Blogger
Sarah
Sarah, who turned 21-year-old on January, Friday the 13th, is an English major concentrating on theater (or as the British spell it, theatre) with a minor in psychology. She attends Barnard College, Columbia University, but will be studying at King's College while in London. Interesting fact: Kim Gradel, one of the inaugural members of the BlogAbroaod.com team, studied at King's College for a semester, and cites it as one of the greatest times in her life. Read Sarah's blog to find out if she feels the same way.
While very excited to be studying literature in England, before leaving she admitted that, "I'm not wild about having to make all new friends when I get to London. Because I'm going to be at a British university (as opposed to a program comprised entirely of other people who are studying abroad), and because I'm arriving mid year, I realize that everyone will have already made friends and I will be stuck coming into a program where everyone already has friends and I'm made to feel like I'm back in middle-school."
Her Q & A on general interests taught us:
What type of music do you listen to?
Okay, you caught me. I'm a huge dork, and that really shows in my choice of music. I love Broadway show tunes above all else, my favorites being by Stephen Sondheim, who I'm convinced knows how to walk on water. I also love the golden oldies: songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and those Gershwin boys. When it comes to vocals, no one beats Ella Fitzgerald. I've actually been moved to tears by her simply because I think her genius is so huge. I listen to Opera as well; my favorites are Mozart and Puccini, though I also like baroque opera, and baroque music in general (Bach being a personal favorite). If forced to pick someone from my own generation I'm really into Ani Difranco?though I admire her equally as a poet and musician. And I would have to throw in Joni Mitchell as well, she's another singer who can give me chills just because parts of her songs are so perfect they frighten me.
What are your hobbies?
I sing (hence my attraction to Opera and other vocal music). I'm a coloratura soprano, and I used to study privately but now I do mostly choruses. I hope I can find a chorus to join in England because I've found it's a great way to meet people. I also used to act, but I've been trying to wean myself from the theater by degrees, and recently I've been doing more stage managing, which isn't as glamorous, but is just as fun.
Favorite books/magazines/TV/movies?
Gah, this is a tough one. In terms of magazines I tend to read only the New Yorker, and that's because I got a gift subscription. And I don't watch much TV, though when I did I enjoyed West Wing and Gilmore Girls because I love well written banter. But books and movies are tough: I'm omnivorous and insatiable in my appetites for both. I love reading works from the 19th century, I think my favorite books at the moment are Bronte's Jane Eyre and Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (I know, I'm such a girl) but I love all kinds. The best book I read recently was The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. My favorite movies are North By Northwest, Singin' in the Rain, and A Streetcar Named Desire. I swear I'm not forty, I just have really old taste.
Finally, Sarah would like to leave everyone with this small bit of insight:
"I have a tattoo of the Sir John Tenniel illustration of the Mock Turtle from Alice in Wonderland on my right shoulder blade. I tell you this to illustrate that I can be both rebellious and geeky at the same time."
