The Final Week!

-- Han --
On Monday I had the most fun "test" I have ever taken! I performed my group piece for my final grade in my acting class and we had SO much fun!! We did a  Lion King-esque story involving a compilation of all the warm ups and techniques we've learned over the semester. We used paint throughout it and ended it by going wild and flinging the paint all over each other to Katy Perry's Roar. It was such a blast, so carefree and creative; the perfect way to end the semester and my time with my class of theatre majors at Chapman. Everyone got up and danced with us at the end, it was really special.

Finals went downhill from there on the enjoyment scale. I had my theatre theory final on Tuesday and it was pretty easy, success! JT and I celebrated the end of our theatre class by watching The Jerk and it was SO funny! what a comic genius Steve Martin is.. Anyway, I had Wednesday pretty much off - I had to submit my mammoth paper that I finished writing a little while ago and study for my last final - then Thursday afternoon was Film Aesthetics. It was definitely the hardest of the three but I felt good about it, we'll just have to wait and see! Regardless, I WAS DONE WITH CLASSES AND TESTS FOREVER!! Well maybe forever, who knows.. It was a huge accomplishment and I went on a wonderful Disney trip with Megan and Laynie to celebrate!

When we got back, all my closest girl friends came over to spend my last night in the dorms with me. We went down to the little snack place in the basement, used up all the money on our cards, and stuffed ourselves with junk food, laughed, cried, listened to Beyonce's new album - it was a wonderful last night. 
On Friday Mum and Q came out to help me move everything out. It was super quick and the Babe Cave had no trace of me within no time. It was kind of surreal, seeing the room with all my stuff gone, just like it was on day one. A big, 'this is real' moment. I said my goodbyes, some teary, others quick and cheerful, and realized how much I'm going to miss being right next door to all of the amazing friends I've made. As hard as it was, though, I left feeling sure of myself and sure of my future - on to another grand adventure!

-- Luce --
On the Sunday before finals week, my class had another 5 and a half hour rehearsal and we all had a lot to do! Somehow, without our teacher there, we managed to run all of the scene shifts twice, tech the show, and then run the whole thing with half an hour to spare! I was so proud of all of my classmates for getting so much done. We had another rehearsal on Monday and then, suddenly, it was Tuesday! The day of my final performance!! I was super nervous and a little stressed because I had a couple of quick-changes that I had to do in the show, but I tried my hardest not to worry and to just enjoy the moment... And it all went by so fast! The first thing I did was my scene with Alisa and it went well! I was really happy with it! Then it was a rush backstage to change my costume and do full blood/black eye makeup for my clone scene..! The clone scene was probably the best we'd ever done it and we got a great reaction from the audience which was wonderful :) My Autodrama was last and it was the piece that I was most nervous for.. It was so personal and I was performing in front of all of the students and faculty of the Theater Academy, so there was a lot riding on my performance! And it went better than I could have possibly hoped for!! I was so emotional because it was the end of the semester and that emotion totally flowed into what I was saying on stage and I loved it! After the show was over a ton of people came up to me and said that there wasn't a dry eye in the house during my Autodrama! I was so flattered and so glad that the audience connected to it. 
Straight after the 1st semester show was over we went and saw the 2nd semester's final and they all did so well! I was very impressed! Over the next few days I saw the finals from the other semesters and they were all amazing. After the last final, all of the 1st semesters held a farewell tea for the graduating class and we made it "The Wizard of Oz" themed! It turned out so well and everyone seemed to love it. It was sad to see all of them go, and absolutely crazy that the semester was already over! That night MeMe and I went out to dinner to celebrate and we had a lovely time eating great food and having a great conversation.
The next day was pretty relaxed - I finally did my laundry! Yay! And that night I went to see a one woman show that Chambers invited me to and it was pretty risque...! I was equal parts uncomfortable and entertained haha, so it was an interesting way to spend a Thursday night! After the show a bunch of my friends and I all hung out and had a great time chatting and laughing! I finally went home at 2 in the morning and got some sleep in preparation for my final meeting/conference with my acting teacher! I was excited to hear that he thought I was a great asset to my class and that he loved all of my assignments that I worked on over the semester. I also got good feedback from the other faculty members and I left feeling very validated and proud of my work at the academy. I drove up to Corona as soon as I got out of my meeting and was so happy to have a weekend of relaxation!!

-- Han and Luce --
It was so great to just be able to take a breather after such a crazy week! We spent the weekend watching movies (four in one day on Saturday), eating delicious, home-made food (the best lasagna EVER and Han's favourite creamy chicken/rice casserole thing ahh SO GOOD). We also restarted our old tradition of "explore Sunday" and went for a little outing to Newport Beach! After a drive through the cutest town in the world and a slightly scary car ferry to the island, we got to the beach. It was such a beautiful, sunny winter's day - we were feeling extra sorry for our friends in snowy Massachusetts! This was the dysfunctional moment of the day:

We had a yummy lunch of burgers and shakes at the diner on the pier then made our way home for more movies and yummy food.
On Monday morning we all went to the DMV to change our licences over for Cali. It was pretty stress-free because it was only paperwork. We got our pictures taken and then the lady handed us the test --THE TEST?! WHAT? NOOOOO!! We were utterly unprepared and just crossed our fingers and hoped that it wasn't too hard. Luce was the last in line to get her photo taken so she, smarty pants, went and looked up the practice tests and crammed like a champ for a few minutes before taking it. Han, flying blind and not comfortable with the prospect of failing, handed her test in with serious trepidation. One by one, we got the verdict: Mum: passed, Q: passed, Lucy... Passed! YAY! Random other lady: ahh! Who even cares, too much suspense to handle, hurry up, Han: ..... PASSED! Phew! We all passed and are official California drivers!
After that slightly stressful experience, the two of us went back to Lucy's place to run a few errands in LA before our trip to Thailand!! We got to Lucy's and had a roommate meeting (that Han really wasn't much a part of) because Chanelle was moving out and another girl, Unique, was hoping to move in! It all went fine and afterwards we went out to the movies with Emily and Meme. We saw Saving Mr. Banks and it was AMAZING! Oh man, we laughed, we cried, it was absolutely lovely, wonderful, inspirational - beautiful acting, editing, sound, wow! We'd highly recommend it!
5 days of errands, Christmas, Disney, packing, sleeping, eating, laughing, relaxing ahead and then on to paradise! Life is good!