Friday, November 30, 2012

The Unexpected Wonderful Occurrences of Studying Abroad: Imagine Dragons Concert!

A few weeks ago my friends and I trekked to Oxford to see Imagine Dragons in concert! It was only 7 pounds - aka a steal! We got to the place just as the doors were opening and we were in a good place in line, right behind a pair of girls wearing dragon onesies! 
The venue was very small and intimate which the lead singer (Dan Reynolds) commented saying they love playing venues that they can see everyone's faces. It was AWESOME! One of the best concerts I've ever been to. The Escapists opened for Imagine Dragons and they were pretty neat. The lead singer told us that one of the songs was written about aliens...interesting concept. 
It was finally time for Imagine Dragons to come on and MY GOD. You could feel the floor rattle with the amount of people jumping up and down and the INCREDIBLE percussion of the band. They played a bunch of my favorite songs but alas did not play Working Man aka my jam. Still, they were PHENOMENAL. Dan even ended up coming into the audience - crazy!

We went to get t-shirts and the guitarist (Wayne Sermon) came over to sign autographs! Luckily I had my study abroad journal with me so I grabbed it out and talked to him about being abroad and seeing concerts. It was so awesome! 

Wayne Sermon!
Afterwards we went to The Kings Arms Pub, the pub with the highest IQ in Oxford. We had a great time and caught the 12:07 train back to Bath. Our adventure had come full circle and it continues to be one of the highlights of my time abroad!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Numbers

Here's the facts:

1. Been in Bath for 83 days.

2. US bound in 27 days. 

3. 3 papers to write before that - 10,000 words

4. 1 presentation

5. 3 finals

 6. 1 trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon

Hence ergo therefore why I shan't be posting that much AT LEAST until the papers are done. So much to do, so little time. 

Things to look forward to: 
- Finally blogging about midsemester break
- IMAGINE DRAGONS CONCERT!
- Horseback riding (and the death of the camera)
- I Am England Production
- A Visit from a SHA girl!

Again, the mantra of my next few weeks: SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME

Sending my love to the states!
Katelyn :) 

Monday, November 5, 2012

The Unexpected Wonderful Occurrences of Studying Abroadtures Abroad: Bath Rugby Game!

This weekend I was rereading the bulletin that gets sent out from ASE every week keeping us posted on activities around Bath that we can participate in. I spotted that there was a FREE rugby game on November 5th (Guy Fawkes' Day!) and decided to go. It would be on my Bath bucket list if I had one.
Anywho, my friends and I signed up to go, met up with my internship advisor Andrew Butterworth (the best!) and about half of our program and walked down the street to the rugby pitch. 



Bath Rugby 'A' (Blue) was playing against the London Harlequins "A' team. Don't ask me what that means but it was quite impressive. It was my first time watching a rugby game and I'll definitely go to some rugby matches at Saint Mike's! It soon became easy to follow and the audience definitely got into it.

The final score: Bath wins!


Amelia, Hannah, Meghan, Eleanor, and me!
I had a great time - and the BEST HOT DOG. No sporting event is complete without concession stand food. So glad I broke out multiple layers and my new winter headband because it was SO COLD! You could see the players' breath like it was steam! 

If given the chance, I'd go again! (Free is the best price haha)

Hope you're warm in your neck of the woods!
Katelyn :)


PS - Bath got like 10 minutes of snow the other day...check out the view from my window! Sad to say, it was all gone a few hours later thanks to the following rain and sun. Gotta love England!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Missing Saint Mike's

Being abroad makes you realize the things you miss about being home both at SMC and CT.

5. Having all the buildings within a 5 minute walk - especially with such nice green spaces and the changing leaves.
4. Brunch omelets in Alliot.
3. Being able to see homework on eCollege instead of looking at/for my syllabi.
2. All the activities I do - VITA, Celtic Knights, Drama Club, working at the Helpdesk...
1. My friends and family! 
Got a card from VITA in the mail! So thoughtful :)
This week has brought on an overwhelming feeling of homesickness after saying goodbye to my mom and friends Jenn and KK after we traveled around England and Ireland for my mid-semester break (which I'll chronicle later). It was awesome to see them and I've missed them so much!

Upon my return from break I had to focus on registering for classes. After many e-mails back and forth to my advisors, I finalized my schedule. I found out when classes were posted on Knightvision that many of the history courses I wanted to take were during my theatre courses. I could not take the theatre courses because they're only offered every few semesters. 

Because of that, I had to let go of the hope of being a Religious Studies minor. I know I know boo-hoo being a double major/double minor but I'm interested in so many things! 

All in all, here is my final schedule:

Monday, Wednesday: 
TH-302 Moliere to Modern Drama 1:30-3:05 PM
HI-393 Historian's Craft: Theory and Method 3:15-4:50 PM

Tuesday, Thursday:
TH-209 Stagecrafts 11:30-1:05 PM 

Tuesday:
HI-395 Deviant Women 1:15-4:25 PM

"Everyday" 
TH-273 Production Practicum: Stage Management 
 - Stage managing the Spring production woohoo!


In other news, I got accepted to go on a MOVE Extended Service Trip to Kentucky in March! I'm excited to get back to campus and start new things - don't get me wrong I'm loving Bath but I will definitely cherish being home.

Hope everything is well in your neck of the woods!

Katelyn :)