Tea Time, Friendship, and the Hatred of a Candlestick

It all started last Tuesday when my Art and Architecture teacher kindly reminded us that we had a paper due the following week. We were to pick a single item off a list of pieces of art at the Victoria and Albert Museum and write 6 pages about it. The trouble is, none of these objects were remotely interesting and 6 pages was going to be a challenge. 

After four straight days of hard work and dedication I finished the paper. The four days of my weekend included a trip to the V&A, getting a membership at the V&A Library, actually researching and studying at the library for an entire afternoon AND evening, and writing for about 20 hours. All in all, the paper was a complete waste of time and an actual disaster. BUT not only did I avoid procrastinating until the night before, I finished TWO WHOLE DAYS before it was due. Obviously this was the fruit of divine intervention (thanks, Beyonce) so I decided to celebrate my glorious victory by purchasing two red velvet gluten-free cupcakes from a local bakery. Best. Decision. Ever. 

The following day my politics class had a field trip to see the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace. They were elaborately decorated and fairly interesting. The best part was actually after the tour when we were able to grab some tea and hang out in the Gardens at the palace. That's right, I had tea at Buckingham Palace, deal with it. 

After the tour was over I was done with classes for the week. I knew that as soon as I returned to my flat I was going to have to start working on my paper so I decided to make use of the nice weather and explore a bit. I walked from Buckingham Palace all the way to Kensington Gardens where I saw the Peter Pan Statue and a bit of the Palace.

Unable to not take up the opportunity of shopping during London Fashion Week I also went to Oxford Circus. The Forever 21 was not as impressive as the one in Times Square but it was still cool. I ended up buying a few sweaters at H&M but the real treasure of the day was when I experienced the best thing the UK has to offer: Primark. I thought it would be like Target, but it is so much more than that. Primark is basically the love child of Target and Forever 21 with H&M as its godparent. I will never love anything as much I love Primark. 

Yesterday was when the real excitement began; after being here for over a month I had only seen two of my friends from the UK (extreme disappointment). Yesterday was exciting because the fairest hipster of them all (Paolo) decided to visit me. We had quite the adventure getting on the wrong tubes, trying to go to closed stations, and almost not being able to find the right pub. It was really nice being able to see someone I know and hang out for a bit! 

Today was nearly the biggest disaster of my life. For my Art and Architecture class we had a trip to Hampton Court to look at the Tudor art and architecture. We had to be at Waterloo train station for 9am to catch the train (it was especially important to be on time because we had to hand in our papers and the professor does not accept late ones). While I was not happy about having to be to class an hour earlier than usual, I was fairly excited to visit the palace. Apparently fate did not want me to have an easy morning. I left with more than twice the amount of time needed to get to the station and I was still late. There were three tube delays and the only way up from the underground platform at Waterloo that I arrived at was broken. The train we were scheduled for left at 9:06, I didn't make it to the platform until ten past. Luckily my teacher was also running behind so the class had to take a later train anyway, and I did not get in trouble or penalized. The trip itself was interesting even though we were rushed and not able to see everything we wanted to. 

Now I am incredibly exhausted from all of the work and stress over the past few days so I am going to bed early. Peace out, Girl Scouts. 

xoxo, 

Kaity 

I saw Thorin Oakenshield with the Devil!

This week hasn't been super busy, but it has been exciting. 

On Tuesday my Art and Architecture class went on a field trip to tour Westminster Abbey. It was very interesting and informative. but this wasn't the best part of my Tuesday/week/month/LIFE... 

While I am excited for all of the shows I am going to see with my theatre class this semester, I was mostly excited to see The Crucible. Even though it is incredibly tragic I have loved the play since I read it in high school. When I was a kid I loved to talk about the witch trials in school, especially around Halloween when Hocus Pocus came on because, lets be honest that's the greatest movie ever. 

Anyway, this particular production of the Crucible was at The Old Vic and has been the talk of the town all summer. The lighting ,stage design, ad obviously acting were perfection. 

Possibly the best part was that the man who played John Proctor also plays Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit movies. Yes. That's right. I was about 30 feet away from Thorin Oakenshield. He was phenomenal. Incredibly emotional. 

TAKE THAT RACHEL SCHAUB. YOU MAY BE IN NEW ZEALAND BUT I AM CLOSER TO A REAL LIFE HOBBIT.

Side note: he is incredibly tall for a Hobbit (6' 2'')

But yeah, that's actually pretty much it. Not that exciting of a week. 

xoxo, 

Kaity

Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge.

Today was the first field trip this semester (yay!)... well really the first one since like sixth grade. We went to Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. Can I just say... so cool. Like for real. They are both beautiful places and even though my feet are killing me I am very glad that I got to go! 

So first we went to Salisbury to see the cathedral. It was a lot bigger than I was anticipating but it was absolutely gorgeous (like Ithaca!). Possibly the coolest part of the cathedral was getting to see one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Looking at that document was beyond cool. Next year it will be 800 years old...that is more than twice the age of The United States. That's crazy. 

After our tour we had some free time to walk around the town. We stopped at Cupcake Heaven (which was indeed heaven). They had gluten-free cupcakes and mine was delicious. 

We also stopped at a fruit stand and I bought some delicious fresh raspberries!

Next we went to the coolest stop of the day: Stonehenge. It was incredible. I was slightly disappointed that we were allowed inside the circle it was still super cool. The best (and also worst) part about going was that Obama showed up... less than half an hour after we left. How unlucky is that? HOW COOL WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN?!?!?

I also made one of the best purchases of my trip thus far: Stonehenge Strawberry wine. YES. You read that right. Wine. It is so delicious. I'm considering ordering it online (because it is way worth the 7 pound post fee). 

Well, that's pretty much it for the trip! 

xoxo, 

Kaity

Name Change

Well, as much as I loved the last title it needed changing. One of Liz's friends has "There and Back Again"as her blog title. So I've changed mine. 

Besides, doesn't this new title reflect me well? #whitestkidyouknow

Kaity

Revenge, Murder, and a whole lot of Adventure.

Okay, I promise I didn't murder anyone. As you know, one of the classes I am taking is called Drama in the London Theatre. For this class I will be attending one production per week to go along with the plays we are reading in class. This week's book and production was Medea. 

The play is a Greek tragedy and is pretty short and simple. Basically this lady Medea is crazy. She murders her brother and betrays her family to be with her true love. Her true love then betrays her to raise his status by marrying a princess. Rather than moving on and dealing with it like a normal person, Medea decides that it's a good idea to kill the king, the princess, and her two children all to make her husband upset. 

The show was at the beautiful National Theatre here in London. It was magnificent. There were a few cheesy parts (mainly the dancing which looked like the dancers were having some sort of fit), but overall it was amazing. The lighting, music, stage design, and OBVIOUSLY the acting made the show that much more powerful. Also the woman playing Medea also plays Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter (perfect fit, right?)! 

After the show my flatmate and I walked around a bit and took some cool (and highly touristy) pics of the area around the theatre! There was a frozen yogurt stand set up in an old double-decker bus! That's pretty much all for now but I hope to have some cool photos and stories to share after the Stonehenge trip this weekend! 

xoxo

Kaity 

First Few Weeks

I'm here! I've started this blog (thanks, Liz) to keep track of, and share, everything I do while I study abroad in London. I'm here practically on my own. Coming over I did not know any of the other students from Ithaca for this semester. I was nervous, but also excited to meet new people and make new friends. 

The first few weeks have been quite hectic. I am living with three other Ithaca College students in a lovely flat in Earl's Court. We found it on the first day of the flat hunt (SUCCESS!) and we have been quite happy here so far. We are the perfect distance from everything and I feel that I will be very happy here for the next few months. 

Classes started last week, and I am very excited for what I am going to learn in all of mine. I am taking Minorities in the UK, British Art and Architecture, Drama in the London Theatre, and Contemporary British Politics. All of these classes have something that deeply interests me AND they have field trips. 

Exciting things that have happened so far:

- Last week I got to go see Antony and Cleopatra at Shakespeare's Globe. It was an amazing performance and an outstanding experience. Going to the theatre reminded me just how rich the culture here is and made me so excited to learn and see more. 

-At the end of the first week I was sitting in my hotel room with nothing to do so I decided to go exploring by myself. I ended up only going to Parliament Square, Westminster, and the area of the Thames around the London Eye but it was still very fun and rewarding. I was very nervous coming to live in a city for the first time on my own and it was very calming for me as I was able to navigate public transport on my own. As much as I wish I had some close friends staying with me, it was very special to be able to have time taking in the history and beauty of London by myself. 

- This past Friday I was able to do something that I have been looking forward to since my older sister Liz studied in London back in the spring of 2011; I got to tour Parliament. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures but it was really cool to be able to see the beautiful architecture and be in a building with so much history and importance. Standing in some of the rooms I felt overwhelmed by the thoughts of all of the people and events the building had seen. Some parts of Parliament that we were able to tour were older than the United States....that's crazy. 

-The most exciting thing that I have done since I got here was when I was reunited with my amazing British bestie, Katie Squire. I took the train and went down to stay with her and her family for the weekend. We went to a family party and out on her cousin's boat to watch an air show. I never thought that I would be interested in planes, but oh my goodness they were extraordinary. There were planes from WWII and later. My favorite part was watching the Red Arrows, they are so majestic. 

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this, God knows I tend to drop stuff like this after a few posts. This week I am looking forward to seeing my first show in The West End and going on a trip to Stonehenge. 

xoxo

Kaity