The End

Well well well. Here I am, sitting in my house in Clemmons North Carolina, getting ready to head back to Elon later today. Everyone made it home safe and sound. I do already miss London and Flat D, but its great to be home and see everyone!

Thanks for reading, but now I can't wait to hear how your semesters were!

The last few days

Wow. I can't beleive this is it. We're mostly packed in Flat D and have been slowly but surely cleaning up everything; this sure is a process. For the past few days I've been taking it kind of slow actually. Friday I did some shopping and went out for the 'best pad thai in London' according to Megan and Amanda (it was pretty good). Yesterday I went back to Hampstead with Megan and we spent the afternoon sitting on top of the hill overlooking the city reflecting on life. Then last night we said our final goodbye to London. We took the #6 bus down Edgeware and Oxford Street then we got off at Piccadilly and walked to Trafalger and then ran down Whitehall so we could be on Westminister bridge as Big Ben chimed for midnight. We stood on the bridge for a bit and then said goodbye to London. It was bittersweet, as the whole ending experience has been.

Its so hard to sit here and think about everything that we've done this semester. I have learned so much and feel that I've grown up a lot as well. I have fallen in love with London and everything it has to offer. I have gotten to know the most amazing group of people and will miss them a lot. But, its time to come home. I am content with what I have accomplished and am ready to come back to the good 'ol US of A. See you all soon!! We get into Raleigh around 2:30 tomorrow so I'll update the blog one last time to let you all know we made it back safely .

That's sooo cool!

Today I found myself saying "thats so cool" so many times. This morning Sam, Natalie, Kinsey, Megan and I did the London eye: a massive Ferris wheel that has capsules that hold up to 20 people. I've seen really long lines so I was prepared for a wait, but we practically walked right up and into our capsule. The ride takes a half hour and takes you up 135 meteres. The views we got of London were incredible. I took about a billion pictures of Parliament and the Thames. I was glad that we did this when we did because it was nice to be able to see everything we have done. Afterward we walked over to Chinatown for a great lunch and then I bought some postcards. I got back to an empty flat and decided to take advantage of the quiet and started packing. I am actually mostly done, which makes me equally relieved and sad. I have moments where I'm really ready to come home, then other times where I can't imagine not being in London. But ready or not Monday is coming.

This evening was fun because we were all in silly moods. Natalie and I danced to HSM songs, which is always fun and then we made a new creation dubbed "big dessert." Natalie thought it'd be fun to mix hot chocolate and ice cream and so we made a big ol batch for everyone. It was quite tasty. Then Jordan, Kinsey, Sam, Natalie, Amanda and I went to The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. This thing is a pretty big deal; Jordan had to apply to get us tickets 2 months ago and she could only get tickets for 6 of us. This Ceremony is done every night at the Tower and has been done this same way since the 1800s some time. We got led in by a yeoman, one of the resident guards at the Tower and he told us some of the history of the Tower of London and the ceremony and explained what would happen.

First the head yeoman marched over with his lantern and the keys to where these four guards were (all decked out in their bear skinned hats and red coats). Then they all march down to this one gate to lock it and on their way back another guard who has appeared out of nowhere points his gun at them and screams "HALT" and they do so. Then they do this question and answer thing where the head yeoman tells the guy with the gun that he has the queen's keys so he best not shoot. Then they walk through this gate and we have to run after them. We then reassembled in front of this staircase where there are more guards. They then look at each other and do some stomping things then at 10 they start talking again and it ends with someone yelling "God save Queen Elizabeth" and we all yell "Amen" and then one of them plays the trumpet while the head yeoman takes the keys away and the guards all go back to bed. The whole thing lasts around 30 minutes. It was really official and even though I didn't understand all of it, I really enjoyed being there and being part of the tradition.

Adventures!!

Well we are now officially done. No more classes and free time in London has been incredible. I can't beleive how little time is left though. It seems like just yesterday I was freaking out about coming here and now I'm freaking out about coming home. I'm so excited to see everyone and be back home, but its scary to leave this city I have come to love so much.

Sunday was an adventure day, which is when Zane, Megan and I go to random places doing random things and act silly. We tried to go to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, but we couldn't exactly find anyone speaking so we thought it'd be funny to recite the preamble to the constitution. It was. We then took a bus to Trafalgar Square because we had seen these old buses pick up there. We waited for a while and then were so excited to get one one before we realized that it couldn't go anywhere because there was an accident and traffic was all backed up. But at least we got on the bus and took some pictures. We then wandered over to Covent Garden market for a bit. That evening I had a Thai food date with Natalie and it was fabulous.

Monday was a slower day. I went out in the morning for a walk down to the canals because we'd heard of a "Canal Cavalcade" going on because of the bank holiday. A bunch of boats had come to the area of the canal by Paddington (a 15 minute walk from the flats) and there were vendors selling food, activities for children and lots of fun food. I can't beleive that we live in such a fun and neat little neighborhood. That afternoon Amanda and I hiked up Primrose Hill, a park that has a pretty view of the city before heading over to Westminister Abbey for Evensong, a daily service where the boy's choir sings. I absolutely loved it. The service was really nice and the choir was incredible.

Yesterday was the last day of classes! To celebrate a group of our flat and associates (Sam, Zane and Courtney) went to Texas Embassy, a Mexican restaurant that my dad suggested to me. It was a really nice way to end the semester and celebrate Cindo De Mayo. Afterward we came back to the flats and realized we had forgotten to take pictures on the lion statues at Trafalger Square. So of course Zane, Megan and I turned that into and adventure. We first took a bus up to Hampstead Heath, a gigantic park that has a hill overlooking the city. I've been a few times, but never at night and it was amazing. We looked over the skyline lit up and talked forever. After a while we came down and took a bus to Tafalger and climbed up the lions. If you've never seen these things they are quite large and pretty high off the ground so I didn't really climb up, it was more like Zane pulling us up. We hung out there for a while looking at Big Ben all lit up too. It was such a pretty night.

Today was our final adventure day because Zane is leaving tomorrow. We spent the afternoon sitting under a tree in Regent's park, talking and laughing and talking some more. I didn't realize how long we'd been there but it was nice to spend time just relaxing. On our way back we decided to grab a bus and take it to the end: Willesden Bus Garage. We always hear of this place when they announce it on the bus (6 to Willesedn Bus Garage, and they pronounce garage funny) and so we wanted to see what it was all about. It wasn't all that exciting, but at least we can say we've done it.

Tonight we're gonna hang out and pretend that we aren't leaving so soon. With Zane leaving tomorrow the reality is going to really set in. Can't wait to see you all though, I really do miss everyone so much!

Greenwhich and Brighton!

Its been a busy couple of days, but really really fun ones. Yesterday I went back to Greenwhich with Zane and Natalie. I had been before several times with our GST class, but the two of them aren't in that class and wanted to see what all the fuss was about and I was excited to play tour guide and see everything again. We got out there just int time for a fabulous lunch at the market. I had some kind of Turkish pizza wrap thing which was excellent; I have fallen in love with market food 'cause it is always so cheap and good but there is so much variety. We spent the rest of the day doing the musueumy stuff. We went up the Royal Observatory and stood in two hemispheres, then we went over to the Planetarium which we hadn't done with class. It was really interactive and so we played and learned a lot! The weather was beautiful as we walked down the massive hill towards the Queens House and Maritime Museum. We spent some time there before heading over to the Painted Hall and Chapel, admiring the massive hall. Instead of taking the DLR/tube back we opted on taking a boat cruise down the Thames back to Westminster. It was really cool, literally and figuratively.

Today a group of us went to Brighton, a small coastal town about an hour train ride away. As we got out of the train and started walking into the town we saw a parade,a great omen for the day. A bunch of schools had dressed up or decorated themselves with different themes (Chinese dragons, a Flintstones group) and were marching down the street. We don't really know what it was for, but it was still fun. We had a quick lunch at a pub and then headed to the beach to take a nap. The beaches at Brighton are pebble beaches, much different from the N.C. coast, but its actually much more comfortable than you might think. After laying out for a while we headed over to the Brighton Pier to see what we could find to occupy ourselves. Zane and I found roller coasters and were quite happy. There was this one ride that hoisted you up a billion feet about the water and then turned you into a pendulum, it was so much fun! We rode a few rides and ate some pier food and then went back to the beach again. In an attempt to entertain ourselves before dinner time we buried a bottle in the rocks and then threw more rocks at it to try to knock it down. We looked like idiots, I'm sure, but we were laughing so it was good. That was the general theme of Brighton, for me. We didn't really do all that much, but we were laughing pretty much all day so it was really fun. However, while we were laying out I did get pretty sunburnt which always makes me tired, so its going to be an early night.

The final countdown

So classes are effectively over. We have two exams on Tuesday, but they’re not going to be all that difficult and we have plenty of time to study. This means that from now until the time we leave (next Monday) is going to be filled with lots of errands and outings, trying to get everything on our proverbial “London-lists” done. I’m excited.

Tuesday night, after a long day of class, a bunch of people from our program went to go see Romeo and Juliet. But of course we weren’t just going to go to any old theater and sit in nice comfortable seats, no. We got standing tickets, at the Globe! We got there early enough and so we were standing right on the edge of the stage and it was incredible. The production was really good, not so sure how much I liked Juliet, but everyone else was phenomenal, but what I liked the best was seeing how they used the theater. The actors were constantly running up and down the stairs, through the crowd of ‘groundlings’, as we were called, and the scene changes were cool because there aren’t any curtains or things like that so the actors would pass each other carrying props out during the change. It was a long time to be standing, but totally worth it.

On Wednesday we went and saw our last play for theater class, Tusk Tusk. This play was written by a 21 year old (when she was 19) and has three children whose mother leaves them because she is mentally ill and they must fend for themselves. It sounds a little dreary, but this was one of my favorite plays we’ve seen thus far. The actors were all very young but they were so incredibly good, and the playwright was in the audience and watching her was really fun.

Yesterday our GST class spent the morning on the deck of the HMS Belfast, a British battleship that rests in the Thames right downstream from Tower Bridge. It was a nice last outing, which have been my favorite parts of this class. We then finished up sociology presentations which was the best feeling in the world. To celebrate the end of classes some of us stayed in to write a remix of “I’m on a boat.” We recorded our new version, “I’m on a tube,” and performed it for everyone. Yeah I bet you wish you were as cool as us. But now I must go because we’re running off to Greenwhich for the day!

Here Here, my honourable good friend

Today has been rainy and a bit chilly, a perfect day to go watch the Brits argue at Parliament! Its really dorky but I was so excited to have the chance to do this after learning all about British politics in AP Gov't (and still remembering some of it), I love the political process, and there were people in fancy wigs, whats not to love?!

We got to Parliament and went through their cool security where we got a badge with our picture on it, but you were looking away from the camera so its a weird picture. Then we went and waited in the grand hall which we realized later was where many great leaders, like Winston Churchill, have laid in state after they've died. After waiting for a bit we were brought up these stairs into another room to wait. This room had some statues along the wall and after a few minutes we noticed some people gathering around one of the statues. Pretty soon one of the women started yelling about "100 years ago today (someone) chained themselves to this statue to protest for woman's rights. Today we want the government to listen to us about climate change" or something like that. Then they started chanting "Deeds not words" over and over. She repeated her speech a few more times as the cops started to gather. Turns out these four people had super-glued themselves to one another and were stuck around the statue. The police weren't happy about the situation but couldn't remove the protesters so they did the next best thing, removed us. So we were brought back into the main hall and around some corridors and out into a small courtyard and then led up the stairs into the visitor's gallery.

We were watching the House of Commons, which is technically the lower house in the British Parliment, but they are the ones that are elected (unlike the House of Lords who are appointed) and they actually do all the stuff. We arrived at the end of a debate on putting in new prisons, and I didn't really understand a lot of it. But then the Secretary of State came in to give a report on the Swine Flu. He talked about what they knew thus far, and then they debated for a while about pandemic preparedness and talked about stockpiling face masks. It was really neat to hear about something thats been in the news and to hear how they discussed it. Next came a debate on the budget, which is when it got really good. I didn't really understand exactly what they were talking about (something about tarrifs on household energy) but I did understand how awesome the arguments were. They were interrupting the speaker guy and then basically insulting him and he would go right back at em. It was really funny at points, but also really exciting to see politics at work right there (yeah I know I"m a dork). Junior year I take a class in January that goes to D.C. so now I really can't wait to go sit in on a House or Senate debate and compare it to this; I doubt it will be as fun though. Americans should definitely adopt the wig thing.