done. change.

On Thursday, I handed in my C-course essay. Jamie walked me to Schools for the Official Hand-In. We bumped into Richard, who had just Handed In too. We walked along Queen's Lane to the Turf and I said a Fond Farewell to a Friend under the Bridge of Sighs because Jamie was leaving for Edinburgh-Limoges-Cumbria the next day.Hours of drinking at the Turf with Team MStud ensued: Rebecca, Johanna, Jeff, Claude, Jonny, Richard, Rosanna, Nick, Bianca... A lot of us turned up and sat and ate and drank and chatted and complained and bit by bit we peeled off to nap and weep in corners. I peeled off to do the radio.
I read aloud from Coraline with cohost, Claude. We played music. We said words into the microphone and hoped people were listening. We got text messages confirming that people were listening. We felt special.I met Rosanna in Jericho for post-radio drinks at Raoul's. She bought me my first-ever mint julep. It was wonderful. It was confessional. We floated through Oddbins for wine and went to a dinner party hosted by another Team MStud. I chatted with a Mount Allison alum who knew folks that I know from Shakespeare on the Marsh. The world felt small.Johanna, Claude, and I retired to Rebecca's giant Keble room. We drank white wine and watched The Princess Bride. The walk "home" down St-Aldates felt lonely despite a day full of people I love.The next day, Jamie woke me at 8:30 for another Farewell--she, loaded down with her backpack, bound for Edinburgh. I, loaded down with my hangover. Made it to Hertford and to the EFL before 11:30 to turn in her keys and return books. At the Trinity gates for 11:30 to meet Rosanna, Nick, Claude, Johanna, Rebecca, and Professor Emma Smith for the happiest, nerrdiest fieldtrip ever, to STOWE. Gardens designed in part by British Worthies, Pope and Congreve. It was beautiful and misty and English. We scampered through sheep fields. We looked at buildings. We ate scones.Then: Stratford. Drinks at the Dirty Duck. Emma coaxed me into my first (last?) steak & kidney pudding. We saw Coriolanus. The people behind us snored and rustled and commented. We...appreciated quietly. A drive home under bright stars and dark skies.

Saturday: Ben took me to Equus at the Gielgud in London. It was good. I will never be able to look at Harry Potter the same way again, though. Springing forward the day after hit me a little hard.

Monday: Team MStud dinner party in Cowley. Beautiful. I went early, helped prep; we sat in the garden and drank white wine. Being in a home reminded me of what life is like. I did my godlfish impression: ate too much and lay on the floor and moaned in pained appreciation as my classmate prodded my distended tummy. The walk home at 4 AM across the Donnington Bridge and up the Abingdon Road under a big yellow moon helped me to digest a lot of things.

Next: my parents. Italy. Sun.........