Week 2 - Weak Title

So what have I been up too? At first I thought this blog was going to say "I've been doing nothing special. It rained today. The end." but I was told that it would be the lamest blog ever and I realized it wasn't all that true either, I'm just lazy!

So here's the reality: Sunday I had lunch with Bethany and Heather at a Marion Ackrill's home (she has done homestays in previous years). We had amazing food and conversation and before we knew it, it was 3:15 and we were late for our group reading session of Henry IV! Unfortunately, that reading wasn't nearly as interesting as lunch had been! It was brutal!!! We had a few breaks near the end of the play to literally scream in frustration. Monday was drama auditions, which was another brutal experience for me (I can't, don't, shouldn't, and wouldn't act until this moment in time when I was forced into it because it's part of the curriculum). We did have some laughs though. . . at eachother. On Tuesday we had a tour of the area of Oxford we had yet to explore. Unfortunately I was feeling ADD that day and could not for the life of me pay attention to what our guide was telling us about the history of the buildings we saw, but I took some nice pictures anyways!

Courtyard of New College Chapel, the inside of which looks more like a Cathedral.

One of the stained glass windows in the Chapel, this picture doesn't do it justice!

The awesome organ way up above the sanctuary.

The organist was playing while we were there- it gave me chills!

That night, due to a major chocolate craving and suffering from sugar withdrawal (we never snack over here) Laura and I split on a chocolate cake and ate half of it while watching a movie- oh, comfort food, how we love thee!! Wednesday night we saw Henry V in Stratford! Everything about the play was amazing! It was the best theatre production I've ever seen (which would be all of 5). Today was our first rainy day since the day we arrived (and it only lasted half the day), unfortunately it was also quite windy and my poor umbrella didn't make it through! Don't ask me what I was thinking, the thing would've had to be all steel to survive, my only consolation was that I wasn't the only dumb Canadian who attempted it! After class some of us checked out some 'charity shops' (second hand stores) there was some pretty interesting stuff and we made some good purchases.

So that's it so far. Tomorrow we have more auditions (oh joy!) and Saturday we have a trip to Warwick Castle (pronounced War-ick) and Coventry Cathedral.

The Beginning of Many Adventures

I’ve been living in England for a week now, so I thought it would be a good time to catch you all up on what exactly is going on over here! There are 12 students, 6 from RUC and 6 from ABU- only two guys, not that they mind - studying Shakespeare and Drama.

Just before our tour of Charlbury. L-R, front: Heather, Rebecca, (RUC) Gabrielle, Megan, (ABU) middle: Laura (RUC), Alisha, Bethany (ABU) Sharon (RUC) back: me, Mark, (ABU) Tim, (RUC) Bethany (ABU)

We all live with various host or host families in a little town called Charlbury. On Mondays and Fridays we have classes here in town and have co-op lunches. The rest of the week we take the train into Oxford where we have classes at Regent’s Park College (RPC) and lunch there as well, which is awesome because every day I meet and talk with different RPC students! We are “tutored” by Oxford school graduates – one just received his doctorate!! As for our weekends, some of them have planned outings and others are free for whatever we want to do like school work (or not!). This first week has been insane, but from now on it should be much calmer- normal school related busyness notwithstanding!

Ok, what have I been up to since Monday. . .Tuesday was classes, Wednesday, classes and dinner at our chaplin, Claudette’s, Thursday, class in which we got into groups and re-enacted a scene from a Greek with our own interpretation- hilarious!! That night some of us went out for supper at a fancy restaurant called The Bell, basically because we were to lazy to go shopping and make our own food!

At The Bell, Bethany, Bethany, Sharon, Mark, Alisha, Heather (me behind the camera)

Friday, class, obviously, but that night 7 of us were out at choir and formal at RPC, and the other 5 of us got together to drink wine and play Buccaneers (on the recommendation of Mad, our co-ordinator) it was a brutally boring game (or maybe we weren't playing it right?), but I think we managed to have fun anyways!

This is a totally posed shot, can you tell? L-R: Heather, Me, Mark, Laura (Sharon's behind the camera)

When the others came home, we attempted to watch a movie, but some of us (including me) were to hyper to watch a serious movie so it was shut off ‘cause we just annoyed the rest of them (hehe, oops!) Today was a free day, so a bunch of us decided to take the (double decker!!!) bus into Woodstock to see Blenheim Palace. The bus ride was crazy and we were stoked!

On the double decker at a calmer moment before we actually drove off! Me, Bethany/Sharon, Alisha/ Tim, Rebecca (Laura behind the camera)

Same group as before + Bethany and Mark at the gate to Blenheim Palace

The palace itself was closed today for a wedding, but it was super sunny and a local told how to get into the park for free through a side gate – anything free makes me happy!!! It was so beautiful!! Now, Laura, Sharon and I are at Rebecca’s stealing her wireless (because we don’t have any) and watching John Tucker Must Die! Well, that's all for now, cheers!

Craziness

So this feels like the craziest and busiest four days of my life! For all of you who knew that I was a little freaked out about flying, you'll be glad to know that the flight was amazing!! I had such a great time crushing on the male British flight attendents with their accents!

This is supposed to be me freaking out and sobbing as the plane takes off, and Sharon looking annoyed. In fact, all I did was hold her arm.

I didn't get much sleep though, and from the time we arrived on Saturday we never stopped. I was so exhausted, I kept saying to myself, "What was I thinking??" but after a long 10 hour sleep, I felt so much better and have't looked back since!

Sharon and I live together, we have our own "studio" (apartment) that is connected to our hostess' house by a little path. We have a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, even a washing machine, which here always seem to be tiny things found in the kitchen. We love the independence (everyone else lives with their hosts), we just had a bunch of people over tonight.

We've been to Oxford and given the grand tour as well as had a few classes, we are here for school after all! Oxford is an amazing city, so many old buildings with beautiful architecture!

This is Laura, the humble subject, kissing my ring as I stand at my throne. This is the throne seat in Convocation Hall at the Bodleian Library where Charles I held parliament during the English Civil War, so where I am standing he once stood!!! This is also the room where I had to swear not to light a fire, among other things, in the library in order to be given a library card that gives me access to 12 million books and counting - a copy of every book published in England since the 1600s.

Last night, we went to see Richard II in Stratford, it was another of what will likely be many amazing experiences in the next three months. I have so many stories to share already, but I don't want to make this unbearably long so I will stop there for now.

A little P.S.: I justed want to say that although its been cloudy, it has been about 13 C since we arrived! I think it's a little colder at home? HAHA! It has only poured out twice, and one time there was even a thunderstorm, but I haven't had to use my umbrella yet!! (Here in England, no one uses their umbrella when it's only drizzling).

Getting ready. . .getting psyched!

Just thought I'd write a quick opening post: As of now I am packed and ready to go, all I have left to do is try to get some sleep tonight! We - 3 other girls and myself- fly out of Toronto tomorrow night at 9 but first I'm heading to Ancaster to visit friends for a couple hours before I leave - its going to be a crazy busy next couple days!!