Last spring break after two boats had to do an emergency landing mid practice in South Carolina, my teammate and good friend Stella and I remarked, "We must be entering CRAZY TOWN ." Since then,the term 'crazy town' or 'going to crazy town' has been tossed around at practices that:
1. Are very physically or emotionally difficult
2. Have terrible weather conditions and have to practice or race
3. Involve coach attempting to clarify something/set boats/give directions/tell a joke/talk in general
4. Involve high tension and usually tears and some physical pain of some type from someone
Thankfully though, each trip to crazy town is soon followed by lots of jokes and laughs about it on the van ride home or over a well deserved breakfast in thrcaf.
Last night was the opening night of English National Ballet's Autumn UK tour, and the first stop was most definitely Crazy Town.
Ok, so the first stop was actually in Oxford, and few others really experienced the crazy aspects of the night. (That's probably because I experienced enough craziness to fill the entire theatre!) Nonetheless, let me take you through my experience through the UK version of Crazy Town...
The craziness began on my walk to the Russel Square tube station. I was casually eating some raw spinach (as my good friends know, this is a typical snack for me... not just rabbit food) and listening to some new Coldplay when my left hig heel got stuck in a crack in the side walk. Sacrificing my sustinance for the rest of my body, I threw my bag of spinach and caught myself before I hit the pavement. Right then I should have turned my butt around and changed by shoes, but instead kept walking towards the station.
So, I hopped on the tube and got off at Kings Cross (sadly, I did not get to platform 9 and 3/4) to await my next train. One of the things I really love about the London tube station is its efficiency and speed. Up until yesterday afternoon,I had never waited more than 3 minutes for a train to come. Well I guess it has to be late at least once during my stay... it just didn't need to be now. It just so happened to be 20 MINUTES late and (after much pushing and running) I got to the National Railway with 5 minutes to spare.
The original plan was then to meet my co-worker who had my ticket and get on the train together. Seeing as I was so late, I figured that she was already on the train. I ran up to the ticket man and breathlessly explained my situation (I even shed a few tears for dramatic effect... or maybe because I was so frustrated lol) and begged him to let me on the train. He looked me in the eye and said, no kidding, "You stupid American, go buy a bloody ticket." I was so frustrated and upset that I lost all control and punched him in the nose and hopped the gate.... NHAT! (I wish I had done that, but I probably would be in jail of some type instead of in the mar/comm office) Rather, I gave him the saddest, dirtiest look I could muster and frantically went to the nearest ticket booth and used my last £26 to get a train ticket. After I got on the train, I saw the Director of Commnuicationsand asked her if she could call my fellow co-worker so I could find her. Well, it turned out that I got on the wrong train and she had already left...awesome.
So I eventually make it to Oxford (which I will definitely be returning to one afternoon because it looked like a great place to explore) and started looking for the New Oxford Theatre. No surprises, I ended up getting lost but eventually found my way. As I was walking up a hill to the theatre, my heels got stuck in a crack; this time they broke. That is when I lost it- I was all alone in a place I didn't know with no money to get home (yeah, I couldn't find an ATM to save my life), super hungry and thirsty, and with no ticket to the show. As I was having a little mental breakdown, I saw a woman running over to me-it was my coworker! She gave me a big hug and we decompressed over snadwiches and some much needed red wine.
After that things went pretty smoothly. I got to watch my first ballet in amazing seats alongside the head coreographer, artistic director,CEO, and managing director. The CEO of English National Ballet and I were talking and he not only bought my train ticket home and offered to let me watch in the wings next performance (woot woot!) but also told me all sorts of great stories about the ballet as well as some great things to do in London.
And so ends my first UK experience in Crazy Town. Yeah it was really stressful and I felt really helpless at times, but just like what happens with my girls at breakfast after crazy town, I ended up laughing about the whole thing.... and I hope you, fair reader, get a solid belly laugh out of it too! Looking back on the experience, I feel quite silly for being as upset as I was. I mean, it was just a performance. If I had missed it, I could have gone to another later on. Funny how these little instances seem so huge in the heat of the moment, but in reality are pretty insignificant. But that's the lesson I took from this-take a step back and evaluate the situation before 'going to crazy town. Sometimes you'll realize that there is nothing to worry about and walk away scotch free, and others you will leave crazy town with broken high heels, an empty wallet, and a great story to laugh about in the morning.
Unitl next time, you stay classy. :)
** Wait! A quick word about the performance- IT WAS FANTASTIC! It was nothing like a traditional ballet, yet it still managed to be very graceful while being energetic. The dancers well all so,so increadable.As a fellow athleete, I understand how hard you have to work inorder to play agreat game or put on a great production and each of them did just that. I have never seen a performance so lively, and yet so graceful in my entire life. After seeing this, I know that I will be attending as many ballet performances as possible (hopefully even a "classic" ballet). Here is a link talking about the show:
No comments:
Post a Comment