“When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Yesterday's class dragged on for quite a bit and I think everyone was ready to have their Sunday off.  In George's morning voice class, we did a lot of relaxation exercises as well as discussed the introduction of the book that we were supposed to read.  Basically, the book talked about how there is a difference between our natural voice and our habitual voice and how it takes effort to separate them.  The book also talked about how it can take up to 20 years to define this difference and truly come into your own natural voice.  Obviously, we are only here for a month and are only getting a small taste of all of the hard work it takes to really become comfortable with your voice.  The second half of our morning session, we practiced using our natural voice saying, "I am me."  We had to stare at the person standing across from us in the circle and look them in the eyes and say this statement with them.  We then had to take a step towards them and then do it again.  We continued to do this until we were face to face with them, then shoulder to shoulder, and then back to back.  After back to back, we then took one step away and did it again until we had swapped places in the circle.  Afterwards, we talked about how when you had someone to focus your attention on, it was easier to use your natural voice and not feel nervous.  It seemed as though we were drawing energy off of each other to encourage one another to do the exercise as efficiently as possible.

Our afternoon class was our first 'official' class with Charlie, our new instructor.  We spent the first half hour of class discussing The Tempest as well as anything else we had learned related to class.  I was shocked when Charlie was able to go around the circle and name everyone without hesitation, until our TA told us afterwards that he had studied on Facebook!  Very very clever.  We then got into two small circles and started a massage circle to release any tension we had from the past week.  I must say, everyone is a great masseuse and it was a good time to practice my massage skills for physical therapy! We then split into partners and analyzed each other's posture and helped our partner by telling them where they were holding tension and figuring out ways in which they could release that tension.  Both my partner and I are very tall, and we found that both of us held a lot of tension in our shoulders.  It makes sense, because we spend so much time hunched over and not standing at our full height.  It's amazing how much this all relates to anatomy and reminds me more and more how much I love the profession I am going into.  Finally, we ended the class with mirroring.  Basically, I had to stand less than 2 feet away from my partner, maintaining eye contact and TRYING (note that word) to keep a serious face.  Knowing me, I of course could not stop bursting out into laughter because my partner is one of the clowns in the group and kept making silly facial expressions at me.  After finally getting over the giggles, I realized how intense and intimate it is to maintain eye contact with someone.  But, I also realized how much better at it I am getting.  I can now stare into someone's eyes and truly read them, and not feel as awkward as I used to.  Eye contact is such a strong physical connection, one that we don't use very often.  It truly can be the difference in the way a person sees you.  I know that usually when people try to maintain eye contact with me, I make a silly face or ask, "What are you looking at?!"  So I'm going to try from now on to just let it happen and not make everything into such a lighthearted joke.

Last night, we went out with some girls on the Dialogue to a club called Tiger Tiger.  It was ridiculously expensive and definitely not worth the money it cost to get in.  Once again, the crowd was older and more businessy, and the music was OLD.  Like, we are talking Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" was playing.  Who plays that at a club?!  People in London, I guess.  Either way, it was still a great time and I love the girls I went with.  They are all so sweet and funny and remind me a lot of my friends at home.  I'm hoping that even when we all return home from the trip, we will still stay in contact.  (I'm even trying to convince a younger girl to go through recruitment just so she can be my little.  Sneaky, I know.)

Today, Maggie and I walked over to Oxford Circus and treated ourselves (more like experimented) to a full English breakfast.  So, a full English breakfast consists of eggs sunny side up, sausage, "bacon", toast, and beans.  Weird, I know.  I don't really like any of that stuff besides toast, but I ate it anyway because it was an experience!  Except for the bacon.  Ew.  It was more just like a gigantic piece of ham slightly fried.

After having a late breakfast, we then took the Tube over to Kensington and made our way over to Kensington Palace where we had reserved tickets to see the inside quarters of the Palace.  We first went through the Queen's apartments, which told the story of William and Mary and of Mary' sister, Anne, who had 17 failed pregnancies, only to have her 18th child die on his 11th birthday.  Anne was supposed to birth the next heir to the throne because Mary could not have children.  I know I'm missing pieces of the story, but somewhere down the line of relatives the next heir became King George I.  After visiting the Queen's apartments, we went to see the King's apartments.  It was amazing to see just how much more ornate and extravagant the King's quarters were compared to the Queen's.  The King had a grand staircase, fresco painted ceilings, chandeliers, and tons and tons of old paintings.  I liked how the Palace had transformed these old quarters to tell the King and Queen's stories so that it wasn't just walking through rooms with a bunch of artifacts.  I really wish I had read up on my English history before I visited; though, because it was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be!

The last section that we could see in the Palace was "Victoria Revealed" which was all about Queen Victoria, who was the youngest and longest reigning Queen of England.  She was brought into office at the young age of only eighteen!  Can you imagine being that young, a WOMAN in the 1800s, and being Queen of a country?  Absolutely insane.  But, she did it.  And she did it extremely well.  Victoria was an extraordinary person and very intelligent.  The exhibit had covered the walls, tables, and floors with quotes and blurbs from all of Victoria's journals and writings.  I truly felt like I was getting to know her, and what it was like for her to run a country and still try to have a normal life.  My favorite part of this exhibit was the love story that developed between Queen Victoria and Albert.  There was a whole room devoted to their love; segments of letters written to one another, things Victoria had written describing Albert, the place where they first met, etc.  Just from all of the writing and imagery shown in this exhibit, anyone could see how much they loved each other.  I felt like I was following Victoria through her whole life and truly feeling every emotion that she had felt.  It was  extremely sad when we arrived at the segment of the exhibit where she writes about Albert dying.  Suddenly, the whole exhibit was very dark and gloomy.  Victoria's writing became sad and you could sense how lonely she had become.  If I had to choose one thing that I have done so far on this trip that left an impact on me, it was the Queen Victoria exhibit and the story of Victoria and Albert.

After leaving Kensington Palace, we explored the gardens and FINALLY found the Peter Pan statue.  My lifelong dream has finally come true.  To stand next to the original statue of Peter Pan, donated by the author himself, J.M. Barrie in 1912.  The statue is 101 years old and as beautiful as ever.  It sparks such youth and a drive for adventure and it will always be my favorite thing about London.  It is a reminder that no matter how old you get, you never really have to grow up.

After thoroughly exploring Kensington Gardens on this surprisingly beautiful, warm, AND sunny day, we crossed the street to Hyde Park.  There, we stopped at the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, where we dipped our feet in the bubbling (and freezing cold) water.  Hey, if we are there, we might as well get the whole experience, right?  Sitting there with the sun on my back and my feet in the water, I couldn't help but really appreciate the whole experience I was having.  At the same time, today is the first time my homesickness is really hitting me.  There are a lot of things I miss about home, but I know it is worth it to be here and it's only three more weeks after all.

We ended our extremely long day at Harrods which is like the Macy's of London.  Except way more expensive.  A small moto-leather jacket was 1065 pounds!  Which is like $2500 in the U.S.  The place made me want to be rich and famous, to say the least.  It was still really fun to explore all the different rooms and gape at the loads of designer clothes within my reach.  It was also really fun to pose with yet another huge giraffe stuffed animal and just appreciate the pure fun of window shopping.  After exploring all five floors completely, I was relieved to get on the Tube and sit down.  Getting back to our apartment and sitting in my bed was even more of a relief!

A new week of class starts tomorrow (blegh) and yet another week of adventures awaits!

I hope everyone is enjoying reading this, because I am truly enjoying writing it.

I miss everyone so much!! So much hugs and kisses coming from across the pond.

xoxo