Well, it's been over a month since my last post, but let's be honest, it's about par for the course for me. A lot has happened since my last ramble, so let's get right to it, shall we?
Christmas
I'm single, 28 and I don't drink, so what was I do to for Christmas in a foreign country? Whatever I want!
First of all, Here's a fun London fact: There is absolutely NO public transit on Christmas. Nothing. All transit workers get the day off. I expected limited transit, but given the scope of London, I was surprised to learn it shuts down. And then I was really impressed. Good for them! It was great.
The empty London streets on Christmas morning.
I spent the day with my "Kiwi" friend, who has also just moved here. Her flat is about a 45min walk from my place. It was so nice to walk down the empty streets. I never could have imagined London so deserted. We spent the day talking, eating junk food and watching movies. We also went out for a Christmas Walk/Silly Photo Scavenger Hunt in Kensington Gardens!
This is my "photo with a statue". Hello, Peter Pan!
I went home in the evening and Skype-called my family. I talked to my older sister and her two kids, who have been trained since birth to talk to faces on computer screens. They showed off their presents; my nephew received a "Loki" action figure and my niece received Disney princess dolls of "Belle" and "Rapunzel", all of which I heartily approved. I then had some time to catch up with my sister's life. When I called my parents, where all of the "action" was happening, I found myself feeling quite a part of the proceedings, even though I was a face on an iPad screen. It was my little niece's second Christmas, but her first where she's been able to walk, so she was the designated present-giver. It was also her first experience with a Skype call. She couldn't quite figure out why I was on "the black shiny thing." At one point, the iPad was placed on the floor and I could see she was trying to examine it in some way, when suddenly everyone started laughing and they told me that she was trying to sit on it in an attempt to sit on my lap! Gah! That just pulls on the heartstrings, doesn't it? And there I experienced my first proper homesickness since moving to London.
All I needed to do was add a few BBC Christmas specials to my day and it was complete! I spent a lazy Boxing Day back at my friend's flat and waited for the arrival of my little sister to cure my Christmas home-sickness.
Sisters Re-United
Hailey arrived on Dec 27 and we just enjoyed London for a few days. She's visited before, so the touristy things were already taken care of. She was quite content to just walk around and enjoy the fact the I LIVE in London.
Ah, together again.
Hailey seemed to have forgotten how tall I am until this moment.
She was not impressed.
Hmm...Do you suppose we're related?
We do love each other, really.
Our pre-New Year highlight was going to see Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" which is now finishing up it's run at the Donmar Warehouse. It stars Tom Hiddleston (War Horse, The Avengers) and Mark Gatiss (Mycroft in and co-writer of BBC's Sherlock, as well as Doctor Who.) I barely scraped tickets during the 20min sell out back in June. The show was amazing. The Donmar is a very small theatre, with only 250 seats, so even our "nosebleed" seats were great. The design was very minimalist and the use of the space just blew me away. The performances were amazing. There really is something special about a live performance. I've seen 4 of the cast members in films before this, but to see them in a live environment has such a different quality to it. The Kiwi and I are going to the live broadcast tomorrow night and I am really excited to watch it again and to finally be able to talk with her about it, as I've been holding back spoilers for a month now! ( To all of my non-London friends, the broadcast is available world wide, usually with an encore broadcast - check Cineplex listings!)
The stage for "Coriolanus" at the Donmar Warehouse.
Hailey and I decided to do the "fan-girl" thing and wait in the post-show autograph line and in that experience I confirmed three things.
1. Tom Hiddleston is an extremely kind and very patient man.
2. His fans are indeed crazy.
3. The crazy always ruin it for the normal.
(That's another post entirely. I'm not sure how I feel about meeting celebrities anymore. Meeting them, great. Their fans, not so much. And yes, I'm aware of the irony in that statement. Moving on.)
The ever patient and astounding Tom Hiddleston.
We weren't able to meet him as he had to leave early to meet a friend, which he apologized profusely for, but we did get a few photos from the line. All in all, it was an amazing night. We saw a total of 6 plays (including the great "Les Miserables") during Hailey's visit and "Coriolanus" still holds the top spot for me.
The brilliant and witty Mark Gatiss
New Year
New Year's Eve in London. You have to go the fireworks, don't you? That's what we thought. We went into the city quite early in the evening and had dinner in Piccadilly Circus. We found, quite by accident, Jamie Oliver's Pop Up Diner. It was reasonably priced, had a short wait and was, of course, very tasty! We walked from Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square, which was great fun since the roads were all blocked off to vehicles. Hailey could avoid the cobblestones and it brought out my 5-year old self to be walking down the middle of the road! It was beginning to get quite crowded as we went down Whitehall/Parliament St., and we soon learned that the bridges were about to be closed off. We then went down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, as I'd been told the view was quite good from there, but on our way, we noticed St. James' Park was not very full yet so we wandered in to see what the view was like. It was great! We stood by the Horse's Guard Parade and could clearly see the top half of the London Eye. We had three hours to wait and spent it chatting with a lovely English couple who had lived in London for many years before they retired. They told us about their favourite spots in the city and gave us some tips for Paris too! (You can pre-buy tickets for the Eiffel Tower online. LIFESAVER.)
Our view. There was a mini light show during the 3 hour wait.
The pods of the Eye would light up with a rainbow of colours to mark each hour.
The fireworks were amazing. Us two small town girls were quite impressed! After the fireworks, roads were clearly marked leading to the nearest Underground stations to get everyone home. The tube is free to everyone on NYE and runs well into the morning hours. (I think this is a strong argument for the transit workers to get all of Christmas off!) Getting home didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would and it was actually quite pleasant, given the crowds. London knows how to do crowd control.
The Grand Finale.
Ah... All up to date. Nearly. For now. I'll write up another post about the rest of Hailey's visit. We went on a mad adventure, 4 countries in 10 days!
Happy New Year, indeed. I think it's going to be a good one.
In other news, I have a job! A temp job, but a job! More on that later. (By the time I get to writing that post, the job might be over.....)
I know it's not Sunday, but it's tradition and alliteration, so I'm keeping it!
As ever, I hope that friends and family enjoy reading my blog, but it's really all about me, for me! My first week in London has given me a lot to think about and I need to get it out.
Shakespeare has been in my head a lot during the last two days. Yesterday was my first day of church in London and Shakespeare was quoted in one of the lessons! Today, I went to the Royal Shakespeare Company's broadcast of "Richard II", with David Tennant in the title role, the production design of which only confirmed to me, yet again, that I want to study Technical Theatre. I arrived home and decided to watch "A Muse of Fire", a documentary made by two friends who set out on a road trip to prove that Shakespeare isn't boring. Well, he can be a little long winded at times, but never boring.
Most people who know me, know that I love Shakespeare. I've made my blog header from photo of his reconstructed Globe Theatre for inspiration. And now I'm going to tell you why. Firstly, I don't claim to be an expert and I definitely make no claim to full understanding of everything he wrote, nor have I even read everything he wrote, but that's really not the point. Shakespeare wrote amazing characters who are relatable, even today, despite the "language barrier." I strongly believe that you need to SEE a performance to really appreciate the brilliance. He wrote the words to be spoken and performed, not just read. Shakespeare wrote his plays over 400 years ago and today, in 2013, his words still have great effect and have put me in a mood of self reflection.
At church yesterday, the teacher sourced a talk by Elder Lynn G. Robbins, of the Seventy, entitled "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?", which opens with Hamlet's famous question, "To be or not to be?" Elder Robbins takes a very doctrinal view to this question, then quoting Christ's admonition for us to be like Him. The lesson continued in this manner, of course, but me, being me, my mind wandered away to my unknown future. What will I be? How will I get there? Am I completely insane to have just moved across an ocean?
"To be and to do are inseparable. As interdependent doctrines they reinforce and promote each other. Faith inspires one to pray, for example, and prayer in turn strengthens one’s faith."
- Elder Robbins
As Hamlet muses in the "To Be" speech, he is contemplating his next move and the consequences of the various actions he could take. To avenge his father's death, he must commit murder and he knows that will change him forever. To run from his situation, either by physical escape or suicide, it is not made entirely clear, would have equally drastic consequences.
Fortunately for me, I don't have a murderous Uncle to kill, but the decisions that I have made and am making are forming who I am, and who I will become.
"Do without be—hypocrisy—portrays a false image to others, while be without do portrays a false image to oneself."
- Elder Robbins
Two years ago, this crazy thought came into my mind that I could move to England and go to drama school. At first, I didn't want to tell anyone for fear of mockery. Everyone was completely supportive; my mom actually said to me "Following your dreams is never crazy." I then became afraid of wanting it too much and never getting it. Finally, I decided that I was going to go for it, and REALLY go for it. I tried to talk about it as much as possible, willing it into a reality. Somehow, I believed that if I told everyone that I was going to do it, then I would have to! I didn't want to be that person who talks about all the great things that they're going to do and then never even try to accomplish any of them.
This has been on my FB profile for a while; it keeps me going.
Another of my favourite plays is "Henry V". I love the character arc of Henry V, who first appears in "Henry IV Part 1" as Prince Hal, who is a bit of a spoiled brat, really. He's spending his times in pubs; drinking, thieving and generally making his father wish his son had been switched at birth. Throughout some politics, war and a bit of eye opening to the true nature of his "friend", the jolly, but not so moral, Falstaff, Prince Hal recognizes that things that he has been doing are not contributing to the person he must BE.
"Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s."
-Elder Robbins
"Henry IV Part II" ends with Hal being crowned king, banishing his pub mates and declaring to the whole assembly he is not what he was. Having discovered, or rather accepted, who he is, the rebellious Prince Hal becomes the great king who unites England and France.
"The tide of blood in me
Hath proudly flow'd in vanity till now;
Now doth it turn and ebb back to the sea,
Where it shall mingle with the state of floods,
And flow henceforth in formal majesty."
In "Henry V", Hal, now King Henry V, soon goes to war when France will not grant him the Dukedoms which he has claim to as an heir of Edward, the Black Prince. "Henry V" is filled with amazing warrior poetry, especially the famous "St.Crispin's Day/Band of Brothers" speech. My favourite, however is the pep talk he gives to his soldiers as they are pushed back from their attack on the French town of Harfleur.
You can see this performed on film by Laurence Olivier or Kenneth Branagh. Here is an abridged, impromptu performance from the most recent Henry V, Tom Hiddleston. I never tire of watching this. I LOVE THIS SPEECH.
My favourite lines:
On, on, you noblest English.
..
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
...
And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
Henry appeals to the very heart of his soldiers' motivations: their families, their roots, their country. He says "Remember why you're here, remember why you're fighting. Show me the greatness of your family, and your country, by your actions here today. I know you can BE great. Prove it."
As a brief aside, I once prepared a lesson about Captain Moroni after watching the recent BBC version of Henry V. The parallels are astonishing. It could be an entire blog post unto itself. Seriously, I'm sure Moroni and Henry are best friends in heaven right now.
Henry V : "Dishonor not your mothers, now attest that those whom you call'd fathers did beget you....Cry God, for Harry, England and St. George!"
Captain Moroni: The Title of Liberty
"In Memory of our God, and religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives and our children."
After University/Film School, I was in a bit of rut; that unemployed-watching-way-too-much-TV time, during which my dad and I had a bit of a heart to heart one day. I don't know if he remembers this, but it has stuck with me. He said "You're the one that we never worried about, don't prove us wrong." This is no attack on any of my siblings, and I'm sure that my parents did worry about me often, but I think he said it to make the point that I've always had a plan; I've always been working towards something. I'm the crazy dreamer of the family. The dream has changed a few times, but it's only been when I have no goals and no plan that I become depressed and unbearable to be around. (At least, I hope that's the only time I've been unbearable. My siblings would probably argue that point.)
So, here I am. In England, trying to prove to myself and to my wonderful family that I am worth my breeding, that I can BE whatever I choose. I know that I have everything that it takes to accomplish my goals, because I have amazing people in my life who support me and have taught me to work hard and believe that following a dream isn't crazy.
I'll conclude with Lady Macbeth's advice to her husband as he's about to commit murder and treason. Why not?
Macbeth:
If we should fail?
Lady Macbeth:
We fail?
But screw your courage to the sticking place,
And we'll not fail.
PS: If I've at all piqued your interest in Shakespeare, check out David Tennant as Hamlet, Branagh or Olivier as Henry V or see the full character arc of the "Henriad" in "The Hollow Crown", starring Ben Wishaw as Richard II, Jeremy Irons as Henry IV and Tom Hiddleston as Henry V.
