Almost the end?

No, this isn't my "the end" post.....but its pretty close, which for me is pretty strange. It truly seems just like yesterday when all the people I've become such good friends with were strangers, when there was no work to do and we were all naive tourists. I don't think I'll realize how long ago that really was until I get home and the amount of time I've been gone starts to set in. In the grand scheme of things two months isn't all that long, but when you pick up your whole life and move it to another continent across the ocean, the normal grind of "daily life" at home can start to seem very foreign. The really important things that will start to happen at home next week (band, moving in to my apartment, etc.)....right now it still hasn't set in that they actually will be happening next week. I expect what I'm doing right now to just keep going, and I'm afraid I won't realize that it can't until I land at DFW.

whew.....enough of that! Today is my last day of work at Ethical Corporation--or here in London at least. My bosses have said they hope I can continue working remotely once I leave, so I feel like this is a definite possibility that I'm incredibly excited about! If you've read my earlier posts, there's nothing bad I can say about this company or my time here....I'm really going to miss this.

I'm really going to miss lots of things about this whole experience, but despite this feeling I'm completely ready to come home. I don't know why, but I came to the realization a while ago that I wasn't ready to leave then--too much left to see and do--but that I would be when the time came. Well, I've seen and done all those things (and more!), the time has come and now I'm ready.

As for the "seen and done" part: since I turned in some major class projects last week, there's just been too much going on! I can't actually write about it all, so a list will have to do....

• Thursday: a late opening at the Museum of London. This was medieval-themed with a hog roast, period musicians, a table of authentic objects that you could pick up and talk with the curators about, and a private tour of the museum
• Friday: after class we visited the Natural History museum (great dinosaur exhibit!), went to eat Indian food on Brick Lane (this is very near where I work--same tube stop), played around "downtown" (near the Tate Modern, Globe, Millennium Bridge & St. Paul's), ate Chinese food in Soho and went on a historic Ale Trail that we almost finished...to be continued. :)
• Saturday: got up very early to go queue to buy last-minute tickets to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, visited the British Library's "Sacred" exhibit of books and artifacts plus lots of history about Christianity, Islam and Judaism; spent the afternoon at Regent Park for the innocent (smoothie company--like Naked) village fete (reminded me of the Folklife Festival, county-fair style with more free stuff), and went to see Wicked! Absolutely amazing musical--best I've seen here, and that's saying something---and afterward we met all the stars as they were leaving the theatre! Then I immediately downloaded the soundtrack, which has been in my head ever since and is not leaving any time soon. :)
  
• Sunday: I went to church in the morning, visited the Tate Modern for about 45 minutes before I realized that I don't get modern art (though I did enjoy a few Pollocks, a Matisse and a Monet), then headed out on a train to the countryside to "Go Ape!" I can safely say this was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip...it was basically a ropes course in the treetops with ziplines, ladders, and all kinds of obstacles to get you from platform to platform. The coolest part was that after a little educational session, you sign your life away and are basically unsupervised--a lot of responsibility to make sure you know what you're doing!! An amazing excursion.
  
• Monday: finished the Ale Trail by visiting the last pub after work, eating dinner and earning my T-shirt, which I really wanted to wear to work this week but have refrained from doing.
• Tuesday: apparently was boring, as I have nothing to write about here
• Wednesday: the 30th annual Great British Beer Festival was happening at Earl's Court--this is a two-week long event where tons of breweries set up inside this gigantic venue and serve beer you'd never be able to get in one place. I thought this was hilarious, as it reminded me of a convention--like TMEA or some home and garden expo--but for beer. Of course it was. :) Really fun evening!

And now today! Last day of work, class at around 6, and then we're celebrating a few birthdays in the house this weekend so I expect some major festivities......which should be very conducive to everyone taking a final tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. :) After Friday, I'm basically out---as my flight leaves Gatwick for home at 10 a.m. Crazy!!!