So Little TIme!

Definitely sticking with this Mary Kate and Ashley thing...

So I new this would happen, but I am clearly the WORST at keeping a blog, but I promise it is not my fault!! Between UNC Honors classes, an internship, UNC outings, da gym, homework, and London nightlife, I have not had any spare time at all!

But let's see, where did I leave off? 

Monday, January 17th- We had orientation ALL day.  Tour of Winston House, Senate House Library (which is amazing), and the University of London's Student Union.  My flatmates and I all joined the gym at the Student Union and have been going on an almost daily basis.  Monday night we went to see 39 Steps and it was wonderful! It was a comedy at the Criterion Theatre and was such a wonderful production.  We ate at Wagamama before the show, which is like a noodle restaurant. My food was not the best, but everyone else's looked great, so I think I'll be going back and trying something else!  

Tuesday, January 18th- Today we started classes for the term.  Tuesdays are definitely my busiest day. For our art class we take a trip to a different art museum in London every week.  This week was the Courtauld Gallery and it was amazing to see some of the most famous art pieces in the world.  We then have a quick lunch break and then theatre class and the Global City class.  So I'm in class from 10-5:30 on Tuesday.  Each Tuesday night we go and see a theatre performance and tonight we went to the Tricycle theatre and saw Midsummer, which was excellent!

Wednesday, January 19th- Today was FDOC again. 

Since, our internships did not start until the next week our weekend began Wednesday night.  Friday night we all went to the second most popular night club in the world, Fabric, and it was wild! We all had fun and have been trying to meet local people at pubs some nights.  

The next week we had class and visited the National Gallery and saw Rivals at the Haymarker Theatre. The play was average, but the costumes and wigs were terrible and my Mom could have definitely done a much better job.

Wednesday was the big day I started my internship.  I will be working Wednesdays from 9:30-1:30 and then Fridays from 9:30-6, with some Thursdays thrown in there at times.  The first day went really well and Whatsonstage.com does a lot more than I expected.  Not only do they maintain their website and keep it very current with theatre news, gossip, discount tickets, and more, but they also book group outings to see shows at a discounted rate if you join and honestly, it is an awesome deal if you love going to the theatre.  They basically do everything for you.  I will be writing a lot of news articles, checking for news, calling people, learning how to use a website, learning A LOT about British stars in West End musicals and other shows, and helping with their Awards Show, which is legit.  Some famous people seem to be coming to these awards and I think it will be a great opportunity.  Friday went very well too and I have an hour lunch break then. I am going to treat myself on Fridays and go out and eat lunch at a cute cafe and pretend to be European.  

Thursdays, unless they ask me to work, are my day off, which I need because I added a class.  So now I have four honors classes and my internship and therefore, need the day to work and explore London.

This weekend we took a trip to Stourhead, Stonehenge, and Jane Austen's home at Chawton.  Stourhead and Chawton were beautiful and Stonehenge was interesting, but we could not get close at all.  It was ALSO freezing!!  We went to a really fun Spanish club Saturday night and danced a lot! I had the best time and really hope to meet some locals soon!

This week has already gone by so quickly. I had class yesterday and then hit the gym for a good workout.  Today was rough to say the least. Monday Rachel and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum which has a Theatre section and it is the most legit museum ever. They have a costume section and set boxes on display and other cool theatre things that of course I fell in love with. The coolest thing was the set model for 'Sweeney Todd' on display because the production I worked with this summer had a similar set! We had to get up pretty early and walk 40 minutes to the Tate Modern Museum on the Thames.  It was neat though because we got to see St. Paul's and many other interesting places in the City of London.  The Tate Modern was once a power building and it is huge and has seven floors.  It is also VERY chilly in there, but the art made up for it.  We even got to see a piece by Dali! Then we had class until 5:30, rushed back to the flat to change and headed out to see A Flea In Her Ear at the Old Vic Theatre.  THE SHOW WAS FANTASTIC. It was quite possibly one of the funniest shows I've seen in my life and I laughed the entire time.  The cast was spectacular and I could probably write my whole blog about this play, but I'll save you from that if you have read this far.

I haven't seen a musical yet, but I am going to try to this weekend.  Some of my flatmates are going to Scotland so I should have a lot of time to explore London.  I am planning on going to Scotland either at the end of February or at the end of March.  

Here are some pictures because I know it's cooler to look at pictures than read my blog. I miss everyone so much and love you all!

Stourhead

Grotto at Stourhead

Jane Austen's kitchen

Rachel and I at Stonehenge

Jane Austen's house

Buckingham Palace

Our Bedroom

Living Room

Kitchen

My boy Kevin at a concert we went to.

Trafalgar Sqaure

Steve and a lion.

Best of Order in London, please!

So I made it to London around 8 a.m. London time yesterday morning! The first day was a lot of unpacking and trying to become adjusted to the area of London we are in.  My flat is pretty nice, although I am in a three person room so there is not much space. We do have two bathrooms and two showers, so for five girls, that is nice! The grocery store we will be shopping at most of the time is Sainsbury and Boots is like CVS and we've already made two trips there!

We are all still getting over jet lag and trying to adjust to the time change.  Last night we went to our first London pub called "London Pub."  We had fish and chips and beers on our first night in London and it was a lot of fun! About half of the people on my program went.  Then we came back to the flat and tried to get over jet lag around nine, but I couldn't fall asleep until 11 even though I was so exhausted.

Today we took a bus/boat/walking tour of London.  It was my first time on a double decker bus and we sat on top where it was open for a bit, but then the rest of the time it got too cold so we had to sit on the inside!  It is such a huge city, well it is really divided into the City of London and the City of Westminster, but I cannot wait to explore all of it! We saw many of the big monuments like Big Ben and Parliament and it was great way to start the trip because the tour was just a major overview of London. I have a feeling on the weekends I will be just taking the tube to all the fantastic places in London.  Our first tour guide was named Ian and he was legit. He insisted we get this shot of Big Ben and the London Eye because he said it was not on any postcard! Our other two tour guides were quite fussy and asked us to keep "best of order" while they were speaking. We obliged and were quiet, but I think by this time a lot of us were so tired it was hard to pay attention.

We also took a boat ride down the Thames.  We could see the Globe Theatre and many other London landmarks I am determined to explore.  The most exciting part of the day so far though was seeing the Palace Theatre (where I will be working) in person!! We did not go in of course but the musical "Prisicilla" is playing there and I cannot wait to get started! 

Tonight we are going to the restaurant TAS with all 17 people on my program and our head professor, James Thompson.  It is a turkish place which will be new for me, but I think it will be very good! Tomorrow we have orientation all day at Winston House (UNC's building in London) and at the University of London, where we will have access to their libraries, clubs, and organizations. Tomorrow night we are going to Wagamama, a noodle chain, and Piccadilly Circus! I will post more pictures soon!

The Adventure Begins

      So today is the day I finally leave for London for five months! I can't believe in less than one day I will be in my flat and starting my life abroad.  I hope my cool and hip friends love the title of my blog and it is definitely dedicated to all you Mary Kate and Ashley fans out there!  Although I am nervous/sad about leaving loved ones, I am extremely excited to get this trip started (especially after being snowed/iced in all week in Gastonia without any friends).

      Hopefully this blog will help everyone who wants to keep up with my classes, internship, travels, and life in general.  I will try and update it often and post cool pictures (probably some really touristy ones too as requested by Lauren Scarborough, who should make a twitter).

      For those of you who don't know, I am doing an internship at the Palace Theatre with a website called Whatonstage.com.  It works a lot with providing tickets for West End musicals (perfect for me!) and other theatre opportunities for people in London.  I am so excited! Here is a picture of the Palace Theatre:

I hope everyone who reads this will send me their addresses so I can mail you all postcards! Just email them to me at blackar@email.unc.edu.  My flight leaves at 6:20 pm Friday evening and I will arrive in London at 7:20 am. Saturday morning.

"As a student in London, I had seen so many shows, so many plays and had seen so many greats of the day."- David Naughton


I love this quote because I am completely motivated to see as many musicals and plays as I can while in London. I will also be traveling around the rest of the UK and on the continent, but I know my time in London will mean the most to me and I cannot wait to arrive! I hope you all keep in touch and have a great spring!