OPENING NIGHT!

It's opening night for our show! AND we're in a magazine! I'll post more tomorrow, probably, but it's been crazy busy for the last week and a half and this is mostly for me to check in and say I'm alive and things are good and OUR SHOW IS STARTING!! WOOO!

Have a link to that article :)

http://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/whats-on/previews/2054-play-almost-maine.html

Bye!

Meeting famous people! It's super fun.

We went to go see a show called The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre earlier this week. The show stars Julie Walters, who is most well known in the U.S. for playing Mrs. Weasley in the Harry Potter movies and for playing one of the friends in Mamma Mia. She was lovely and it was really interesting to see her on stage. But what made the night just brilliant was meeting one of the actresses I most idolize:
Helena Bonaham Carter.
YEAH.
HELENA. BONAHAM. CARTER. You know, Bellatrix, Mrs. Lovett, The Red Queen, Queen Elizabeth...
She's in London for the International Film Festival, but she and Julie Walters know one another from the HP movies and so she was at the theatre to see her perform!
We saw her during intermission near the bar. She was kind enough to give us autographs AND a picture!

She's the one on the far right, with the crazy hair

She was with some friends and we kept apologizing for taking up her time, but she was really nice about the whole thing. And she's shorter than me! I have hope! And apparently some of our classmates gave her a flyer for our show. I'd probably pee myself mid-scene if she showed up. It's not likely, but one can hope!

We then waited at the stage door for Julie Walters, but she never appeared. We're guessing they all escaped to one of the theatre's bars. But it was wonderful to see her on stage, and it was amazing to meet Helena Bonaham Carter. I'm still freaking out.

So, if we examine the list...I've met or seen:
Imelda Staunton
Michael Ball
Fiona Shaw
Julie Walters
Mark Rylance
Judi Dench
and Helena Bonaham Carter.

I love London.

Cultural Differences #3

1) Food. Well, buying groceries, really. At home, we go grocery shopping about once a week. Some weeks, not at all. Things don't expire as quickly, and they're sold in bulk. But here, expiration dates are within a few days for a lot of things, and they're sold in smaller amounts. Families usually go shopping two or three times a week. Which is actually kind of cool; fresh is the the thing here, and that's nice.

Another lovely things is how prevalent lamb meat is. At home it's not very common, but lamb here costs about the same as pork. It's still a bit more expensive, but not by much, and the area of the meat section devoted to it is about the same size as pork or beef. It's really nice because it means I can have more variety in my meat for not too much money. Rabbit, however, is just as elusive as ever. 

The thing about food here that made me happiest is nectarines. People here eat them the way we eat, I dunno, apples or oranges. And they're cheap! You can buy a four pack of nectarines (yup, a four pack) for one pound. It's great. I have taken to cutting my nectarines into little slices and putting them into a frying pan with butter and cinnamon. Occasionally I drizzle a little nutella on top. It's delicious and takes about 3 minutes to make. 

Quick fact: baking mixes don't seem to exist. Which is OK except when all you want is two biscuits to go with your tomato soup. Then it's a bit of a bummer. 

Lastly, instant coffee seems to be the only kind you can buy. Non-instant is called "proper coffee". But in the store, instant is just about all there is. The first few weeks we had some really crappy Maxwell House instant and it was bad. Fortunately we figured out which brand is the good stuff (Kenco, if you're curious), and it's actually quite tasty. 

2) Window screens. Or rather, the lack thereof. There are screens on every window that opens in the US. I haven't seen a single window screen here. It was a little worrying at first, because we were concerned about bugs, but we haven't had any problems of that nature yet. But apparently one flat in some year past had a bird fly in the window...here's hoping that doesn't happen this year. 

3) Smoking. Everyone smokes. It's a little gross actually. I mean, not in restaurants or the tube, but on the street and outside of buildings that you're entering, and outside the flats...I do kind of miss the American attitude towards smoking. 

I'll concede that when we've gone on our day trips to smaller cities, there is a lot less smoking. So it might just be a big city thing. Either way, it's a little gross. 

4) Double decker busses actually exist. Not just for tourists. They're the most common bus type on public transport. It's always a little exciting when stereotypes turn out to be true. 

5) On the subject of transportation... getting used to the wrong side of the road thing was a little weird, mostly when it comes to cross the street, but after a few weeks it was normal. What I can't get used to is the steering wheels being on what we think of as the passenger side of the car. I frequently panic when I see a car driving down the road and there's no one on the driver's side. It usually goes along the lines of "OH MY GOD. THAT CAR IS DRIVING ITSELF! OH MY GOD! THERE'S NO DRIVER!! IT'S GOING TO VEER OUT OF CONTROL!! AHHHHH!" And then I spot the person on the other side and remember and feel silly. 

More will come! There are a lot of weird things here :)

Seeing Fiona Shaw onstage!

I went to see Scenes From An Execution about a week ago. It stars Fiona Shaw, who is known to most for her role as Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies, but who is also incredibly famous for her work in theatre. She is one of my favorite actresses, and it was a treat to get to watch her on stage. I saw the show in preview, which was also very interesting, as I've never seen a preview before. It's not much different, and given that it's not a new script there isn't much likelihood of anything being changed, but it was a good experience nonetheless. The show itself was great. It centers on a 50-60 year old artist who  has been commissioned to paint a picture of a great war victory for a Venetian doge. But as she goes around talking to soldiers who were in the war, they tell her about bloodshed and fear, not glory and honor. So she paint a horrific scene of gore and death and ends up getting thrown in jail for blasphemy and so on.
The script is well written. But Shaw just made the show. She is probably the most honest actress I have ever seen. That's the big thing they tell us at school: "act honestly. With honest emotions and reactions. Don't fake it." She did so brilliantly. Additionally, the script calls for her character to wander around stage without a top or bra on at one point during the first scene. So the whole audience got to see a little more of Fiona Shaw than we otherwise might have wanted to. But it truly worked so well for the character and the show that it wasn't distracting. Which is even more proof  of Shaw's skill; she had such a great presence that it just became another aspect of the show, which isn't easy when it comes to on-stage nudity.
Because it was a preview, the cast had a meeting post-show, so I didn't get a chance to meet her at the stage door. The show runs for awhile yet, so I might go back some night when I know the show will be over and just wait for her at the door. Hopefully it'll work!

I'm alive! And Canterbury and Blenhiem Palace

I'm alive! Really and truly. I know it's been awhile since you've had an update, but here's one for you. Right now.

Holy history Batman! We went to Canterbury and Blenheim Palace. Not all in one day mind you. That would be a little crazy. Anyway.
Canterbury was supercoolandstuff. It is OLD. And very very interesting. Birthplace of Christopher Marlowe, early Saxon ruins, ancient pilgrimage sight (Oh hey Chaucer), medieval city wall still in tact all the way around (almost), AND I found a really great bookshop :). It was an great place to visit. I wish I could remember more, but it was almost three weeks ago. Sorry 'bout that...

The weekend after, we went to Blenheim Palace. Which is a Palace. In Blenheim. Crazy, no? Anyway, it's mostly famous for being Winston Churchill's birthplace and sort of kind of family home. It was built for the general who won the Battle of Blenheim during the War of the Spanish Succession on the sight of his victory. It is extremely opulent, the library and gardens especially. Can you imagine if this was your private library?

I mean...there's an organ. In the library. And you can't even see the side galleries or bay windows. It's one impressive library.
It's usually used for weddings now.

Being young and stupid in London

tldr: The London bus system is weird, and central london is a little creepy early in the morning.

Everybody is young and stupid at some point. Everybody has the adventures that make for great storytelling later in life. Everybody has the story they put on reserve for when they want to shock their children, who believe that their parents are nothing but stiff necked dictators, with tales of college parties or political riots or crazy music festivals (people who went to college in the 70's have the best stories).
I now have one of those stories.

I have stayed up until what-the-hell-'o lock in the morning before. But has previously involved either term papers or friends having an emotional crisis. It have never before involved wandering through central London  at 5:30am with two semi-inebriated classmates on a quest to get back to our own beds.

To those who are concerned about my well being: I am fine, nothing happened. My feet were sore, I was tired, and a lesson has been learned. But I will admit that it was quite the adventure and while I am not keen to repeat it, I did have a good bit of fun, in around the exhaustion.

Part of our studies in the UK are done through another arts school just outside of London. One of the courses of study they offer their students is called American Theatre Arts, and includes a year of study in the US. Those students are called ATAs (surprise!) and we take one of our classes with the first years. They live about 30 minutes away by train. We have been invited out there twice for house parties; I didn't go the first time.  I went the second.
It was a huge party, half house party, half ushering-in-the-new-school-year party. It must be remembered, though, that the drinking age in Great Britain is 18, but most people start drinking at around 14. You know, having a glass of wine with dinner etc etc. Drinking is much more casual. And people here don't just drink a glass or two of something. People here drink. Holy cow. I don't drink at all, and it was very interesting to watch the night progress, to say the least.
The ATAs thought we were all going to stay at their flat last night and catch a morning train out, around 9:00 or so. But we all wanted to go home and get back to our own beds. But we stayed out until 3:00am. The first train out is at 6:30. So we thought "we'll catch one of the 24 hour night busses"! Turns out, that's WAY easier said than done. After wandering around their neighborhood for awhile to find a bus stop for one of said busses, half of the group went back to the ATAs' flats to spend the night. So two of my classmates and I went off to find a bus stop. One of them was pretty drunk, the other barely tipsy, and I was sober. We finally found one! It was one of the most relieving moments I have ever experienced. We made at least 5 route transfers to account for the wonky night-bus system, basically taking whichever bus took us in the direction of the flats, and at one point found ourselves at 5:30am wandering around Piccadilly Circus looking for the correct bus stop to transfer. It was a bit frightening. Lots of men standing on litter-filled sidewalks offering rickshaw rides, drinks, asking for change, looking you up and down, reaching for your purse and pockets...finding that bus stop usurped the "most relieving moment" position. We took that bus to another stop and then, this is straight out of a movie, it started raining. It stopped about three minutes later, but still.
Anyway, we finally arrived at a bus stop from which we knew how to get to the flats and just pathetically shuffled home. We were all exhausted, cold, and hungry and just collapsed into sleep. At 6:15am.
We should have stayed at the ATAs' flats.

Lesson learned: walk fast, look forward, keep a hand on your purse, and accept hospitality. It was lovely to wake up in my own flat, in my own bed. But the morning train would have been OK too.

Review: One Man, Two Guv'nors and meeting the cast!!

Theatre: Theatre Royal Haymarket

Date of show: September 11, 2012

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Synopsis: One Man, Two Guv'nors is based on the classic Commedia dell'arte play Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni. The play is about exactly what it sounds: our main character, Francis, ends up with two jobs, working as a servant for two bosses, and he has to keep all of their affairs in order while keeping the two of them apart. Mistaken identity and love stories abound.

The play was just...incredible. It's unbelievably funny, smart, silly, and brilliantly written. The cast was phenomenal. The first scene was a bit mild, in terms of laughs, but by the end of the show my abdomen was actually sore from laughing; the show picks up very quickly. If you have the chance to see it, do. It's bawdy and stupid and at the same time very smart. The actors blew me out of the water. Go see this show if you can. 

My only complaint about the show was that we had to read the script before hand for class, so some of the "surprise" and "improved" jokes were ruined for us. BUT the actors did such a great job of acting those moments that they were still absolutely gut-busting and wonderful.

AND THEN
My roommate and I went to the stage door after the show and we got pictures with almost the whole cast! It was *awesome*. They were all so wonderful, and the lead even asked about our show in October! I doubt he'll come, but it would be so cool if he did, and the fact that he was interested at all was great. It was just wonderful to get to talk with them. We got to chat with one guy about his stunts (which are hilarious) and with another about his crazy quick changes (really fast costumes swaps). It was just...so great.

THIS PLAY. SO GOOD.

Seriously. New favorite play, I think. Though I just read War Horse, and the script is amazing and we go see it next week...

Review: Richard III

Theatre: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Date of show: September 8, 2012

Director: Tim Carroll

Synopsis: The play centers on the Richard III, who's aim throughout the play is to become king.

tldr: Great actors, dry script, misplaced comedic moments. 

We saw our second Shakespeare play on Saturday the 8th. We saw Richard III, one of the histories. The show is generally considered his most popular history play, and is sometimes actually classified as a tragedy.

The big highlight of the show was the actor Mark Rylance, who played Richard. He's THE Shakespearean actor. He's very famous in theatre, but only really for Shakespeare. He's done other things, but he became famous for his Shakespearean work, and has just kept on doing it. He's incredible, and was one of the only great things about the show. 

This cast was an all-male company. Which was interesting to watch, and the men playing women were, for the most part, good. The actor playing Lady Anne (Richard's wife) was terrible as a woman, but was later good when he played a different male role. 

My biggest problem with the show was the script; I've always found the histories to be dry. I'm also not sure I like how Rylance interpreted Richard. He's usually played as a very dark character, but Rylance pulled out the humor in the show, which was nice until it interrupted the flow of a serious scene. That happened a number of times, and it was actually kind of bothersome because it always happened right when there was going to be a great, dramatic tension and then release, but the audience never quite got to the height of the tension because Rylance broke it. And so we never got any real emotional satisfaction or substance to the characters for the most part. 

The only character who I felt any great connection to was Queen Margaret, but it only came at the very end, when she was mourning the death of her children (remember that a man played the role). 

Unlike Taming of the Shrew, when I forgot how long we were standing and didn't even feel like my feet hurt because I was so engrossed in the show, I was acutely aware of how tired I was and how much I wanted the show to end. 

I think the director should have gone for more drama than comedy and allowed the audience to really connect with the actors, especially Rylance's Richard. 

Cambridge!

We went to Cambridge on Friday!
It was good fun. The drive is about an hour and a half, and we had a lovely tour from an extremely knowledgeable tour guide. We went to Queen's and King's colleges. Pictures will come.
I bought a hoodie, since I didn't bring one, and it's nice. I guess there isn't a ton to post, but I will say that the King's College Chapel is beautiful...more like a cathedral than a chapel. It was very cool to see the town. It's small but really nice. It's a town that pretty clearly popped up around the school, rather than the other way around. A picture post will follow soon.

UPDATE:
I lied, it seems. We saw some very cool things, but at 9:00 at night two days later I forget things.
We saw the lab where Watson and Crick discovered the molecular structure of DNA, and then ate in the pub where they announced said discovery. We also saw the lab where scientists were successful at intentionally spliting the atom for the first time. It had been done before, but mostly by accident.
So that was, you know, just a little bit superawesomecoolandstuff. Just a little.

Review: Taming of the Shrew and JUDI DENCH

Theatre: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Date of show: September 4, 2012

Director: 

Synopsis: The Taming of the Shrew "Two wealthy sisters in Padua must be married off. The modest, demure Bianca has no shortage of suitors, but who on earth will take the wild, ungovernable, shrewish Katherina? Only the gold-digging Petruchio, a man as maddeningly strong-willed and perverse as Katherina herself, is equal to the task of bullying her to the altar."

The production was WONDERFUL. Everything a typical bawdy, Shakespearean comedy should be. The woman who played Katherina, or Kate, was too old by about twenty years, but she was otherwise spectacular. 
My only complaint is that some of the humor detracted from the text, in that it took over some particular moments. For instance, the guy playing Petruchio, who was incredible, was wearing nothing but a codpiece (a speedo, basically), and a pair of boots. But it was well placed, and was only moderately distracting. 

The best part of the show was that Dame Judi Dench was in the audience! The woman playing Kate was directed by Dench in a production of The Boys from Syracuse a few years ago, so we're guessing that she came to see her perform. But she was there. And it was awesome. I almost fainted. So did most of the rest of us. Because...I mean...Judi Dench. 

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES #2

1) Inanimate objects are very polite: elevators, warning signs, the underground...everything, but not so much the city people. The elevator in the building where our classroom is located warns you when the doors are about to close and open: same with the tube. "The doors are about to close. Please stand clear of the doors. The doors are about to close. Thank you." And when there are delays: "We regret to inform all passengers on the District and Circle lines that there are moderate delays. We apologize for any inconvenience."
My favorite things was the alarm warning on the tube. The alarm was attached to the wall of the tube interior and instead of saying "Warning: Do Not Press Alarm" like it would in the US, it said "Please be aware of this alarm. Please do not activate alarm. Thank you for your cooperation."

The people, on the other hand, are the epitome of the city-dweller stereotype, at least in London. The residents of Cambridge (see next post) were very nice, but it's a much smaller town.

2) Closing times. Everything opens late and closes early. It's a big deal that Primark (think Target) just announced that they will now be open from 8:00am to 8:00pm during the week. And on Sundays? It's not worth trying to go anywhere to buy things. They open late and close early. It's kind of nice, that the workers get to go home etc., but if you're used to everything being open until at least 9:00pm, it can throw you off a bit.

3) When I was on the subway in New York or in Washington DC, it was LOUD. People chattering and playing music and so on. Here it's silent; talking is weird, and should be done at a low volume.

4) Traffic rules and signs are not so much laws as REALLY REALLY REALLY loose guidelines. It's terrifying, and I don't think I ever want to be in a vehicle on London streets ever again. The bus to Cambridge was scary. Unfortunately, we're going to Canterbury this next weekend, so we'll be cruising through London again on our way in and out of town. I'm scared.

5) Prices. Are wonderful. Right now the exchange rate is just over $1.50 for each British pound. This makes figuring exchange rates pretty easy. Food, especially, is very comparatively inexpensive. Even more so when you consider that taxes are already figured into the prices posted in the stores.

6) And Alex tells me that I should post about how street name signs are posted on the sides of building, rather than on sign posts.

Review: Chariots of Fire (the play)

Theatre: Gielgud

Date of show: September 3, 2012

Director: Edward Hall

Synopsis (from Wikipedia): Chariots of Fire is a 2012 stage adaptation of the 1981 Oscar-winning film of the same name. Production of the Olympic-themed play, which opened at London's Hampstead Theatre 9 May and transferred to the West End on 23 June, is partially inspired by the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

tldr: The production focused too much on presentation, which was very good, as it a happens, and not enough on the content, which was less than fulfilling.

I am glad to have seen Chariots of Fire.

I will not go see it again.

The show is interesting in many respects, but falls very short in others.

The set is GREAT and uses a two-part turn table; there is an outer ring and an inner circle. They can move independently or together. There was also a fake track built as part of the set...(see below)

The staging of the show was wonderful: it included running warm ups and exercises as choreography/synchronized symbolic-y movement things and some very well done demonstrations using strobe lights and actors as moving slides...(see below)

The turntable was well used and really added wonderfully to the staging.

The lights were also quite good, and the sound design was very effective.

Basically, the show's tech work was superb.

The script was very much not.

It moved too quickly, was all over the place, and allowed for no emotional attachment to the characters, which they didn't seem to even try for. The main dilemmas for each of the main characters were fairly shallow and were never developed nor resolved. The love interests felt awkwardly tucked in around the main action, like an afterthought, which was disappointing, and there was some unnecessary music stuffs in there, which I think was meant to help set tone etc., but failed to do so, and I think the time allocated to mood music would have been better spent on the non-existent character development. There were some funny moments, but they didn't make up for the rest of the script.

The general consensus from the whole class is that the script was miserable. Some people agree with me about the staging, others didn't care for it. It is widely agreed that the lights and set were really good.

The actress playing the love interest of Abraham was just...not that great. She wasn't bad, but she seemed insincere and almost uninterested. One of my classmates phrased it as “the actors just seemed tired.”. I don't about all of them, but she certainly did.

The actress playing the love interest of Eric was very good, but her character is Canadian, and she occasionally slipped into her native Irish, I think it is, for a vowel or two. It wasn't frequent...maybe three times, and anyone who isn't native to the US/Canada likely wouldn't have noticed.

The coach, the Prince, the two main runners, and their team manger were all good for the most part, but I could have asked for more connection with the audience.

There was one very good bit about the script: 

The production started with some cast members on the stage dressed in modern running clothes stretching etc. This lasted for probably about five-ten minutes before the lights went down. The modern runners were then brought back at the end of show dressed in the British Olympic uniform, and the runners were mixed in with those dressed in the old Olympic uniforms. It was really cool to see the melding of the old and the new styles. 

Anyway, first West End show! It was a good if not totally fulfilling experience. But you learn something from even the shows you don't like, and I'm glad to have seen it. 

WHY FLAT DOORS SHOULD ALWAYS BE LOCKED AT NIGHT.

WHY FLAT DOORS SHOULD ALWAYS BE LOCKED AT NIGHT.

When one is jet lagged, tired, distracted, and the time is 12:15am, important things can be forgotten. The problem lies in what sort of thing it is you forget.
In our case, it was to lock the flat door.
Most of our class arrived in London between 9:00am and noon on our first day, but one of my flat mates wasn't landing at Heathrow until 11:00pm because of a desire to save money. I cannot fault her for this. I offered to stay up to meet her, an one of our classmates joined us. She arrived as expected at the flats at 12:00am, and he and I showed her the way up to our flat, he went off to his flat and she settled herself a bit.
I was exhausted and moderately delirious. I immedietly went to sleep, and she went onto the back balcony to call home.
I hadn't told her that the door doesn't always lock behind you because, well, I forgot about it. We'd only arrived that morning after all. And she didn't know to ask about it so...
A few minutes later, I heard a knock at the door, and then heard the door open. I figured the guy who had waited up with us had come back in to check on things, or something, and so when I heard a guy's voice holler "hello", I didn't think much of it. When a second voice joined the first, I figured another classmate must have come along. Then I heard the accents. We're guessing Italian.
There they were, in our kitchen door talking to my poor confused flat mate, and the two of them, about our age, were absolutely wasted. They were very friendly, and when they were told to "get out", they did so, after introducing themselves and offering us drinks and would we like to come upstairs for drinks (yeah..."drinks"). They were firmly but politely led out the door, and it was locked behind them. My flat mate and I proceeded to stare at each other in dazed amazement and then burst out laughing. We didn't stop for a good five minutes.
Then we crashed.
But. Lesson learned: ALWAYS LOCK YOUR FLAT DOOR.

IN LONDON!

I'M IN LONDON!
I've actually been here for nearly two days now, but I just now finally got my butt on to the internet.
Our flight went well, though neither Pip nor myself could sleep; there was a baby, an old man who snored, and the flight crew kept forgetting to close the curtain to their area, so the florescent light leaked through, and it kept hitting our seat directly. I used my headband as an eye mask.
Our time has been taken up mostly with shopping for necessities and unpacking, but Gary (the professor who is here with us) has been leading us around and getting us acquainted with the neighborhood.
The nearest tube stop is about a five minute walk, and the main classroom no more than 3, depending on when you hit the traffic light. The Tesco is 10-15 minutes away, but there is a Tesco Express around the corner from the flat, which is no more than 5ish minutes.

Today Gary took us out to central London and showed us around the theatre district, and took us to buy our books. We took the tube to the Westminster stop, and as we came up the stair out of the station, there was Big Ben. Just across the street. Looming and being impressive. Pictures will be up soon. We then passed the Eye, which is enormous, and made our way to the National Theatre, for the aforementioned books.

Pictures, more stories, etc will be up tomorrow, but for tonight I have to go finish reading and running lines...and sleep. Until then!

I'M ON MY WAY!

I'm currently sitting the Green Bay airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago, where I'll meet my friend Pip and we'll wait for our flight to London. My suitcase ended up being 44 pounds, which I'm quite proud of. I did have to sacrifice a pair of brown boots and a few other things, but I can live with that. I actually ended up having to switch suitcases after I had packed everything the first time because the pull-up handle wouldn't work. That was a tad frustrating, but I'm now using a bright purple suitcase, which is kind of fun...
My backpack is full to bursting, and I have a second bag that I'm taking on with my camera and a few other things in it, as well as my coat, which I wasn't going to even try to pack. Besides, it's apparently going to be quite chilly and windy in London when we arrive, so I might end up actually using it.

I have a five and a half hour layover in Chicago...blech...but Pip is planning to keep me company, which is very nice of him. When I told him he didn't need to bother he replied with "I once had a 9 hour layover in Detroit. I'm coming to keep you company." And I'm not going to argue, of course. We'll likely spend the time running lines and kicking up mischief. Our flight leaves at 8:00pm our time, and lands at 10:00am London time.We are, I think, the first group to get in, excepting two of our classmates who are landing at 6:00am because that's when the cheapest flights are. Poor things :\ Two of our friends land 10 minutes after we do, so we're planning to meet them somewhere in the baggage claim/customs area.

Anyway, we board in twenty minutes, so I'm off! More updates will come :)

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES #1

I've not even left the states and I'm already seeing some very interesting cultural differences. I have a lovely cookbook given to me by some family friends upon their return from the UK, and it is full of traditional teatime recipies. BUT. There are some oddstuffs happening in that cookbook.

1) The British are apparently extremely fond of baking their pastries etc. for a LOOOOONG TIME. I think at least five recipies have cook times from 1 to 2 hours, and one even has 2 1/2! Holy cow. I thought "perhaps they cook on very low heat?" NOPE. 350 or higher, excepting one recipe, which cooks at 325.
British people, apparently, have far more patience when it come to their biscuit recipies than I do.

2) Speaking of temperatures...after every degree given (in Farenheights...this is after all a book meant for tourists) they have written a "Mark". For example: "Bake at 350 degrees or Mark 6..." This is very interesting to me, especially as both 450 and 425 areMark 8. It sounds a bit impresise, but what do I know about British food? It will be interesting to see what the oven in our flat says.

3) British recipes often use the following : caster suger, self-rising flour, mixed/candied peel, and curd. Caster sugar, as explained by Mom, can be made by chuffing regular sugar into a small blender and giving it what-for. Self-rising flour apparently means the baking soda is mixed in, and curd means straight up cheese curd. This confuses me a bit, as I don't think any old cheese curd would do...can you imagine sharp chedder cheese curds as part of a sweet pastry recipie? Blech. Mom (who I swear know everything) suggests that it would be more like ricotta cheese. And apparently mixed and candied peel each can be bought at any time of the year, though I've only seen them around Christmas time here. They also seem to LOVE grated lemon rind, in everything. I mean, just love it. Fortunately I do too, so that works out nicely :)

4) There is also a plethora of odd devices in which to bake these recipies. They all have equivilants to commonly used tins etc here with the exception of a "sandwich tin", which I have never once heard of, and won't try to guess at.

5) One of the most intriguing types of recipes is Parkin, which comes in Leeds, Sticky and others. Parkin is put into a tin, like a Spam tin, apparently, and left to sit for awhile, which just sounds interesting and odd.

6) Words: golden syrup is corn syrup, treacle is molasses (which you should all know from Harry Potter), biscuit is cookie, and pudding means dessert (also seen in Harry Potter). 

7) and of course there's the bit where they weigh everything, as opposed to using measuring cups and spoons.

Cooking my office treats tonight (see previous post) will be an adventure, I'm sure. Pictures might follow, if I take any.

UPDATE: According to Google images, this is a sandwich tin. WHY it's called a sandwich tin, I have no clue. I'm not sure where the sandwich part comes from. I think I'll stick with "springform pan".

The beginning of the end!

Tomorrow is my last day at work! At 5:00pm tomorrow, my attention will totally and completely shift to preparing for London! Ahh!
I'm bringing in farewell/thank you treats for the office, which I'm excited for. I've opted to prepare some dishes that come straight from Britain. They will be Treacle Tart, Jam Tarts (in mini muffin size), and possibly millionare shortbread, which Mom suggested, and which I hadn't heard of until she did. I'm hoping they all go over well, but I've neither eaten nor prepared any of the above foodstuffs. There are more fancy and delicious sounding thing I might have decided to make, but they all insist on cooking for 1 to 2 hours, which is so not happening...

THIS IS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!! dumdumdumdum

COUNTDOWN TO DAY OF DEPARTURE:  TODAY IS THE DAY! I'M ON MY WAY!!

COUNTDOWN TO DAY OF ARRIVAL:  WE LAND TOMORROW AT 10:00! WAHOOOO!

MY PERSONAL LEVEL OF FREAKING OUT:  I'm just beyond words now. I'm generally exhibiting stupid grins and dancing in place! I'm so excited!

Introduction and COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE!

I told my mom I'd keep a blog while overseas so...

Welcome to my blog! For those who don't know me, my name is Lydia, and I'm a third year Theatre major/Music minor from the United States. I'm heading over to London, England for three and half months on August 31st, 2012 to study theatre with the rest of my class (SO EXCITED!)
This is where I will post at least (I hope) once a week about what sorts of silly things those British oddballs do, and what sort of adventures studying theatre in the UK brings.
My blog is mainly for family members and such types who want updates more detailed than the occasional Facebook status will provide, but all are very welcome to read/comment/whatever. As such, my blog will pertain mostly to, well, me. For more general updates, the professor who is in charge of the program in London also has a blog, which will discuss the sorts of things we all do. Check out Gary's (the prof's) blog for more all-around adventures! And probably more regular posts.... http://smumn-london.blogspot.com/

Note: between now and the 31st, posts will be sparse. The good stuff will come!

COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE: 14 DAYS