I can't be as sorry as you think I should...

Holy crap, I haven't updated about Scotland yet?! The days are just running away with me, I'm trying so hard to squeeze in all the things I want to do before I fly home. On WEDNESDAY. Wow. That came up fast.

In one word, Scotland was AMAZING. In many, it was funny, and beautiful, and a great opportunity, and historic, and cultural, and exciting, and, and, and! Just so great! I went on a bus tour and we started in Edinburgh and travelling up into the Highlands hitting up places like Glencoe and Loch Ness, and drove even further North to the Isle of Skye, which was so pretty and actually reminded me a lot of Canada! Our tour guide was this small young Scottish woman named Debs who was this hilarious spritely girl who doubled as our bus driver! And Dianne and I made friends with these two Aussie girls, Louise and Hannah, and now I'm really tempted to go to Australia (as if I wasn't tempted already with Ryan being down there). I learned so much history and random facts about Scotland, Nessie, clans, and whisky! I bought a little souvenier for myself and a small bottle of whisky to try! All in all, a fantastic trip - I can't wait to go back!!

Now I'm in packing/sightseeing/soaking-up-London mode. I went on a huge walk from my res, down Baker St, across Wigmore, then down Regent to Oxford, then across Oxford (CRAZY CHRISTMASY OXFORD - so many people!!!) to Marble Arch. That's a looooooong walk for those of you who don't know the area - about 3km! Ok, I know, that's not a whole lot, but it is considering I didn't plan any of that. Yesterday Liz, Sarah, and Sarah's boyfriend Nathan and I saw Natalie off (so sad!) and then went Christmas shopping at Whiteleys (very posh mall in Notting Hill) and then to Oxford Circus, then to Picadilly/Leicester to see about getting theatre tickets. We couldn't get any for last night so we'll go back today and see about getting some £20 tickets to Avenue Q. So then we grabbed dinner and went to this pub I've been meaning to go to since I got here. Then we went to Vic and hung out for a bit. Long day, but a good one!

So today our foresome (aptly named Remainder Four) are hitting up the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, and then hopefully the Christmas festival in Hyde Park, and also hopefully Avenue Q tonight. Should be a good day if everything goes as planned!

deck the halls...

Well hello! My time here is almost at an end, I only have ten days left. It's starting to feel really wierd. I'm excited to go home and have Christmas and see my family and friends, but I'm also kind of nervous about it after being away for all this time. Things will be different, I will be different. They won't be the same as they were the last time I was there. That makes me kind of sad, and nervous for the homecoming.

This week was really really good. It was the last week of classes, and since we don't have exams over here it was the last week of everything pretty much. So there were a bunch of final things to see and do, and lots of photo taking at every oppotunity. Photos taken of every class and with most profs, and lots of fun photoshoots wherever we were because we knew our time together was short. It was really good though, the people here with me are pretty hilarious, and great to be around.

I went to a panto on Wednesday night at the Hackney Empire. BEST SHOW EVER!!! It was part looney tunes, part slapstick, part vaudeville, part Disney movie, and all fun! Tons of audience participation, tons of songs and laughter, a whole bunch of current and regional jokes added in, and two of the main characters were cross-dressed, including the main male hero who was played by a women. Amazing and hilarious! I wish I could see it again, I didn't stop smiling through the entire show, and I left feeling as giddy as a six year old. Pantos are where it's at.

OH! AND, Ian McKellen was in the audience! So we all had fun ogling him a bit. Good times. Brings my celebrity sightings up to two!

People have already started to go home. People already ARE home. It's such a weird feeling. I've still got a trip to Scotland and Chantelle coming to do/enjoy before I go home, and people are already there, reminicing about their time in the UK. I feel like I spent so much of my time over here waiting to go home, and when I get home I'm going to spend so much time and energy on thinking and missing London and this semester. Why is the grass always greener on the other side?

I should go, I leave for Scotland soon (eeeee! so excited!) and I haven't even packed yet!

I don't need to lose it to know that I had it good...

Well hello! As always, it's been a while, and as always, so much has happened I'm not sure I'll get it all in. But I suppose that's the nature of a blog; something is always left out. And I'm ok with that, more opportunity to share stories when I get home.

Speaking of home, I fly home in a little over a month - 34 days to be exact! I'm both happy and sad about that to be honest. I'm having a great time over here, I really like London and all I've been doing for classes and stuff. But I really miss my family and friends, the people who love you no matter what. I also realize I don't really like the place I'm living in. I feel like I would really have enjoyed living in a flat, with a computer, and a phone (I don't have either here. I know, crazy!)

But last weekend I went to Sheffield to visit Amy, who lived across the hall from me in my first year in Artz. She moved there in September, and is just loving it over here. It was great to see her and spend time with her, and it was also really great to see her so happy with her life right now. She said she has no plans to live in Canada again unless it's to get her immigration papers to move to the UK for good. Wow!

This weekend I feel like be a slow one. I should do some work, so that'll probably happen at some point. But I'd also like to get started on the list I've made of things to do before I leave. Among other things, it is:

- Hyde Park, to see Kenginston Gardens (the Diana stuff) and the Peter Pan statue
- Covent Garden, to see te market that's there
- a movie in Leicester Square
- the Imperial War Museum
- go inside St. Paul's Catherdral
- go ice skating (I'm not sure tis one will pan out, I might just wait 'till I'm back in Kingston)

So that's where I'm at now. Slowly getting more and more ready to go home!

bop to the top

I got back yesterday from my Reading Week break. Dianne and I went to France and the north of England. We spent three days in Paris, two in the Loire valley near this small town called Fontevraud (I don't know how to say it!) and then about 5 days just outside Lancaster, near the Lake District. It was all so whirlwind and crazy, and a lot of things went wrong, but it was a great trip. Here are some tidbits:

I chose my courses for next semester from an internet terminal in Heathrow airport. Not sure if I think that's annoying or awesome, but it's done. I have all the courses I want. :)

The day we arrived in Paris was also apparently the day all public transport went on strike, so there were no buses, trains, or subways working in the city and we arrived so late in the day (about 6pm) that there weren't any airport shuttles happening either. We had to take a cab from Charles de Gaulle airport to our hostel. Sucked, but it had to be done.

We took a cruise on the Siene, and it was a great way to see some of the city. We also hit up all the major tourist spots: Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees.

The Loire was gorgeous, and I think I'd rather return there than to Paris. I think coming from London is just felt like another big city, but the Loire was like a different world. Pretty landscapes, nice people, comfy places to stay, and if I had more money I would be able to say good food and wine. Maybe next time?

Once back in Britian we went to Blackpool (on the west coast) to go to a big amusement park called Pleasure Beach. It was really great! We went on tons of rollercoasters and, despite the cold, they were really fun. It's been a while since I've been on roller coaster, it was fun!

We also spent a couple days in the Lake District. GORGEOUS. Such pretty hills (they call them the fells) and valleys. Cute little towns with yummy cafes and great shops. We went to the house Beatrix Potter lived in when she earned enough money to move out of her parents' house. Small and cute, and they've planted a garden like the ones she writes about. It reminded me of that Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit dish set I had when I was growing up. I wonder if that's still around? I'm sure it is, but whether it's out a moving box yet is an entirely different matter. We also drove up a really really windy road through a small mountain in the Lake District, to really get a sense of what it's like. Lots of winds, narrow roads, and sheep! Some sheep even posed for my camera.

And now we're back home, and I'm trying to get back into the school mindset. Today I don't have any set class (well, a show tonight...) so I'm going to catch up on life: write and mail postcards I bought while away, choose a topic for my British art history paper (suggestions, anyone?), and get caught up on schoolwork in general. Oh, and watch last week's Grey's!

I suppose that's all for now. That's not a very good glimpse at what my break was like, but it's hard to tell you everything you want to know without hearing your questions. So ask away if you want to know about something. In the mean time, I'll try to update in a couple days.

WOW

So much has happened since I last wrote! I'm going to try to get it all in! So since I last wrote I've seen four plays and two concerts (holy crap, I know!), been out to celebrate two birthdays, welcomed two of my best friends to London and done a bunch of schoolwork. (Look Martin, I'm talking about school!) I saw two productions of The Merchant of Venice, one at The Globe (which was such a fun experience!) and a fringe production at a theatre in London's east end called The Arcola. The first one was really good because they really tried to take your back to what it would have been like seeing a show during Shakespeare's time. So we stood in the yard, and they simulated daylight, and it was generally a raucous good time. The other production wasn't as good. I liked some of the concepts that were introduced but on the whole I was frustrated by it because they opened a lot of doors and set up a lot of themes and bigger questions and then stopped addressing them. It just felt half-baked.

The other show I saw was Cabaret on the west end, it was really fun too! I don't really like Cabaret but I liked the dancing and the set design, and it was still a show on the west end (in Picadilly Circus!) and the cherry on top was having one of the characters come to our class the next day to talk with us a little about the show and about being an actor in London. He was really nice and it was a great treat to talk to someone in the business.

The latest play I saw was another one at the National Theatre called Rafta Rafta. It's set around an immigrant Indian family and is basically a family comedy-drama. It was a good slice of life for a family like that, and was pretty funny. I think our class liked it.

The two conerts were also good. I saw a lack-lustre concert on tango music (the music was good but the singing and dancing were corny and lame), and a concert by the London Philharmonia on Brahms and Strauss which was really great! The music was so well done and the pieces were moving, I only wished the piano soloist had had more emotion in his playing. But overall it was a great concert.

Last week was Steph's birthday and we went out last Wednesday (though her birthday was Friday) to ISH bar, which was a great time. Jerrrard (our prof) and his wife Diana came out, which was hilarious, and I was really glad that the group just all (or mostly all) came out and was in good spirits. We all had a good time chatting and all that. And then last night Steph, Dianne, Cara, Evan and I went out kind of for Dianne's birthday, which is on Thursday. We wanted to go to the Ice Bar but got there too late (we might try to go back later in the week, even though it had a £15 cover - eek!) and then ended up at a bar in Picadilly Circus called On Anon, which was pretty good. We stayed for a couple pints and then headed home.

Saturday marked the beginning of Cara's & Evan's visit to London! They got here around noon and we've been doing things non-stop since then, with the exception of class. We've been to Regent's Park (duh, it's basically our backyard), Harrod's, Primark, out to dinner, and Cara and Evan have also been to Fortnum and Mason's (a high end dept store like Harrod's), Hamley's Toy Store, and the London Eye. I think theyre having a good time, and it's really great having them here, even with having to share my tiny single bed. Oh, and we've been trading all sorts of gossip and drama, us telling about random things that happen here and them filling Dianne and I in on the drama happening in our group of friends right now.

So I suppose now you're (mostly) all caught up! Tonight we're seeing Carmen for music class (yay!) and this weekend Dianne and I are going to Brighton, and Dianne, Cara, Evan and I might go to Stratford-Upon-Avon to visit Cara's friend from high school. And Steph's off to Amsterdam this weekend for lots of fun and debauchery. We're always busy, now I just need to find time to do work!

in which the homesickness sets in...

Highlights from last weekend:
- Staying in British suburia, despite making me miss my own surburban home.
- Trying out punting. I wasn't very good, and actually got a little frustrated, but I liked sitting in the boat and spending time with the roomies.
- Our B&B. Very comfortable with an ensuite bathroom (that doesn't feel like you're on a barge) and a tv in the room. I got to watch British talk shows!
- Going up a church tower to see the whole of Oxford, and even into the countryside a little. Very pretty.
- This cafe called Puccino's with a very quirky menu and decor. My kind of place.

Things I'm looking forward to:
- Evan and Cara coming to visit for an entire week! Eeeee!
- Getting more and more used to London things like the Tube, the streets, and the general layout of the city. I still get frustrated with how easily I lose my sense of direction here, but I'm getting better.
- The drama class' backstage tour of the British National Theatre scheduled for next week.
- Going out tomorrow for Steph's (roomate's) birthday.

Things I miss:
- My privacy. Being in a triple is definitely worse than the double in Artz I remember. I've been here a month, and been alone twice since I drove to the airport in Toronto. Ugh.
- My computer. It's my window home. I go stir-crazy when I can't interact with different people on a regular basis, and even moreso when I can't connect with my family and best friends when I want to, or read my blog, or do random research on things that interest me, not to mention actual research I need to do for classes. This is what I'm having the hardest time with. I knew it would be an adjustment, but I didn't expect the guilt I would feel always borrowing time on my roomates' computers. If there is any way to get one right now, I'd get it. But I keep coming up dry.
- Television, especially since Private Practice and Grey's have started. Plus, sometimes it feels so good to relax and veg in front of the boob tube. Some people listen to music, some people have a glass of wine, I watch tv.
- Peanut butter, solely because someone mentioned it at dinner tonight and now I have a craving.

I don't want you to think I'm not having a good time. I am. I'm enjoying myself. I'm meeting new people and doing new things, and loving being here. I just miss those things.