Don'f Forget Your Broom, you Brave Girl!

So much has happened in the past few weeks and I feel guilt about not blogging my adventures with all of my faithful blogger buddies (all 9 of you...). I'll just talk about the highlights of my week:

Starting Classes:

My first class is on Mondays from 1-3. It's called Mapping Modern Drama and what we do in the class is read plays (18 in total, say what?!?) that all come from The Modern Drama Period (Late 19th Century to Mid 20th). My Professor, Susan is very nice and is very passionate about the plays ("I believe you can be working in the theatre if you do not LOVE Chekhov's The Seagull. It's about the theater, people!") I read the two plays assigned for this weeks class (Ghost by Henrik Ibsen and The Father by August Strinberg) and really enjoyed them. We discussed them both in class today and I learned so much, it was unreal. The class remind me how as people of the theatre, we must be historians, philosophers, dreamers and risk takers. It's amazing how just reading a play can change the way you look at the world.

The next class I have is on Tuesday from 2-4, well it was. You see, I show up on the first day of this class excited. It is called "Introduction to the London Stage" and what you do is go to different plays around London and talk about it in class. I was excited to learn what we were going to be seeing, but the Professor never showed up. We all waited 30 minutes before we deiced to call it quits. We later got an email saying that the class time was moved to Wednesday from 11-1. This sort of made me sad. Wednesday was going to be my day to go into the city and go see a manatee like I did that Wednesday with Wicked (see below). BUT! I got an email saying that classes had been moved back to its original time and we had to buy tickets for a show next week... Still haven't had the class yet, but I can't wait to see what this class brings.

My last class was called  Devising Strategies. This is was fun. We learn about how to devise a play (creating a play with no script, just using a concept, theme or idea. Sort of like what I did last semester with Antigone 5.9 and The Divorce Play). We started the class by getting into groups and try to show how to create "flying" on stage. I felt like I contribute a lot to my group. Idea's kept poring out of my head and I felt like, at one point, a leader. Finally, we were given text from the book The Master and Margarita and had to figure out how to stage it. My group, I think, did a great job. I got to be Margarita on her broom, flying around the streets of Moscow ("Defying Gravity" was on repeat in my head the whole time). Afterwards, the Professor told me I was a great performer. This made my week. :) To bad the next class was cancelled due to the snow (Snow? I'm from Syracuse! Are you really going to cancel class because of two inches of snow?!)

Going Outside The Walls of Roehampton:

*One Short Day at Wicked:

I had to do something other then stay in my room when I had no classes, so during my first day off, I decided to go into the city all by myself and see the musical Wicked. I got the tickets online. I plan on taking a bus, a train and the Underground to get there. I got on google maps and worked out how to get there. I woke up early and left the school at around 11. The show started at 2:30, but I started out early because I wanted to make sure that I had time in case I got lost. I guess I'm really good at not getting loss because I got to the Theatre at 11:30. I had 3 hours o just walk around and kill time. I found this little shopping center near the theatre and spent time indoors. It was freezing. I also got a hot coco and had a quick lunch.

When it was finally time to head over to the theatre, I went inside and couldn't stop smiling. Everything was green in the lobby. I never really do a lot of shopping at the merchandise stand, but I did for this one and sort of went a little over bored. I got a Defying Gravity t-shirt (which is now my all time favorite shirt, ever), a poster for my room, a lanyard for my keys and a souvenir program (they don't give out Playbills or anything like that. If you want to know whose in the cast or musical numbers, you have to by a souvenir program). I was a little too excited while buying m new stuff. I started to make conversation with the sales lady, who was from America. I told her how I love this show, and it was my 3rd time seeing it, and how I saw Idina Menzel on Broadway, and how Defying Gravity was a big deal in my life... she didn't seem to mind me chatting her ear off.

Finally, I went inside the theatre and was so impressed with my seats I was super close and in the middle. I was so happy to here, at Wicked. There were a lot of school groups in the audience, which I didn't really mind. It actually made me happy and reminded me how the last time I saw Wicked was with me high school music department and how that time period in my life was one of the darkest and scariest to look back on. Seeing that performance of Wicked really inspired me to "Defy" that time in my life and the rest of my life.

The show started and (I feel so sorry for the couple sitting next to me) I started to cry through the opening number. It was beautiful and just stunning. I felt lost in the storytelling and music. I really want to be a part of this show. The was funny, beautiful, stunning and just great fun. I couldn't help but make little judgments here and there (Elphapa should be taller then Glinda!), but before I knew it, the first act was coming to a close and I had to prepare myself for "Defying Gravity." Right wen it started, I started to cry. I knew what it was like to be an outcast in society, to be told you can't, to have limitations put on me... No one told me I could never study abroad because people thought I should of finished high school with a GED, live in a group home, maybe get a part-time job, live on disability for the rest of my life and look at Theatre as a hobby. All of these thoughts and emotions were going through my head right before Elphapa's final verse. When Elphapa finally said "It's meeeeeee..." and 'flew', I lost it. I mean, that's me. I'm doing everything I want to do and not what people told me to do. The expectations I set for my life are not the ones Doctors/ Therapists/ School Officials have set for me. I'm Defying Gravity in many ways in this trip overseas and but I still think I have a lot more Gravity to Defy.

As the house lights came up, I wiped away the tears on my face and tried to enjoy the intermission. It was very busy at intermission. Wicked is more of a Circus then it is a musical in a theatre. People selling food everywhere, people eating lunches, people taking pictures... DON'T YOU HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR THE THEATRE GODS?!?

The rest of the show was great. It was overall a great production. In a lot of ways it was different from the National Tour and Broadway (I know in London, when Elphapa "dies" she doesn't go down a trap door because when Idina came over to do the show in London, she didn't want to repeat what happened to her on Broadway. Call her a diva all you want, but if you stared in a big Broadway musical and fell through the trap door... Yeah, I'd be a little upset, too.). I didn't want to leave the theatre. I knew there was going to be a talk back with the school groups, but since I haven't looked like an 8 year old in many years, I decided to just go back to Roehampton. It was a "Wonderful" day...

*From Green Witch to Greenwich

After Wicked, I didn't leave Roehampton till I went on a trip to Greenwich that Saturday. I woke up extremely tired. I had gotten an email the night before saying "Bundle Up!" and I was telling myself it wasn't going to be that bad ('I'm from Syracuse! It's not cold! It's Summer! You think snow is bad? Come to Syracuse!" - Syracuse pride.), but it was. I met the Study Abroad Group at the Library and we started off on our journey by getting on a bus and heading to the bus station at Putney Bridge. We kept on getting on and off trains. At one point, Sam, our lovable Roehampton Student Ambassador, got very confused and got the group lost for a few seconds. The look on his face was priceless when he realized we were not at the right station, but we go un-lost very quickly and we soon made it to our destination: The Tower of London.

By this time, it was cold and most of us were hungry. But it was mostly freezing ("But not me! This has nothing on Syracuse") and we all wanted to just get on the boat that took us to Greenwich. The boat ride was very nice. A pre-recorded voice over the PA gave us a little history of London. My favorite part about the PA was the pointless sound effects, like when when they were talking about "Jack the Ripper", you heard this 'swing' of a blade and a scream. Very effective. haha...

We got off the boat at Greenwich pier and even though it was mid-day, it was freezing. I wish I'd worn a hat or gloves (damn Syracuse Pride...). We met our tour guide who was a short woman with long blond hair who was English. When asked how we were feeling, we all said "Eh." Someone actually yelled out "Hungry!" (They keep on forgetting to feed the pamper US exchange students who are used to meal plans and big portions).

After telling us some of the history of Greenwich, we went to the "New" Palace. It's full of history and sadly, a lot of us had no clue about English History (I knew the history, but because of my parents telling me that I being a show off doesn't get you any friends...). We stood outside for what seemed like forever. I could feel the head cold just starting in my noes and throat. I was glad when we were told that we were going inside to The Painted Hall. The Painted hall was a dinning hall that was had every inch of it painted. When I walked in, my mouth dropped open. It was stunning. You could still smell the paint. The detail was intense and each Muriel talked about British History. It was so beautiful and I wanted to stay in there all they (and not just because it was warm). We left and went to a little chapel next door, which was lovely and had a beautiful origin.

After that, the tour guide took use to the Greenwich Mean Time. It's 0 degrees longitude and that clocks are set by Greenwich Time. To get to this place, we had to climb up this huge hill, and when I mean huge, I mean HUGE. By the time we got to the very top, I was out of breath and sweating. But it was worth the hike. The view was breathtaking and worth the flight. I started to feel thankful at this point, thankful that I could walk up this hill, thankful to be in London, thankful to have this experience and thankful to be alive. We took pictures from the top and then we each took turns putting one foot in the Western and Eastern Hemisphere .

We then started back down the hill and reached the little town and told we could explore until 5 pm. I stayed with my new friend, Becca and explored Greenwich Market ,this amazing market with all of these tables full of everything. After looking around, Becca and I felt hungry. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was past 4. We found this Mexican restaurant near the market and relaxed as we at nachos and really good tacos ("Can you believe it? We are Americans, eating Mexican Food in England!"). After dinner, we looked around the market for a few more minutes and met back up at 5 with the rest of the group. It took us a while to get back to Roehampton, but it was such a great day.

* It's not being brave when you are just living, right?

I've had a lot of people email me or facebooking me telling me how proud they are of me and they keep on calling me "brave." I'm a little shocked by this, to be honest. I always knew I was going to study abroad during my Spring semester of my Junior year, I always knew it was going to be a school in London, I knew I could do it.

But after thinking about it, maybe they are right to call me brave. Even people who never had the past I had would ever think about going outside of your comport zone and doing something that you don't know what the outcome will be. Who knows? Maybe, I'll have a major panic attack tomorrow and I'll have to fly home (knock on wood!).

To be frank, I'm proud of myself! Every mourning I've been here, I wake up relived that it's not been a dream, but real life (Or wait... is it a dream? Oh, my inner Segismundo just won't shut up!). But I feel as though this is only the beginning. Not just of school, but of my life. I'm serious. I know I have more great things going to happen in my life that this will one day be a memory in a book of many chapters. I know that I am bound to do great things in the near future. It's pretty remarkable. Having all of this confidence and positive thinking after 3 weeks.

Bed now. Class in the morning. 'm going to write more in my next post about what living on campus is really like and what I might say, may shock you.

Defy Gravity
Melanie