Crumpets and Curls

I promised myself that I would write a blog the second I got to England so that I could begin this epic journey with you all throughout my time here…clearly that worked very well. At any rate, here we are, one week and two days into the six months that I will be spending here, and it is going along fabulously! If ever I felt at home, it’s here, in the small borough of Ealing, tucked away in a western corner of London town.

There’s something very quaint and delightful about Ealing. I’m not sure how to describe it, which if you know me at all; you know how infuriating I find not being able to describe something. The people are friendly, but still, you know, British. There are a myriad of brick houses and studios and flats, one could get lost in the identical architecture of them, literally…I speak from experience. The Mall, a number of blocks with a wide variety of shops, businesses, and restaurants is about a 20 minute walk from my flat and it is truly delightful. Hundreds of people bustling about on their daily business, glaringly red double decker buses scrape around corners; taxis rush around each other and dodge pedestrians like nobody’s business. There are more shops than I could ever explore, French clothes to Polish bakeries, and almost literally everything in between. I can’t get anywhere without bumping into someone or consequently being bumped into, it’s almost more strange to not get bumped. The diversity of the people is one of my favorite things about Ealing. There are languages being spoken and I have no idea what they might be, there are people from every part of England and the U.K., from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the occasional American too. It’s amazing how little I hear English being spoken out on the streets. Despite the challenges of being somewhere so completely different than Chico, I find myself loving the adjustment process. My first week went by so quickly, I can only imagine how fast the rest of my time will fly by,(I'm trying not to think about that too much) but in the meantime, I want to tell you a bit about my time here thus far.

The first week was quite chaotic, between running amok trying to find things to detail and furnish my humble abode, trying to get to know my roommate, maneuvering around a new city, and spending some last minute time with my parents, I felt as though I might pop. Yet, here I sit, successfully un-popped and settled in. Mostly. It really depends on your definition of "settled in". Anyways, my first night here was….interesting. It was a Bank Holiday(still not sure what that really is) and all the stores were closing early. A fact that I was not aware of until I stood in front of a store brimming with necessities and was literally left out in the rain. So, after a cold walk in the rain and wind, my roommate, Stefanie, and I made it back to our home and promptly went to bed. Unfortunately, one of the necessities locked out of my grasp was a blanket for my bare bed, so I spent the night swaddled in a sheet along with sweats, a sweater, wool socks, a beanie and a sweatshirt. Not the most pleasant of sleeps. However, the next day was distinctly more positive and we managed to get a very cozy blanket along with other stuff that I won’t bore you with. So to summarize, last week was mostly me and my parents running around, buying things and trying to see some sights in London, eventful to say the least.

The last two days have possibly been the best so far, even giving my night at Richard the Third a run for its money. Yesterday I started school at Delamar Academy of Makeup and it’s been amazing. I realize it’s probably not as exciting to people less passionate about makeup design, but just humor me. Yesterday was my first day and after trying so desperately to look extra good because, I mean it’s beauty school, my curled hair flattened in about ten minutes and my makeup nearly vanished shortly after. Cheers London weather. Upon arriving to the school, wet and humbled, I was dismayed to see that all my classmates were distinctly prettier than myself. Of course it didn’t help that I looked like a drowned, Californian rat who was way out of her element, which let’s face it, I am. At any rate, I mustered my pride and managed to at least act like I was confident throughout the whole debriefing. A few hours later, after lunch, my pride got kicked to the curb again as we all had to strip off our makeup and bare all to people we hardly knew, a hard task if you have terrible skin. Then we received our makeup kits for the course, and I swear to you, I heard angels sing when I got my kit. Filled to the brim with makeup and tools, and our textbook, it was and still is a beautiful thing. After rooting through our loot and oohhh-ing and ahhh-ing, my classmates and I plunged ahead under our tutor’s guidance and began the basics of beauty. This is essentially just foundation and blemish coverage along with some concealing techniques. At the end of the day we packed up, carted our makeup kits back home so we could have a proper look at all the goodies inside and rubbed our sore shoulders that had to lug 10 pounds of makeup home. It might not sound like much, I realize, but to me it was the best first day at school that I’ve ever had. It’s so much more fun to learn something that you love and enjoy, and I can’t wait to see where this course takes me. More on that later, for now, it’s time to fetch my laundry from outside before it stops drying and starts freezing.

Xoxo