I realize that the past couple of days I have been getting behind with my blog, so in the interest of keeping myself up to date, I am going to now reflect on the happenings of the past three days, which have been full of anticipation and saying goodbye to London one tube stop at a time.
The final week of London is officially upon us, and with each day that passes, the reality that I will be home in just a few days is beginning to sink in. There are so many exciting things to look forward to, and yet there is so much I am leaving behind.
On Sunday, I literally stayed in my pajamas all day, blogged and posted facebook pictures and left the flat once to run up to Tesco to grab a microwave dinner. Other than that I took the day to rest and catch up with my flat mates. Brezny and Ike left early that morning and I could not fall back to sleep. Maybe it is because seeing them leave reminded me that I would be doing the exact same thing in just seven days, and all the emotional baggage that comes along with that was weighing on my mind. So instead, I simply got an early start to my day of rest, blogged for literally five hours and reflected on what a fun time I had with Brezny and Ike. Having them here reminded me of the incredible people I have waiting for me at home.
On Monday, I slept in and met up with Laura, Katie and Kristy who had left the flat earlier to see the Changing of the Guard (which I had already seen with my parents). We decided that while it was very chilly, it would be a perfect day to take our sight-seeing pictures of our favorite places in London since it was such a beautiful blue sky day (I cannot believe the sun came out the minute B and Ike left… ugh! Figures….). We met at Saint Paul’s Cathedral to take exterior shots of the architecture, and after a bit of circling around, finally decided to eat a hearty lunch at our favorite café Pret-A-Manger – I just love their hot Spicy Ragu Meatball wrap J. We sat in Pret talking for over an hour about our experience and how it was all coming to an end. We reminisced about stories and talked about what we were looking forward to most about going home – and of course what we would miss here.
After lunch we walked to Leather Lane (a market street open daily right off Chancery Lane) but it was already closing down. So after looking in a card shop, we got on a random bus heading toward King’s Cross Station and took some pictures of the city as we passed it from the top of our beloved double decker. We got off at the train station, took pictures, and got on the tube back toward Piccadilly Circus. We took more pictures of the Christmas lights lining the streets as it was getting dark, and walked through to Leicester Square. Here, we stopped in a London gift shop and then got the tube back to Holbourn to eat with all the Elon students, Brooke (our faculty advisor) and her family, as well as our internship coordinators Leslie and Emma for a big pancake breakfast.
The restaurant was called The Old Dutch and it had a special 5 pound pancake night – but by pancake they really mean a very thin crepe – thin but MASSIVE, like the size of a medium pizza! I got a savory crepe with ham, chicken, cheese, and some other delicious toppings, but the whole experience left me feeling bloated and unsatisfied. In a food coma, we headed back to the flat, and I got all dolled up for my big night out with Robert to see Gordon perform in a benefit concert to support the fight against Aids called, “Elegies: Angels, Punks and Raging Queens.”
I rushed to meet Robert and Will (his friend who works for a casting director) outside the Palace Theatre in Leicester Square and we headed to a cute restaurant where we had wine and bread and chatted about life. The show did not start until very late – just after 11pm. After waiting outside in the cold in line and meeting up with more of Rob’s friends Adam and Stevie G, we got settled in the back standing up by the bar area, and the show began.
The event itself was a concert version of the musical about people living with and dying from HIV and Aids. The lineup was a series of songs and monologues performed by industry professionals, including three of our clients and my very own and the very talented GORDON COWELL! He was so fantastic and I was like a proud mama watching him up there doing his thing. Leanne also sang (our client who plays the lead in Hairspray) and she was amazing. Robert’s roommate and our client Sandra who is also in Hairspray sang and took down the house. It was a very entertaining evening with laughs and really touching moments on stage. I was very proud to feel a part of a community supporting individuality, accepting and living with an incurable disease and uniting in our differences.
I got home at about 4 am, so it was a very long night! This morning was our last day of classes, so I woke up and got ready for my last day of school here in London. Theater class was simply a wrap up of our favorite elements of each show we saw this semester. We also had a fantastic speaker come in and talk to the class about his experience as an actor and director of Shakespearean literature. He was very entertaining and involved us in the discussion, which was great.
After, we had our history trivia quiz, which counted for 25% of our grade. Since I got an A on the first three papers) making up 75% of my grade) and everyone has collectively decided it was going to be a joke, I did not study – no one did. Except when we arrived at class it was not quite the joke we had expected – it was actually pretty competitive between the teams and asked us to recall full on detailed information. Let’s just say our team did not do well… at all…. The DeGaulle’s Dolls as we called ourselves should have been names DeGaulle’s Dim-witts because we clearly did not retain very much from the class. But in the end, he gave me an A for my final grade since my papers were so good, so I slipped through the cracks on that one. Plus, I was only on five hours of sleep, so I was not able to easily reach my top intellectual peak – who am I kidding, I wouldn’t have known pop squat regardless.
The relief of resolving my grade was followed by some Internet time in the classroom sending emails and checking up with everything. Then I headed back to the flat. On my way Rob called and invited me to go see the press night of Carousel. I of course said yes, even though I am not a huge fan of the production – Elon did it my freshman year. I had a quick dinner at home, and then headed to Charring Cross. I finally met up with Rob after figuring out that we had miscommunicated where we were meeting, but we got to the theatre just in time. The show was okay – the sets were incredible, but I am not a big fan of the music. Rogers and Hammerstein really just don’t do it for me, but I am still glad I was able to see it.
After the show Rob and I went to McDonalds and I got a McFlurry – I wish it were Kit Kat, but I think I missed the boat on that special. I took the tube back home and met up with Kelsey, Katie, Laura, and Kristy, as well as some other girls from Elon – Morgan and Elyse, and we all went to Sport’s Café to dance. It was not my favorite night, but the music was okay. The crowd was just really sketchy – some creepy guys there tonight. But we had to go out and celebrate Britney Spear’s birthday, of course, and let’s just say when “Slave For You,” came home, the place went crazy.
And that is all – we are officially caught up J. While it may not be the most creative, I am sleepy now (oh 2 am….how you’ll hurt in the morning), so it is time for me to go to crash. Miss you all and cannot wait to see you in less than a week! Woah……
Love and hugs,
Jenny
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