Some of you might be wondering how I wound up across the pond at the most beautiful college in the world. Well, it's a cute story so I will happily share. My dear mentor, Jennifer Hover White (Miss Missouri 2001) gave me a wonderful slice of advice when I was over at her house one time during college after babysitting her children. I asked her, "If there is one thing you would tell me I should do at this time in my life, what would it be?" She replied, "Study abroad." She had studied abroad once in Egypt to help start a school for women. Yes, she is a legend in my eyes too.
I had always dreamed of studying abroad, but had just accepted that it probably wasn't in the cards for me. I was on a tight schedule to accomplish my goal of graduating college in three years and my tuition scholarship was only good for on-campus. It would have to be something I could do during the summer or after I completed my degree. Well, being the fanciful dreamer I am, I was thinking hypothetically one day during class and asked myself, "If I could study anything, anywhere, what and where would it be?" My fanciful, dreamy little mind replied with two words- Drama and Oxford. So, I typed "Oxford drama summer program" into Google, and the British American Drama Academy Midsummer at Oxford Program link was at the top of my screen. Seek and you will find my friends.
I wanted to apply right away, but decided to read more into it and pray about it. I did, and I felt like I was supposed to wait. It wasn't easy for me to listen to that feeling, but I did and it turns out it all worked out "just so" as the Brits say. That summer I won Miss Missouri. If I had applied, auditioned, and been accepted last year (a difficult task), I wouldn't have been able to attend the program because I was busy preparing for Miss America. I kept the dream in my heart, continued to pray about it, and God's faithfulness from that random Google search prevailed.
I applied on January 1 (the day the application process opened. Yes, I was serious about this business.) I read Patsy Rodenburg's "Speaking Shakespeare" book to prepare myself for my audition (the program is heavily Shakespeare focused and I don't have a lot of classical acting training, so this book was a key ingredient in building my confidence). I auditioned in Chicago at Northwestern University in March (in lieu of sending a tape in. I wanted the experience of auditioning face to face. If I was going for it, I was really going for it.) A beautiful bonus was that the day of my audition, they turned the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day- a wonderful sight I've always wanted to see! I had a few days of shopping and deep-dish fun in the Windy City and four weeks later, I received an acceptance email after a long day of public speaking duties with the Miss Mo crown. I am attending this program with scholarship money I was awarded for winning Miss Missouri. Dreams come true my friends. The Lord is good.
With my mom by the Chicago river dyed green for St. Patrick's Day, just a few hours after my audition.
So here I am!! I still can't believe it. A Google search dream has turned into reality. I feel like I’m living at Hogwarts. I joked about how I was going to Hogwarts to become a wizard from the moment I was accepted into the program. Magdalen College, where our program is hosted, is breathtaking, and some say it is the most beautiful of the more than 30 colleges that make up Oxford University. I arrived on Friday, July 8 and couldn’t believe the rich exquisiteness of the campus. I legitimately kept asking myself if I was really awake. It took me several days to wake up in the morning without feeling shocked by the majesty of the place, but two weeks in, and I am still enamored by the beauty. They even keep deer on campus! It really feels like a fairy tale. Pictures truly do it no justice in comparison to the direct splendor. My room is even stunning, with a fireplace, ornate wall moldings, and big window seat overlooking an incredible view of the campus. (click on photos to scroll)
This is my favorite part of campus- the Magdalen College Tower through the cloisters. Scenes from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" were filmed in these hallways. The entire lawn is bordered by beautiful hydrangea plants.
In the rose gardens at Magdalen College. The flowers were literally the size of my face. xoxo
I spent my first day getting acquainted with the area around campus. Magdalen College sits on High Street, a bustling strip full of diverse stores and restaurants. I walked up and down it who knows how many times that day. I honestly over did it after my 13 hours of traveling, but I was a girl in a wonderland of tearooms, hat shops, pastry shops, clothing boutiques, and beautiful mideivel buildings. The city of Oxford is a dreamland of historical charm. Around every corner there is something lovely and quaint to be admired.
Saturday, I again perused High Street with fellow BADA students. We had a cocktail welcome party on one of the beautiful lawns at Magdalen. BADA Director, Ian Woolridge gave a welcome message that was very warm and inspirational. There are ninety students in the program. I thought I would know everyone by the end of the first week, but I am still meeting new faces. Everyone has been truly delightful. When you think of a drama program at Oxford, you might think of hoity toity drama queens and kings. I haven’t met one yet.
Sunday we had our first master class with British actress Pippa Nixon on auditioning. It was so nice to hear candidly from a professional about how she overcomes her personal obstacles to land roles. One of my favorite things she said was, "Do something every day that reminds you you're an actor." I also loved when she said, "Even if you don't get all the way to the character in the audition, at least they can see that you're reaching for something."
“Do something every day that reminds you you’re an actor.”
That evening we had a pimms (cocktail) reception where we met our professors, before our formal welcome dinner in the gorgeous dining hall. The five course dinner was lovely. The candlelit tables really made me feel like I was in the Great Dining Hall at Hogwarts. We eat all of our meals there during the week- I skip back and forth between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. ;) (click on the pictures to scroll through a recap of the magical evening)
Monday the classroom fun began. Each day of the week we have four two-hour classes, except for Wednesdays, when we have private tutorials and a master class. My classes are Shakespeare, taught by John Gorrie, Modern with Irina Wooldridge, Voice with John Tucker, Movement with Mick Barnfather and Audition Technique with Ian Woolridge. My class schedule is different every day, which keeps things fresh and fun. In my Shakespeare class, we are studying "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Twelfth Night," in which I am doing two scenes as Viola. (Like a Amanda Byne's role in "She's The Man," which is loosely based on "Twelfth Night.") In my modern class, we are studying the plays "A Doll's House" (in which I am doing two scenes Nora) by Henrik Ibsen, adapted to English by Simon Stephens and "After the Dance" by Terence Rattigan. To help us understand the time period of "After the Dance," our professor showed us the film, "Bright Young Things," which I found to be very entertaining.
Over the weekend I saw two Shakespeare plays. One of my goals is to see as many Shakespeare plays as I can while I'm here. I watched a delightful production of “Love Labour’s Lost” by the Oxford Shakespeare Company outdoors at the Wadham College Gardens on Friday. It was delightful, set in the 70's and included some of my favorite hippie songs as musical interludes. Saturday I saw a wonderful performance of “Richard III” by the Bunch Backed Company in Oxford. It was an intimate performance done thrust-style (the audience was on the same level as the actors, surrounding the stage area) with a lot of eye contact between the actors and audience. I even got (fake) blood splattered on my shirt during the battle scene. My friends and I spontaneously hung out with the cast afterwards. When in Oxford right?
On Sunday, I enjoyed my second master class with actor Henry Goodman, who is currently starring in "Vulpone" at the Royal Shakespeare Company. I found his class to be my break-through moment thus far in the course. I haven't been acting much the past year due to my obligations as Miss Missouri, so the first week of classes I honestly felt like I was getting back into it, breaking down the crust of my pie as an actor before I could let my true self ooze out for others. (that's a metaphor to try to explain how I felt walled-up.) I am still working on it of course, but some of the partnering exercises he shared with us were exactly what I needed to head into the second week more openly and freely.
People back home might be wondering about the woes, or unexpected aspects of living abroad. As a funny side note: I will share a few in hopes of amusing you with my insufficiencies.
1. Crossing the street over here is very difficult because the cars drive on the opposite side as we do in America. Even though you may know you are looking the correct way first before you cross, the subconcsious part of your brain is still freaking out. Throw bikers (lots of bikers) into the mix of things, and you just hope for the best after looking both ways five times, making a dash for it with your tail between your legs and screaming like a true tourist. I have rode buses and taxis and find it very trippy being on the opposite side of the road. You are filled with seconds of fear for your life and then you reason that all is well and under control.
Was so relieved to find that I'm not the only one who needs help.
2. In addition to the difficulty that comes with crossing the road, it is also difficult to walk on the sidewalk here because everyone walks on the opposite side as we do in America, just as the cars drive on opposite side of the road. It’s like swimming upstream, and harder than you might think to correct.
3. I now know why there aren’t a lot of English restaurants in America. I don’t want to sound disrespectful to English cuisine, but the majority of the food here is bland compared to food back home. There are wonderful places to eat, but most of them aren’t English places. I have come to love Indian food in my one week here. Since India was once a part of the British Empire and is still a member of the Commonwealth, they have lots of amazig, authentic Indian food here that is hard to get back home. My taste buds are digging the zest of it.
My favorite English food place to discover thus far, Queen's Lane Coffee House- the oldest coffee house in Oxford, founded in 1654. This was my yummy Saturday brunch with two lovely gal pals I have made in the program. The banana Nutella waffle was MINE. :)))
4. The weather is very confusing. The first couple of days here, the weather was perfect- in the high seventies. Then it got cold later on in the week and I feared I didn’t pack enough warm clothes to last me through the trip. Then the temperatures jumped from the high sixties, low seventies to the upper eighties, low nineties. Let’s just say people in England know how to dress for any type of weather the day may bring. They are also known for having the best weather forecast services, due to the ever-changing environment. It could go from cloudy to sunny any time, but the weather is never extreme, which is a VERY NICE change from the arctic, swamp, or sahara conditions one can find in Missouri depending on the time of year.
5. I'm going to need to buy another suitcase. The fashion here is amazing. I love to sit down at a coffee shop and just observe the endless array of people who walk by, many are French tourists. I love the posh-meets-grundge look people rock over here- think prep-school hipster with a dash of the 90's.
Those are the five woes and a summary from my first week as a student abroad. Hopefully I don't get hit by a car, continue to discover some more yummy restaurants and to ooze through my actor's pie crust. Stay tuned for next week’s blog post.
P.S. People end messages in Xx here. So Xx. They also say "cheers," which I love. So cheers.
(click to scroll through some more of Oxford's loveliness below)
