The World in Britain

Today is absolutely phenomenal! The sun is shining, there’s a nice breeze, and we have a BOUNCY CASTLE.

Since it’s the end of the year, we’re having our blow-out bash with all of the house funds that remained. There are tables of wonderful food - pasta salad, hamburgers, hotdogs, veggie skewers, chips, cookies, cake, pies, and lots of fruit! There are drinks, too, and Robin made us Authentic Southern Sweet Tea!!! We miss it SO much over here, and our British friends were delighted at the discovery - they’d never tasted it!

The backyard of 153 is a playground. There’s a massive bouncy castle that has been the center of our fun for the past five hours (I’m taking a break!)… oh-so fun, whether you want to do flips and bounce off the walls or if you just want to cuddle-puddle for an afternoon nap together! There was also a pinata, and lots of us took a turn swinging madly (blind-folded, of course) at a unicorn that Melissa kept moving just out of reach. It finally exploded in a shower of candy… We’ve also been dancing to music, including a top performance of “Thriller” by our very own Bramhall, Brooke, and Robin, and, to my delight and embarrassment, a very confused performance of “The Bing-Bang Dance” from Lazytown… by yours truly.

I’m not sure how long the festivities will last; I can still hear music and shrieks from my room, but it’s getting a bit chilly… On the other hand, we DO have the bouncy castle overnight…

What a way to celebrate the end of our stay in Britain! There’s a week or less left for most of us here; I’ll go back to France a week from tomorrow to spend the summer with my fiancé (he proposed over Christmas!!!!!!)!! Before then I still have an oral presentation to give, a paper to finish, various other assignments to complete, and the last of my packing to do… but not today. Today is a day just for bouncy castles.