One foggy day in Londontown

Blog 2- Sept. 16, 2009

So after finally getting acclimated to my new home for the semester it hit me...this isn't just a vacation. I am actually going to be living and studying here for a decent amount of time. I better start taking advantage of everything around me!

While some of my fellow classmates take the approach of trying to see and do everything straight away I do things quite differently. I tend to really enjoy things when I'm not rushed so instead of bombarding my day with activities I take a good look at my calendar and try to plan out my week so I can spread it all out and take my time. Instead of making a checklist and crossing off each place I must take a picture in front of I much rather see where my day takes me and after all I’ll be here long enough to get all those touristy things out of the way.

The trips I have booked for this semester are as follows:

Amsterdam: Sept. 18th-20th. I will be visiting the ann Frank house and other interesting sites as well as making a stop in Brugge on the way home. You bet I’ll taste a real Belgium waffle.

DJ VISITS LONDON SEPT. 24-27th!!!!

Paris: this is with everyone from FSU and we Leave Sept. 30-Oct. 3rd.

Spain: To visit Valencia where DJ is studying and that is on OCT. 15th-18th.

FALL BREAK is Oct. 23rd -Nov. 1st and Jenny, Rachel and I are going to do a tour of Italy. ROME, FLORENCE, and VENICE. Luckily, DJ has family who have an apartment in Rome and recently heard the good news that we can stay there for our journey in Rome. That takes a lot of pressure off the money situation for the 5 days were in Rome.

Then this is only tentative but for thanksgiving break DJ has asked me to go back to paris with him since he hasn’t gone yet. And it secretly has been a dream of mine to have a romantic date under the Eiffel tower so that is a strong possibility.


So far classes are going great. I have Intro to theatre London: Very nice and caring teacher Sarah. We basically see a bunch of theatre and come back to class and critique it. I like it because we are getting exposed to so much theatre here and some of it is really thought provoking.Voice and movement: love love the teacher Yvonne she seems like a very talented women who I can learn a lot from. Movement: Mic is a greta guy he plays lots of theatre games and said we will be focusing on physical acting as oppose to actual dance movement. Scene Study: this is by far my most challenging class because I have a very intense teacher called Ben. Ben is an interesting character and I’m sure I will be talking a lot more about him as the semester continues. He has a very different approach to teaching then I am used to which will well take some getting used to. He makes some remars that are off putting to American students and most of the time I feel he says thigns just to get a rise out of us and not because he actually believes what he is saying. My scene partner is Rachel and we are working on a scene from “Look back on Anger”. Last but not certainly not least is my favorite class so far. Playwriting: with Marc Wheetly is by far an amazing experience to have. He is a playwright for a theatre company in London called Complicite. He is making me interested in ready plays again and I love going to his class to see what else he will have in store for us.

And now some with some fun facts that has happened to me while in London.
- I got stuck in the London tube
- Our flat has a mouse
- We have to climb 5 flights of stairs to get to flat 5
- Visited Canterbury and Dover castle
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Houses of Parliament
- Rachel got ran over by a bike
- Greenwhich

I will conclude this post with a list of shows I have scene so far:

1) Warhorse

2) We will Rock you

3) Dirty Dancing

4) Peter Pan

5) Les Mis

6) Katrina

7) Judgment Day

Love London,
Ashley