You know, I sorta thought writing this blog might encourage me to break away from the rather sporadic and annual entries I always made in my journal. It appears I have a lot of catching up to do, seeing as it was December when I last wrote, let's start there.
So. December. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Year's Eve and all that. My December rocked, three of my best friends came from California to visit me in London and we had such an amazing time! I loved getting to play tour guide and show them around the city, to all my favorite landmarks, restaurants, and parks. It's so cool how you can not see people for nearly five months and then suddenly they're in your living room drinking tea with you and it's like nothing at all has changed. You laugh, joke and poke fun at each other like you've done a thousand times before, never mind that it's been months since you all hung out. We spent so much time having a wander around the city; museums, parks, and pubs were our bread and butter, and then there was the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour...*WARNING-SEVERE NERDING AHEAD* Yes, yes I know you're all jealous of this particular adventure and you should be, because it was spectacular. It took the lot of us around two to two and a half hours to get from Ealing to Watford but it was worth every second. The tour starts off with an introduction to the whole thing( blah blah show me the Great Hall already!!!) and then you are lead through the giant, wooden doors of the Great Hall just like eleven year old you always dreamed you would be. Inside the Great Hall(let me just point out that if you don't know what the Great Hall is- then go watch the Harry Potter series you Muggle) are long tables filled with delicious looking fake food and a myriad of props surround said tables. There are outfits worn by characters and massive Christmas trees with painstakingly detailed ornaments and baubles covering them. After this experience we were led into my favorite part of the tour: a ginormous room filled with basically every prop, set, backdrop, and cool nick-knack you could possible fathom, along with a little blurb about some of the main crew members. There were the directors and producers, script supervisors, costume design and makeup design, which was particularly awesome to see. You could also see the sets for the Burrow, Gryffindor Common Room, the Potions class room, Ministry of Magic and many more. We could also see the special effects used to make the broomsticks fly and to make ordinary objects appear to move on their own as if by magic. It was so cool to see the amount of detail and creativity behind the most minute of props. After this was a cafe where I tasted Butterbeer for the first time, and it was delicious, like liquid butterscotch. Next was a series of outdoor sets and props such at the Hogwarts Bridge and number 4 Privet Drive, along with Hagrid's motorbike and others. This portion of the tour probably would have been more enjoyable had we not all been freezing our arses off in the winter wind. As the tour winds down we were led through the more technical aspects of the "behind-the-scenes", here we saw the animatronics, prosthetics, and aqua-tronics used to create the many creatures found in the world of Harry Potter. Finally we got to see a model of Hogwarts school recreated down to the last detail. All in all the tour was awesome and it awakened the little kid in me, who, let's be honest, didn't need much help being awoken.
*END SEVERE NERDING*
We also got to see The Lion King in South Bank which was remarkable and ingenious. The transition from cartoon movie to the stage was flawless, epic and so colorful. The talent was incredible, the singing, acting, makeup and set design all stood out to me as particularly extraordinary. It was so much fun having my best friends there to explore and experience the city with me.
Once school started again we had six weeks left until graduation, in the first two weeks we delved into more advanced casualty, exploring broken noses, medical casualty, extreme weather, as well as more detailed character makeup. I loved these two weeks, not only because the learning material was fascinating and challenging, but because our tutor Amanda is so talented and she taught me so much I never knew. The next four weeks were dedicated to advanced fashion, where we spent a solid week learning different techniques for a smokey-eye and spent a whole day practicing winged eyeliner and refraining from pulling our hair out, and don't even get me started on lip day. In the last week we had a professional photo-shoot with professional models and photographer. This was terrifying at first, as we practiced in the days leading up to the shoot but when we got there I was pleasantly surprised to find it a relatively relaxed and laid back atmosphere. I was so pleased to be there working on my gorgeous model Alice and I am so happy with the results.
Then, quite suddenly, the last day of class was there and then we were graduated and school was over and I found myself facing the dreadful prospect of trans-Atlantic moving all over again. After a stressful yet fun week of packing and saying goodbyes and embracing the ambiance of London before leaving, I was all of a sudden driving to the airport and realizing that I was leaving behind the place that had captured my soul. And so, with a heart heavier than my over-sized extra suitcase I boarded a plane and spent nine hours with my neighbors elbow in my ribs. After that, my befuddled and sleep deprived brain managed its way through customs and on to my connecting flight with fifteen minutes to spare, and then I woke up in Sacramento to a small-town, sleepy airport and my darling parents. It's funny, having not seen them in person for so long, the second I did see them, my brain kind of said, " Right, so that's Mom, and that's Dad, and what was so unusual about this again...?" and then I had to adjust a bit.
And so, after a week of said adjusting, on many levels, here I am, pretty much adapted to the Pacific Time Zone and driving on the right side of the road, being 21, hearing American accents everywhere I go. Actually that last one still throws me off. I do seem to have difficulty shaking the British terminology however, seeing as I still go to the "toilet", order "chips", and my greeting of "morning" still has a very muted r-sound. But whatever, I think after six months abroad I have the liberty of speaking however I bloody want to. I have to admit however, that it's been really strange having moved back to Chico. I almost feel like I've forgotten how to function without the Underground and my trusty Oyster card. I miss the smell of fresh chips and cigarette smoke as I waited for the bus. I miss complaining about the cold and wearing at least two pairs of socks no matter what. I miss Primrose Hill, street food, the men on the Northern Line, I miss my church and I miss walking through the city and reveling in the strangeness of it all. I miss my flatmate Stef, I miss our lazy nights, our clumsy moments of falling down any flight of stairs nearby. I feel so lazy driving everywhere, and I can feel myself getting to comfortable here, there's no surprises, nothing to keep me on my toes. I'm sure there will be at some point, something will come take me by surprise but for now I feel so...stuck. I'm sure it will go away once I get working more and a busier tone to my life, but don't ever let anyone tell you the return trip is easy. But don't let anyone convince you it's not worth the trip either.
At any rate, I think that's you lot all caught up, hopefully my writing will be a bit more frequent, but I wouldn't hold your breath for it.
All the love my friends
xx
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