Happy (slightly belated) new year!
I took a little bit of time out from blogging while I've been home - I've been so busy catching up with friends and family that I've barely had time to sit down! I'm going back to uni in two days though, so fairly regular (ha!) blogging should start again...
I'm really having mixed feelings about going back. I'm so excited to see my uni friends again after four weeks away from them all, but it's going to be incredibly hard to leave everyone at home again and not see them for quite a while... I've managed to see someone pretty much every day for the last four weeks, and it almost feels like I never left home. So it feels like I'm going for the first time all over again! And I still have packing to do... as much as I love my uni, I wish it wasn't so far from home.
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I'm blogging from my bed at home in cold, snowy Scotland!
I'm so happy to be home for Christmas, words cannot even describe! Actually getting home was quite a challenge though... the second of my trains to the airport was cancelled, meaning I had to get a replacement bus service, on which I freaked out as I'd convinced myself I'd be late for check in. Of course, I actually got to the airport in plenty of time...
I'd checked in online, so I just had to put my case through the do-it-yourself baggage drop. Stress free, right? Nope. My case was 6kg over the weight limit. They charge £15 per kilogram that you're over. So I end up wearing 3 jumpers at once to get it down to 5kg over, meaning a £75 fine. I figure ok, I'll have to pay this, put my card in - declined. Twice. I check my account, and I have £15. I swear I had £90 in there a few days before, and I had NOT spent anything since... long story short, I called my mum crying in the airport, and my fantastic, supportive parents covered the £75 so I could fly home!
Then of course my flight was delayed about an hour and a half.
And I cried when I we started the descent into Edinburgh.
I really didn't realise how much I missed home until I got back. And now I'm trying to catch up with  and see EVERYONE I've been missing! So far I've seen two friends from the year below, my best friend and her family, and my darling choir friends. Just a few more to go... it's a good thing I've got four weeks!
Wishing everyone reading a merry Christmas (and a happy new year if I don't have a chance to blog before then)!
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Since my last post I have turned 18, been punched and kicked in the face (some people need to know their spacing better in dance routines...), seen a student written and produced musical, turned in two assignments, and watched my first Christmas film of the season! (Elf, in case anyone was wondering)
I get to go home in one week and five days, and I can't even express how excited I am, it's been so long since I've been home - almost 3 months! But before that, I've got to finish another 2500 word portfolio, and I have rehearsals every night until Thursday, a Rogers and Hammerstein concert tomorrow night, my voice assessment on Thursday afternoon, then a musical theatre showcase the same night (which may or may not be followed by a night out drinking), and finally a choir concert on Saturday. Which, again, may be followed by a night out. So not too much to be getting on with at all...
At least classes are off for now, meaning that I actually have time to focus on everything. Or alternatively, I have time to watch more TV and procrastinate on facebook. I'll let you work out which one I've been doing...
Typing this has made me feel like I've done work... I think that means it's time for a lunch break!
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I spend a lot more time over weekends in bed watching American high school movies than I thought I would. When people talk about uni they tend to tell you all the wild drunk stories, rather than mentioning that Netflix will sometimes be your best friend. I personally still have no wild drunk stories - BUT it is now less than two weeks until my 18th birthday! I really can't wait to actually be allowed to go out and have a social life again. As much as I love my halls, spending every night in them is getting a little wearing...
I took a little bit of a knock the other day at musical theatre society - after what I thought were reasonably good auditions I ended up with a very VERY small part in our winter showcase, which is always disappointing. I think I handled it with dignity though... (just kidding, I cried and considered throwing a tantrum.) Still, the show must go on. I'm just hoping to do better when we put on a full musical next semester.
It feels like forever since I saw my friends and family back home, so I can't wait to fly back to Scotland at Christmas - but before that I have a whole load of assessments, performances and coursework! As well as decorating our flat as much as we possibly can without being fined for creating 'fire hazards', watching Christmas films, and going on a few too many nights out. I know I have a lot of work to do, but I am looking forward to the next month and a bit; I'm sure I'll be so busy that it'll fly by and I'll be getting on the plane home before I know it!
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Getting out of bed at 7am again after reading week was difficult. Very difficult. It doesn't help that it's suddenly gotten really cold here, and my bed is so very warm and cosy...
First day back of classes was good though - ballet and jazz technique in the morning, musical theatre repertoire, and then performance development before a couple of hours of audition practice for musical theatre society tonight. We did find out that in December we've got an assessment and a concert on the same day, and then a showcase a few days later, AND all of our portfolio work is due in the week after... it's going to be a little hectic around then.
As soon as that's all done, I'm going home for a month for Christmas though, so that's motivation! I can't believe that I'll have been away from home for three months without seeing my parents or friends by then. And I'll be having my first birthday away from home soon as well. I'm so looking forward to finally being 18 and actually being able to go out with everyone instead of waving them off as I put my pyjamas on and watch another film in the flat by myself.
Well, tomorrow's another 7am start for tap and jazz, so that means that it must be bedtime about now... what I wouldn't give for another lie in right now!
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I've made it to reading week in one piece. Covered in bruises, exhausted, feelings hurt somewhat in places, and completely baffled by music theory, but in one piece!
I'm still in love with our contemporary classes, which have so few people that Tarrant can come round and do individual corrections. And make me plié ridiculously low because he knows me well enough to push me in exercises now...
My singing teacher is amazing too - I know some people have been working entirely on technique and not singing any songs, but I've been getting two songs to learn a week, and then working on technique through them. Which I really prefer. And she let me work on Dyin' Ain't So Bad, which I've been wanting to do FOREVER.
So over reading week I'll be singing, writing essays, starting my Introduction to Musical Theatre portfolio, generally being lonely for a few days while all my flatmates are gone, AND seeing Les Mis with my sister, who's coming down to visit me for a few days because I can't afford to go home. Oh, and sleeping. With no 7am starts for dancing, I'll be doing a lot of sleeping...
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I just got back to my halls after a day out in London, and oh my god Once is stunning! I went to the matinee, and it's the first full standing ovation I can remember ever seeing at an afternoon show. It was definitely worth the hour and a half on the train there and back (and my friend Ben's two hour journey from the opposite direction), and the money spent on our amazing seats (stalls N9 and 10, and we only booked 6 days ago!)... and all the money I spent on merchandise. I do this every time...
Seeing the show - and having a chat about the industry with a guy dressed as a zombie on the train back (apparently it's world zombie day - fun fact!) - has really inspired me and reminded me how important it is to be multi-talented in theatre. For anyone not familiar with the show, the actors play all the music themselves on stage, some of them playing up to four instruments. There are several shows that I love that require the actors to be actor-musos, and tours often require actors to be able to stage manage or act as resident directors. There have even been productions where actors operate light and sound boards on stage.
So I'm determined to not get pigeon holed into only acting, singing and dancing. I want to have as many useful skills as I possibly can for my work, because at the end of the day that's what makes you employable, and I want to work;I want to work a lot, on loads of different shows in different genres, requiring different skills. Obviously I want to act in musicals, it's who I am. But I want to direct and design and play music and make an impact! I want to try everything, and that's what's so exciting about doing what you love.
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