Just Another Busy Week in London

Wow, it feels like it's been FOREVER since I've touched this - so much has happened in the past week!  I guess to start off, right after I wrote that last post, I met up with Alex and Chris, two Fordham friends also studying abroad in London.  We had dinner in Piccadilly Circus and then met some of Alex's friends at a club for the night.

The following day, a group of us had discounted tickets to go on the London Eye.  However, Mother Nature had something to say about that, because it snowed heavily, resulting in the Eye closing about 15 minutes before we got there.  We did get to walk around and get some nice snow pictures, but best of all, we were able to get replacement tickets for the following Saturday.  But more on that later.

Wednesday wound up being a very busy day for us - instead of class in the morning, we were taken on a tour of the British Library.  You know, that place where they keep pretty much every document ever.  We weren't able to see most of the books, but we were able to see some neat original documents, including Shakespeare plays, Jane Austen books, and the Magna Carta!  Later that day, we went to our third show for LDA.  This time, they took us to a musical, Merrily We Roll Along.  I'd never seen the show before, but I'm very familiar with the closing song, "Our Time" (as is any respectable Holy Cross Playkid), so for me personally, it was very interesting to see that single song in the context of a story other than my own.  The show itself was good, but it wasn't anything particularly memorable - it was essentially a stereotypical musical I could have seen on Broadway.  Still, I did enjoy it.

Friday followed a similar pattern to Wednesday.  In the morning, we went to the Rose Theatre, aka where Shakespeare's plays were first performed.  Turns out they've built a building over it and they have the stage underwater to preserve it.  Still, it felt pretty cool to know we were in the Rose, and some of us got up and performed monologues just to be able to perform in the Rose.  We also saw the site of the Globe, but there's nothing there besides a plaque and an outline of where it was...and some houses someone decided to build on top of the site.  Prime real estate, right?  That night, Noah, Dan, and I got tickets to see The 39 Steps.  I had seen the show at Fordham in the fall, so it was really interesting to see it performed by a British cast, given that the show itself is British.  Overall, I enjoyed it as much the second time around as I did the first!

On Saturday, we went to the London Eye again, and the weather couldn't have been more opposite: it was a beautiful, sunny day, so not only was the Eye actually running, we had great visibility (unusual for London).  After the Eye, we walked around and rode some buses before finding a reasonable pub to have dinner - I decided to get fish and chips, a quintessentially British meal.  Once dinner was over, I had to rush over to Westminster Cathedral for mass (aren't you so proud of me, Mom?).  Sara, Scott, and I are doing a research project on education for class, and the choir of one of the schools we were looking at was singing, so we decided to go in the hopes of being able to talk to someone.  We were unsuccessful in that, but the cathedral was beautiful, and the choir was good - apparently, you can hear this particular choir singing in the movie Life of Pi!

The next day (today!), we had to go to the zoo for class.  Wait, Mike, aren't you doing theatre?  Why on earth did you have to go to the zoo for class?  Long story short, we've been assigned scenes in Acting class, and so we had to go to the zoo and watch animals in an attempt to figure out which one best fits our character.  Sounds crazy, I know, but it all comes together!  Besides, LDA paid for our zoo passes, which are good till April, so who am I to complain?  Again, today was a nice day - a bit windy, but still sunny.  I think the sun just got lost on its way somewhere that's not London, because I think I've seen the sun more this weekend than I have since I got here.

Mom, I can feel you cringing as you read this because I'm barely mentioning class, but let me just assure you that class is going really well.

• Movement is definitely the most physically demanding class I've ever had - once a week, we stretch, tumble, roll, bounce, you name it, and then we're sore for the rest of the week.
• In Voice, we're working on good breathing and diction, which feels like it's helping me in daily life already.
• We're learning a bunch of group dances in Period Dance, so I'm trying to vanquish my two left feet, which is a process in and of itself.
• Stage Combat has taught me how to stage fall, slap, punch, and strangle - apparently this week we start with swords!
• Acting is a very intense class - our instructor runs a tight ship, but she really knows her stuff, and I always enjoy her class, even if I go into it like I went into Mrs. Mogenson's 6th grade class.
• Space Place and Text is one of the few classes where we aren't up and doing things - we've talked about Dr. Faustus and Twelfth Night, and this week we move on to Macbeth.
• Physical Theatre has been a different class for me, seeing as I've never really understood how to "embody air," but it's all starting to make sense now!
• Dramatic Criticism is where we analytically discuss the plays we've gone to see - so far we haven't had time for much discussion yet, but this week we should really starting delving into them.
• My audition tutorial is going pretty well - right now, I'm working on memorizing a Cassius monologue from Julius Caesar that we've been working on, and soon we're going to move on to a comedic monologue.
• My Alexander Technique tutorial is really interesting - Alexander Technique deals with using your body more effectively, especially with regards to posture, so even though I've only had one 40 minute session so far, I already feel like I have better posture.

Also, I have remembered to bring my camera places.  However, this site decides it doesn't wanna let me post pictures, so here's the link to my Facebook album -http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151427033108530.493570.610628529&type=3 It's set to "Public," so it should be open to anyone who doesn't have a Facebook (Mom), but if it doesn't work let me know!

First Week of Classes!

So I think from here on out, I'll update this about once a week, since I doubt any of you want a full account of every single class I go to.  Speaking of class, we started on Monday, and there was literally not a class I didn't like.  Sitting down and taking notes on a lecture definitely isn't a huge part of these classes - besides two classes in which we discuss theatre, we're almost always up and doing things.  If someone were to walk by our classroom at any given point, chances are they would either be very confused or conclude that all we do is play games (aren't you happy you're paying for me to play games in London, Mom?).  However, the word "games" implies that this program is easy, which is definitely not the case.  Our schedule is essentially 9-5 Monday-Friday with some variations, and we're working hard the whole time.  No game is just for fun, and every single one drives home a fundamental point that is better to learn through doing than by being told.  Can't wait to use these next time I direct a show!

I love everyone I'm working with too.  As I've said before, the 21 of us in the program have developed a very strong bond over the last week and a half, and already I feel like I've known these people my whole life.  Going into class on Monday with everyone brought with it a certain sense of solidarity - we all want each other to succeed, both as individuals and as a whole group.  The instructors are also incredible.  All of them teach at other acclaimed British drama schools, so they know what they're talking about.  They place very high demands on their students, but they too want to see everyone succeed, so it's nice to know that everyone's on the same side.

Of course, just because we had class doesn't mean we didn't have time for other fun things this week.  On Monday, Noah, Sara, and I went to a swing dancing event in Covent Garden (from this point forward, if I just throw a name out on here, you can assume it's someone in the program).  Noah and Sara are both experienced swing dancers, whereas my experience begins and ends with a scene in Much Ado last spring.  Sara was able to show me some simple steps, but the place was set up in a way that we could sit and watch other people dance, so I found myself a good dance partner in the form of a pint of cider.  Noah and Sara danced a few dances together, and they both danced a few with British people!  There's another place we might try sometime where they have lessons, so maybe I'll be able to actually dance more next time!  Regardless, it was a fun night.

Because of the way Thursday worked, some of us got done at 1:00, so Kelly and I decided to go exploring around Kensington a bit more.  We found lots of cool little places, including a small bookstore that sort of reminded me of Bruised Apple, a bookstore near Jenna's house.  We also wound up going to the V&A Museum, which was really nice to walk around in - until an announcement was made that fire had been reported in the building.  The announcement did not tell us to evacuate, but merely to "await further announcements" before repeating again on a loop.  Apparently this isn't an unusual occurrence, because no one seemed even remotely bothered by the fact that there was a fire.  We decided to play it safe and just make our way out.

That night, we went to see our second show for LDA.  This show, The Master and Margarita, was an adaptation of a book we had to read before coming over, so we were all curious to see it.  The show was 3 1/2 hours long, but all things considered, it didn't drag as a whole.  There were some slower parts I didn't particularly enjoy, and also some parts in the book I wish they had included, but it was interesting to watch.  The way they made use of lighting and projection in particular was very unusual, but it worked well.  Another interesting note about London - apparently getting ice cream during intermission is a popular thing in the theatre.  No complaints here!

After Week 1 of class, I'm loving my study abroad experience, and I can't wait to see what next week brings!

First Week Continues...With Pictures This Time!

So you'd think that, after missing out on taking pictures on Hampstead Heath, I'd remember to take my camera with me on future outings, right?  Nope!  Thursday started off with one of our professors taking us on a tour through Kensington, so naturally I didn't remember my camera.  Clearly I need to work on this tourist thing.  Anyway, we toured through Kensington Gardens, passing by Kensington Palace, which is apparently where Will and Kate stay when they're in London!  After the gardens, we saw the statue of Royal Albert as well as the Royal Albert Hall, which is where my favorite version of Les Miserables was performed - pretty cool, huh?  Our tour ended by the museums, which are incredible.  There are so many museums right next to each other - all interesting, all large, and, best of all, all free!  We're thinking we might make a day of coming back to the museums to get the most out of them, because there's just so much!

After lunch, we had academic orientation with Ellen, where she explained the program more in depth, which made me more excited than ever to start on Monday.  She also gave each room a large schedule to hang on their bulletin board, which Noah and I decided to color coordinate based on which classes we have when.  It's a very intimidating schedule, but at the same time exciting!  The boys then got a break while the girls were fitted for their corsets and skirts (can't say I'm jealous about that part), and then we were all fed pizza for dinner before having the night to ourselves.

A group of us decided to redeem our previous failed night by finding a good place to go out to.  To that end, we took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus, which is essentially the Times Square of London.  We then walked to a bar called O'Neill's, which was apparently a hot spot for American, Italian, and Irish visitors.  That turned out to be true, because two separate people from our program saw friends they knew studying abroad in other programs there, so it was nice seeing some other study abroaders.  Once our night ended, the Tube wasn't running, so we had to take a cab home - coming from New York, I'm gonna have to get used to the concept that the subway doesn't run 24/7 here.

Friday we got to sleep in, which we all needed after our night.  At 1pm, Fordham London Centre had an orientation for both the LDA students and GSB students, which was the first time we were all together.  It was a strange experience for me - all of the GSB students were from Fordham Rose Hill, which was more than I could say for any of the LDA students, and yet I felt like these people who have been going to school with me for 2 1/2 years were total strangers compared to this group of 20 students I'd spent the last few days with.  Funny how quickly a group of strangers can become like a second family.  We ended the day Friday with a meet and greet with some of the instructors we would have for the next 14 weeks.  Some couldn't make it, but I liked all of the ones I did meet - they all seem very knowledgeable and approachable, and I can't wait to learn from them.

Fun as it was, Thursday night had burned a serious hole in my wallet, so I was resolved to have a more laidback Friday night.  A group of us wound up walking maybe 10 minutes to a nearby pub.  It was somewhat crowded, but we were eventually able to get a table.  We each ordered a drink or two and got a few orders of chips to split, which made for a very relaxing a enjoyable night.  On the whole, it seems like British drinking tends more towards having a few social drinks than going hard all the time. I personally prefer the British way, but hey, to each his own.

On Saturday, we were given tickets to Dark Earth, Light Sky, one of 14 shows LDA is paying for us to see.  Noah, our friend Mia, and I decided to wake up early to see if we could explore the area a bit before the show.  We wound up finding a small little cafe called Candid Cafe.  It was almost impossible to spot - hidden in an alley, the cafe was only on the 2nd floor of the building.  Once inside, we realized we'd found one of those unique little places you stumble upon by accident - definitely not a tourist attraction.  We ordered drinks and croissants, and also stumbled across a bunch of flyers for different events going on in the area.  One in particular struck us - a 50 hour improvathon which had started Friday at 7pm and would end Sunday at 9pm.

For lunch, we found another unique place called Bombay Burrito.  The restaurant was a combination of Indian and Mexican food, neither of which I normally eat a lot of, but I have to say, I enjoyed my burrito!  While there, we found out that the place had opened just before Christmas, and that it was not a chain...yet.  Who knows, this could be the next big chain!  Following lunch, we headed to the theater for the show, which was about the poet Edward Thomas and his relationships with his wife and Robert Frost.  I don't want to go into plot details, but it was really good!  It was really neat to hear the actor who played Robert Frost try an American accent and mannerism.  Having lived in America for 20 years, we were able to notice subtle irregularities where he either slipped into his native accent or exaggerated certain words - I felt like Henry Higgins!

After the show, Noah, Mia, and I decided to go to the improvathon, and we were joined by classmates Scott, Laura, and Kyra.  Basically, improvathon was a series of 25 episodes - each episode was an hour and 45 minutes, and tickets to one episode were 7 pounds for students, 5 if you decided to stay for another episode.  According to the program, there was a group of guest performers who came in for parts of it, but the core group of actors were doing it for the full 50 hours!  The "show" was set in Cairo in the 1920's, and plotlines were developed and continued throughout episodes.  When we came in, King Tut had possessed a man named Howard Carter, Indiana Jones was entering the scene, and Salvador Dali's heartbroken maid was running into the arms of Ernest Hemingway, who was opening a lemonade stand.  By the time we left, King Tut's army of the undead was taking over Cairo, Indiana Jones was communicating with a sock puppet to discover how to defeat Tut, and Ernest Hemingway had been elected President of the Feminist Society.  And these were just a few of the ridiculous and hilarious plotlines that ensued throughout the show, and we were only able to see 4 out of the 50 hours these actors were going!  Needless to say, it was an amazing experience, and I would love to be in on the process of how that works some day.

Now, as I told you before, I haven't brought my camera anywhere yet, so I'm going to show you some pictures Noah took, since he's better at this than I am.


Crossing the Thames, our view of the city.


The view of London from the top of Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath - worth the muddy walk!


The essential phone booth picture (taken by Torian).


Our insane schedule - Noah is orange, I'm yellow, and we're both pink (I did take this one!).


Me, Erik, Noah, and Meg in the pub on Friday (taken by Dan).


Me, Noah, and Mia in Candid Cafe.


Bombay Burrito!


The poster for the 50 hour improvathon!


Noah and my leftovers crammed into our shoebox-sized fridge.

One final note - I looked up Highclere Castle, aka the home of Downton Abbey, and you can't get tickets until the summer, so I guess I'm not going there :(  But, given the last few days, I think I'll be able to find more than enough to keep me occupied!

Arrival and Adventures!

Phew.  So this is the first time I have a chance to update this since leaving, and let me just say, it's been AMAZING so far.  I'm genuinely loving every second of it.

The plane ride was all right - I didn't get any sleep, partially because I have a hard time falling asleep sitting upright, but mostly because I discovered I could watch Season 2 of Downton Abbey on the plane (pre-flight, I was halfway through the season; post-flight, I'm all caught up).  After we (we being myself and another LDA student on the flight with me) landed and went through customs and immigration, we met up with the LDA students who had already gotten in.  Most of us didn't know each other, but everyone was really friendly, so we were all fairly comfortable with each other in no time.

Once everyone expected had arrived, we took a bus to Atlantic House, our dorm building for the semester.  Following our arrival, we settled into our rooms, then had housing orientation.  After that, the day was ours.  We split up into groups, and most of us wound up roaming Kensington High Street, which is essentially the main road in Kensington.  We discovered that there are many similarities to America, but also a lot of subtle differences.  For example, they have T.K Maxx, which has the same logo as T.J. Maxx, but no one's really sure what the J or K stand for.  While out, I was able to add money to my phone that Megan so graciously provided for me (thanks again, Megan!).  We got back at around 7pm, but since I hadn't slept in 2 days, 7pm wound up being bedtime.

Today, we had to head over to the Fordham campus at 11am for a walk with the program director, Ellen.  We took the tube to Hampstead, and let me just confirm that the rumors are true - the tube is A LOT nicer than the New York subway.  There's also a much higher social code of etiquette on the tube.  Whereas the subway essentially has no rules, the tube is governed by the unspoken law of "Don't Speak Above a Whisper."  Also, we found out today that once the doors start closing, they don't reopen, which means that if you are the last one in a group and you can't get on before the doors start closing...well, you better figure something out.

Our tube ride led us to Hampstead Heath, where we took a walk.  Or perhaps "walk" is took weak a word.  Maybe "hike" is more appropriate, because the mud we walked through made the whole walk an adventure to remember - my shoes have been given a muddy welcome to London!  However, it was beyond worth it, because the heath itself was beautiful, and we got an amazing view of the city from a hill.  I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to bring a camera today, because there were so many great photo ops in the heath as well as throughout the rest of the day.  Finally, we had tea in a small tea shop inside the heath, which was a nice way to end our outing with Ellen.

Ellen showed us to the tube station, but once there, we were on our own to get back to our dorms.  Luckily, we were able to figure out the tube without much difficulty; it's like we're Londoners already.  Tonight a group of us decided to try out a pub on the high street.  The place was really nice, but since the drinks were a little pricey, we decided to see if we could find a cheaper pub.  To that end, we decided to take the tube a few stops to South Kensington, where we embakred on an adventure to find a pub we liked.  Sadly, the journey ended in failure, but we were able to walk around and see a lot of places!  We also made the discovery that Londoners are REALLY helpful if you don't know where you're going - at least three different people gave us directions to different places, one even walking with us to the pub before turning around and heading back.  Overall, it was a very exciting two days, and I can't wait for what comes next.

A few things I'm noticing about London.  The first different thing I noticed was that traffic lights turn yellow before red AND before green.  I'm not sure whether that's an English thing or a European thing, but I had never heard that before, and I thought it was neat.  Also, the exchange rate is TERRIBLE.  I'm trying to double the price of everything I buy so I don't overspend, which I'm probably in danger of doing.  Another funny little thing - I've noticed that they sell wine in small bottle you could literally slip in your pocket.  Maybe I've just been oblivious, but I've never seen wine sold in that size in the States.  Why don't we do that?

As for the kids in the program, they're AMAZING.  There are 21 of us, and we've spent the majority of the time we've been here together (or at least in smaller groups), so I feel like I've gotten to know them fairly well already, considering most of us met less than 48 hours ago.  Those of you who know me know that getting along with my roommate is important for me, so you'll be pleased to hear that I'm getting along well with my roommate, Noah!  As you could probably guess, he's also in the program, so it's gonna be convenient that we'll be on the same schedule more or less.

I feel like this post is just a boring list of things I did, but hopefully it's possible to get through!  Hey, if you made it this far, I guess it is.  Well, that's all I have for now.  Bye!

The Waiting Game

I know the question is burning in your mind, so let me just assure you that yes, I did manage to pack.  Two suitcases, both well under the 50 pound limit, which means plenty of room for souvenirs - as long as I don't go crazy and buy all of London (which is actually a strong possibility).  Hooray!

We lucked out and didn't run into any rush hour traffic on the way to Newark Airport - my parents and my sister Maggie went with me to see me off.  Luggage is checked, boarding pass is acquired, the take-off-your-shoes-and-everything-else-and-walk-through-this-little-room-thing security checkpoint has been passed, and, most importantly, the good-byes were said.  From here on out, I'm on my own, which is kind of daunting, but also kind of exciting.

So now, after fighting a battle with the airport to find free wi-fi (thank you, Dunkin Donuts), I am now in the waiting area waiting (as one usually does in waiting areas).  I figured a quick blog post would pass the time before I have to board, which is still at least a half hour away.  Maybe the next time I update this, I'll actually be a Fynan in London.  Wouldn't that be nice?

So Now This is a Thing

Let me start this off by saying that I have never done anything like this before, so if I'm doing this all wrong, I apologize.  However, I know a lot of people do these, and after following Christine Lafferty's blog over the summer (http://christineincadiz.blogspot.com/ in case you would care to compare my attempt at a blog to what a blog actually should be), I decided I wanted to do one of my own - I'm hoping it'll be a good way of recording all of the fun and exciting things that (hopefully) happen while I'm in London this coming semester.  If nothing else, it'll save me from having to tell the same stories about 50 times (although I'll be amazed if 50 people actually read this).

Anyway, I'm blabbing.  So in two days, I'm leaving for London.  Let me tell you a little bit about the program I'm doing.  I'll be studying at the London Dramatic Academy for a 14-week theatre program where they'll either teach me how to act or laugh at me on Day 1 and send me packing (needless to say, I'm hoping for the former).  LDA is part of Fordham University's London Centre, which is located in Kensington Square.  I've never been to London, so my knowledge is limited, but I hear it's a great area.  The program will be taught by a British faculty, but will consist of about 20 American students.  A few of these students are from Fordham Lincoln Center, so I've met them, but most of them are from universities all over the States, so most of us haven't met apart from Facebook interactions.  As far as living arrangements go, we will be staying in Richmond University's Atlantic House, which is within walking distance to the school.

So with two days to go, you'd think I'd be crazy busy with last-minute things to do, right?  WRONG.  The truth is, I'm starting this blog now because I literally can't think of anything to do right now to get ready besides physically pack my bags, and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.  So we'll see how things go.  Depending on how often I update this, you might get a post about the packing process, or you might get a post once I'm in London, so you'll be led to the assumption that I was able to finish packing.  Or maybe I'll never update this again.  Who knows?  I like to keep people guessing, myself included.

In case I don't post again before, I leave, let me just say that my phone will be deactivated once I go, so I won't be receiving texts or calls.  However, feel free to Facebook me, email me (mfynan@fordham.edu), iMessage me if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch or iPad (darthfynan10@aim.com - I made it freshman year of high school, don't judge me), Skype me (I actually don't remember my Skype user name, but if you search Mike Fynan you should be able to find me), or comment right here on this blog!

I do plan to spruce this blog up a bit, so hopefully it'll look cool and blog-like before long.  Until next time then (my initial instinct was to type good-bye in the language of the country I was going to for a cool cultural effect, but then I remembered I'm going to England, where they speak English, so...yeah)!