The end is near

Today my time as a student at the University of Bristol came to an end. I sat my last exam at the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads this morning. It's been a privilege to study here amongst some of the most brilliant students and staff in the world. When you study abroad here, you actually study. It's definitely had its ups and downs, but it's been nothing but rewarding. The sun is setting on my time here, and that makes me sadder than anyone could ever believe. But I have things to do and wonderful people to see, so onwards into the sunset I go, liquor and polaroids in hand.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to suffer through the mild anxiety attacks I have as I find out people are leaving for home in silence.

Enjoy these photos as I go hyperventilate.

Blackcurrant and clotted cream ice cream. Gastronomic orgasm.

Good morning, sunshine. The earth says hello.

P/C: Mattie || Walking to City Centre formal. Pre wine bottle escapades.

Hello, London. We meet again.

Finished our exams. Is this what heaven feels like?

Mirror selfies in the Royal Fort Garden.

cliche eurotrip stop one: barcelona

I didn't sleep the night before because I hadn't packed. Nothing surprising here.




Things you should know:

• We didn't know that the white packets that came with our churros were sugar packets. I thought they were wet wipes for your hands. We figured it all out when I went to wipe my hands and only heard sugar shaking around in there. 
• There is an astounding amount of attractive male vendors at La Boqueria.
• Christine will feel jipped over strawberries no matter what deal she gets.
• Parc Guell is not pronounced Parc Guy-ell.
• Sangria is amazing. Simply amazing.
• Paella tastes better once you've waited an hour for it.

we went to scotland like two months ago

And this is me catching up. And of course I used this song. It's as awesome as David Tennant's face. That man is so beautiful.




The morning began with me panic-emailing my seminar leader because I severely underestimated the time it would take me to ride the bus to the airport. She let me know it would be okay to miss the seminar, and I ran to the bus station to find the next airport shuttle. Crisis averted. However, Christine somehow managed to book a different flight from me (foreshadowing going on here, hmm?), so it was a solo trip for me for a couple hours. It was kind of exhilarating, though. Alone in a different city, trying to find my way to the hostel, seizing life by the balls. Just kidding.

Does anyone from the UK want to get married?

Because the whole applying for citizenship thing is confusing, and I don't want to leave. Several things: I'm aware that marriage isn't a 100% foolproof method of getting citizenship*; I should be revising for my last exam; I feel the passage of time robbing me of every precious moment here; and I'm pretty sure this sentence isn't punctuated correctly.

The other night I booked my last and final National Express shuttle to Heathrow. I did not check the "return trip" box and felt my throat knot up. To remedy said knot, I pulled a Rekorderlig out of the fridge and promptly started sipping on it.

For the first time in forever I'm posting on the blog

Clap your hands if you understood the reference. If done correctly, your clap should have registered on your computer's microphone and triggered the video to start. If not, try again.

This is how far behind I am on the videos/life. This was from March 24th or something. It was from March.

It should be noted that Mattie, Daniel, and I had been out the previous night, dancing with a wild hen party (or at least Daniel did). We were very afraid we weren't going to be up in time to catch the train to Oxford with the rest of our group. But we made it with no casualties. Which is saying something. Do you know how much rum we had? Neither do we.

For the first half of the day, we just wandered around aimlessly in part because we got separated from the rest of the group. I had a banana from my lunch that I had yet to eat and I cradled that sucker for the entirety of the day as you can see. Daniel would make a fantastic tour guide. He gave us a private ad libbed tour until we wandered into the chapel. I honestly can't remember what anything is called. Hahaha. Oops. We reunited with our group and headed to our tour, led by this really lovely lady who was really enthusiastic about living in Oxford and kept referring to the town/campus like it was a team. A lot of Cambridge jibes were made, and all the while I was silently laughing at the thought of any of my program assistants from UCSS listening to this tour (miss you guys if any of you are reading this). I'll visit Cambridge again someday.

After the tour (not advisable to wear your cute heeled booties to a walking tour), the group split up once more and so that left our little trio exploring the grounds of New College (I think) where that one scene of Harry Potter was shot. The one in the fourth movie when Draco is about to hex Harry when his back is turned, but Mad Eye (who was really Barty Crouch) transfigured Draco into a ferret. Just take a minute to soak in the Potterheadness of that sentence. Afterward, we took a pleasant stroll through the grounds, and Mattie, gasp, stood on the lawn. The nerve. The previous night caught up with us, forcing us to make for the train station. I fell asleep on the train ride underneath my raincoat, so naturally Mattie took pictures.

I also have to say that there must have been something seriously wrong with me that day because everything I heard was a sexual innuendo. Usually I can turn that radar off, but that day I was just busting out at the simplest remarks. I always cut out the sound in my videos, but holy hell I was laughing at everything Daniel or Mattie said. There was a lot of giggling.