My First West End Show Since Being Here!

October 5, 2009 to October 11, 2009

The week started off really nice because for the first time since Discoveryland! ended back in Tulsa, I was on a schedule that repeated itself. For the first time in almost two months, I was back to a weekly schedule. It was hard to adjust to at first but also nice to know what my week was going to be like.

On Wednesday the Kellys convinced me to go see Blood Brothers with them after school. Right after we finished up with workshop we headed for the tube station and then it was off to Leicester Square to find the theatre. The girls promised me there was nothing to worry about since they went to the theatre on Saturday and knew exactly where it was. They also had “directions” if we got lost. We got completely lost…like had no clue were we were and didn’t know which direction to go in. Luckily, I used my phone again and got us there! We were literally running to the theatre to make sure we got there in time for the show. Only £20 for 8^th row center seats since I was a student! That was so nice. I went into Blood Brothers not knowing anything about it and came out a HUGE fan! I loved the show! And the cool part was that out of a 10 person cast, 4 of them graduated from Mountview! After the show we went to the stage door and talked to the cast for a few minutes. We talked to the cast members from Mountview about their time there and they asked us if their teachers were still working, etc. It was so cool to talk to these people who about 6 years ago where in the same classes back at Mountview that we are in today!

Friday night a group of us went out to see a movie. We headed to the bar first for a little pre-gaming and then headed to the theatre to see UP! in 3-D. I saw it back in the States in July but everyone wanted to go see it that night since it was the first day it was released in London. I think that it is so weird that we see something back in the States and it takes almost three months for the producers to release it in the UK. After the movie we all headed back to the Goose, a pub in Wood Green, to celebrate a birthday of one of the guys from Mountview.

Saturday started off as a pretty boring day. Got up, ate lunch, and then it hit me: why am I wasting time just hanging around my dorm when I’m in London? I decided that I was going to make this Saturday a good day. I finished lunch and headed to the tube station to go downtown to Harrods, one of the oldest and nicest stores in London. When I got on the tube, I decided to take a small detour and stop and King’s Cross Station and visit Platform 9 ¾. For all you Harry Potter fans, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I figured since I was going right past the stop, I couldn’t not go take a picture. After I had my picture of Platform 9 ¾, I continued on my way to Harrods. The place is huge! I spent fours hours in Harrods going from floor to floor looking at clothing, music, pianos, fine furniture, sporting goods, and, of course, the Christmas displays. It is such a cool store and I plan to go back there before I leave and do a little shopping (and I mean very little since it is so expensive there.). After I left Harrods I headed a couple of blocks over to take a stroll in Hyde Park. I walked around the park looking at all the different statues, buildings, and works of art but two things really stood out to me. First of all, I found the Peter Pan statue and took a picture of it. (For those of you who don’t know, I have this obsession with Peter Pan and have had this obsession since I was really little. I used to watch it four times a day when I was little and watched it so many times that we had to buy another copy of it since the first video wore out. I have this weird theory that Peter Pan made me who I am today: my favorite color is green…everything about Peter Pan is green, I am a Musical Theatre Major and love to sing…it is a musical, and I have this weird obsession with London and that I had to study abroad here…takes place in London! I know, crazy. My mom actually bought the special addition DVD a few years back and gave it to me for my 18^th birthday. I know, I should probably grow up but I just can’t! Ha! Another thing Peter Pan and I have in common! J) Anyway, the other thing that I really liked was the Princess Diana Memorial. It is basically this really nice, fenced in area in the park that has a fountain running through it. The memorial is a wonderful area to just lie in the grass and read a book or something on cool fall day. It was a wonderful day to take a walk in Hyde Park. After I left Hyde Park I decided that I didn’t want to stop walking so I made my way down to see Big Ben and Westminster. I took this time to really appreciate the opportunity that I have to be here and just relax. That night I decided to just stay in, chill with a few friends, grab a bottle of wine, and watch Jerry Springer the Musical at home. You know, going out and having a crazy night is fun and all but I think I’m more of a stay at home and be with the people you care about kind of guy. This night reminded me of a few wine nights back at Tulsa…miss you guys!

To see my pictures of Hyde Park, Harrods, Platform 9 ¾, or of London so far, look on Facebook or copy and paste the following link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023713&id=1511280430&l=5aa58b0c31