The Perfect End

I can't believe this semester is already coming to an end.  It feels like I've been here for just over a week, like spring break just happened two nights ago.  Every semester seems to fly by, and yet somehow each semester after that seems to go a little quicker.  I've never quite figured it out, and I don't think that I ever will.  I have come to realize it's going to happen, though, so I knew it would feel like no time had passed when I was packing up and moving out of 37 Hyde Park Gate. 

The farewell week of this semester has been busier than most, which I didn’t know was possible.  We had theatre, meals, and museum visits.  This week sounds very similar to most other weeks of the program, except for what happened at the end of it.  On Thursday night, we had a surprise event for our farewell dinner.  It turns out this event was a river boat cruise on the Thames.  It couldn’t have been a better experience, a better night.  The food on the boat was delicious, it was a vegetable and brie starter, a cranberry, mushroom, spinach, and tomato puff pastry entrée, and a chocolate mousse dessert.   We also were joined by Mary, Josh, Steven, and our professor Justin along with his family.  Justin’s son made the night!  He wandered around dancing, taking photos, and being the life of the party. 

There was a point in the night where I was able to spend a little time on the open upper level of the boat.  The view was indescribable.  To be riding down the River Thames on a boat with the city of London lit up all around me was something a lot more magical than I was expecting anything on this trip to be.  And it is not because I wasn’t expecting magical things, it’s because this blew any expectation I ever had clear out the window.  It definitely made it obvious to me how lucky I am, how lucky we all are, to have been able to spend an amount of time, however small, in this wonderful place surrounded by each other. 

I like to think I’ll be back here again before too long, but I can’t say with certainty when it will be.  I can say with certainty, however, that I know it won’t be the same.  Nothing can top, or even match, this experience.  My time spent in London has truly been a fairytale. 

End of the Semester Checklist

At the beginning of the semester, I created a checklist for myself of everything that I wanted to get done in my time abroad.  It ranged from countries to theatre to shopping to beaches.  I heard over and over again from others who had studied abroad that unless you wrote it down and worked every day on crossing things off, you’d leave with regrets that you didn’t do everything you wanted to.  And this was the absolute LAST thing I wanted to have happen.  So far, I’ve crossed out 95% of my list.  I’ve visited all the important sites, like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Parliament, and Abbey Road.  I’ve also visited a lot of the nearby cities including Brighton, Windsor, and Salisbury.  I also paid visits to many of the countries that I wanted to- Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Holland, Italy, and Scotland.  All this traveling hasn’t even begun to satisfy me, though.  I want to do more, I want to see more.  This trip has made me want to travel more than ever before. I want to walk the streets of Central Park in New York City, and cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  I want to go skiing on the mountains in Colorado, and visit the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.  I want to experience the cold beauty of Alaska. I want to try a fishing trip to Canada. I want to visit other places in the UK and England like Wales, Liverpool, and Manchester.  I want to visit other places in Europe including France- to see the beautiful countryside, Spain, Greece, Germany, Turkey- to lay on the clear blue beaches of the Mediterranean, and Iceland.  I would like to be able to pay my respects at a concentration camp in Poland.  I want to visit other areas such as the rainforests and waterfalls of Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile.  I want to see the kangaroos and koala bears of Australia, and take a boat over to New Zealand.  I want to visit the hot humid desserts of Africa and ride around on a camel’s back.  I want to dig a tunnel to China to get a glimpse of the great wall, and then head over to Japan. I’d love to zip line through the trees of Costa Rica, or take a cruise around the Bahamas. I feel like I’ve seen and done so much, and yet I’ve only just begun my journey around the world.  There are so many things to see and do; there are so many experiences to be had. 

Tea Parties

When I was 6 years old, I used to throw tea parties for all my friends.  Getting dressed up , drinking out of plastic cups, and eating cookies was our definition of an afternoon well spent.  I don’t think I ever imagined (or ever could have imagined) what it was actually like to go to a real afternoon tea in England.  Afternoon tea at the Gore Hotel last Wednesday was everything I could have imagined and more.  It was fancy, filling, and delicious!  We started out with just some tea, and then went on to enjoy crust less sandwiches.  There were sandwiches of all varieties, my favorites being the cucumber and egg with mayo.  The sandwiches were followed by scones, one plain and one raisin, served with clotted cream and homemade jam.  Last but not least, we finished with some desserts.  The varieties of desserts were all rich and scrumptious.  They included éclairs, chocolate fudge brownies, and lemon tarts.  By this point in the meal, I was completely full, but I definitely made room anyways.  I made it through one éclair, one petite lemon tart, and halfway through the most rich and filling brownie I had ever tasted.  I could barely move after the meal, but I felt it was for a good cause.  The atmosphere was also really great.  It was a beautiful spring day (warm enough to wear a simple spring dress), and I was surrounded by all my friends.  The tea was also followed up by my first ever trip to the ballet.  We went to the Royal Opera House to watch a performance of Cinderella, which was also breathtaking.  The gracefulness of the dancers and talent of the orchestra really combined to put on an exceptional show.  Being that I had never been to the ballet before, I had no idea what to expect.  I was once again blown away (I have started to expect this of my London experiences).  The fluidity and movement of the dancers painted the ever-so-familiar story in my head with a very unique and distinct style.  It was definitely an experience which inspired me to attend more ballets.  Although we are all trying avidly to avoid the fact that our beloved UW London Semester is coming to an end, it makes it a little bit easier to face knowing that I have seen and done so many wonderful things in my time here.  In just one day I was able to experience two things which I would have never had a chance to do on my own, but things I will definitely now try.  And that’s what I had the most desire to get out of this experience.