Week Fourteen: London

Monday 29 November 2010
 
The beginning of my last full week here. How incredibly depressing and exciting at the same time. I will miss London so much, but at the same time I am so ready to go home.

Going back to class after Spain was pretty rough, but it had to be done.

It snowed. Beautiful, wonderful Snow. Magical!

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Last day of Bible and Great War class. Wow! Is this possible?

After classes we went to High Tea at Kensington Palace! This is where Queen Victoria grew up. Wow. I had blackcurrant herbal tea with ginseng and vanilla. Very very good. Two lumps of sugar. No milk. We also each got a set of cucumber sandwiches, a scone (I did half with jam and half with clotted cream, but the best was combining the two. I only did this for the last few bites, but I'll know better next time), and a piece of very dry cake. Luckily, the frosting was moist. I also had hot chocolate with the cake (in place of the after-tea coffee) so it was all good.

Afterward, Kaitlyn, Mandy, Bethany, and I walked to Tower Bridge. It was ice. cold. freezing. Unbelievably cold. But, we walked across the bridge. One end to the other. And I can say that I did it.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Last day of class. No more Jane Austen class ever!! That light at the end of the tunnel was real after all!

What did I do today? Sit in my room and do papers, papers, papers. Last minutes assignments. Crazy. I need chocolate.

Thursday 2 December 2010

The professors were kind enough to turn today into a reading day. So, I sat in my room all day and wrote papers for my Great War final and filled out study guides, and so on.

At 11am we had a reception for one of our cleaning ladies, Theresa, because she is retiring. Eighteen years at the London Centre. Wow. She's Irish, which I am a big fan of. It's been great to hear her accent around the Centre.

After dinner we went to Handel's Church (his parish where he actually attended) just off of Regent Street and heard the Messiah! If it wasn't the whole thing, it was close. I hadn't realized how much of it I would recognize. I also came to the realization that I absolutely love love love love this piece of music. It was incredible.

Friday 3 December 2010

First final today. Great War and Modernism. I had written the four essays (two long two short) before, so I just had to fill out the poem memorization section--15 minutes tops--and then I got out of there. Best feeling ever. Can I just say, I am so grateful that I was on top of my homework this week. I had to focus a lot, particularly on Wednesday, but it all paid off.

After the final, Julie and I went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Best idea ever. I had an excellent milkshake and she had fresh fruit and whipped cream and we got to sit at the bar and it was all so awesome. The amount of rock memorabilia in there cannot be described. I saw suits worn by Pete Townsend and another member of the Who, glitter jackets that belonged to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), and one of Jimi Hendrix's guitars as soon as we entered the restaurant. Our seats at the bar were right next to a gold record presented to Bob Dylan and another which (hold your breath) was presented to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for the amount of singles sold of Yellow Submarine. Yes I touched the glass covering this record. It's was as close as I could get. There were also many shirts worn by Lennon and McCartney hanging on the walls, a guitar played on one of Bon Jovi's tours (!), it just never ends.

Just across the street from the restaurant is the vault. This small room was packed full of so many amazing things, I cannot even list them all here. But, goodness knows I'll try. A bass guitar signed by Gene Simmons of Kiss, Kurt Cobain's guitar (Nirvana), The Sgt. Pepper Harpsichord, a guitar that belonged to B. B. King, A suit Eric Clapton wore during his first ever tour, a guitar from a Maroon 5 tour, a guitar that belonged to Sting (the Police), Freddy Mercury's chair, A western style shirt that belonged to the Who's original drummer--Keith Moon, unpublished lyrics and a signed picture of the Temptations...I could go on and on (and on and on). It was the best thing ever! I bought a Hard Rock t-shirt. I had too. It's the original Hard Rock Cafe.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Two finals today. Religion in the morning. Absolutely aced it. I answered everything without hesitation except one part of a list of five things. Kind of annoying that I couldn't completely do the test, but hey. I smell an A.
The Jane Austen final tested my technology skills, but between Mandy and I we rigged it so we could project our movie on the screen and discuss the various clips. The final was small groups discussing how various film adaptations of Emma compare to the book. For ours we did a film commentary spoof. Mandy handled technical stuff--switching between clips, etc.-- and we had a film producer (Katie), various actors (Carolyn and Bethany), Jane Austen (Grace), and I was the director. It was really fun and we actually had good stuff to discuss. We all did our best British accents and Penny was impressed with how authentic mine was. I must be getting good.

Julie and I made a final visit to Portobello Road today after finals. I cannot believe it's the last time. Do I really only have four days left?

Sunday 5 December 2010

Last week in my ward! It is all so surreal. Of course, today, my primary kids were great. Theoma, a little 5-year-old black girl, even sat on my lap. She banged her chin and so I comforted her, and she wouldn't let me out of her sight for the rest of primary. I got some pictures of the primary too. Sacrament meeting was also great. I actually know Christmas hymns, and so I played Joy to the World and Angels We Have Heard on High well. It was shocking. Because it's Fast Sunday, Meegan, Olivia, and I were all asked to bear our testimonies. It is a very sad feeling. We each got a card and a pen from the ward to say thank you for our service. My pen has my name on it. Awesome! The other girls didn't get quite as lucky. I cannot believe this was the last time I'll take public transport and take an hour to get to church. What will I do when it only takes a half hour in a car?

Devotional tonight started with a 10 minute slide show of just pictures of the professors (and a few of their families). Ben called it Project Big Sister. Indeed it was. Greatest photos ever. Next, a 25 minute slide show compiled of our photo and music contributions. It was incredible. Next followed a testimony meeting and just about everyone was crying. Didn't cry. Proud. But it did hit me: this is it. The end of an era. I don't want to come home! I'm sure I'll love it when I get there and all that, but for heaven's sake, I live in London, England! The London, England! How can I go home? Do you think this argument will work at the airport? Will they give me a refund on my ticket and I can stay here? I'm going to miss these people and this place so much. This has been the most meaningful experience of my life so far. I would not trade it for anything.