Friday, August 28, 2009

Part Two of my adventure.

Yesterday I packed up all my stuff and left Eltham... it was a lot sadder than I thought it would be.

I kept thinking about a month ago when Alex and his dad dropped me off there, and I still had bright and shiny ideas about the next 2 months... and about the night Alex stayed there with me on our 6 month anniversary... and about how many days I then spent crying and feeling completely hopeless in that room... and lastly, about how I finally started having fun with my classmates on that campus when there were only 3 days left.. :/
I knew that would happen. YOU all knew that would happen. I don't think I could have avoided the way things worked out though.. I just have to appreciate the one really good week I had.

I know the entire second half of my trip is about to begin, but I just have this overwhelming and strange feeling right now as I know I'm about to leave this experience behind forever and there wont be quite as many good memories linked with it as I'd hoped.

Yesterday, my last day, was a good day. We met for our last "class" at 10 in the morning, and only were there for about 30 minutes while we sang happy birthday to one of the girls on the trip and talked about last minute things. Then a whole bunch of us went out to Nando's in Lewisham, which was a lot of fun. The group kind of split up after this point, and I went with 5 of my friends out to King's Cross station to show them where Platform 9 3/4 was (this was the third time I have been there, xD) and we took pictures and were dorky and it was a nice way to start my last afternoon in London with Seattle people. It worked out well, because I felt like I bonded a lot with the 5 people I spent that last day with, and they were probably some of my favorite people I met on the trip.

After King's Cross we took a train out to Portobello Market, and walked along the seemingly endless road of booths and stands and fun little shops. We'd decided to go there on a complete whim, not even knowing what it was all about, but ended up having a blast. I bought little presents for my mom and my brother and spent a lot of time admiring the quirky, brightly painted buildings along the street. I have pictures but I am saving my camera battery (still no charger) so I wont be uploading them until I get home.

After a few hours at the market our feet were killing us, so we hopped back on a train to Cannon Street to meet our friend Anthony at the London Stone. This was the creepy gothic pub I mentioned the other day that I couldn't remember the name of. They have amazing drinks there named after the 7 deadly sins, and Anthony and our other friend Craig spoiled us all by buying 5-6 pitchers of the very best ones, like Greedy and Sloth (one was a fruity purple drink (water, sugar, purple!) and the other was a mint chocolatey drink... amazing). We sat around just talking and enjoying ourselves and I felt so content, albeit a little saddened that my entire trip wasn't like this.

I truly hope these people all keep in touch when we get back home to Seattle. These last few days have been so good.

We took the train home, where I speed-packed the rest of my belongings while I waited for Emma to come pick me up. Once she got there we loaded my things in her car, I said goodbye to the few people I could find, turned in my keys, and.. left Eltham. :/

We're staying at Emma's dad's girlfriend's apartment, and it is AMAZING. She lives in Canary Wharf and from the window I can see the Thames, the O2 Dome, the DLR rail, and tons of other buildings I can't actually name. Last night we stood on the balcony for awhile, and aside from being dizzying, being so high up, it was simply breathtaking. All the twinkling lights of the city reflected in the river below - I would love to live somewhere like that, at least for a little while. A beautiful city apartment to supplement my reclusive cabin in the woods where I will go to write. :D


Today is Summer in the City.
I am 2 parts terrified, 1 part nervous, 3 parts excited and 4 parts just ready to meet so many people I have only talked to online, finally.
(Apparently this means I am made up of 10 parts. I suppose that makes sense.)

Probably most excited to meet Johnny, since I already met Dave last week and met a lot of people when I was here in March. But I know that LOADS of my subscribers and blog commenters and CD buyers are British and I am excited to meet all of YOU, too. Making new friends is the best part of gatherings, really. Ask Shannancy.

I really, really hope no one chickens out of coming and talking to me, because I cannot even count the amount of times I have gotten emails later from people saying "I saw you today but I didn't say hi." DON'T DO THAT. I am coming to SITC to meet people, to chat, to hang out, and honestly, the more people I talk to the less time I will spend worrying what Alex is doing. Haha.
I am really excited to hang out with the UK crowd, I know a lot of you blog readers are going, and I am going to be very sad if I don't meet EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU. <3

Okay. I need to do my laundry so badly it's not even funny anymore, so this is the end of my blog post.

Days until I leave: 27
Times I've had Indian food: 9

39 comments:

euphonious said...

I live right by that Nando's. :)

Wish I was going to SitC, but moving countries permanently takes a lot of time! Though, I probably will be going to the Greg Holden/BlueSkies show.

Glad you're starting to have a better time here in Enlgand.

:)
-Gillian

Ben Cracknell said...

I hope you have fun at SinC!
Your letter and stuff are all ready in the envelope, now I just have to send it :D
You will stil be staying there in a couple of days, wont you?
If not im sure your friends dad's girlfriend can forward it too you.

Have a great time!

x

Lizzie said...

So glad to see you're having fun :)

I'm sure SitC will be loads of fun! I wish I could go- I'm very jealous.
You'll have so much fun you won't care about the whereabouts of the silly boy <3

Anonymous said...

summer in the city sounds amazing! i'm so sorry about everything...i'm super late in reading your blog and don't really want to dwell on it but i'm glad that you're getting a fresh start, in a sense. a whole bunch of new people to meet and places to explore...i so envy you because i know you'll have an amazing time. have you picked a favorite cider yet? i think mine was blackthorn. and have you tried the addictive oaty deliciousness that is HOBNOBS?! dsjfk;ldlsj;flk; i miss england so much. tell emma and rosi carla says hi!

Alena said...

I'm so so happy you ended up having an amazing last week. :)

& have fun in SITC! Altho there is no chance I'll be there (I'm in sunny San Diego at the moment), I must admit I'd still be intimidated to go up to you and say hi! Even after reading that on your bloggg hahaha.

Cheers, love!

Hannah said...

Aaargh I wish I was going to SitC! I was going to, but then I couldn't afford it.

Have an amazing time and let all the awesomeness around you take your mind off things that are not awesome

Sending my love from the other side of the country!

=D

Caitlin said...

I wish I could go (as does my sister), but I'm stuck up here in Liverpool. I'm really shy in RL anyway though, so it'd take me ages to come say hi x]

Glad you're having a better time and you're last week was great (:

Nicole said...

I really wanted to come to SitC but I'm going to Spain today for a wedding and I come back on Sunday evening :( Would have been really great to meet you, but I would have probably been a bit shy...

Have fun though! :D

GEORGINA said...

The way you talk about SitC makes it sound amazing. I missed my ride to London this morning!
Will you be coming to the Bristol gathering at the beginning of September?
Hope you have a good weekend anyway :)

comelygrace said...

Good luck at SitC, chica! And I hope you keep finding ways to make the best of your adventure abroad without the lamey lamerson boy thing. ;P

Melissa Kendra said...

I would've tried to go, but there's that damn Atlantic Ocean in the way, haha. Canada's just too far away from London.

But I'm glad you had a good last day of your course :]

Unknown said...

<3

Joy said...

Nandos is amazing. Just thought I'd share my sentiments on that matter! haha. :o)

I wish I could meet you at SitC, but sadly I'm not going to be there. Hope that the weekend is full of GOOD and AWESOME not full of awkward or sad.

:o)

Anonymous said...

I wish I could get to SitC and doss about in London for a few days, but I can't afford it (damn you, train prices). Hope you have a great time, though, and good luck!

Also Nandos > Jesus

Anonymous said...

Kristina,
I'm so surprised about what happened with you two, I'm very sorry and my heart hurts for you dear. All the advice I can say is, it's going to hurt, and your young, in a beautiful country, enjoy it, take it in, and don't let some boy take over your thoughts 24-7. It is pretty hard.

Wow that comment makes me sound like I am Grandmother Willow. /epic fail.

VicMorrowsGhost said...

Have fun at Summer in the City! I hope you get mobbed by people :D You sound a little better.

I had Indian tonight with friends. I told them about this this girl who's blog I read who had never tried Indian food until a couple of weeks ago. They were shocked. :P

New word, Deprindian: To live deprived of the wonders of Indian food. "I can't believe Kristina lived Deprindian for so long."

Ana said...

It makes me want to cry when there are gatherings and so many people are going... I only live a bit to the south, it's Portugal, for God's sake, it's not that far... If I have an opportunity to meet you it's, well, TODAY. *cries and stays all day in bed dreaming of what it would be like to be there and meet all of you*

Anonymous said...

I hope SitC turns out to be a lot of unexpected fun for you.

I just had to laugh; when I go to London on the 15th... I'm staying in Canary Wharf. That's where the guy I'm staying with lives too. I feel like I should sing "It's a Small World" now.

alyson said...

Ah I so wish I could meet you at SITC. I am jealous of everyone that gets the chance.
Have tons of fun, I'm sure you'll be way to busy and having way too much fun to think about anything else.

said...

CANARY WHARF? Beware of Daleks and Cybermen.
I loooove you and hope you have fun!

Louise Morgan said...

I wish I could go to Summer in the City, but I live in Scotland, and I had school today, and money is a big issue, so, yeah... I hope you have an awesome time though!!! :] <3

imagryffindork said...

may or may not have just gotten an account solely to comment :)

have loads of fun at SitC, i would come if i didnt live in new jersey... hopefully my fellow blogreaders will make the most of it for you <3

Anonymous said...

Wish I was going to SITC so I could say hello! Hope you have/had/[are] having a great time, and nothing was awkward for you!! :)

Someone Like Samantha said...

I hope today goes well & that you have fun Kristina!

HarryPotterNERDFIGHTER said...

I wish I lived in England sometimes. All the good gatherings are there.

I iz jealous of everyone going to SitC. Plus I really wanna meet you.

The adventure is just begining Kristina, enjoy it :)

Freya. <3

Anonymous said...

i wish i could be at SITC! i would totally hang with you! good luck!

Catherine said...

I wish I was going! But my friend from Sweden is flying down and she has strict orders to give you a hug from me and tell you "Cheers love". So be nice to the cute Swedish girl who flew down by herself just to meet awesome people like you! Just have fun and don't think about that boy too much!

Me said...

Have loads of fun tomorrow!
I wish I could have gone today, and tomorrow, and just generally to the whole thing, but unfortunately my friends are being gay and refuse to go with me, even though it would be an awesome day in London. I also have to go to my dad's tomorrow, and I haven't the guts to say to any of my parents that I would be spending a lot of time with a lot of people, none of whom I've ever met before. So yeah. :/

Have fun, meet loads of awesome people, and stay safe. <3

Afton said...

I hope you have tons of fun! It sounds like this is one big awesome adventure for you. Forget fiction an autobiography is necessary! =D

dylzodood said...

Will you be coming to Wales on your trip? /stalker

Unknown said...

That's so cool that your friend lives in Canary Wharf! Was the view like the one in Army of Ghosts?
I wish I lived in London. SinC sounds SO AWESOME and so many people are going that I want to see/meet. Hope you have a great time!

Anonymous said...

hope it went good Kristina! I know it must be nerve wracking... I wish I was there to meet you. I would give you a hug (if you didn't find it too creepy!) haha. I hope you have fun! It kinda sucks that you don't have more fun memories while being there but it'll all work out. I mostly have the problem of looking into the future and knowing i'll be depressed when things do come to an end that i can't enjoy them while it's happening. Hopefully lots of people who love you will meet up with you and you'll have lots of fun!

abbs866 said...

Canary Wharf! Go hunt down the Tardis for us, will you? xD

It will be fine. I promise. *hugs*

Brooke said...

On a note that is almost totally unrelated to this post, I just wanted to let you know that all of your Indian food eating is making me crave Indian food so I'm going all around my city looking for the very best Indian food. :)

Have fun at Summer in the City.

seurat2 said...

Sorry I am not one of the people who will be meeting you since I'm here in Canada but I hope everyone who can takes your advice and spends a minute or two with you. The apartment sounds amazing, I am so glad you ended up with sach a great place. Portobello raod rocks, that was one of my favorite places when I was in London. Don't forget to go to the National Gallery and the Tate too fi you can, they are both full of beauty and wonder.

Alex Dahlberry said...

Oh, I hope you have a lot of fun at SITC. I don't really get what it is...a youtube convention? Does it cost money? What happens there?

It sucks that you didn't have a great time your whole trip, but you still have quite a long time left in Europe, and I think you can make up for lost time, and have a lot of fun.
I met you at LeakyCon, but I wish I could meet you again. I want to hang out with you. You're just so awesome. :)

-Xela

Anonymous said...

OMG, I'm supposed to be going to the London Stone tmrw for a Depeche Mode night!! haha. can't believe you were there! (now back to reading the rest of the blog, just got a bit excited and had to post!) xx

Ariel said...

I'm so glad you've been having fun.
And Canary Wharf! The Doctor Who fan in me is geeking out big time.

Also, I now feel a bit sheepish. =/ There were so many times at LeakyCon that I wanted to come say hi to you, but was dreadfully nervous about bothering you, so I didn't. You might be seeing me at LeakCon 2011, though, now that you've said this.

Anonymous said...

Canary Wharf?!
That is so awesome!
And if I lived in the U.K. then I would defenitely come and talk to you. But, I am stuck on the boring east coast of the U.S.A.

After reading all about your time in the U.K. it made me realize how boring and uneventful it is where I live. ha ha. Have a great time!! ^^

~Kayla