a final post.

I was going to blog yesterday. It seemed only fitting as it was June 10, just one month since my arrival back in Boston. However, as I sat on my daily commute on the T, nostalgic for the cleaner and faster Tube, I still had no idea what to write. Truthfully, I still don't. How exactly do you conclude four months, months which I will probably later consider a substantial part of my life? How do you put memories and thoughts and emotions into words and how do you draw wisdom from something which was seemingly so eye-opening yet fun?

So, I decided to conclude it in a similar fashion to how this blog not so long ago began, with a list, the list of things I already miss, of things that are suddenly different at home and things that probably will never change. I apologize if it seems to be just a mess of different things put together into a post, but I couldn't think of a better way to explain and conclude my life living in one of the most beautiful and enchanting cities I've ever visited.

And I digress, the things that I miss--
1. As I already implied, the tube, for its efficiency, cleanliness, even with the lack of trash barrels within 100 yards of every station. I certainly thank it for getting me to and from class, work and everywhere else in between in a quick fashion, to quick for me to even pull out a book, which I now do every day on the commute from Wellington Station to Back Bay Station, and then again in the traffic of 93 N. Did I mention that I hateee traffic?

2. The Champion and Eagle, where I wish I had had the courage to ask how they made or where they got their veggie burgers. Thank you for feeding me for months and for serving delicious things such as the aforementioned veggie burgers and mushy peas. I'm working on the chef at work to make me some mushy peas and maybe, just maybe, add them to the menu, because after all, fish & chips aren't fish and chips without the mushy peas, or steak fries, but that's an entirely different discussion to bring up with chef. Oh and pims, Champion & Eagle definitely provided my fair share of Pims.

3. While we're on the subject of food, not that you're suprised, I won't even begin to tell you how much I miss the cuisines of both Greece & Italy, Amsterdam & Pari, and yes even London, I miss the wonder of sushi in London, which I never expected to be good. But boy, I was gladly surprised. A special thanks to itsu and wasabi for quickly providing delicious sushi and for being just one of the few places which serves BimBop. And also to hiyasaka sushi in covent garden for making it possible to completely over eat Sushi.

4. The ease of traveling. While driving the three hours to Stamford, CT to visit friends last week, it occurred to me how much more of a challenge the US was to travel. Even more so, when one of my British colleagues asked me to meet him for a weekend in San Francisco, and they think Americans don't know our geography?? I had to inform him that traveling to San Francisco is about as easy as traveling to, well, London! Anyway, it was in those moments that I realized I couldn't just hope on the T or the Stansted Express or a quick and cheap plane to take me to places I've never dreamed of going to. Just to get to work has suddenly become an order with a 15 min drive to the train station then 20 min T ride to the Back and then the walk to work, and that's all without traffic, which as it is you know a Monday, or Tuesday or even Sunday is always in full form...and yes, I've already blogged about traffic. I won't even extend that to 5 hour bus rides to NYC or expensive flights just to get back and forth to Madison. And, as much as I love NYC and Madison, they're definitely no Rome or Santorini.

5. The friends I made. Now separated across the country for over a month, it's funny how for granted you take living and spending almost all hours with certain people. You realize that like college and even camp, being abroad with people, you learn things about people you wouldn't realize under normal conditions. You learn what people are like to live with and travel with and discover new things with. In the process, I found some great friends and even some best friends. Many of which will luckily be around in Madison in the fall, which is just something for me to look forward to.


It's funny being away from home for so long. And I haven't been home for awhile. Including my semester abroad, fall semester in Madison, last summer in Madison and all of last year at school, I hadn't been home for more than 2 weeks since I left for sophomore year. You forget what home's really like. You get this grand idea in your head that you think home is and suddenly you're there, laying in your bed at 12:20 in my childhood home in Andover, Mass. Is it what I had in my head? Well that's the funny thing. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes its better, sometimes its worse. Home, sometimes sweet, home and I can't believe how fast a month's already gone by.

So with that, I'm saying goodbye to the blog and goodbye to all of you. This blog has been a wonderful way to remember some of the best and worst days, weeks and months of my life. As a diary of what I did and a journal which got me through it all, I'm not sure how I would have gone abroad without a blog! So to all of you, thank you for bearing with me through past 6 months and supporting me in this and for always encouraging me to keep blogging, some of you even encouraging me to write a book, maybe one day! With ideas in the works, a potential cooking/photographing my way to a cookbook blog or a senior year bucket list blog, I may be back and I'll be sure to let you all know if and when that happens. But for now, I'll see you all around!

With that, carlyonqueue, over and out.