I am currently writing my last final post for my study
abroad blog. I am on the flight home and figured I should write about my final
days in London. My journal has turned into a sort of diary for myself, which I
can always look back on in the future and remember what I experienced. It is
going to be bittersweet to look back and read it, but I know it will bring back
great memories.
Tuesday May 29th
Tuesday was my last final. My friend Shay’s birthday was the
day before (the 28th), but since we all had finals on the 29th
we did not get to celebrate properly. Though we had a nice brunch picnic in
Tabard Gardens on her actual birthday, the real party was the 29th.
After my final, Zach and I literally sprinted out of the finals room and caught
the first tube back to the dorm. We got dressed for our night and met up with
some friends. We went to Piccadilly Circus to our favorite ‘club’ (which is
pushing it) called Piccadilly Institute. We had all been there before, but
since Tuesday was their student night, it was cheap and easy. Since we got
there super early before the bouncers start charging for entrance (we are cheap
college kids), we ended up just sitting around for an hour or two just chatting
away and relaxing now that almost all of us were done with finals. As the night progressed, the place got
more crowded and we danced the night away. We got home around 4 AM the next
day, which is way past my bedtime. Also, now since the sunrises super early, we
basically went to the bed as the sun was rising. Not pleasant since our shades
are so bad!!
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| The Birthday Girl getting goofy in Piccadilly Station. |
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| Piccadilly Institute |
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| Zach and I survived together! |
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| Piccadilly Institute |
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| Leaving the club at night into Piccadilly Circus |
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| Piccadilly Circus at night. |
Wednesday May 30th
I was leaving on Sunday, so I only had a couple days to
enjoy in London. The first stop was getting my last meal at the Blue Eye Maid.
That weekly lunch date became so much more than just good Indian food, but it
became a special place to my friend’s group. We went there to complain, gossip,
and just waste time. We became friendly with the workers and to be quite
honest, I should’ve gotten compensation for bringing in so much business. After
getting my fill, Zach and I walked off lunch by making our way to Tower Bridge.
We walked along the Thames and acted like mini tourists taking pictures.
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| Never forget the Indian Buffet! |
After wandering, I made my way to the Globe Theatre. Taking
the tour of the globe is like 16 pounds, which is just way expensive and not
even worth it since it is not even the original!! But, I still wanted to see a
play in it! While the actual Shakespeare Company does not perform until late
June, the Globe was having a special series of ‘plays from around the world.’
Basically, it was all the most famous Shakespeare plays performed in any and
every language. Romeo and Juliet was in Chinese, Hamlet was in French, and
Othello was performed by a Chicago troop in ‘Ebonics.’ All of the famous plays had been sold
out by the time I bought my tickets, but I did get three for me and my friends
to see The Comedy of Errors, which is
one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays. We originally thought the play was in
Brazilian Portuguese, but actually found it was going to be performed by an
Afghan group in the Persian dialect of Dari. What we didn’t know is that along
with the language being changed, the environment and names would also be
changed. So instead of the Comedy of Errors being performed in ancient Rome, it
was being performed in Afghan cities. The characters had Persian names and had
Persian costumes. They did stick true to Shakespearean times by having no real
set and almost no objects. They even had one of the female characters played by
a man. What made the play that much better is that half the audience spoke Dari
and the other half had absolutely no idea what was going on. Since the play was
a comedy, the actors would say a line and random people would just laugh out
loud while everyone else just nervously giggled. There were screens in the
globe giving a one-line summary of the scene in English to help out.
What I can say about the play is that even though it was not
in English, I truly enjoyed it. As you probably know, you don’t really need to
know what is being said in order to understand the plotline. If the actors are
good enough, you can follow along just as well. I mean, it is the same for when
the plays are performed in Old English. I don’t know ‘ye’ and ‘thee,’ just as I
don’t understand Dari. Moreover, I really liked how the play had a cultural
feel to it. You could tell there were cultural jokes that only Afghani people
would understand. There was a lot of
dancing and singing that was added to the plot, all for comedic relief.
Also, there was a three person pitt of some sort that played Afghan instruments
as the actors acted out scenes. The actors even got to interact with them.
Since it is cheaper to see a play than to buy tickets for a
tour, I had bought 5 pound groundling tickets. That means I get to stand in the
center of the theatre and watch at eye level. Yes it is tiring to stand, but
being so close to the stage and actors is super intimate and fun. The actors
would run around the crowd and interact with people. The Globe itself is super
small, so even if you buy tickets for a seat, you can get a good view from
anywhere. Moreover, with groundling tickets you could leave and enter whenever
you want. With that relaxed environment, you could not complain.
After the play, I separated off my friends and made my way
up to Reagents Park. I was unsure about the weather for the rest of the week
and wanted to make sure I got the most of it. I had been to Reagents Park
earlier in the year with Erica, but when we went it was winter and none of the
gardens had bloomed, so obviously I had to go back. It was definitely worth it
the trip. Queen Mary’s garden in the Park has roses on roses and paths leading
to just breathtaking flowers. The scent is remarkable and just gorgeous. I
walked along the river and sat in the grass for a while until I felt a little
bit of rain.
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| Reagent's Park |
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| Reagent's Park |
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| Reagent's Park |
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| Jubilee Gates leading into Queen Mary's Garden in Reagent's Park |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
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| Queen Mary's Garden |
Since I had completed no touristy shopping while I’ve been here, I ran
to Oxford Street and did some shopping. It was the most expensive and had to give my mother a heads up.
After a little too much shopping, I headed back to my flat and made myself an
eclectic dinner of what was left in my fridge. At night, we all headed out to a
bar/club called Walkabout. Walkabout has zero affiliation with Kings College,
but it is right next to our campus and has student nights on Wednesdays, when
is when everyone has their sport matches. That means that as soon as the sport
teams finish, they head off to Walkabout to get a pint. Casual Brits…Walkabout
on Wednesdays is a ‘Kings Tradition’ and everyone goes. I had never been since
I always had class Thursday and I am not on a sports team. I made sure I went to
the last main one with all my friends.
I was not prepared for what I ran into. Since almost all of
the students were all done finals, they made their way out to Walkabout. I
queued an hour even after we jumped half of it. I almost peed my pants in the
meantime. Once we got in, I realized this place was no different from a frat.
It was just much much bigger. The sports teams kinda ran the place, it was
sweaty, the floors were sticky, and people were sloppy drunk. What was awesome
about Walkabout this night is that almost everyone I had met at Kings was
there. It was a weird reunion/sending off party that nobody planned. I just got
to dance and chat with everyone I had met one last time. To make matters even
better, they even played the song ‘Call me Maybe’ TWICE. YES!! We danced until
2 AM and the flat+Americans walked back to our dorm. My feet were killing me
from walking/dancing all day, but I suffered through. I wanted to Barclay bike
back, but no one was into the idea. Once again, I got to go to bed as the sun
was rising.
Thursday May 31st
Thursday was spent shopping a little more. I gave Covent
Garden one last visit, which turned out to be one of my most favorite places in
London. I was on a mission to find my father a nice tie from London. I asked my
British flat mates what they British brands or designers they recommended and
they offered up some good ideas. When I went into the actual stores though, I
realized that this was not the place to
buy my dad a tie. The new fashionable ties are ones that are skinny and long.
Moreover, they are some neon pink, purple, or blue with flowers on it. It makes
me laugh to picture my dad wearing those ties. Some guy tried to sell me a
rainbow-striped tie for my dad and I just laughed in his face. Additionally, when
I looked at the prices they ranged from 50-75 POUNDS. HA. I moved on quickly
and ended up getting my dad a tie I hope he likes. The guys on my flat seemed
to appreciate it, so we shall see. After Covent Garden, I went to Kings
College’s Strand Campus one last time to say goodbye even though I never took
classes there. I headed back to Trafalgar Square, which is another of my
favorite places, and went into the National Gallery one last time. I can
successfully say that I am museum-ed out, but I have grown fond of the Gallery
and have my favorite paintings there. Since I was so tired from the day before,
I accidentally took a nap when I sat down in the comfy viewing chairs and was
awoken by a worker. Oops! Well, I walked around one last time, said goodbye to
my free museum.
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| The main building at Kings |
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| Canada giving the Queen a shoutout at Trafalgar Quare |
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| Setting up for the Jubilee in Trafalgar |
Later that day, a group of us walked back to Monument,
climbed the approximately 200 stairs, and got our final view of the London
skyline. We stayed up there for almost 45 minutes just enjoying the amazing
weather, view, and church bells that for some reason were playing
uncontrollably!
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| View from Monument. |
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| View from Monument. |
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| View from Monument. |
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| View from Monument. |
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The wind up at the top of monument made Zach and I feel as if we were
skydiving again. |
As we had been busy for the past 2 nights, people wanted to
lay low that night. We decided to go to Nandos for dinner, which is one of my
favorite restaurants. It is a nicer chain that sells just chicken. Such good
chicken….Afterwards we walked back over to Covent Garden to Snog for desert.
Snog is a frozen yogurt place that is basically heaven. My friend Toby
literally goes every day and the guys that work there have learned his name and
order. Speaking of the men that work there, they are all blond, tall, and
muscular. Like, just take Hollister models and given them frozen yogurt and
they could work at Snog. But, the guys would just need to be completely bleach
blond. It is a huge laugh. Snog has become a flat favorite and we tend to find
ourselves having desert there a lot. It is a nice 1 hour walk from Borough that
takes you to Waterloo, over Waterloo Bridge, up Strand, to Covent Garden. This
time when we got to Snog it became a special occasion as Toby, Thomas, and
Aysha both got two Snog Specials, which is like saying 2 ‘gotta have it’ at
Coldstone. They were yellow by the end of the second one and I couldn’t tell if
the workers enjoyed the site or were disgusted with us. We walked off our big
dinner on the way back to the dorm and at this point I was feeling a little
sick, but we will get to this later…
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| Amazing sky on the Thames |
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Thomas, Aysha, and Toby getting their second
rounds of Snog. |
Anyways, it became a tradition to end our nights in Thomas’s
room, as in my entire flat will just plop down on Tom’s floor and chat until 3
AM. It can get goofy and weird, but especially by the end it was really
comforting that I was getting to spend a lot of time with everyone.
Friday June 1st
As I mentioned before, I wasn’t feeling so hot and this
carried into Friday. I woke up Friday ill with the shivers, but sweating. I
couldn’t tell if it was from the Nandos or a virus I had picked up. I had been
getting little sleep and was stressed earlier that compromises the immune
system, but no matter the cause it was a real Debbie downer. I really couldn’t
handle myself. I stayed in bed most of the day and watched movies. I attempted
to start packing, but I was too nauseous and too sad. My flat felt so bad for
me and tried to be accommodating. Each one actually spent a good amount of time
in my room just sitting and talking to me. I guess they realized they were
going to miss me ;)
It was a friend’s birthday that night and I had been
planning to go out, but I realized if I did then I would just be sitting near a
toilet all night. While I didn’t physically go out, I went down to the Birthday
kid’s flat and sang to him, mingled, ate some cake, etc etc. It was the last
time I was going to see some of the people, so it was my first real time at
saying goodbyes. It still hadn’t hit me that I was leaving in two days. AH! So
when everyone else left, I ate the chicken noodle soup Shay brought me, packed
a little, and watched the original Alice in Wonderland with Tom.
The highlight of this day was when my flat in its entirety
walked into my room with a little gift they made me. It was a picture collage
with photos of my time here and on the back were personally notes they wrote
me. I hate crying in front of people, but I just couldn’t help it. They made
sure the collage had a picture of me with each one of them and some of the best
memories we’ve had. It was so special and just showed how much of an impact we
have had on each other. Later, we took a family flat picture that I plan on
blowing up and hanging on my wall.
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Top row left to right: Jade, Aysha, me, Emma
Bottom row left to right: Oren, Toby, Thomas |
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| My flat on a normal day. |
Saturday June 2nd
Sick or not, I was not going to let my last day go to waste.
I woke up super early since I had slept so much the previous day and finished
my major packing. I am super impressed with my packing as I accumulated so much
crap over the time. When my American friends finally woke up, we headed over to
Borough Market for the last time. I was feeling a little better, but still not
up to par. We have become somewhat possessive of Borough Market, as we live
down the road from it, and it was super hard to say goodbye. I bought all my
veggies there for months now and learned the place like the back of my hand.
Oh, you want good peppers? Well, you walk past the tea place, make the third
right, walk past the bread stands, and into the store. You want to go to the brewery? It
is in between the paella and duck
sandwich! I splurged and finally bought a sandwich I had wanted for so long. It
was kind of expensive, but so worth it. It is basically a huge cheese sandwich
that is melted and covered in onions. I couldn’t finish it since it was so big
and I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I shared it with friends. From the market, we
walked along the South Bank all the way down to Westminster Bridge. Since the
Jubilee flotilla was the next day, the walkway started to get crowded with
tents with people camping out for good seats. At Westminster, we said goodbye
the London Eye, Parliament/Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. We wandered through
St. James Park and I saw Buckingham Palace from afar. London is literally
COVERED in Union Jacks for the Jubilee and it just so festive. I couldn’t get
enough of it and was still in disbelief that I was missing it.
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| Camping out for seats for the Jubilee Flotilla! |
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| Camping out for seats for the Jubilee Flotilla! |
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| On the Thames |
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| Jubilee decorated road leading up to the palace. |
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| Flags everywhere! |
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| My favorite English boys at tea! |
From Trafalgar Square, we caught a bus down Strand to St.
Paul’s Cathedral, where we met my flatmates for tea. It had gotten chiller
again, but as I was sipping my warm tea the sun came out and toasted us. I had
to quickly eat my scones and clotted cream before the heat ruined them. We
chatted for an hour or so, then crossed the Millennium Bridge back to our dorm.
Back at the dorm I watched a little of the National English
versus Belgium football match and chilled with my flat in Tom’s room. Since it
was my last night, they wanted me to decided where we were eating dinner and
this process turned into a two hour ordeal. We ended up choosing a BBQ
restaurant near Tower Bridge. We literally ran there since we were late to our
reservations, but then spent hours there talking. On the way there, we did get
to see some of the boats for the flotilla on the river. So cute. Also, at night
Tower Bridge is light up red, white, and blue for the Jubilee. The red and blue
make more of a purple, which could also be done on purpose, but is still a
really nice sight to see. Walking back was not an option as it started to pour,
so I got to take the tube one last time! So bittersweet. I have come to love
public transportation. Yes it is super expensive, but just so damn convenient!
As no one wanted to go to bed/say goodbye a big group of us
ended up watching Dodgeball in Tom’s
room. Afterwards, the Americans left and we said our ‘see you laters.’ It was
hard to say goodbye to the Americans I have made friends with, but they all
live so close by and go to school near me. Most of them go to Fordham, which is
only in NYC and a place I could easily visit/want to visit! Also, my cousin is
going there next year, so it is perfect reason for me to visit. One of the
American’s younger brothers is going to Villanova next year, which is right
next to me so I know I’ll see her
around…and probably even her younger brother.
The English people on the other hand stuck around with me
until 3 AM in Tom’s room. We were all so tired, but no one wanted to go to bed
knowing I was leaving in the morning. We just stopped talking after a while and
sat around together. I made them all promise me I would see them in the morning
before I left.
Sunday June 3rd
After no more than 4 hours of sleep, I woke up to do some
final packing and ‘cleaning.’ I felt so bad as I had to throw so much stuff
out, but I tried to give away/donate anything that I could to my flatmates. I
just left food, hangers, plates, etc in the kitchen hoping they would either
want it or donate it. My English friends kept their promise and woke up early.
They all helped me carry my stuff down to the lobby where I handed in my keys,
loaded my stuff into the taxi, and said my final goodbyes. I am so bad at
goodbyes and I always cry as soon as I leave them. It made it awkward on the
taxi driver, who tried to comfort me the whole time. It was the hardest to say
goodbye to my English friends since I really don’t know when I will see them again. I know I will be back in London
someday, but I don’t know where we will be in our lives and how much will have
changed. I had grown to be so close to them and for 5 months, their lives and
friends had become mine. Now I have to go home and find a ‘new life’ as no one
wants to hear my British gossip or can even understand it! I love them all so
much and I really hope they know that!
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An ongoing joke: This was made by a flatmate
and it puts each one of us with our animal look-
a-likes. Supposedly I am a badger. |
My journey to the airport did not go as smoothly as planned.
As my goodbyes were too short, I literally started bawling in the taxi. The
taxi driver, who happened to be a nice Scottish man from Glasgow, tried for the
45 minutes ride to cheer me up. Also because of the Jubilee, everything is just
shut down, so we had to take the dodgiest way to the airport. Anyways- as I am crying my eyes out, he tries to
talk to me about how much I have loved London, which just got me crying
more. When we get to the airport,
I just pay him and run in since I am the most embarrassed. And when I say
‘run,’ I mean hobble since I had 4+ bags with me that weighed each around 30
kg.
The weather in London when I left was proper London weather
as it was cloudily, rainy, and cold. Too bad the Jubilee is…NOW!! I have become
accustomed to this weather and now it will be hard to get readjusted to the
heat and humidity. I did get a good laugh hearing the Americans complaining
about how cold it was outside. It is like 50 degrees and they were crying. This
is like…beautiful weather for me!!!
So I get in line at US Airways and I am faced with the
reality that (1) I am officially going home (2) Airports suck (3) My flight is
all Americans, which have grown to annoy me. Literally. The people in line with
me were ‘bro’ laxers who were wearing their lacrosse pinney’s and backward
sunglasses. DID THEY NOT SEE THE RAIN OUTSIDE? Also, they were playing the
guitar in line.
So, I finally get into the self-check in counter. And the
machine BREAKS. After waiting for 10 minutes until the guy noticed that my
machine broke, he moves me to another machine. AND THAT MACHINE FREAKING
BREAKS. I am also wearing like 6 bags on me, wearing 4 jackets, still somewhat
sick, and emotionally unstable after leaving my loved onses at GDSA. As I am
legit tearing up in front of the people in line, I was finally just put to the
front where they manually printed out my ticket and checked my two bags without
weighing them (thank the lord).
NOW, on to the best part. Well, I usually never travel with
a laptop. Why would I? And the security guys in line usually remind you to take
out your laptop and ipods. Since I am hungry, tired, sad, and already angry and
no one reminded me of taking it out I forget to take out my laptop. It was
almost like a bomb went off in Heathrow because they swarmed my backpack and
yelled 2-inches from my face, “EXCUSE ME MA’AM, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO CHECK
THIS.’ Mind you, I packed to the fullest amount possible and my blue backpack when I left was so full
it was about to rip at the seams. The look on the Indian security guard’s face
when he opened it was hilarious. Since it had to be properly checked, he had to
take out each piece of stuff that I specifically packed in place and put it in
a bin. My bag was like a clown car as it took around 7 minutes for him to
entirely unpack it and look through it. I also had to explain what my retainers
were. [Proof that English people still have no idea what proper dental/ortho
care is]. I was standing there with another American dude who was also waiting
to get his bag checked and we literally just laughed for 20 minutes. It was all
because I forgot to take out my dumb laptop and they assumed I was a terrorist.
Fine, in London standards I am ‘somewhat brown,’ but I ain’t gonna blow you up
so calm down.
It took me another 20 minutes to repack my bag and when I finished,
the security guards gave me a mini-applause. I kid you not. I gave them a look
and ran into the waiting area. My gate was a 20 minute walk from the waiting
area and it was a goooood thing (sarcasm) I had two extremely heavy bags. I
broke a major sweat on the walk there. I did get to sneak on my 4 carry ons
somehow, so I can’t really complain!
I am excited to see my family again, but it will be hard to
come to terms with leaving behind London and my friends. I hope I don’t get too
bored in suburbia now that I am ‘spoiled’ by the city life. Also, I don’t know
when my next visit to London will be and I can only hope it is soon so I can
reunite with all my uni friends.
I had completed everything I had wanted to do in London on
my study abroad experience. My bucket list is checked off completely. I
couldn’t have asked for anything more or any better people. I will be that
‘annoying study abroad kid’ just because I have made so many memories that I
want to share with people, even if they don’t want to listen. My world has been
expanded beyond belief and I cannot wait to take everything I have learned
about life and myself from my time in London and grow with it. London will
always have a special place in my heart.
For those who actually finished reading this, thank you for
being an audience! While this started for family and friends, it also became a
good event for me as it helped me reflect and remember. I land in an hour or
so, so see everyone so soon!
