So today I saw "We Will Rock You" and "Dr. Faustus" at the dominon and globe theater. These shows combined today made me realize just how much I missed performing and theater. During We Will Rock you I had chills during Somebody to Love.
But it was Dr Faust that was the perfect show. Now in theater there is never a mention of a "Perfect Show" something always can be improved. The reason I call this show the perfect show is many reasons including style of the performance, actors and the theater.
The performance had no huge sets but some very creative costumes and props to make the demons and dragons through out the show. the very beginning chorus members were used as book shelves for the various books. They also served to translate any other languages into English. This was pretty entertaining. From the start there was highly choreographer movement of chorus dressed like scholars in all black with books. The performance continued with always finding the comedy of what could be a very serious play. I laughed during the entire performance. The best is during one visit to a king by faust the king hits two tennis balls in to the audience. Well one tennis ball gets thrown back and this shocks the actors playing faust and the King who both break turn to the audience laugh and then get back to the show. Normally this would fowned upon breaking character but the whole show felt like the cast was having as much fun on stage as we were watching them. I think this is what made the show perfect I could tell the actors were having a blast with the show.
The had the live music all original works with singing incorporated into the show and all sound effects were done by the chorus characters or the band. The eerie noises and wooshing noise from the chorus were the most entertaining. Though every chorus character played a multiple of characters which was fun to see.
As far as the principle characters Mephistopheles was amazing. He was able to be this tortured former angel now stuck in hell and with Faust. At other times he was Faust best friend there to enjoy all the practical jokes but seeming to always have a tortured look about him. Also he just looked bad ass. All the costumes were traditional but they were perfect.
Faust- this actor was incredibly charming with the audience for in the globe there is a lot of audience interaction. Not only that but you almost did not feel bad for Faust anymore at the end he really did a beautiful job and portraying Faust and his foolishness.
These two kind of remind me of Spencer and I though I think I am Faust in this one. Either I left this show wanting to take another four years of school to study theater, piano and vocal performance (you can do all of that in four years yes?) but eye lids are getting heavy bus trip soon. TTYL
Saturday, August 13, 2011
This is more for me
So I am up from another full day in london been up at 6am every morning. Yesterday was a strange day. I write this post more for me so I am sorry you will have to read stream of consciousness and we all know my head is a little loopy but I thought I would share.
Yesterday we went to Westminister an Anglican Church. We went to holy communion at 8am and the lady at the door let us in we went to merely see the church for free but as we leave only a few minutes later another gentlemen at the door catches us asking if we could not find it? We reply we did not want to interrupt but he said it was no problem and that he would escort us there. So he did. We enter a small chapel on the side of west minister. There was 2 priests and 9 members of the congregation there. It was exactly how I imagine or would want a mass to be. ( I use mass lightly seeing that it is Anglican Mass which while very traditional is slightly different from catholic but the differences are very small. Thanks pop for teaching me well) But as I sat with nothing but my thoughts and the mass. I begin to feel something I have not felt in a long time. Some call it God, others a belonging, and I have no idea what to call it but I will do my best to describe it. It was a great weight I felt on me that I knew was always there but did not realize how heavy it actually was. Now I can do nothing but feel this great heaviness and the only thing I seem to want to do is return to a church kneel and sit. Sit and pray.
Weird to see myself write those words. I have not "needed" prayer or religion I became a humanist but I am not sure the human in me is ready to put all of his trust in human kind. Maybe it is due to the state of the world; riots, financial unrest, starvation in west africa. Or my own personal demons of looking in the mirror and be surprised every time and disappointed by the man in the mirror, or of a loss love, or a loss friend or losing my identity. Seeing jersey boys reminded me of how much theater in my life is a big void but not sure U of O is the theater I want to be a part of. Ideas like taking that fifth year to study Italian and become fluent or at least better than I am now and taking piano lessons again so that one day I could play and sing "Cry For Me".
I seem to be out of words. I need to get this down while it was in my head. But there may be some surprises coming soon from me. Or not who knows but if you are reading this just know I am okay. I promise. Just needed to get some unrest out and vented. Feeling better already though missing home. Yesterday I did find the perfect present. Always the best feeling.
Sincerely,
Chris
Yesterday we went to Westminister an Anglican Church. We went to holy communion at 8am and the lady at the door let us in we went to merely see the church for free but as we leave only a few minutes later another gentlemen at the door catches us asking if we could not find it? We reply we did not want to interrupt but he said it was no problem and that he would escort us there. So he did. We enter a small chapel on the side of west minister. There was 2 priests and 9 members of the congregation there. It was exactly how I imagine or would want a mass to be. ( I use mass lightly seeing that it is Anglican Mass which while very traditional is slightly different from catholic but the differences are very small. Thanks pop for teaching me well) But as I sat with nothing but my thoughts and the mass. I begin to feel something I have not felt in a long time. Some call it God, others a belonging, and I have no idea what to call it but I will do my best to describe it. It was a great weight I felt on me that I knew was always there but did not realize how heavy it actually was. Now I can do nothing but feel this great heaviness and the only thing I seem to want to do is return to a church kneel and sit. Sit and pray.
Weird to see myself write those words. I have not "needed" prayer or religion I became a humanist but I am not sure the human in me is ready to put all of his trust in human kind. Maybe it is due to the state of the world; riots, financial unrest, starvation in west africa. Or my own personal demons of looking in the mirror and be surprised every time and disappointed by the man in the mirror, or of a loss love, or a loss friend or losing my identity. Seeing jersey boys reminded me of how much theater in my life is a big void but not sure U of O is the theater I want to be a part of. Ideas like taking that fifth year to study Italian and become fluent or at least better than I am now and taking piano lessons again so that one day I could play and sing "Cry For Me".
I seem to be out of words. I need to get this down while it was in my head. But there may be some surprises coming soon from me. Or not who knows but if you are reading this just know I am okay. I promise. Just needed to get some unrest out and vented. Feeling better already though missing home. Yesterday I did find the perfect present. Always the best feeling.
Sincerely,
Chris
Sunday, August 7, 2011
In Scotland
Been a while sorry. In scotland now we went to loch ness. Now we are watching embarrassing videos of gregor and his brother singing when they were like 10 years old. It is great gregor is singing hero right now. Last night we went out to the bars in Nairn which is Gregor's home town. The town has about 7000 people and everyone knows everyone here. Which has been pretty entertaining. While at the bars we got many "OH MY GOD you are actually american?" "Oh my god". This was pretty entertaining. Also we heard a lot of stories of gregor here at home. Anyway off to london wedensday then berlin and the copenhagen. Sorry not much to report. I am home sick so missing you all.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Oslo Cruise
So the end of week one we went to Kulor bar a three level disco tech (dance club). This place was crazy. A group of 30 of us get there at 10 right when the doors open and there is really no one there. It cost us 80 kr (16 dollars) to get in and you get a little beer cup. This allows you to drink as much beer as you want until 1 am. Incentive to get there early. Soon the club becomes packed on the main floor. You can barely move but everyone is dancing and having an amazing time. I will try to post a video of the club. This club is open till 5am on Thursday and we were told by a few local girls it is the place to be because no other club is open on Thursday only the bars are.
Friday we wake up (a little on the late side)to pack, eat and get ready for our cruise to Oslo. So we find our way to the port which was pretty difficult. We all check in and get our tickets and by chance Jeff, Patrick and I all end up in the same room with a guy named Byron who is a Sig Ep from UT. So we were stoked cause we knew it would be no problem rooming together. Of course the cabins could literally only have enough standing space for 3 people in the room so we spent very little time in our cabin. So the Oregon guys met up and we started to explore the ship and of course first thing we find is the kids area with all of the legos. So what do we do. We play legos see picture below
Afterwards we continue to explore the ship. We try the outdoor hot tub but it was not hot at all so that was short lived. We then shopped at the duty free market for some drink before heading to the back of the ship to talk with other students from our school.
Then dinner was served for us. This was possibly the best meal I have had during my trip here. It started with an appetizer of halibut that was incredible. I normally do not like fish but I absolutely loved this. It was served with a little sour cream and was just perfect. Next we were served a dish of tri-tip i think, vegetable and potatoes that was also well done. Also we started with a white wine for the fish and a red wine for the main course. After we had some time to talk and chat and the waiters continued to bring us wine. Here a few photos of some of the dinner.
After dinner we hit the casino on the ship. Now most of my peers filled up the two black jack tables. I on the other hand went and hit the slots. In the course of the slots I made 300 kr (60 dollars) tried 100 at the black jack table and lost it only to win it back plus an additional 100kr making my money back that I had lost at the table. So 60 dollars in one night was not too bad. After we came to celebrate at the night club which was all of our peers.
I make it to bed around 3 or 4 only to be woken up by Jesse, Alex, and Riley yelling at Pat. Pat stumbling around into the shower. I am crying from laughter from the whole process. Finally I make it to breakfast and get on to the walking tour. Most of group were on the struggle bus and that made this walk very difficult for all most all of us.
After the tour we were able to wander around for a little while. We ended up getting lunch at the hard rock cafe. There we had an australian waitress who we were able to chat with. She is actually coming stateside and we have been now corresponding with her to give her places to go and see. Here is the photo of us with our waitress. We also bought Pat a viking hat. See photo. I could not keep a straight face during the photo.
After lunch we ran into a bachellorette party that pulled us aside while we were walking on the street. They were on a scavenger hunt and need pictures kissing single guys so of course we happy to help them out.
This made our trip just so hilarious. We made our way home and stopped at the Oslo Opera House which was a gorgeous building that you could actually walk on and see all of Oslo. That night was a repeat of the previous only with a buffet dinner instead.
While we were gone copenhagen had the storm of the century where the underground metro was flooded and we arrived to find almost all of the trains not working. We all load on to a bus and we see our bus driver blow in to the dash like a breathalizer. He then swears loudly and we all have to leave the bus and get onto another. We think he was too drunk to drive. So finally we make it home only to sleep all day.
The next big event was 4th of july where we have a big bbq and go to a bar with about 40 people and have a great time celebrating. Sorry this was a long one but it was a pretty epic weekend.
Friday we wake up (a little on the late side)to pack, eat and get ready for our cruise to Oslo. So we find our way to the port which was pretty difficult. We all check in and get our tickets and by chance Jeff, Patrick and I all end up in the same room with a guy named Byron who is a Sig Ep from UT. So we were stoked cause we knew it would be no problem rooming together. Of course the cabins could literally only have enough standing space for 3 people in the room so we spent very little time in our cabin. So the Oregon guys met up and we started to explore the ship and of course first thing we find is the kids area with all of the legos. So what do we do. We play legos see picture below
Afterwards we continue to explore the ship. We try the outdoor hot tub but it was not hot at all so that was short lived. We then shopped at the duty free market for some drink before heading to the back of the ship to talk with other students from our school.
Then dinner was served for us. This was possibly the best meal I have had during my trip here. It started with an appetizer of halibut that was incredible. I normally do not like fish but I absolutely loved this. It was served with a little sour cream and was just perfect. Next we were served a dish of tri-tip i think, vegetable and potatoes that was also well done. Also we started with a white wine for the fish and a red wine for the main course. After we had some time to talk and chat and the waiters continued to bring us wine. Here a few photos of some of the dinner.
After dinner we hit the casino on the ship. Now most of my peers filled up the two black jack tables. I on the other hand went and hit the slots. In the course of the slots I made 300 kr (60 dollars) tried 100 at the black jack table and lost it only to win it back plus an additional 100kr making my money back that I had lost at the table. So 60 dollars in one night was not too bad. After we came to celebrate at the night club which was all of our peers.
I make it to bed around 3 or 4 only to be woken up by Jesse, Alex, and Riley yelling at Pat. Pat stumbling around into the shower. I am crying from laughter from the whole process. Finally I make it to breakfast and get on to the walking tour. Most of group were on the struggle bus and that made this walk very difficult for all most all of us.
After the tour we were able to wander around for a little while. We ended up getting lunch at the hard rock cafe. There we had an australian waitress who we were able to chat with. She is actually coming stateside and we have been now corresponding with her to give her places to go and see. Here is the photo of us with our waitress. We also bought Pat a viking hat. See photo. I could not keep a straight face during the photo.
After lunch we ran into a bachellorette party that pulled us aside while we were walking on the street. They were on a scavenger hunt and need pictures kissing single guys so of course we happy to help them out.
This made our trip just so hilarious. We made our way home and stopped at the Oslo Opera House which was a gorgeous building that you could actually walk on and see all of Oslo. That night was a repeat of the previous only with a buffet dinner instead.
While we were gone copenhagen had the storm of the century where the underground metro was flooded and we arrived to find almost all of the trains not working. We all load on to a bus and we see our bus driver blow in to the dash like a breathalizer. He then swears loudly and we all have to leave the bus and get onto another. We think he was too drunk to drive. So finally we make it home only to sleep all day.
The next big event was 4th of july where we have a big bbq and go to a bar with about 40 people and have a great time celebrating. Sorry this was a long one but it was a pretty epic weekend.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
First week recap
So Monday we had our first day of class. My first class is Managing Across cultures and is very interesting. Our Professor is from George Washington University and he is a really cool teacher. he is very good about explaining concepts and ideas. The first day of that class was Syllabus so we all introduced ourselves which happened to be 12 U of O students in this one class.
The next class is a little more dry it is Corporate Finance. The teacher is from Florida then became a founding professor at a business school in China. He is a very nice guy the content of the class is a little dry but we have many more danish students in that class than we do in the first class. So that is the break down of my classes
Tuesday both Jeff and I are free from class so we met up with a few girls from Norway and had a picnic and played this game called Cubb. It was a lawn game like bocce but much more difficult. So we played this game for about 3 hours all got very sun burnt. After making another delicious meal of tacos that night we left to a dorm party that was going on. It was a great time for the students to just hang out and mingle but we had to use the windows as the exits and entrances which became difficult after a while. We made do. It was interesting to see how people grouped up usually by their country but certain countries tended to mix together more. So far we have a crew of Americans, Australians, Germans, Italians, French and Norwegian.
Wednesday was class all over again and nothing to crazy happened last night. The guys set up two table of water pong and we just hung out and played for a while before exploring downtown for a while. Our dorm seems to have about 20 of us that are very social and want to hang out with people and the other 50 just hang out in their rooms for the most part.
Today, woke up to an email saying that we were being warned for being too loud. Apparently music at 4 o clock pm disturbs the neighbors. We were conscious last night to keep the music down and we left around 10:30 to go downtown so we were confused today why they locked the common room up. So tomorrow we are going to speak to housing about the issue.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Meeting people
So last night was our first mixer of everyone studying abroad. We had a buffet dinner and then a party at the business school. To make you all proud Jesse and I the two oregon boys were making a name for ourselves shuffling to party rock anthem. Which was a good time. So here is some photos of us heading out and the business school which is absolutely beautiful buildings and campus.
Friday, June 24, 2011
1st two nights
df
so got to copenhagen after 12 hours of travel and no sleep which turned to 15 hours after the delay. this day started on june 22 and was an absolute blast. After arriving I took my 48 lb back pack and i checked in to the hostel I went exploring the city which is full of marvelous architecture and people. Soon my friend Dom joined me (seen in the pic below) and we were able to get dinner and drink on the dock as the music played.
that night dom and I wandered the streets. After finally getting tired we called a cab adn returned home. agreeing to see you one last time. sincerely,
Chris
Picture are a sight of copenhagen. Dom and I. Followed by the crew friends from all over the world including australia, london, milan and long island. So already day one great success in meeting new wonderful people
so got to copenhagen after 12 hours of travel and no sleep which turned to 15 hours after the delay. this day started on june 22 and was an absolute blast. After arriving I took my 48 lb back pack and i checked in to the hostel I went exploring the city which is full of marvelous architecture and people. Soon my friend Dom joined me (seen in the pic below) and we were able to get dinner and drink on the dock as the music played.
that night dom and I wandered the streets. After finally getting tired we called a cab adn returned home. agreeing to see you one last time. sincerely,
Chris
Picture are a sight of copenhagen. Dom and I. Followed by the crew friends from all over the world including australia, london, milan and long island. So already day one great success in meeting new wonderful people
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Eh?
In canada right now. It is cloudy fogy and over cast but spirits are high even though I cant see the sun. Wearing my oregon gear and sweatshirt with duck color letters. Getting some funny looks form some other travelers from other countries but so far pretty uneventful. Watched almost all of The League thank roomie I owe you for that. The show is hilarious if you can find it and watch it. Guy show but still hilarious to watch. Luckily I have a friend in my hostel already and we will be meeting up to explore a summer solstice festival in copenhagen. I will take photos but my camera cord is buried right now in my checked bag so you will have to wait till friday when I unpack my 48 pound backpack. Which has been wonderfully organized and kept safe by my wonderful well traveled mother. Lots of plastic bags.
Minor scare at LAX they handed me someone else's ticket which was a little scary to say the least. But otherwise so far doing well. no disasters yet I am sure there will be a few minor ones but oh well life moves on just trying to keep up
Spoke too soon 4 hour delay not leaving till 945 pm... so looks like i will be here for a while ( mechanical error). Care to skype?
Minor scare at LAX they handed me someone else's ticket which was a little scary to say the least. But otherwise so far doing well. no disasters yet I am sure there will be a few minor ones but oh well life moves on just trying to keep up
Spoke too soon 4 hour delay not leaving till 945 pm... so looks like i will be here for a while ( mechanical error). Care to skype?
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
last day in the states
my bag is for the most part packed but cant seem to fit everything in it. I have a big old camping back pack to travel with and plans are falling in to place. trip to amsterdamn trip to scotland and possible paris one weekend. I am healthy and ready to go. Just a few last things on the list to do before I leave.
a final load of laundry
book my scotland flight
finish all my packing
deposit checks
pick up some otc medication just in case
skype a few friends and family goodbye for a few months
and go.
Wow weird to think it is here. 24 hours and I fly solo to europe Wow
a final load of laundry
book my scotland flight
finish all my packing
deposit checks
pick up some otc medication just in case
skype a few friends and family goodbye for a few months
and go.
Wow weird to think it is here. 24 hours and I fly solo to europe Wow
Saturday, June 18, 2011
3 days
So 3 days left till I board the plane. Found out today that both spencer and I have been having heart burn so maybe or goodbye drinking with friends hurt us a little. but I am super stoked just got a liner for my sleeping bag, and a towel and books on denmark and prague for jeff and I. Spending today with family tomorrow night Vitek comes so we can go to the happiest place on earth monday:) so excited.. anyway got a new camera for the trip so high def videos and pictures. The memory card holds 2000+ photos so expect a lot.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Preperation
So getting ready to study abroad. I leave wednesday saying goodbyes to graduates and friends has been difficult but the excitement of this journey with Jeff, Riley and Patrick is too much to handle. Not going to lie though one thing they dont tell you about study abroad is there are a lot of hoops to jump through. I have probably had to register to 6different websites in order to get everything signed up and ready to go. Frustrating to say the least. But here is the first post of the blog I am going to try and update the blog daily with videos, photo, and writing about the day so stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)