Days 27, 28, 29: The final shebang

So, these next days aren't as interesting as they've been. We're done with site visits and are just in class all day.

Day 31: I literally spent all day in lecture. After it finished, I went to Central London to see Dirty Dancing with Morgan. I'd never seen the movie, so it was interesting. I liked it though! The dancing was fabulous!

I also had my first steak. I'd only ever tried it once before and my dad cooked it. He likes his steak still breathing, so I hated it. I got one cooked all the way, so it was better.

It had devil horns next to it on the menu meaning it was an "unhealthy" meal. Um, steak with butter? HOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT BAD?!

Day 32: Today, there was a guest lecturer. After he finished, we had the rest of the day off mecause my teacher canceled the review. I ended up going to see Once with Clarke and Morgan.

It was just as good the second time!!

On the way back, I stopped for a kebab and chips because I hadn't had dinner.

Day 33: Today was the final. It was set to start at 8:30, so at around 8, the class had gathered. The doors were locked, so we sat outside and reviewed a bit. When it was time to start, the doors were still locked, so we found tables outside to sit at. It looked like rain, so at the first sprinkles, he moved us under an awning to sit on the ground. It started pouring. Soon after, we were able to get inside where we finished.

It was pretty easy, but I didn't count how many pages there were in the blue book, so I only used the fronts. By the time I was at the essays, I didn't have any fronts left, so I flipped to the first back and wrote there. Oops.

When I finished, I headed to the room and had some ham for lunch. I also packed. I only have a little left to pack and it's what I'm wearing now, what I'll wear tonight, and my computer. I'm leaving a lot, but I found out I also bought a lot. Like a pillow. I bought a cute pillow.

After packing, I headed out with Clarke to Crossfit London SE11. First, we had to find the main location to pick up shirts and then we headed to the location we were going to WOD in.

We made it there and watched the coach teach muscle ups for a few minutes until he helped us out. From there, we had to head to the box we were working out in. It was the newest branch of Crossfit London, so it was really nice. I didn't take any pictures of outside though. We were almost late. The tube ride was a half hour, so we ended up jogging to the gym because walking fast hurt. We got there a bit after five minutes early.

Before: All smiles and no sweat

Luckily, there were some other newish people there. I have an irrational fear of being the least experienced person (and being upside down, but that's a different story.) Actually, it fits in here too. After doing 5x3 deadlifts (and making a 43lb PR (123 to 165!)) we did wall-walks. It wasn't bad. The WOD followed with plate farmer's walks, overhead plate lunges, and pushups. I don't know if anyone finished the five rounds before the time cap. I finished four!!

After: Still smiling, but drenched in sweat. As soon as the picture was taken, everything I was holding fell out of my hands. I couldn't even hold my water to my mouth.

This is where the real story starts. The gym was at Vauxhall. All we had to do to get back was take the Victoria to Oxford Circus and then Central it back. I was supposed to have time to get a snack, see a Shakespeare play for bonus points, eat a burger, and then go to the party. Yea, nope.

We manage to get the the Central Line with no problems. Time looks good. When we get to Holborn, the driver tells us we're held. No biggie. Usually it's 10-20 seconds and we're going again. A few minutes pass and he tells us that the signal still hasn't changed yet. Ten minutes later, he says that Leyton is closed, so we'll skip it. Another ten minutes and he tells us that the London Transport Police are at Leyton and aren't letting any trains go. Ten minutes later, he says that it's been an hour and we haven't moved. We won't be moving any time soon. He said if possible, take the Piccadilly.

The WOD ended at 2ish. We got on the tube at 2:30ish. This is three now.

We go to the Piccadilly and should be able to go to King's Cross and get on the Hammersmith. We got there and believe it or not, couldn't find the Hammersmith. We ended up on a Northern Line train to Moorgate and after waiting there for seven minutes for a train, finally ended up on a train that would take us to Mile End. Now it's 4 o'clock. I'm not going to Shakespeare.

At this point, food is a necessity. If you readers remember correctly, the first restaurant I ate at in London was the Greedy Cow where I had a kangaroo burger. Now, the last restaurant I ate at was the Greedy Cow, though this time I had just a normal burger.

I did have a pie though. All of the teachers said that banoffee pie was amazing, so I split one at dinner.

Oh my goodness. It was banana, something I don't remember (maybe caramel) and dulce de leche. I didn't eat the crust! 

After dinner, it was about 5:30. And that was how what should have been a three hour outing turned into an all day, nearly six hour ordeal. At least it's memories!!

Since tonight was the last night in London, the teachers rented out the on-campus pub for the night. It's an Asian restaurant, so they provided the food and drinks were happy hour prices. I had already eaten and I didn't get anything to drink, so I just kind of chilled and watched the party happen. I wish I could post pictures, but I didn't get any good ones. There were teachers dancing!! There was a piñata and guys in animal onesies too.

At one point there was a rainbow! It was double, but it disappeared before I took the picture.

I think a lot of the group is planning on staying up all night since we have to be at the buses at 5 am, but I'd rather sleep at least a few hours. I'm going to try to stay up all day tomorrow and go to sleep at a normal Texan bedtime. Luckily, I'll be at church and then hopefully Opa's Schnitzel place afterwards, so I won't be able to go to sleep too early.

I'm also going to try to knock out a chunk of my research paper on the plane. I can buy pretty cheap internet, so I will see if I can get a lot of the research done. I think I'm going to write over how women helped the allies win World War II.

Well, I have to wake up in five hours.