I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by while I have been here. I am so happy that I was able to have this experience, and I had such a blast. I apologize for barely writing in this blog. I was fortunate to have friends who wrote about many experiences that I also had with them, but I have many more that were not published. I will be sure to share with anyone who wants to know about my trip, and I still hope to write some reflections on my trip in this blog in the future.
Well, I have to get up at 3:15 AM to have a long and tiring day of flying. I cannot wait to see everyone when I get back!
Goodbye London. I will miss you.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Okay, so a lot has happened...
Once again, I have found myself procrastinating on my posting of my blog entries, only to find out that I have a ton to write about now! Anyway, the next set of blog entries will be starting from a few weeks back, and going to present. Luckily no more big trips are planned for me for the remaining three weeks in London (already half over...sigh), so I will be able to talk about my trips to Berlin, Paris, Dublin, and Stratford.
To everyone trying to be constantly updated with my blog, I apologize. Its nice to have friends like Emily and Preston who update almost daily, but I promise to all my readers that my reflections and stories will be posted very soon. I appreciate your patience.
I've been seeing lots of shows this week. Monday was The Year of Magical Thinking with Vanessa Redgrave, Tuesday was Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe, Wednesday was Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and tonight is Major Barbara. Tomorrow I'm going to Canterbury for the day with Preston to see some sights, such as where the Black Prince is buried.
Well, I would love to divulge some more on this week, but unfortunately I have to eat and acting class is soon after.
To everyone trying to be constantly updated with my blog, I apologize. Its nice to have friends like Emily and Preston who update almost daily, but I promise to all my readers that my reflections and stories will be posted very soon. I appreciate your patience.
I've been seeing lots of shows this week. Monday was The Year of Magical Thinking with Vanessa Redgrave, Tuesday was Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe, Wednesday was Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and tonight is Major Barbara. Tomorrow I'm going to Canterbury for the day with Preston to see some sights, such as where the Black Prince is buried.
Well, I would love to divulge some more on this week, but unfortunately I have to eat and acting class is soon after.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Paris Awaits!
Well, I'm off to Paris tomorrow morning, having to get up at about 4:30 AM, so bedtime is calling me. I'm so excited to go! Emily, Noelle, and Kurt are coming with me. Hopefully I will be able to get around Paris with knowing only a few French words, and thats the same with the other people in my group lol. We are taking the Chunnel, and it only takes about 3 to 4 hours. After that, we don't really have a specific plan. There are some optional tours (including a boat tour I think), as well as an opportunity to go to a Cabaret. I also found out that there are several art galleries that have free admission this weekend, including the Louvre! So, I'm pretty much set for options this weekend, I just have to decide at some point.
Anyway, I apologize for not giving my reflections on my Berlin trip yet. Preston and Emily's blog have a lot of info on what happened, and when I get back from Paris, I will write two lengthy blogs about both trips.
Lastly, I saw Lord of the Rings the musical tonight, and it was... okay. In terms of sets, costumes, and special effects, it was incredible, but it seemed to only thrive on the spectacle. It was about three hours long, and still managed to barely fit in the books (obviously taking out huge chunks of the plot, some cuts I disagreed with). The music was alright orchestral wise, but the songs were pretty bland. None of them were extremely exciting, and definitely will not cause people to sing them after seeing the show. Also, the dialogue was just plain corny at times. It wasn't very well written, and the actors tried their best to act their parts well, but the terrible dialogue did not help.
All this being said, the spectacle was incredible. First off, the show had a giant rotating stage, and the circle had a outer ring, an inner small circle, and broken up chunks for the middle. At various times in the show, these different sections of the rotating stage could change height and rise to roughly 20 feet! So in addition to an already cool rotating set, the terrain of the set could be changed at any point to suit the journey aspect of the show (such as the characters travelling through the mountains). They had really creative ways of showing the different creatures. For example, the Tree Ents were guys on giant stilts with long robes that looked like tree trunks. The orc soldiers occasionally had these small stilts that were actually pogo sticks, and would propel themselves into the air and do flips during the various battles. The spider Shelob was a giant puppet controlled by at least eight people, each one controlling a leg. These are just a few of the amazing visual techniques used in the show. I probably won't see this show again, but some of the stage effects were truly memorable.
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I can find a computer that has internet while in Paris, but if not, my next entry will be Sunday night. Have wonderful weekend everyone. Off to Paris!
Anyway, I apologize for not giving my reflections on my Berlin trip yet. Preston and Emily's blog have a lot of info on what happened, and when I get back from Paris, I will write two lengthy blogs about both trips.
Lastly, I saw Lord of the Rings the musical tonight, and it was... okay. In terms of sets, costumes, and special effects, it was incredible, but it seemed to only thrive on the spectacle. It was about three hours long, and still managed to barely fit in the books (obviously taking out huge chunks of the plot, some cuts I disagreed with). The music was alright orchestral wise, but the songs were pretty bland. None of them were extremely exciting, and definitely will not cause people to sing them after seeing the show. Also, the dialogue was just plain corny at times. It wasn't very well written, and the actors tried their best to act their parts well, but the terrible dialogue did not help.
All this being said, the spectacle was incredible. First off, the show had a giant rotating stage, and the circle had a outer ring, an inner small circle, and broken up chunks for the middle. At various times in the show, these different sections of the rotating stage could change height and rise to roughly 20 feet! So in addition to an already cool rotating set, the terrain of the set could be changed at any point to suit the journey aspect of the show (such as the characters travelling through the mountains). They had really creative ways of showing the different creatures. For example, the Tree Ents were guys on giant stilts with long robes that looked like tree trunks. The orc soldiers occasionally had these small stilts that were actually pogo sticks, and would propel themselves into the air and do flips during the various battles. The spider Shelob was a giant puppet controlled by at least eight people, each one controlling a leg. These are just a few of the amazing visual techniques used in the show. I probably won't see this show again, but some of the stage effects were truly memorable.
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I can find a computer that has internet while in Paris, but if not, my next entry will be Sunday night. Have wonderful weekend everyone. Off to Paris!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Back from Berlin Pics
The Olympic Stadium:
Angel Tower in the park (commemorating the end of the Cold War):
The famous "kiss" painting on a remaining section of the Berlin Wall:
Statue of Neptune (I don't know why it was in Berlin):
The Berlin Cathedral:
The first post office in Europe:
The Brandenburg Gate:
The Holocaust Memorial:
The Reichstag:
Me on the roof of the Reichstag:
And this one's for Kelly:
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome! Im Berlin, Au Berlin, To Berlin!
Well, tomorrow morning I leave for Berlin for the weekend. Myself, Emily, Noelle, Greta, Mallory, Preston, Trevor, and Kurt are taking a cab to our bus stop at 4:15 (ugh) and then we fly at 7:55. I'm so excited for this trip! Hopefully the language barrier won't be too bad. I only know a few German words. Kurt is the only one who is somewhat fluent in German, so he will probably be our translator for the whole trip lol.
Well, I'm off to bed to get some sleep for the long day tomorrow. I probably won't have access to the internet while I'm there, so the next blog entry won't be until Sunday evening.
Well, I'm off to bed to get some sleep for the long day tomorrow. I probably won't have access to the internet while I'm there, so the next blog entry won't be until Sunday evening.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Another Summary of a Few Days
Once again, I am trying to post every night but I can only do so much as a human being lol. Anyway, on Monday we had a tour of the Royal Opera House and saw a production of a Ballet of Romeo and Juliet. First off the Opera House is very beautiful, and I would have loved to have shown you some pictures, but unfortunately they didn't let us take any. I only have a pic of the entrance. Our tour guide showed us through the entire facility, and it was interesting to see the combination of old and new architecture. The opera house itself remains close to what it looked like when it was build in the 1850's. The house holds over 2,000 people, and it is preserved this way because the house was built with perfect acoustics. In the late 1990's, they added on to the building, and built a larger backstage, more rehearsal spaces, and well as cafes, restaurants, and lobbies for the multiple floors next to the seating areas. The building was quite impressive, and the Romeo and Juliet ballet was really good. It was interesting to see the story adapted to a dance. It was fairly long (around 3 hours) with two intermissions! The dancers who played Romeo and Juliet were incredibly talented, and had good chemistry together on stage. The only parts I didn't like of the show was that it was difficult to figure out the different supporting roles (like Benvolio and Mercutio). Also, the section where Juliet takes the poison I thought was a bit too long, as six maids came in and did what felt like a 10 minute dance before they saw Juliet "dead." The fighting was pretty decent. It wasn't realistic looking in any fashion, but it was done to the beat of the orchestra. Lastly, the orchestra was quite wonderful to listen to.
After Romeo and Juliet, we went back to Schiller for dinner, and then I left to see yet another show: Spamalot. I went with Preston, Jessica, Rachel, and Carrie, and the show was pretty funny. My only complaints are that are seats were very high up in the theatre and there were guard rails on the edge that limited our view of the stage. I also thought that the actor who played King Arthur was a bit bland and lackluster, but aside from that, the show was hilarious. There are several musical theatre parodies in it which were cleverly written, such as a parody of the bottle dance in Fiddler on the Roof (in this one the knights dance while balancing Holy Grails on their heads lol).
Tuesday we started classes, which were actually not too bad. We had Shakespeare from 12:00 to 5:30 with many breaks in between (our teacher rocks and is a very understanding person when it comes to eating lunch and the like). We started reading Troilus and Cressida, and finished it today. I thought it was pretty good. Its about a love affair set during the Trojan war. The only thing about the play is that it emphasizes the political part of the war more than the romance between Troilus and Cressida. The play also kind of just ends with no real resolution, only the knowledge that the war is going to continue.
After classes we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, and had our first edible meal here lol. The food at Schiller isn't very good, so we jump at opportunities like free food. We had a choice of several meals, and I ate a grilled chicken and mashed potatoes meal, which was great. We were also treated to a free wine or beer with our meal. After Hard Rock, we went to the Wellington at Waterloo and met up with Dr. Sharon as a final goodbye. She leaves tomorrow to go back to the U.S.A., and we were all sad to say goodbye for now to her. She is very much like a mother to us all, and I think it will be hard for us for awhile to not have her here.
Well, today we had Shakespeare and Acting (in which we read part of Midsummer Night's Dream). We get to either do the final scene of the play, or pick scenes to perform, which I am very excited for, since I love the play.
After classes, I went on a date with Emily (don't worry Kelly, it wasn't a romantic date) to find a show to see on the West End. We tried to find cheap tickets for Gone With the Wind the musical (yes, its a musical here lol), but alas they were fairly expensive, so no dice for that. We ended up seeing a play called God of Carnage, which features Ralph Fiennes (the actor in The English Patient and he plays Voldemort in the Harry Potter films), and it was hysterical. It dealt with two parents dealing with one child hitting a child from the other family. The son of Ralph Fiennes's character hit the other families boy with a stick and knocked some of his teeth out, because that boy was making fun of him. The play shows the two parents meeting together for the first time, and talking about liability issues, hospital payments, etc. Eventually the parents end up arguing with their spouses and each other, and start acting like children themselves. It was a very funny play that was cleverly written. Ralph Fiennes actually had the least amount of lines, but his presence and expression were very impressive. The father of the other kid (who was a strong Irish accent), provided more of the comedy, with being more talkative, loud, and sometimes just plain rude. I also thought the two wives did a great job. They both had power in their own way, and at times had more authority than their husbands. Toward the end of the show, Ralph Fiennes's wife takes his cell phone and puts its into a flower vase filled with water, and the audience was instantly dying with laughter. To mend the situation, the father of the other kid takes out a hair dryer and tries drying out the water in the cell phone, which was also hysterical. Overall, I thought it was a very good play. The only part I didn't like was the ending (it kind of just ends with each character spotlighted and exhausted from their fighting and arguing).
Well, I have class from 9:00 to 5:30 tomorrow and its going to be a very long day, so I'm going to sleep. Friday morning I leave for Berlin for a weekend stay there!
After Romeo and Juliet, we went back to Schiller for dinner, and then I left to see yet another show: Spamalot. I went with Preston, Jessica, Rachel, and Carrie, and the show was pretty funny. My only complaints are that are seats were very high up in the theatre and there were guard rails on the edge that limited our view of the stage. I also thought that the actor who played King Arthur was a bit bland and lackluster, but aside from that, the show was hilarious. There are several musical theatre parodies in it which were cleverly written, such as a parody of the bottle dance in Fiddler on the Roof (in this one the knights dance while balancing Holy Grails on their heads lol).
Tuesday we started classes, which were actually not too bad. We had Shakespeare from 12:00 to 5:30 with many breaks in between (our teacher rocks and is a very understanding person when it comes to eating lunch and the like). We started reading Troilus and Cressida, and finished it today. I thought it was pretty good. Its about a love affair set during the Trojan war. The only thing about the play is that it emphasizes the political part of the war more than the romance between Troilus and Cressida. The play also kind of just ends with no real resolution, only the knowledge that the war is going to continue.
After classes we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, and had our first edible meal here lol. The food at Schiller isn't very good, so we jump at opportunities like free food. We had a choice of several meals, and I ate a grilled chicken and mashed potatoes meal, which was great. We were also treated to a free wine or beer with our meal. After Hard Rock, we went to the Wellington at Waterloo and met up with Dr. Sharon as a final goodbye. She leaves tomorrow to go back to the U.S.A., and we were all sad to say goodbye for now to her. She is very much like a mother to us all, and I think it will be hard for us for awhile to not have her here.
Well, today we had Shakespeare and Acting (in which we read part of Midsummer Night's Dream). We get to either do the final scene of the play, or pick scenes to perform, which I am very excited for, since I love the play.
After classes, I went on a date with Emily (don't worry Kelly, it wasn't a romantic date) to find a show to see on the West End. We tried to find cheap tickets for Gone With the Wind the musical (yes, its a musical here lol), but alas they were fairly expensive, so no dice for that. We ended up seeing a play called God of Carnage, which features Ralph Fiennes (the actor in The English Patient and he plays Voldemort in the Harry Potter films), and it was hysterical. It dealt with two parents dealing with one child hitting a child from the other family. The son of Ralph Fiennes's character hit the other families boy with a stick and knocked some of his teeth out, because that boy was making fun of him. The play shows the two parents meeting together for the first time, and talking about liability issues, hospital payments, etc. Eventually the parents end up arguing with their spouses and each other, and start acting like children themselves. It was a very funny play that was cleverly written. Ralph Fiennes actually had the least amount of lines, but his presence and expression were very impressive. The father of the other kid (who was a strong Irish accent), provided more of the comedy, with being more talkative, loud, and sometimes just plain rude. I also thought the two wives did a great job. They both had power in their own way, and at times had more authority than their husbands. Toward the end of the show, Ralph Fiennes's wife takes his cell phone and puts its into a flower vase filled with water, and the audience was instantly dying with laughter. To mend the situation, the father of the other kid takes out a hair dryer and tries drying out the water in the cell phone, which was also hysterical. Overall, I thought it was a very good play. The only part I didn't like was the ending (it kind of just ends with each character spotlighted and exhausted from their fighting and arguing).
Well, I have class from 9:00 to 5:30 tomorrow and its going to be a very long day, so I'm going to sleep. Friday morning I leave for Berlin for a weekend stay there!
New Pics!
The Entrance to the Royal Opera House:
Seriously, this sign was in front of the Hard Rock Cafe:
Watch out everybody! Dr. Sharon is drinking wine!
Great comedy with Ralph Fiennes in it:
Emily and I after the show:
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