• United Kingdom
  • United Kingdom: A Midsummer's Theatrical Journey Program
  • United Kingdom: Put Yourself in the Picture - Capturing Britain on Film

Each student has a unique and individual experience on their Experiment program. The following essay is a single glimpse into a program from one student's perspective.

 

Alana Rigal -- A Midsummer's Theatrical Journey (UKTD)

The following is a personal journal entry written while on a month long program to England with The Experiment in International Living (EIL). Our group of thirteen passionate theater students, including myself, and one leader traveled around England, participating in workshops and seeing professional plays. The entry chronicles the few days before and including July 1st.

June 28 - July 1
It's 1:57am right now. I know! So late! But I felt I had to write down the past few days before I forgot. Last Friday, June 28th, we attended an acting workshop which was very stimulating. We did activities such as "the mirror", where one person leads his partner in movements and the other has to follow them exactly, as though he were a mirror. We also worked on sections of Romeo and Juliet and got different perspectives on how to say certain lines. It is incredible how many ways a single line of Shakespeare can be interpreted. Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant and my chicken and rice in a bowl was very good. We went to the Globe Theater in the evening. That was absolutely magical. I could hardly believe we were actually sitting in the very seats that citizens from Shakespeare's day sat in. The performance was Twelfth Night, a comedy. It was evident the actors were true professionals, who shared the same passion for theater as our EIL group did. The actors shined and they did not fail to grasp my attention the entire play. I left the theater with the hiccups because I had been laughing so hard.

The next day was much different. We went to Portobello Market in the morning. The streets at the Market are long, relatively wide, and lined with hundreds of little stands selling things from antique plates, souvenirs, paintings, food, clothes, even pets. It's located in the town of Notting Hill and, yes, we did get to see the very apartment that Hugh Grant lived in for the movie Notting Hill. We walked around for about 3 hours, and returned to hotel exhausted, yet pleased with our many purchases. We ate at a Greek restaurant for dinner. I experimented with the unrecognizable dishes served. We all fell asleep immediately after the long day, knowing we had a 6 hour bus ride ahead.

That brings us to today. We're staying in a fort at Hadrian's Wall in Newcastle. The Wall is an ancient Roman defensive structure used in battles and is a famous landmark. The fort looks like a smaller version of a castle and the rooms are spacious and comfortable. From our bedroom window, we've seen many tours walk by to view the Wall. It's raining and we are surrounded by thousands of sheep. The view is gorgeous and we are basically secluded with a radius of many miles around us until the next town, with the exception of the tiny village of Hutton-le-Hole. After unpacking quickly, and being turned down by fellow EILer's to go exploring, Julia and I did some hiking. We traveled down a vast, light green pasture, being cautious of the sheeps' territories. We came across a lovely, slim creek, and eventually returned to the fort after being chased by bees. The next day, we left for Carlisle on our way to a local high school to meet up with their theatre class. The kids greeted us with wide smiles, eager to meet "their first Americans." We played some ice-breaking games, then worked on scenes from Twelfth Night. The EIL group knew what was going on, having seen Twelfth Night at the Globe, so we helped them out with some lines. The British kids are all so sweet but the threw questions at us left and right: Do you like George W. Bush?; Do you really eat waffles and pancakes for breakfast?; Are you a cheerleader?; Why are Americans so hung up on having their teeth perfect and white? We broke for lunch and paired up with whomever we wanted. Two British kids were intent on taking me around. ("How exciting it is to walk with an American!") So Dameon, Carly, and I toured the town of Carlisle and window-shopped. I exchanged $100 and received only 58 pounds! After much walking, we returned back to the school, and made plans with their teacher for them to come over to the fort in the evening to chill. The evening was a lot of fun. Dameon brought a stereo and Carly brought her guitar, so there was plenty of music and candy and Twister! We meet up with them on Wednesday to go bowling and tour some more of this area. I'm so glad! I made friends with these wonderful friends, and I am surely going to miss them.

This Experiment sure has been an experience. I've met amazing people, and it's definite that I will keep in touch with all the friends I've made on the trip. I'm certainly getting an insight into the British culture, (and weather!) and I am very excited about the homestay. I am happy to be here and I have a feeling I'm not going to want it to end. But I better get to bed now; I've had too many nudges from Sonya to turn off my flashlight. My stomach is growling and I can't wait for the usual hearty breakfast of baked beans on toast, sausage, and oatmeal. Goodnight England, goodnight!