Moments on the Map

In reflecting on how much life I've lived in my first three weeks of grad school classes, I realize that a blog entry detailing each and every memory will easily turn into a short(ish) novella. Therefore, I introduce a new blog series! (That's right, we're getting official with series and the like on here, y'all.)

1. Loughton - East 15

I can't even begin to wrap my head around the moments, ideas, et al. this place has already given me. For one, having a worldwide cohort provides amazingly unique learning opportunities. My classmates from Norway, South Korea, South Africa, Belgium, and Egypt (just to name a few) widen my views daily in the best ways.

Who's my favorite classmate, you ask? I don't play favorites! Jk, I totally do. Her name's JoJo the Roommate, also known as the best 1 a.m. dance partner ever.

"1st day of school, we're nerdy excited!"

"1st week is over, let's go party!"

"Jk, we're exhausted. Let's watch YouTube videos."

We're in class from 9 to 6 Monday through Friday which can be slightly...exhausting? Exhausting, but in the best possible way. Sometimes there's no better feeling than being bone tired from a day of doing what you love, amirite?

2. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - A Midsummer Night's Dream

On Wednesday night of our first week we booked it into the city to stand in the groundling line at the Globe for their production of Midsummer. Luckily we got right up next to the stage and had this view:

What's a groundling, you ask? What makes the Globe so important and nifty? Click here to read up a little on its history! What made the experience even MORE exciting was the fact that next time we're back at the Globe, we'll be on stage! We have a residency there in November/December that will end in a Saturday performance of two different Shakespeare shows.

Midsummer was ridiculously great. Puck and Bottom were completely fresh interpretations and Oberon was some kind of man beast I'd never seen.

Images via

3. Institute of Contemporary Art - screening of Lebanon Emotion as part of BFI's London Film Festival

Ben, one of my fellow classmates, starred in a movie that was screened at the British Film Institute's annual London Film Festival. What a privilege to get to support your peer at this experience! Plus, the film was really well done. Ben's work was fantastic of course (and I'm not just saying that, y'all).

4. St. James Theatre - Scenes from a Marriage

Unfortunately my phone died this night, but JoJo and I got some great TKTS tickets for this show last minute and loved it. It's a devastating, but completely engrossing performance. The trailer:

5. All Souls Church

On a rec from the states and the fact of it being right off the Central line, I decided to make All Souls my first church visit. It's a completely different experience for me to be in a house of worship with such a rich history in itself. (Click here to read up a little on it.) During the first service, I met a guy from the Bahamas, two men from Ghana, and an Indian couple. We sang in French and the message focused on missions to Europe. Needless to say- wonderful experience.

6. Stratford City - Westfield Shopping Centre
This is the nearest mall to us and is super conveniently located on the Central Line as well. It's one of the largest shopping areas in Europe and is located right next to Olympic village. Whether it's to go get a charger for my mac or an actual winter coat, I'm all over this place. Let's be honest- it just reminds me of 'merica.

Olympic athlete-signed cups at Starbucks

So that's just a bit of what my last three weeks have been comprised of! I hope you liked these first moments on the map. Am I forgetting to blog about something important? Do you have questions that I have very clearly missed answering? Lemme know, y'all. It's casual.

To the many blessings I'm experiencing daily,

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

My first two weeks in this city have flown by. There's so much to say. I guess I'm still in the honeymoon phase here, but I'm in love so far. Can a place give you butterflies and make you smile for no particular reason? (Answer: of course it can, hello Disney World.)

As well as my blog, I'm also documenting this journey via a twitter, tumblr, instagram and YouTube channel. Feel free to follow/subscribe/like/reblog/retweet/thumbs up/favorite/comment on all of those things if you'd like. Or don't. My friendship and love is not dependent on it.

My first London adventure vlog was also about my first "project" as a grad student:

Our quote for the day. Man, was it a good one.

Scenes from the Tate Modern.

My lovely group representing the UK, USA, Spain, Italy, and Taiwan!

After our great day in the city, JoJo, Katie, and I bought some last minute tickets to see The Light Princess at the National. Tori Amos wrote the music and lyrics for this new work which is still in previews. It has its problems, but was a visually stunning show with some seriously fantastic melodies.

A few days later, some of us ventured to the Churchill War Rooms which were unreal. I can't recommend the place enough. In case you're unfamiliar, the secret headquarters of the British war effort during WWII was basically a small community built totally underground. Men and women lived, worked, and survived down there.

Further photographic highlights (you can click on pictures to make them bigger if need be):

In case you were wondering, it's extremely difficult to be named an Honorary US Citizen. On the right is a casual letter from Dwight Eisenhower basically saying how much he misses his British friend.

Did you know Churchill was a legit painter? I sure as heck didn't.

The main map from the map room. This thing was punctured with thousands of tiny holes that denoted every friendly and enemy ship, battle, station, etc there was.

The man is responsible for enough quotes to fill a dozen coffee table books.

On the left is the flag that was draped across Churchill's casket which over 300,000 people filed past. His was the first "commoner" funeral attended by any ruler of England (in this case Queen Elizabeth).

Long story short- if you get the chance to go- GO! As an American, it will widen your view of WWII in really good and important ways.

All of these above things happened before my first day of classes. Since then I've completed my first week of grad school, seen two more West End shows, found a church, and slept far too little. But these events deserve their own post, don't you think?

To the city that gives me goosebumps,

September Favorites

Lady Gaga - Applause: No it wasn't Gaga's weird face paint & sea shell-filled music video or her disturbing VMA performance that finally got me hooked on this song. It was a car commercial featuring adorable hamsters trying to get fit. I mean, come on. That's just fantastic.

Justin Timberlake - Take Back the Night: No explanation needed, right?

Selena Gomez - Birthday: This might be the epitome of throw-away pop, but I just don't really care. Tell 'em that it's my birthday.

The Newsroom - Election Night, Part 2: I know a lot of people thought the season finale wrapped everything up too nicely and I agree the montage at the end felt very rom-commy, but several moments left me too happy to care. Mainly I just hate that this series has such short seasons.

New Girl - All In: This was the perfect season premiere for me. I know the writers will make Nick and Jess' relationship crash and burn at some point (to reignite tension and draw plots out a la Friends, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, on and on and on) but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Winston and his puzzle struggles were a highlight of the episode (see below). Side note: can't wait for some Winston/Coach action in the upcoming weeks. COACH!

New York City Ballet - YPC

Vlogbrothers - Syria in 5 Minutes

TED - Everyday Cybercrime & What You Can Do about It

Vlogbrothers - 42 Amazing Maps

Oscars - Bryan Cranston's Advice to Aspiring Actors

Mental Floss - Crazy (but creative) Film Interpretations

Relevant Magazine - Lies Every 20something Needs to Stop Believing

BuzzFeed - The 14 Saddest Moments of Futurama

Thomas Ward - One Fell Swoop

Jayson Bradley - 3 Things Christians Need to Stop Saying

Huff Post - 6 Words You Should Say Today

benedictcumberbatchgenerator.tumblr.com/

Endless fantastic names in the style of everyone's favorite Sherlock.

picmonkey.com

Ever wonder how I feed my photo collage addiction habit? Welcome to my crack cocaine.

Say Yes to Grapefruits's Even Skin Tone Moisturizer with SPF 15 - I really like the "Say Yes to" company. Their products are paraben and cruelty free and I'm always up for putting more SPF on my face.

Society6 Up iPhone Case - A new phone upgrade means a new phone case. I was giddy when I stumbled upon one of my favorite images from cinema.

To many new London favorites to come!

The First Days

My last little Texas road trip to DFW with Emily included goodbyes to the in-construction Baylor Stadium and of course a stop to get some world famous Czech Stop kolaches. It's amazing how fast 2 hours flies by when you're laughing with a best friend.

We made it pretty easily through customs at Heathrow with all of this (yep, all mine).

My room at the hotel we stayed in the first night had the most lovely view of Olympic Park with downtown's skyline in the background.

The next day was move-in day! That also means it was the first time I was meeting my most fantastic room flatmate in person - JoJo! Our first interaction consisted of high pitched, sorority girl yelling and a solid seven second hug in the middle of our front doorstep. I think that's the best start possible, don't you?

We're in the middle of induction week over here which means we're doing lots of welcome, orientation, and registration-type tasks. That doesn't leave a ton of time for sightseeing or decorating our place, but not to worry, that giantly obnoxious Texas flag that I made sure to pack first thing is already hanging above my bed.

We have been able to do a lot of walking and exploring of our Loughton neighborhood so far:

 

 

There's also this pub literally a block down the street:

Such a shame I'm not a pint-drinker, right?

We have a "London adventure day" with our program tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'll have more interesting things to add soon, but the basics are this: I love my parents for coming out here with me, getting me settled, and supporting me in this journey. I love that my flatmate and our house is the definition of a best-case scenario. I love the incredibly interesting, funny, lovely people that my cohort is made up of. I love the sense of anticipation for the next two years streaming through my head and my heart.

Now JoJo and I are off to M&S to find some sheets that don't feel like cardboard (protip: don't ever think that 4 pound sheets are a great find).

To grad school!