Episode 29: Harry Potter Geekery and Farewell Dinner

I cannot believe tomorrow is my last full day in London. It seems like the beginning of the month was just a few days ago. And now, just when I've met some great people and I have a fun time going out with them, I have to go home. Why must this happen? At least we'll all stay friends on Facebook.

Anyway, I may not have mentioned it, but I did not fall asleep until five or so this morning. And I slept until noon. At which point I got up and Carlie and I headed into London. For today was the day I found my wizardly roots at Platform 9 3/4. Yep, we rode the Victoria line all the way out to King's Cross and I finally got to see Platform 9 3/4. Got a couple of pictures and felt all kinds of geeky joy.

Then I headed back to Surbiton. Yes, that's right. I got up and went all the way into London, just to see the platform and then head back to the dorm. In Waterloo, I stopped and bought more of the awesome granola bars I found. But when I tried to pay with my card (which I have swiped just fine countless other places), the checker was like "Do you have your passport with you?" What? Who just carries that around with them? I was like "No. I have my license." And she said that I needed my passport or pay with cash. Sassafrassarasser.

Got back to the dorm and wrote my Comedy of Errors paper. Now I just have to do my presentation tomorrow and I'm done. Here's hoping she grades for us putting in the time to make the presentation and not the actual quality. Because I'm pretty sure mine is lame. I have to get up tomorrow and print it off before class.

Then I took a quick shower and got dressed for the Farewell Dinner tonight. I did have a little mishap there. My dress can either be worn off the shoulder or not. So I was checking to see how it looked and to get the whole effect, I decided to climb up on the toilet. Well, I accidentally slammed the top of my knee into the sink. Yippee. That's gonna bruise.

But I got my dress on (not off the shoulder for those of you dying to know) and headed up to Stephanie and Kendra's flat. They did my hair for me, but I was make-up free tonight. I also didn't have any hairspray since I wanted tonight to be my last shower in London. It was so nice to be able to rub at my eyes and not worry about mascara or eyeshadow (although it's fun to look pretty sometimes).

I am so glad for all the conditioning I've gotten this month because at the beginning of it, I may not have made it all the way to the Holiday Inn. It wasn't extremely far, but it was a little bit of a trek. It was amazing to see people I haven't seen since the very beginning of the trip, like Michelle. And everyone was dressed up (mostly) which was pretty cool.

Of course the dinner was in the Kingston suite at the Inn. To me it almost felt like a more laid-back version of a prom (not my prom, since we didn't have a dinner or go to a ballroom or anything like that). There were these cool lantern balls hanging above and each of the tables was a landmark in London (or a place that we may have gone on a field trip in England) like my table was Houses of Parliament while another was Stonehenge and I also saw The British Museum. It was all so pretty.

I do hate eating out though. It just sucks trying to be careful about what I eat and having to choose from a small menu. We had a roll to start with (which I couldn't eat) after which came a "salad" course with a few greens and alternating slices of mozzarella (which I can't eat) and tomato (which is not my favorite, but I'm growing more fond of it). I ate about a slice of tomato and tried a little mozzarella.

Then for dinner it was a buffet where you could choose from a mild chicken curry (still a little too spicy for me) fish and chips (which I can't have) or vegetarian lasagna (which has gluten in it). I mostly had rice and these little roasted potato balls. Desert was an apple raspberry crumble thing with vanilla ice cream (also, I'm not sure I can eat that). It was freaking delicious, but I only ate a little because I didn't know if it had gluten in it.

Next time, I'll know to let them know I can't have gluten, but this time I didn't think of it until it was too late. I really really think my life will be much easier if I do have celiac because then I can just be like "Oh, I don't eat gluten" instead of "Oh, I don't eat greasy/oily foods, eggs, dairy, red meat, or high fructose corn syrup".

The night itself was fun though. And I think one of my new favorite phrases is Americanadians. It's just awesome. Also, Stanley noticed I was still at the table still during a lull and waltzed with me, even doing the spin and dip. I laughed so hard by the end at the dip. Montana has pictures that I shall have to steal.

Around ten thirty we left and headed to Coronation Hall for our last night. I didn't stay there too long, but I am going to miss this when I get back to the States. Yes, I don't drink and I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but I have so much fun when I go out with these people. And I don't really have anyone who would want to do this with me back home (never mind that it's pretty illegal). So that makes this time in London doubly special.

I came back early with Stephanie and then Skyped with Mom for a little while before heading to bed around 1am. Tomorrow is my last day of theatre, my last day in London and my last class of my summer abroad. Can't believe it came so soon.

Today's lesson: treasure the time you have even if you think it's going to be forever. Because it never is. Ciao.