Best. Night. Ever.

My life was complete tonight. I FINALLY saw Wicked and it was amazing... But back up... I'll get to that in a little.


Last night we went to see Verdi Requiem, an opera. Now normally I am not the hugest fan of opera, and I don't think I will be rushing out to see one anytime soon, but it was a pretty amazing experience. The music was BEAUTIFUL. Even though I couldn't understand it at all, I definitely could appreciate it for what it was. When the orchestra played all together, it was powerful. I really did enjoy it. The two hours flew by.

The ceiling was also beautiful.

Today, we started off by visiting the BFI (British Film Institue) which was awesome. It is such a neat place and after getting a tour, we were able to look through their archives and watch some films for an hour or so. My little group enjoyed a lot of shorts, including an opera western cartoon, a documentary on the punks, a drunk guy drinking beer, and even a fly circus. I don't have any pictures from there... but here is one of us crossing the bridge to get their if that counts for anything.

After, a few of us decided to go see if we could get tickets for a musical that night since we had the night off (spoiler alert... we got them!). We ended up splitting up into even smaller groups since everyone wanted to go see different things. After we bought our tickets, we headed over to chinatown!

We found a bomb chinese restaurant to eat at... the people weren't very friendly though. They were very serious and down to business... and somewhat scary. But the food was delicious! And pretty cheap!

After walking around for a little while longer, and stopping for some gelato, we made our way back to the flat. I tried to get some homework done but all I could think about was that night. Wicked. Was. Amazing. 

I'm still somewhat speechless. I couldnt help but have a smile on my face the whole time. It was just so fun! The music was amzing, especially Defying Gravity... I had chills the entire song. I loved the story and how everything just came together and fit so well. It was AWESOME! And I got to see with two awesome people as well so that made it even better. 

I would go see it again. And again. And again. You may think I am over exaggerating, but I'm serious. I have always had this love for musicals, so I can't believe I have been missing out on this one for so long. If you haven't seen it. Go see it.  

Lazy Sunday

I love Sundays. I also love them in London. Today was AMAZING! Since it was the first time going to church here, we all went to the same ward today. We got to go to church in the Hyde Park Chapel which was freaking AWESOME. It is the only building that is a chapel AND a visitors center. 

We are getting split up though. I found out that the ward I am going to is an hour and a half away. So that'll be an adventure. Church today was awesome. I loved it. During sunday school, our group got a special talk from the Stake President and what he said really stuck with me. While we are traveling, we have nothing but who we are. This will be a great trip to really reflect on ourselves. Everything sort of fell in place for me to get on this trip, so I know there is a reason I am supposed to be here.

After church we all made lunch and sat around the table and talked. Well Stephen slept underneath the table...

Then, a few of us decided to take a walk around Hyde Park. We went to Speakers Corner. People come and speak every Sunday. They are permitted to speak about anything they want. They mostly speak about religious topics. It was awesome to be able to hear so many different peoples views on things. It was definitely an experience you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else.

We walked around the park some more and enjoyed the fact that we were in London! Hyde park is so beautiful. I swear I could just walk around forever.

We came back and had a wonderful little FHE/devotional with the whole group. After making some dinner, I went with some of the girls to go read in the park. Mallory decided to figure out how her camera worked, so we got nothing done.

Once it got dark, we decided to shoot a sweet music video lit with only with flashlight iphone apps. It was sick. (Filmmakers are so dumb). So I'd say a very successful sunday. Gosh. I love this place.

London Observations

After my extensive stay in London so far (4 days) I have picked up on some things about London. These are not fact, just my thoughts.

1. Crossing the street is hard. I never know when to go! I get confused about which way I should be looking (even though most of the time they spell it out for you.) I get confused about where the crosswalk even is. I get confused about when I'm technically allowed to cross. So normally, I just wait for someone in my group to cross first and then cross my fingers and follow. Except last night I almost got hit by a bus... (just kidding mom...)

2. Most restaurants claim to have the "best british food" that is false...

3. The tube is the best thing ever created. Provo seriously needs to invest in one of those. You can get anywhere you need to go with it. And even a super directionally challenged person like myself can get the hang of it! Well kind of. I may of gotten on the wrong line today but the great thing about the tube is it is super easy to correct your mistakes. And thanks to our oyster card we can ride it whenever we want. Like today. Maurissa and I just got on and decided to stop at Waterloo. We ended up walking around for a couple hours just exploring. We found a recycled water bottle art exhibit. and some children playing in colored sand.

4. Children are so much cuter with accents

5. The BFI (British Film Institue) is awesome. We saw a movie there last night which was amazing and I cant wait to explore it more. 

6. Digestives will be the death of me. I will probably bring an entire suitcase full of them back.

7. I figured out the thing I will spend the most money on here, is food. It is so good but so expensive. But we have found some keepers. Like this one amazing french place or this dank noodle place. And of course crepes. Yum

8. Everyone on this study abroad is amazing. 

9. Walking through Hyde Park is one of my favorite things to do. Actually walking around London in general. I don't even care if I don't know where I am going. 

10. I wanted to do 10 cuz 9 is an awk number to leave off on but I cant think of anything else to write cuz im tired. 

That's about it for now! Pictures to come!

Disoriented

I'm here. I am in LONDON. It is so weird. So surreal. LIke literally feels like a dream. Well maybe that is because I am not quit sure when the last time I slept was. But it is finally nighttime here in London so I can FINALLY get some rest and hopefully get over the jet lag soon. But first. I will recount the last I don't know how many hours. The time change messes everything up. Anyway.... After 2 hours of sleep, I made my way to the airport. The excitement finally hit me so I really wasn't tired at all. I was very proud that my suitcase weighed under 50 pounds. (It was a close one) 

My flight to New York was... interesting Sadly, I somehow got somewhat separated from the grop and sat in the middle of about 10 old ladies. I dont know if it was a bingo reunion or what... but they were LOUD. They were pretty funny. So those 4 hours and 41 minutes went by pretty slowly. Then we had a three and a half hour layover in JFK but that wasn't as bad. We all just sat and hung out as a group. I started feeling the exhaustion when we borded the next flight. I was out before the plane even took off. I think for 7 hour flight I was awake for maybe an hour of it. I woke up here and there to hear the couple sitting next to me fight over what touristy thing to do on there week vacation in london.

We landed and flew through immigration and customs. Then the hard part. We were instructed to take the tube to a stop about five blocks from the flat we were staying in. After finally finding the right place to buy the ticket and boarding successfully, we patiently waited 14 stops until we made it to our arrival. We then had to hall our luggage for what felt like forever. I instantly regretted packing so much. My hands still hurt. But we made it. We sat around for about an hour and waited for everyone in the program to arrive. We unpacked, went to the bank, walked around the park, went to the grocery store... did everything we could to not fall asleep.

Around 6 a few of us decided for our first night we should go out and get a traditional english meal.

I am not the hugest fan of fish but it was surprisingly tasty. My dad told me I would get hooked on them but I dont think I loved them that much. By then it was 7 or so and we decided we wouldn't let ourselves go to sleep until 9. So we did what any rational mormon college student would do. We had a mini dance party. 

At This Time Tomorrow... I'll Be On A Plane!!

I always swore to myself I was never going to get a blog because they are stupid (sorry if you have a blog) and my life is super boring so I don't know who would even care about reading it. But that's about to change... Because I am off to London for the summer! Now I can't promise I will update this thing a whole lot. I am mostly making it for my sweet mother and my awesome best friend/roommate Allie. I know at least two people will be reading this. 


I am super excited to go... but I'm also terrified at the same time. I'm going to miss my amazing family, my roommates, my friends, my coworkers... my life in provo. But I know that this will be a great experience and something I will probably only get to do once in my life. The only thing I am not looking forward to...is the traveling part. 


I have had an awesome weekend with my dad. I loved being able to spend Father's Day with him. I think I have everything I will need and I am finally all packed. I can't wait to spend my last night with my friends but I can't wait even more (does that make sense?) for my amazing summer in London to start!