Goodbye Robyn and the month of December in England.

So tonight is my last night in the castle otherwise known as Founders, which I just realized Ive never posted a picture of. Perhaps, because I haven't taken a picture, so Ill use someone else's. Plus one of my own.



Emily's shot of Founder's from "the woods". You can technically see my room. Go up to the floor with the little pillars outside the windows. Move toward to right and its the room that sticks out a bit (not the rounded ones though).




My shot of the clock tower before a trip into London.


So anyway. I finally finished that essay.
Tuesday I went into London and saw the Phantom of the Opera. AMAZING
Last night we ordered curry and ate it as a big group and today Ive been quite lazy.
Tonight we are having a little going away party for Robyn since she won't becoming back for the next term.
Then tomorrow morning I'm catching the 8 am bus to Heathrow and hanging out in the airport before I hop on a plane back to all of you.

So my recap of the term.
It seemed to go by so slowly, but now that I look back, its seriously just a whirlwind.
I only managed to travel once-to Spain, therefore I had some laidback weekends here.
I was tested by the English school system, let's hope I win round 2.
Ive seen 5 shows.
Met lots of great people.
Seen lots of Londony things
Been called a chav
Had really crappy British food
Had really good, expensive meals.
Had really yummy pub food.

Overall, so far a success. Theres been times when I didnt know why on earth I was here. Especially when I got that first paper back. And there are times when I still think that. I mean I want to go to grad school right after this. And instead of making contacts in Berkeley who can write my letters of rec, I'm over here, where my psychology courses are taught by at least 3 different professors, and I'm putting my GPA on the line. . .not to mention my bank account. Ive always been a money saver- well I wasnt when I was little, but Ive learned. And for the first time, Im actually going to be broke. So I better make this worth it right?

Next term, I'm going to try to travel a whole lot more.

But. . .Ive learned a lot since Ive been here. And thats what this is all about right?

Man I sound incredibly cheesy.

I hope all of you that have finals do well. For those of you who have finished, well done.

I'll hopefully see you all soon.

Almost Done. . .

Still working on that last paer. . .well technically not the last, considering I'll have a paper to write over break. 4000-5000 words for my documentary class. I have a meeting with the instructor tomorrow to discuss it. But thus far I've written 1200 out of 2000 words for my essay on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Not happy with what I've written though. It seems as though I'm just going through the motions. All I want to do is pack and relax. I could wait to do the paper and just finish it over break, but I've already started so now I must finish. Tomorrow perhaps?

Tonight we are having a Secret Santa gift exchange on my floor, except not so secret because some of the girls worked out who everyone has. Kind of ruins the surprise don't ya think?

Tuesday I might go into London to see Phantom of the Opera. My budget is hurting a bit this month. But that's because of all the Christmas presents I am buying that I originally said I wouldn't buy. I'm going to be exactly like Santa with my suitcase. . .err. . .bag full of presents. I just hope I stay under the weight limit so I don't have to check my small duffel bag, which also means less to carry. Other thing that kinda bums me out is that I'm allowed one carry on. So I have to shove everything in my backpack that I would usually put in a handbag, because my backpack is the saviour of my electronics, not that my computer has been very kind to me lately.

Oh yea. . .this is a great way to procrastinate. . . when the internet is actually working. Of course I still don't have it in my room, which makes my paper so much fun. I need to reference websites so I have to do a bunch of copy+pasting. I miss the internet and its usefulness.

Hope the first week and a few days of December has treated you all very well. It's almost Christmas (as I am constantly reminded of by Millie: Queen of Christmas Spirit as well as Rianne's decorated room)

Im sorry Im so slow.

Greetings!!

I've been a little slow lately, my apologies.

Thanksgiving was slightly depressing. I did have apple pie to commemorate the day, but alas nothing like some good stuffing. *sigh* I want. . .

The term is coming to an end. I have my last real lecture in less than an hour. Next week, I have two seminars and a few review lectures. I have to finish up reading for my psychology classes this week/weekend and do my last psychology paper. That way, I'll only have one paper to do once I get home. Itll be 4000-5000 words though. Bummer.

Ive done some Christmas shopping and keep seeing ornaments and such that I really want to bring home, but I need to not break things! Plus I dont know how much room I'll have in my suitcase. So if there's anything any of you want, do let me know, and I'll try my hardest to get it.

Anyway so to cover the last few weeks, which have been pretty slow. . .

My swim meet for the 2nd was cancelled, but we had a friendly competition on Tuesday. Oh man. . . I hurt so bad. I should just retire, my body wants to. But it was fun. We played "water polo" after . . .actually it was more like animal ball. It was all in good fun.

Oh and last week, we made some signs for the radio station's free hug day. Sarah and I made a nice one, with a little too much pink for me, but overall class all the way. So on Tuesday afternoon I went around with a bunch of the people who help out at the radio station with a "hug me" sign on my sweatshirt and some hot chocolate in hand. Some people were a little frightened by us, but others were quite receptive.

Yesterday I did some Christmas shopping and then went to dinner and the movies with some of the girls. We saw the Golden Compass, which I enjoyed. And then we bought some cakes which were reduced to 99 pence each and sat in the hallway and showed each other everything we bought throughout the day.

Tomorrrow I have a Christmas dinner with the swim team and on Saturday I am volunteering with them at a hospital. I guess we are going to decorate it for the holidays.

After this hectic weekend, I will hopefully be done so I can focus on cleaning up my room and shopping a bit more.

Still trying to decide exactly how I'm going to get to the airport. . .bus is much cheaper but less convenient, plus I wonder if I can manage to get my bag into the storage area. We shall see.