Only a week?

So it's so difficult to believe I've only been here a week... It goes by so slow, and yet goes by so quick at the same time. I can't believe the week is gone already... But oh man it's been a blast. So, you're all going to laugh: but for a day, I was House. I had a cane! I know. I was laughing. I did something to my foot, though I'm not sure what, and when we were out on a day trip it was so hard to walk on my foot so one of my professors gave me a cane to walk with. I have a new understanding and love for House. The foot has gotten progressively worse, but now I'm on a huge medication diet, so hopefully it gets better in the next day or two, or else I'm being threatened to be taken to see a doctor. Nooo!!!!! So we'll see.

But guess what I learned this week in class!? House is a parody of Sherlock Holmes! Can you believe it???? I couldn't! But I was so excited! I love learning about that stuff! So Sherlock was brilliant and solved cases no one else could. He had his addiction, and was a jerk to everyone. And he had his little sidekick who helped him solve the cases. And House, Holmes... get it???? I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Anyway... on Monday I went to the Natural History Museum for a little while. That place is so cool! It's massive and when you walk in you feel like you've just stepped into Hogwarts. So cool. But oh man, they had this section on human biology. Good times... There was this one area that showed a fetus, and it was HUGE! You can see the picture of it, and it looked kinda of freaky in person. It actually looked like a pod-person or something and I totally thought of Roswell... Also, something else we saw made us all crack up. So I was with a couple people, one named Hilary and another named Janna. We walk up to this 3-D picture entitled "Sexual Intercourse." Hilary says, "I don't understand why it's called "Sexual Intercourse," and Janna says, "Look at it." There's a pause, and Hilary says, "Ohhh..." It was hilarious! Honestly, I learned more about sexual intercourse from that picture than I think I've ever known... it was showing the biology, but was also a bit graphic. I understand now... :) But it was educational! The whole place is really cool. It's totally free, so we're going to go back a number of times and explore different areas each time so we can spend more time in each area.

On Tuesday night I went and saw Les Miserables. I've never seen it before. Oh my gosh: it was amazing!!!! I love that musical! And the entire cast was incredialy. And the little boy was so cute and was so good. I cried when he died. But I could barely talk after the show I was so impressed.

Wednesday was a group trip to Cambridge and St. Albans. We took a coach to St. Albans and saw some Roman ruins and went through the museum there. There's also a cathedral there we went through. It was a really cool area, except for the freezing weather! And my feet killing me. Then we continued on to Cambridge. We were given free rein and just walked around for a couple hours. That place is so cool looking. The buildings are great and it's like this little town. At the end of the day we went into King's Chapel for Evensong, which is basically a church service. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I lik to be exposed to different things like that. Oh and in between St. Albans and Cambridge we visited an American cemetary from WWII. There's like 3000 graves there, and 5000 names on a wall of men and women who were never found. But I liked what our guide said. He said that in death everyone is equal, so all the graves are random. It's not done by alphabetical order, rank, age, race, anything. Everyone there is equal and deserves equal praise for what they did. There's also a really neet chapel there. The day was long but very fun.

I got my new camera in the mail! It's so great and I love it! The pictures it takes are so good! But after it came in the mail I found out I had to get a new memory card because mine didn't fit. I wasn't excited about that because I know how expensive they are. But when I went out, I found a 2GB one for 5 pounds!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! So for like $7 I can get like 800 pictures on my memory card! The happiness was overwhelming. :)

This morning we all went to Westminster Abbey. That place is so incrediable. I had no idea it was that big. And an interesting thing about cathedrals I learned in class before we went: all cathedrals are build in the shape of the cross. And it's true! But Westminster is so big and beautiful and has so many important people buried there. It was quite amazing to see. And I loved the Poet's Corner. And Lawrence Olivier is buried there! I had no idea. Later some of us went walking along the Thames, and there were some like street performers out. There was this one guy who is painted silver and is dressed in silver and acts like a statue. And when you place money in his box he moves as a thank you. But that's the only time. It was really cool to see. And when walking around we found this cute little candy shop. It was so cool! And there was a cute boy as the cashier who we thought was like 17, and found out later is actually 23! We're definitely going back... :)

Sorry these last two blogs have been so long. I'll try and write more often so they're smaller and not quite so boring. :)

Until next time!

It's real!!!

I have arrived! I am now actually in London and it's amazing! It's so weird to see something you've only heard about or seen in pictures before. It's like walking through a dream or a movie or something. But it's so incredibly cool at the same time! In fact, when walking through a market today in the middle of London, we saw a food show being filmed outside! That was unexpected.

So, I decided, no matter how much money it costs, business class just might be worth every penny of it. The flight here wasn't bad, and luckily I'm short, but still, after about an hour my bum was sore and I just wanted to get out of my seat. I'd been sitting all day by the time I started the 10 hour flight, and I also got put in the middle seat between two people I didn't know. Like I said, after about an hour my bum started to hurt and I thought I was going to go crazy, and thanks to watching House, I swore I was about to have a blood clot in my legs and they would have to chop off my legs. But, it wasn't it turns out. :) And I tried to sleep towards the end of the flight by putting my head forward on the tray, which usually works, but with the seat in front of me down, it went back so far I couldn't even do that.

But some good stuff about the flight. I got my own little TV which had some cool stuff on it. There were like 15 movies I could choose from! I started watching "Eagle Eye", but got bored, so I watched "The Kite Runner." That was amazing! There were a few parts that were really intense, but it was so good. And I though they did an amazing job of creating the screen play from the book. They stayed really true to it and captured the heart of the book. Excellent. They also had a bunch of movie shows on there. The last two hours of the flight I found "House" so I watched that for the remainder of the flight. I was so ready to be off. But, also interesting, I used the bathroom on an airplane for the very first time. I've never even seen a real one before. I was always scared to use one because I thought they were going to be all crazy confusing. Turns out they're exactly the same as any other bathroom, just smaller. So that was my first new experience. Also, the food was pretty darn good. Yea for Air New Zealand. We got dinner first, which I got chicken with potatoes, and it also came with a drink, a salad, desert, and bread. And the chicken was super good. Then we were also served breakfast, and I chose the cheese omelet, which came with potatoes, yogurt, a drink, fruit (good fruit), and something else that I can't remember. But it was a lot of food and very tasty. So yea, the flight wasn't too bad. But after I saw the buisness class had footrests, I decided I wanted to try that someday... Maybe on the flight back.

I arrived in London on Wednesday morning of the 6th. I went through customs and entered the massive baggage claim that is Heathrow airport. I was waiting at one terminal when I looked over and saw my luggage going around another one! So thankfully I was able to find it. I was supposed to meet two people there from my program who got in a little before me, but they weren't where we were supposed to meet. So I figured they'd already taken off, since it had been awhile. So I went and found the Heathrow Express, which is a train and took that to London Paddington Station. I rode my first train ever!! And it was in London, which I think is somehow appropriate. Then, walking through my first train station, which looked like something out of a movie, I found the taxi station, which is where you stand in a line and taxis come and pick you up. So I got in a taxi, and the taxi driver called me "love", and I couldn't help but smile the whole drive because I was in a TAXI in LONDON! It was my first time ever again! I thought I was going to have a heart attack the whole drive though because they're crazy drivers here! And the roads are so small and they drive on the other side I kept thinking we were all going to collide! But I arrived at the BYU London Centre safe and sound. And I got there all by myself! I was pretty darn proud of my newly acquired adult abilities. I did think of mom while doing it, and how she said she'd just sit in the corner crying in the fetal position if she had to do that alone. :)

The Centre is great! It's so pretty and the architecture is amazing! Our street is really pretty and full of all these really tall red and white buildings. Guess how many floors we have? Five. And guess where my room is? Yes: on the very top. I'm in dorm room five, with five other people. But how do you get to that room you may ask? Elevator? Dumbwaiter? Nope. Stairs. Yes, stairs. Five flights of them. I hate stairs... And the last flight you even have to open a little door to get to! I felt like I was being banished to live with a ghost or something. It was a literally a scene out of "The Little Princess." I was so tired. But the room is really cool and again, the centre is awesome.

My group was on kitchen duty for the first week. So we helped set up for dinner, and did breakfast this morning as well. It was so funny, because last night everyone was exhausted and some people started going to bed at like 7. I kept up till 10 and then fell into bed.

This morning I had to guess the time to be down for kitchen duty at 7:20. But we didn't have to do that much. So, another story of my brillance. I took a show after breakfast, and the water was really cold, with just a hint of fading heat. I figured everyone else had already used up all the hot water. So I took a quick and really cold shower. Then I turned the lever to turn it off, and the water turned warm. Sad story... I should figure out how to better use showers. So I took a cold shower for nothing, but then stood in the warm water for a minute and enjoyed that.

Then a bunch of us went exploring around London. We took the Tube to the middle of London, which was way fun. I love the Tube! And then we just walked around, not caring where we went. It was awesome! We walked down this little side street and found a prison museum. So we went in and it was way cool! And really scary. :) I would not have liked prison back then... even if the inmates were cute.

So, that is it so far! Now I have to report for kitchen duty and enjoy a wonderful meal. Until next time!

I think...

I think I'm going to start updating this site too... I've gotten lazy...

The coolest thing ever!!!

So a friend of mine totally told me how to dye your contacts different colors!!!! And it works!!!! You just soak your old contacts in food coloring for like a day. It sounds bad, but it's really cool. My roommate and I did it together, and we did it blue. But the blue was really dark, so it actually looks kind of black. But when you put it in, everything you see is a little darker too, so if feels like you're wearing sunglasses. It was really cool. But we look like freaky cartoon characters. I was way excited about it. ;) Oh the things that college students do...

Pride

It's been a awhile I realize. But now that classes are over, and finals soon to be over, I'm going to start communicating with the world again.

So I realized I have a lot of pride. I think part of it is because I'm an orange: it's part of my nature. But part of it is also a decision. There have been two instances where I could just do something that isn't a big deal at all, but for some internal reason that I myself really don't know, I refuse to do it. And it's really quite stupid. But, in one of the times, someone else was doing the exact same thing, so maybe I'm pretty normal in this aspect. Or, since the two of us are alike, we are both just really weird.

So, the first one, like I said, is really stupid and makes no sense; but nonetheless it happens and continues to happen. So my roommates and I ran out of toilet paper and no one had a chance to go get any. Finally one person did and she said she was holding it hostage because we always wait so long before we go get some. So she hid it in her room and said for $.75 you could buy a roll. Makes sense. I wish I'd thought of it first... So, my other two roommates just went and did that. For some reason, I can't bring myself to do it. I've internally refused. And there really is no logically explanation as to why I've made that decision, but I have and I've stuck by it. My roommates don't know it. But I've been trying to figure out why I'm so stubborn. Definitely part of my childhood and being raised... :) And I still don't have any toilet paper...

The other instance involved someone else. A friend and I were leaving the Nelke Theatre and walking up the stairs side by side. Well, about half way up there was a person standing on the small landing so we had to go single file to move past this person. Well, we both stopped and told the other person they could go first. And neither one of us would go first. We both absolutely refused. So we stood there for like 5 minutes just looking at each other and refusing to go up the stairs!!! That is like the stupidest thing in the world to be stubborn about! There was no point! But we both had our pride and stuck to it. Finally she relented, which I'll be honest, made me even stronger. I've got to stop!! But how do yous stop something that's so strong and a part of you? It's such a part of my personality, how do you just stop being yourself?

Pain for Art?

Who is art anyway? And why do we sacrifice so much for him? I have performed the first two performances of The Faithful Friend, and have two left. Things haven't gone exactly as planned, because we were supposed to perform outside at the Duck Pond, but we suddenly got hit with this huge storm, and it was raining and snowing and all that, so we had to move into the Nelke. It was my first performance in there. I was not very happy, because I can be Arlecchino so much better outside. There I can flip and somersault and all that stuff because the grass is pretty soft. But the hard stage is not cool. So, right now I am in intense pain because I'm all bruised up and skin got torn off my shin last night as I slip through a window on stage and I'm just in pain. I look like a domestic violence victim. I'm completely exhausted and ready to literally collapse.
With all this terrible stuff that comes along with performing, the question arises, why do it? Is it worth it? As I feel my entire body aching everywhere, and feeling like I want to cry, the answer: yes. It's worth it. No matter how much I have to go through for art's sake, it's worth it. I would give any amount of pain and suffering, get two hours of sleep a night, and be completely exhausted all the time just to do what I'm doing, because I love it. I love performing with all my heart, and there's no other feeling like it. So no matter the pain, the amount of time and effort, the exhaustion, I'll get doing it, because it's a part of me. I love it. And I'll never stop. That's not worth it.

Cinderella Man

So I went over to Christian's house the other day, and we watched "Cinderella Man". Oh man! So good!! If you haven't seen it yet, you have to because it was amazing!!! I loved the character, and it's a true story!! I was expecting him to fall in some way, like cheat on his wife or something, but he never did! He was a great husband and an amazing father. As you watch him interact and raise his kids, you're like, "That's the kind of man I want to marry and be raising my kids!" It was very inspiration and just an all-around good film that left you feeling really good!!! I highly recommend it!!!

Realizations

So, I've realized a couple things about myself the last couple days. One of the thins made me really mad, and happened today. I can't stand people putting words in my mouth. They're claiming I said things when I really didn't, and that seriously bothers me. You're spreading rumors about who I am and what I think, and if people don't really know me, that's what they're going to think!! And it makes it worse when it's a teacher. I mean, come on! You're an adult and a teacher and you don't know not to do that!! Especially with a student to another student!! Luckily, the guy she talked to about what she claimed I was saying, had the guts to come and talk to me, and we got it straightened out. He was furious about this whole situation, and I was furious because my teacher was claiming I had said stuff when I didn't!!! Oh that makes me mad!!! Only speak for yourself!!
The other thing I've realized, is that I can't handle people being upset with me, or mad at me. Even if they really aren't, if I think they are, I can't handle it, and I get upset without meaning to. I think it's because frustration is like anger and that leads to contention, and I can't handle contention. I really can't. If people around me are arguing, I have to leave the room, because I just can't handle it. But, I suppose that could be a good attribute, because hopefully I don't argue a lot, and then, hopefully my kids won't.
There's always a silver lining...

Hot Dogs

Can I just say, hot dogs are amazing??? A friend and I were talking about hot dogs the other day, and how much we love them but haven't had them in forever. Then we found out, they sell them in the Cougareat for $.99!!! I was so excited! So we both got one for lunch today, and it was wonderful! Some people don't like hot dogs, and I don't understand it! They remind me so much of baseball too. I think hot dogs are a comfort food for me. I grew up on a baseball field, and what do you eat at baseball games? Hot dogs. So they remind me of my childhood and baseball and wonderful times, and they just warm the soul. Hot dogs are amazing!!

Some Cool Pics

Picture 1: Can you find the mountain??
Picture 2: A storm coming or going: either way, it looks pretty awesome!


Picture 3: Those are windows in the ground! The library is underneath them!
Picture 4: Another view, but with some patriotism involved!!

Find it...

Can you find the Y?

Some people are actually requesting these!!

Sorry, but these really make me laugh, and some people are really requesting them! Ah, I should be doing homework.... Oh well.

1. Jack Bauer knows where Carmen San Diego is.
2. Jack Bauer doesn't breathe. The air hides in his lungs for protection.
3. Jack Bauer's house has an alarm system -- not to warn Jack of intruders, but to warn the intruders of Jack.
4. Jack Bauer doesn't lie. He tortures the truth until it admits it is wrong.
5. Jack Bauer can sneeze with his eyes open.
6. Jack Bauer can order a Big Mac at Burger King.
7. If you spell Jack Bauer in a Scrabble game, you win. Forever.
8. Don't ask what Jack Bauer would do for a Klondike bar...
9. Jack Bauer saved money on his car insurance by torturing the gecko.
10. When Jack Bauer was a baby, he took candy from adults.
11. Jack Bauer shops at Costco... without membership.
12. Most children slept with a teddy bear and blanket when they were young, Jack Bauer did the same thing but with a real bear.
13. Jack Bauer never needs to wear a raincoat. Rain knows better than to fall on Jack Bauer.
14. Jack Bauer doesn't aim. He tells bullets where to go.
15. If you run away from Jack Bauer, you're just gonna die tired.

I hope you all enjoy them!! Tune in soon for the next edition!! :)

US Navy Dream

Ok, as most of you know, growing up I had an obsession with the US Navy, specifically Naval Aviation. The Aviation dream I had to give up because of eyesight: it's not good enough. And, I sort of stopped talking about the Navy as I was going to school and got really involved in theatre and stuff. But, it was a dream that never really died. Well, again, as most of you know, as a freshman in college, for a semester I did the Army ROTC: a ton of fun, but not really my thing. It wasn't the Navy. For some reason, the Navy offers an appeal to me like no other branch of the military.
Well, the other day I walked out of the HFAC after class, and lo and behold, there was this huge Navy truck sitting there!! I immediately veered off my course to the library to this amazing sight: my heart was going "pitter-patter" the whole time. It was a simulation: like the Star Wars ride at Disneyland. It was a race car one, which really has nothing to do with the Navy, but it was still fun. Later this week they're going to have an F-18 simulation, and I'm really excited.
With this reemergence of Navy personnel on campus, my love of the Navy fired up again. And I started thinking about it and different opportunities available to me. I love my country and I am a patriot. And one of my greatest dreams is to serve my country. But I don't feel justified for myself dedicating all my time to that job, because there are other things I want to do, and other things I feel I'm meant to do. But, options are opening up for me to do both. We'll see what happens in the future. But I love the Navy; I really do. And one day, I hope I can be a sailor and proudly salute my nation's flag. Hopefully, in uniform on an aircraft carrier. But, one day. The dream is still very much alive....

Desire

I was reading this book and something it was talking about totally got me thinking. The book is called The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister. It's an amazing book. Anyway, he was talking about gifts of the Spirit and attaining them, and that in order to really attain them, the first thing you need is a strong desire. Well, what he was saying relates to all aspects of life: you can get and accomplish anything if you desire it enough. So he briefly told this story to illustrate his point:

"It reminds one of the students who had graduated number one in his class from a leading university. There were others with higher I.Q.'s, others with greater creative genius. Asked why he excelled them all, he replied, "As for the others I cannot say, I only know that I cared like blazes." Somewhere, sometime, that level of caring must surface. Pure obedience and silent endurance are not enough. There must be a burning desire, a reaching out, a seeking, in short, and exhaustive exercise of our combined spiritual, intellectual, and emotional energies, all focused on obtaining these divine gifts."

I just that was really impressive, and something I know I don't use enough: pure desire. If you want to achieve something, you have to put every energy you have towards achieving it: you have to care like the blazes. I think that's really good insight.

Noises Off

Ok, so had anyone seen a film called Noises Off? It's a farce with Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine. I had never even heard of it before. But we watched it in my film class the other day, and I have to say, it was the funniest film I have ever seen in my entire life!! Honestly!! I started laughing at the beginning, and never stopped till the end!! Usually in a comedy, you know, you laugh every couple minutes and maybe laugh really hard once or twice through out the two hours. This is not like this. The entire class never stopped laughing really hard!!! I loved it!!
But, as a precautionary, there is one f-bomb, and one of the girls spends the entire movie basically in her underwear. But other than that it's good. And, like I said, just absolutely hilarious. And Christopher Reeve's character is really great!!!

Valentine's Day: also known as Single's Awareness Day

Yes, Valentine's Day does have an alternative name: Singles Awareness Day. It takes on a whole new meaning when you're in college, and constantly surrounded and bombarded with couples. Honestly, Valentine's Day has never been a point of stress for me: I don't really care at this point that I'm single. It just means I have a good reason to eat a lot of chocolate on that day. Think of it as another Halloween. Sounds good to me.
But, there are many who do not feel the same. So, two of my roommates, also single, decided they were going to carry on the tradition of the Love Suck's party. Previous, a guy in our ward had done it for the past three years, but he's no longer in the ward. So, they got flowers a couple days before the party and let them wilt, and then hung them all over the kitchen and family room. Then they got bad love quotes from movies and stuff and put them all over the walls, had music playing, had cool black lights, and a lot of really good food. It was a lot of fun. So, although not the tradition Valentine's Day full of giving little cards and candy to your sweetheart, it was still a blast to celebrate Single's Awareness Day.

Teacher Shadowing

So as most of you know, my major here in college is theatre education, which means as a career I'll be teaching high school theatre. As part of the education program, you have to go and do a certain amount of hours in actual high schools during the semester, and every semester is increases. This semester I have to do six hours. Three of the hours I go into a classroom and just observe: that's teacher shadowing. Then the other three hours is actually me teaching the class. So I'm a little nervous, because I'll have to do that soon, but hopefully it should be good.
Anyway, so this last Friday I went and did a little of my shadowing hours at a local school called Mountain View. It was really interesting to go and watch this tech class, and the teacher was actually a student teacher herself. But it was interesting. But what this blog is really about, is what was next. The class ended, and I was going to leave as the next class was starting, but then I saw something that made me want to stay longer: a deaf interpreter! I'm totally mesmerized by ASL interpreters, because I know a little and so I just get completely caught up in what they're saying and I completely lose track of whatever else is going on in the world, like the teacher I'm supposed to be observing. But I love ASL! I'm not very good at it, and have a very limited vocabulary, but I love it nonetheless!!!!!!!

Um, what do you think?

I LOVE 24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Character Development

So I'm in a show right now, that's commedia dell'arte, and a bunch of us in the cast were all feeling the same frustrations yesterday at rehearsal, so we all talked about it with our director for a few minutes. In this show, we're all very physical, but in different ways than normal, so it is difficult to learn how to do. But for like the first week and a half of rehearsals, that's all we did: studied and practiced the physical aspects of the characters. This this last week, we started rehearsing from the script and actually talking and stuff. Well, it's all improv, and so it has been really hard, because we all kind of lost or physical abilities, because we were concentrating so much on talking and the story line. So now it's trying to balance out everything and improve everything, and it's really hard and frustrating. And tiring.
So that got me thinking about life in general. We've so many different aspects to our lives and it's frustrating at times trying to balance out everything. But if we work hard at it and keep trying, the pay off and final moments will be amazing and so impressive because of who we have become. Anyhow, thoughts of Kiwi...

Rain!!!!

Yeah!!!! It's raining!! Yes! Raining here in Utah!!! I'm so excited!! I'll be honest: I really don't like the snow. It's really fun to go visit for a week or two, but I hate living in it! I absolutely hate the cold and will take the warm sunshine, flip-flops, and shorts any day of the week! Here, it never rains. It only snows. But today it's raining. Well, sprinkling. But it's still water falling from the sky that's not a snowflake! ;)
Wherever I move to when I get older, is going to be some place where it's normally sunny, and then rains a bit during the winter. That's it. No where where it snows! No sir! I just love the rain and want to go play in it! So love rain and smile when droplets hit your face!!!!!