Wednesday Night was a poetry reading from the poetry class which I attending because Adrienne would be reading two of her poems. They were rather good if you ask me. Then we also attended the Choir Concert, which Adrienne also asked us to attend. It was a lot better than I thought it would be to be honest. I'm not one that loves going to those types of things, but they sounded very good, even though almost every song was in a different language and I couldn't understand them, hehe.
On Thursday we had a Convocation and Valedictory Dinner. We all dressed up for it too. I wore my new black and white dress I bought for the costume ball and my new boots. Everyone wore something similar. But we loaded into the shuttles at about 5 and went down to the little Harlaxton village church which is close to 1000 years old. Therefore there was no heat. Period. Which sucked majorly. We were freezing two seconds after we got there. But it was a nice little service. We did have to one by one get a certificate that said we survived the semester at Harlaxton, hehe. I didn't like walking in front of everyone, but you know how that goes. Finally, after everyone was frozen we went back to the manor for a reception and dinner. 
Once we arrived, everyone either got a mixed drink (which was disgusting) or orange juice and talked, took pictures, and looked at the photo entries to the Photo contest. There were a lot of really great photos. We were all really impressed that college students took such high quality shots. They looked like professionals took them! I was sure I wasn't going to win anything because there were so many others so much better than mine and I never win anything, lol. Oh well.
Dinner started and we all filed into the Long Gallery, picked our seats and started eating our rolls. Once again it felt like I was on a cruise, because they served us our food (chicken, cooked carrots, zucchini, potato) and they were dressed nice. We even got cheesecake at the end. Sara Hilber decided in the middle of dinner she wanted to go back to her room because she was tired. We all got really angry because that whole night was for us: the students and she wanted to deck out early, like usual. So we just ignored her and she left.
After the food had been cleared, they started handing out awards for various things: sports award, principal's award, leadership award, photography award, and essay award. The photography award came first and my heart automatically started pounding. I mean, in my mind I told myself that I would never win, but my body still reacted with nervousness. They recognized 3 people with outstanding pictures first, but they didn't win 1st prize. I thought, well if i won ANYTHING it would be recognition. Adrienne, Jessica Reider, and Leil were the 3 that got praised. I was so happy Adrienne was one of them! All of their pictures were truly awesome. When it came to the winner, I just sighed defeat. Then the man read off "Creeping Darkness by Chelsea Eddins" My eyes got really wide and I just looked at my friends as they looked back at me. Everyone started laughing. I turned to Chelsea Kasten and was liek...do I have to go up there?! She started laughing and pushed me up, so I had to walk infront of the whole school looking at me and clapping. I hate doing that!! But i was so excited. I honestly couldn't believe it. They handed me a wrapped gift and I saw my British Studies professor looking at me and smiled, but I just glanced away. I hate being the center of attention like that!! Ahh!! But secretly, I was very happy and excited :)
This is my picture that won:
Anywho, the other awards that were given out, I thought were rightfully given. They all deserved them. I'm pretty sure we all got the same thing though: it's called a wrapper. I use it kind of like a scarf. It's navy and yellow (like my old high school!) with the Harlaxton crest on it. It keeps me warm! But I like it none the least.
When the dinner and awards were completely over, we headed back into the Great Hall for a slide show. It was pretty good. They played good american music about leaving and never forgetting things. I thought it fit pretty well. People were crying and laughing at all the pictures. Most people were drunk though ebcause they drank all the wine at their tables. Hah! Anywho, after the slide show, there was a Graffiti Night down in the Bistro. So, everyone got old white shirts and permanent markets so people could sign them. I wasn't going to do it at first, but I found an old work out shirt I was planning to throw away, and went down there. It was insane, the amount of people crammed in that small area. It was fun, but crazy. After I got a few signatures, I decided to cut out early and go to bed.
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Friday morning I woke up around 9 and got ready. Seven of us girls were going to Nottingham for the afternoon. So, we bought our train tickets (less than 5 pounds) and were on our way. We went shopping first. We didn't really buy a whole lot. I bought a pair of sunglasses and a headband, so that was the end of my endeavors. Then we went to this pub which was really awesomely decorated, almost for Halloween. I'm not sure but it was really fun. My meal was only like 5 pounds for the largest piece of fish I have ever seen. (I got fish and chips). It was amazing though, I couldn't even finish it and that's saying something when I can't finish my meal.
We walked through the Christmas market and a few other shops before heading to the outside ice skating rink. We signed up to skate at 4 and we got 45 minutes. We did it at the perfect time because the sun always sets at like 3:30, and so it turned dark while we were skating. There were christmas lights all around us, it was sooo awesome!! Everyone was very unsure when we first got on the ice, but by the end of our 45 minutes, we were doing very well. I got 2 blisters from it, unfortunately but it's okay...it was worth it hehe.
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We rushed back to school because we were having a Bonfire to make up for the bonfire we missed on Nov. 6 to celebrate bonfire day. Once we got back, i ate a quick PB&J, got my package that mom sent(THANK YOU GMA PETER FOR THE GARBAGE!!) , and ran out to the bonfire. It was huge!! So, we stayed out there a little bit but it was really muddy and raining a little bit so a few of us decided to go back. We were going to watch a movie at midnight, so we all just lounged around until then. When midnight rolled around, meghan and i walked down to the carriage house and watched My Best Friend's Wedding with a few other people. It wasn't til 2 am that the movie was over, and we walked back. I didn't wake up until about noon on Saturday morning!
Saturday (today), there isn't a whole lot planned. We do have a Family Christmas Dinner. i'm not sure what all that entails. but it gives the teachers a chance to bring their families, and meet a families are all coming for dinner. Apparently it's buffet style...which is probably the same way we normally eat in the Refectory. Who knwos? we also have a chance to go caroling throughout the Harlaxton Village and then come back for hot chocolate and cookies. Mom thinks I need to go. I personally don't want to scare away the few people that actually inhabit the small village, but I guess we'll see what I choose later tonight.
Packing has become such a nightmare. My roommates are all pretty messy so we are all throwing our stuff around the room trying to pack it up. We have to do room checkout tomorrow, which doesn't make a lot of sense since i don't leave the manor until early thursday morning! But, I've come to the conclusion that both of my checked bags will be over 50 lbs, which means, I will have to pay a $50 charge for each bag. I could just check a 3rd bag: my duffle bag, but the problem is, that is $150!! So, i decided I'd save 50 bucks and overstuff the 2 big bags I already have. I don't know how I have so much stuff!!! Guess I have to deal with the inevitable... I'll be home 2 weeks from today. My last full day at Harlaxton Manor will be in 4 days. My adventure is ending...
The two best friends I've made here, won't be ending though, as well as the other relationships I've made during the course of this Harlaxton adventure. Jessica and Meghan are actually coming to visit me in early January for a few days...so I know that we will remain friends. My one fear is that when I get back everything will be different. The girl that I mean in Lisboa, Natalie, said after she studied abroad, her friends changed a little bit back home. Everyone gets tired of listening to them talk about stories of europe and their study abroad adventures. They feel it's very snobbish and boastful and they'd rather not hear about it anymore. Good friends won't be upfront about it, but I'm sure some of the friends I have will be that way. It just sucks that the people I've grown to love here, were coming back to Frankfort and WKU with me. We have so much in common and we're linked in so many ways that my older friends wouldn't understand. So leaving this place will be difficult. But...I still have two weeks until I must face that reality.
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