I've Moved!! (to a new blog, that is)

http://thedancegrad.com

Hello!!! I have moved to a new blog called TheDanceGrad.com! Check it out for more elaborate How To's, a 24 day fitness challenge and more! 

Thanks!!

Best,

The Traveling Grad 

a.k.a. The Dance Grad

The "Super Friend"

I am slightly disappointed in myself. I just recently realized how much pressure I've been putting on others to be this unreachable breed of human I'm calling a "super friend." This type of person is always there whenever you call on them, says the things you want them to say, is constantly aware of your feelings and always places your needs above hers or his. The funny thing is that the only reason why I even realized that I placed this unreasonable pressure on others is because I found that the same kind of pressure has been placed on me, and I have failed to meet these unattainable standards.

Before this revelation of mine, dare I say it, I considered myself to be that "super friend," and I judged my friends who did not meet these standards. Now, I can go on and make a bunch of excuses as to why I couldn't keep up with this lifestyle such as: I moved to another country, I got into a serious relationship, I have been traveling the world, I've been working on a Masters degree, all while working a part time job and trying to find ways to financially support myself and live where I'd like to live after graduation, but I know that those are all just excuses. They are excuses that everyone has in one way or another. They may not be the same excuses as mine, but everyone has 1 million and 1 things they have to keep up with in their lives. People are not only dealing with things on the surface like jobs, school, relationships, etc., but they are also dealing with family problems, depression, anxiety, and anything of that nature that is not normally shared with the public. The bottom line is that people do their best, and they don't mean to hurt you by not responding right away or not being in contact for a while. There's no reason for anyone to expect so much of one person who is only human after all. So ultimately I came to the conclusion that if I don't want my friends to hold me to the unreachable "super friend" standard, then I shouldn't hold it to them either.

So, here is my apology. Firstly, I want to apologize to any friends who feel that I've neglected them over these past two years or however long its been really. As stated earlier, I did not do it intentionally. I do my best in life, just like you do, and my love and appreciation for you as a friend is not diminished in any way shape or form. I still truly value our friendship, and please know that I never intentionally meant to cause any pain on your part. My next apology goes to those friends and family members who I've personally held to the "super friend" standards. I am so sorry for expecting of you what is far more than humanly possible. I now know that you are just doing your best on a daily basis, and there is no reason to think that you love me any less than you did before. Being that I am not with you every day, there is no way for me to truly know what is happening in your life. Although that makes me sad, I still know that I cross your mind every so often as you do in mine, and therefore, our friendship is still very much alive in our hearts.

I know that this post is somewhat off topic from what I usually post on this blog, but I felt that it just needed to be said. Leaving friends and family is a huge part of traveling and living abroad. It is an unfortunate reality that I have to live with, and I struggle with not having my best friends and family with me on a daily basis. All I can do is try and remember how lucky I am to have people in my life who love me, no matter where they are in the world.

Best,

Traveling Grad Student

An Overview of Budapest, Hungary!

Budapest ~ "The City of Spas"

For most Americans (the ones that I know), Budapest, Hungary is not number one on their “must do” list, and I can understand why. There is nothing extraordinarily famous to see, and it is very similar to slightly more popular cities such as Prague and Copenhagen in its architecture and cuisine. In fact, its often called the “Paris of the east” when referring to its romantic vibe and night time scenery, which in itself describes a notion of repetition as a tourist destination within the continent of Europe. An American tourist may ask, “Why would I travel to a city like Paris when I can just go to Paris?” Well, as someone who has been to both cities, I believe that I have the knowledge to tell you why, in my opinion, Budapest is worth it. 

Being that I was there for a mere four days, I am not going to pretend that I am an expert on the city of Budapest. However, I can tell you the impression that it made on me during my stay while simultaneously hoping that you don’t think I’m a pretentious know-it-all.   

Firstly, Budapest is one of the most inexpensive cities that I have ever been to, and it’s not like we traveled like hitchhiking students either! We stayed in a very nice two bedroom apartment, went to a five star restaurant and experienced Budapest’s most famous thermal spa all on a fairly low range budget. In comparison with its “sister of the west” Paris, it would have cost us nearly five times the amount we paid in order to have the same type of experience. Therefore, just the cost alone made it quite an appealing holiday destination! Now, I am not claiming that Paris isn’t worth visiting because it definitely is, but if you’re looking for a fairly cheap alternative for the time being, then Budapest can be considered an unexpected contender. 

View of the Parliament Building at night ~ November 2012

I found that the most beautiful scenes of Budapest occurred at nighttime when the city was alight with a yellowish glow that nicely highlighted its statues, historic buildings and monuments. During the day, however, the buildings seemed large and impressive, but not nearly as picturesque as they are at night. Being that I went during the Christmas season, the Budapest Christmas Market was in full swing! It was nicely decorated with lights, there was live music and a lot of little stands selling handmade goods. 

Scenes from the Budapest Christmas Market ~ November 2012

My all time favorite goody from the market was a pastry called a “Chimney Cake,” which was a flaky and doughy pastry in tube-like form roasted on a rotating spit and coated with sugar and other flavors. I tried the chocolate and the cinnamon (of course I needed more than one even though they were fairly massive), and they were both delicious! I would definitely recommend going around Christmas time for this reason alone.

Views of Budapest's most famous spa ~ November 2012

Budapest is also known for its thermal spas (often called "the city of spas"), which are basically large swimming pools filled with warm spring water that are believed to have natural healing powers. They are opened to the public year round, and you can pay for a one day fee or get a variety of different passes in order to use the facilities. Although I did not knowingly benefit from the healing powers of the spa water, it was definitely an interesting experience, which one should definitely try while visiting Budapest.  

View of Budapest, Hungary ~ November 2012

In conclusion, Budapest was definitely a destination that I would not have even thought of visiting before I moved to the UK, but being here has opened my eyes to the world in ways I never imagined were possible. The potential for travel opportunities here are endless, and Budapest is just one of the many new cities that I have discovered within the past two years. I hope you enjoyed my very brief description of my experience in Budapest, and I look forward to telling you more about other interesting cities in the near future!

Best,

The Traveling Grad Student

And nearly 4 months later...

Hello again! After the four month hiatus, I'd like to wish whomever is reading this a very Happy New Year, even though we're pretty much two months in already. I hope that everyone had a very happy holiday season, and that all is well!

Just to update, since my last blog post in October 2012, I haven't been anywhere that I would deem "blog worthy" other than going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas AND going to Los Angeles to visit my friends. Being home was very nice, although I did have a minor setback involving a pilonidal cyst, which started in LA and quite painfully ended one week later at home in New York. I believe this may have started a holiday related injury theme in my life, which I no longer wish to continue. What I'm referring to is what happened to me just last week, the day before Valentine's Day. I was making a tiramisu for my boyfriend and I to have on Valentine's Day, and the hot coffee from my French press coffee maker exploded all over everything including my left arm. I then spent the next hour trying to reduce the pain with little success and ended up going to the hospital. All is fine now, and the burn is definitely healing, but the moral of the story is be very careful with any and all holiday preparations of any kind because, whatever they may be, they're probably dangerous.

Despite destructive efforts of my French press coffee maker, who now resides in the nearest landfill, I will be traveling this weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark and possibly Malmö, Sweden!  With my dissertation project well under way, I'm hoping that I can find some time to post about my experiences there sooner rather than later, but at the rate I'm going now, odds that you'll hear from me again before June are pretty slim. Anyway, fingers crossed!

Its been too long!

Wow, it has been a very long time since my last post. My life since my last real post (about my trip to Prague in February) has changed so much and I have been to so many other places! Firstly, I went to Scotland directly one week after I went to Prague, and I didn't blog about it. Then I went to a few cities in Northern Italy, two cities in Germany, a few cities in Peru, and home to New York/Pennsylvania. In a few weeks time, I will be traveling to Budapest, then New York again (for Thanksgiving), then Los Angeles to see my best friends and family, and then back to NY for Christmas (I think). Won't be back to London until New Year's Eve, which Lord knows what I'll be doing for that. Hopefully something not lame, which is the word generally used to describe my typical New Year's Eve plans. 

Anyway, to sum up: Scotland was okay. I went with my parents to Edinburgh and on a bus tour of the Highlands. I got sick on the bus ride, which to be fair was an 8 hour ride on small bumpy Scottish roads in a crowded bus. Luckily, the German woman sitting next to us had a bag. That's all I'm going to say on that issue. 

Edinburgh Castle 

Me with some sheep in the Highlands

My parents by Loch Ness

and there's Nessie 

Then, there was the ski trip in Northern Italy with my housemates, which was great! I learned that skiing hurts and I much prefer the bunny slopes. We went to Torino, Lake Como (where George Clooney lives), Bellagio and Verona. Verona was the best, but we were only there for 1 night and a half a day. We did see most of the "attractions," though, which goes to show that Verona is mainly for doing nothing. Fine by me, but we didn't have time for that. 

On the cable car going to the "advanced" slopes (I just rode in the cable car)

In the lodge drinking warm beverages

Getting ready to ski (without my skis on)

Como

Lake Como from Bellagio

Verona 

Me by a fountain in Verona

Then in June, I went to Berlin and Munich, which are both in Germany. This trip was pretty fun, but I was exhausted for the first day in Berlin because I went to a Coldplay concert the night before (awesome Concert, by the way). Berlin was really cool and funky, and I liked how cultured it was. I definitely want to go back some day to look at some of the museums that I missed. Munich was a little more quaint and typically "German" if you know what I mean. I saw a lot of lederhosen and dirndl shops, and we went to the Hofbrauhaus, which is the largest beer house in the world (I think). That was fun, but I preferred Berlin. 

Brandenburg Gate

Me and the giant Amplemann

This is a currywurst. Looks a bit gross, but wasn't too bad.

At the Hofbrauhaus (sporting my Coldplay tshirt from the concert)

We thought this meant we were going to the Virtual Alien Market. We were wrong.

And then there was Peru. That was ridiculous. I have never experienced anything like that before in my life, and it was pretty great. We went to Lima, Arequipa, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, and Machu Picchu via the Inka Trail. I got altitude sickness in Puno (3,830 meters/12,556 feet), then I was alright until we stayed in a very dirty homestay on the Island of Amananti in Lake Titicaca and my sickness prevailed. After about three days in Cusco, I felt I was pretty much better except for the runny nose and cough, and decided to go on the four day trek through the Inka Trail to get to Machu Picchu. Not a good idea, I thought I was going to die. Long story short, I made it (with a lot of help). In retrospect, I'm grateful that I actually did do it, and I wouldn't have done it any other way. It was a great experience, and I'll definitely never forget it. 

Me with some Alpacas

At a market in Cusco

One of the archeological sites on the Inka Trail

Me at Machu Picchu!

Our Inka Trail Group

Me in a hole in Machu Picchu (right after I fell in poop. Not kidding)

Cholo Power sign in Lima by the Pacific Ocean

So, that's pretty much all of my travels from February until now. It has been quite the adventure, I can say that for sure. It was amazing, and I wouldn't change a thing. Looking at the pictures again makes me remember why I'm here and why I love to travel so much. I have learned so much and grown so much as a person from August 2011 when I first got to London until now, over a year later! I'm completely new, and with one more year to go, I'm so excited to see who I become when this degree is all said and done in September 2013. 

Trip 2 of 2012, CZECH! (get it?)

Prague, Czech Republic

I just got back from my trip to Prague, Czech Republic. What an amazing city! It was absolutely beautiful! I mean, it was freezing (a whopping -17 degrees celsius or 1 degree fahrenheit), but awesome anyway, so I can't complain too much. I went with my friend Hannah, who is in my MA Choreography program and she's from Canada. We saw everything from Prague Castle to the Museum of Young Art, which housed some of the most disgusting and bizarre works of art that I have ever seen in my life. When you first walk toward the museum, the you see four giant guns facing each other suspended in the air of a courtyard. Then inside, there are a wide range of images, bloody body bags, dead puppy and kitten carpets, real mouse skin shoes with the heads still attached, and stuffed dead horses. No, I'm not kidding. I wanted to vomit. This, of course, was not the highlight of my trip to Prague, but it was definitely memorable.

Museum of Young Art; Prague, CZ

One of the first striking images when you enter the city of Prague is the architecture. It is so colorful! The city must be absolutely beautiful in the summer as well, but I got to see it covered in snow, which was pretty sweet. The food was really good as well. I don't know why, but I had no idea what kind of food they ate in Czech Republic before I got there, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The first meal that I ate was potato dumplings stuffed with roasted pork and sauerkraut accompanied by coffee beer! I have never been an adventurous eater, a fan of sauerkraut, or even a beer drinker, but I loved this meal! It was my first, but definitely not my last Czech meal. The next day, I had another Czech specialty, which was fried cheese with tartar sauce. It was literally a block of cheese that was breaded and fried. Now this is something that's always been a favorite of mine, I just had no idea that it was a Czech specialty. Fried cheese, who knew?

Potato dumplings stuffed with roasted pork and sauerkraut

We decided to escape London for Valentine's day and take a trip to Prague, but little did we know that Prague is the stag capital of the world! Appropriate being that we are two single girls, but we still couldn't escape the nauseating images of couples everywhere. There was one particular moment where we were in the chocolate museum and I was in line waiting to get my complimentary hot chocolate and a waffle covered in dark chocolate sauce (oh. my. god.), and the couple in front of me wouldn't stop making out. Its like, please, that's the last thing I wanted to see. Of course, that image of nauseation was soon aided by the image of my very own waffle stick. The hot chocolate was amazing too. They steamed a cup of milk and then they placed a chocolate candy inside and the milk melted the chocolate. It was unbelievable. I wanted to live there in the chocolate museum gift shop. It was so good, that I even lost the urge to kick that couple in their obnoxious faces. Sorry, I'm still a little bitter. But you know what wasn't bitter, the chocolate. It was freakin' sweet!!!

My valentine, the waffle stick. Nauseating couple to my right.

Overall, my trip to Prague was a win! I had so much fun experiencing the culture, seeing the beautiful sights, learning about their history, and getting away from London for a few days. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. February has never been my favorite month, and nothing's changed this year. Life hasn't been too kind to a best friend of mine, and life in London has changed for me very drastically. Although I am on a high right now from my recent vacation, there still seems to be an underlying sadness within me that I can't seem to shake. I honestly have never felt so alone in London since I first got here. Its a very scary feeling to be alone in a foreign country, and I'm not too sure of how to snap myself out of it. I know I'm not alone because I have some great friends here with me, one even living in the same apartment as me, but I still can't help feeling this way. On top of that, I have so much work to do in the next month, that I get a panic attack and a headache every time I think about it (a.k.a. right now. Taking a moment to breathe). I need to just keep looking at the positive and enjoying all the traveling I'm doing.

It'll be nice being with my parents next week. Its been a rough two months, and I can't believe its already mid-February. Anyway, staying positive! Next week, Scotland!! :)

Time is Flying...

I can't believe that its already almost February. January flew by so quickly. So much happened, and so much has changed in the matter of one month, I can't even imagine what's to come in the upcoming months.

I went to Oslo, Norway last weekend, and it was absolutely amazing. It snowed, and we did a lot of snowy things, which were all really great. Everything in Norway was so expensive, I'm sort of glad that we were only there for one day so that I wasn't tempted to buy things. In a way, I wish that I had gotten a souvenir, but then again, I took pictures, so I guess that's good enough. The hotel we stayed at was really cool and really modern. The bed was the most comfortable hotel bed that I have ever experienced in my entire life. Its definitely in my top two most comfortable beds of all time, which says a lot because I'm very picky about beds. 

Me in Oslo, Norway! Woo!!

 The best two things about my stay in Oslo were the breakfast buffet at the hotel (mighty plentiful) and ice skating (yes, I fell down, and no, I didn't even care). The breakfast consisted of eggs made in scrabbled, sunny side up, omelette, hard boiled, and soft boiled forms. They also had pastries, rolls, smoothies, coffee, tea, apple juice, orange juice, bacon, sausage, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. I was upset that I became full after a certain point because I wanted so badly to keep eating, but I just couldn't. The dinner was only okay, so I wasn't expecting much come breakfast time, but it was great! Definitely exceeded my expectations and then some.

Ice skating was really fun too! The rink was outdoors, and it was located in the town center somewhere (I think). They played American, UK, and Norwegian pop music through speakers located on a tower in the center of the rink. It was about 40 Krone person (I think), which translates to about £4.50 or about $7.00ish. That's pretty decent considering it could be up to £25 in London and the equivalent to that in New York as well during the prime ice skating seasons. It was very surprising in a city where the Big Mac meal at MacDonald's was about £12! Yikes! Anywho, I had fun, and I would definitely go back to Norway (when I'm a famous/rich choreographer).

I am pleased to say that I have added two more trips to my already insane traveling itinerary for the first half of 2012. I am now going to Prague, Edinburgh, Turin, Milan, Verona, Lima, and Cusco! I am also looking to add a few more in there, but as of now, those are the trips that are already booked. I feel like this is a dream. Never in a million years did I think that I would be traveling to all these places. It was always a dream of mine, and I always knew that I wanted to travel a lot, but now that its actually a reality, its such a different feeling. I can hardly describe it.

Of course, life is never perfect, and there are always things that you wish you could change. There are always hardships, whether it be in your family, friendships, relationships, school, work, etc., there isn't one single person who can say that their life is 100% perfect. That's probably the best thing that I could have learned in this crazy-fast month, but this also taught me that I need to not focus so much on what I don't have, and focus on what I do have. There is so much to look forward to, especially in the course of the next six months for me, and no matter what else is happening around me and how sad or stressed out I may get, I can't ever forget about how lucky I am to be here. As long as I keep that in mind, there's no reason for me to ever be ungrateful.

Aaaaaaaaaand, I'm back in London...

Hello all! I can't believe how quickly time flew, but I am back in London once again. I feel like my time at home was a complete blur, and that it didn't really happen. When I look back on the three and a half weeks that I was away, I honestly have no idea what I did, how I passed the time, and what I accomplished. I do not feel rested at all; actually, I feel completely jet lagged... again. I also did not really enjoy my first day back in class. I feel like I would like to be choreographing instead of doing what we're doing, and I don't really know how it relates to what I want to do overall in my life. Possibly, after two weeks with this "artist" in this intensive, I can actually begin to understand why we had to walk around the room with our eyes closed for and hour and a half today, but as of now, I'm just kinda pissed off about it.

So, I have my second Euro-journey coming up in a little less than 3 weeks, which is kind of exciting. I will, of course, take a lot of pictures and share them on facebook as I usually do. Right now, I have an assignment to do for this artist dude that I don't want to do at all, I am baking some turkey cutlets in the oven, and I'm doing laundry. I also have a desk and a chair from Ikea that I just got delivered today, which I'm excited to use, but not excited to put together. I do need to put them together soon because I feel that I will be much more productive with my work once I have a desk and don't have to work on my bed anymore. If I wasn't so jet lagged, perhaps I would be more inclined to do it now, but sadly, this is not the case.

Hmm... I'm slightly concerned because my turkey cutlets are smelling questionable. Yeah, things are pretty much back to normal already. Goody.

Oh, and the turkey is fine. False alarm. Phew!!!

What is My Life?

So, I woke up this morning completely confused. I thought to myself, "What the ___ is going on?" (fill in the blank accordingly). The reason why I had this moment of confusion was because I was completely shocked at the crazy phenomenon that is my life. I have been living in a foreign country for four months, I am getting a masters degree, and so many other things are different in my life that I can't even explain them all. I just felt that I had to take a minute and really think about all this so that I can fully appreciate things. I realize that I can get caught up in the craziness that is life, and I don't really give myself the chance to step back and really look at what's going on around me. Its amazing!

I am about to leave for Italy on Saturday to visit my cousins, and I am so happy to see them! I think that stepping away from London for a while will be a really good thing for me since I've had to deal with so much stress over the past couple of months. I will be away from London for a whole month. Its very strange to think about being away from a place that you've gotten use to for that long. I remember being sad about leaving Los Angeles for Christmas break from LMU, but I feel like this may be slightly worse. I know I'm going to be so happy while I'm home, and I'm going to get to spend time with all of my family and friends back there, but I also know that I'm really going to miss it here as well. That may become slightly painful (emotionally painful), especially towards the end of my time at home. The only solution to this problem that I can think of is to keep busy. I have to read my own books, read books for school, hang out with my friends and family as much as physically possible, and watch a lot of movies. Isn't my life so difficult? Don't worry, I was being sarcastic.

Public Transportation... and then some.

Being that my only means of transportation in this crazy city is public, I have been thinking about that a lot lately. I remember when I was in high school, living in New York City (a city equally as crazy, if not more so, than London), I really hated public transportation. I had to do it every single day, back and fourth to the same places over and over again. The 7 train was so incredibly excruciating, not to mention that I've been followed by creepy men no less than five times AND been beaten with a homeless man's cane (not as funny as it sounds). I just remember being so tired from the traveling that I didn't even want to go out because it was too much effort.

Here in London, on the other hand, I don't seem to mind it as much. Granted, I don't have to take the train or bus to school, which makes life a lot easier, but its not like I live super close to central London either. I pretty much have to take the bus and train to hang out with my friends, go shopping, get my haircut, go to the grocery store, and do anything really worth while. Maybe I don't mind it much because I don't really have to do it everyday, but its not like its a picnic either, so I don't really know why I don't mind it as much as I did back in high school.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I do get frustrated by the fact that at least one of the lines I usually take on weekends are closed every single week, they are constantly delayed/don't come when they are scheduled to, or they're overcrowded beyond belief. Okay fine, I'm still not a big fan of public transportation, but honestly, I'd rather stand on a packed train that's moving than sit in traffic for over an hour. True story.

On a side note, I got my first London haircut today! 

This is what I wanted...

..

...and this is what I got.

So... not a big fan of the hair stylist that I had. He was very nice and very informative, but when I asked him to cut my bangs shorter, he flat out said, "Well, I'm only cutting it this much more, and I'm not going any shorter than that. I don't think you'll be happy if I do." I wanted to be like, "DUDE! I asked for it shorter. I think I'd be happy if I got what I asked for. I mean, c'mon." Its not like I was asking for him to make them look like this:

Anyway, maybe I'll like it better when I style it myself. That usually happens to me. I'll just have to get my bangs trimmed when I go home in December, which is still SO LONG from now!!! On the other hand, I can't even believe that its Thanksgiving next week!!! I'm sort of nervous about it, though because I've never hosted Thanksgiving before! I feel like I'm Monica from Friends or something. Come to think of it, I kind of am like her. I like things neat, I like to cook, and I have brown hair! Well, I guess a lot of people can relate to her then, but still, I've definitely always felt like more of a Monica than a Rachel or a Phoebe. I digress... the point is that I'm really nervous about cooking Thanksgiving dinner for like 15 to 20 people and I've never cooked Thanksgiving dinner on my own before. AH! At least I will have the help and support of my roomies (or flatties, I guess) and one of my bestestest friends ever, Blair Brown!!!

That's right! I have my first visitor in London coming in TWO DAYS!!! Blair and Stephen (her boyfriend) are coming from San Fran to London on Thursday, and I can't contain my excitement! We have so many fun things planed too! Firstly, we're going to Koko on Friday (this Indie club in Camden), then we're making Thanksgiving dinner together, and then we're going to Oxford next Saturday, and I've never been there before! WOO! So many fun things to look forward to and distract me from the pain in my stomach that I have from thinking about my assessment on the 1st and 2nd of December. Can't wait!

Wanderer...

Thought I'd share this... I love it so much!

I'm Back!

I realize that I've been M.I.A. for the past month or so, and I just want to officially say that I'm back! I'm sure that most of you reading this knew that I was alive and still living in London, and even though most of you know what I've been up to (some in great detail), I still feel the need to give a very general, non-descriptive overview as well.

So, what have I been doing? Well, let's see... I've been practically living at Laban, performing ridiculously complicated choreographic tasks, reading extremely cryptic dance literature, finding excuses to wear fake-hipster glasses, spending lots of quality time with my fellow MA Choreography (a.k.a. MAC) peers, and finally, losing my appreciation for the TFL due to the multiple tube and DLR weekend closures that coincidentally interfered with ALL my plans. So, in a nutshell, I've been kind of busy. I have also gone right back into my lovely habits of procrastination that I had weirdly forgotten about during that year between undergrad and grad school, hence, me writing this blog. What I actually should be doing right now is planning my rehearsal coming up in two hours, but... meh.

During this one month blog hiatus, I have also managed to schedule some pretty awesome "holidays" during the next two terms, which I am so excited about. Beginning on December 10th, I am going to be a traveling machine (not to be confused with a time traveling machine... which would be pretty sweet, but not gonna happen). From December 10-17th, I'm going to Sicily to visit my cousins (YAY!), then I come back to London for three days, and then I hop right back on a plane to New York for two and a half weeks. So, after all of the family traveling ends, I head back over to London on January 6th to begin my 2nd term at Laban!

Now, one may think, "Christina, that's already a lot of traveling! You're probably done for a while once you return to London, right?" and to that I would say, "HELL NO!" A few weeks after I return to London, my friends and I are traveling to Oslo for the weekend, then in February we're going to Paris to visit another friend, then in March I'm going to Stratford-upon-Avon with some MAC people, at the end of March we're going skiing in the Italian Alps, and THEN at the end of June we're going to Peru! There are also a few trips that I have yet to plan with my MAC people. I don't think I have ever traveled this much in such a short period of time in my entire life! This is honestly a dream come true, and I think that I am in such a good mood (despite some things that should actually be bringing my mood down quite a bit) because I am so excited about life right now!

First of all, the traveling that I will be doing coming up very soon is a huge life goal of mine that I am finally getting to achieve. Secondly, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, and this is my absolute favorite time of year! I know, they don't celebrate American Thanksgiving in England, but I don't even care because I am already planning a really awesome Thanksgiving feast for some of my favorite people in the whole wide world! I, of course, will be greatly missing my entire family on this day, but the thought that I will be seeing them very soon for Christmas (my absolute favorite holiday) makes me feel so much better! Anyway, I am just in one of those extremely hopeful moods, and I am really trying to keep myself that way. The last thing that I want to do is fall back into my funk, which ultimately did not allow me to keep up with my blogging.

It feels good to be back! Now, onwards and upwards!!! YAY!

Can't Sit Still...

I have come to the conclusion today that I don't know how to relax. I always have to be doing something, eating something, reading something, watching something, something, ANYTHING all the time. I don't know how to take a day and just sit at home. It honestly stresses me out when I have nothing to do, and I don't know if its just because I'm in London, and I feel like I need to enjoy every minute while I'm here, or if its because that's just the type of person I am. I feel like there's a slight possibility that I may be insane.

*These are some examples of my insanity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I just don't really know how to slow myself down, or maybe I don't really want to. I want to try everything, do everything, see everything, meet everyone (well, maybe I don't want to meet everyone, but I do want to meet more people than I know right now). Even when I'm tired, I always feel like I have to push through so that I can keep going. Then, of course, there are those moments where I completely pass out from exhaustion and then I wake up extremely confused as to what's going on. I am guessing something like this may occur tomorrow after my morning technique class, so maybe I should just plan on taking a nap. Although, the only problem with planning a nap is that when I lay down and say that I'm actually taking the time out to sleep for a while, I never end up falling asleep. Its only when I really don't have time for it at all that I accidentally fall sleep. Its a vicious cycle.

Tomorrow is my second week of graduate school, and I get tired just thinking about it. Mondays and Tuesdays for me are my lightest days of my four day school week because I only have technique class  in the morning, but then Wednesdays and Thursdays are killer! I go from so early in the morning all the way into the evening, and I just get so drained by the end of it. A part of me doesn't like that and, of course, the crazed wanting-to-be-busy-all-the-time me enjoys it. That insane stress-craving me wants the entire week to be non-stop class all day long! Its like I'm a glutton for punishment. On one hand, its very nice having class only two days a week, but on the other hand, I definitely could use something else. Possibly a job? But in order for me to have a job here, I need something called a "National Insurance Number," which is the equivalent to the social security number back in the States, and I haven't sorted that out yet. So, I have to wait... but I hate waiting. I want to be busy, and I want to be busy now. I'm even having a hard time focusing on this blog right now. I can't sit still, and I can't think of only one thing because I always have to have a million and one thoughts running through my head. Honestly, is there something wrong with me? There probably is. Ehh... maybe I'll go write some postcards, or make a sandwich, or run around my apartment. Oh, geez.

CHEESE!

Its so difficult to take pictures! It was so different when my parents were here and I was taking pictures of all the touristy things that we did, but now that I'm no longer doing touristy things because I'm no longer a tourist, I've stopped taking pictures. I feel like I'm really bad about remembering to take my camera with me when I go out, and when we had people over two weekends ago and I did remember to take out my camera, it wasn't charged! I feel like I'm missing out of the documentation of my first month in London, although... sometimes I feel that pictures aren't the best documentation tool either.

For me, pictures represent a certain moment in time that was captured to display a certain sentiment that was felt at that time. Most pictures are taken of happy moments because no one really wants to remember a time that they were unhappy or in some sort of pain. So... if you're having a terrible time somewhere and you look back on your pictures from that time, it'll be difficult to remember the pain you suffered because all you have to remember are images of the happy moments. For instance, when I studied in Paris for a month and a half, the overall impression that I got from the trip was that I really didn't have the best time. I had a bad experience with my roommate, I did not enjoy the locals since they really did not treat me (Americans in general) very nicely no matter how respectful I tried to be, and I did not particularly like the atmosphere of the city. I felt that it was a bit dark and Gothic for my taste, which creates for somewhat of an unwelcoming vibe that I've never been too fond of. Now, don't get me wrong, there were a lot of aspects of Paris that were very beautiful and that I really did enjoy, and I spent most of my time there with a group of three other girls who I absolutely love, but I just did not have the best time I could have possibly had while studying abroad for the first time. Now, although I definitely had a negative impression of my time there, if I were to have my memory completely erased meaning that I would only have the pictures of Paris to refer back to, I would only see the happy moments that I captured. Obviously, I would then come to the conclusion that I had a fabulous time in Paris, which would clearly be a false representation of what actually happened.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to go around taking pictures of all the bad and stressful situations that I go through here or when I get sick (like today). I am saying that maybe I should think of a way that allows me to remember both the good and the bad sentiments of my experience here. I don't want to be deceived when I'm like 65 years old and this trip is a distant memory. I'd like to remember when I got a migraine while shopping on Oxford Street and how I felt like I was going to vomit the entire train ride home.... uhhh, come to think of it, maybe I should just stick with my happy pictures.

What Is Going On?

I don’t feel like I’m studying abroad. This is a very strange feeling, but it is almost as if my experiences in New York and Los Angeles have both come together to form some sort of parallel universe. Let me explain. So, in New York, I had the typical metropolitan city life of traveling on the train everywhere with a lot of people set in a very hectic atmosphere (my version of NYC before I left for college). In Los Angeles, I had the typical college experience where I spent all my time with friends and they had to practically become my family. Now, take those two examples and combine them. I’m having a college-life experience set in a metropolitan city... and I play golf! What’s that about? Well, I guess I’ve played golf twice, but still... I’ve never played golf before, who am I?

Anyway, I just feel almost as if I’ve taken two very important chapters of my life, combined them, and created a brand new chapter. It definitely makes sense why I would feel this way since London is a city very similar to NYC, and I’m living with and spending time with people who I met while living in LA, but I’m still waiting for something completely and utterly new. I want to experience new and exciting, not old and familiar. Don’t get me wrong, its not like I’m having a bad time. I really love it here, and I love all my friends, but I’m still waiting. I know its coming, and I know that I got a little taste of it last night when I went to dinner with some fellow grad students from Trinity Laban. Graduate school is going to be my ticket to new and exciting... I think.

There is a slight possibility that it’ll be just like the LMU dance department, which would make me very unhappy because I’ve been there and done that, and its not really something I want to do again. I want to be challenged artistically. I want to do something with my choreography that I’ve never done before! I want to be changed. I’m so ready.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy...

Today I had my first official meeting for school, and I can honestly say that I'm so excited to start! I never ever thought I'd ever say that in my whole life, but its true! I really think that its going to be a great experience! Well, I know its going to be a great experience, but I think I'm actually going to enjoy myself as well, which is something that I never use to be able to do while studying in school. I always thought of school as a painful, boring, monotonous experience that I just had to get through in order to survive in the real world, but NOW its something that I actually want to do.

It was such a strange feeling to walk into that classroom today because it was like I stepped into a parallel universe. I was just so happy to be there, where as I would usually associate classrooms with horror and dread. Today, on the other hand, it was like I was another person. I had somewhat of an outer-body experience. I just hope that I am able to keep this type of wide-eyed optimism about it throughout the entire year because it'll definitely make it a lot easier to get through than high school and undergrad was. I mean who knows? After my first day of class I could totally hate it, although that's highly unlikely due to the fact that just learning about the origins of the school today was exciting to me. It actually made me want to take more classes where as the "old" me would've definitely wanted to take as little as possible. I wonder what other things this "new Christina" will be up for... hmmm....

Anyway, I'm excited to find out. It just amazes me how happy I am here overall. I have no idea what it is or why it happened, but I think I'm happy. Yes, of course there are stresses that I get angry or cranky about, but that usually fades pretty quickly. Then I'm just right back to happy. Maybe because its all new and exciting. Maybe its because I'm not on a schedule yet. Maybe its just because I want to be happy. I mean, I don't ever remember not wanting happiness for myself, but it could possibly be that I'm finally in a place (mental place, not physical place) where I can achieve happiness. Well anyway, I don't know what it is, but all I know is that I want it to stay this way. I know nothing is forever, even happiness, but if only it could be.

A Little Loneliness Never Hurt Anybody, Right?

Being alone in this huge apartment is very strange. I am sort of conflicted in a way because on one hand, I’m slightly nervous that something bad will happen, and I’ll have no one to turn to for help or support, and on the other hand...well truthfully, its kind of nice. I’ve always been somewhat of a loner, but not to the point of where I don’t like being social. I love spending time with friends, hanging out, going out, traveling with friends, etc., but sometimes I just like having peace and quiet by myself. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s no way in hell that I can go without interacting with people for more than a day; two days is the absolute maximum, and that’s pushing it, but I honestly am not one of those people who has to have human interaction every single second of the day.

Over the past seven days, I really haven’t been alone as much as I originally thought I would be. I am lucky enough to have friends that live in London, so I was able to hang out with them, and they were kind enough to show me around in some areas, which was absolutely great (excuse the run-on sentence please). When I was alone though, I pretty much just did the things that I normally would have done if I were home alone in NY or LA. I watched my favorite TV shows online, I slept, I cleaned (not as much as I should have, which is why I have a lot of catching up to do today on that one), I shopped a little, I wrote in my journal, and I cooked! The only thing I didn’t do was read. I don’t know why I didn’t read. Its kind of out of character for me, but I just haven’t been in a focused enough mood lately. Even on the tube, I picked up an awful magazine called “The Stylist,” and I tried to read a few articles about feminist issues in the UK (you know, right up my alley), but I just couldn’t get through some of them. I’m guessing it may have been because it was a pretty bad magazine, and they had a lot of information printed that I actually found to be incorrect, and I think it frustrated me. I do have my Kindle though, and I’m going to have a pretty long journey tomorrow from Greenwich all the way to Heathrow to get Mariel and Kristin, so I’m thinking that I’ll just bring that.

Anyway, my lonely period of time has come to an end, and I have to say, although I enjoyed it, I’m not at all sad to see it go. I’m ready to have roommates again, and so excited to get this year rolling.

I wrote this yesterday...

So... I’m in London. I’m living in a fairly new apartment building on the border of a really nice area and a not so great area of London. I like to consider the apartment as being in the nicer area of town because it makes me feel better about things. It may not be right in the center of everything, but I think that its a pretty decent distance to most of it, and considering the other options in our budget, it was a pretty good choice. Its actually a pretty big apartment too. Its a duplex with three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, fully furnished, new kitchen with all modern appliances including a stove top, oven, big fridge/freezer, dishwasher, and washer/dryer combo machine. There’s also a bus stop right outside the door, a major rail station like two blocks away and a DLR station a four minute walk in the other direction. Another thing that’s good is that there’s a really cute pub down the street that has free wifi, which I’ll definitely be using until I get internet in my apartment.

My parents have been living here with me for the past two weeks, and I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my two roommates, Mariel and Kristin. I just can’t even believe that I’m here. Finally! I have been waiting for this moment for so long, and now its finally here. This may sound a little crazy, but I still don’t think its hit me yet that I’m going to be living here for at least a year. Living here. I’m living in London. I moved to another country, and I’m living in London. This adventure will check off two of my major life goals. One being that I am living in a country other than the United States, and two being that I’m getting a Master’s degree. There’s not much left on my life goals list other than to visit every continent in the world, write a book, get married, and have children. I’m knocking off two major life goals in the matter of one year. That’s one pretty significant year! I am going to remember this for the rest of my life. I am going to share my pictures and stories from this journey with my children and grandchildren someday. This is pretty huge.

The only thing that I’m truly nervous about is letting it slip away too quickly. I have a terrible tendency to stress and worry about everything, and I worry my time away. I don’t want to do that here. I want to enjoy every moment that I have, so that I can remember every little bit. I want it to last because this is once in a lifetime.

London... Day 4

So... tired. Its such a strange feeling to be tired, but my body hasn't adjusted to the time change yet, so I don't want to sleep when I know that I have to. Its day four in London, and my stress level is just now starting to calm down. I also don't want to eat at the right times either, so that's been fun. I'm hoping that I adjust eventually, but at this rate, who knows if that'll actually happen. We just had dinner at this place in Kennsington called "Maggie Jones's," and it was pretty good. I had chicken and artichoke pie, and I really liked it. So far, we've only eaten at two places where the food wasn't great. Other than that, it really hasn't been that bad. I guess the last time I was here, we were on a strict budget, so we didn't really go to the places that my parents and I are going to now. When they leave, its probably going to go back to either crap food, or cooking for myself. I hope that I have time to cook for myself because my guess is that I'm probably going to be extremely busy, which means that I'm probably out of luck on that one. Oh well, it doesn't really matter if I eat good food, as long as I eat, that's all that matters. I'm going to be walking a lot and dancing more than I have in over a year, so I'm going to definitely need nourishment. I'll hopefully be moving into my apartment on Tuesday, so I won't have internet until I set it up, and who knows when that'll happen. That means I may not be able to post an update for a while, but hopefully it won't be too long.

I'm Here!

So, I'm in London. Man, am I stressed out! I mean, I wouldn't have expected this to be easy peezie (peezie?), but I never expected it to be as difficult as its been. I'm not going to burden you all with all my stress and aggravation causing issues, but I am going to tell you that its honestly been no picnic. The only thing that's keeping my head up is the fact that I am rekindling my love for London. Before I got here, the idea that the only reasons why I love London is because of the touristy areas and the fact that I just plain-old love being on vacation. After being here for the past two days, I've been working my patootie off (patootie?) trying to find an apartment, and I definitely have not done anything touristy other than walking by Big Ben once for less than ten minutes. Its amazing that after all of that and thinking about the stress of what's to come, I can still say that I know I made the right decision in coming here. I really feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Its a weird feeling, and I didn't even have that when I moved to LA, but here is different. It may still be a little (OK a lot) scary to think about living here on my own after being in the comforts and stability of my home for the past year, but the feeling of happiness will most definitely outweigh all that. Of course I'm still nervous, stressed, busy, blah, blah, whatever, but I know it'll pass and then I'll be OK. Probably more than OK.