as the end draws nearer...

Today was the last day of classes, which means that last night I was definitely working on my projects until the wee hours of the morning. Don't shake your finger at me, I am aware that I procrastinated. But you would too, if you were in this amazing country and were expected to do homework in your free time. :)

Tonight we have our final banquet, which should mean some fun pictures of people tonight, for those of you who don't seem to enjoy my scenery pictures as much as I. The banquet is supposed to be quite the fancy ordeal with champagne, wine, fine foods, and much fun to be had by all. I'll let you know exactly how nice it was after the fact...

It was hard to get back in the swing of things Monday after our amazing weekend. I had to turn in a paper that was not only not my best work, it wasn't even good work. But Dr. Barchas is aware of all of the weekend excursions and see admitted to diagnosing several casualties of exhaustion, in reference to our papers. I didn't do as poorly as I probably deserved, but I won't complain about that. :) At 2pm, Greg Hicks cam to speak with us. He played the ghost, player king, and gravedigger in the production we saw of Hamlet a few weeks ago, and we played Macbeth in the production we were to see the following night. He was quite the eccentric character, and didn't really need our questions at all, as he talked straight through for 30 minutes at one point, following his own tangents and recounting various anecdotes. It was very interesting and most of us really enjoyed what he had to say, except for the fact that he claimed to do a very poor rendition of Macbeth, and we were to see it the next night!

Tuesday Kristen and I went shopping for some special souvenirs for some very special people. At 4pm, we loaded the buses for Stratford. I definitely had bangers and mash for dinner at a pub- two things I will wish dearly. Bangers and mash is as common as fish and chips... and just as tasty! And pubs are generally family restaurant-type places until the evenings, serving very reasonably priced food that is usually really good. I will will them. Greg was wonderful in Macbeth- he was too hard on himself when he spoke with us. The production as a whole was excellent, except that the witches needed a little something. They weren't really scary at all- so trying to believe that they scared the actors was a little tough. After the performance we waited at the back to door to grab Greg as he was leaving. A rousing cheer erupted as he approached our group, which caused a huge smile to spread across his face. It was such a unique opportunity to feel as though you know the actors on stage, and then to converse with them after a show. He wants our sincere critiques of his performance, which is pretty cool too.

Yesterday was yet another garden- the 10th and last for my class. Pretty much only the students enrolled in my class participated, but the intimate group was perfect for this garden. We got back into Oxford for dinner, and then it was off to my room for some serious work. After about 2.5 hours of gardens, I needed a break, so 1.5 hours on AIM seems about right. It is so funny to talk to people from home on AIM here- I don't really know why. Anyways... I was definitely up until 3:30am, which I hear was actually an early bed-time compared to the rest of my class, several of whom did not sleep at all last night. My projects were pretty decent, if I do say so myself- and I do. :)

That brings us pretty up to date on things here on the blog. I am really excited about tomorrow. I am catching a train at 1:30, and heading up to the northeastern portion of England, to where Bart used to live. I will be staying with one of his old friends who has so generously invited me into her home and offered to take me around. Bart has several sites that he would like for me to see, but I am really interested in any old (and preferably embarrassing) stories that they may have about him. (Sorry honey- but you knew this would happen!)

I will be in the Yarm/ Stockton-on-Tees area until Sunday after church, at which point I will return to Oxford for one evening. I leave in the middle of the night to get to the airport for an early morning flight to Barcelona, where I will meet Jessica and Carrie for a few days there. I am coming back on Wednesday night, so that the girls and I get one more day together here in Oxford. We leave for the airport first thing in the morning on Friday, and I arrive in Austin at 8pm on Friday evening. Get excited! I will post pictures from the weekend when I am here Sunday evening, and then Barcelona pics (hopefully) Wednesday night. Sound okay, everyone?

I'll try to get banquet pics up tonight- until then...