Ladies and Gents - Jaz takes over London

London... where to start - what to say - which pictures to post.... so many decisions for this blog!

Let's start at the beginning (it's a very good place to start - uh, Jaz, your theatre is showing again...). Ok, so in order to get to London I had two choices. I could travel 6 hours by bus or 2 hours by train. For those of you who know me, I am scared of trains. Why? I am not quite sure. They are loud and seem very dangerous. Yes, I know that they are one of the safest ways to travel... I have heard it over and over again, it doesn't change the fact that they scare me. However, when I decided to come to the UK I told myself that I would travel by train. The only way to get over one's fear is to confront it. So travel by train it was. I left Thursday evening with Mackenzie and Luis and we traveled for two hours via train to London. The ride wasn't as bad as I expected once I forced myself onto the train. I took Dramamine and listened to my ipod and wrote in my journal to calm my nerves. Only once did the train make that awful screeching noise that scared me to death.

Once in London, I took the underground (ALL BY MYSELF) to meet Chelsea Gill who was AWESOME and let me crash on her couch for 3 days! We went out that night to a neat little pub and had a drink and talked! Chelsea is so wonderful and she is going places! I couldn't be more proud of her for going after what she wants in life! YOU GO CHELSEA!!!

On Friday morning, I got up early and met Mackenzie, Rob, and Luis and we did the walking tour "Millennium Mile". We started off at the Tower of London. It was a lot more fun than what I expected! This is where they keep all the royal jewels and boy were they beautiful! They also had an exhibit of all the armor that past military men wore throughout the years! We toured all the towers and learned some really interesting, and sometimes spooky, information about what went on their. Oh, I also found myself a man while there!

Me and my man!

After we left the Tower of London, we stopped and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading to The Globe! The Globe was amazing! Our tour guide was wonderful and made everything super fun and interesting! It was so awesome to be inside and get a feel for what it would have actually been like 400 years ago! There was also an exhibit full of stuff from the first season in 1997! Costumes, designs, interviews it was all there! I got a new journal while there that I am super excited to start using after I finish with my current one.

Standing in front of the stage.

After the Globe, we visited Tate Modern and then made our way down to the London Eye! We spent about 3 hours looking at art in the Tate Modern and each exhibit was so different and so interesting! The London Eye was breathtaking of course! I didn't ride it though, because it was huge and a little too intimidating for me :) After that, we made our way towards Leicester Square where Mackenzie and I got tickets to see a show that night! I went and got a ticket to see the thriller "Deathtrap". On my way back from purchasing my ticket I ran into someone I had always dreamed of meeting, but never thought it would actually happen - Stephen Sondheim! For those who don't know, he is a musical theatre composer and has written some of Broadways best contemporary pieces like "Into the Woods", "Company", "Assassins", and "Sunday in the Park with George"! After meeting him and talking with the group a little bit, I went back to the theatre to see "Deathtrap". I really enjoyed it a lot! I had never seen a thriller on stage before. I actually screamed out loud twice (so did other audience members... it's not like I randomly screamed in the middle of a performance). I was a little concerned about the casting choices in the beginning, but soon began to love all the actors and their performances. I can't say that I liked the last scene of the show, but I understood why the playwright put it there. It did nothing for the show, except give it one last jab of humor for the audience to leave on. After the show, I was able to meet Jonathan Groff who was in the show (he was in the original cast of "Spring Awakening" and made guest appearances on "Glee"). He was so nice and talked to me about the states and how he toured through Indiana with "The Sound of Music"!

Jonathan Groff!

DEATHTRAP!

That was it for my first day in London! On Saturday, Mackenzie, Rob, Luis, and I met up with Laura, Kortnei, Lisardo, and Johnny at Westmister Abbey. Unfortunately for us, we didn't do our research and didn't realize that it was closed on Saturdays.... wah wah. But we still got to see the outside, which is beautiful. While there, we also saw BIG BEN and the Houses of Parliament! To hear Big Ben ring for the first time is like WOAH! You are taken away from reality because you are experiencing something like a fairy tale. It really takes you back to watching Peter Pan as a child. After Big Ben, we walked through St James garden and went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. The garden was unbelievably beautiful and to see Buckingham Palace was amazing! However, the changing of the guards was a long process in which tons of people pushed and shoved you around just to get a closer look. But, at least I can say I experienced it! 

Big Ben and the London Eye in the background.

St. James garden

Standing outside Buckingham Palace

Once we left Buckingham Palace, we decided to head towards Camden Market to do some shopping and get lunch. It got really cold and rainy when we got there, but Camden Market was a great place to go because there was a ton of shopping at really great prices! It took forever to decide what we wanted to eat for lunch, but that is only to be expected when you have 8 people in a group and they are all indecisive :)Once we were done at Camden Market we all split up. The guys went to ride the London Eye, Mackenzie went to see Hamlet, and Kortnei, Laura, and I went to Leicester Square to wander around until we decided what to do. Ultimately, we just did a lot of walking around until the guys were done at the London Eye. Once the guys met up with us we went to this great italian place for dinner called the Spaghetti House. Our server was awesome! 6 of the 8 people in the group ordered a bottle of white, sweet wine to share. Lisardo got a beer and I tried to order a whiskey sour. Our server told me they didn't have sour mix but that he was going to bring me something on the rocks, no charge. It was straight whiskey, lol! Now, I love whiskey mixed with stuff, but I have never been able to successfully drink straight whiskey. Well, I did that night :) Hey, it was free! The food was fantastic! But right before we got our food, we heard yelling coming from our waiter. Apparently someone had really upset him and he was ***FREAKING*** out. But he calmed down quickly and started bringing us free stuff saying, "When people upset me, I do nice things for others"! We got another half a bottle of wine free, 2 free things of dessert and free cookies! He was so much fun and we had a blast there! After dinner, we wandered around for a couple more hours before calling it a night!

So that brings us to Sunday, the last day in London. I met Laura, Johnny, Kortnei, and Luis for lunch at a little Greek place. It was good, but not very filling. Luckily though, Johnny, Luis, and I ended up at this Chocolate tasting thing where 30 of Europe's best chocolatiers were giving away samples! It was so awesome! I tried some of the most interesting chocolate that I have ever had! It was so much fun!

To close up our trip, Luis, Kortnei, Laura, and I went to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. Yes, I love Harry Potter. No, I am not afraid to admit it. Yes, I did take numerous photos at the platform! 

Why, yes I finally got my letter to Hogwarts!

So that was it. We were exhausted! We got to see so much that London had to offer and pretty much walked everywhere! We hopped back on a train (I can say hopped now, because I am an experienced train rider... who only kind of gets nervous... ) and went back to Chester. It was a blast and a dream come true to get to visit there!

***Below are a few more pics from the trip!

Jumping for joy!

Me and my roomie, Kortnei!

The guys chilling outside Buckingham Palace

men and maps - never a good sign

Class, food, and a little something extra

So, I realize it has been a while since I last blogged about my adventures abroad, but nothing too exciting has really happened. Class, eat, sleep, repeat. The real fun starts this weekend when I go to London! So, here is quick run down of what my classes are like and the (***SPOILER ALERT***) TERRIBLE food. And for funzies, at the end of this blog I am going to list some of the interesting (and some scary) things I have learned while here!

Classes are classes. Who really cares right? Well, I was really excited for classes to start because I was interested to see their ways of teaching and their perspective on theatre. Well, my classes only meet once a week. Which is great for my travel schedule! So, that should mean that I have a lot of free time to sleep... not really. For 3 of my 4 classes, I have huge projects that I have to do research and outside work for. So, while it is nice only having class once a week I find that I have more outside work than I did in the states. My first week has started slowly though because 2 of my 4 classes haven't started yet. Crazy, I know. The professors don't have to start the classes right at the beginning of the semester. Those classes are Contemporary Performance 2, which is basically acting 3. And, Negotiated Study which will be performing in the Mid-winter watch parade under the direction of a MA student.

I find my Advance Drama Theory class interesting. I can't say that I like it. It isn't what I expected. I don't understand this program, but I am not going to close my mind to it just yet. It feels like this program just gives you the history and the background and the idea of theatre and not the practice. Which I find so odd. I am hoping my Contemporary Performance 2 class changes that. However, the lecture this week was very interesting. ***DANGER, YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A BLOG RANT*** I am so close to screaming at some of the students in the class. A lot of the students are rude. They talk (very loudly) during class and are always on their phones and are just plain rude in general. SHUT UP! I wonder if it is because they don't pay as much as US students do for their education. It is my understanding that depending on your financial need you either pay none or a small amount. I have been in classes where students talk during the professors lectures, but not nearly as bad as here. Maybe I am offended because I am paying a ton of money to learn. Yes, I think that is it. I pay for my own schooling and as far as I am concerned, if you don't want to learn, get out.

Sorry, about that. Moving on to a happier part of the blog now.

My photography class has started and I have learned so much already! I REALLY love that class! I was so scared because the projects are intense, but I love the professors in the photography department and I love what I am learning. I never thought I would be able to take a class like this and I definitely never thought I would enjoy it. I always thought I would stress out because I like for things like photos to be perfect. But today, we made large prints of some of our work. The process was try - imperfect, try - closer, try- even closer, try - now that's a photo. The process reminded me a lot of the way Lenny (one of my mentors/director/professor/friend from USI) works with his actors, "Ok, that is choice one". You try until you find what works for you. Every photo is different, just like every character and moment. When I walked out of the dark room and looked at my first final print I just felt proud. Now, I am not saying that this photo is great or that I am going to be the next big photographer, but to know that I did that was such a cool feeling. Someone may have exposed it differently, but that is how I chose to do it. I am really, really going to love this class.

Food. No, what they serve us in the canteen is not food. It is - I don't know what it is. There is no flavor and there are potatoes with EVERY MEAL! You think I am kidding? I'm not! And  more often than not, there are 2 or 3 choices of different potatoes with every meal. I am so sick of potatoes! I got my meal and got veggies and the lady serving me asked if I wanted potatoes and I said no and she looked at me like I had just killed someone. Plus, they are super strict on what you get with your meal. One fruit or dessert, main course, POTATO, veggie and water. You can't substitute the potato for another piece of fruit or anything. And water for lunch and dinner. I have officially given up every drink except tea for breakfast and water. I never want to see another potato again. period.

So those are my classes and the food here. As promised, here are a list of things I have learned while here:

1. People from Spain and Italy both kiss cheeks as a greeting. But, people from Spain kiss right cheek to left cheek and people from Italy kiss left cheek to right cheek.

2. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME... (I haven't done this and can't believe people actually do this) They take a shot of vodka through the eye. UNBELIEVABLE! They do it because it goes to the brain quicker! SICK!

3. Again, I haven't done this either and neither should you. It's called Gas Chamber. They put vodka in a glass and light it on fire and then place another glass on top of it to trap the gases. They then inhale the gases with a straw and once the fire is out, they drink what is left.

4. Salad Cream. Yup, they eat this stuff called salad cream. Have I tried it? No. Will I? No. When my friends and I first came across this stuff, we thought it was tartar sauce, but there was something different about it. So we asked around. We got a ton of different answers, but the most popular was this - mayo with salad bits. Nasty.

I know there is more, but that is all I can think of right now. Stop right there, it is nearly 2 in the morning and I declared this blog a judge free blog. So there you have it blog readers, I hope you enjoyed this edition of THE UK JAZ'S WAY! Until we blog together again, goodnight and loads of love from across the pond.

How do you re-live your first week abroad in a blog...

It's simple, you don't! So much has happened in my first week in the UK, that I have no clue where to start. So here is the deal, I am going to hit highlights. This blog may seem a little scatter-brained and for that I apologize, but you try fitting your first week abroad in a well thought out, well organized blog...

So, I last left you after a tour around Chester and night at the pub. That's brings us to Tuesday. Tuesday. Tuesday. That brings us to Wednesday. (Tuesday was a bunch of boring meetings on how the University works, trust me, you aren't missing much.) Wednesday was a good day because I was able to meet with my study abroad coordinator and discuss my classes. Because I am a 2nd semester senior at USI, I only need 9 credit hours to graduate. Nine credit hours of ANY class that I want to take! Can you believe it! I am in the UK and I can take any class at any level I want! Do you smell that? That smell, my friends, is called freedom! That's right! So, for my Drama and Theatre studies, I am taking Contemporary Performance 2 (which is basically a level 3 acting class in the states), Advanced Drama Theory (in which we will discuss globalization and theatre), and finally a negotiated study. For the negotiated study, I get to work under the direction of a MA student and perform in Chester's Mid-Winter Watch Parade! How cool is that?! Do you remember that smell of freedom... it is about to fade a little bit. As an exchange student, I am required to take the minimum number of credit hours to be a full time student. So I needed one more class to fulfill that requirement... There wasn't anything else in theatre, so what? Well, I've always been interested in photography, but never really had a chance to learn about. Tah Dah! Welcome to the UK where the possibilities are endless. So there you have it. Three theatre courses and a photography class. Want to know the best news.... I only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays. That's right, no class on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. I don't have to ask, I know you can smell it!

Moving on now to Thursday. As a drama student, I was invited to attend the workshop for the first years. It was... interesting. There were things about it that I loved and things about it that I didn't love. For example, I didn't love the freshmen. No offense to freshmen, but you guys are crazy. Especially men. You get this idea in your head and you just go with it. Which sometimes, is totally cool. When you are doing an improve exercise and have virtually no time, not cool. However, I really liked the fact that they brought the freshmen together in a fun way to introduce them to the program. It was a way to get them all involved and excited about the years ahead of them! *cough cough* I don't know, maybe a university I know should look into this. *cough cough* After that, I got to meet Jane who is the chair of the Drama department and she talked me through the courses and what to expect. She was super sweet and welcoming, which was so wonderful. I was so nervous to meet her, but she was really great! Believe it or not, that took my entire Thursday - from 8:30 to 5:00 - and I was so exhausted afterwards... So I called it an early night. Yeah, yeah, call me boring, but I was so tired!

Friday, nothing exciting... And yes, I did go to bed early, but I knew I was going to Wales the next day! Plus, this is my adventure, so no judging :)

Saturday means my trip to Wales! So I got up bright and early at 7:30 so that I could be ready to go by 8:30. And I was, but the bus wasn't. Everyone sat around until 9:30 when we finally left. The bus sat 65 people and there were (I am pretty sure) 62 of us. So, it was crowded. Really crowded. The seats were really small and very close together. But all was good, because we were going to WALES! We went first to Llanduado (I probably spelled that wrong. Just remember, this is a judge free blog). It was so beautiful. We were out on the pier which had these really cute little booth shops. To the left of the pier was clear blue sky. To the right of the pier were all these stormy looking clouds. It was so unreal, and unbelievably beautiful.

Looking off the pier to the left.

Looking off the pier to the right.

After that, we went to a castle! Conwy castle to be exact. It's so crazy to me. It's like, (with a cocky smirk) "Oh me? Yeah, I've been to a castle." If it wasn't for the tourists with all their cameras (me included), it would have been just like stepping back in time. Aside from a few signs that were posted for the safety of visitors, the castle was untouched. Just to know that I walked through a castle where real kings and queens were is so unreal to me. Still, it is like a dream. After we left the castle, we went to a fish & chip place called Fisherman's and got -- any guesses -- fish & chips. It was so good! Probably some of the best food I have had here since I arrived! Moving on quickly though, we went to the smallest house in Great Britain. They weren't joking either! All of that - castle, fish&chips, and the smallest house in one little town.

Me in front of Conwy castle

Fish & Chips! YUM!

The smallest house in Great Britain!

After Conwy castle, we went to Snowdon mountain. I never knew that there was so much beauty in the world. Unfortunately, some of that beauty is really cold. On the mountain, there were gusts of wind up to 50 miles an hour! But, it was definitely worth it! No fee to see something man-made. No, tourist trap. Nothing, but climbing bare earth. The sky was a grayish blue and the clouds were insane! One of my favorite (and coldest) parts of the trip!

The wind was so cold!

Random photo as we climbed, but my first thought was "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

The highest I climbed.

Our final stop.... crossing an aqueduct. I don't really know... the tour-guide liked the idea. It was an hour drive to get said aqueduct. It was beautiful and somewhat terrifying to cross. It was really high up, like higher than I have ever been in an open space. but you could see for miles out and the view was breathtaking. You just don't see this in States.

Crossing the aqueduct.

Thus ended the trip to Wales. It was so beautiful and peaceful. The entire trip was 169 miles across North Wales, and every mile was worth it!

Sunday was a lazy day that included laundry, and I guess because you are all so interested in what I am doing I will go into lengthy detail about how I did my laundry. To start I put my clothes... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Ok, so Sunday wasn't that thrilling. But the week as a whole was thrilling, exhausting, meeting-filled, adventurous, and so on. I know not every week in the UK will be like this and part of me is thankful for that because I think I would die of exhaustion. However, this first week alone was totally worth it! Let's face facts, I really love the UK.