First off, today was my mum’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!!!!!!!! I was able to video chat with mum and dad twice which was fantastic and today definitely deserved a great deal of video chatting because it was a huge day in London (and a huge day for mum). First, an ode to my mother. For those of you who know my mother, you know she’s a pretty stellar lady. She is far more adventurous, spontaneous, and thrill seeking than I am (and generally my mother is a much harder partier… she is much more fun than I am). Although I am a lot like my mother in other ways, I am also her antithesis, I am a worrier, a homebody, and generally like to keep things consistent and on an even-keel…. none of these traits have helped me as I have made the move to London. What has helped was the intense support I received from both my parents, by extremely vocally from my mum. I could never have made this move without her love and support (especially as I was a right stroppy cow whenever roadblocks came up, and boy did they come up!). I love my mum to bits and wish I could be just 1/8 of the awesome person that she is! So yes, happy birthday to this fine woman. She has truly been a super hero and done it all, I cannot be more grateful for the opportunities she provided for me (including but not limited to: driving me to dance classes 4-5 times a week growing up, making costumes for me last minute, driving me to Oshawa and back for 3 years’ worth of Mondays, driving to Kingston so I could see a doctor, being the one to bear the brunt of my frustration, hanger (hungry anger), and stress, and signing me up for sports camp as a kid even though she knew I was rubbish at sport) and while providing me with these opportunities she also worked full time 45 minutes – 1 hour away from home, cooked delicious meals, kept track of everyone’s schedules (most of the time….), and won awards for her amazing costuming in community theatre. My mother is a superhero. Happy birthday to Wonder Woman.
Now, onto my day! What a day, went to Borough Market and met up with Sarah, Tiffany, and Jodi. Tiffany and Jodi had quite the adventure as the Jubilee line was down this weekend… the underground is great as long as it’s working. The girls all ate at the market but I didn’t, most of the food smelled delicious and I have regrets about eating right before heading out from the residence. Noteworthy: Borough Market, or more specifically, the car park, was featured quite heavily in an episode of New Tricks. We then took a lovely walk down to Millennium bridge (yes, featured in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). We crossed over to see St Paul’s, walked down Fleet St (where we did see a barber shop, but no demon barbers), had some tea at the Twinings Store, walked through Leicester Square, then down to BUCKINGHAM PALACE! Sadly, the Queen is not in residence but it was still a momentous occasion to see the Palace in person.
By this point all four of us were exhausted, so we went our separate ways but… the day was far from over for Sarah and I …
So, remember how yesterday I mentioned that one would get cheap theatre tickets from Leicester Square? WELL, many months before I flew into London I looked into what shows would be playing and I learned that the brand new stage production of “The Commitments”. The show is based on a novel, which was turned into a movie, about a group of Irish musicians/wannabe musicians who decide to form a soul band. I used to watch this movie when I was quite young (like 5-6?) and it was my absolute FAVOURITE movie, the music was so great! I remember there being a fair bit of cussing, sex, drugs, and soul. Well… today we bought tickets for 11 pounds to tonight’s show! HOLLAAAAA!! When we got to the theatre and our seats we realized that the ticket seller was not lying, we were 100 feet up in the air in the steepest balcony I’ve ever been in and half the stage was blocked.
You might be thinking “dang, that sucks!” but we also received a ‘ten pound upgrade’ offer so we took advantage, paid ten pounds each and ended up second row of the dress circle.
Best. Decision. Ever. WHAT A SHOW! Amazing music, amazing actors/musicians, amazing experience. If you know me, it should be no shock that I’ve been in London for less than a week and I’ve already seen my first West End show. The whole night was just fantastic, I was in awe the entire time. I highly recommend seeing this show if you like soul music… but be warned that the subject matter is not at P.C. as we might like in 2014 since the show is based in the 80’s. Among the highlights were the actor who played Deco (amazing voice), Tower of Power music played at intermission (YES, YES, YES!!), and the finale being basically a soul concert where you are encouraged to stand up sing along and basically have a super time!
The past two days have really helped me to feel a bit more settled in London, I have loved being here! I have also figured out where I will be staying until Sept 14th, the girls up in Kilburn (Jodi, Tiffany, and Sydney) are letting me crash at theirs which has been a huge stress off as I have to leave LSE on Monday at 10:30 am! Sarah and I will be moving back into res on the 14th of September so that we will be centrally located for the start of our contracts on the 15th.
falling asleep midsentence 