Accomplishing very little

Well another week has come and gone and I am only eight days away from being done with my program and 20 days away from leaving Europe altogether.  Once again, this week there was not one large event that really deserves being focused on, but rather a plethora of random lovely events. Since coming to London, I have had a bucket list of things I want to see before I leave.  Upon arrival, I gracefully accepted that I was not going to be able to accomplish all the things I wanted to.  Between work and school, it just was not possible.  I feel like I am going to sleep for a week when I get home because our lives are just exhausting.  We are holding down a 20-hour a week internship that is incredibly stressful.  Also, we are taking classes, doing homework, all while trying to take every advantage to travel while here.  Our lives are just non-stop.  With all that said, finding time to tick off every thing on the list is just not impossible.

            I have fully accepted this because looking back at my time I see that I have had some very non-touristy experiences that no other study abroad student will probably ever experience.  I mean I was on Welsh television in a national choir competition.  I also got to go to the Terrance Higgins Trust Auction and met Pattie Boyd.  I’m fortunate that this week has given me more non-touristy opportunities.

            On Friday, I went with Nicole and her work friends to this band’s private gig.  It ended up being at someone’s house in east London and was actually a really cool event.  We had to pay to get in but the drummer of the band was making everyone cocktails and it was just overall a good time to meet some Londoners.  The band that played was called Teddy and they were pretty damn awesome.  In a way they were quintessentially British.  I can’t put a finger on why I think that, but they were and it was just a wonderful little concert.  We didn’t stay long after the concert because we wanted to catch the last tube home, but like I said before, it was so much fun to just hang out with Londoners. 

            On Tuesday, I got an email from Roadhouse saying that since no one claimed the last first prize at rockeoke, they were going to do a roll over night where the first prize would be a £200 bar tab rather than £100.  This finally gave me incentive to compete again.  This time, I decided to stay with a rock song and sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.  I was not near as nervous this time around since I sort of had a feeling of what it was like to sing on that stage.  I don’t mean to brag…but I rocked it.  Again, people came up to me and said I was really good.  Nicole and I waited for the results and in the mean time we found some very charismatic Northern Irish men to buy us drinks.  Winners were announced around 11:30.  Second place went to this fabulous girl who sang “Black Velvet”.  Next, they said they couldn’t decide between two people who should win first place, so they split the mega £200 prize into two £100 bar tabs.  Well…THEY CALLED MY NAME.  Yes, I won a £100 bar tab to Roadhouse and at that time only had Nicole to share it with.  We decided it would be smarter to just save it for the weekend when we had more friends to share the tab with.  Hopefully that pans out for the weekend. 

Here is the link to my performance. On stage, I felt very confident and like I sang very well but after watching this video....ehhhhhh not so much.  I'll let you be the judge. This is a good time to point out to those who do not know me, that I am very awkward human being...so yeah.

Roadhouse Rockaoke Video

            
I just feel so fortunate today because who else has the opportunity to participate and WIN a singing competition.  This whole Roadhouse thing also made me really sad because the girl in charge of Rockeoke told me that on June 3^rd, Roadhouse was hosting an “allstar” competition, for all the past winners.  It made me so sad to tell her that I wouldn’t be in the country at that time.  She just smiled and told me that if anything changed just to email her and let her know.  I don’t think it has really hit me yet just how sad I will be to leave.  I miss my friends and family so much that I am trying to focus on that rather than leaving.  I just know once my parents get here, it will be harder to leave. 

            I have a feeling that next week, it will hit me hard and you will catch me bawling on the tube. 

            Anyways, I am really excited for this weekend because I plan on doing some more shopping and souvenir searching.  Plus, on Sunday, I am volunteering as a photographer for the London Marathon.  Once again, it will be a small event that gives me a different way of experiencing London than other students. 

            Also, I’ve posted some photos from my class tour at Highgate Cemetery in North London.  It was a really cool history lesson hearing about how it all came about, plus our guide included some really interesting stories about a few of the people buried there.  I know it may sound morbid to take a day trip to a cemetery but honestly, I thought it was fascinating… and again, something normal tourists wouldn’t do. 

Cheers,

Janelle

p.s. Is everyone in the U.S. like…okay? Because between West, Texas, floods in Iowa, tornados in Missouri, and the endless crazy train pouring out of Boston, I feel like the world in America is coming to an end.  I’m kind of glad to be watching from a safe distance, but if everything could just work itself out in the next few weeks before I come back, that would be great.

Stay safe everyone, it’s looking like a hot mess of a situation.