I have been back from Korea for 8 days now, so I figure it’s now or never for some last-minute reflection on my time abroad. Please enjoy a final round my observations on Korean culture.

• People spit everywhere. If you stop to listen it’s as though the whole population is on the verge of launching into a sick beatbox solo, but the reality is much more off-putting. In the words of the brilliant David Sedaris: “I saw wads of phlegm glistening like freshly shucked oysters on staircases and escalators. I saw them frozen into slicks on sidewalks and oozing down the sides of walls” (from an essay entitled “Chicken Toenails, Anyone?”).  Despite my initial discomfort with the habit, I can’t argue that it isn’t a necessary practice given the amount of pollution in Seoul. Though it’s nowhere near as bad as in China, on any given day Koreans don medical masks to protect their respiratory systems from the scourge of bad air and yellow dust.

• Capitalism has found it’s home in Korea and has evolved to the point of being an inescapable festering disease. The two movies I had the pleasure of seeing in Korea were preceded not by trailers for upcoming films, but by adverts for phone companies and cosmetics. The much-anticipated “Seoul International Fireworks Festival” was interrupted every 40 minutes or so for a literal commercial break. Which is to say, the fireworks were halted and large screens situated throughout the park in which the festival was held boomed out adverts for (once again) food, cosmetics, and phones. I would say that the rabid commercialism in Korea is comparable to be screamed at as you walk down the street, but sadly this is a very real and everyday occurrence as many shops have a person posted in the front with a megaphone 24/7 lest anyone’s mind stray for a moment.
  

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• During my time in Korea I managed to visit a puppy cafe, a sheep cafe, and a cat cafe. There was also a raccoon cafe in Seoul, which I never managed to visit, though I can’t say I’m entirely disappointed. Raccoons are not native to Korea, but in my home country if I am ever struck by the desire to see a raccoon I can simply peek inside the nearest dumpster, thus the novelty of a raccoon cafe is a bit lost on me. I wouldn’t necessarily dissuade people from visiting animal cafes, simply because a lot of my friends (who like animals a lot more than me) had many a pleasant experience. However, I will say that the animal cafes I visited gave off a slight puppy mill-esque vibe. I have no doubt that the owners of the cafes took excellent care of the animals, nonetheless the fact that the furry residents remained inside for 99% of their lives in a space barely larger than the average prison cell was hard to overlook.
  

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• Smoking is very common among Koreans, particularly men. Women smoke as well, but as they are the ‘gentler sex’ (as I am constantly reminded) their impropriety is kept more secret. Should one wander into a coffee shop in Seoul, sure enough you will find a smoking room on each floor. The majority of clubs- and many bars- allow smoking indoors, without the need to retreat to a discreet section of the building. Even airports have smoking rooms, because no one loves the smell of stale smoke more than people trapped on airplanes.
  

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• There is little to no social welfare in Korea, which means that elderly people, should they lack the necessary funds or family for retirement, must continue to work at menial tasks until, well, they die. The most common menial task for the elderly of Korea is passing out flyers, often for various restaurants. These old women, with their jaunty plastic visors, stand for hours on street corners attempting to shove brightly colored flyers into the unassuming hands of the passing public. It would be quite a depressing situation if the women weren’t so alarmingly aggressive and persistent. Whatever modicum of sympathy I possess for the elderly women and their dire social/financial situation is quickly erased the moment one of them corners me and thrusts a fried chicken advert into my hand, causing me to drop everything else, all the while barking at me in Korean like a rabid chihuahau as I struggle to gather my scattered possessions.
  

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• Another common pastime for the elderly, although I doubt it generates income, is to spend great lengths of time in the park on Yonsei’s campus collecting fallen chestnuts like a pack of deranged squirrels. Do they eat them? Are they simply cleaning the park out of the goodwill of their hearts? We may never know. Quite puzzling indeed. But I must say, I will miss the sight of the herds of elderly Koreans in their neon tracksuits rooting for chestnuts in the early morning as I make my way to my 9am class.
  

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• Braces are more common for older people in Korea than in the United States. Not old old people, but mid-20s to late-30s seems to be the ideal windows for braces in Korea. Perhaps braces are not bankrolled by one’s parents and are only possible once young adults have generated adequate income of their own, thus the average age for braces-wearers has been pushed forward significantly. Whatever the case, in a country where people age with incredible grace, the predominance of braces among older people can make it quite difficult to determine someone’s age. Is the guy who bought you a drink at the bar 18 or 28? With braces it’s anyone’s guess.
  

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Well, there you have it. My semester in Korea has come to a close. I’m not really the type for a bunch of clichéd reflection on how these last 4 months have been the most amazing/inspiring/challenging/incredible/yadda yadda yadda of my life, so just take my word for it, dear readers, I will not soon forget my time in Seoul (and I hope that my blog stands as living proof of this sentiment). Rather, let us turn our eyes to the future. In 2 short months, I will be jetting off to Buenos Aires for the final semester of my college career, and yes, you guessed it, I will be blogging my way through a haze of steaks, tango, and excellent wine (and of course, rigorous academics).

Until next time.

Stapled on the last page of my passport is a small folded piece of paper stating my name and my Italian address. That, combined with my student visa on one of the stamp pages, has allowed me to live in Italy for the past four months. It is hard to believe that those days are officially behind me. I have left the country and am now traveling with a friend from home before I go back to the United States next week.

The question I have been asking this past week has been, where has the time gone? Within the blink of an eye I am finished with finals and it is almost Christmas!

While the semester as a whole was even better than I ever could have imagined, I have to admit that this last week was tough. The stress of finals combined with all of the feels I had knowing my time in Rome was coming to a quick halt made it hard to focus. I just wanted to be out in the city, exploring and eating gelato. Instead I was in the library, trying to finish up all of the final papers, tests and projects I had. The stress was overbearing, and no amount of pasta helped. I texted one of my friends who studied abroad last semester and explained how I felt. She said that it was very natural to feel overwhelmed-I was leaving my new home very soon and that was hard! But what helped me the most is when she told me, “everyone always talks about how hard the first week is but nobody ever tells you how hard the last week is”.

Hearing her echo exactly how I felt was very insightful. I took a good, hard look at who I was when I got to Rome in late August, and who I am now in December. Of course, the two are very different, and in a good way! I have always had a sense of adventure, but now it is heightened so much more because of all of the travel I have been able to do this semester. I am glad I go to school in a city like Chicago, where there are always things to explore!

At the beginning of the semester I started putting the hashtag #avventuradiamanda on all of my Instagram and Facebook pictures. At first it was for convenience, when you clicked on the hashtag it would take you to the pictures I posted while abroad. But the Italian translation of “adventure of Amanda” quickly became my silent mantra this semester. I could list all of the adventures I have had these past three and a half months, but that would be endless (booking hostels, finding train stations, stumbling on one of a kind book stores, climbing coastal hills, etc…)! Instead I invite you to go to Instagram and search the hashtag!

In the end, I have realized that leaving my new friends, Rome, Italy, and Europe is very different than leaving Chicago or Louisville. At least with Chicago and Louisville I can attach an exact date to my eventual return. With Rome, I am not exactly sure when that will be (soon I hope!). I guess that is all part of the adventure.

My excitement to see my family and to live in Chicago again builds everyday, but I also already miss Rome. Everyone always says it, and I believe but it is definitely true…

Rome=Home.

“If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ’tis true that a good play needs no epilogue. Yet to good wine they do use good bushes, and good plays prove the better by the help of good epilogues.”

-Shakespeare, As You Like It

This (last) post is coming at you from my own bed in Kansas City. I got in about 24 hours ago, and so far I’ve slept, mostly unpacked, gone to an audition (and gotten a callback!), and somewhat gotten back on central standard time. It’s 8:30 and I’m exhausted, though, so that last one maybe not so much.

After I finished my blog last Monday morning, I headed out to do some souvenir shopping. I spent a while doing that, including stops at the National Theatre bookstore and the Globe shop. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Tate Modern. I was honestly surprised at how much I loved it! Usually I prefer more classical art, but the Tate was super cool, especially the “Energy and Process” and “Citizens and States” collections, and a video exhibit on the restoration of a vandalized Mark Rothko painting.

Tuesday was a really exciting day. In the morning I went to the National Portrait Gallery, something I’d been wanting to do all semester. I spent a long time there, looking at portraits from the 1500s all the way up to present day. I thought the coolest part was a temporary exhibit, “Face of Britain,” with five different galleries scattered around the museum, each focusing on a theme of Power, Love, Fame, Self, or People. I also really liked the Victorian section, and of course, the portrait of Shakespeare. That afternoon I got to go to the National Theatre Archive, where they keep records on past productions. I’m doing an independent study project on the play “Greenland,” which premiered there in 2011. I got to look at the technical scripts, the costume bible, the programme, and even watch a DVD of the show! It was such a great experience to get such firsthand information for a paper, and to get a peek behind the scenes of a theatre we’ve seen so many shows at this semester. Then that night we went to see an honestly terrible production of “Macbeth” at the Young Vic, which I really don’t want to talk about…

Wednesday I had a slow morning trying to convince myself to brave a third museum in three days, but I’m so glad I ended up going to the Victoria and Albert. It’s a massive museum that I barely got a taste of, but it was so worth it. I spent most of my time in the historical fashion exhibit, where they had extant garments from as early as the 1700s. After that I had a little time left over to explore the Theatre and Performance section before rushing back to have a quick dinner before a very exciting evening. We saw the Book of Mormon! It was great! I’d seen it before in Chicago, but it was an interesting experience seeing it in London. The audience seemed less scandalized by some of the language, some of the ad-libbed references were different . . . the actors did a pretty good job with the American accents, though!

Thursday I went back to the Natural History Museum to see everything I missed last time . . . and even then, I couldn’t do it. In the end, we had time to do Dinosaurs, Mammals, Human Biology, “Creepy Crawlies,” and Ecology, which felt like a pretty thorough afternoon. I liked the dinosaurs and mammals a lot . . . the centipedes and scorpions, not so much. We kept busy in the museum until closing time, and then we headed out for ice skating just outside the museum! It was really fun and pretty with all the lights, and we were proud that we didn’t fall throughout the whole session!

I spent Friday packing up all the stuff I’d managed to scatter throughout the week, and trying not to be too emotional about having to leave. We watched Bill Murray’s Christmas special (I’d recommend it) and went out to the food market in St. Katharine’s Docks (basically right downstairs from their flat). That night we went to a really cool bar called The Alchemist, where they do science-themed cocktails! I had a color-changing one where they gave me two tiny mixed drinks in little Erlenmyer flasks, one yellow and one bright blue, and when I poured them both into my glass, it turned pink (complete with dry ice to make it bubble)! After that I had one last pint at the Dickens Inn, a pub I went to several times over the semester, and went to stock up on British cookies and candy to bring home.

Saturday morning came too soon, and we were off to the airport by 7:45. I think I was awake for something like 20 hours by the time I finally made it to bed last night. I don’t think I’m completely back on KC time yet, but I’m getting there.

So, to sum up: I took 11 challenging classes, saw 21 plays, made 19 great new LDA friends, spent probably around $500 and countless hours on the Tube, rode 6 roller coasters, wrote 4 papers, learned 4 new monologues, went to eight museums (by a loose, exhausted count), took hundreds of pictures, and fell in love with one great city. Don’t worry, London. I’ll be back.

“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Wednesday we had our Acting performances! We rehearsed in the morning, had a rushed and stressful lunch, and then sat to watch the other group perform scenes from Chekhov’s “Three Sisters.” It was cool to see the results of all of their efforts after just hearing them talk and vent about the process all term. Then we set up the classroom for our scenes from “La Ronde.” The performance went really well! We’d never performed for an audience, so we’d never had laughter or any kind of response during. It was amazing how, even in an “open rehearsal” in a classroom, we could feed off the audience’s energy. I’ve learned so much about acting from Gabby’s class, and I feel like she gave us so many tools to take with us for future performances.

That night all the students and faculty went out for a fancy dinner, and Kathy gave us our diplomas for completing the program. After that, since we didn’t have anything to do on Friday, we finally made it to a club in Picadilly we’ve been meaning to go to since the first week! It was weird to be out on a Thursday, but we were all glad to have one last night out together!

We spent Friday packing, returning books to the library, and saying goodbye to Kathy and Lesley and Sophia in the office. That evening we all piled our leftover food together to share it so it wouldn’t go to waste. We stayed up all night talking and packing, not wanting it to end.

Saturday morning we had to be out by ten, so we were up early to finish cleaning the flats. Lots of people headed to the airport, but I got on the Tube to East London, where I’m staying this week with people I met while I’ve been here. After dropping my things off, we headed out for some exploring – and we didn’t have to go very far. We spent the whole day enjoying the Tower of London – just half a mile away from their flat. Then we went to an “American BBQ” restaurant, which was pretty good, but it’s hard to impress a KC girl with BBQ from anywhere else.

Sunday we did absolutely nothing, which was AWESOME. Today I’m off for exploring and souvenir shopping!

“Like as the waves make to the pebbl’d shore,

So do our minutes hasten to their end.”

-Shakespeare, Sonnet 60

We’re getting close to the end, folks. Most of our finals are done now, so we’re just in rehearsals for our last two performances and trying to get in all of the last-minute sightseeing we’ve put off until now.

Monday we had our Movement assessment, where everybody performed our own pieces, self-choreographed alone or in groups of two or three. It was probably one of the most challenging assignments I’ve ever had, to come up with four full minutes of choreography that showcased a character and told a story through movement. Some people’s were comedic, some were dramatic, and a few were even political. It was incredible to watch everyone’s pieces and see all the talent and huge creative variety that went into the work. (Then that night was awesome because I had one last really special birthday celebration at the restaurant where they film First Dates. A+.)

Tuesday was full of more assessments (okay, just two, but it felt like a reeealllly long day). After a brush-up rehearsal, we all did our Period Dance final, and then another brush-up rehearsal for Stage Combat. Since then it’s been back-to-back rehearsals for Shakespeare and Acting. Those final performances (technically “open rehearsals”) are coming up this week! Add that to our final papers for Dramatic Criticism and Space, Place, and Text . . . we may only still be attending two classes, but we’re keeping busy anyway!

Wednesday night was amazing – we went to Lates at the Science Museum, which is when they keep it open late for adults only, and they have bars and special events throughout the museum. They even had a silent disco, a roped off dancing area where you wear headphones, so only the people dancing can hear the music. It was such a fun way to celebrate being done with our first round of finals!

Thursday we had a half-day and immediately headed home to start cooking for Thanksgiving! I made dip for before dinner, and chocolate cupcakes, and my flatmate made the chickens so I got to be a witness to that whole process too. We ate around six and then spent the whole night talking and digesting for hours. I’ve never been away from home on Thanksgiving before, but it was actually a really good day. Of course it’s not the same, but it sort of still felt like I was with family.

I’ve been trying to pack activities into my last few weekends here, and this one was no exception. Friday night was Lates at the Natural History Museum, which was even more fun than the Science Museum (though no silent disco here). I really hope I have a chance to come back to this museum after classes end, because it’s huge and there’s so much to explore. Saturday morning I got up early for Borough Market, which was just a bunch of really good food and fancy produce. We spent that evening in our flats hanging out and playing theatre games. Then Sunday was Camden Market, probably my favorite market I’ve been to. After that, even though it was raining, we went to see Big Ben and Buckingham Palace (finally!) and walked all the way to South Bank for the Rekorderlig Cider Lodge (basically a winter festival with a bunch of bars and different fruit ciders). Then back to school for some last-minute work on our Shakespeare performance.

As of this very late blog post, we have one more day of class, two days of finals, and then I get a little over a week to explore before I head back. I’m going to be very busy, because I have a lot more of London to see!

Mukbangs

I have recently been made aware of a fascinating Korean subculture known as mukbang. Basically, it’s food porn but without the involvement of any actual porn. A person, known as a “BJ” a.k.a. “broadcast jockey” (you’d think if there wasn’t any porn involved they would have chosen a less suggestive name, but oh well) will either cook or order large quantities of food and then eat the whole amount live in front of a camera. Viewers can log in and watch the spectacle, even interacting with the “BJ” by way of a chatroom as they choke down enough food in one sitting to feed a village in Africa for a month. What’s more, dedicated viewers can send gifts (usually money and food) to their favorite mukbang stars (apparently one of the top mukbang stars was making around $9000 USD a month at the height of her fame, talk about dream job).

The purpose of mukbangs is entirely innocent and almost a bit sad. By nature, Koreans are very social eaters. However, as more and more young adults are moving out and living solo, the custom of eating alone is becoming more common, yet is often hard to adjust to. Thus, to fill the void, the concept of mukbang was created as a way for the lonely to simulate a social eating environment. Seriously. Honestly, I think I would understand the concept of mukbangs a lot better if the viewers were treating the broadcast like pornography, simply because I have have a hard time grasping the fact that people will watch another person consume large quantities of food for innocent entertainment and the replication of social contact. It is just so far off my radar. Here is a link for those of you who would like to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wjXJL6ZwLk

A Comprehensive Field Guide to Koreaboos

Koreaboo (noun)

•Definition: A person whose infatuation with Hallyu i.e. the “Korean wave” has led them to possess inaccurate and distorted views of the realities of Korean culture and society as a whole. On their quest to consume all things deemed “Korean” (by their standards), they often strategically ignore social issues and other topics of significance that fall beyond the confines of their K-pop bubble.

•Interests: An aggressive obsession with K-pop, K-dramas, Korean manga, cosplay, and any aspect of Korean culture that could be deemed “cute”.

•Defining Characteristics: Use of the word “oppa”, meaning “big brother”, which is used almost exclusively in Korean society by females when referring to older males. Not that the Koreaboos’ repeated use of the phrase is gramatically incorrect, but the term implies a certain level of familiarity between Koreans (and even romantic intent, as “oppa” is used frequently when referring to one’s boyfriend) thus the phrase is distorted through its use by Koreaboos who more than likely picked it up when binging on K-dramas. Koreaboos also typically possess a pretentious and arrogant attitude stemming from his or her belief that they are Korean culture experts, despite having very limited practical knowledge about the realities of Korean culture. Engaging in rational discussion will usually end poorly and result in excessive eye-rolling on behalf of both parties.

•Strengths: An impossibly detailed knowledge about the lives and musical repertoires of any given K-pop group.

•Weaknesses: More often than not, the weaker Koreaboos in the herd will have their spirit broken simply by arriving in Korea. The realization that the country of Korea has more depth than what is portrayed on the average K-drama can often be too much for a Koreaboo to bear; many feel cheated or disoriented once they realize they are unlikely to bump into their favorite K-pop idol while strolling the streets of Gangnam and live happily every after. Many are unable to grasp the fact that Korea is a country that grapples with real issues such as political corruption, high suicide rates, and rabid materialism, among other things. While some Koreaboos are able to adjust to the reality of life in Korea, others are not so fortunate- life for a Koreaboo in the real world is not for everyone.

The Reverse Rapture

During my time in Korea, I have noticed a plethora of children. None seem to be older than four years old, probably because all the older children have already been shoved into the infamously rigorous Korean education system. Nonetheless, the weirdest part about the abundance of small children is the complete lack of pregnant women. You’d think that pregnant women would be much more obvious, given the fact that Korean women are notoriously slender creatures. Yet the entire time I have been in Seoul, I have seen literally one pregnant women. One. It’s as though all the Korean children were beamed down from the skies in reverse fashion of the predicted second coming of Christ (sorry, Harold Camping, better luck next time).

What’s more, Korean children are allowed to wander around like a gaggle of free range chickens. Unlike American children, Korean children are not strapped into strollers and carted through the city; rather, their parents let them walk, with their feet, like humans. As floods of people exit the subway at any given stop, one must always be careful to watch the ground lest there be a stray toddler underfoot. Additionally, Korean parents display more patience with their children than I have ever before seen. This may seem like a paltry and somewhat insignificant observation, but once you become aware it’s actually quite odd. In the United States, particularly in a busy city such as Chicago, I would be pressed to find a parent patiently walking their newly-mobile one-year-old step-by-step up the stairs of the subway exit. Rather, Americans have invented nifty tools such as ‘child leashes’ (charmingly referred to as “safety harnesses”) to prevent the young from getting a taste of freedom. Thus, American children are the medicated battery-cage counterparts to Korea’s free-roaming chicken children.

The DMZ: Come For The Scenic View of North Korea, Stay Because There’s Literally Active Landmines Everywhere

A few weeks ago, I took a trip up to visit the DMZ. The DMZ (“demilitarized zone”) marks the border between North and South Korea. By far, the highlight of the trip was the 8-minute film that was presented in the vistor’s center. Although our tour guide vehemently insisted beforehand that the film was “not propaganda because we’re not like the North Koreans”, I was amused to discover that she was entirely wrong. Among other things, the film claimed the DMZ to be a “sanctuary for deer and other wildlife”. A quick look around at the numerous yellow signs warning of undetonated landmines in the open fields proved the exact opposite. All in all, I would give the DMZ a solid 3/5. South Korea certainly has quite the racket going with these tours. There’s not much to do or see besides a brief opportunity to peek into North Korea from the safety of a ‘scenic’ observation point, but the novelty of the locale makes the trip worth it.

The final matches of calcio are being played, it’s finally starting to cool down and Thanksgiving is upon us at the JFRC.

Thanksgiving is a holiday traditionally spent at home with family and close friends. This year is the first year I, and I’m sure several other students, will not be at home celebrating with my family. Being in Rome for the holiday is bittersweet, but after reading the Chicago forecast from this week, it’s a bit more sweet than bitter.

In light of Thursday being Thanksgiving, I would like to share 10 things I am most thankful for (aside from studying abroad) in Rome:

1. My daily cornetto cioccolato and cappuccino from M&M.

2. Lasagna from Terra di Siena.

3. Three-day weekends.

4. Rinaldo’s Bar when Mensa is closed.

5. “Free Wi-Fi” signs on the doors of restaurants.

6. The walk from the Zone to campus—my legs look great this semester.

7. My calcio team—go celeste!

8. The SLAs for being so helpful and putting up with us all semester.

9. Fridgidarium for always being there for me.

10. My friends at the JFRC that have become family. Without them, Rome wouldn’t feel so much like home.

Ciao for now,

Krista

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

Shakespeare, Hamlet

Birthday blog post!

This week has been another exciting one, even though I have been sick for most of it and busy with homework for all of it. We are officially done with classes that aren’t Acting or Shakespeare. We had our Voice final assessment and presentations of our speeches from Audition class, plus an awesome character/relationship workshop with Kathy. We’ve also been getting ready for our final presentations in Period Dance, Stage Combat, and Movement.

On Tuesday we went on our last group theatre visit! We saw Waste at the National Theatre, which was pretty much another bust. It dealt with themes of corruption, hypocrisy, and sexual scandal. The 1920s costumes were sleek and stylish, on top of a surprisingly minimalist set with some stunning (and obviously high-budget) scene changes. I was surprised and a little star-struck to see Olivia Williams (who I loved in Dollhouse) in the role of Amy O’Connell, a woman who gets pregnant from an affair with a politician. Despite a long script with some fairly tedious and esoteric discussions of early twentieth century British politics, I definitely appreciated that the actors were giving, collectively, a great performance. When all else failed, I could sit back and enjoy their voice and dialect work, which was really impressive.

Wednesday morning I woke up with a tickle in my throat which kept getting worse over the week. Luckily we didn’t have any big plans, so I was able to spend the evenings working on my Movement piece and trying to rest at home (I have watched a LOT of That Mitchell and Webb Look this week). On Thursday I was in bed by 10pm! The goal was to be all rested up and better by Friday. I definitely wasn’t. . . but I was not letting that stop me from having a fun birthday.

Since we knew we would all be studying today, we decided to go out and celebrate on Friday night instead. We had breakfast for dinner in our flats, then headed out to a fun karaoke bar called the Spread Eagle. The bar was super tiny, but we still managed to squeeze in most of LDA. Our original plan was to go clubbing afterwards, but since most of us are sick, we didn’t make it. . . still, it was a super fun night and we sang our hearts out impressively for a bunch of people who can barely talk.

I had a really quiet Saturday watching tv and trying to get some rest. Today I was up bright and early and off to Shoreditch market. There were tons of art shops, designer and handmade foods, and all kinds of food. On the way back (well, actually, out of my way, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do) I stopped off to Chipotle and then got off the train at South Kensington on special birthday orders from my mom. Guys, I am so thankful for my family today. They found a bakery in London in order to make my birthday special from 4,000 miles away.

Tonight we’re all at school working on our Period Dance and Movement pieces. I’m still sick, and honestly it’s really hard to keep my eyes open, but it’s been the best birthday weekend a girl could ask for. I’m in an amazing city, doing what I love, with people I feel so lucky to have met. London, you sure know how to make a girl feel special.