Walking in the Rain

Today the fire alarm went off at 8 am, which was a good alarm I guess. In Stacie's class we read the preface to Major Barbara, and the first part of Mrs. Warren's Profession, and we picked scenes in acting. I'm all of the fairies in one of the Titania and Bottom scenes with Jared and Mallory. It should be interesting, because the fairies speak one after another. I think I may make sock puppets for them. We'll see. After dinner I took a little walk down near the Thames, and I looked around in the bookshop at the National Theatre. I found some puppetry books which Kelly might like, and I told Jared about them. Tonight I'm going to read a bit, and then go to bed a little early. I have to get up early for Stonehenge tomorrow...although not as early as those going to Berlin.

Home on Avenue Q!

Today was the second day of classes. We had class starting at 9 am, and going until 5:30...fun stuff. We always have a million breaks in Stacie's class though, which is good. We finished Troilus and Cressida in Stacie's class, and we started Midsummer in Valerie's class. For our midterm Valerie wanted us to decide on either short scenes, or the last act as a class. I think we've decided to do the short scenes. They'll be more beneficial in the long run. Tomorrow we have class starting at 9 as well. It was funny today in Valerie's class. She handed out our Major Barbara books, and then asked us what we were doing tonight, and we said probably going to see different shows, so she said she wouldn't have us read anything for tomorrow. That was nice. We (Greta, Kurt, Noelle, Mallory, Preston, Dan, and I) went to see Avenue Q. Great show! I particularly liked Rebecca Locke, who played Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut, and the actor who played Trekkie Monster/Nickie. They were both very good. Daniel Boys, who played Princeton/Rod did a much better job with Rod, and he kept slipping in and out of his accent. I guess it is just as hard to keep an American accent as the others. Overall, I liked it a lot. In other Schiller news-Greta and Emily have to move because their ceiling is leaking. Great Schiller...just how safe are you really? Victoria, Dan, Savannah, and I are going to Stonehenge on Friday while everyone else is in Berlin. I figure I'll go to the second Berlin trip since I didn't get on the first one.

First Day of Classes

Last night Savannah and I took a walk around Schiller, and I found the creepy door that Emily found a little while ago...it was really kind of scary. Then I went back to my room and Victoria and I talked for a bit. I was in kind of a bad mood, so that cheered me up. Then we fell asleep, and didn't wake up until around 10 this morning. Today was our first day of classes, and it was a very good day. Victoria and I woke up, and got ready to start our classes. They started at noon. We signed up for some trips, and then we parted company to find the rooms our resective classes were in. Mine was in the basement, in the hallway opposite the cafeteria. Stacie is amazing! The first thing she did was ask us our names. She thought my name was Emma the first time I said it, and she had trouble with some of the other names as well. Then we got down to some history on the Trojan War, and we started reading 'Troilus and Cressida' out loud. We picked the parts that we wanted to read, and during the double period of class we had today, we got through three acts. Tomorrow we start class at 9 am! Ugh! That will be a long day... After class was over we all got ready to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for the welcome dinner. Finally, real food! I got blackened chicken with pasta, and it was AWESOME!!! Some of the others got burgers, and some got herb chicken. We all got wine or beer with dinner, and then we just talked and enjoyed the food. After dinner we walked to the tube station so we could get back to the Waterloo station. When we got there, we walked across to the Wellington so we could meet Dr. Sharon and Prof. Angus for drinks. We waited for an hour after they had said they would meet us, but it was because the show Dr. Sharon was seeing ran later than expected. She told us all about it when she got there, and now we all want to see it! After that, we had a couple of drinks, said goodbye until our real goodbyes tomorrow, and some of us came back to Schiller-while the rest went out for more drinks.

A Day at the Ballet

Today we went to the Royal Opera House to see the ballet of Romeo and Juliet. It was raining all day today, and of course the only shoes I packed that went with my outfit happened to be cloth...oh well, feet dry. We met Dr. Sharon at Schiller, and took the tube to Covent Garden. Then we walked to the opera house. Before the ballet, we had a backstage tour of the opera house. Nicole, you would have loved all of the dance space. The one dance studio we saw was HUGE! After that, we saw the ballet. It was beautiful! The only bad thing is that our seats were so high up, and there wasn't that much leg room. Oh Well. The dancers portraying Romeo and Juliet were wonderful, as were all of the other dancers. The dancers who were the three harlots actually got more dance time than some of the leads. We had seen one of them when we were backstage, and she had crazy awesome curly red hair. Mallory said she reminded her of Bernadette Peters. After the ballet, we said goodby to Dr. Sharon, and took the tube back to Schiller. Then we waited and hoped dinner would be good because having missed brunch, we were all starving-and thankfully it was! Maybe because we were starving?...

No Stonehenge!?

Yeserday I didn't end up going to the theatre. I had gotten sunburnt and I felt sick, so I went to bed early. Today I woke up at 9 am, and looked on the internet for some ideas of what to do today. Mostly everyone else went to Stonehenge today, but there were no more tickets when I wanted to sign up. Then when Victoria woke up, and she got ready to go, Savannah, Dan, Victoria, and I took the tube to South Kensington and went to the Museum of Natural History. We walked down this side street to get there that had amazing little thrift stores on it that I definitely want to go back to. The museum was okay, but it was like somewhere that you can go back home-like in Washington D.C. We were there for a couple hours, and then Savannah and I went into the shop to look around while Dan and Victoria walked around the museum a bit more. After they were done, we walked back along the little side street, but all the shops were closed except the food ones. We were hungry so we bought some pizza, and afterwards got some gelato. I got cookies and cream, and it was amazing! Then we walked back and caught the train, and we came back to Schiller. A little while after we got back everyone got back from Stonehenge.

The Leaf Necklace

I woke up this morning at around 10 til 9, and lay around in bed for a while. Then I got up and made some eggs for breakfast for me and Victoria. We decided to take showers and then went down to brunch-which was sort of okay. I had potatoes and cereal, which were good. I also had an omelette, which was really buttery and not so great. After brunch Victoria and I went to the organic market which we passed through yesterday on our tour. We bought some vegetables and some chicken, and we bought some other stuff to eat on weekends when we have to cook. We also bought some candy at this stand where the salesperson hit on Victoria. He asked for her number and she told him she didn't have a British number, so could she have his. He gave her his number, and he also gave us an extra bag of chocolate when we were checking out. I was a little hungry after this, so I got a beef and vegetable pasty-kind of like a pot pie without all of the gravy so it was easier to carry. It was pretty good. We walked back after, and on the way we stopped at the British Film Museum. They had vintage clothing and jewelry there from a vintage shop because it is "Dressed to Kill" weekend. I looked through all of the clothes-and wanted all of them. I think that I was born in the wrong decade... I looked at the jewelry afterward, and I liked this one bracelet with yellow stones. I saw the necklaces while I was trying it on, and forgot all about wanting the bracelet when I saw a silver leaf pattern neclace. It has inlaid stones, and is from the 40's or 50's. Of course I bought it. It is now officially my favorite piece of jewelry! I will post pictures as soon as I can. After we put our groceries away, we went for a walk with Savannah and Dan. We were going to go on the London Eye, but it was too crowded, so we decided to walk along the Thames. I bought a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' at an open air book market. After that we went to the market because the organic one didn't have butter so we needed to get some to cook with. After the market we went to this restaurant called the Fishcotheque, at which I got some chicken and chips. They were quite good. Later tonight I might go to see a show... We'll see.

Mal's Birthday!!

We went out for Mal's birthday-first to The Wellington, and then to this pub that we searched for forever called The Roxie. A couple of us left because the cover charge was £5 , which is the same as $10...and we were exhausted after walking a little over an hour to find the place...but, I'm exhausted now, so I'll post more in the morning.

Fun Times

Yesterday we had orientation. It was boring, and we heard a lot of the things we had heard already...but we 'got to know each other' first. It was fun because Mal and Em did thier Kaitlyn skit from SNL, which made everyone laugh, and Trevor and Greta sang Willy Wonka songs. Then, I explored the building a bit, and went to the library...yeah, I know, I'm a total dork... Then I went back up to my room. After reading for a bit I smelled something cooking. (My room is right across from the kitchen on our floor) I went over to the kitchen and there were four other students there. One of the girls was from Lebanon, one of the guys was from Iran, and I'm not sure about the other two. The girl from Lebanon made me sit down and she told me to eat with them. She had made fajitas...and I don't think she'd ever had them before, because she kept telling everyone to taste them. It was fun, they said I have a very strong American accent. After that I lay down for a little bit, and when I woke up, everyone had gone out.

Today we met Dr. Sharon and Professor Angus at the London Eye so we could go on a riverboat and walking tour of Shakespeare's London. She told us to meet her at 9:15 because Valerie had told her that, but in reality we didn't have to meet until 10:15! Everyone was kind of upset about that...but we got some pictures an exploring done instead of letting it get to us. We also sang Happy Birthday to Mal, and the London Eye workers sang with us. We then met our guide, whose name ws Richard, and went on our tour of Shakespeare's London. We took a boat ride at first, then walked arund and saw loads of exciting places. We saw the Rose Theatre, which was the first theatre in London, The New Globe, and the site of the Old Globe, and we got our pictures taken in this really cool giant astroturf chair with Dr. Sharon! Now we're all just relaxing at Schiller until later when we go out for Mal's birthday! Dr. Sharon and Prof. Angus are coming with us(for a little while at least)!

London is Amazing

Okay...So I fell asleep really early last night and didn't get a chance to post anything. Yesterday we got in around 10 am after spending forever on the planes. We left from Buffalo on time, but got held up in the air because the traffic was crazy! When we finally got to JFK, we had a four hour layover. I grabbed some quesadillas with Dr. Sharon and Savannah, and then we waited to get on the plane. Once we finaly got on the plane we were all anxious and ready to go, and we were supposed to at 8:55, but the plane didn't take off for another hour! I fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the plane, however, and had no idea that we had been sitting there so long. The two days before we left I had gotten a total of 5 and 1/2 hours of sleep, so I guess I needed it. I sat next to Jared, and he slept almost the entire way. I dozed on and off, but I couldn't really sleep while we were in the air. We finally landed at 10 am, after more air traffic, and went through customs. There was absolutely no need for all of the bank paperwork that all of us had gone crazy trying to get last minute! Then we got on a bus, and drove to Schiller-it was funny-we spotted the guy that was there to pick us up before Dr. Sharon did. We were all exhausted by this point...but we still looked at the sights. We saw a bunch of 'touristy' London sights, but all were amazing! We saw Big Ben (and our bus driver pointed out 'litte ben') the London Eye, and finally the Thames when we got to Schiller. When we got inside, they gave us lunch-which was intersting. I had some noodles on which they ut cheese. Well, it wasn't that great... After eating, we got our rooms. Then, we had to lug our 50 pound suitcases up to the fifth floor-technically the sixth- and that was an adventure. I swear I'm gonna be in great shape by the end of this trip with all the interesting food, and the stairs. Athough, Victoria and I are across from the kitchen, so maybe we can cook something. After I was done unpacking, I went to see the other girls rooms, and then I lay down for a bit...but I wasn't planning on falling asleep so early. The others went and explored a bit.

This morning I woke up aout 6 am (1 am American time) and didn't know what to do...it was sooo early, so I lay back down and read a bit. Then I got up and took a shower, and went to breakfast. It was actually decent. There were eggs and pancakes, ham, crumpets, and juice. Then we learned about cultural excursions, registered for classes, and rested a bit before lunch. After lunche the theatre kids got tickets for the tube at Waterloo Station, and went to see an exhibit on The Ramayana at the British Library. The whole time at the exhibit I knew I'd heard about it before, and then I remembered we'd heard about it in my Judaism and Islam class. We came back to Schiller after that by way of St. Pancras International Railway Station, Kings Cross, Waterloo and then a grocery store. After that we rested a bit, and then had dinner. It wasn't actually that bad. After dinner, the theatre gang plus Carrie, Jess, and Rachel walked over the Thames to the West End and saw Cabaret. It was very amazing!! We got seats in Row J-but the awesome thing is that they were rush tickets an hour before the show and only cost £20! I picked up on some of the accents that weren't quite there, or kept slipping in and out, but it still was Awesome!!!!! There was a lot more nudity than Niagara's show, and Jackie and Amanda, who met us there, weren't really sure what to expect. They were very surprised-more so than the rest of us I think. At the end of the show a number of the Kit Kat dancers removed their clothing, and portrayed being gassed, along with the MC. We left the theatre crying it shook us so much. The other point in the show that made me cry was when Fraulein Schneider told Herr Schultz it was over. Then we had the walk back. Now it is time for bed. We have orientation in the morning, and I've already stayed up later than I should have.

Soon we will be in London...

Hi Everyone! I'm joining Preston and Emily in making a blog. It makes so much more sense than e-mailing everyone all the time...and this way I can talk to everyone, instead of not getting to someone. I'll still send some postcards and e-mail-don't worry Joy-you will get your postcard. We leave tomorrow(technically, because it is 1:32 am) and I can't wait! Please come back and visit often.