Checking out the Theaters

I didn’t think I’d be posting again until after my first pre departure class, but I’ve been having too much fun NOT to post anything! I’ve been having a blast checking out the shows that will be going on in the London theaters while I’m there. I think we get to go to some productions as part of the program, and I think we get some time on weekends to do our own thing. If I’m in London, I’m definitely going to be hitting up the theaters! I’ve found a couple different websites (London Theater Guide, London Theater Tickets for West End Shows) that list shows and times, so I’ve been trying to decide what shows I REALLY want to try and see while I’m there. My list is growing and changing constantly, but as of right now this is what it looks like (in order):


Wicked (I’ve heard awesome things about the music and the show but haven’t seen it, want to!)
Lion King (Seen the film, heard beyond fantastic reviews, want to see it!)
Hamlet (One of if not THE best Shakespeare play. I’ve studied it, read it, watched the four hour movie version, seen it performed at BYU and I want to see it in London… besides, Jude Law is playing Hamlet!)
Waiting For Godot (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are both in this production, that’s the only reason I want to go, they’re awesome.)
Oliver! (It has Rowan Atkinson, Omid Djalili and Burn Gorman, some more stars I would love to see in person.)
Chicago (Seen the film, want to see it on stage!)
Hairspray (Seen the film, want to see it on stage!)
Les Miserables (I saw the musical a LONG time ago and have since read the book. Now that I can more fully appreciate it I want to see it on stage!)
Phantom of the Opera (Read the book, seen the film, seen the US tour, want to see it again!)
Mamma Mia! (Seen the film, want to see it on stage.)





Between souvenirs and theater tickets I think I’m going to go broke. *guilty grin*

Granted, I'm sure some of these shows will be sold out by the time I know what my schedule looks like so I won't be able to get tickets... but this is just a wish list! :-)

Plane Tickets Purchased

I went in to the travel office last week and talked about flight options. I was thrilled because since the first time I looked at flights (two months ago), ticket prices have dropped about $400! The agent I talked to said he would normally tell a student to buy tickets ASAP, but this year, because of the economy, he said it might be worth it to wait and see if prices drop a little. I asked, “How long should I wait?”

He told me it shouldn’t be too long, but waiting or not could be a gamble. “Let’s let the weekend pass by and meet at the beginning of next week.”

That’s what we did and I met with him this morning right after I got out of class. Prices had only dropped a couple dollars, but I didn’t want to put off buying tickets.

Seriously looking at tickets now, the cheapest set he found had me flying into and leaving London from two different airports.

“It’ll cost more if you want to use the same airport,” he told me.

“How much more?” I asked.

“Let’s see.” We looked and it was only two dollars more, haha! Yeah, I figured for two dollars I’d use the same airport, Heathrow International.


This is what my flight plan looks like. It’s not pretty, but it was the cheapest.

June 22, 2009
Depart from Portland (PDX) @ 6:00AM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
Arrive in New York (JFK) @ 1:59PM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)
Depart from New York (JFK) @ 6:00PM EDT
June 23, 2009
Arrive in London (LHR) @ 7:05AM BST (British Summer Time)

August 10, 2009
Leave from London (LHR) @ 6:30AM BST
Arrive in Amsterdam (AMS) @ 8:55AM CEST (Central European Summer Time)
Depart from Amsterdam (AMS) @ 10:30AM CEST
Arrive in Portland (PDX) @ 12:05PM PDT.

I realize with all the time zone changes that’s a little confusing, so I tried to turn it all into PDT to make it a tad easier:

June 22, 2009
Depart from Portland (PDX) @ 6:00AM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
Arrive in New York (JFK) @ 10:59AM PDT
Depart from New York (JFK) @ 3:00PM PDT
Arrive in London (LHR) @ 11:05PM PDT

August 9, 2009
Leave from London (LHR) @ 10:30PM PDT
Arrive in Amsterdam (AMS) @ 11:55PM PDT
August 10, 2009
Depart from Amsterdam (AMS) @ 1:30AM PDT
Arrive in Portland (PDX) @ 12:05PM PDT.

So my tickets are now bought, I’m GOING to London! Even if the world ends and somehow study abroad is canceled, I’m going to London!

My next task after getting tickets bought was getting my International Student ID Card (ISIC). That didn’t take too long. I almost got to hold on to it too! They gave it to me and I started to leave, then another person at the desk was like, “wait! You can’t keep that yet.”

“Oh, okay,” so I handed it back. “When do I get to keep it?”

“After you’ve paid all of your program fees.” That’s fine. I plan on doing that as soon as I know what the final balance is. I’ve already put in my first and second payments and I won’t found out what the final payments are going to be until March 13th.

I also registered for my classes today.

IAS 201R British Monuments (1 credit hour)
ENGL 300R Landscape, Mind, and Literature (3 credit hours)
EUROP 336R History of England (3 credit hours): Roman rule to the present.

My checklist is getting smaller and small, and right now there’s really nothing I can do other than wait. I need to figure out how I’m going to get from the airport to the BYU center, and vice versa, but I think that’s going to be discussed in our pre-departure class, so in the mean time I’m putting it out of my mind.

I don't think I'll have anything new to post before March 4th after my pre-departure class. Maybe I'll learn something new, and of course I'll tell you about it! So, until then, cheerio!

Getting More Travel Information

I’m still on cloud nine! I’ve made my first payment for the trip, registered for my pre-departure class, talked to the director to find out travel and class information, and tomorrow I’m going to go into the BYU travel office and get some help setting up my flights and getting my International Student Identification Card.

I went to see Dr. Paxman (our program director and English professor) today because I had some questions. He told me I was the first person to come in and talk to him about trip stuff after being accepted. I told him it was because I couldn’t contain my excitement and just wanted to get everything in order as fast as I could! He’s a really nice guy. I checked him out on RateMyProfessors.com and saw good and bad things listed. Fingers crossed that the good ratings were more accurate!

I’ve been using Google to find out as much information about the BYU London center as I can. Unfortunately I can’t find a website that’s just for the center. On the upside, I’ve found lots of blogs from people who have gone or are currently there. Through those I’ve gotten to see what the London Center looks like a bit better.

As I view some of these blogs, I get super excited, but at the same time I wonder how much fun stuff will have to be cut out of our itinerary because it’s only a two month summer term instead of a four month fall or winter term. I would really love to do a fall or winter term instead, but I’d have to postpone graduation and shell out even more money. Neither of which I want to do.

Well, that’s where I’m at right now. I should have more to say later, once I’ve got flights planned and especially after the pre-departure class starts (Mar. 4th). YAY!

Accepted to the Program

I’d had this blog in mind since I decided to apply for BYU’s London Study Abroad, summer 2009 program. I knew that if I was accepted, I would want to blog my experience (and hopefully be better about updating than my other blog) so that I could share it with anyone who wanted to know what was happening. Well, here we go!

I have always been interested in England and the English culture. The majority of my dad’s side of the family is originally from England, specifically Cornwall. I found a website that says the surname “Cawrse” is Cornish, and means “bog.” I guess you can call me Allison of the bog! Anyway, as I’ve studied English literature the last couple semesters my interest has grown. In the beginning of December I realized one morning that I REALLY wanted to go on a study abroad trip to London. From there it’s been like a freight train flying down the tracks, nothing could stop me. Much like she did when I decided to become an English major, my mom called me within the hour. I think she has some strange sixth sense that tells her when I’ve decided to do something BIG.

I got my application done a couple weeks ago, had two interviews six days ago, and got my acceptance letter this evening.

Dear Allison Cawrse:
Congratulations on your acceptance to BYU's Summer 2009 London SA Summer program.
Participation in an international experience can be life-changing and I encourage you to do all you can to prepare for this experience by studying the basic geography, cultural customs, and the history of the places you will visit. You will be required to attend a preparation class which will further orient you for your in-country experience. We have found that the better prepared students are for these experiences, the more they get out of them.
[...]
We are happy that you have chosen such an excellent complement to your education at BYU. Previous students have unanimously referred to their international study as one of the most significant experiences of their entire college career. We welcome you to the growing number of BYU students who believe "The world is our campus." If you have other questions, please contact us at […].

Well, here begins my journey! I need to register for my preparation class, figure out my flights, do a LOT of reading about England, decide what things are essential to take, and SAVE MONEY!

I’ll update you on my progress via this blog! Please leave comments, suggestions, questions, or anything else through the comments. I've set the comments to allow ANYONE, registered or not, to be able to leave comments. Once I’m actually there I’ll continue to update with pictures, notes, and very possibly videos, so stay tuned!