-Thomas, the head pedagogue of LISPA. Every word from the man's mouth is a pearl of wisdom. Example: "So we see that the larger we make a movement, the smaller is the space it takes up. And the smallest movement of all is respiration, the breath. All theater takes place on the line between these two extremes." Whoa.
-The bureaucracy, which I've already lamented about, but really is kind of astounding. Example: Today I went with Gaidig and Jill (housemates) to register for the National Health Service (hooray for universal healthcare!). We all brought bank statements from our home countries, passports, our housing contract, and the utilities bill. Unfortunately, I was the only one able to register because the utilities bill was in my name only and they don't accept anything except a utilities bill in your name or a bank statement from a UK bank, which can take months to get: they wouldn't even accept the signed housing contract. Oy gevalt!
-Chips and buttey: I haven't had this, but apparently it's a sandwich made of buttered white toast with french fries inside it. *gag*
-Tea and biscuits. It really is all it's cracked up to be.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
At the end of the day...
... I'm always tired. Which is good, of course, but makes it hard to write good blog entries. But I'll try anyway...
Today we had acrobatics! Gaidig (one of my housemates, with whom I have class) and I took the bus, which took us from Stratford to Hackney seemingly by was of China, so we were a little late. But not late enough to miss the conditioning, which was awesome/painful! The other classes were good as well: it's really hard to describe what we do, since it's such a "journey" (that's the favorite word of our teachers). I hope you all don't mind that I don't go into detail about what we actually do: it would probably bore most of you to tears. :) But suffice it to say that it's stimulating, exhausting, exhilarating, and wonderful.
After class I got a desk from Argos, which is this awesome store where you look through a catalog and find what you want (anything from engagement rings to dishwashers), write its catalog number on a little slip, pay for it, and then wait for it to appear from the recesses of some vast storage room in the back of the store. So I got my desk, put it down to put the receipt in my bag, then realized I couldn't pick it up again. So I called my lovely housemates Frank and Anna and they helped me carry it home. So now in addition to being sore from acrobatics, my fingers and forearms are sore from carrying a heavy box. Yay!
And that was my day! Tomorrow's another one, and then on Friday I find out whether I have a job! I'll be sure to update when that pans out, can't wait...
Today we had acrobatics! Gaidig (one of my housemates, with whom I have class) and I took the bus, which took us from Stratford to Hackney seemingly by was of China, so we were a little late. But not late enough to miss the conditioning, which was awesome/painful! The other classes were good as well: it's really hard to describe what we do, since it's such a "journey" (that's the favorite word of our teachers). I hope you all don't mind that I don't go into detail about what we actually do: it would probably bore most of you to tears. :) But suffice it to say that it's stimulating, exhausting, exhilarating, and wonderful.
After class I got a desk from Argos, which is this awesome store where you look through a catalog and find what you want (anything from engagement rings to dishwashers), write its catalog number on a little slip, pay for it, and then wait for it to appear from the recesses of some vast storage room in the back of the store. So I got my desk, put it down to put the receipt in my bag, then realized I couldn't pick it up again. So I called my lovely housemates Frank and Anna and they helped me carry it home. So now in addition to being sore from acrobatics, my fingers and forearms are sore from carrying a heavy box. Yay!
And that was my day! Tomorrow's another one, and then on Friday I find out whether I have a job! I'll be sure to update when that pans out, can't wait...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Better and worse
Better: I've officially started LISPA! Today was orientation, so I finally got to meet everyone, and it was so amazing! There were people who'd been working up to attending for 7 years, and one guy who found out about the school yesterday and was somehow here today in our class. And most excitingly, there were people from all over the globe! Countries represented: England, Ireland, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Bermuda, Australia, Japan, Zambia, Italy, and probably others that I'm forgetting. Such an amazing collection of accents and people, I truly cannot wait to start working with all of these exciting people!
Worse: British bureaucracy is driving me crazy. I've succeeded in getting a house, a phone, possibly a job (interview tomorrow at a movie theater, wish me luck! :), and working on a bank account, which is pretty good. But until that bank account comes through, I can't get a phone contract or internet at home, which kind of sucks. But it's all good, everything will work out in the end. :)
Worse: British bureaucracy is driving me crazy. I've succeeded in getting a house, a phone, possibly a job (interview tomorrow at a movie theater, wish me luck! :), and working on a bank account, which is pretty good. But until that bank account comes through, I can't get a phone contract or internet at home, which kind of sucks. But it's all good, everything will work out in the end. :)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
What a day!
I am exhausted! Today was move-in day to my house, yay! This involved me lugging all of my stuff (which I'm estimating weighs over 200 pounds) up and down multiple flights of stairs and on two trains. Some kind souls helped me get my stuff down the two flights of stairs I was faced with, but of course I faced the one flight up with no help... go figure. It did make me resolve to never get morbidly obese, because lugging 200 extra pounds up a flight of stairs is something I'd like to have to do as infrequently as possible.
Thankfully, me, my stuff, and my housemates were met at the train station by the guy who's renting us the house and his car, so that was lovely. We then proceeded to the house, which is a lovely 5-bedroom place with a patio and only one bathroom. There will be six of us living there, so the bathroom thing could be an issue. But it's uber cheap: the rent comes out to the equivalent of not much more than 400 dollars a month, which is pretty darn good for Philly, let alone London! So I'm psyched. As cool as the house is, though, there was no heat and I don't as of yet have my own bedding or pillow, so I'm back at Janice's for the night.
Oh, and another momentous thing happened as well! Well, two I guess... first, I went to see Two Gentlemen of Verona with Janice. It was quite lovely, but performed by a Brazilian company, so it was in Portuguese. There were subtitles, but they were in Shakespearean English, as compared to the company's vibrant, obviously colloquial take on the play, which involved song and dance, acrobatics, and varying degrees of lewdness (though let's face it, Shakespeare is kind of necessarily lewd, eh?). So it was kind of confusing to watch, but entertaining all the same, and definitely worthwhile, since I'd never seen or read Two Gentlemen before.
Second (which happened first, but is more important, I think), I found the perfect winter hat!!! It was at a random little market at the Stratford railway station, which is near where I'm staying. The hat is rainbow colored (no surprise there), funky patterns, ear-flaps, little tassel-y things, generally adorable and very warm. It was cold enough tonight that I got to wear it, joy of joys! Plus it was hand-knit in Nepal, so I hope I'm supporting small business or something. And only 7 pounds! Delicious.
And that was my day! Hopefully tomorrow's adventures will include the buying of bedding and the turning on of heat (and fixing of the refrigerator, come to think of it... rather troubling, that). I hope you're all doing splendidly, and that your day is brilliant! (I like the British equivalents of "awesome" and "sweet" and such, so I think I'll start using them).
By the way, if anyone cares, my new address is 2 Henniker Road, London, E15 1JZ, UK ;)
Thankfully, me, my stuff, and my housemates were met at the train station by the guy who's renting us the house and his car, so that was lovely. We then proceeded to the house, which is a lovely 5-bedroom place with a patio and only one bathroom. There will be six of us living there, so the bathroom thing could be an issue. But it's uber cheap: the rent comes out to the equivalent of not much more than 400 dollars a month, which is pretty darn good for Philly, let alone London! So I'm psyched. As cool as the house is, though, there was no heat and I don't as of yet have my own bedding or pillow, so I'm back at Janice's for the night.
Oh, and another momentous thing happened as well! Well, two I guess... first, I went to see Two Gentlemen of Verona with Janice. It was quite lovely, but performed by a Brazilian company, so it was in Portuguese. There were subtitles, but they were in Shakespearean English, as compared to the company's vibrant, obviously colloquial take on the play, which involved song and dance, acrobatics, and varying degrees of lewdness (though let's face it, Shakespeare is kind of necessarily lewd, eh?). So it was kind of confusing to watch, but entertaining all the same, and definitely worthwhile, since I'd never seen or read Two Gentlemen before.
Second (which happened first, but is more important, I think), I found the perfect winter hat!!! It was at a random little market at the Stratford railway station, which is near where I'm staying. The hat is rainbow colored (no surprise there), funky patterns, ear-flaps, little tassel-y things, generally adorable and very warm. It was cold enough tonight that I got to wear it, joy of joys! Plus it was hand-knit in Nepal, so I hope I'm supporting small business or something. And only 7 pounds! Delicious.
And that was my day! Hopefully tomorrow's adventures will include the buying of bedding and the turning on of heat (and fixing of the refrigerator, come to think of it... rather troubling, that). I hope you're all doing splendidly, and that your day is brilliant! (I like the British equivalents of "awesome" and "sweet" and such, so I think I'll start using them).
By the way, if anyone cares, my new address is 2 Henniker Road, London, E15 1JZ, UK ;)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Things are shaping up
Phone: check (07599 821 461, if you care to give me a ring)
Place to live: check (living with four other LISPA people! and I didn't have to plan it! woo hoo!)
Baggage arrived: check (hooray for a different outfit! I was starting to feel like those unfortunate actors on 24...)
Job: working on it... may be awhile. But what else is new?
Not bad for my fourth day in the UK!
Place to live: check (living with four other LISPA people! and I didn't have to plan it! woo hoo!)
Baggage arrived: check (hooray for a different outfit! I was starting to feel like those unfortunate actors on 24...)
Job: working on it... may be awhile. But what else is new?
Not bad for my fourth day in the UK!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
The London Adventures Begin!
And I'm here! An inaugural Tube ride from Heathrow on the Cockfoster line (tee hee :) has kicked off my stay very nicely, as has the wonderful hospitality of Janice, a fellow Swat alum and LISPA student. I'm settling in to ride out the jetlag, armed with tea and the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.
The flight was interesting: Philly to Boston, where I was met by Dad and a jar of Herring Bits (actually containing delicious butternut squash) which represented Mom... then to Rekyavik, where I learned that "Smabarnahlynning" is Icelandic for "Baby Care," and that modern Icelandic is so close to what the Vikings spoke that most Icelandic people can read ancient Viking literature with no training other than their mother tongue... then to London, where I made the wonderful discovery that the airline had lost the duffel bag that contains all of my clothing. Yay!
So that's how it begins, with a bunch of craziness and exactly one outfit. Sounds about right. :)
The flight was interesting: Philly to Boston, where I was met by Dad and a jar of Herring Bits (actually containing delicious butternut squash) which represented Mom... then to Rekyavik, where I learned that "Smabarnahlynning" is Icelandic for "Baby Care," and that modern Icelandic is so close to what the Vikings spoke that most Icelandic people can read ancient Viking literature with no training other than their mother tongue... then to London, where I made the wonderful discovery that the airline had lost the duffel bag that contains all of my clothing. Yay!
So that's how it begins, with a bunch of craziness and exactly one outfit. Sounds about right. :)
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