Time flies

Wow, it’s been a week since my last post. It literally feels like just a couple days. I know I’ve said it a million times already, but time is FLYING. Monday I had my full day of classes, starting off with popular culture. On our outing, we explored Oxford Street and Carnaby Street, comparing the different shops of London versus shops in the United States. Later in the day, I had my theatre class, where we discussed the play from last week (Three Sisters) and went to see the play Dead Dog in a Suitcase in the evening. While there were mixed reactions within the class, I really enjoyed it! It was random, loud, but incredibly unique and entertaining. It was one of those plays were you just had to accept whatever was happening and go with it.

The next two and a half days were filled with my internship. I continue to enjoy working for Upbeat and I really love the work culture in London. Working in London is so much more low-key than in the states, and a lot more enjoyable. I worked on a wide variety of projects this week, including editing a video for the press junket for the movie Animals, filling in some spreadsheets, I sat in on a meeting with a student who composed music for a short documentary, and continued planning for the green screen promo video we’re working on.

After my half day at my internship Thursday, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which is apparently not a thing here - tragic) while on my walk to my film class. We discussed different types of hero’s and then watched the Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps. While it was enjoyable while I was watching it (I honestly like most movies I see, it’s a problem), it’s interesting to think back to norms in the film industry back in the day. I cringed a lil bit every time the main “hero” interacted with the lead actress in the movie because it was just so aggressive.

After class Thursday, I checked to see if there were any tickets available to see my favorite band, Wallows, at a concert they were having that night in London, but it was a sold out show so I wasn't very optimistic. Well, turns out twitter is a life saver. After a quick search, I found someone wanting to get rid of their ticket last minute for face value, so I JUMPED on that and claimed it. At this point, the doors for the concert opened in an hour so I very quickly got dressed and jumped on the tube to go pick up the ticket from the girl who was already in line at the venue. I got there about 10 minutes before doors opened and had to pass about a thousand people to get in line, but hey, at least I was there! I ended up getting a good spot inside, front and center in the balcony section. This was my 3rd concert of theirs that I've attended and it once again didn't disappoint. After it ended, I waited around out back to see if the band members would come say hi before getting on their tour bus. Well after waiting in the cold with about 20 other girls for an hour, THEY CAME!! We all lined up and they said hi and took pictures with every single one of us. When it was my turn, Braeden, my absolute favorite person ever, said he remembered me and that it was good to see me again!!!! It may be an understatement to say I almost passed out from excitement. So anyways, it was an amazing night and I'm so glad I went.

Friday we left bright and early for a day trip to Oxford! We took a bus there and had a walking tour of the city, being shown the landmarks and being told notable facts about the university. It was extremely cold and rainy at this point, so truth be cold, I wasn't into it. We stopped into a hidden away pub for lunch before going out to explore on our own. One of my friends has a friend who goes to Oxford so he ended up giving us a little personal tour of his college buildings and the area which was really cool to get a student's perspective. From there, we hopped on the bus again and went to Blenheim Palace and got a guided tour there for our group. The palace was stunning, and it was cool to see rooms that I've seen in movies (Mission Impossible and James Bond anyone??), but my favorite part was the gardens outside. We seriously lucked out because the sun came out just before we went out to explore the gardens. The fountains, lake, roses, ancient trees - they all made for an amazing walk outside. All too soon it was time to go, and we were back on the bus to London.

Saturday morning we went to go see the Trooping of the Colour. It was a little cold and rainy at times, and my allergies were going absolutely mad, but overall it was fun to watch. Most of it was waiting around, getting excited when a group walked past playing some music, and then just waiting around again. We got very excited for about three seconds when the Queen rode past, and then after that it was pretty much over. Afterwards I got a REALLY good burger from Honest Burger and then worked on homework the rest of the day, before going out to celebrate a friends 21st birthday until the early hours of the morning.

The next day, we got to go to the place I've been waiting my entire life to go to: Harry Potter Studios!!!!! If you know me, then you know I'm maybe the biggest Harry Potter nerd of all time and this was a true dream for me. Every single room I walked into I had literal tears in my eyes and was just so taken with this world coming to life in front of me. I won't go into detail about every single thing that excited me (because I could probably write seven books on the subject), but just walking through things like the Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest, 4 Privet Drive, the potions classroom, the Gryffindor common room... I could literally go on for ages. There will be many pictures below. I also got to try Butterbeer ice cream which was so good. Anyways, 10/10 best day ever and I don't think I'll ever get over it.

So that's been the past week! I'll definitely try updating again sooner, probably by Thursday, because Friday morning I'll be heading to Paris!! Check out my photos below (they're a bit out of order, sorry about that!) and stay tuned for another update soon.