So it’s the last day. The last night, to be specific. Suitcases are sprawled around the flat and we are lazily moving throughout the rooms, throwing old Q-tips into trash cans (litter bins), packing away our books, and deciding if we want to bring our favorite flavour of tea back to America.

Peter’s already gone, Sean is packing, and Jennie is at a play with her mom and friend who came to visit recently. I love her friend because she’s going into nursing and knows basically everything about medicine and health. It was like having a nicer version of House in the flat for a few hours. I began to ask her various medical questions about myself and people I know, to which she promptly gave detailed and intelligent-sounding answers.

I asked her questions like, “When I had kidney stones, why didn’t morphine work on me?” “My best friend’s mom had pneumonia recently. How does it escalate so quickly?” and “My boyfriend has exercise-induced asthma and he claims that exercise actually helps his asthma; is there any validity to that claim?”

It was fantastic. I need to find a nurse friend.

Also, I apologize for not updating recently. These last few weeks have basically been my internship full-time. It was bitter-sweet, leaving. I’m ready to go home, but I will miss all the children. The TA gave me a challenge to go around the class and say each of the student’s names. I did really well! And the highlight of my last day was when the quietest, shyest little girl in the class- who barely ever talked to me- came up to me before I left, raised her pretty, dark eyes to mine and said, “Miss, you’re kind.”

I felt my eyes start to water and gave her a hug. What an amazing experience the whole internship was!

The teacher shook her head as she hugged me good-bye. “I don’t know what we’re going to do without you!” she told me.

I stopped by the head teacher’s office on my way out to thank her for the internship. And I gave her a slice of angel food cake that I had brought in for the class. Sweets make an excellent thank-you.

These last few days I’ve been doing every thing one more time: I got my last coffee from Costa today; bought my last dress from Primark (yes, Mom, I promise my last one!); I went to Kings Cross to see platform 9 ¾ for the last time; I rode the cramped, over-heated tube for the last time; I got my last bag of candy from Tesco; I ate my last lunch in Hyde Park with the sun’s rays gleaming on the water from the fountain; I had my last glass of Pimms; I went to Portobello and Chapel market for the last time; and I listened to the different languages mingle into a chorus of sound while I walked down the streets of London.

Since I started this blog with a list, I figured I'd end with one, too.

So…

Thirty Things I Learned in Six Weeks in London:

1. The more variation in the fruit they put in the Pimms, the better it is.

2. Women in full burqas can actually have very impressive style; it's all in the accessories.

3. You will always learn the names of the worst-behaved children first.

4. The hummus from Hummus Bros is the best ever.

5. The Central Line is always the most crowded, at all times.

6. There will always be an escalator not working; chances are, it’s the one you have to go up.

7. How to try on dresses when there are no dressing rooms: wear a strapless dress, slip the store’s one over yours, and then slide off your dress so you’re just wearing the store’s dress.

8. Never, ever, look at a group of men when you pass by them.

9. A full English breakfast will ensure you don’t eat lunch.

10. If the play is good, you’ll forget you’re standing.

11. Only the black taxis are legitimate.

12. It is perfectly acceptable to steal Splenda packets from coffee shops; at least, I’ve never gotten in trouble for it :)

13. Hostels are not as sketchy as the movie made them seem.

14. Spicy food does really give you nightmares.

15. A sale at Harrods does not actually mean you can afford anything- except the ice-cream sundaes!

16. Horses in London will not flinch at a double-decker bus roaring past, even if you do.

17. Londoners do not believe in public toilets or litter bins.

18. You have more in common with people than you originally thought.

19. Kilts are very, very expensive.

20. Watching “A Very Potter Musical” on Youtube will quickly eat up all your megabytes, and it’s completely worth it.

21. Henry is amazing at writing poetry.

22. Sean is the best cook.

23. Jennie will physically shake when she gets excited.

24. Thanh, the fashion major, will always make the rest of us look poorly dressed.

25. James will only shave once a month.

26. Sarah will always be up for a book discussion- or any discussion!

27. Jenna has the most random stories.

27. The Janes will always find everything exceptionally amazing.

28. Scottish accents are the most entertaining to listen to.

29. I can not physically contain myself when in the presence of anything Harry Potter related. (Wait, I already knew that… :))

30. This is an amazing country with stories on every street, experiences within every echoing green, and memories in every moment.

And, to conclude… the last of the London pictures! (I will get around to putting them on Facebook next week.)

From the Jane Austen Tour: the chart which shows what different fan gestures mean.

Jennie in the garden in the Jane Austen Center.

Me in the garden; for some reason this photo wouldn't stay rotated.

Me in Bath!

Bath was amazingly beautiful that day. Jennie and I got ice cream and laid down outside in the sun-warmed grass.

Thanh left her shirt behind so James decided to try it on as a joke. There is a foot-and-a-half difference in their heights and a 100 pound difference in their weights.

So, naturally, he ripped it, to me and Sean's great amusement.

Jennie and I both had the day off from our internships and we went to Kew Gardens; it was gorgeous.

More prettifulness at Kew Gardens.

And more...

At Kew Gardens.

Platform 9 3/4!!!

Platform 9 3/4!!!!!