The Nerdy Day

It's just a matter of hours before I leave my dorm and head to the bus terminal, which will take my to the airport, which will take me home. I've been here for 98 days now; it's time to go home.

I figured, though, now that the last papers are turn in, our last British tea was had, and I'm just waiting for the time to call the taxi, it'd be a good time to catch up the blog with perhaps one of the most fun days I had in London just this past weekend.

I caught a morning train up from Brighton to meet up with my friend Laura, arriving pretty early in the day. We dashed out of Victoria Station and made our way past Trafalgar Square as we headed towards the West End to purchase theatre tickets later that night. Once they were procured we began our day of nerdy activities and headed for the Underground.

We got off at St. John's Wood and walked up to one of the places I wanted to visit most since finding out I had been accepted at my university for study this term -- Abbey Road.



We got to see the studio from outside the graffiti-covered wall as musicians entered and exited the building to work on recordings. It was really cool, and seeing all the signings on the wall made everything feel connected. We then crossed the road, treading the same place The Beatles had 40 years earlier. It was really surreal.







The next stop was a trip to Abney Park Cemetery, a Victorian cemetery that inspired Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard book.



It was mid-afternoon but the sun sets so early here that we ended up wandering the graveyard mainly in the gloaming. It was beautiful.











It was fantastically old and surrounded by a park. All the graves seem to be getting overtaken by nature, vines and roots climbing all over every headstone, overgrown bushes sprouting from graves, broken and toppled stonework from the gravestones. It was gorgeous. We ended up staying long enough that we were treated to a beautiful view of the moon as we walked through the dark and loamy earth, our breath coming out in puffs from the cold, faces stinging in the wet air.

We then made our way back to the West End to see Hairspray at the theatre. It was absolutely brilliant, such a great performance. Laura and I were really happy with how fun it was.

After all that I had to sadly depart and come back to Brighton because of homework -- final essays needed to be written and I was behind.

I finished them, of course, and turned them in on Wednesday so that I could take the last day off and enjoy myself. I caught up on sleep and finished packing Thursday and now… I'm just waiting to leave in the matter of just a few hours. I suppose I'll be writing again on the other side. I'm so glad to be going home.

Starting to play catch-up

Hmmm, an update, finally!

I haven't been up to much in the past month -- and at the same time, I have. I didn't really get to doing anything, though, until Hallowe'en weekend, but then I've pretty much been busy every weekend after, or thereabouts.

Right before it all, though, was an exciting epicurean adventure: sushi on a conveyer belt. I hope you'll forgive me for being a bit… tipsy… but the sake was strong that night, and warm, and it was cold outside, plus I had just finished a presentation. It was my 30-somethingthed hour awake and it was a night of relaxation.


You see, school had been consuming me up until Hallowe'en weekend, I even made a photostrip documenting it, kind of, at a friend's request. She asked what I was doing and I replied, 'consuming literature.' I decided to be literal.



It's been more of that, really, lately. Lots of schoolwork, mainly just loads of reading, with final papers looming in the horizon. I'm in my last three weeks, though, so I'm trying to push to get it all done and fit in a small trip before the end.

We did manage to visit a proper teahouse, though, the other day, and make a feast of the scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea. It was amazingly delicious. And I felt so British! Pinkies out for fancy tea time!





We were then able to follow it all up with some photography expeditions around Brighton, capturing bits of the city we've lived in for the past 2 months. I hope to do more of that before the end. I want to be able to reconstruct the city a bit for when I get home and show everyone all my photos.

I'm hoping that popping in here will motivate me to play catch up so I can share what I've been up to, including going to a book signing in London and doing the tourist thing there, experiencing Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, observing Remembrance Day, and spending time with friends. I'll be commuting back and forth to London from Brighton all weekend with my German friends who are flying in, but after that, no excuses!