Olympic Closing Ceremonies--live from London

It's been a nice couple of days here around Brixton. I'm feeling more and more settled in each day, and have been enjoying my new found confidence with the bus system. :) I've seen more of the area and done a bit more shopping for some necessities. But the highlight of the last couple of days was definitely watching the closing ceremonies at a local pub with a bunch of fabulous Brits. A couple work colleagues--Sadie and Anna--invited me out with their friends to watch the ceremonies from a cool pub called Grand Union. It was just a 15-minute walk to the pub, which had an amazing outdoor beer garden where we sat and chatted while we waited for the ceremonies to start. They had big TVs all over the garden, and one giant screen on the wall.

I met many kind people who were curious about my exchange and offered lots of tips and tricks for London, including some must-see places. Anna is brilliant with face paint and decked us all out in our country's colors.

Posing with my new friend Kitty. Go Team GB and Team USA!

I enjoyed the Closing Ceremonies, especially when I knew who the singers were. But I must admit, there were a few I'd never heard of! :) One thing missing from the BBC's coverage was footage of the Americans--which I understand but still would have liked to see a few clips of my favorite USA athletes. Still, it was quite a pageant, and what a cool opportunity to watch live it from London! The people of Great Britain have incredible pride in their country, and it reminds me of how worked up we get at home with our GBA ("God Bless America") spirit. :)

Now I'm getting packed up for a week-long trip up to Scotland! I loved Scotland when I was there in July with the student travel group I helped chaperone. To get myself in the Scotland spirit, I even went to see "Brave" yesterday, which was quite cute and had gorgeous, life-like scenery. Packing in my Easy Jet approved teeny-tiny suitcase is a bit of a challenge, but you can't beat their cheap fares. There's a small group of us invading Christy's house in Bathgate, I'm just so excited to meet up with some of my American Fulbright friends and catch up on how everyone is adjusting. It's been really nice to meet so many new people here in London, but I think it will be comforting to see some familiar faces for a change. We're going to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as do some other sight seeing. I can't wait to see Scotland again, and this time, I won't be dragging 40 high schoolers around everywhere--what a treat!