what i've been up to

Hello, there.

I'm just here, blogging away as I sip hot chocolate in a china teacup and watch Downton Abbey-- in real time! No waiting till it airs on PBS for this kid! I get to watch the final series in real time. Just a perk of living in this place.

There a lot of perks. One perk is giant cans of my favorite dry shampoo that cost the same as the small cans in the States.

Another perk is trains. I love a proper train. They're everywhere. I get to ride one every day to school and back.

Another perk is I can order everything online and have it delivered to my door so I don't have to carry it home. Example: all groceries. Example: cat litter. Example: Indian food at 10:30PM. Free delivery! In fact I need to place an order for sometime tomorrow or Tuesday, while I'm thinking about it.....



OK, done.

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well to start, I've thought to blog a number of times and just haven't gotten to it. That means I'm keeping busy!

I moved into my very own townhouse last Tuesday night and we're all getting settled in quite nicely. I have completely lucked out. It's just wonderful. I have hardwood floors in the front room and dining room, as well as my bedroom and my en suite bathroom. There are fireplaces in the front room and dining room. I have a bathtub in the downstairs bathroom. And as it turns out, I think there may be enough space to hang everything between the armoire and the closet in the extra bedroom. It came to me entirely furnished and outfitted. And the front room is a darker shade of the turquoise color of my old living room, so I feel right at home. Erdington is an incredibly quiet neighborhood, which is quite lovely. And the kitties have been incredibly happy here (aside from the change of litter I tried to make-- lesson learned, we'll continue using the cheap stuff).

I haven't actually started school yet. That will start tomorrow. I have spent some time on campus getting oriented and attending various inductions. The truth is, the enrolment process has been incredibly trying but it seems it's all finished and I can focus on the real reason I'm here. We had a diagnostic performance for a few of our tutors last week. It gave our small cohort of 8 what we have to look forward to. I'm excited to work with these new friends from all over the USA. Our programme is designed for non-British students, so all the MFAs are American. It's nice bit of home.

We'll be performing a play at the end of each term this year in culmination of each genre we study. Since this is our "Shakespearean" unit if you like, we'll be working on AS YOU LIKE IT for our first workshop. I'm really glad I've had the experience I do in Utah working with people like Chris Clark, since we have five women and three men in our cohort, making it a bit interesting to put on a whole play. We'll certainly be doubling roles-- I imagine it'll be quite like my PERICLES days!

We also have a lot of movement classes, including a period movement class. Apparently we'll be studying some folk dancing, which again-- thank goodness for my BYU Folk Dance days!

I kind of just can't believe I live here. I took a train to Manchester today just for the fun of it (oh and there's also a Taco Bell, it's fine) and I was just overwhelmed that this is my life now. I can't say I'm exactly comfortable yet, but I'm more and more comfortable every day. (I imagine I'll feel QUITE comfortable once my student loan is deposited to my bank account haha...... but really.) I certainly have my work cut out for me, but I'm so glad I'll be able to take advantage of where I live. I may jaunt down to the "Hundred Acre Wood" next weekend, for example, since that's a place I can go like it ain't no thang. I'm overwhelmed daily and I hope I never take it for granted.

I suppose it's time to wrap up for now, as I have tiny cat named Jenna Macaroni standing in the way of my view of the computer screen.

Till next time. Maybe eventually I'll stop journaling and actually write an essay about this place...