cheers london! (or…ciao, adios, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, sayonara)

my packing is almost complete and my slight ADD has kicked in because i can’t really find it in me to finish (despite how close i actually am). sitting on the couch with andrew and trying to come up with a smart, witty title for this, my last blog entry, he turns to me and asks, “is there a name for regulars who use the tube?” i, of course, look at him and reply, “yeah, they are called british people.”

i started off my adventure at the lax airport and boarded a four-hour delayed plane flight departing for heathrow. i was both nervous and excited for the months that lied ahead of me and looking back i wouldn’t have changed a thing. there may have been a few more countries i wanted to visit or see one more tourist attraction in london, but you can’t do everything (even in 4 months). as i have written before, living in london and studying abroad has been the best experience of my entire life and i would recommend it to everyone even considering it. i’ve become more inspired to travel the world; there are so many more places i want to see and visit! as my dad said, i am going to have to find a pretty good paying job. haha. and one that let’s me take all those holidays!

it’s weird to think that 24 hours from now, i will probably be going through customs at the san francisco airport or waiting to board my plane to lax. until earlier tonight, it really hadn’t hit me that i am actually leaving. no more london, no more tube, no more weather that requires so much layering i can’t even move. i’ve been here for so long that i kind of forgot what it’s like to live in california. london has become my home. adjusting to everything might take a few days (driving, what’s that? and looking the “opposite” way for cars). everything is going to be all backwards.

i know you all have enjoyed reading my blog and checking in on all my european adventure, and i must admit, i’ve enjoyed writing them as well. deciding to write this blog was such a good decision as i could share all my pictures and experiences almost immediately with all of you instead of waiting until i got home or just hearing it secondhand from my mom.

well, that’s all i’ve got, i better go finish packing! see you all back in california where, according to the weather channel, it’s about 30 degrees warmer than anything i’ve felt in a long, long time…helloooo flip flips!

 

in the meantime, see if you could pass the british citizenship exam (my british life professor made us take this for our final exam. needless to say, i didn’t really pass with flying colors, although looking back i might have come close to passing). no cheating! oh, and these aren’t the toughest questions i got…

1. what percentage of the uk’s population live in england? a) 53%  b) 68%  c) 75%  d) 84%

2. name the patron saints’ days in order: a) st. george, st. patrick, st. andrew, st. david  b) st. andrew, st. patrick, st. david, st. george  c) st. george, st. patrick, st. david, st. andrew d) st. david, st. patrick, st. george, st. andrew

3. what two numbers can you dial for emergency calls? a) 999  b) 100  c) 112  d) 911

4. in which part of london will the majority of the 2012 olympics be held? a) the south end  b) the west end  c) the north end  d) the east end

5. if you are in a pub and accidentally knock over someone’s pint, do you: a) buy him/her a new one  b) apologize and then walk away  c) get in a fight

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2554235.ece

in a nutshell (revised)

by the numbers:

days spent in london: 118 (approximately 3 and a half months nearly 4 months)

countries visited: 9 (10 if you include england; in case you forgot, in order–spain, ireland, germany, france, greece, czech republic, the netherlands, italy and switzerland)

flatmates: 10 fabulous people who i can’t wait to see when i return to santa clara

stairs climbed to reach my flat: somewhere around 80

photos taken: 3,031 3,360 (i guess you could say i like to take pictures)

tourist-y attractions seen: 17-ish

football matches attended: 2 (i went to 3 stadiums though!)

tube lines used at one point over the course of my stay: 9 (bakerloo, central, circle, district, hammersmith & city…although this one shouldn’t count because i took it only once…jubilee, northern, picadilly and victoria)

international transaction fees charged: 128 of various amounts

frozen pizzas consumed (my flat was very into these): 1 slice (nope, never caved into this flat trend)

movies purchased on itunes: 5 and rented about 1 a week

pubs visited: 3 on a consistent basis and around 10 others (although that’s kind of a guess)

musicals seen: 7 (in order–we will rock you, hairspray, billy elliot, jersey boys, avenue q, chicago and oliver)

times buff checked my blog: 168.57

afternoon tea: just 1, surprisingly

went ice skating: 2 (at somerset house with the tiffany box christmas tree)

passport stamps received: 17 (7 alone can be attributed to re-entering the UK; oh, and the best stamp–definitely dublin, it takes up an entire page!)

blogs written: 58, which equates to 3.625 blogs per week

oh, let’s see…the british museum, afternoon tea and ice skating

fact: the british museum houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts (over 7 million!) originating from all continents, especially egypt and greece. some main “attractions” to see at the british museum include the rosetta stone and the parthenon sculptures.

after wandering around the museum for a few hours, we concluded our afternoon at the brown’s hotel for afternoon tea. three (or maybe four) cups of blackcurrant tea and quite a few finger sandwiches, i had officially experienced my first british high tea. back to the flat for some rest before my mom and i ventured off to somerset house for some ice skating.

tomorrow is my last day in london and will be spent in what i think might be my new favorite museum–the tate modern. so much to explore and so little time! we will also be visiting st. paul’s cathedral and having lunch at one of gordon ramsey’s restaurants. bright and early tuesday morning, we will be off to heathrow and on our way back to california. it’s been a great adventure, but i think i am ready for a little more california in my life (plus, it’s getting really freaking cold here).

stonehenge ROCKS!

hahahaha. i just found that so amusing. anyway, today we went to stonehenge, salisbury and winchester. here’s some photos from our adventure…

blue is the colo(u)r, football is the game

my second football match in four months–chelsea vs. west bromwich albion. quite exciting and both lampard and drogba scored in the first half. of course, chelsea won by a score of 2 to 0.

christmas in london was fairly quiet as literally EVERYTHING is closed. we went to midnight mass at the brompton oratory, which lucky for us, is just a few blocks away. the inside of the church is absolutely beautiful and the choir was amazing, the only downside was that the oratory still conducts mass pre-vatican II style and thus the entire mass was in latin. christmas lunch at the chop house included views of tower bridge, as well as christmas crackers (very british i must say) and santa hats, which were happily worn by both the staff and guests.

tomorrow is another early morning (oh boy!) as we are off to stonehenge, salisbury and winchester. just four days left in london until i am back to all my favorite things about california…target, mexican food, ice cubes in drinks, and of course, all of you!

the country of shakespeare, churchill, the beatles, sean connery, harry potter, david beckham’s right foot (david beckham’s left foot come to think of it)

ok! the updates you’ve been waiting for (oh and there are a few more photos after the ones i posted yesterday of my flat, “palace” aka mine and courtney’s room, and portobello market)!

after packing four months into two very large suitcases and one, probably normal-sized one, dragging the aforementioned luggage down all those flights of stairs i never got used to and somehow managing to squeeze them into a cab (along with my other flatmate’s similar amount of luggage as well), i finally made it to the new flat. quite the christmas miracle if you ask me.

saturday: portobello road was as busy as ever (luckily, no rain this time…thank goodness!), yet we still managed to find the perfect tree.

sunday: all the sightseeing, touristy things that every london visitor must see (ie. big ben/parliament, the london eye, buckingham palace, trafalgar square).

monday: an all day harry potter tour to oxford and gloucester. aside from seeing all those great harry potter film locations, the actual places themselves were very neat to see and our tour guide had a lot of interesting facts to tell us. that evening we went to zetland arms (my former local pub) to have some quality british pub food and watch the chelsea football match; sadly, they tied against everton.

tuesday: tour of stamford bridge (chelsea fc stadium) and christmas carols at royal albert hall.

today (christmas eve!): a little stroll around covent garden (aka theatreland) and “oliver, oliver! what he will do when he’s turned black and blue, he will rule the day somebody named him ol-i-ver!”

 

midnight mass in about an hour and then christmas lunch near tower bridge tomorrow afternoon. happy christmas from across the pond!

one more hour!

all of my flatmates (except one) are somewhere in the air on the way home already or stuck at heathrow in all those long holiday lines. luckily, the fam arrives in about an hour! then it’s off to portobello market to pick out our christmas tree

i think they are already bringing some of that california weather over because it’s a warm 12 degrees (about 54 degrees fahrenheit outside right now. wooooo!

all good things must come to an end

one hour left of my internship and i am freeee. it’s all coming to an end though which is all just so depressing and i’d much rather not think about it. courtney left this early this morning and is probably halfway back to arizona by now. my other flatmates all leave on saturday at various times while i will merely be moving my three suitcases and random bags of goodies to a new flat about ten minutes away from my current location. the good news: because my program is through santa clara, i get to see all my flatmates again in about two weeks when i get back to school. bad news: nothing will ever top my experience here in london. multiple people have told me that i better not be depressed when i come home because they are so excited to see me, and as much as i will try, there will always be part of me that will want to be back in london…taking the tube, doing the sudoku in the morning metro (i’ve managed to complete both the easy and medium ones in the time it takes for me to take the bus to work), grabbing a panini at my place down the street, constantly being surrounded by british accents and trying not to get run over by black cabs or double decker buses. the one thing i won’t miss–all those stairs to my flat! i can officially say i never got used to them.

looking back through all my photos, it’s amazing all the things i’ve been able to see and experience over the past four months. i came to london never having stepped foot in england before and now i couldn’t imagine not being here.

despite the fact that someone is going to have to drag me onto the plane home on the 30th, there are so many things i can’t wait for when i get back to california. numero uno…MEXICAN FOOD! there’s also the warm(er) weather to look forward to. i’ve already talked to my roommate as well and our room is going to be decorated completely with all our new international souveniers.

the fam arrives in two days! oh and fyi, the blog will continue as there will be many more photos taken (my computer is out of disk space i’ve taken so many!). on the agenda for the next two weeks: christmas tree decorating (my dad promised me a small one), ice skating, stonehenge, oxford, chelsea fc stadium tour and lots more.

i’m off to have “funky cocktails” with the funky venues team and then walking around camden (home to amy winehouse) tomorrow to avoid packing. cheers!

my last week (kind of)

thank goodness i’m not headed to heathrow along with everyone else this saturday because i can’t even fathom having to leave london right now. not only are there so many more things i want to see, but christmas in london is absolutely magical. everywhere i go there are christmas trees, lights and wreaths. it’s so much fun walking around everywhere! all the tourists are on their way into the city and packing the tube stations (a little annoying) and the weather just keeps getting colder by the day. i’ve actually adapted to the weather for the most part although if not dressed appropriately you might as well not even consider leaving the flat.

the new photos for this week: portobello road, platform 9 3/4 (yes, from harry potter), more beautiful photos of big ben (with a christmas tree of course!), chicago the musical and windsor castle.

secret santa and dinner at the original hard rock cafe tomorrow night with my flat.

switzerland. arsenal stadium tour. duffy.

sorry it’s taken me so long to post these!