Can you believe it is already midterm? One more week of class and we have our spring break! We did not have a remarkably exciting week (hence the lack of posts) but there were a few highlights...
A VERY IMPORTANT DATE!
On Thursday, I got up at about 5 AM, packed my book bag, and ran to Leicester Square in the West End. Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) is the center of the West End theatre district, but also houses two gigantic cinemas that often host world premieres. Well...this Thursday was the royal world premiere of Alice in Wonderland!
Sara was working all day, but I got to the square at about 7 AM, just in time to get a spot right on the red carpet. Well actually, the carpet was green! People were dressed up all around me, some of them pretty impressive.
Leicester Square was transformed in a matter of hours into a Wonderland of its own. Hundreds of posters were put up, the green carpet rolled out, and giant topiaries put up to welcome the stars.
And the stars were out in full force. The full cast of the movie (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, and others) was there for the big debut, and I was inches away! Also appearing were Avril Lavigne, Sharon Osbourne, and the man himself...Tim Burton!!! This was also a royal premiere, so Prince Charles made an appearance! This is a pic I snapped as Johnny came by!
It was rainy and cold and I stood over 12 hours in the same spot, but it was worth it. Just being there and seeing the stars was amazing, but I got autographs from Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and Sharon Osbourne!!! It was definitely a day to remember!
Check out the BBC interview on the green carpet here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8537854.stm
(If you look really closely, you can see me over the left shoulder of the actors. I was directly across from the press box, wearing a gray sweater and dark coat.)
NEW THEATRE
Monday, after a loooong day of classes, we got out of our internship class early. Just early enough that if I sprinted to the tube, I may be able to catch some theatre in the West End. Sara wasn't up to it, so I took off (actually running down the streets of London). I was hoping to see A Man of No Importance, but when I got to theatre at 7:31, I found that there was no Monday performance. So I quickly went over all the shows I remembered seeing on the way. I ran to An Inspector Calls down the street...no show. Then I ran to The Little Dog Laughed...and found a 7:45 show with student tickets in the stalls! Perfect! What I did not realize was how much of an impact the show would have on me. It was one of those things that seems like it is speaking directly to you. Powerful, edgy, sexy, funny--it was just what I needed! I will be going back to see it again with Sara sometime.
Tuesday we saw a dance/theatre show called Breathing Irregular. It was a very powerful new show that put together stories of 999 phone calls with dance. (999 is the British 911).
I did make it to A Man of No Importance on Wednesday. Again I went alone, but I had dead center third row seats and enjoyed it very much. As I sat there laughing at jokes aimed at Brits, I felt like I was laughing at my own country.
I think that is something to be mentioned, and pretty much sums up our week. We are so settled in our life here. It seems odd that we would spend a whole day waiting in line or a whole day indoors doing absolutely nothing, but that is just what we did this week...
SLEEPOVER!!!
This weekend Sara and I had nothing to do so we simply did nothing! All of her roommates were gone for the weekend, so I crashed at her place for two days. We watched a lot of Olympics, and cooked a fantastic breakfast one night. We also started the Romeo X Juliet anime series, which I have become addicted to. Sara has plans for us to cosplay as Romeo and Juliet someday. I can see it...
Hours and hours later, we had accomplished absolutely nothing and it felt wonderful!
So off to another week of class...but we are close to spring break and we have finally made a decision on what we are doing over break...Paris!!!
More on that soon.
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