that time already?

I can't really believe that I'm writing this blog. It's hard for me to imagine that my time in London is almost over. My last day of work is on Thursday. My second cousin Charissa is studying in Northern Ireland this semester and will be visiting London this weekend. I'm looking forward to having an excuse to revisit my favorite sights one more time. As my stay in London is drawing to a close I'm finding myself reflecting on the past six months. It's sort of bittersweet right now. I really do like life here, and I think that with a few small improvements I could really get used to being here for an extending amount of time. Alas, I knew from the beginning that there would come an end, and though I am sad to leave I am excited to travel, and excited to see what comes next in life. It doesn't help that I've been reading "Notes from a Small Island," a travel memoir by Bill Bryson. It's the story of Bryson, an American who takes a trip around England as a sort of farewell to the country he's lived in for 20 years, before returning to the states. Reading his reflections on his love affair with Britain makes me feel a bit nostalgic myself, and yes, I do realize that 6 months is nothing compared to two decades. But still, he has inspired me. And so, bear with me because this may take a few posts, but I'm attempting to put my own "leaving thoughts" down on paper.

On Saturday night Ross and I went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. We got into a discussion about London moments...those tiny aha-moments when you realize that this is actually your life. I get these realizations often, especially here. I'll be on a bus and hear a kid behind me say something to his mum in a tiny little english accent. Or I'll be walking home and find a quaint street that I never knew existed. On our way home from the restaurant that night we took a shortcut to the bus stop and walked through Trafalgar Square. The fountains were lit and Big Ben was glowing in the distance. Almost simultaneously, we both said, "yeah, this is one of those moments."

After doing some keen mapquest investigating I've come to find out that I walk .9 miles to work, one way. From my flat to the grocery store/tube stop is another mile. So, on any given day when I walk to and from work, and to and from the store or to the tube (which actually is most days of the week), I walk 4 miles. That's not to mention lunch, bad planning when we walk from the tube home, then back to the store, then to the movie theatre, or any other combination of locations. I love walking around the city. Sure it's cold and windy, and rainy sometimes. But it allows a lot time during the day to think, or listen to music, or just breathe fresh air-well as fresh as it gets in smog city. I keep hoping that I'll keep walking this much when I get home, but for some reason hiking down Baselline just doesn't sound as appealing as Kensington High Street.

I always laugh a little about how I have to describe Colorado - "it's somewhere between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon" British are fascinated by the idea of visiting America and taking a road trip - the idea of driving in one direction for more than five hours without hitting water sounds so glamorous to them. My boss Charles told me that he has a dream of renting an rv and driving across the states. He told me that he expects a traditional American backyard barbeque when he comes.

I have learned to make a really good cup of tea. Even Ross will agree.