Some Troubles

The past couple weeks have been alright, with just a couple setbacks.

My classes have been getting better. People seem to be getting more engaged in the material. Something Laney and I have noticed in our theatre class, however, is that we are taught a lot about what other people have said or written about certain subjects, but there is never really an emphasis on what WE think or believe.

For my Postmodernism & Performance course, I had to go see The Antonioni Project at the Barbican Theater. It was put on by Toneelgroep Amsterdam, and there was a post-show talk with the Artistic Director. The show was adapted from a trilogy by Italian film director Antonioni. The production was performed, filmed, and projected live. Very well done technically, but the show itself felt like it lacked a bit of cohesiveness. I'd like to see the movies after seeing this show. Here's a link to a trailer of the performance: http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=11491

In other play-related news, a couple Mondays ago I took Laney to see The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre. Very funny. Adapted by Patrick Barlow, it was a comedic version of the Alfred Hitchcock film. Four actors portrayed most characters from the film and every scene was recreated. Easily enjoyable and very entertaining.

People at the university have still be very nice. The way weeks run here are quite different than they are in the States. People party most nights of the week, but once it hits 2:00 am on Saturday morning, it's dead until around evening time on Monday or even Tuesday nights. People like to party here after class and work all weekend, it seems like. That, and I think a lot of people go home on the weekends if they live close enough.

I've been learning about Haiti and Les Antilles in my French Postcolonial Studies class, which has been interesting, but I wish we'd focus a bit more on history than so much on literature and film. It would just help to understand the context a bit more. In the Classical Greek and Roman Drama in Context course, we have read The Oresteia and discussed it; next, we're reading Antigone. Having my Kindle has been a great help getting through these plays (and I've read half of Anna Karenina, as well).

On a different note, last Friday I tried to withdraw money from the bar on campus at their cash machine, and the ATM ate my debit card without any notice. Just got my replacement today, but that was ridiculous. Very stressful, but I'm glad it's taken care of.

I'll try to post on here more. It feels a little unnatural to write on a blog still, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. Just in case I don't come back later this week, Laney and I are going to see a show called Clybourne Park this week through a program that gives theatre students cheap tickets to shows in the West End. Here's a link for information on the show/theatre: http://www.london-theatreland.co.uk/theatres/wyndhams-theatre/theatre.php

Julie Hairston sent me a book called Cheap Eats in London that I've looked through and can already tell it's going to be a great help. The maps in the back are better than most travel guides, and the descriptions of all the restaurants are excellent. We'll definitely be using it whenever we go into the city. Thanks, Julie!

Well, that's all for now. I'll fill in what I forgot at a later date.

-Mitchell

A Week with Some Sun

This past week we actually experienced some nicer weather, so we took the opportunity to walk around the area a little bit more and take some pictures. Richmond Park is a ten to fifteen minute walk from our dorms, and since it was sunny outside, we checked it out. Large groups of deer were scattered throughout the park, and it was the first time I had been so close to so many at one time. As it became colder, we decided to head back to campus, but I'm glad we got a chance to look around a little.

Our trip to the Hayward Gallery was a success. The assignment was the view the movie "Can I Help You?" which documented Dutch artist Erik van Lieshout's exhibit in a Rotterdam shopping mall. I wasn't wild about the whole thing, but he brought up some interesting points about consumerism and art/shopping; unfortunately, most of my postmodernism class wasn't very enthusiastic (I'm starting to see a trend), and many found it simply boring. Ah well...

Took it easy for the most part this weekend. Got some work done and spent some time with friends. After Laney gets out of class today, we're going into London to (hopefully) buy a couple play tickets and see a show tonight. In the meantime, we're going to have a look around the West End during the daytime and probably meet up with a guy I worked with at Camp Airy a couple summers ago. Hopefully it won't get any cloudier!

Until next time,
Mitchell

PS- for those interested in seeing some pictures, I'm uploading them to my Facebook account. Here's the link to the pictures I mentioned above:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076765&id=1502850007&l=35aac99540

The Start

So I'm finally starting this blog. This is primarily for friends and family to keep up with what I'm doing while studying abroad in London.

Thus far, I've been getting established, taking a couple classes, and seeing some parts of London to get a feel for how things run here. Most everyone at Roehampton University is very friendly, but registration and just communication around the school seems pretty unorganized. Basically, if you want something done, expect to do all the steps yourself.

I'm taking three classes while I'm here, and they're all on Thursday and Friday, which is a real nice set up. Francophone Postcolonial Studies, Postmodernism & Performance, and Classical Greek and Roman Drama in Context. I'm pretty excited about them all, and hopefully they'll only get better.

The exchange rate is not what we'd want it to be, but hopefully it'll get better the longer we're here...

Yesterday I bought tickets to see Caribou (Feb.) and Deerhunter (Mar.) and today we're going into Central London to see a postmodernist exhibit at a museum. Can't remember the details right now, but I'll post more about it later.

I'll probably be using this blog to post some pictures, so keep checking in, and I'll have more to say later on.