On the flight home

Well, after three months in the incredible city of London I'm sitting in my window seat on the flight back to the states. It was a good amount of time to live and work in the city but it really flew by. Meaghan, who if you remember from my first post in London attempted to claim the big room in the flat, and I were just looking through the photos I've taken in the past few months. Going through my healthy collection of pictures, 10 gigs, already has us missing the sights and the sounds of the city. Meaghan even teared up a little, but she's a wuss.

There were mixed feelings this morning as we all woke up early to finish packing and clean up the flat. We woke up to what was pretty close to a blizzard outside. Taking one of my last views out the big windows in our living room, I wanted to curl up in a blanket and sit on the couch with some hot cocoa, but there was a good amount to finish up before we left. We had to clean everything up and take out all the trash. We also had a lot of food to get rid of so there was a bit of a morning feast as I put all the leftover frozen pizzas into the oven, made a few pop-tarts, put together some sandwiches and put hot water on for coffee. We put on some music for a while and danced around the flat while we cleaned and packed. There were some leftover beverages that needed to be finished as well. You might say it was a bit of a makeshift going away party. The general feeling was that we were excited to get home to our friends and families, but also sorry to be leaving London and each other. People started leaving around 11am and it was sad to see the good friends that I've been living with for the past few months head out the door for the last time. Saying goodbye to twenty great friends all within a couple hours is rough.

Interning in London has left me with a good sense of the business culture in an international city and an understanding of major sporting events, but there's a lot that I will take from the past few months besides just work experience. I've made some great friends; in my flat mates, my co-workers and a few Londoners. I've come in contact with many new cultures, new languages and new foods all converging in one ever-changing city. Traveling to a new place for a few days or a week can be a good experience, but in order to really get a feel for its respective culture and daily life, you really just have to live there. I feel quite lucky to have been able to do just that.