What it means to "live in London"

Since starting my blog I am now dependent on it, so much that my urges to blog resemble chocolate cravings or something like that. I should be working on my 8 page paper but blogging seems more enjoyable at the moment.

Wednesday night's production of The City was pretty good. It was at a tiny theatre in northern London in a really cool area that I had never been to before. We navigated our way there successfully and Tom saved me from getting run over by a motorcycle. The performance was very modern and unique, they referenced texting and even played Nicki Minaj during the play, crazy stuff. Thursday, I survived classes once again. I realized I always refer to classes as though they are intense and arduous but only having two days of academic classes a week is anything but arduous. I guess it just distracts me from this 4 month vacation that I am on!

Thursday night, I saw Much Ado About Nothing in the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. The Globe is magical! I can't believe I get to start acting on that stage in about a month! I really don't know what strings Notre Dame pulled to give us that opportunity. The performance was hilarious (we all fell in love with the guy who played Benedick) and they finished off with this amazing dance routine that we now hope to replicate when we get on stage. We stood for the entire play (3 hours) which only served as an annoyance a couple of times. The majority of the time I was completely engaged. During intermission, we stepped outside and sat with our legs dangling over the Thames looking out at the night skyline. I wasn't mad to say the least.

I get to act here!!!

Thursday night we went to O'Neill's and I had my first experience of unwanted attention from British men. Too aggressive. The boys rescued me eventually. Moving on...

Allison did take cute pictures this night though...

Friday morning we awoke late and decided to conquer the bikes. There are these bike stations all around London where you can rent out a bike (practically for free), ride all over and dock them wherever you wish. We decided to ride them to Primark during rush hour in downtown London. It was super fun! We are now addicted to the bikes because they get you places so much quicker and all the drivers pretty much give the right of way to bikes. I did have a close call with a giant truck but I lived to tell the tale. Also, biking across the bridges both during the day and at night is one of the coolest things ever. We arrived at Primark and I was in heaven. Primark is this giant department store on Oxford Street with ridiculously cheap clothing. I'm taking 8 pound dresses and 4 pound sweaters. It was also packed but not unmanageable. We all came away with multiple items of clothing and Collin finally bought collared shirts! Yay! I must go back there, it was definitely retail therapy at its finest. We continued biking around Hyde Park which is absolutely beautiful! A new item on my bucket list is to have a day-long picnic in Hyde Park with a frisbee. Pure bliss.

We then stumbled upon Trafalgar Square which was having "Malaysia Night." We decided to be adventurous and try out the Malaysian cuisine. Allie and I bought two dishes and one was so spicy that we nearly dunked our faces into the fountain. Luckily we headed over to Chandos, a nearby pub, and downed a pint as to eliminate the fire inside our mouths.

Bowl on the left: "Spice bowl of death"

Friday night was pretty silly. We bought a lot of wine, bread and cheese and attempted to be classy before heading to Picadilly Institute. The Institute is just a guaranteed good time. I have also decided it is never a good idea to wear tights out at night. They are too easily destructible.

Saturday morning, a group of us checked out Borough Market. Jon and I took the bikes and got there in about five minutes. The market is amazing. Free samples galore and food everywhere. I will definitely go back there multiple times, ideally to pick up some fresh ingredients for a dinner sometime. I bought a delicious berry smoothie and ate as many free samples as I could find. Major win. The ND game was on at 5pm so we watched that. We won but it felt like we lost... terrible game. However, there was this excellent food festival going on by South Bank. I bought a sausage roll, a cheeseburger and a piece of cheesecake... gratuitous, I know. I mostly bought the sausage roll only because the man selling it was wearing a Notre Dame tshirt and I felt obligated. The cheesecake was also ah-maz-ing. The rest of the day on Saturday I didn't feel too hot so I did a lot of sleeping and lounging around.

That leads me into Sunday where I literally slept until 4pm. Let's just say all this London excitement is catching up to me. I managed to rally and go grocery shopping and make dinner for Zack and myself. I also went back to South Bank to buy some cupcakes because I had been craving them all day. I then booked my trip to Barcelona for the first weekend in November! Quad reunion in Spain!

Monday at NBC I participated in a software workshop with a bunch of editors and producers. I learned a lot of useful stuff about the programs we use in the newsroom. They also talked a lot about the new emerging technology that is entering the broadcasting industry. Video needs to arrive faster, transfer quicker and be of better quality, in a nutshell. The level of HD that is now expected is getting ridiculous! It made me think a lot about the amount of time and effort it takes to coordinate all of this technology between so many bureaus. It's not as though video in New York is able to arrive in London by snapping your fingers. It takes extremely calculated steps and innovative technology. NBC is kind of a big deal.

Also on Monday, I returned from work to hear dozens of screaming teenage girls. Turns out Taylor Lautner was attending his movie premier directly across the street from the flats at the IMAX, casual.

Classes were relatively painless today. Instead of going to my theatre class, we took a tour of the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, which is technically the longest standing theatre in London. The tour was super cool. We got to see all of the places where royalty hang out prior to the performances and we toured the underground tunnels (where, apparently, former kings used to meet up with their mistresses). The place is also said to be crazy haunted. My classmates and I have also decided that our teacher works for the CIA. He is so allusive! He meets us at the door of the theatre, disappears, and then reappears at the tour's end as though he never left. (He also does this kind of thing during performances). He is definitely a secret spy or something which makes him even more cool. I am in love with him. Keep in mind he is at least 60.

Royal Theatre

The London weather this week is unreal! It is in the high 70s and the sky is completely blue as I speak. After the tour, we stopped at a cafe for coffee and then walked back across the Waterloo Bridge to the flats. As we were walking, I had a bit of an epiphany. This whole experience is essentially about "living in London" and immersing yourself so you feel as though you are a part of a different culture. After being here for a month, I realized I have been completely obsessed with doing things, checking things off my list, hitting up the hot spots, etc. However, living in London doesn't always mean you have to be "doing big things." Getting coffee and walking across the bridge under the sunny skies today was ridiculously enjoyable yet ridiculously mundane. Living in London doesn't mean always having something to do. As I sit here writing this, I am living in London. Every minute I breathe the air I am a Londoner regardless of the task at hand. I don't have to feel guilty for sitting down and reflecting on where I am as opposed to constantly penciling things in without a second thought. To live in London means to embrace it fully. It means to live in the present.

Moral of the story: It is okay to sit down. You can sit down and still be living in London.

I'm off to Oslo, Norway this weekend! And fall break is now completely booked! Cheers! Good luck to my Womb bozos this weekend at Whitesmoke! (Translation: Good luck to my frisbee team at our first home tournament this weekend back in South Bend!)