Prima Donna

What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than to catch a matinee performance of The Phantom of the Opera? When I first saw the stage musical four years ago I was unimpressed. The soprano playing Christine had a warbly voice and my view was partially obscured. This time, however, was very different. The cast sounded wonderful, and though I was again very high and away from the stage, the view was only occasionally obscured by the big head in front of me. Despite the minor inconvenience, the performance was spectacular. I am very glad that I went again, and I am now more than ever looking forward to our trip to Paris in November so that I can visit the Opera Garnier, the location of the original story of the Phantom.

Next week is going to be spent in the north of England, so the next update will be next weekend.

But aside from these trips and tours and reports, what am I doing? How are things going? London is quickly becoming home. Taking the Tube is second nature, and I've started unintentionally memorizing the stops on certain Tube lines, where to change for different lines, and so on. I'm even adjusting to dealing with traffic driving on the left side of the road. Life in the centre is also going very well. I got very lucky and was placed in the ground floor dorm room. There are eight girls in the room, including myself, with one toilet and two showers between us. It seems that only by divine intervention that this has never been a problem. And since we are the only ones that don't use the main staircase, and are tucked back in a far corner away from everyone else on the faculty side of the building, all eight of us have grown very close. Everyone seems to notice how close we are. I myself have been amazed at the complete lack of fighting or petty quarreling that so often happens when you put too many girls together in close quarters.

In fact, we had a "sleepover" just this last Friday night. And yes, we always sleep in the same room, but this night mattresses were moved to the middle of the floor and we all gathered on them to watch a movie and eat too much chocolate. It was very fun and there was much laughter.