The End is Near!!!

I only have two weeks left in the semester! Where the hell did the time go? Seriously, I feel like I just got here yesterday. There has never been a better example of time flying when you're having fun.
I will be right back here on the 2nd of January '08, but if this semester flew by, there is no doubt in my mind that next semester will fly just as fast. Also, I've made some really good friends here and they have been a huge part of my experience. I love meeting new people but I really don't feel like going through the whole orientation/asking people their major/organizing my life again. And I know this is silly, but since my friends here have helped shape my life here, I'm scared maybe next semester wont be as fun. But again, I know I did all this on my own, etc etc, so I'm sure I'll be fine.
The thing with this program coming to an end is that I'm feeling like I got nothing done. I still haven't been to Westminster Abbey! I wanted to go for a run in Hyde Park, see the changing of the guards, go to Bath and Oxford and Cambridge... I'm looking back on the past 3 months and I think I just sat on my butt the whole time! So since classes are coming to a close and I've not a lot left to do I'm trying to cram in as much as possible into the next two weeks.
Last weekend my friend Marina from Davidson was here visiting from her study abroad program in Spain. She stayed with Suzanne, who also goes to Davidson, and the three of us hung out and cooked because that Saturday we had our own little Thanksgiving.
The real Thanksgiving came and went. I did some cool things with Marina and Suzanne --- we climbed to the top of St. Paul's cathedral and looked at the beyond amazing view, which thank God, was worth it as there were almost 500 stairs to climb to get there. One of the coolest things was the Whispering Gallery, where we pressed our faces up to the wall and whispered to each other and could hear each other perfectly even though we were over 30 meters away from each other. We also had high tea at a tea shop called, um... Tea (creative), eating cake and scones with clotted cream and jam, and then Marina and I took a ride on the London Eye! That was one touristy thing I hadn't done here yet and wasn't expecting to do because of the price. But it turns out that we got a huge discount with my student Oyster card and the line was miraculously short, so the end of my Thanksgiving was spent "flying" (as they call it - British Airways sponsors it) over London at night. We had two different panoramic views that day, one in the daylight at St. Paul's and one late at night on the London Eye.
Then we proceeded to cook. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday ever so I was really bummed I wasn't home, so I tried to make up for it by going all out. We spent three days cooking - Marina made amazing cranberry bread, I made three pies and we bought everything from turkey to stuffing to mashed potatoes and made cranberry sauce and candied yams. It was pretty delicious, actually. So we all piled in to Suzanne's flat, I had a few friends from my program come, Suzanne had some people from hers. I was with some of my closest friends and even though I couldn't be home this really was the next best thing. And mom, you're really going to love this - I made them all say what they were thankful for before we were allowed to eat ;-) (It's funny how true it is that we all grow up to be our mothers)
This past week I've had classes, and while they're not a joke, they definitely don't ask to be taken seriously. My favorite class, history, was spent at the Imperial War Museum where I stupidly went into the Holocaust Exhibit and making an idiot of my self by sniffling my entire way through. On Wednesday, my architecture teacher took us all our for a pint at the oldest pub in London. I really don't understand the drinking age in America, it is way too cool to have beers with your teacher to have our entire country pass it up...!
And in my quest to be getting out of my room and onto the streets of London before it's too late, my friend Aly and I went to go see Phantom of the Opera on Thursday night. We got super cheap tickets, and even though the seats were super close together and some lady behind us was fondling Aly's new Primark coat and there was a rail/multiple craning necks in front of us, the show really surprised me in being pretty fantastic. I've never heard the music or seen Phantom so the last 30 minutes of the show I actually was at the end of my seat (now I know why that's such a cliche), my hand pressed to my mouth, completely and totally involved in the show. Plus, I now have a huge crush on the Phantom and Aly and I couldn't stop humming on our way back home. That was until she got on the tube right as the doors were closing and I got left behind. Not a big deal since I know my way around but it was so funny to see her face that I couldn't stop laughing and since the theater had just gotten out, the tube was crowded and they pretty much thought I was a crazy person, smiling and laughing to myself.
Plans for the next two weeks? Class, finishing up my final papers, saying goodbye...
We take the Piccadilly line to school every day and since were stupid Americans that act like 10-year-old boys we think it's hilarious when the tube lady's voice says, "This is a Piccadilly line service to.... Cockfosters". Hahahaha! Get's me every time! It must be here calm British voice that cracks me up (I hope they really didn't fire here, that would be a tragedy). Anyway, our last weekend in Lodon we plan on riding the tube all the way to Cockfosters in zone 5, dressed in our Sunday best. Explanation: we were told to bring one fancy thing to London just in case - shows, events, whatever... most of us haven't worn our suit/tux/dress/ensemble so we will have one last big dinner together where we cook and sit in someones kitchen for hours, get all gussied up, and take our final tube ride to honor the infamous Cockfosters. Should be fun, can't wait! But it also means I leave the next day... Let's see if I can hold out on the waterworks until then ;-)