Sniff, sniff...last day in London

     Today was my last full day in London.  It didn’t seem real that I had to say goodbye.  Thais left a goodbye breakfast of sugary waffles for us (I’m proud of myself, I didn’t eat one) and the usual cereal and yogurt.  While half of the kids finished finals Mikelle, Ashley, Lyssa, and I went to Abbey Road.  I didn’t think I was going to get this done before going home but thankfully Mikelle wanted to see it too.  We didn’t however get the famous Beatles photo because the street was super busy.  Mikelle took a picture of me, Lyssa, and Ashley walking across but I didn’t stagger enough so it looks really stupid.  I’ll have to post that photo when I get it from Mikelle.  The girls then left me at Marble Arch where I

stepped into Primark for my 3^rd and final time.  After getting some last minute souvenir shopping done I ran into Shelby, Katelyn, Brooklinn, and Rachel on my way home.  They invited me to lunch at the pub on the corner of Moscow and Queensway.  I got my first jacket potato, which is basically a baked potato.  I don’t know what it is about English potatoes but they’re super sweet. I like American potatoes better.  After lunch I got home to do a little more packing.  I was the only student in the centre and it started to settle in that this was real.  We really are leaving.  Tomorrow at this time none of us will be here.  When I started to get all sentimental I decided I couldn’t stay in the center and pack when everyone else was out, I needed to get out.  I took the circle line for the last time one stop to High Street Kensington where I bought something for Grandma and Grandpa Franklin.  I walked back home through one of my favorite streets in London: Embassy Row.  I’m going to miss walking down this street at dusk and taking in the grandeur of the buildings and of Kensington Palace.

            For dinner a group of us ate at a pub across from parliament.  We got off the tube for the last time at Piccadilly Circus and walked down to the riverside.  Then I got to cross off the LAST thing on my list of things to do.  We rode the London Eye.  It was the perfect way to say goodbye too London because you can literally see everything.  The girls got a little teary eyes….okay, that’s an understatement, some girls were outright bawling.  I don’t get usually get emotional, which I didn’t while riding the eye, but those that know me know that I easily get attached to things.  I didn’t get emotional until getting back to the center where Alli gave the Mason’s our ‘thank you’ card she made for them with things that made our London experience like ticket stubs and random brochures.  By that time I had been informed that Christi had left the center for good without saying goodbye (no one was home when she left) and I didn’t even know she was leaving tonight.  Other kids started saying their goodbyes and that’s when the tears came.  I didn’t cry hard but I will admit, I did cry.  I’ve grown to love the Mason’s and each student here.  We’re all so different and unique but for the past three months we’ve been a family.  I’m going to miss getting up and eating breakfast with the professors and their families, going to class and not caring that a boy sees me without makeup on, and always having people around.  It’s never a dull moment here in the London centre.  It’s still hard for me to think about going home.  I’ve been looking forward to coming to London for three years and now these three months are over I know the moment I walk into my house it’ll feel like it never happened.  But it did.  It did.

Dorm 1 girls! 

My 3rd home

Piccadilly Circus

Best director and vice-director ever!