Destination Theatre: Another Challenge

At first sight, Destination Theatre looked like too big a challenge for me. It took me a great deal of time considering if I should take this course or not. But in the end, I decided to take it. After all, coming to Canada from South Korea and studying at Western was already a challenge for me. In fact, everything I had to go through in Canada was a challenge. Not only studying and doing assignments, but also going to restaurants and trying to order things without stuttering, calling the bank to figure out what happened to my money, and of course, seeing plays and never figuring out what the characters are saying to each other. Such challenges are stressful, but they never are impossible to overcome, and in the end they improve me. So why not go through another?

The reason I was attracted to Destination Theatre was because I thought the course will allow me to experience studying theatre abroad with a whole group of other students (and a professor) with a common interest (I am technically already abroad, but you know what I mean). It is a rare opportunity to meet a group of people that are interested and passionate about theatre, and discuss the plays we were able to see together. It seemed like an opportunity I should not miss. I hope to hear from a lot of different perspectives, and share my perspective as well.

The first thing I hope to get from our time in London is the courage to continue studying theatre. I am of course very much interested in theatre, and have been planning my career in the theatre industry. However, as an art-loving woman from a country that is misogynistic and does not encourage art, an inevitable depression has clouded me lately. I hope the experience in London, UK will ignite my passion once more and give me the strength to keep on my path.

Another thing I hope to get is friends. It is not easy to find people with common interests, but I think it is even more difficult when your interest is theatre. This is a precious chance to spend a lot of time with people who are not only insightful, but also are in love with theatre. I hope that we will get a lot of time to talk and become friends with each other.

My biggest fear is that, because of my lack of proficiency in English, that I might not be able to understand all the performances we are going to see. It is an obstacle I find very difficult to overcome, and I am afraid such difficulties will keep me from contributing insightful thoughts to the class or even understanding what the class is discussing in the first place. For the same reason, I am also concerned that I might not be able to understand the contexts of some lines in the plays. I hope I will be able to overcome at least a portion of it by engaging in more conversations with my classmates.