Day 202: Summer Plans

(I visited Stonehenge the other day-- so cool! Blog with more pics coming soon)

I was planning a big post on day 200, but since I was rather busy that day and I had just made a big deal of the halfway mark on day 187, there was really no need to go on again about how it feels like I've been here forever and how I've changed so much and yada yada yada... 

Instead, as I sit in the Southampton airport waiting for my flight to Belfast, I'll briefly describe my plans for the summer.

My exams end the second last week of May, leaving me a few days to pack up and start saying goodbye to friends before my mum comes out, hopefully in the last week of May. We'll then travel around Scotland, Germany, and the Netherlands together (my mum's side of the family is Dutch, and mum did an exchange in Germany) for a few weeks.

I'll be back in St. Andrews for a few weeks mid June, possibly doing some acting, watching my friends graduate, or climbing mountains (I'd love to climb Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK-- anyone up for it?)

At the very end of June I head off to Romania, where I'll spend a month teaching English in the city of Suceava. Suceava is right in the northeast corner of Romania, putting it only about half an hour drive from the Ukraine border... so let's pray that the situation doesn't escalate while I'm out there.

After Romania, I have a week before I can return to the UK, since my visa expires on my birthday, July 31st. After that date I'll re-enter the UK as a visitor, but before then I'll probably travel around a bit, possibly spending my birthday in Rome (which is one of my top places in the world to visit.)

August will find me in Harrogate, a city in northern England which hosts (this year) the International Gilbert and Sullivan festival. St. Andrews will be sending our production of The Sorcerer down, and I hope to get involved with a couple other shows as a chorus member.  I also plan to travel a bit during August, maybe finally making my long-warranted trip down to Wales. 

As of yet, I don't know when I'm going back to Canada. What I'd absolutely love is if I could stay until the second week of September and meet up with my friend Sharon, my former roommate and BFF who is coming to St. Andrews on exchange next year. I also might spend a day or two at St. Andrews during fresher's week, which would be so much fun. All this depends on when my MA program starts, however, so it's a bit up in the air. 

And that's my summer! A lot of fun things planned, a lot more possibilities... It's really fun to look forward and see how many things I could do. Obviously many of my plans won't work out-- I don't have time to do everything I want to do, sadly-- but whatever happens, this summer will be full of new and exciting experiences. My time at St. Andrews may be drawing to a close, but the adventure is nowhere near over. 

Day 100: Looking Forward

I’ve been in Scotland for 100 days.

By a ruined abbey in Dunfermline

Not technically, of course. About ten of those days were spent in England or Ireland, so I’ve really only been in Scotland for around 90 days. Still, it’s been 100 days since I left Canada to begin my British adventure.

The past 100 days have been some of the best of my life. I’ve met so many people, done so many things, learned so much, and been so many places… It’s really been a time of excess, a time where two plays, two essays, and two tourist trips can exist in the same month. It’s been everything I expected, and more.

I hope you all know what this is...

It’s only going to get better. Once exams are done (next Wednesday!) I’ll head down to Nottingham (stopping in York for the afternoon to explore) to stay with my great aunt and uncle over Christmas. After about a week I’ll move on to Cambridge, where I’ll stay with a friend of mine from St. Andrew’s. We plan to go into London together for New Year’s celebrations, and then I’ll catch a bus/plane that will take me to continental Europe and a whole new set of adventures for January. I don’t intend to get back to St. Andrew’s until January 27^th, after visiting at least seven new countries.

Once I get back, second semester should be as much fun as the first. My module lineup (Scottish Literature and T. S. Eliot) looks like it should be fun, and I’ll have a better idea of the academic system now that I’ve already been through one semester.

Then there’s theatre. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society is doing The Sorcerer (a Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque show about people drinking a potion and falling in love) and I’ll be choreographer, which should be an exciting challenge. I’ve also been cast in a student-written piece called ‘This Breathing World,’ which is a futuristic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Finally, I might do tech for a few more productions, since I really enjoyed doing it last time.

Iolanthe faries <3

More travel awaits next semester. I haven’t seen much of the Scottish Highlands (though I have been down south a few times) so a trip up towards Inverness and Loch Ness definitely has to happen at some point. We have two weeks break in March, and the current plan is to head down to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, where it’ll (hopefully!) be warmish. There’s also the possibility of weekend trips to cities like Paris, France, and Oslo, Norway. And after classes are done, I might get to head down to Greece and Croatia for an early summer holiday.

My 'mum' and me at CU houseparty

But most of all, I’m looking forward to starting next semester with my lovely group of friends here. When I look around and see how close I’ve gotten with so many of the people here, how many wonderful people I can truly call “good friends,” I can’t help but look forward to another semester of spending time with them and getting to know them even better. The academics and the theatre and the travel may all be exciting and fascinating, but it’s the people that have truly made my time here amazing.

To all my St. Andrew’s friends: thanks for a wonderful 100 days.

Days 82-83: Doctor Who in London

EXTERMINATE

Yesterday I wrote about the shows I saw in London; today I'll talk about the Doctor Who events I attended (the convention on Friday, and the cinema screening in Leicester square.) This leaves the general sightseeing/appraisal of London (and the majority of my photos) for tomorrow. 

Firstly, I'm glad that I went down to London for the anniversary. Everyone in St. Andrews seemed to think travelling seven hours was a little ridiculous, but it was definitely worth it, especially with everything else I did in London. Going to the convention and watching the episode with hundreds of other fans in one of London's main cinemas definitely increased my excitement for the show.

The queue to get into the convention

Friday was convention day. While it ran all weekend, each day was basically a repeat of the others, so I only got a ticket for Friday. I bought my ticket months ago, back in Canada, and they sold out in a few hours, which is crazy considering there were thousands of people there just on Friday.

That was the only downside to the convention- the sheer number of people there. I arrived at about 9:15 with the doors due to open at 9:30, but with the huge queue I didn't actually get into the convention room until after 10. Once in, it was a big squeeze to get anywhere, especially by the shops (there was basically anything imaginable for sale... I just bought a tardis notebook. So original.)

Panel with the current cast/crew

There were three main panels throughout the day. The first was called 'Regenerations' and it featured three of the old doctors (Colin Baker, Peter Davidson, and Sylvester McCoy). The second was my favourite, since it involved the current actors (Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman) and head writer (Steven Moffat). Finally, the third featured the special effects director, who demonstrated a number of the explosions and stunts they did on the show.

Other than the panels, there were lots of things going on in the main hall. There were two main stages with smaller panels (I went to one run by Big Finish audio, which records doctor who audio dramas, and I got to go up on stage and read part of the script), a smaller special effects demo, and sessions with the choreographer who taught us how to walk like Doctor Who monsters.

Panel with Big Finish audio

The best part of the day was towards the end, when people started to clear out. Up till then I had been feeling a little bit distanced from the whole thing-- with thousands of people there, I never got near any of the actors, much less had time to talk to them. But as people started to leave, I got the chance to talk to a number of people with smaller roles or behind the scenes jobs.

David Tennant's suit, and the spacesuit from
'Silence in the Library'

A bunch of trailers were set up with hair/makeup and costumes, so I got to take a look at the actual costumes used in the show. The highlight was definitely getting to handle the jacket that Tennant wore in 'The End of Time' when the Master burned a hole in the front of his suit. I also really enjoyed talking to the hair stylist who was in charge of Tennant's hair, because he was actually a good friend of Tennant's, and he had lots of good stories.

Nicholas Pegg, myself, and Barnaby Edwards.

The best part was when I had quite a lengthy conversation with Nicholas Pegg and Barnaby Edwards, the two main actors who play the Daleks. They were both really friendly, so I and another couple people just stood in a circle with them and chatted about various things, not always doctor who. It was actually quite bizarre because it felt so normal, like they were just other doctor who fans, but then every once in awhile they would mention some part of an episode that they were in and it would suddenly strike me that I was actually talking to doctor who actors!

I left the convention at 7, after most people had already gone. The huge hype from the day left me really excited for the anniversary episode, which aired the next day (Saturday) and was simulcast in cinemas worldwide.

TARDIS

As I said before, I got to watch the episode in Leicester square, which is apparently where a lot of movie premiers happen. All I know is that the cinema had two showings of doctor who on that night, so the building was packed with people in long colourful scarves or tardis blue dresses. The audience was really excited, always ready to laugh or cheer. It was almost like watching it with friends.

Before the episode they aired a couple short clips. A character from the show (Strax the Sontaran) came out to instruct us on proper cinema etiquette (keep a low volume when consuming liquids and nutrition packs) and then Matt Smith and David Tennant came onscreen (huge cheers for Tennant) to talk about 3D and how that would make Smith's chin stick out of the screen.... Smith also had a long rant about how there were zygons in the theatre, but apparently our 3D glasses were equipped with Zygon detectors. It was all good fun, and made it worthwhile to watch the show in cinemas rather than just on TV.

As for the episode itself, I loved it. I won't go into any details (spoilers!) but it was exactly what I wanted from the special: funny, intense, full of inside jokes, moving forward yet looking back, cameos, and just generally a good plot. I had really high expectations for the episode, and it completely met them.

All in all, the Doctor Who aspect of my trip to London was definitely a success. After all, there's really nothing better than leaving the Doctor Who theatre and stepping out not into ordinary real life, but into London, with people everywhere and Christmas lights across every street, and Trafalgar Square right behind you...

Don't blink!

Jenna Coleman at the autograph booth.

Cyberman queuing 

The crowd waiting for the panel

IT'S THEM!

Riversong

The Great Intelligence

The Doctors' costumes

Bernard Cribbins (Wilfred, Donna's grandfather)

Winston Churchill. :)

Old TARDIS console

Days 81-83: London's West End

The Harold Pinter theatre, playing 'Mojo'

I'm writing this on the train heading back from London. We've been going for about two hours and it'll be another four until I get back into St. Andrews, which leaves me lots of time to blog about the past week(end). 

I've decided to blog about London in three separate chunks: theatre, doctor who, and sightseeing. Instead of going through a list of what I did each day, I'll post about about each of those categories and hopefully my "story" will make more sense. 

I'll start with theatre, because I want to post these as soon as possible and the other categories will involve far too many photos which I don't feel like editing just yet. So, without further ado, what shows did I see in London?

Before going to London, I knew the West End had lots of good theatre. I just didn't realize that "lots" meant "more than you could see in one trip even if you saw two a day." It seems like every street corner has a theatre, each playing what claims to be London's best musical.



The magic word in the West End is 'day tickets.' Most of the theatres sell greatly reduced front row tickets if you show up at the box office the day of the show. While the front row can involve some slightly uncomfortable angles, being so close to the actors is just amazing.

The first show I saw, on Thursday afternoon, was Mojo, starring Rupert Grint, Ben Wishaw, and Colin Morgan. The play was really dark and gritty and didn't make an awful lot of sense (I still don't know what the plot really was, and I've been thinking about it for a few days) but the acting was phenomenal. Plus, I only paid ten pounds for front row seats, which put me just five feet away from some of my favourite actors.

On Thursday night I saw Les Mis, where I was completely blown away by the vocals. Unfortunately, that theatre didn't do day tickets, so I ended up just buying twenty pound tickets in the back corner of the theatre. The sound was still amazing, and their set (a revolving stage) was so cool, but I did miss being able to see the performer's faces. Still, the strong point of Les Mis is the music, and it certainly delivered.

'Wicked' had a super cool stage-- the dragon above it
moved around and breathed smoke!

Finally, on Saturday I bought thirty pound front row seats for the Wicked matinee. I had the soundtrack for the play on my computer, and I knew the general premise (the untold story of the witches of Oz) but I didn't really know the ins and outs of the plot, so I really enjoyed actually hearing the story for the first time. I'm not quite sure what I think about the musical's moral views, but the show has a great concept that was well executed. While the vocals weren't quite as strong (in my opinion) as in Les Mis, the set, the acting, and the energy made for a truly fantastic show.

Wicked's curtain, with a lovely map of Oz.

So. I've just seen three shows in one weekend, but I've still barely scratched the surface of what the West End has to offer. The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, The Phantom of the Opera.... So many big name musicals, and many others. Also, in January, the Royal Shakespeare Company's 'Richard II' (starring David Tennant) moves to London, and Coriolanus (starring Tom Hiddleston and Mark Gatiss) opens, so I shall definitely be returning for another round of London theatre.

Day 63-64: Raisin Weekend

If you’re my friend on facebook, you might have seen photos like this floating around:

As my mom commented: “Looks like something straight out of a horror movie.”

Thanks, mom. :)

It’s no horror movie, it’s Raisin weekend. Quite possibly the most bizarre experience of my life. Full of parties, scavenger hunts, team challenges, crazy costumes, and shaving foam, there really isn’t anything else like it.

I’m not quite sure how to start describing Raisin. I guess it kinda begins with the idea of academic families, which is where third years ‘adopt’ first years as their kids. As an exchange student, I also got adopted by third years (which is slightly odd, since they’re both younger than me, haha). Here are my lovely parents:

The cool thing about getting adopted means that you don’t just get parents, but you also get brothers and sisters, and possibly even step-siblings or parents. For instance, parents normally adopt separately (not in couples) but my mom adopted a few people with a specific guy, making that guy her academic “husband,” so he’s my stepfather and his kids are my stepbrothers.

My mum's family (the orange team!)

I don’t know if any of that explanation made sense, but if not, then that’s okay. It’s confusing enough here, where everyone knows what’s going on. If I casually mention that I had coffee with my mom the other day, everyone starts wondering if my real mom actually came all the way from Canada.

Playing chubby bunny...

Alrighty: this past weekend was Raisin weekend, which is when all the academic families party together. Apparently the tradition began years back, when fathers would take their children on a tour of the pubs, and in return the kids would give their fathers raisins to brighten up their bland student diet. Now the tour of the pubs is normally a party at the father’s house, and the raisins are usually wine.

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon at a party with my mom’s side of the family. Three mothers had their party together, so we had lots of inter-family challenges, like a scavenger hunt where we had to take photos all over St. Andrew’s, like this lovely shot from the top of St. Rule’s tower:

One of the rules of the scavenger hunt was that someone had to be carried the entire time… Guess who that was?

We played a bunch of other games at the house, like the cereal box challenge where you have to pick up a cereal box in your teeth with only your feet touching the ground. It’s not terribly difficult at the beginning, but then you start ripping strips off the box until there’s basically nothing left…

Tessa (my sister) looks so elegant trying to pick up the cereal box.

My method is somewhat less elegant, but it worked well.

After my mother’s party, I headed to my dad’s, where we had a lovely dinner and played a bunch of fun games, like smashing the piñata or building the tallest sculpture out of marshmallows and pasta. I also tried Cider, which here is alcoholic and tastes a bit like beer (which I hate) but the kind of cider I had was really fruity, so it was much more like pop.

Winning sculpture!

Twister (the extra plates on the sides had challenges)

Me and my bros (and dad)

Bright and early Monday morning we were up to prepare for the real fun of Raisin: the foam fight. First, all the kids go to their mum’s houses and get dressed up: my mum dressed us all up as biscuits! (I’m the oreo)

Biscuits. :)

Then, once you’re in costume, you walk to your dad’s house where he gives you the Raisin receipt. The idea of the receipt was originally to testify that you were a good child and you gave him wine like you were supposed to, but now the receipts are basically whatever huge object the father can find to force his children to carry around. In my case, our receipt was an entire paddling pool with slush and rubber ducks! We had to tote this all the way up to Sally’s quad, which took us nearly half an hour (thanks, Dad…)

My bros, dad, and the raisin receipt

Once at the quad, you toss your receipt in one of the dumpsters (such a waste… but I saved one rubber duck!) and enter the foam fight. Apparently the fight comes out of a tradition where if you didn’t have your receipt, you’d be dunked in the fountain, or some such madness. Now, it just means that all the freshers get cans of shaving foam which they proceed to spray on everyone else until the entire quad, and everyone in it, is completely covered in white. Need some evidence? Check out this BBC gallery.

And that, my friends, is Raisin, in all of its St. Andrews madness. There’s really nothing that’s odder, or more archetypically St. Andrew’s than a weekend of parties, crazy challenges, and shaving foam.