First of all, I have to totally admit that I just had a bit of a emotional break down. Since I have been here I have had moments of homesickness etc. But knowing that tomorrow is the first time ever being away from family on Thanksgiving hit me. I also got upset to be honest about the fact that my family hasn't been the same since my parent's divorce. A part of me wants to go back to being 8 years old, and having Thanksgiving dinner in our living room in Redondo Beach.
I want to take this time to personally acknowledge ( you better be reading this) my Mom ( Kim Camp), Dad ( Richard Camp), my twin sister ( Lauren Camp) and younger sister ( Claire Camp). I want to tell you that I love you very much and sometimes I guess you need to be all the way across the world to really say it. I am grateful for each of you for so many reasons and I believe no matter what has happened and what will happen we will always be family.
Just like Lauren and Claire will never stop dancing, and fighting over clothes.
Lauren will never stop annoying all of us with putting her stinky feet on the dashboard of cars.
Claire won't ever stop talking about eating pop tarts with Mia and meeting at that stupid trail.
I will never stop singing, obsessing over chubby babies or believing in Peter Pan.
Mom won't ever stop loving McDonalds french fries, singing, making lists, and talking in a Southern accent when she immediately arrives in North Carolina.
Dad won't ever stop eating good food, watching Jeopardy, and wanting to trick us going down Advanced Ski Slopes.
Those memories and parts of us never go away and never fade..
The other big news, if you didn't know already is..... I am going to Italy and Spain over the Winter Break. I am going with my classmate/good friend Alyssa ( from Chicago) , she has family in Bari, which is in Southern Italy, look it up on a map!!
Right, so we are flying to Rome on December 21st, we then are going to stay in Rome for a couple/few days. From there we are probably going to use the Euro rail to get to Bari, and spend Christmas there with her family. I am expecting to gain about 10 pounds after all the Italian food I will be eating, hehehe. From there we are going to travel to Sicily and/ or Naples. And then head to Barcelona for New Years! I am still not sure about the end of the trip, who knows??
So back to London. I have defiantly found myself in a "set schedule" but also in some ways my week can be very different. This is really lame but I am going to make bullet points of what my life consists of.
- Babysitting for the 7 month old Henry. He is still adjusting to me, but I think we will be good friends. He likes it when I act like a puppy and basically make myself look like an idiot. He also has the chubbiest legs ever.
- I am still at my placement at Little Angel Puppet Theatre. I am learning a lot about the use of puppetry, storytelling with puppetry and how to actually make a puppet. I am also learning and helping with various Educational programs and events within the Company.
- I have class all day Friday and occasionally all day Saturday. We are still in Critical Context and Pedagogy Mode. We also have tons of opportunities to take workshops with people and companies making a living out of what we are studying. I wrote a Mock Lesson Plan the other day, which was our first real big assignment.
I wrote a lesson plan about teaching elementary school teachers the basics of improvisation. I explained that improv is a great way to start using drama in the classroom for communication and gets kids physically and mentally active. My long term objective was to use drama to tie in with their curriculum.
Improv is helpful as a tool for process drama. For example the students are asked to create a skit based off a historical event or a children's book, they won't always have a script, so they need to use improv skills.
The idea of using drama in a classroom setting, I believe might be an area I might write my thesis on or even choose as a career. I understand that a lot of applied theatre practitioners like working from project to project, but I want to at least try to have a consistent place within a school system or a theatre company.
- I also ams still intently looking into a project that I want to run overseas in my third term. I am currently looking into teaching drama for a orphan organisation called " Flying Kites", which is located in Kenya. This application process, has given me a real perspective that I truly do want to work with children in developing countries and that I really believe in the power of drama.
- I also have continued to attend a lot of shows! The shows I see defiantly range in content and age levels. I still get a real joy out of seeing shows geared to younger audiences, which is a good sign.
- I have gotten to know my classmates a lot better, and I am grateful for such a great community of people that have similar interests and desires in life. I look forward to having Thanksgiving meal with them!
