Another Busy Week

Wow! I cannot believe it's nearing the end of my journey.  My last week here has been amazing, and included a weekend in London, a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and a sad goodbye to my students and fellow teachers at school. 

I'll begin with my weekend in London.  I went with Harriet, a friend from school, who got us tickets to see Singing in the Rain at the Palace Theatre.  I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy going to a musical, but the show was terrific and I enjoyed it immensely! (Plus, now I can say "I've been to the theatre in London," which sounds very posh.)

After the show, we grabbed dinner at a popular Italian restaurant near the theatre before heading back to Harriet's flat.  Then it was time to get ready to go to a proper London nightclub, where Harriet's friend was having a birthday party and had rented out the entire second floor.  It was pouring rain during our walk to the club, and we both got completely drenched and our hair and makeup got completely messed up.  In spite of those setbacks, we had an amazing time! Her friends were so nice, there was great music, and plenty of wine and fun to be had. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and went on a quick Fortnum and Mason run before heading back to Bognor.  It was only my second time shopping there, but I really, really love it.  They have so many lovely teas and coffees on the main floor, and some really nice things for the home upstairs.  I ended up buying some more tea to take home, as well as a large cup and saucer.  Looking back, I should have bought two sets, as the one is kind of funny on its own.  I guess that just gives me yet another excuse to make it back to London one day...

Monday I went on a field trip with the class to the Chichester Cathedral.  I have seen the cathedral many times during my shopping excursions in Chichester, but have refrained from going to see it because I knew I was going on the field trip.  I'm glad I waited, because we were given a guided tour of the cathedral, which I found really interesting.  It's over 900 years old (wow!) and was the subject of a massive blowout between Henry VIII and the bishop of Chichester during the time Henry began pulling away from the Catholic Church. 

On Tuesday, I took the day off from school to drive to London with Helena for a visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour.  If you're a fan of the movies or the books, I would highly recommend going...it was wonderful! The tour is inside the studios where much of the movies were actually filmed. The sets were those from the movies, as well, and there were familiar props on display for everyone to see.  I saw the Great Hall, Dumbledor's office, the Gryffindor common room, the Potions classroom, Hagrid's hut, Number 4 Privet Drive, and the Weasley's kitchen.  They props they used in the movies were amazingly detailed, like the items from the Weasley Brothers' joke shop.  Some looked incredibly realistic, like the Triwizard Cup and the horcruxes.  It's amazing the amount of detail and planning that went into making the movies.  I was really impressed! The tour lasted about 4 hours (at our own pace) and concluded with a stop in the gift shop.  While I only ended up buying a t-shirt, I could have purchased an entire wizard outfit, complete with wand, for a mere 300 pounds.  A much more practical, but still expensive, souvenir would have been an original, signed painting from the movie storyboards; they were absolutely stunning. 

My ride on the Knight Bus

Finally, I ended my week on Friday, my last day of school.  I have been blessed to work at a wonderful school with wonderful kids, and it was extremely sad to say goodbye.  My class presented me with a signed class photo, as well as a bound hand-made book they made with individual self-portraits and messages to me from each student.  It was so sweet, and I have to admit - I got a little teary-eyed over the whole thing.  I managed to leave my email address and have already gotten a few emails from some of the class.  I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but it will be nice to keep in touch for a while. 

Now, I just have the weekend left before I head home on Monday.  Today I'm attending a 3-year-old's birthday party and will hit the chocolate shop in Chichester one last time.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rain-free, so we might manage to get a walk in around the South Downs before I begin packing and getting ready to go.  Again, I can't believe how incredibly fast the time has gone, but I am definitely ready to get home.  I've missed Aaron so much and it will be nice to get back to my "normal" life once again.