Christmas Favorites

Merry Christmas, y'all! I've been back on Texas soil for a little over a week now and have enjoyed every minute - even the 20 minutes spent trying to get out of a parking garage at North Park Mall in Dallas this Monday.

In honor of the day, here are a few of my new and old Christmas favorites:

Bonus! Because it's super important and because including Matt Chandler explaining how Fox News is wrong makes my heart happy.

To Christmas and Jesus,

Memes from Moscow

It's been two weeks and I'm still processing everything that happened during our Moscow month. If I'm honest, I'll probably still be processing a year from now. There were so many highlights - ballet at the Bolshoi, touring Chekhov's house, wandering through the Cosmonaut museum, haggling over matryoshkas at the Izmailovo market...I'll stop now.

Ok, one more favorite.

Our acting tutor, Vera Babicheva -

She was a part of the Moscow Art Theatre for years, has performed just about everywhere in Moscow, and has taught at Gitis for over ten years. She loved to yell at us in Russian and often, but it was always for our good. She was loud and blunt and amazing and gave us a gem of a quote just about every ten minutes.

What to do with these bits of authentic Russian acting wisdom, you ask? Well, we are on the internets of course, so the logical answer is...

Memes.
Definitely memes.

So without further ado, some common Russian acting sense via grumpy cat and all her friends.

I hope you all enjoyed the products of my Monday night. This is what happens when you finish your logbook early.

To Vera and all her Russian glory,

Moscow: Part 1

What. 

Where. 

....

....How to begin?

Let me try and sum up Russia so far via gifs.

(If you find yourself asking, "Why were they all Disney animated gifs, Jenny?" then you must be new here. Welcome.)

Moscow has simultaneously been everything and nothing I thought it would. 

I've explored iconic religious, military, and artistic sites (that I had very much written off ever having the opportunity to see in person).

I've experienced intricately-intriguing and thought-provoking theatre (and yes, all in Russian.)

I've survived (so far) a very intense month of training.

And I've met so many wonderful people that just don't care that our governments don't get along. 

They've smiled. They've come up to us on their own and asked how they could help us while lost in the Metro. They've asked why we're visiting. They've gotten excited to hear that we're working at Gitis. They've thanked us for letting them practice English for a few minutes. They've wished us a great stay in their city. 

Of course I know anti-American sentiments are still there. But more importantly, I know that Russia is not the big, scary country full cold stares that some would make it out to be. That's one of my favorite things I get to take away from this trip.

I can't even begin to go into details about my experiences here - mainly because I'm using Shake Shack's free wifi and they'll close before I can even focus my thoughts enough in that arena.

You and me both, Nick Miller.

So instead I'll leave you with the photo that makes me think, "what is my life" every time I look at it.

To Russia and the blessing that is this trip, 

Moments on the Map: Year 2 Beginnings

My first month back in this lovely land has been extremely busy. Here's just a sampling of the wonderful experiences I've had.

1. Wedding dresses at the V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum is so unique from other museums. While we were there, we also checked out the Disobedient Objects (which was fantastic in its own right) but the real reason for JoJo, Katie, and me to visit was their collection of wedding dresses from 1775-2014. Man, there have been some insane trends.

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at the Gielgud Theatre

This show. This. Show. Do yourself a favor and read the book if you haven't already. It's a really quick and heartbreakingly lovely read. I love to see theatre utilizing technology in creative ways while still being dependent on great acting and solid ensemble work. I would put this show in my top three theatre experiences easily. And the day seats are only 15 pounds! I'll definitely be going back with my mom and dad when they hop over for a visit.

 

3. Charles III at the Wyndham's Theatre

I am in love with the concept of this play. Coined a "future history play" it begins the day of the current Queen Elizabeth's funeral and follows an ensuing power struggle between Charles and Parliament. It follows various Shakespearean traditions, including speaking in verse. All in all, a great story done really well.

4. Contra/Barn dancing with the English Folk Dance & Song Society

I did this a few times back in the states and not only is it ridiculous fun, it's also a legit workout. Here's a bit of video evidence of our night.

In other huge news, I fly to Russia tomorrow. Yeah, Russia. We're studying for a month in Moscow at the Russian University of Theatre Arts otherwise known as GITIS. If you're the praying kind, please pray for our group's health and safety, as well as all family members' peace of mind (they may be a bit nervous).

Also, send me some warm thoughts. A Texan in Russia is a fish out of water, y'all.

To many amazing(ly safe) Russian adventures!

To Make His Name Great

So...what are you going to do?

A common question people have asked me while back at home this summer.

Kinda vague-sounding, but I completely understand what they're implying.

What (in the heck) am I going to do with my life after I graduate?

That can become a very heavy question very quickly. Think "cartoon spiral of doom" style. Here, let me sum it up for you with some gifs real quick -

My go-to answer is always something along the lines of - "Well, God made it very clear that London was the choice for me a year ago, so I'm counting on that happening again." Truthfully though, I think that's a bit of a cop-out. Not to say that it's untrue, but it oversimplifies some very complex situations and (more importantly) gives me way too much credit in implying that I will automatically trust God with His decision.

But people (most people) don't want a whole blog post for an answer. They want to hear- "I'm going to teach" or "I'm going to Hollywood to make it as a big time movie star" or "I'm marrying this English Baron I've been seeing and am going to live out the remainder of my life as closely to that of a Disney princess as possible."

Then a couple of days ago, I listened to David Smoak's interview of backup Baylor RB Silas Nacita. I would encourage everyone to give it a listen here, but I understand that not all of my tens of devoted blog readers bleed green and gold like myself, so let me give you some quick background info. 

Silas transferred from Cornell to come play at BU last year and found out last minute that his financial aid hadn't come through. He spent the whole year taking community college classes online - just scraping by and hoping for the chance that this year he would be back with his team. 

Thankfully, he is. Not only is he doing really well (three TDs so far this season) but he's also amassed quite the following from the Baylor community due to one of the best player nicknames I've ever heard. Go due yourself a favor and search #salsanacho on Twitter.

I googled "salsa nacho gif" and this is what the internet gave me.
Thank you once again for never letting me down, internet.

The whole interview is amazing (seriously, take ten minutes and listen) but this one particular question and answer towards the end is just something else.

DS: You score that touchdown against SMU. Does it feel like- it's all worth it at that point?

SN: I don't think it was about coming here and making a name for myself. I think what God taught me was that it wasn't about ever getting back to Baylor. It wasn't about coming here and scoring touchdowns and making my name famous. It was about understanding where I could be joyful in my life regardless if I had football, if I had school, if I had all the things that I wanted. It was about finding joy in life and it was really in Him. He gave me that joy to where I didn't need all this stuff and so when I did get here and when I am gonna be a part of it, it'll never be about me. It'll always be about somebody greater or somebody else. So I think that, just to be able to score a touchdown...it's just a "thank you, God."

Cut to a few days later. I'm listening to the first of Matt Chandler's sermons in his new series called "A Beautiful Design." Lucky for me, the Village put up the perfect 2 minute clip of it on their YouTube channel -

We were created by a creator. Which means - this is gonna sting a little bit - we are not the measure of anything...Just to be more direct and straight with you since we have this strong relationship -

You're not the point. 

I'm not the point.

We're not the point.

In the expanse of the universe, even though we have a special place in the creative order...you and I as created beings are not the point - The creator's the point.

And I'll tell you why this rubs us the wrong way- we wanna be the point.

I do. I want to be the point so badly sometimes.

When I think about that question of "what are you going to do?" my mind easily translates it to "what kind of name are you going to make for yourself?" I think of all the ways I might be successful, all the ways I might fail, what jobs I'll get, what city I'll live in, on and on. The entertainment industry strives on self. Yes, theatre is a collaborative art form (and I love it for that) but the culture of these "I'm gonna make it big" cities is very "me, myself, and I" based. How can I make my name great? It's so easy to slip into that, to want that, to work for that. 

Silas could so easily turn his story into a "look at everything I've done" moment and no one would fault him. But instead he did the complete opposite. His answer broke my heart in all the best ways. That humility is...well, humbling.

Ultimately, no matter how much I love performing, I have to have that same conviction that Silas does. To borrow from his words- I want to be joyful in my life regardless of if I have theatre, if I find the perfect job, get the perfect role, get any role. I want to find joy in life through Christ so that if I am ever "successful" - I'll already know that it isn't about me. As Chandler eloquently reinforced, it'll never be about me. It's about my creator.

So...what am I going to do?

Whatever the year after grad school brings me (even if no touchdown equivalents are involved) I want to be able to say "thank you, God" with my full heart. That's my prayer.

I fly back to London on Wednesday. It's been a wonderful summer, Texas.

To making it about Him,

p.s. - If you want to see all of Matt's sermon, it's available here to watch or listen to.