5th December 2010

I know, it's been a while, but as you all know, life is busy...

The past few days have been great fun, since I had three days of West Side Story performances. The last two weeks we had been rehearsing non-stop, which was very tiring and very demanding, but it lead to a great couple of shows which everyone enjoyed doing. Backstage in our dressing room the girls ended up re-enacting all the scenes the boys did on stage -seeing as WSS is basically a boys' musical- which lead to hilarious results {which can be found on my facebook}. We even managed to make a four-layer pyramid - to be fair, it only lasted for five seconds, but hey, we did it! It was a great time: the rehearsals, afte-show drinks at the Rose {the pub opposite our Greenwood Theatre}, the tube-rides and chilly walks home with Ollie in stage make-up -even in London people tend to stare at guys wearing make-up- , but after two intensive weeks it'll be good to have some free time again to get on with my work and catch up on everything I've missed here in my halls.

The production of course ended with a post-production party at someone's house instead of the usual after-show pub, but because the whole team as a bit too cheery, the party ended abruptly due to noise complaints. I ended up sleeping over in a cosy house in Stockwell, which was the first place in London where I felt unsafe walking around in the afternoon, but this probably had something to do with the fact that I saw someone getting arrested for dealing drugs at a time like that. Mum and dad, don't worry about me, I got home safely as I always do.

Another interesting thing here is the student revolts, of which I am sure you've all heard at least something. It has most certainly led to some strange and sometimes hilarious situations, e.g.: During a lecture on Languages and Literure, the lecturer suddenly started laughing and pointing to the window, where around 50 policemen in fluo-vests were chasing one protester, who was obviously way faster at running. Or the occupations that are being held at most unis: students occupy a certain lecture theatre and give speeches, hold debates and sleep there as well. I'm curious as to how the hell I will go to a Greek lecture when the students are still occupying it.

Christmas has also arrived here in London: the lights are everywhere, since it's already dark at 4 pm, we have Christmas decorations and lights in halls, there was a good amount of snow this week, Somerset House has its ice skating rank and everyone's in a romantic, Christmassy mood. I'm looking forward to doing some utter cliché things, such as going to Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland and pretending to be able to buy presents while strolling around in Harrods.

I have also written my first in-class essay, which was frightening as hell. Having no experience whatsoever in writing essays, let alone a timed in-class one, I stared at my blank paper for a couple of minutes before picking up my pen and starting to write. I managed to write a 3,5 paper long-one and, although I forgot the nice conclusion I had prepared and ended up repeating my introduction, I am quite pleased that I can finally stop saying that I've never written an essay before.

I also wanted to apologise beforehand for forgetting people's birthdays: I do not have my phones with me at the moment and my computer hardly ever works, which makes it hard to contact anyone. Plus, I do not have my calendar with me and am not that good at remembering all the dates - hence the calendar. So please do not hate me. I love you guys and I feel horrible to have to say this. I hope I can make up for it with nice Christmas presents and cards and a very, very big hug. I can't wait to see you all around Christmas and New Year's. Which reminds me, if you have any big plans for New Year's, could you let me know, so I can decide whether to stay in Belgium or come back to London to celebrate.

I hope you are all okay, please know that I think about you a lot and miss you. I still smile when I think about the awesome week I had in Leuven during my reading week. {But so much for the way too sentimental notes. }

Love and all that jazz,

Elise