November 22-23

       I think Monday was probably the worst day I've had yet in London, but honestly it wasn't that bad. I got to sing, afterall :) Copy machines and general printing issues were a large part of Monday's frustration. First, I needed to make some copies of music before my voice lesson, and the copier decided to skip one of my pages. I didn't realize it until I was sitting at a piano in the music building, so I had to walk all the way back to the library and copy that one page. Thankfully, I wasn't late, but I didn't have time to warm up like I would have liked. Feeling a bit unprepared, I showed up to my voice lesson. Even though this week's lesson wasn't as groundbreaking as last week's, I still learned some important stuff and had some fun too. It is such a treat to have a voice teacher over here, and such a fantastic one at that! Turns out, he's kinda famous - http://www.markoldfield.net/.
       After my lesson, it was essay time! Ugh. Apathetically, I finished writing about how the language, sexual violence, and pretense of nobility in Act 2 Scene 1 of Titus Andronicus contribute to the tragic atmosphere of revenge in the play. I don't think I have ever been so UNmotivated for an essay before. What a new and strange feeling. Then the storm hit. I won't go into detail about the time between 2:15 and 4:00 (the deadline), but I will just say that I was scrurrying across campus way too many times and stressing out. In the midst of all this, I realized that I had lost my MDX library/student card = not good. When my paper was finally turned in, I scoured my room for my card but to no avail (who says "to no avail" anymore???). Exhausted, I went to the kitchen to make a salad and then back to my room to decompress. In preparation for my performance on The Evening Dish (my neighbor's radio show), I got to spend some much needed time with my guitar just jammin' through some old goodies. The show went pretty well, and we laughed a lot in the studio. I shared one of my favorite games (I guess it's not really a game . . . ) with my English friends, and they loved it. It's the one where you take pictures of yourself while trilling your lips and making bubble sounds. Sometimes I call it the "horse lip game." Whatever it is, it's hilarious and brought some relief to my stressful day and tears of laughter to our eyes.
       Tuesday was definately an improvement on Monday. Of course there was e-music class, and then I went looking for my student card again. To my great surprise, some kind soul had turned it into the lost and found and I got it back! It may sound goofy, but I was so relieved! I definately didn't want to pay the 10 pound fee for a replacement. That afternoon, I read through 2.5 acts of Shakespeare's Henry V and then took a nap (the typical response to Shakespeare) for an hour. When I woke up, I looked up some information on flights to Scotland and Ireland and started to get excited for the end of term when my American friends come to visit and travel with me! Then I was off to choir and singers ensemble. Apparently, I have scored myself an a cappella (sp?) solo in one of our choir songs = scary. Still, I couldn't turn down the opportunity because it's good for me and I'm here to experience new things. After singers ensemble, the choir director worked through my solo with me, and then I went back to halls to cook some pasta. A number of my English neighbors were also cooking in the kitchen, and we decided to play the "let's learn how to do each other's accents" game which was totally fun. After stuffing myself with bowtie pasta, I went to the library to get some music books and watch some inspirational youtube videos (mainly Imogen Heap and Barbra Streisand). The rest of the evening, I spent reading more of Henry V which again put me to sleep earlier than I planned. That's why this blog is a bit late and why I'm up so early to finish the play and do some other work.
       The best thing about yesterday was that I got to see how God delivered me more than once from things that were weighing heavy on me. I won't go into any more detail here, but I am so thankful that God is always watching over us and cares about even our smallest troubles. That's my praise request of the day.