Ginger Wine and Jammie Dodgers

I have been living in Bath England for about 4 weeks now. I still feel very American, and my attempts at English accents are shite.  One thing I enjoy is the cadence of asking questions, I don't know how to explain in words, but think about or listen to how British people ask questions and there is a pattern! The students that go here are from all over England which allows me to hear a range of different accents. Which is awesome, but I'm not able to nail a specific one, as there are a lot. When I attempt an accent I am conjoining different accents from everything that I hear, and the students here say I sound Australian... fair enough.

I enjoy that I can say "cunt" and "wanker" more often than I would in America, I also like telling people to "fuck off" and yelling "for fuck's sake" when I am slightly to mildly upset at anything. My digestive system is taking a hit but not to a degree that is not manageable. I went to Sainsbury's (A local grocery chain) and got a bunch of new sauces and spices to put in my cooked meals of rice or noodles that I mix with blood sausage, other meats and various vegetables. I enjoy the mixture and blends of different ingredients. Blood sausage mentally constipates me, it may or may not be doing more damage than I think, but it looks like it gets stuck inside of my intestines or wherever food travels in the body.

Something I drink on occasion is Ginger Wine, it is an English form of wine, and is very cheap at Tesco (Another local chain for 3.85 quid (currency)) I mixed it with Scottish Whiskey once, as it instructed me to do on the back of the bottle, and it was quite tasty, I got mixed reviews on it from my English companions. I got some Jammie Dodgers, which is a British snack of jam on cookies, or biscuits as they are called here. I haven't eaten one yet, but I quite like the name. They are not that tasty according to a girl named Billie who informed me on their existence. Jammie Dodgers is also a very fun word to say in a Chicago accent, and is becoming a common greeting amongst us.

People seem to enjoy me and me accent, and I enjoy sharing my American culture and slang to friends that are curious and interested in hearing about it. As I am interested in learning, hearing about and experiencing British culture and slang. Which is a huge reason that I came to England to study acting for six months. It is not as odd anymore to wake up and hear everyone speaking differently than me. I am still able to hear American accents from the TV, movies and audio I listen to. I watched the movies FARGO and A BRONX TALE not too long ago, these both have great American accents (Minnesota and New York ones) it was super interesting to watch them in England with the variety of British accents around me. They are fantastic movies as well, I recommend them to anybody, classic actors and directors with great stories.

 Last night I missed home, all of my friends and the opportunities that are there for me. I feel that not having done any Improv in this time is making me stale, and that I might not be able to do any until I return home, which slightly scares me, like I  won't be able to "get it back" as in my ability to improvise on stage in front of people. Although that is not true, it is a thought I have and something  I think about.

I was placed in the year 1 program, in the second term. So I am just getting a taste of what all of the people I am getting to know in this acting program have ahead of them. I see the possibilities in experiencing all three years of this program. I am seeing myself assimilating to this acting community, I feel like I will be missing out on what they will get to have. And this is an excuse to not be in the present, and to be present with these folks while I am here. A month ago I didn't know any of these people, and I am getting to experience their world for six months, and that's amazing that I can have that for the rest of my life.

BATH England

I have been in Bath England for three days now and it is wonderful. Very beautiful country landscapes, sheep and pigs in some areas. I live right in the city next to a shopping square filled with pubs and places to shop. It is gorgeous and magnificent.

I love it, I miss all of my friends and family too sort of, not that much yet I just got here. I'm writing this to inform everyone who is interested, I'm sorry if you are jealous or what not, that's not my intention, I am lucky to be here, and am doing it to serve myself and my loved ones for when I return!

My flat mates are great people. Young students around 18-19 years old. I also have a group of exchange students that I was acquainted with through an exchange program. There is only one other guy, his name is Mikael from Finland, there are four other Finnish girls, none of the Fins knew each other prior to this, and three of them are from the same hometown. There are four Chinese girls, two Danish girls, a Swedish, Norwegian, Portugese, and a Mexican girl too. They are nice and we have all explored pubs and places to eat together so far in Bath.

It's a beautiful city and people are very friendly here, and very open to share with me on where I should go. I am starting school tomorrow, I will probably write another one of these in the near future to keep all you fine folks up to dat!