Vidal Sassoon the 2nd

Looking for an emotional rollercoaster? Go get a haircut at the Vidal Sassoon Advanced Academy.
This time I took my 14-year old girl Alex with me as she wanted some purple in her hair and was generally interested getting a different look. Generelly, Alex has a quite funky stile so I figured she would suit the Academy...
So off we set to Bond Street for our appointment at 13:30.
Alex got some food from McDonald's as she didn't really have breakfast, so we ended up hurriedly stuffing chicken nuggets into our mouths in front of the building.
Then we went inside and both paid our 11 pound and went down into the classroom. I could tell from the names of the students on the mirrors that we didn't get what we had hoped for (japanese), but Spanish.
Alex also got moved away from me since she wanted color as well, so we couldn't talk any more.

to be continued

Freaky Tuesday

Another incident from Marie's and my walks home from school. Today we decided to re-enact Freaky Friday, thus changing roles. Practically, that meant that we swapped places on the pavement - I am usually walking next to the road as being near it frightens her. The following conversation (drawing on our daily routines...) developed:

Me (as Marie, with a high-pitched wailing voice): I'm huuungryyy (always her first line)!
Marie: You can eat at home. But then you have to do your maths homework and have a bath...
Me: I am huuuuungryyyy!
Marie: There is nothing I can do about that.
Me: I am tired. I can't walk that fast (holding her hand)!
Marie: Well, an I can't pull you all the way home!
(I put on a sulking face and dropped my head. Dramatic silence.)
Marie: You're not very talkative today (imitating precisely my tone).

At that point we burst out laughing and I quickly changed places with her, as the whole thing was feeling scarily real...

How to turn a walk home from school into an adventure

I'd like to share a game with you that Marie and I sometimes play on the way home from school. The idea is very simple: She closes her eyes and I lead her home. BUT we don't just walk down the streets, but travel to foreign places, mostly highly dangerous jungles. We encounter elephants (squeezing ourselves through their legs), monkeys dragging at Marie's jacket, deep rivers that we have to cross balancing over a log or a shaking chain bridge and over have to evade obstacles, bending low or jumping out of the way of passing herds.
Marie absolutely indulges in the game, playing her part very well, getting very excited with many Oh's and Ah's.
It is hilarious to watch other people on the streets watching us. Once a group of old ladies excitedly whispered "She has her eyes closed!" when I led Marie three times around a lamppost. Must be quite a strange sight, admittedly...:)

(picture taken in the park on the way to school)

"The Nutcracker" at the Royal Ballet

Is there a better way to spend a wet, gloomy and cold evening than to let oneself be absorbed into the magical world of the Nutcracker?
I was quite in a rush as I raced to Covent Garden from Leicester square in my horribly uncomfortable high heels (bought for my oxford interview knowing that they were killing me but were my best option) in the rain without an umbrella.
But once one has entered the Royal Opera House, one seems to have left all this discomfort behind the doorstep.
I left my coat at the cloakroom and made my way to my standing place in Stalls circle right. I could not have made a better choice! The view is fabulous due to fact that the auditorium is generelly not the bombastic (the orchestra stalls seem really small compared to e.g. the munich state opera house or the Berlin opera. We were standing behind armrest right behind the people sitiing paying 80 pound for their seat having the same view.

The nutcracker is probably one of the most well-known traditional ballets. The beautiful score by Tchaikovsky is just perfect.
The stage design was magnificent - quite changes, impressive props, a huge christmas tree in act one, a lovely living room scenery where the family celebrates christmas eve and a breathtaking palace for the sugar plum fairy.
The costumes were equally traditional with incredible attention to detail.

The performance itself was first class as well. Quite a few children were involved who showed impressive professionalism, Drosselmeyer did quite a few stunning magic tricks and the different dances were sometimes funny (the chinese dance) as well as simply beautiful in their perfection. I had seen the leading pair (sugar plum fairy/prince) in Romeo and Juliet and was impressed once more.

The audience was sadly just as stiff as always, literally ceasing to applaud when the curtain closed for the first time, but the dancers reappeared so quickly that there was no real chance to escape clapping - very clever. Funnily the dancer of Clara got a far bigger flower bouquet than the sugar plum fairy, Roberta Marquez.

To sum it up, a magical, lovely evening that again demonstrated the world class standard of the Royal Ballet.

PS. I definately recommend the hand-made icecream sold during the interval - the best strawberry icecream i've ever had and apparently chocolate is supposed to be even better!

(picture shows the snowflakes)

Oxford

My "Oxford story" started more than a year ago, when some time in the summer I had the sudden thought of looking for the websites of Oxford and Cambridge (It had been a running gag in the family that one day I'd go to an elite university) just for fun.
But the more I read about Oxford (it soon preferred it over Cambridge), the more I wanted to really go for it and apply there.
So I applied for Christ Church for Experimental Psychology.
To make a long story short, I got rejected without even getting an interview (more than 70% are interviewed), a reeeaaally depressing day. I came home during school breaks for a week when it finally arrived and I cried for the following 3 free lessons I had at school...
Anyway, now that I reflect on it I made every possible mistake with my application, which I am not going to list here. But applying to uni in the uk is a science! You have to know all the tricks, know what to do and what to avoid.

Since I realized that, I thought I might as well take a gap year and try reapplying as I hadn't shown Oxford my full potential. Luckily, my lovely hostmum Jackie is a secondary school teacher, so from the start she was thrilled about me applying to Oxford and has immensely supported me (I redrafted my personal statement at least 10 times thinking about every single choice of words carefully. She asked other teachers for advice. She brought home books from the school library illegally. She let me got to an Open day on a work day. I could go on forever, but most of all she kept reassuring me and was as enthusiastic about the whole idea as I was).
So then I sent my application and could only wait.
Waiting - a central word of the whole process :).
The interviews for my subject were scheduled for the 9th till 12th of december and i was supposed to hear at least a week in advance. What a nerve-racking time! I think I drove everyone around me crazy (I can see you nod, reader!) and was in tears daily during the last days until I finally heard on tuesday, less than 7 days in advance!

Anyway I was thrilled. Going to Oxford and actually staying there for a couple of days at a college. My college of first choice (one has to choose one) was Univ, as I had liked it on the open day, so that's where I stayed.
I had 4 amazing days! I met lots of lovely people and we really bonded (sadly, only one of them got in while many great people got rejected). We had lots of free time. I stayed for four days and altogether had 2 interviews and one written test. My second interview was at Christ Church, coincidentally the college that had declined me last year. I was immensely pleased as I was now in the run for two colleges I really liked.
My interviews went fine. They were challenging (When I first saw the tasks I got at my Univ interview I thought that's it, I have nooo idea!) and I got things wrong a couple of times (We were presented with an experiment and asked questions about what the result might mean and so on) but got to some conclusions with the tutor's help. The Christ Church interview was quite different as I was asked a lot more personal questions, about why I wanted to study Psychology and so on. I am glad I prepared for that question as I said that we discussed Milgram's study of obedience at school and was asked a couple of details about it which I knew! I liked both tutors. The Univ one was very young and the ChCh one was more impressive, but still not too intimidating.
In our free time we hung out together or did some activities the student helpers organized, e.g. a quiz in the college bar which my team one (not due to me though...;)) and a cinema night (the golden compass, set in Oxford!)

I wasn't happy to leave at all, but eventually did on Wednesday. We were told that decision letters would be sent by the end of the week or the beginning of the following week. So, waiting again.
My first letter arrived on Monday, from Univ. I almost fainted when I read the first line, as it said that they couldn't offer me a place at Univ. But then it said that is was LIKELY that I'd get an offer from a different college soon. How precise :). Jackie celebrated as if I was already in, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high... We all prayed I'd get an offer from Christ Church.
But then, hurray, I got a letter from Christ Church today! I talked to the postman in delirium when I saw the envelope and then, as I read the offer, cheered and jumped through the house.

I actually can't believe I am going to Oxford, yet. It is too good to be true.

It's been a while...

... since my last post. Here are the updates:

After days of anxiety (Quoting my friend: "She is cracking up. She's gonna have a nervous breakdown..."), Oxford FINALLY sent me an invitation for Interview on tuesday (they are supposed to arrive 7 days in advance and my interview is from sunday till tuesday...)! I am really pleased! So was Jackie, she kept saying how relieved an happy she was (She hadn't asked me about it for a couple of days but said that I had looked so miserable) and immediately started gathering all the resources and tips at her school :D.
I started doing some more reading and after doing some test, I actually feel quite confident. As I heard, Univ really does test potential and not knowledge...

Apart from that, I received my first offer from UCL (a top London uni, 9. in the world), which I really didn't expect because they normally interview candidates as well, but my grades seem to be enough :D. I wouldn't accept this offer, but it makes me feel good.

North Finchley - There is a high street!?

Funny how sometimes you don't see what is right in front of your eyes. All these months I thought that near the place where I lived there was nothing nice (weird shops and take away restaurants only).
BUT, today I had to pick up a parcel from the North Finchley post office, which is a15-20 min walk away. I had never been there.
To my delight and surprise, I discovered that there is actually such a thing as a highstreet!
With all the things you need: A waterstone's (bookshop that I have a bonus card for :D), boots and superdrug (beauty and stuff), banks, a River Island (clothes), an Aldi (home sweet home), a Waitrose (quality supermarket) and most importantly a STARBUCKS! So I bought a latte (The interior is very nice, I will come back many times ;) and browsed through books before getting my parcel (birthday present *harharr*).
It is actually a nice alternative to Brent cross. If you fancy a walk and don't feel like an overcrowded noisy mall, it's perfect! (There is a bus for lazy people like me, too)