I apologize for being gone for so long, it has been a busy term. Most of you probably follow me on one of the many other platforms I post on, so I'm you've been updated about my life to some extent, but here's an entry about life just in case: January saw one of my dearest friends, Caitlin (aka CV Peterson) come visit for a month. She had never been to London, or even Europe, before so it was certainly all very exciting to have her! We spent a great deal of time wandering around and experiencing many of the incredible things that London has to offer:
Here she is in front of the Blue Rooster statue in Trafalgar Square

We of course explored the area down by the river a bit (this is her walking across the Millennium Bridge--you can see the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in the background) Because we both appreciate the macabre things in life, we went on a Jack the Ripper Walking tour (also pictured: our friend Amy whom Caitlin met while living in Japan)
And of course, one of our nights was spent hanging out with Amy and Sean and doing karaoke, which was immensely fun! I always enjoy a good round of karaoke. February was mostly just school, with a few notable exceptions that I'll post about below. School this term was okay, there were certainly classes that I enjoyed more than others. My directing class was particularly useful I think. It's all over now which is weird to think about. I've just got my dissertation left this summer and then I'm all done with my degree! One year doesn't really seem like enough time to get a Master's degree, it seems like all of this just started! I've enjoyed it though. I've met some good people and I feel like I've learned quite a bit and am more reassured in myself as a theatre maker. So that's lovely, I suppose. Anyway, on to more photos: I got sick earlier in the term and missed my friend Kaci's birthday. So to make it up to her I took her out for ice cream at bar Caffe Ciao, which is this incredible gelato shop down by Leicester Square. You'd think because of the location (right off of Charing Cross Road, just behind the National Portrait Gallery) it would be super touristy and expensive, but it's actually not at all. Plus they serve ice cream (yes, that's ice cream in that photo) that looks like food. It's great. Shoutout to my Uncle Sean for introducing that place to me a million years ago. My mom then sent me a massive box filled with some of the foods that I miss most from home. My flatmate was the one who got it from the postman, so it was so nice to come home and find that big box leaning against my door. This does not properly show the amount of Skittles that were in that box, it was bananas! For the record, while I can get Skittles here but some of the flavours are all messed up (for instance the purple ones are blackcurrant flavoured! Blech) so it's nice to have such a large supply of the ones that actually taste good. :) For St. Patrick's Day this year my friend Kaci and I went down to Trafalgar Square because London was haivng a huge fstival there. It was actually really fun! We went to the parade, listened to music, explored some of the shops (where I found a lovely Irish bakery that sold gluten free lemon poppyseed cookies! I had been craving them, so it was lovely!), and when we were sitting down to the side of the festival we were suddenly confronted by this giant, dancing chicken! It was such a fun time, though I admit that I was surprised by all of the American accents I heard. I know there are many of us in this city, but sometimes I feel like I just can't escape them! Anyway, these past few weeks have predominantly been me in rehearsals for a few shows (one of which there is talk to taking to a festival in France this August, so that's exciting! Not sure how it's going to pan out though) and writing essays. I have to say one thing I dislike about school over here is that there are essays due during the breaks. I don't remember that ever happening in the States, but I might also be remembering it wrong. I've still got one more essay due on the 20th even though I'm one Spring Break right now, but it's all manageable. I've also got tickets to see several plays and lectures in the next few months, which I am extremely excited about. I can't remember what all they are, but I know for sure I'm seeing the new Tim Crouch play and will be going to Press Night (aka "opening night") for A Small Family Business at the National Theatre. I will also be going to see Mark Ravenhill, who is my favourite playwright, give a talk about it in May. Dissertation time starts up in May as well, I'm writing a play though, so at least I won't have to worry about being in rehearsal all the time. That's nice. These next few months are going to be so exciting but also so stressful.