Got dinner and drinks with my new friend Dan on Saturday night; we went to Embankment, which is right near Charing Cross and not far from Covent Garden. We found a cute Italian place right near the station for dinner, and then wandered up north a bit for drinks. We kind of had a disaster, though; I don't know if our waitress was new or what, but when she tried to refill my wine glass she poured from too high and totally missed! She was mortified, and I couldn't stop laughing. Oops.
On Sunday I dragged myself out of bed to hear Christine sing at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas More, a Catholic church near South Kensington. (Christine feels like it should be spelled "moste," and I agree! It's like saying "The Very Incredibly Superduperly Reverend.") The music was so beautiful! Totally made up for waking up early after a late night. Later in the day I had an audition at St. Bride's Margaret Street, a very high church Anglican place near Oxford Circus. The audition went pretty well, and the director was as nice as he could be, but I won't get put on their substitute list; he said my voice is too light and my sightreading isn't up to par. After a year of not singing, I wasn't too surprised - or disappointed, actually.
This week classes have been in full swing. I'm starting to understand why, even though I only have seven hours of class a week, they say this is a full-time 40 hour/week course. I have so much reading already! It's all really interesting, but they work on a different system over here and I'm having some trouble getting used to it. Instead of buying five (or ten or fifteen) books and reading them over the course of the term, you're expected to plan yourself in a library (or two or three) for hours and hours each week and just read the assigned books! It makes taking notes a little more difficult, but I can't afford to photocopy every reading. The classes - not so much Latin, which is still dragging - are very substantive, and each student brings something different to the discussion; it's ideal.
Last night I went to the opera with Katie, an American friend. We saw The Barber of Seville at the English National Opera; it was good, but not great. The singers were mostly very impressive, but sometimes they were drowned out by the orchestra. Also, they had adapted the libretto for English, and added some very English humor, which was absolutely enhancing in one way, but sort of detrimental in another. We did manage to get great seats in the top balcony for only £16 each, though, so we didn't feel too bad about leaving after intermission.
I got a call from my friend Amy - really Harry's friend Amy, but I've co-opted her - during the opera, and went out to meet up with her and some of her friends at a student night at a King's College bar. It was tons o' fun... and who did I run into there? Christine! Smallest world ever.
Sarah's visiting this weekend - maybe I'll be able to convince her to guest write an entry!
