OVER AND OUT.

The time has come. Or I guess I should say the time has gone. I've eaten my last lunch, taken my last shower, and spent my last pound... and in under 24 hours now I'll be on a plane back to the United States. 

The last four months have been some of the most amazing of my life! I've learned so much, made amazing friends, and had seen incredible sights. However, I'm also extremely excited to get back to America and see my family and home again. Can you imagine how conflicted my feelings are right now?? I'm sad, happy, satisfied, and amazed all at the same time! These conflicting feelings are the inspiration behind my last blog. Here goes nothing!

What I’ll miss about London:

16.Well-behaved Dogs that can go anywhere

15. Going to class in my pajamas

14. Cobblestone streets (that you have to look at while you walk so you don't trip)

13. Heather squeaking on the bed above me that keeps me up all night

12. Glen the Bus Driver

11. Having a pocket full of change worth more than a $10 bill

10. Waking up to heather’s books, letters, and who knows what underneath me

9. Frog Yogurt

8. My Primary kids singing “Scripture Power”

7. Walking miles everyday through the sites of London

6. Hyde Park

5. Markets – Borough, Camden, Sloan Square, and Portobello

4. Yogurt Covered Banana Chips

3. “Please Mind the Gap between the train and the platform”

2. Doing workouts in the Classroom with Haley, Elise, Paige, and Shelbi.

1. Spending every second of every day with the amazing friends I’ve made here

And while there are MANY more things I'm going to miss about this wonderful place, it does have a few downsides that I'm happy to leave behind. 

What I most definitely WON'T miss about London:

10. The horribly high conversion rate

9. European gum

8. Not being able to curl my hair because of the humidity

7. Paying to use the bathroom

6. Sharing one shower with 12 girls

5. Using the same purse and coat every day

4. Leaving 2 hours early for church to get there on time

3. Going out to eat with 10 people and having to figure out how to pay for it because they won't split the check for you

2. Having 2 faucets in the bathroom - one with ice cold water and the other scalding hot. NO HAPPY MEDIUM!

1. Our disgusting fridge crammed full of 40 testco bags making it nearly impossible to find any of your food

Now, a list to please my feelings of satisfaction and amazement.

What I’ve learned from my adventures:

5. I like White chocolate a lot more than milk

4. Contrary to popular belief, British Men aren’t very attractive at all

3. How to fall asleep while 12 other girls are screaming and laughing

2. Ryanair has the worst customer service on earth

1. .... and here's a shout out to Haley Walker first...OH BABY, I have Bieber fever!!

Last, but not least, my feelings of excitement!

What I’m excited to see/do/have/use when I get home!:

16. My closet of clothes

15. Driving. Even if it is my old green mini van. Actually, ESPECIALLY my old green mini van!

14. Using an outlet without a converter

13. Parking lots (No, they don't have them over here. Even small ones.)

12. Free public toilets in places other than just McDonald's 

11. My own bedroom and space

10. Not having to microwave my eggs

9. Internet access that isn’t bipolar

8. Real salads (not a bowl of lettuce)

7. Drivers that give pedestrians the Right of way

6. Costco

5. Mexican Food - aka Cafe Rio

4. My mom’s cooking (Notice the pattern of good food here at the top of the list. London is NOT known for good food)

3. THE SUN. I miss him so. 

2. My sister's engagement ring

1.5. My sister's body attached to that engagement ring

1. My family and their amazing humor, love, spirit, and craziness!

Well. London, it's been grand! I'll never forget this past semester. Until next time. 

Kaylee Joy - OVER AND OUT.

London Liebt Lisa!

My last weekend in London had to be a special one. So what do I do?? Why, invite Lisa to come stay with me of course!!

Lisa was our foreign exchange student during my senior year of high school and is from Germany. When we both found out that I was coming to study in London, we immediately started talking about how we HAD to see each other. Too often in life plans like this are made and then sadly never happen. But not this time!! I am here to report that Lisa has now come and gone. We spent a wonderful weekend together and now she’s currently flying back to Germany. What adventures did we have, you ask? Read on.

She got in late Thursday night and somehow navigated her way to her hostel by herself. She wasn’t allowed to stay in the center with me, so I just met her on Friday morning in the lobby of her hostel. Lisa and I have a tradition of shopping together... and what better place to do it than in London?!? We went to Oxford Street right away and left about 8 hours later. Talk about shop till you drop! I introduced Lisa to the wonders of Primark, Topshop, etc. She’s hooked. We took a little break at Bella Italia for lunch, but other than that we went crazy.

Friday night we went on a walk around Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. My favorite was when we came back and decided to watch Tangled. We were all SUPER excited and Lisa’s reaction was something like, “I always watched movies in American and then I come home and never watch them. Now I’m with Americans again… I guess you guys just love movies!” Her assumptions were 100% correct. We love movies. Especially cute animated princess love stories that make you laugh and cry.

Saturday we woke up and went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and then to Camden Market. I’d been to Camden before, but had NO CLUE how big it was! It’s about 8 times bigger than I realized. It was awesome! We basically spent another 5 hours shopping. Best part of the day: we bought matching Baby Voodoo Dolls.

Saturday night I took her to Frog. What is frog? Only my favorite frozen yogurt place in London. Geez I’m glad we still have frozen yogurt in America. Or I’d miss it greatly. Luckily, it’s actually a lot cheaper and better in America.

Sunday while I went to church Lisa went shopping AGAIN!! When I got back we went to Hyde Park and relaxed in the warm sun. I felt like I was at a swimming pool – it was SO crowded! Perfect for people watching though. Which we both love.

I guess you could easily sum up my weekend with two words: Lisa and shopping. In other words, it was perfect in every way!!

 Walking through St. James Park

 This telephone pole has a PERFECT location, but it smelt of urine and throw up. If you were wondering. 

 Changing of the Guard

 Aka watching two guards march for a few feet in front of a Palace. 

 Camden Market

Stunna shades!

Futball: The original name for the sport, "soccer".

For all you futball lovers out there: be jealous.

Tuesday night we had tickets to go to the England vs. Ghana game at the Wembley Stadium. Yes, Wembley. I was so incredibly excited. It was one of those excitements that only grew as we got closer to the stadium until finally I rounded the corner and looked down on the field. It literally took my breath away! The screaming fans only added to the atmosphere. I had forgotten how much I LOVE soccer! Ahem… futball.

The game wasn’t anything special. Oh wait.. except for the professional players, massively cool stadium and crazy fans part. England scored in the first half and held it at 1-0 for ALMOST the entire game. This is where the moral comes in.

I really don’t like leaving early for games. I think it stems from BYU football.. but when the game isn’t going so good and half the stadium gets up to leave in the third quarter, it just gets under my skin. So when everyone (meaning the Americans from OUR program) got up and started leaving when there were 10 minutes left I was appalled! Okay, not really. But there was no way I was leaving with them. In the end there were 6/44 that stayed.

In the last minute of the game Ghana scored. You would have thought Ghana had won the world cup! The entire Ghana section went INSANE!! It was so fun. Anway, back to the moral. The 6 of us were SO excited. The game was going to go into overtime and.. well that’s just exciting. We also may have taken pleasure in the fact that everyone who left would miss it. But we’re evil like that. So we freak out with Ghana.. which confuses everyone around us because we’d been cheering for England the entire time..  and wait for the exciting overtime.

Guess what?? No overtime. The game ended 1-1.

Moral of the story: Never leave a game early. You never know when the underdog will come back, tie the game up, and then shatter your excitement by leaving the score tied.

Side moral: Being cool and staying until the end of the game earns you an added reward of increased traffic and crowds.

Being in the Wembley Stadium was probably one of my favorite single things I’ve done this whole trip. THAT is how amazing it was. Why can’t America get with the program and realize how AWESOME soccer is??

Oh, and I’ve decided I’m going to Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup. Anyone is welcome to join me!