Today!

You might be surprised to learn that I will be embarking from Seattle tonight at 10pm. I'm certainly surprised. There has been so much planning and organising that I find it hard to believe that time is nearly here... but I have VERY FULL suitcases to prove that, indeed, it is Sunday the 31st of August.

To do:
1. Deposit checks.
2. Buy 4gig scandisc.
3. Adapter/Converter
4. Laundry
5. Fly to different country

One (singular sensation)

If you don't know A Chorus Line, I'm sorry that the title doesn't make sense.

I filled Annabelle (my VW bug) up with fuel today, and realised that this may be that last time I get fuel for the next 5 months. I promise you, it felt more profound than it sounds. I don't think it's that the event itself was extraordinary, just that it heralds the beginning of the Last Time For Now... you know, the last time you see a certain friend for a while, the last time you eat dinner at home, sleep in your bed, etc. I'm explaining this badly. Trust me, it does actually make some degree of sense.

In other news, I'm beginning to fear packing. I'm looking at the veritable mountain of Stuff I intend to bring, and realising that it might weigh more than I'm actually allowed to take on the plane. WHY am I not good at packing light? My skills tend more toward the eccentric: you know, licking my elbow and playing 16,000 different characters in a game played with children. It would be really handy to have a practical skill. Like packing. I'm really good at making everything squish in, but I'm terrible at making it not weigh too much. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'll be packing next Saturday.

This is my last week of work with the kids, and I'm really dreading 6:00 on Friday. I know, of course, that it's not like they'll shrivel up and die without me, or I without them (though that part is more questionable), but I'll just really miss them. (Crash? Boom? Are you reading this? I'll miss you! A lot!)

Dad just came in to play with Daisy Lu, so I'll stop for now. Tune in next week...

2 weeks to go...!

With only two weeks to go, I’ve started thinking of my goals for this coming semester. Yes, I generally come up with semester/year goals. No, I don’t always meet them. What I’ve discovered after several years of doing this, though, is that less is more. If I have a couple of goals, I can remember what they are and actually work to accomplish them. If I have over a million (or, you know, five or six) I lose track of what I’m trying to do. So, with that in mind, these are my goals:

1. Commit to a level of being embarrassed. In theatre, I have discovered that if I am not at least slightly embarrassed, I’m not trying as hard as I should be. I anticipate this mostly in movement and dance classes. I may make an idiot of myself, but darn it if I won’t try my very hardest in every element of my study!

2. Organise. I’m not sure if any of you have noticed this, but I make this my goal every single school year. Really. I’m getting better, though, and I feel like maybe it’s just a gradual process, and this year will be better than last year.

3. Be kind, patient, and polite… especially with people and situations that drive me crazy.

4. Be aware of my own needs. I need to make sure I eat healthily, pace myself in various aspects of life, and get some occasional (granted, rare) alone time. Otherwise, I probably won’t be a very good person to be with.

In other news, I’ve just memorised my sonnet, and I’m rather fond of it. Here it is, from memory:

Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness
Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport
Both grace and faults are loved of more and less
Thou make’st faults graces, that to thee resort;
As on the finger of a throned queen
The basest jewel will be well esteemed,
So are those faults that in thee are seen
To truths translated, and for true things deemed.
How many lambs mightst the stern wolf betray,
If like a lamb he could his looks translate?
How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
If thou wouldst use the strength of all they state?
But do not so, I love thee of such sort,
As thou are mine, mine is they good report.

3 Weeks!

Only three more weeks. Really. I'm starting to make mental tallies of how many pairs of yoga pants I have (3 or 4, depending on how you count) and how many layers of clothing it will take for me to survive a London winter (3 or 343, depending on how happily I choose to survive). I'm starting to feel that tight grip on my stomach that actually makes me read all the books I have to, and yes, I really am getting through them.

Three weeks.

I can't believe it.

I will miss my family and friends like crazy, but it's going to be an incredible experience. I can't wait for my plane to take off... and more specifically, for it to land at 4:15pm on the 1st of September, at Heathrow airport.

Welcome aboard, butterflies. I understand you will be with me, in my stomach, for the next few weeks. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

4 more weeks!

Well, there are only four more weeks to go! I have my suitcases, my winter coats are dry cleaned, I've acquired some more movement clothes, and I have The List of things to pack, buy, and do. I'm not all ready, but I am so excited. There's still a lot to do-- I have to "familiarise" myself with Sonnet 96 (my goal is to memorise it before I get there) and read a library's worth of plays.

I'm not concerned, I have time, but it's still something I must do.

Every time London comes up in conversation with someone new (and this happens a lot), they tell me how lucky I am to be studying theatre in London. "Oh yes," I always say. "Trust me, I know!" And I do. I get to live-- subsidised-- in a city I could never otherwise afford to live in. I get to study stage combat, historical dance, British theatre, and so on. I will be required to go see plays! That's like being required to pet a kitten or eat chocolate... and LDA will pay for my admission.

Trust me, I know how lucky I am.