Thai Chi...not "Chai Tea". Although both are nice.

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I feel like I should explain that Kelsey is in fact, not passed out in that picture I posted...she was a little worried that y'all would worry. I think she had maybe two sips. Maybe.

Anywho, today brought around the acting class which is OUT OF THIS WORLD. The teacher is a Ms. Sophie Bonhote, and she is Swiss, with her first language being french. Yay! On our syllabus, she wrote, "et maintenant, bon travail et beaucoup de plaisir!" and it made me happy that I could understand it. Probably everyone could, but still. The class was a whopping six (*dead*) hours long, with an hour break in the middle, and a 10 minute break near the end. This woman is fascinating. She's traveled all around, like some kind of troubadour, and is a professional in the art of clown. You don't hear that every day. Not only that, but she is a certified Thai Chi instructor.
We spent the first 2 hours discussing ourselves, our hopes and dreams for theater and whatnot, and how the course will go. After our lunch break, we headed outside, and did Thai Chi for an hour and a half: it was an amazing experience! Once I actually bring my camera somewhere, I'll take a picture of the area where we had class. It's on this grassy hill that leads down to one of the moats. Surrounded by trees, and of course the castle, it's the perfect place to really meditate (if that's what you call it) and open up your senses, which is what Thai Chi is all about. Awesome. Afterwards, we went back inside, all of us thoroughly energized, and did work with the sacrum. It's the bony part of your butt that can get broken if you fall down the stairs. Basically, we'd find someone in the room to follow, and imitate the movements of their sacrum. More difficult than it sounds! Sophie put on some crazy drum music, and basically we all sweated like pigs and danced like weirdos. The good thing though, was that we were all really SUPER comfortable with each other. This was demonstrated in an improv later in the class, where you were told to find someone in the class that reminded you of someone from your hometown, and then talk to them as if they were that person. Alysia and I ended up bawling like babies. It was an AWESOME moment.
After that 6 hour class (what?) Lindsey and I went on a bike ride around the countryside, raced a boat (long story. Longer than the acting one), and talked to cows. Night time brought about Shaun of the Dead with Monty and Taylor, while the rest of the castle went to "American Night" at the Linden. Jack the bartender whips out all his "hip" 80s music and gives one free drink to every American in the bar. We thankfully missed this extravaganza.
Now it's time to read Agamemnon, uh, maybe, and work on my outline of the Greek chorus.

Oh yeah...I'm living in a castle?

big hugs and sloppy kisses,

T

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