“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Today was a day of trying to see just a few last things before leaving. And we were successful. First, we had our closing program at King's College, where we received our letters of congratulations for completing our courses and all that stuff. So we are official alumni of King's. Pretty awesome. Afterward, we headed to this place for lunch, like I said we would:

I had steak pie. It was incredibly delicious.

And, they had Sherlock photos and fan art decorating the walls:

The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was lovely. And then, of course, had to take a photo outside the door.

So that was a success. Been meaning to get there this whole time, and I finally made it. This afternoon, I went to Portobello one last time, did some final shopping, and got a large jelly donut. Good decisions. Then, we headed here:

More Sherlock photo opportunities.

It was exactly like it is in the show, it was fantastic.

This evening, I spent almost an hour in our garden. I've been putting off packing. I guess you could say I'm in denial. So here's where I'm going to get kind of sappy, just wanted to give you fair warning. I've successfully avoided this type of thing this whole week, but it has to be said. Here goes.
These past three weeks have been positively surreal. I have loved my time in this beautiful city, and this beautiful country. I didn't know that it would be this hard to say goodbye. I am incredibly excited to get back and see all of you back in the States, that's the great part of it all. But the sad part is that, with that, I have to leave this place that has been my home for the past three weeks. It's been all too long and all too short. Long, because I feel like I have been here for a long time, I'm not a tourist anymore (despite some of my photos), but, at the same time, the time has gone by at lightning speed. That probably doesn't make sense, but it makes sense in my head, so we'll go with it. I never thought that I could feel this much at home and this level of confidence in a country other than my own. This has been such an incredible adventure. And I am grateful for the sadness about leaving, because that means that I truly got everything I could out of this experience, and had a fantastic time. I'm going to miss many, many things about this city, and this country. But, if I didn't have to say goodbye, I don't think I would appreciate its full value. The above quote is from Winnie the Pooh, and I think that it pretty much sums it all up.This has been the experience of a lifetime, and I am so grateful that I got to have it. Grateful to all my family and friends who supported me in multiple ways to help me have this grand adventure. Grateful for my time here, and all the wonderful friends I have made.

In addition, I am incredibly pumped and excited to see all of you. I really am. Please don't mistake my sadness at leaving London as sadness for coming back to you all. The thought of seeing you guys makes me incredibly happy (like, Pharrell Williams happy). And, I will want to tell you all about my adventures, and you'll soon want me to shut up. When that happens, just drop me a subtle hint and I'll stop.
So, I think this is my last post. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me these past 26 installments of my daily life. I enjoyed keeping you all up to date, and I hope you enjoyed reading. I'm afraid this all seems rather anticlimactic but the truth is, I don't really know how to leave off. There's someone who always knows the right thing to say:
"Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."

Soaking up the City

Well, one more day to go. But I'm not going to talk about that right now. Today was great! I woke up early and finished formatting and proofreading my paper, and then I submitted it. So I am completely finished with my class. Then, I went on a solo tour of London this morning, mostly in search of book benches. But, as I was only a few steps from this place, I couldn't resist.

I wanted to get food there, but I had just eaten breakfast. And I figured I would be returning with the rest of my Sherlockian friends. Which is what we will be doing tomorrow for lunch. Anyway, book benches. I had a lovely time wandering around London. I had originally planned on finding quite a few, but then I ended up just settling for two. The Importance of Being Earnest:

And, Sherlock Holmes:

I also found the Pride and Prejudice one, but someone was sitting on it. Rude. But I saw it, so that's all that counts.
Then I went and walked around down by the Thames:

And I still had time before my class, so I went to Caffe Nero and got this:

Every time I walk past this place, there's a sign outside advertising the Coconut Chocolate Frappe Creme, and it's always so tantalizing. So today, I got one. Heaven on earth. Probably a good thing that I only just tried it for the first time today, because otherwise I would have been spending money on them this whole time!

We had our final class, which was weird, it all went by really fast. Anyway, so, after class, we attended a film premier. My first film premier. It was for Guardians of the Galaxy:

There were quite a few famous people, it was pretty awesome!! Most importantly, we saw Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt (Emmet from The Lego Movie), both who are actually in the movie. And, since it's a Marvel film, they had one of the Avengers there. Thor. Chris Hemsworth. It was pretty amazing. I didn't get a good picture, but my friend Katie got one that's not too bad:

Mark Hamill was also there, probably because of it's being a space/sci-fi movie. And a bunch of other movie stars. But those were really the notable ones.

And that was that. I came back and spent some time in the garden, and here I am writing this now. It's been quite the eventful day, quite a nice day. Only a couple more posts on here. Night night!!!

Perfect Nonsense

It is currently 36 minutes after midnight here, and I am sitting here eating chocolate biscuits. I have worked on my Jane Austen paper probably a total of 5 1/2 hours today. And it's almost finished. Still have to do a final proofread, and double check my citations. I may do that after writing this post, or I may heed the call of my pillow and proofread tomorrow. At the moment, it could go either way.

Anyway, today was a fantastic day, despite the hours of slaving away on this paper. That was basically my morning. This afternoon, for class, we visited Sir John Soanes' house, that has been turned into a museum. Now, John Soanes was the architect who designed St. Paul's Cathedral, and the original Bank of England, and quite a few other things that are no longer in existence. His house was basically a lot of his experimenting with different designs and styles, so you end up having Rococo and Gothic styles in the same room sometimes. He also collected countless artifacts and art pieces, so his house was literally chock-full of interesting things, such as a genuine Egyptian sarcophagus. The whole place reminded me very much of Nana and Papa's house. It was fantastic. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but here's a picture of the outside, but it doesn't really give much of an idea of what's inside:

Afterward, we went to the nearby Royal College of Surgeons Museum, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a lot of jars with various old medical and zoological specimens, everything from a diseased kidney to a walrus fetus. It was pretty great, but most of our group found it pretty gross too. Thankfully I'm not squeamish.

And, this evening, I attended my third theater performance. Jeeves and Wooster: Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of Yorke's Theater near Trafalgar Square:

It was fantastic, everything that I had hoped it would be. My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing pretty much the entire time. British humor at its very best. One of the things I'm definitely going to miss is the theater experiences here. People attend live theater here in London like we would go to the movie theater in the States. There are countless shows to choose from every day, with reasonably priced tickets, and small theaters that make any seat an incredible experience. And the acting is of the very highest quality. I love it.
I returned from the theater, and have been working on my essay ever since. It has been quite a lovely day, really, despite so much school work. Tomorrow is the last day of classes, which is shocking and hard to believe. To be honest, I'd really like to not believe it. But there it is, all good things have to end. I'm just going to savor these next two days, and get as much out of them as I can.

Greenwich and the Thames

This morning was spent mostly working on my essay, and it is slow work, let me tell you. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but, unfortunately, none of the essay topics provided by my tutor appealed to me. So I chose the one that was the least-uninteresting to me. Still not exactly what I want to write about, but not terrible either. It's coming along fairly well now, still have a good ways to go. I would be a bit easier in my mind if I knew what to expect on the grading end, because I have no idea. But, I think it will be alright. I have faith in Jane Austen.

On the more fun and interesting side of things, we had our ISA "Farewell Dinner" today (the title is sad, I just ignore the "farewell" part). We took a boat on the Thames down to Greenwich. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

The Thames is just about the same color as the Mississippi River. Some people were surprised, apparently that's not how most rivers look. But it's pretty typical for me.
In Greenwich, we got the opportunity to see the Royal Navy College, which also happens to be an important filming location for Thor 2, where it kind of gets destroyed.

 Then, we went to a lovely Mediterranean restaurant, where we had, among other things, baklava, which was, of course, delicious:

Afterward, we walked up to the Royal Observatory, where the view is amazing:

And, of course, the Prime Meridian is a thing:

We also saw the Cutty Sark, the famous tea clipper:

And we returned to our flat, and I've been working on my essay ever since. Which is why this whole post may be a bit scattered and incoherent; my brain is threatening to shut down as I type. I think it's because it's summer, and my brain thinks that I shouldn't be doing school work. False. I will be finishing this paper tomorrow morning, whether my brain likes it or not. I actually just bought a ticket to see Jeeves and Wooster: Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of Yorke's theater tomorrow evening, so that will provide a good incentive for the successful termination of this essay.

Also, as today was our final ISA event, I wanted to say a few words about this organization. International Studies Abroad, is what ISA stands for, in case you didn't realize, or in case I already told you and forgot that I told you, and you forgot that that is what I told you. Anyway, they have been incredible. Before I left for London, they had already sent me extensive and complete information on what to expect, what to pack, what the experience will be like, etc. So I felt pretty well prepared for whatever was going to happen. Upon reaching London, they showed us how to function as non-tourists. For example, they told us which side of the escalator to stand on, and which side to walk up, in the Tube. This may seem unimportant, but it can really save a lot of trouble, and having a lot of people angry and impatient at you. Standing on the left side? Big no-no. You leave the left side clear so people who are in a hurry can walk up the escalator. Other students who didn't come through ISA were not so well-prepared, as we saw when we went on excursions for our class. ISA also showed us how to buy and top up our Oyster cards to ride the Tube. Where to get groceries. The quickest way to get to class. And tons of other things. Plus, they took us on incredible adventures in and outside London. Truly invaluable. I am so thankful that I chose to study abroad through them, because they have really contributed towards making it all so memorable.

And that's all I have for today. My contacts are making my eyes angry, so I think I'm going to head to bed. A prayer or two towards the success of my essay wouldn't go amiss. I am determined to finish it tomorrow morning. It shall be done. Night night!!

A quick update before settling down to work

Today was Monday. Which meant back to class. It's still kind of weird going to class in the middle of the summer, but it's not bad, especially since it's a subject I thoroughly enjoy. And, after class, I got a picture with this philosopher guy. He lives in the foyer of King's College.

And after class, we finally took those typical, must-have London photos. Such as, Big Ben:

And Big Ben and Parliament and Audrey (and random people in the background-ignore them):

And that was about it for today. I'm afraid this post is super short, mostly because I have to get to writing my essay, I'm sure you'll understand. School is school, after all, and grades are grades, even when you're living in London and it's July. Tomorrow, we have our "farewell dinner" with ISA, which should be fantastic. Ta ta until then!!

Audrey, Sherlock Holmes, and Cider

And when I say Audrey, I mean, of course, St. Audrey. Not me Audrey. That would be pretentious. Anyway, Jessi and I attended Mass at St. Etheldreda's Church today, hence my mentioning St. Audrey.

And the inside:

 As you can see, it was beautiful. And it was beautiful getting the opportunity to attend Mass in the church of my patron saint on my birthday. Easily the experience of a lifetime. And this is easily my favorite of the churches I have been to during my stay here.
After Mass, we came back to the flat and walked around Portobello Market. I feel like I probably talk about that every day, because we go there pretty much every day. They've got everything there, and the atmosphere is fantastic. Today, we got waffles. For lunch. Birthday waffles:

This afternoon, we all (Jessi, Meredith, Kelli, and I) went somewhere I've been wanting to go, well, pretty much my whole life. Since I was around 9 years old, anyway, when I started reading the stories. 221B Baker Street. Also known as, the residence of Sherlock Holmes. Currently being used as the Sherlock Holmes Museum. We waited about an hour and a half, but it was completely worth it! The Baker St. Tube station was even awesome:

And I got an awkward picture with the policeman-who-wasn't-really-a-policeman standing outside the museum. I felt like the ultimate tourist, especially with the deerstalker, but no matter:

 The inside was fantastic. The place was actually a lease building during the late 19th century, so it is a legitimate representation of where Sherlock Holmes would have lived. If he'd been a real person, that is. They had the rooms set up with such precise detail, taking everything given in the texts, the sitting room, and Sherlock Holmes' room. And upstairs they had set up different scenes from the stories, like "The Speckled Band", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and quite a few others. I was basically living the dream walking through that place. It was great!
After that, we were hungry, and it was time for supper, so we found a lovely pub near our flat, called The Castle. I had Fish and Chips, and my first official alcoholic drink at a pub/bar. They carded me. The legal drinking age in Britain is 18 years. Thank God that, in my old age, I still have my youthful looks. I had a hard cider, and it was quite delicious:

And, the actual meal:

I think this was probably the best Fish and Chips I've had thus far, crispier and more flavorful than the others I have had.

And then, later this evening, I had a lovely talk with the Fam- specifically Mom, Daddy, and Jimmy. Trudy was there too, but she didn't have anything to say. She was too distracted with worrying about missing her dinner, and/or trying to get it as early as possible. But really, getting to talk to them was another addition to an already fantastic day. They are the best.

And this has been my 21st birthday. Completely different from any other one I've ever had, but incredible nonetheless. Thanks to my amazing family and friends, and the awesome new friends that I've made while here in London! God is very good!

"England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself..."

I am currently in a state of unreality. Just a couple hours ago, I saw Richard III. (That's where the quote is from, by the way.) With Martin Freeman. I still can't believe it. I got out of the theater and traveled the Tube home in a daze. Thankfully, I came to my senses enough to switch lines and get off at my stop. It was incredible. Incredible. Utterly transfixing. All the acting was superbly arresting. I came in not knowing much about the story of Richard III, and I was on the edge of my seat for quite a lot of the play. Exciting, startling, frightening, funny, even. I was sitting on the stage. In the front row. Photos weren't allowed, but I couldn't resist just one.

You might think, "That looks nothing like the set of a Shakespeare play." This one was set in the mid 1970's, hence the scenery. I thought it fit rather well. But my seat? Incredible. On the stage, it was like I was part of it, I was so close. There was a lot of blood, but none got on me, so that's probably good, especially considering I was wearing a sweater borrowed from Marya.
Here's the ticket:

Getting to the theater was super interesting. There was some kind of protest against Israel going on today, and wouldn't you know, the march started at 1pm, and went right in front of Trafalgar Studios. Didn't prove to be too much of a problem, though, just wove through the crowd to get to the other side of the street. But this is Trafalgar Studios, taken after the play, when the protesters were gone:

And, of course, the poster. Which I bought a (smaller) copy of. Plus a program. All to immortalize this great event of my life.

And, earlier, while I was making my detour around the protest:

Happiness.

And there's something special about tomorrow, I just can't seem to remember what it is. It'll come to me. Eventually.

Oh right! It's somebody's birthday! Whose birthday? Well, mine, of course. My 21st birthday. The next time I write in this blog, I will be 21. No big deal. Until then, cheers!