a great building and hearing the choral voices echo through the nave was beautiful.

I went to Avenue Q again tonight (just to get some perspective on life--yes, it has a great message for newly college graduates. The first line of the show is, "What do you do with a B.A. in English? What is my life going to be?" Pretty applicable if you asked me).

So this is my next to last night here before I go home and I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, I'm excited to see my family again, but this place honestly feels like home and I hate having to face the homesickness when I head back to the States. Each time I come, it's a completely new experience and I learn so much about life and about myself. I make new friends which I hate having to say goodbye to, but I guess that's part of life... a season, a reason, and a lifetime.

One down, one more to go

So I took my Shakespeare final today and that was a relief to get over with. Actual, the best part about it was that we had a take home essay that we had to write and turn in before the exam, so turning in my last paper of my college career was one of the best feelings ever. When I clicked the 'send' button, I was all like, "Yahoooooooo! No more papers!!!!" It was quite the happy dance that followed afterwards. But I still have one more final to go (that will basically last 12 minutes... literally. We are given a topic, have 6 minutes to prepare our presentation, and then we present our argument to our teacher in 6 minutes. How's that for getting a final over and done with. I'm just not looking forward to preparing for it--thus, why I'm writing my blog instead of studying). Don't worry, the teacher loves me, and if I've learned anything from university, it would be the art of B.S.ing (yes Dad, that is what your hard earned money has helped me to learn these past 6 years). So let's just say I've honed in and mastered this technique very well in order to get passing grades... and I don't see myself losing this art any time soon (*she says now... but lets see if she actually passes the final tomorrow). Anyway, I probably should get back to studying but just one more thing;

So as a fitting requiem to my Shakespeare class, I went to go see The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged, by the Reduced Shakespearean Company. I have seen this show a couple of times before and it never ceases to make me laugh and have a constant smile on my face. It's basically these three guys who take all of Shakespeare's 37 plays and perform them in about an hour and a half. I can't even paint the hilarity of it all. Now granted I knew most of the jokes already (but they're hilarious jokes which always make me laugh), but their improve was outstanding. There was a part in the play where they cut off Macbeth's head (which is basically a ball in a canvas sack with a little happy face drawn on it), and Macduff ends up hitting the head out into the audience with a golf club (cause it's a Scottish play and all). Anyway, it goes flying out into the audience, which was funny in and of itself. But then the dumb British audience member threw it back onstage and one of the guys yelled out, "See, this is why you don't win the world cup... you're supposed to keep the ball!" That had the audience roaring with laughter, myself and Ashleigh being the loudest ones in the bunch. Speaking of Ashleigh's laughter, there was a part where it went completely silent and Ashleigh had been laughing so hard before, that she was trying to catch back her breath and basically she let out a squeak. It was so funny, because the guys in the show, just looked up from what they were doing and gave us a confused look saying, "What the crap was that? Do you have a balloon out there?" which basically made Ashleigh and I laugh even harder. We had a difficult time composing ourselves after that, but it was so funny. I love nights where I just have a smile on my face and I can enjoy a good show... until I come back to my flat and realise I have a final tomorrow at 10 am and then my night is shattered with the dread of studying. The only glistening item of hope is knowing that in less that 10 hours, I will never have to take a university exam again and I will officially be a college "gradimicate!"

As promised

Which one is the real falconer?

The importance of good seats

So I went to see Wicked again tonight, except tonight we had okay/horrible seats. We were on the second row, but totally on the right side of the theatre. Which meant that most of the time the chorus members were standing right in our line of vision, so there were a couple of scenes that I couldn't see at all. A little bitter about it all, but I was mostly bitter because it didn't have the same effect on me as it did before. And I realised it was because of where I was sitting. I was right in front of the speaker and the show just didn't capture me at all...probably because I kept getting removed from all the spectacle. That doesn't mean I don't like the show anymore, it just means that I'm not flabbergasted with it like I was before (I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing). The one highlight of the show though was the Scottish actor who played Boq. He was so fun to watch and listen to, and he was often at the side of the stage where we were sitting, so that made me watching him that much more easy to do. So I guess that is at least one redeeming quality of tonight. But this is just my plug for theatre in general--if you want a great experience, make sure you pay up the bucks to get the good seats... it makes all the difference in the world!

I totally forgot

So I realised when I woke up this morning that I totally forgot to blog it up last night. It's not that nothing happened yesterday (cause it did), but I just got off the phone with my family and then went off to bed because I was tired. And then when I woke up, I checked my e-mail and didn't have any comments on my blog... which is when I realised my mistake. Oh well, I'm sure you didn't go through too many withdrawals.

Anyway, yesterday was a very poignant day for me. It was my last day at church and it was so hard to say goodbye. It's amazing how close you can get with people in only 6 weeks. The two men on the left were always enjoyable faces to see every week(Cliff and Joe). Cliff was the usher who greeted us on our first day and always made sure that he shook every one of our hands at least 3 times every Sunday. He was also quite the stickler with time, making sure every one was in class and not lolly-gagging out in the foyer. He also made sure classes ended on time and we kept everything on schedule. Joe was our token Irish comedian, always cracking jokes and making church enjoyable. He would also give us math puzzles for us to figure out each week. I'll miss them greatly--both the math puzzles and the guys. But, everyone was so kind when we were leaving. They gave us gifts and exchanged e-mail addresses with us. One of the primary girls said that if any of us got married, she would be a bride's maid. How cute is that?

It was especially hard to say goodbye to the Young Women of the ward. They are such wonderful spirits and I am glad I got to be a part of their lives for a short period of time. Granted, they may have thought my teaching skills were a little extreme (well anything I did was pretty extreme for the reserved Brits), but they just smiled at me and figured it was just because I was an American. But they were wonderful to work with and I wish them all the best in their lives.

After church, we went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey. I love the voices of the young men sing the psalms and hymns in such a beautiful structure. It is quite overpowering. Plus, the sermon was great, teaching us to go out and help our fellow men, rather than only be concerned for our own welfare and spiritual safety. It was a nice service and I'm glad I was able to go.

P.S. Thank you for all the birthday messages yesterday, you made my day very special from 5000 miles away (even at 4 am in the morning too ;)!

Too much information for one blog

So, I realise that if I were to write down everything that happened in the past 4 days, your eyes would go buggy from looking at the screen. So I'll just show pictures and only explain the really cool parts of the trip.










On Wednesday, we went to Coventry Cathedral... a cathedral that was bombed in WWII and then was rebuilt. I did a report on it before we came here, so it was cool to actually see all the stuff that I was researching.




Then we popped over to these castle ruins know as Kenilworth Castle. We mostly had fun screwing around the place, pretending that we were raiding the castle.


Then we went to Warwick Castle, which I remember being a lot cooler 7 years ago. It still was fun though. The coolest part was we watched this bird of prey presentation, and we had eagles, vultures and a bunch of other freaky birds flying right over our heads. It was awesome!!

That night, we arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon and went to see The Seagull at the Royal Shakespearean Company. There are two things you can't mix with me when I see a show--little amount of sleep and Chekhov--this show had both. Needless to say, I tried my darnedest to pay attention, but to no avail. Thus, I don't really remember the show or if I liked it or not.

The next morning (Thursday), we went to Shakespeare's birthplace, which was pretty, but I had been there before, so it wasn't as inspirational... but I still liked being there. We also went to these other important Shakespearean landmarks, but there not really worth mentioning. We basically learned the same thing from the tour guides at each house. There's only so much you can say on the biography of Shakespeare before it starts getting redundant.

That night, we saw King Lear, with the magnificent Sir Ian McKellen. I didn't much care for the direction of the show, but the production design was spectacular--and it's Sir Ian, who can complain about that. The one interesting part of the play... not only did I see Sir Ian... I saw ALL of Sir Ian. (Insert whatever jokes you want here)

On Friday, we went to Anne Hathaway's House and sat on the courting bench and walked the unicursal maze in the backyard (very anti-climatic). We also went to Mary Arden's House (Shakespeare's mother) and we got to see farm animals, as well as talk with one of the tour guides about the church. He was a very nice gentleman and he even tried to take the mick, saying that he was a twin (cheeky monkey). But the coolest part of the house was that they had a falconer there (the same kind of thing at Warwick with the birds of prey thing), and we got to hold chick guts and have a buzzard land on our arm. (I'll post the picture when I get it). It was AWESOME!!!! We also went to Oxford that day, but I didn't know anything there so we just ended up walking around... kind of boring.

When we got home, I went to go see The Drowsy Chaperone with Elaine Paige (a real big wig over here). It was pretty entertaining and the narrator guy was hysterical. I actually found myself watching him most of the time.

Last thing I want to mention: today I went to the London Temple with my ward which was amazing. I think London Temple is now one of my favourite temples, up there with Mount Timp. Anyway, if there is any other info you are dying to know about... too bad... I'm too tired to write about it!

No blogs for a couple days

I'm heading off to Stratford-Upon-Avon in about 15 minutes and I just wanted to inform you that there will be no posts until Friday (Saturday if I'm exhausted). But I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

Oh happy day... everybody's smiling!

I have just had the most fab-tab-ulous day!!! My mind is just reeling in excitement and news that I don't even know where to begin (I apologise now because this blog may get a little lengthy). In any case, because I don't know where to start, I guess I'll just do everything chronologically.

So I woke up this morning and it was a gorgeous day outside, so I thought I would peruse Kensington Gardens since I really haven't done that this trip yet. I walked over to Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain and decided to write a couple of postcards/letters to friends and family. As I was sitting there, a cute little 5 year old boy kept running around and around the fountain (I swear he probably did about 6 laps... I felt bad for his mum trying to keep up with him) and every time he passed by me, he would stop and sit on the side of the fountain next to me and stick his feet in the water and say in a cute little British accent, "Izz freezin'!" I was so close to asking his mum if I could take him home with me as a souvenir. Anyway, I finished my postcards, but then the wind picked up and blew one of them in the fountain (sorry Carly). So I went running down the fountain trying to catch it, jumping from one side of the fountain to the other. I probably looked like an idiot, but I least I got my postcard back... even if it was a little water-logged.

After I finished my letters, I walked around the gardens some more, just enjoying the outdoors and watching people during their leisure time. It's amazing how many people have dogs, kids, and significant others in this country... the park was full of them! As I walked, I stopped by the Peter Pan statue and took a couple of photos for some of the tourists who were also visiting. I also stopped by the Italian fountains and pretended like I was in Italy (remember, I've already been to Little Venice). Then I just meandered through the park, people watching, and hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal family by Kensington Palace... no such luck this time around.

This evening before our performance, we went to a lecture with the director of the show and he seemed like an amazing man to work with. His name was Declan Donnellan and he was very humorous and had some amazing things to say about directing. The only thing that frustrated me was that he is the type of director to change things after the press night of a show. This, to a stage manager's mind, is not a fun thing to work with (Can anyone say Hamlet at BYU?). Other than that, he seemed like a very nice gentleman. (Oh, by the way, my flatmates just informed me that the woman who was facilitating the lecture, was the same woman who played Lady Fairfax from the movie, Emma. I was in the presence of notoriety and I didn't even notice it... probably because I don't like the movie Emma.)

Then, one of the greatest things happened-- as I was walking out of the lecture hall, I noticed someone who I hadn't seen for almost 5 years. It was one of my old theatre teachers at University of Essex. It was the craziest things ever! I stopped her in the hallway and said, "Anne?" and she just looked at me and she knew she recognised me, but from where, eluded her. I told her who I was and reminded her of how she knew me from my study abroad programme over here and how I was one of her students. Then it clicked with her and she totally remembered who I was (5 years and she still remembers the shy little American girl... it's fate... but I'll get to that a little later). Anyway, we hugged and chatted for a little bit reminiscing of our old times chatting in the hidden doorway where she would make her entrance as the fairy princess , but then we had to get to our seats for the performance. Here's the crazy thing though: I was actually thinking about her when I first arrived over here. My mum had asked me in a telephone conversation whether or not I would visit Colchester(where the University of Essex is). I told her probably not because all of my mates have graduated and moved on from there. But I did say that if I were to go and visit, the only reason would be to visit my old teacher, Anne, just to get back in contact with her. But "Somebody" upstairs was looking out for me and made us cross paths anyway. It's a sign... but more on that in a little bit.

Then we went into the theatre to watch Cymbeline, which was absolutely amazing!!! It was performed by a performing group called "Cheek by Jowl," who were so passionate about their characters, I couldn't help but become so emotionally involved. Basically, it is one of Shakespeare's romances about two lovers who are split apart and then through the play, the lovers think the other is unfaithful and then false deaths occur... but in the end, everyone is reunited and all is well. When I first read the text for class, I wasn't that impressed by it. I just couldn't connect with the story or anything. But when I saw it performed tonight, it just came to life for me. There was one man who played two characters (the lover, Posthumus; and the wicked betrothed, Cloton) and the way he made the transition from one character to the other was phenomenal! He would stand onstage as Cloton, speaking his lines in a smarmy manner, and then Posthumus' man-servant would come in and help him put on his overcoat, whilst the light would change from a cool blue to an impassioned amber-red. Then the actor would don some spectacles and all of the sudden he truly became Posthumus. It was amazing to see the transition on stage because, honestly, it was like seeing two different characters completely. He was that talented at changing between his parts! I was quite impressed. Overall, the entire performance was phenomenal. I gained so much more insight to the show than I probably ever would have got from just reading it. I was a mess of tears by the end of the show, just because it was so poignant and added a whole nother layer to the show rather than it just being a frivolous romance. In fact there was a line delivered at the very end of the show which just totally struck a cord with me. There were many accusations that occurred throughout the show, and people were going to be put to death because of them, but Posthumus told the King to spare their lives. And at the end of the play, he delivered this line to the audience: "Live.... and deal with others better." It was just a beautiful remark about society, not to be so quick to conclusions, not to be so rash in our decisions and our actions, and to always forgive. Tears were just streaming down my face at that point. My friend Ashleigh, sitting next to me, just turned to me and smiled... and then made fun of me... but that's just her way. It was a very moving piece for me and I will have to rank it on one of my favourites of this trip.

Afterwards, as I was wiping the mascara from under my eyes and trying to blink away all the redness, I found my teach Anne again, just to tell her goodbye. As we were walking out, I asked her if she had any connections with anyone, or anything that could help me get into theatre over here and she started spouting off people that she knew and places that I could maybe get involved with. She gave me her e-mail address and told me to e-mail her so that she could send me information and help me with my life goal. "Ironic" that I think of her when I first come over here, debate on whether or not to get in touch with her... then I "randomly" run into her in London (cause it's a small place and all) and then she says she has some people she could hook me up with...hmmmmm, if that's not destiny, I don't know what is. So we'll see what happens with that. I already sent her an e-mail tonight, cause hey, I don't want to waste my time when my dream is on the line. Who knows, my pipe dream may turn out to be a reality.

Last of all (I swear this it the last paragraph), I ended my fabulous night talking to my fabulous friend Ian online. I promised him I would post a better picture of him, since he was upset that I posted a "heinous" one earlier (but it was the only one I had). Here is what he really looks like now and oh, how he makes me happy! Anyway, we had a nice little chat and it was fun to talk to him again. I'm hoping I will have another day where I can visit him... but sadly, my days are mostly all filled up and I don't know if that will happen. But hey... if I get a job over here... it's one step closer to seeing him sooner!

See, wasn't that a fab-tab-ulous day? (this is not a paragraph, just a statement... so I didn't lie)

Sadism turned pretty

So today could be considered a day of pampering to some-- and there were moments which were highly enjoyable (of which I will get to in a moment), but first... an introduction and the painful moments.

So I had a photo shoot today which was part of a big package deal that I got when I purchased my haircut (refer to May 18th blog when crazy lady came to sell us something... I neglected to inform you that I purchased the item she was hocking). Anyway, after class we headed to this place called Urban Slink where we had a day of pretending we were famous magazine models. They did our hair and make-up and then we had this massive photo shoot. The upsetting parts: they tweezed my eyebrows (Yowsza!); they promised facials and manicures, which ended up just being them wiping our faces with a cotton ball full of lotion and a 15 second application of nail varnish on our fingernails; and there was a total lack of free drinks that were supposed to come our way. But other than that, my make-up looked fab; my hair did what it was supposed to; our photographer was hot and very helpful to make us look gorgeous; and we all just ended up have a really fun time for the 8 hours we were there. It was tough to narrow down the 158 pictures that were taken to just 2. What a shame it was 200 quid to purchase all of them! Curse the exchange rate!!! But man... how hot do I look?!

Incoherence

I'm not sure how coherent this entry is going to be because it's 1:30 in the morning and I've just spent the past 3 hours writing a couple of papers, so my intellectual lexicon has been completely exhausted and all that I have remaining in my brain is, 'bleh.' So I apologize beforehand if this starts to sound like the 'Jabberwocky.'

This was an interesting day to say the least. I went to church, where it was stake conference and Elder Eyring spoke as well as President Hinckly (over the satellite transmission of course). I was somewhat tired, so I wasn't as attentive as I should have been, but I do know that they were just raving at how cool the UK was. Who could argue with that?

After then, I went to an art exhibition/market in East London. The boyfriend of a friend of mine is an artists and he was exhibiting/selling some of his artwork at this market. I thought I would go and support my friend and her beau... plus I was curious to see what his artwork was like. After wandering through countless art exhibits trying to find them, I finally ended up calling her mobile and finding out where they were located (Interesting story: Whilst I was wandering trying to find a phone box to call her, a man who I think worked in the Indian restaurant across the street, beckoned me to cross the street. I was a little hesitant at first because I was afraid he wanted me to buy some Indian food, but I crossed anyway. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him a phone box. He directed me to a nearby store and said there was a phone in there. Very nice and helpful gentleman. However, after I used the phone and came back out on the street, he caught my eye again and asked if I found it alright. I said yes and thanked him for his help. He then held out his hand and I shook it to tell him thanks, but then he asked if he could have a hug. RANDOM! But I hugged him anyway... maybe he was desperate for affection just like I am. However, that didn't stop me from avoiding any eye contact with him as I left the market later on... one hug is enough for me, thank you!)

Back to the story, I finally found my friend and checked out her boyfriend's artwork. It was on the disturbing side of things, but I'm sure there was a reason for why he did it... I just didn't want to know. However, I did buy a key chain in order to support his art... it was the only one that didn't have buggy-eyed men devouring flesh. I wandered around some other exhibits afterwards, which was pretty fun. There was one building that was showing the artwork from Middlesex University's art students. It contained all types of art from fashion, to interior design, to giant sculpture-like items (i.e. a giant wooden butcher character chopping up children's dolls, as well as a disturbing merry-go-round with creepy stuffed animals riding it). I came across one exhibit that contained sonic art (art made with sounds). It was pretty fascinating--they had a playground set up, where the see-saw had accordions strapped to each side so that music would be created whilst a child played; they also had bells attached to swings, accomplishing the same effect that the see-saw did. There was one artist who set up a tent to look like a living room, with a make-shift fireplace with the crackling sounds of a fire coming from it--great ambiance I thought. It was quite a hands on art exhibit, which was fun for inquisitive minds such as myself. I think my favourite piece though, was a chair made out of grass because on the rims of the back of the chair, he placed little plastic cows and fences and created this whole farm-like scene on the chair. "Green acres is the place to be..."

He has my hat...

...Okay, this guy doesn't have my hat, but the other characters in the show had a Fedora just like me... and I was about to wear my hat to the performance. Wouldn't have that been just a fashion blunder...people may have thought I was in the play. Anyway, I just came home from seeing Merchant of Venice at the Globe and the costuming was like a Shakespearean take on the 40's pin-stripe outfits (thus the mention of the Fedora). It was a superbly acted show, but I'm just not a fan of the text. This is not one of my favourite Shakespearean plays and I was hoping that by seeing it in performance, it would elevate my regard for it--no such luck. I enjoyed the show and I found myself laughing hysterically at the end, but the rest of the time, I felt so bad for Shylock the Jew because they treated him so unkindly. I don't know what the critics were thinking when they classified this play as a comedy. I think there are humorous parts, but most of the thematic issues (namely the anti-Semetism) are too overpowering to make it laughable. But nonetheless, I still enjoyed the show (didn't have as much eye candy to look at, but you win some, you lose some), and there was a guy dressed in drag that probably made it all the worthwhile--only outside of Utah can you see a man in Elizabethan drag, two men kissing, AND have someone spit out water all over the groundling audience members. Oh how I love London theatre!

I'm writing so my mum won't think I'm dead

It's been a very long day (most of which has been spent on a bus), so I really don't know how long this blog is going to be. Let's just say, aside from the long ride home, I had a beautiful day. But before we get to that, I just have to mention one thing about riding up to the temple yesterday. We drove through a town called Birmingham and this was the first sight we really saw as we entered the town center:


What are your reactions to the building seen above? I never would have thought to see a giant armadillo in an English town. Not only that, I never would have thought such an abstract piece of architecture would have made it into a quaint little English village. Anyway, I thought I would just share this interesting picture with you so you can get the full effect of what we saw from the coach windows going up to Preston.

As for the temple, it was wonderful!!! Everyone was so nice and I hugged about 8 people whilst I was there. They just make you feel like you are at home. We walked around the grounds last night and took pictures. Then I woke up early this morning, did a session, and then got my friend and we did baptisms with a family from Canada. It was such a beautiful experience and it was such a beautiful temple. I'm sooooo glad I finally got my opportunity to go!

Yesterday was a looong day... probably due to the fact that I didn't get to sleep until 1:30 and woke up at 5 to get my homework done. I guess when you are having too much fun, you try not to let sleep become and issue, but unfortunately it does factor in once in a while. Anyway, after trying so hard not to fall asleep in class, my friend and I went on a little excursion to find an infamous curling bridge. See, you have to realise about my friend, she wanted to make a goal whilst here in London and the goal she came up with was to cross all the bridges on the Thames that were on her map. Well that finally being accomplished, she moved onto other bridges over canals, in the parks, and any other footpath over water. She stumbled across this fancy little bridge online and we had to go see it. The pictures of the bridge seemed pretty cool cause it's this bridge that can actually curl up on it self to let the passages of boats through AND amaze the tourists and locals. We were hoping when we got there, it would roll up for us. Well, the problem lied mostly on us trying to find the bridge. My friend really didn't know where it was, just kind of the general area. Actually, she drew a map for us to follow when we got closer to the area. Just one problem--she neglected to put on her homemade map where the bridge was. Which led us to our adventures into Little Venice (which is actually a bonus... cause I've always wanted to see Venice). Basically it was like the canals of Italy--boats traveling up and down stream, little shops off to the side-- just no Italians. It was a pretty area, but my friend was adamant that we find her bridge. We figured out our position (it was on the complete opposite side of where the bridge was--we actually walked in the wrong direction), and tried to find our way back to the area. I figured if we stayed near the water we would be safe. Well, we took one road that I thought curved around with the water, but it took us around a hospital and we lost where the water went. To make a long story short (too late), we finally ended up asking an information place where it was. Come to find out, it was just right around the corner of the tube station. Yay for not knowing where anything is! And it was kind of anti-climatic when we actually got there. I tried to trigger the mechanism to make it curl, but my friend wasn't too keen on busting open the electrical box to do it. So basically we walked for 2 hours to find a bridge that crossed water. Meh.

After our long walk in the rain, we went to go see A Midsummer Night's Dream at an outdoor theatre in Regent's Park. Regent's park holds a lot of memories for me because that was where our college was when I was here two years ago. It was kind of odd being there without my other friend who I was with 2 years ago... but I made up for the homesickness by buying a large bag of chocolate covered hazelnuts that we used to buy together at the tube stop. Ahhh, the memories! Anyway, the show itself was hysterical and the setting was so beautiful. It was a little cold, but the hotness of the actors made it bearable. ;) But some highlights of the show was that Titania's fairies were literally that... fairies (if you know what I mean). The play took on a whole new concept for me because Puck was kind of this homoerotic character that was attracted to Oberon and the motivations for his actions all kind of stemmed from that. I would have never thought of that, but London directors will never cease to amaze you. Another great part about the play was that Demetrius was Scottish and it was so fun to listen to him speak, especially the words of Shakespeare. Be still my heart! As for the players and the play within a play... I have never laughed so hard in my life. Their horrible overacting was so delightful to watch, I was rolling in the aisles. Kudos to you, Shakespeare for the excellent comedy you have provided. As the show ended, we walked through the park and it was so serene. They had some of the trees lit up with lights around the theatre so it almost felt like it was Temple Square at Christmas time...except no snow and no hot significant other to walk around with. But it was magical and leaving the "enchanted forest" of the play, into our own "enchanted forest" of London made the evening an unforgettable one.

Usually if nothing is posted for a day, it means 1) nothing interesting happened; 2) I was too busy studying or doing homework for the next day of class; or 3) I am eloping with Prince William. Guess which one it was yesterday? Okay, it was kind of a mixture between 1 and 2 but I think I can embellish enough where 1 would become obsolete. Let's see how it goes:

So I woke up early and did my laundry, which forces me to get up for the day and feel like I'm doing something productive rather than be a lazy git. But as I was waiting for my laundry to dry I started looking into getting to the Preston Temple which is what I've always regretted not doing every time I was here. So I started doing some research how to get there with my friend (cause dumb BYshmoo rules say I can't go alone... bitter!) and we do some rearranging of our schedules... and by golly, I'm going to the temple on Thursday! I'm so freakin' stoked, you have no idea. Just ask any of my flatmates, I was jumping around as if I was doing the potty dance. It was just nice to know that I will finally make my goal of 3 years actually come to fruition. So that just set off the day to a beautiful start.

That evening, we went to see the play Big White Fog about a black, Chicago family during the depression era. I thoroughly enjoyed the show but two of my favourite things about the show was 1) one of the actors was really cute and totally looked like and reminded me of one of my English friends. At first glance, I really thought it was him onstage... until I realised he's in Japan right now... oh yeah, and he doesn't act. Secondly, there were these characters who came out in these elaborate uniforms of which they were wearing these fluffy admiral hats. I looked at them and thought, "Dude, I soooo need one of those hats for my Dad!" (Only my mum and dad will really get that joke) Anyway, it was very thought-provoking and I thought everything about it was superb.

Just as my day started out happy, it ended happy because I finally was able to eat a doner kebab which I have been longing for since I left Germany. It was delicious!!!! You can't find doner kebabs in the states, which is a crying shame because I go through withdrawals all the time. So I'm glad I got my fix!

Getting British

So although not a huge amount happened today, it was none the less enjoyable.


After class today (of which seemed to drag on forever--but on a high note I got good grade on my midterm... hooray for B.S.ing!), I went to Kensington Gardens, to the Orangery and had a traditional high tea. I got this spectacular cinnamon tea with cheese scones and butter. Mmmmm! Whilst I was there I came to a realization--either America has horrible tea or I've just been making it the wrong way all these years. I've never been a huge tea fan because all these years it smelt good, but it always tasted like coloured water. Well today I actually put some sugar in the tea and it totally accentuated the cinnamon taste. So I don't know if the English just have better tea than us, or I should just try to put sugar in my tea back home. It's an experiment that will just have to wait for another 3 weeks.
(Addendum/funny story to my visit to the Orangery): As we were walking back home through the park, we saw these two pigeons who looked as if they were making out or something. I tried to rationalize the situation, saying to myself that they were just regurgitating food to each other (I know that sounds sick, but I was trying to come up with an explanation, rather than pigeons making out--what animal does that?!) Anyway, upon further examination... I really do think that they were kissing cause all of the sudden, after all the foreplay was done, one of the pigeons jumped on the back of the other pigeon... not really "mounting" the other bird per se, but it literally jumped on the back of it as if it was a pedestal. It was the weirdest thing! I'm not sure if it was some sort of psycho mating process of the Columba Livia, but whatever it was... I was bitter I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture of it! :)

After our biology lesson of bird reproduction in the park, I went to go see Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet on the big screen. The British Film Institute was having a special screening of this 4 hour film on 70mm. I was somewhat hesitant to see it because I didn't know if I had physically recovered from my mental breakdown caused by my 6 month process of working on the show at BYU and I didn't want to go through a relapse. But it was Kenneth Branagh and who can saw no to that attractive face? (After all, we were in a relationship together for a month... according to Facebook). I'm glad I went... Branagh has such a way with Shakespearean words that he truly does become Hamlet. The one downside was that I found myself calling cues at certain parts of the movie, which kind of removed me from the action--stupid habits created by repetition! But the show was spectacular (as usual) and now I know I'm cured from my Hamlet-induced-psychosis. It's amazing what a 20 foot large Kenneth Branagh can do for one's sanity.

Exquisite bliss

I went to the Tate Modern yesterday, basically for one reason, and one reason only... Rodin's The Kiss. I'm not a huge fan of modern art just because I feel like a 4 year old could basically do the same thing... you might as well hang the artwork on a refrigerator, it would make a greater impression on me. But when I was at the Tate last time, I remember just sullenly walking around, not that impressed with anything, then all of the sudden turning the corner and being in the presence of greatness. Amidst all of these neon, gaudy, unintelligible paintings, stood the simplistic, yet passionate sculpture of Auguste Rodin. I was in total awe the first time.. and this time was no different. It took me a while to figure out where it was, wandering around every room until I found it. Then it was all over from there--I just stood there, circling it like a vulture, examining every crevasse, every movement, every connection created. I'm so inspired by this work. To me, this is the quintessential representation of romance and love. I know people may think that it is erotic or provocative, but personally I think it captures the raw emotion of love and the multiple degrees therein. Here are two people passionately in love with each other, but yet, there are aspects of the piece that show their hesitation and unfamiliarity with expressing that love (i.e. his toes are tense and he is unsure how to hold her). I just look at this piece and think... this is what I want my wedding night to be like--expressing a love that neither of us have experienced at that intensity and becoming one with each other, where you are unsure where one body ends and the other begins--doesn't that just sound so romantic? As I was admiring this piece, I came to the conclusion that if I ever decide not to elope and actually have wedding invitations, our picture would be imitating this sculpture (clothes on, of course). I think it would be more artistic and creative than one of those silly invitations of the engaged couple sitting by a tree with a goofy smile on their faces. But as artistic and innovative as my idea may seem... elopement just sounds too sweet to have it be hindered by creative genius. (But I digress). In any case, that was mostly all that happened yesterday. It was pretty crummy weather, so we stayed inside and I found Whose Line is it Anyway episodes online, and just laughed myself to sleep.

P.S. Just a little story for what happened today... I got smashed in a tube door today, trying to catch the train. It hurt, but I caught the train!

Friendships are ageless

I've had a most pleasant day and it's all thanks to a friendship that was made about 7 years ago. On my very first trip to England with my mum and grandmum, we had a very energetic coach driver (American Translation: tour bus driver), who was all smiles and was the only person we had contact with on a daily basis who had a British accent. Anyway, as the years passed, my mum became excellent friends with his mum and they have stayed in contact for the past 6 years through e-mail, instant messaging, and phone conversations. I have been fortunate enough to have become friends with her and her family as well, and every time I visit them, they make me feel just like that--family. Which is basically what my day was. I spent the past 8 and a half hours just chatting about life with this amazing woman who has experienced so much in her life. She is so well-read and extremely intelligent, I become somewhat intimidated when I talk to her, for fear I won't say something academic or philosophical, or I'll make a blunder in my speech and look foolish (I know she would never judge me for such things, but still, the mark would be made). I learn so much from her every time I visit--about history, current political issues, the latest on the art scene in London, etc.-- and the time seems to just fly by. Today we discussed the theatre, wars, society both here and in America, schooling, homosexuality, the Internet, art, boys, making connections/networking, etc. Also, some of her family members stopped by to chat. It was good to see my coach driver friend again. He was still as silly as ever. Her daughter and granddaughter also stopped by and it was wonderful to see them again. She and her family are so welcoming and hospitable and they just make one feel so special. I'm glad I got to visit her again and enjoy her company.

Talk about your long days... I feel like I've been going and going all day today and I'm utterly exhausted right now, but if I don't tell you about my day tonight, I won't remember all the fun details of it tomorrow and you will miss out on all the great activities that went on today. So we travelled to Greenwich (pronounced "gren-itch") where we saw the prime meridian. Basically, it is the line where all the latitudinal lines on the globe are derived from in relation to the prime meridian. Here, the latitude is 0 degrees, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. I started jumping back and forth from one side of the other saying "Look, I'm in one time zone... now I'm in another time zone! Tomorrow.... yesterday... tomorrow... today!" My friend quietly reminded me that it didn't work that way. Bummer! Aside from looking at this giant red line marked on the pavement, there was also a beautiful view of London (just as good--or I would say even better--than the London Eye). I was able to see the other atrocity of London known as the Millennial Dome. In the beginning, I guess the dome was constructed for this magnificent exhibition for the millennium, but nobody came. I think now it has become a huge sports arena, which I guess that means it's good for something. I still think it's ugly. The last thing I saw was a camera obscura which basically is a giant table in a dark room, where in the ceiling is a mirrored pinhole that projects the outside world onto this table. I just thought it was cool to say that I looked at the world on a camera obscura.

After our adventure in Greenwich, we went to go eat lunch at my favourite place-- the Cafe Rouge. I discovered this delicatessen when I lived over here and fell in love with their baguettes. It's a fun atmosphere if you don't mind waiting around for 2 hours to eat and get your check. It's very slow-paced so that you can spend your leisure time enjoying your company and not have to worry about the hustle and bustle of the world. Plus, their food is scrumptious! I had a steak (yes, I splurged... I couldn't help myself) and then I got a cheesecake to top it off. I've been on cloud nine since then.

Then to top off the evening, I went to go see Stomp. I'm going to have to say that this is on my top five list just for how innovative the show is. Basically, it's just a bunch of guys (well, and 3 girls) who go around making percussion of all these household items. The things I remember were: push brooms, matchboxes, buckets, garbage cans and their lids, tin cans, wooden sticks, newspapers, hubcaps, plastic barrels, basketballs, rubber tubing, fast food cups, paper and plastic bags, just simple

hand clapping and toe tapping, and a giant kitchen sink... to name a few. It was so creative and really not a word was spoken. Yet, there were characterizations and even a little bit of a story line. There was even audience participation (I was this close to getting the percussionized newspaper). I was just so impressed at how they could convey messages, meanings, even commands just with body language and facial expressions. All the sudden I found myself clapping to create a rhythm for the show, kind of like a Simon Says game. It was so creative... I would highly recommend it!