Adventures in Belgium

I was lucky enough to go on a school funded trip to Belgium for a Theatre and Dance. It was an adventure to say the least. Tuesday was the day of traveling. Started in England traveled through France to Belgium. Took a train from Brussels to Bruges, and walked from one end of the cobblestone to the center where our hostel was located.
Our hostel was straight out of a Tim Burton movie; part Alice in Wonderland, and part Willy Wonka. Too bad the smell wasn’t of chocolate.







That first night we went to our first show called “In Time” it was a dance piece about relationships and passion. Moments of it were beautiful, but overall it was too cliché and too naked without art or purpose. I mean what artistic pieces of theatre aren’t about relationships, love, and passion? A plus side was that the theatre was beautiful!




The next day we went to a conference and a show. The conference was about dance, theatre, and migration in conflict zones. Most of the talks were interesting, and varied. However, they were wordy and full of themselves. They loved the tone of their own voices. The show however was wonderful, and refreshing (besides one hilariously ridiculous naked dance… which I won’t go into detail about.) I was grateful for the people I was with; they were a breath of fresh air.





The next day was a free day for us up until our train at 7. So for the day we acted as tourists; we climbed the clock tower, ate at a fancy restaurant, bought chocolate, went for a canal walk, ate a waffle, and then traveled back to Brussels. Then our train back home. It felt good to come home.





Ioanna tried sour straws for the first time, and as you can see she did not enjoy them.(Honestly this is one of my most favorite pictures ever!)





So in summary, Belgium is cool, but I don’t know if I ever need to go back. Belgium is known for: Jean Claude Van Damme, mussels, lace, chocolate, waffles, and weird hostels!

Field Trips are Awesome!

All my bags are packed... I'm ready to go....

Okay, that first statement is a lie. I'm not packed, but I am REALLY excited. Tomorrow morning I get to travel to Belgium for a school trip. We're going to a theatre conference and watching a few shows. It's going to be awesome. I get to go to continental Europe for my first time. I hope I get another stamp on my passport!

I will blog about my adventures when I get back!

The Attitude of Gratitude

I haven't blogged here in awhile, and I am not sure why. The past few weeks have been really great, and really difficult; but what has helped me stay positive is realizing and remembering just how lucky I am. So I'm stealing an idea from Kathleen, and I'm going to blog about what I am grateful for.

First I have to say that I am grateful for my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ; that truly has been my rock and my foundation. I need to make sure I do not forget all I have been blessed with because of that testimony, and the joy/peace that comes with it.

I am also grateful for my wonderful family. I have been blessed to have an incredibly thoughtful and supportive family. They have helped me become the woman I am today. I know that their examples of love, kindness, honor, and trust have have lovingly guided me along the right path.

I also feel a great sense of gratitude for my friends. I feel so lucky to have friends that make me feel loved and supported. Whether I see them every day, or haven't seen them in years, I still feel connected to them, and their influence in my life. I don't know where I would be without the example of those with whom I am blessed to call friends.

I am grateful for this adventure I call life. I get to live in England for a year; I get to further my education, and also further my friendships with three of my very best friends/family. (Kathleen, Annie, and Jesse) I also get to participate in the wonderful Canterbury ward. (Where I am also making some incredible friends.)

I am full of gratitude at the moment and can't find words to express it. I truly hope your Thanksgiving has been as memorable as my own. God bless. Know that you are in my thoughts, and that you have made an imprint on and in my heart.

The Theatre Life

I thought I would share a post about school. I am getting my MA in European Theatre, and am really loving it. It is really different from what I expected, but it is really interesting and something I am enjoying studying.

Part of my course is seeing shows in London, and some here in Canterbury. I am also going to Brussels for a conference next month. I thought I would share with everyone the shows I have seen so far.

The first show I made it to was "Money" by a company called Shunt. Now the inspiration from this show was Emile Zola's novel "L'argent" (which I haven't read) and loosely based on the financial crisis the UK is in now. Now that being said, it was really more a spectacle for the senses to me. There really wasn't much of a text and it seemed more about the built space and around the theme of money. I really enjoyed it, but don't know how to fully explain it.



The next show I got to see was "Faust" at the Young Vic in London. It was being done by the Icelandic company Vesturport. Again it was inspired by Goethe's text, as well as Marlowe's, however the company decided to make up their own text that is loosely based on Faust.

Again they had a fantastic set, and incredible talent. Unfortunately they also enjoyed shocking the audience. I am usually okay with this if it has a purpose, but it seemed to be shock just for cheap thrills. I liked the performance, but came away feeling like I was spoon fed the idea and theme; it was a watered down 'after school special' of Faust.



Then I went to see "Operation Greenfield" at the Gulbankian in Canterbury. Now this was my first experience with devised theatre, and I had no idea what to expect. I really loved it. I was impressed at the musicality of the group. So many wonderful instruments, and I loved the theme of faith and religion. I don't know how to describe it, except say it was a breath of fresh air. So far it's been my favorite thing I've seen.



And this past Tuesday I went and saw "The Caretaker" by Harold Pinter, which was playing at the Gulbankian. This was the first straight play I have seen since getting here. Here they stuck to the script, and it was a naturalistic take on Pinters text. It was refreshing to see something that wasn't trying to push buttons or be edgy. Saying that though, it was boring. I'm not a huge fan of the play, but it was nice to see something that was safe.



On Saturday I am seeing "Blasted" by Sarah Kane, and I know I will be shocked.
Next Saturday I am seeing "MacBeth" but I am afraid it won't be sticking to the text, so I'm not too sure what I will thin of it. I will tell you all about it soon.

Brilliant Book!

Before I moved to England I got recommended "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I purchased it and put it into my carry on bag, ready to read. Well for some reason or another I haven't had the opportunity to read it. This weekend Jesse decided to read it... and a day later (when he had finished it) he told me that I would love it.

That reminded me that I had the book and a sort of free day. So yesterday I read the book. Today I am waiting for Jesse to finish the second book. (He went to the book store to buy the other two.) We are addicted. It is so good!

Kathleen is the next to read the book, just as soon as she has some down time.

I cannot believe I waited so long to read it. It is sososososososo good. I am a little nervous to see where the series goes with the next book, but I am also just so excited to get back into that world.

This is the UK paperback cover.


This is the US paperback cover.

Birthdays in England!

This year all of our birthday's will be spent somewhere in Europe or the UK. I originally chose Scotland, but that didn't work out, so I thought London would be a fun place to experience.

So we decided to go to the London Dungeons (it's close to Halloween so it was perfect.) Even before we paid for our tickets I was singled out. A zombie midget decided I need to get my head cut off. Apparently I was too cheeky.

Honestly it was a lot of fun, and a loads of laughs. A great start of the day.









After losing my head we decided to get our tickets and wait in the queue. We were all getting really excited and scared. It had been awhile since any of us had been to a haunted house. And this one is a historical haunted house. (So cool.)





Wow... it was way scarier than I thought it was going to be. But it was awesome. I was picked on to be the leader of our group. My new name is Brownlow. My favorite part of being Brownlow was when a little girl turned to me and said (in the cutest little proper British/English accent.) "You're our leader." It melted my heart.

All in all an awesome scary start to the day. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Even as I was screaming.





It was then time for lunch. "Yo Sushi" was our destination! It was my first experience with conveyor belt sushi choices. It was an adventure, and so yummy! Annie was the sushi master!





After our yummy lunch we were off again. I quickly stole a picture of Annie and Kathleen on the car next to mine. Our travels that day were spent mostly on the tube or "chube" as the locals called it. =)



Our next destination was Covent Gardens to do a bit of sight seeing and shopping. I got a few scarfs and a cool book for Cherie that she had been looking for. It was in this awesome little Puppet Theatre book shop.





I also bumped into my future husband. Isn't he so dreamy! It was love at first sight.



We then decided to head towards Kensington Gardens, by way of Hyde Chapel, I really wanted to see that church building for some reason.

But we finally made it to Kensington Gardens to see the Peter Pan statue. I love that book/play/film. I loved that park. All except for the crazy old English lady who was feeding the ducks and swearing at them at the same time. It was funny, and yet really hard not to laugh at her.





We then headed towards St. Pauls Cathedral to head to "Paul" a restaurant that Allison, Jesse, and Kathleen have raved about. Sadly it was closed. (What places close at 7 on Saturday nights?) So we then decided to head towards are final train station and find something to eat by there.



We ate at Pizza Express, and in all honesty it was amazing. I was expecting something similar to Pizza Hut, but it was incredible. I got a pizza with a salad in the middle of it. It was genius!

On a side note, I really love this picture of everyone. How lucky am I to be loved by these people, and get to adventure with them!?!?!?!?!?



Kathleen and Jesse got some really good hot chocolate with their desserts. (Just wanted to put in this cute picture of the two of them.)



No fun Jesse (this facial expression) decided to eat his ice cream. Which was good from what I heard.



I of course got chocolate cake with vanilla gelato. It really was heaven (though not nearly as good as the cake Annie made me later on in the week.)



I ate the whole thing! yum!!!!



That was the end of our daytrip to London. It was incredible, and we fit quite a lot into one day. It looks like I tired them all out!



It really was one of the best birthdays to date. A day as random as I am.

They say you are as old as you feel. Then I would say I just celebrated my 10th birthday. I still am such a kid at heart! Can't wait to see what the next year holds.

Yay For Good Books

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice, and I have to say that I loved it. I got the idea that I should try reading it again when we moved into our little cottage, and I have to say it was the perfect time to read that book. It wasn't hard to imagine myself in that time period when I live in the annex to an estate!

But now I am at a loss as to what to read. I still feel like I want that time period-y stuff... so... any ideas? (I already read Jane Eyre too, and I loved it. Oh and I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and thought it was awesome too.)

Please share your book ideas with me!

Where Else You Can Catch Me

So as you may have noticed I don't write on this blog too often. The problem is I am writing on too many other blogs. So I thought if you were interested I would give you those to follow if you wanted to.

First off I have a blog with my friend Samiee. It is here that I post my picture a day project. You can see those pictures at www.innerlightposse.blogspot.com

Then I have a blog with all my friends adventuring in England. We are posting about all our crazy adventures. You can read that at www.sillypilgrims.blogspot.com

So if you're wondering where I am, I'm probably writing on those blogs. I will try and post here too, but I might neglect this blog a bit. I apologize in advance.

Next Update!

So... once I arrived in England I thought it would be a simple thing to find housing. I soon learned I was wrong. Monday morning we went into town to do a few things, and then we took a train to Whitstable since we decided we would like to live in a village if we could. Well we soon learned that it was really hard to find housing as students. There was a new legislation that said that owners had to file a petition of some sort to let/rent to students, and there is an issue if you have more than three people who are unrelated. Also they refused to have shared rooms. Plus the smaller villages (Whitstable and Herne Bay) really don't like having students in the villages.

I've never wanted to love a village so much and then felt so disheartened upon leaving it. Whitstable was so perfect, and yet it just wasn't meant to be.

Then on Tuesday we decided to go to all the letting/renting agencies in Canterbury. Kathleen was our lucky one that day. She got us in the door for several "maybes" and at the end of the day we didn't feel quite so let down as we had the day before.

That Wednesday we had to leave our hotel room, it was getting way too expensive to stay there. One of the ward members had a tent we could stay in, in his garden/backyard. So we went to the housing office on campus and the did a few letting agencies and had our first viewing from the letting agency. That place didn't look right, but we had faith we would get a home. And we were excited to camp out for a few nights, and save some money.

Thursday was our miracle day. We went back to the housing office on campus and they told us of a new place opening up in Chilham, and that it might be perfect for us. That afternoon we got a hold of Emma (our landlady) and we able to come view the place that afternoon. WE FELL IN LOVE WITH IT, and the rest is history. We got to move in the next day, and it has been the house of requirement* ever since.

(We call it the house of requirement because it's like the room of requirement from Harry Potter, it seems to have everything we need, even down to the details. It's awesome.)

Our hotel room was a bit crowded... for people to a bed. We ended up sleeping the opposite way. We were able to fit then... Jesse on the end, Kathleen next to him, me and then Annie... it was really crowded!



This isn't a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the HUGE tent we got to live in for 2 days!