London IX: I just dreamed about a Mars Bar.

I've been home for about two weeks, but last night I dreamed about a Mars Bar, so I decided that I should finally come to terms with the fact that I'm not in London anymore. But first I'll revisit my last week and my long journey home.

On our second to last Friday, my friends and I took a train to Cardiff, the capital of Wales and (drumroll please) the home of Doctor Who. That's right! After getting directions from four different people on the streets of Cardiff, we went on an adventure with the 12th Doctor, fighting Daleks, evading Weeping Angels, and flying the TARDIS.

Jealous?

It was good fun, but I almost enjoyed the train ride back to London more. Why? Because of the British kids. On our way back, this is how we met the British kids on the train:

I'm guessing they were about 12 years old. I'm not sure, but they totally schooled us on the proper pronunciation of Nutella. (Not newt-ella, which is how some of us seem to say it in the South, but nut-tella, like  hazelnut. Valid point.)

These are some of my favorite quotes from the British kids:

"Do you like Doctor Who? Are you Americans?"

"There's a girl over there who's obsessed with Americans."

"Do an English accent, but don't make it posh. Everyone tries to make it posh. Make it cockney." 

 "Wait...You don't...You don't like Justin Bieber, do you?"

"But...but you do like Taylor Swift, right?"

I miss them.

I spent the rest of the weekend looking at portraits of royals and famous people (Ed Sheeran has already made it, guys. He's a year older than I am. I think he was rubbing it in.), eating crepes, and doing homework. A good bit of homework, which I continued during the rest of the week. Still, I sprinkled fun throughout the week. We saw Daniel Radcliffe as Cripple Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Colin Morgan as Ariel in The Tempest at The Globe (absolutely fantastic), and Billy Boyd as Banquo in Macbeth at the Globe. We also went to tea, visited the oldest bookstore in London, shopped at Camden Market, got Colin Morgan's autograph (Hannah spotted someone with high cheekbones and a beanie.), and ate at the largest bookstore in London.

Saying goodbye to my favorite street performer

Ralph the Auburn Sock Monkey says goodbye to the Globe

Saying goodbye to my favorite view of London

It wasn't easy saying goodbye--to my six-week home, to London, to my friends. I'll see most of them again soon in Auburn, but it still wasn't easy. All too soon, I was sitting next to a kind 65+ year old woman, who was reading 50 Shades of Grey, and watching as my plane took off 10 minutes late. Luckily, my plane in Philadelphia was delayed for about two hours, otherwise customs, baggage, and security would have made me miss it. I met a nice couple on the plane. They'd been to Canada. We bonded over delayed flights, movies, and TV shows. We parted in Charlotte. They'd missed their plane, and mine was delayed until 12:40 a.m. While I waited, I tried convincing a high schooler to go to Auburn. I believe I missed my calling as a student recruiter.

Ralph the Auburn Sock Monkey gets stuck in Charlotte.

I arrived home around 7:30 a.m. London time, about 24 hours after waking up the previous day at Regent's University.

When I woke up at home, I forced my family to drink tea with me. I drink a lot more tea than I did before, so I guess you could say that London stuck with me in some ways. One of my professors asked me what I liked best about my study abroad experience, and after a second, I shrugged my shoulders, putting my hands in the air as if hoping to catch the best answer, and said that I didn't know.

The thing is, I still don't know. My new friends, definitely. Top choice. But London itself? How can I decide? I walked where Shakespeare, Henry VIII, and the Romans walked, saw Lewis and Tolkien's maps, went to eight plays, visited landmarks from my favorite stories, took two fantastic and fascinating classes, and walked around London at night, which is always my favorite time of day to see cities. For six short weeks, London felt like my home. Maybe that feeling was my favorite part.

When you study abroad, I think you get the idealized version of wherever you stay. At least, I did. I lived in a park right off of Baker's Street and my transportation and most of my meals were already taken care of. I had the opportunity to do something new every day. That's pretty ideal. If I ever actually live in London, it won't be like that, so I'm grateful for this experience. Incredibly grateful.

I'm going to go before I get overly sentimental, because honestly, if I talk too much longer, I will. There's no perfect ending, anyway. I'll just leave with this:

Because London's always calling.

Cheers!