Last day of class...

So--

Yesterday was my last teaching day… Sigh! And again, I hope some of the students keep in touch-- I am kind of nostalgic and curious about them when they return to school… AND at the same time, I have grading to get to!! So--

Of course, I made them go around and tell the class about their remediation projects… And it was a bit different of a project this time, as students don't have any craft material yet on their own… Everything is back in the States, natch. SO there seemed to be even more baking and makeshift cooking projects than usual. But I was introduced to a MO traditional dessert that somehow I've missed--something like super buttery cookies… something like that (I've already forgotten what they're called). They shamed me for a bit that I didn't know about them… I am almost used to it by now… Wherever I go, there is some kind of local cuisine that absolutely EVERYONE knows about and takes for granted while I wonder aloud what that item is… Examples: Hush Puppies, Puppy Chow… I'm noticing there is a real dog food theme in the regional foods of MO and FL… :) All I've tried have been quite tasty, btw!

Projects presented on the day: Cake pops in the shape of snitches with HP quotes attached, mini-pancakes representing a food HP ate with HP quotes, chocolate ice cream sundaes (as HP described) in cups with HP quotes written on them, little HP broomsticks made of string cheese and chives with requisite HP quotes… I *think* that's all for food-- though I brought a ton and others brought snacks as well… A video made of walking around London as Dickens mentions in Sketches By Boz set to fun music, a playlist made of songs that certain Twain quotes made her think of and reading the quotes--then playing the song--and so on-- a kind of jazz poetry mashup session, a paper craft crest of a character from Prince and Pauper, a clay craft of HP's first birthday cake… And I gave the crew cards with photos from around London… They were all very fun projects! And I do love finishing the semester in this kind of way!!

AND I'd been meaning to celebrate the end of the semester in some way… so I got myself tix to Cats… There are so many reasons that it HAD to be Cats… Perhaps it's not the best of the London West End musicals-- BUT it is all about cats… It's based on a book of poems by TS Eliot… who lived very close to where I am staying in Kensington, AND who is FROM St Louis, MO… (Basically, I could have chosen Eliot instead of Twain for the "From MO to London" course…) He wrote the poems for his grandkids (I believe--not his kids) based on the cats he saw around his neighborhood-- practically my neighborhood… AND it makes me think of my cats. :)

Also, as opposed to so much of what I've seen this semester, I made sure actually to read the poems before the play--and it was a great idea. Most of the songs (just not "Memory," I believe) were just the poems put to music… See the framed manuscript of one of the poems given to Webber by Eliot's widow...

Before the play, I tooled around the Soho area… note the photo below... when the weather is nice *all* of London goes to the park! I also bought some souvenirs… fretted myself about HOW I'm going to fit everything in my luggage with all these restrictions… AND had a lovely (Small--note all the food already consumed this day) veggie dinner at a place I'd been to already called Beetroot (British for beets, btw). Turns out they're closing down… Boo!! There is construction going on along the street they're on--and they're getting the boot. I am double glad, therefore, that I got to get there one more time before they go-- They're leaving even before I am!!

And then the inevitable transportation frustration… Caught slow but reliable bus 10 home from the show--only to have it stop at Royal Albert Hall (a good 15 minute walk from my place) and tell us they were stopping there! Grrr! And I'd decided not to wear my good old walking shoes, but "I'm feeling fancy it's my last day of class and I'm going to a proper show" boots… THIS kind of thing I will NOT miss!

And I did a little mental math this morning, and realized that if I do a blog a day for the rest of my time traveling--counting London, Europe, and the East Coast, I could make 100 posts… So now I feel like it's a challenge! (We'll see how I actually do!)