From Michigan to London
My long awaited trip is finally here! I am in Bournemouth, London.
My university theatre program has taken twenty-five students (actors, stage managers, and directors) on a two week Lecoq training intensive. We flew from Detroit, Saturday July 2nd night and arrived in London Sunday July 3rd midday. We were greeted by Courtney and Maria, two lovely ladies from the University of Bournemouth.
We were given our keys and cards to our flats and dropped off our things in our single rooms. These rooms are glorious and I'm not just saying that because we get our own bedroom and bathroom...but that doesn't hurt either.
Our coordinators Courtney and Danny walked us to ASDA which is their bigger supermarket, owned by Walmart. I grabbed a bag of apples, a loaf of GF bread, and peanut butter. I also got a Bueno bar to share with my friends who had never had one before! When I went to France my junior year of high school I was introduced to the soft creamy crunchy chocolate bar. They were all astonished by the glorious taste! After the store we freshened up in our rooms. It was a good way to get the air plane smell off of me and wake up after getting only two hours of sleep that night on the plane. Then I was ready for our London Pizza Party! Astonishing enough they were accommodating for me and another girl who is GF as well. I thought it would be hard adhering to that diet without having to take my gluten busters.
We adventured around town afterwards because our chaperones from the university advised us to push through the exhaustion and stay up until at least 8PM. It was exciting to hear that the beach was just a fifteen minute walk away, so we had to explore after our pizza party!
A couple of us strayed from the group, unsure of where the beach was, but willing to venture on our own path. It took us a little longer than fifteen minutes on the first try because we used the old fashion way to find the beach; looking for open sky and moving toward the seagulls. The walk was wonderful because we just strolled, seeing the different houses and flats. The town has a great deal of historical brick, mixed in with newer buildings. Some things that stuck out to me on our stroll was a Laser Quest, Wilson Manner (my Nana's, born and raised in England, maiden name), and a coffee shop named Norwegian Wood. I will definitely be making a stop at the coffee shop before the week is over. I mean with a name like that... it has to be stellar!
We strolled into the park before the beach and saw this large complex, titled the Pavilion. Strange enough earlier our coordinators from the university mentioned us going there tomorrow for class. But there was no way that this could be where we were taking classes, it was right next to the beach! Sure enough my friends confirmed that this indeed was the building that we would be learning in this week.
As we made it to the beach we found the group we originally strayed from with one of our coordinators form the University of Bournemouth, a second year acting student at the university himself- Danny. The American students were giggling and chatting light politics with Danny, and of course we asked Danny to do his best American accent. He asked what he should say, my friend said "I cannot wait to vote for Donald Trump." There was an uproar of laughter, but Danny was not too shabby! Eventually we got into a game of Ninja on the beach. It was magical. It is legal to have fires on the beach after seven in the evening so we all want to have some sort of class evening where we hang out at the beach and hang by the fire.
Eventually the beach was getting chillier and our bodies we getting more tired. It was around eight and definitely time for bed!
I cannot wait to explore more this week. We have class from nine in the morning to five in the evening this week, so that gives us plenty of free time to roam more of the town and see what it has to offer.
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and our first day of classes. I am excited for classes to begin, but bummed I won't be able to attend our Zurowski Family Annual Picnic. They are also celebrating my Grandparent's 65th Wedding Anniversary, but they grew up together so they have known each other for even longer. The best wishes to the on their special day. They definitely have shown me what true love looks like and that love really does last!
Now is the time for sleep, but there are more posts to come as I learn and explore here in Bournemouth
Cheers!
**** Just realized my photo resolution on my camera was turned down extremely low, so these pictures are low quality, but I'll make sure to change it, so my pictures can fully recreate the beautiful sights that I am seeing while abroad
