Should be writing my essay, but instead...

I'll tell you about a game I learned today called Bulldog.

I'll start off by saying that the cast and crew of Caesar have been working from the wee small hours of the morning until late at night trying to get this play together. I woke up at six in the morning today. ME! Needless to say, there are times when we need to go play outside in the sunshine... yes! Sunshine in England! Who knew?

So today, after a little game of Duck-Duck-Goose, someone mentioned Bulldog, to which I replied, "What's that?" The directors then ordered everyone to go on this massive grass field and asked, "Who wants to go first?" I enthusiastically volunteered, and did not take into account the fact that nobody else did. Lesson of the day: don't volunteer for something before you know what you're doing.

I stood in the middle of the field while TEN boys rushed at me and I had to TACKLE one of them in order to get them on my team. Did not go so well. Someone had to join me out of pity.

Also, I'm really out of shape, so I couldn't run very fast. However, I turned out to be really good at grabbing someone and holding on until another stronger teammate could tackle them.

Let's just say, I emailed my mom today asking her how to get grass stains out of my clothes.

What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone from me...

I got back from my trip to Amsterdam late two nights ago and was up at 7am the next morning and this morning for all day Julius Caesar rehearsals. Also I have a cold. Definition of a rude awakening.

Thankfully, I hate flying... so I took a train to Brussels and then a bus with Leah to Amsterdam. No volcano was gonna mess with my trip.

Amsterdam is my new favorite place in the universe. Okay, well it's tied with sitting on a hammock, overlooking a forest in the Dominican Republic. It's my new favorite city definitely.


It was so beautiful and sunny out almost every day... On Saturday, we walked around the Jordaan and everyone was out on their little front stoops, playing with their families and their dogs, or reading, or smoking a pipe, etc.... and they were picnicking on their boats with their friends with some wine and food... it looked just like a movie. Leah and I are trying to find a way to move there.

Also, Dutch people are amazing. They are so sweet and were never rude when we asked for directions or got confused or needed to be directed to the nearest "shnack bar" for some potato oorlag.

Favorite moments: Van Gogh Museum, tagging along on a walking tour led by an Australian local, sitting in Vondel Park whilst listening to Lauryn Hill, Indonesian food... there are so many more, I'm just too sleepy and stuffy to think of them.

One of my favorite songs kept running through my head while I was there... probably because it's about Amsterdam and Anne Frank.



Some of the lyrics are:

What a curious life
We have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the street
There are lights in the clouds
Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Just some random thoughts...

Why can't I do an English accent? I've been here for more than six months, all but two of my friends are English, during term time I'm with said English friends for hours a day... what the hell?? All of them can do American accents! Granted, they sound WAY too nasally, and it seems like they learn American accents by watching the Hills, or the OC, or Laguna Beach... not everyone in the States speaks like a Valley girl, thank you very much. But they're still better than I am. Is it just because American movies and TV pervade popular culture here, so they hear the accent all the time? Do we really sound THAT nasally?

And sometimes, when my friends want a laugh, they ask me to do an English accent... and I end up sounding like an idiot and possibly insulting them. All I can do is the "Chah-lay" from the Charlie Bit Me youtube video. I actually do that really well.

I'm just really upset by this whole thing, though.

You know how a lot of times in movies the villains or antagonists are played by English actors? Yeah I didn't notice that either.  Kind of pisses some English people off, actually. The theory is that Hollywood likes sophisticated villains, and what spells sophistication better than English accents? Ready for a list? Here we go...
- Die Hard
- Mission Impossible 2
- Matilda
- Mrs. Doubtfire 
- Rush Hour
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- North by Northwest
- Jumanji
There are many more, I just can't think of them. In TV shows, too. In Friends, Ross' horrible wife who makes him stay away from Rachel is English (ooooh my flatmates hate that).

So why can't I do the accent yet? I've picked up the intonation (as Bethy will tell you), and some words and phrases, but I can't get the BLOODY ACCENT.

Teehee.