My Penultimate Prose

“My Dad says that being a Londoner has nothing to do with where you’re born. He says that there are people who get off a jumbo jet at Heathrow, go through immigration waving any kind of passport, hop on the tube and by the time the train’s pulled into Piccadilly Circus they’ve become a Londoner.”
~ Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho.

As I come to the end of my time in London, I find that I’m scrambling to figure out if I’ve done everything I wanted to do. After four months of living in an entirely new country, I’ve just become so adjusted to my relatively normal lifestyle that it’s hard to remember what kind of crazy goals I made at the beginning of the semester. Luckily, I have made dozens of lists along the way. I’m happy to officially report that I only have one activity left to check off. I suppose it’s frustrating that I won’t have time to actually do that activity, but I’ve decided to look at it in a more positive light: leaving that one box unchecked will open up the possibility of coming back someday. And the thought of coming back is the main thing that’s keeping me sane during finals season. So honestly, I’m really grateful that I’m leaving something unfinished.

Anyway, besides that one thing, I feel that I’ve had a really fulfilling time in London. At the risk of making a really long list, I’ve travelled internationally on multiple occasions, and traveled alone, even; held down an internship where I got to write more than thirty articles for an online magazine; learned a lot in class and improved at least a little bit, although my grades probably won’t show that – sorry, Mom; and become a real Londoner in the process. I’m going to be heading home in about a week, and until then I’m going to be working on an essay and studying for another. I’ll be trying to stuff the British editions of some of my favourite books in my suitcase and trying to spend as much time as possible on the streets of London. For some reason, all of these things sound like incredibly daunting tasks, but they shouldn’t. I guess in spite of everything, I’m still pretty upset about leaving.

I’ve become so independent here – or at least I’d like to think I have – that it’s going to be weird depending on my parents to drive me around and go grocery shopping for me. Although I love a good walk to the library in my town, that’s really the only place I can get to on my own. For the first few weeks, it may also be a little difficult because I won’t have any sort of structure to my day. It’s usually rough for me to transition between school and home – last year I became physically ill – so I can’t imagine what I’ll go through after coming home from this adventure. I’ll miss the unspoken code of conduct here, and I’ll miss Costa and Cadbury and all sorts of other brands I’ve become addicted to. I’ll miss the parks, the literary walks, and my daily life. And obviously I’ll miss hearing the British accents every day. But these are all first world problems. I need to steer away from feeling sorry for myself.

That’s why it’s a good thing I have so many things lined up for this summer, to keep me from getting sad about being away from London for an indeterminate amount of time. I’ve got two really fun jobs lined up, and I’ve got a list of seventeen things to keep me busy when it’s not camp season yet. Of course I’m excited to see my friends and family again, as well, especially since I haven’t exactly been a social butterfly here. I’m a little superstitious so I hesitate to say this, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a good summer. As long as I take the time to work hard and play hard, it should be possible to move on from London without too much grieving.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to hear about some of the things I’ve done in the past few weeks? That would make sense. This month, I went to see the cannons fire for Princess Charlotte’s birth at the Tower of London, I ran from Tower Bridge to make it to the Globe Theatre one minute before Merchant of Venice began, and I visited the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London for the second time – this time exploring the sets from a new angle and with a cup of Butterbeer in my hand.* This week, I’ve got a trip to the Natural History Museum (or the National Gallery… we’ll see) and a nighttime cruise along the Thames. Although I’m procrastinating pretty badly right now, I think that I’m going to make it through, with time to explore new things and rediscover some familiar haunts before I return home on Saturday next.

So one section of this blog post remains. Do any of you (few, but loyal) readers have any last minute questions about my trip? I’m happy to answer them in my last blog post next week. It’s your last chance – this blog is being retired as soon as I get on that plane home. And I’m sure that you won’t want to hear me yammering away about “British people this, British people that” when I get home, so this really is your last opportunity! Which leads me to my question for you: how do you feel about me starting another blog? My life is a little boring (as you’ve probably discovered here,) but if you’re interested, I’m happy to use any excuse to continue writing. I could also potentially do another theme blog, reviewing the books that I’m reading or something like that. So, what do you think? Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page, and perhaps (no promises) I’ll make a decision by next week. I’m looking forward to hearing from you, but until then: goodbye for now!

*Apologies, by the way, for posting yet another picture of me at the top. It’s just that the majority of my pictures this week have come out really blurry… Also, this is one of my favourite Harry Potter sets, so I guess I couldn’t help myself.