where did I leave off?

Hi.

I've meant to update more than I have been.

The truth is, the last week has been hard.

Not hard like Week 1, because that was SO HARD.

It's been hard like-- well, Drew left a week ago. So obviously that's Hard #1. But also, we got so much done (because all we do is win win win, no matter what what) and now I don't have much to do until school starts. I don't really have friends around, and I'm not moved into my house yet, so I'm kind of in limbo.

But it's ok. Because I realize on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis-- I live here. I live in England. And that makes things a lot better.

So let's see-- the last time I updated I had just gotten the house. I've since signed for it and move in on September 29. Huzzah. It is rather enormous and much more house than I ever expected to be able to have while I'm over here, but it comes 100% furnished (to the point that my new landlord told me not to buy basically anything unless I ask her if she has something already because she's apparently got so much furniture and appliances and things, which is awesome) and it's in a gorgeous, clean neighborhood, and the train is 6 minutes away, making school exactly 18 minutes from my house.

Drew and I spent a few days in London. It was pretty amazing. We were able to see a few things that I've never done before (Buckingham Palace tour, London Eye, Royal Albert Hall tour during the dress rehearsal for the final evening of Proms, Shoes exhibit at the V&A) and we saw Matilda, which had us both in tears multiple times. We also had tea at the National Theatre and the food was all based around different plays. It was quite a delight. I wish we had had more time in London, but there will be other trips.

In fact, yesterday was my birthday so I popped down to London for the day.

(I get to say that. Can you believe it? I can't.)

I did a bit of shopping and a lot of strolling, then I saw The Beaux Strategum at the National, which I loved, and then had dinner with Nate Copier before I popped home. It was a splendid day to welcome 29.

I got enroled for school this week. It has been such a process. But I finally have my permanent student visa and my school ID, so we'll leave it at that because that's what matters.

I've got a cold and what may be the start of a sinus infection. Here's hoping it's not, since I've got a little performance to do with my class on September 30. We'll be doing a classical monologue, a contrasting monologue and a song. We can do our audition pieces but I think I'll only do one of mine-- Mrs. Lunn from Overruled. I've been looking at the Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland, come speech from HENRY VI part III and I'll be singing Stay With Me from INTO THE WOODS. I'm nervous for the performance, which I know is silly because I've already been accepted, so it's not like a test. But it is a checkpoint from which they can kind of grade my progress and it's the first real big introduction to each other in the class, so I want to make sure it's a good representation of me and what I can do and why I'm here. I want to do good work so they can tear me apart for the rest of the year.

The play I saw yesterday is a Restoration era comedy, which is a time period I'll be studying in the coming year, presented at my favorite theatre. For most of last year, until I got a new phone in March or so, I had the house of the Olivier Theatre at the National as the background of my phone-- the view from the stage, not the view from the audience, so that every time I looked at my phone, I would be able to visualize the view I want to see of that space. I had tickets on the fourth row yesterday and it wasn't until I was sitting there, eight feet from the stage, that I even remembered that phone photo. It felt very close, all of a sudden. Not necessarily tomorrow close, or next year close, or even ten years from now close, but it felt closer than it ever has.

I live here. I live in England.

And I'm an actress.

I'm doing it.