London, England

July 14 - July 19, 2010

Back in London once again, the time had come to carry out the first installment of house packing. With a tight schedule, half the house was to be packed within the next few days, the other, in late August. This was also when the grand piano was to be taken. Legs dismantled, the piano body first fell to concrete floor of the garage when its crate was lifted. Secondly, the movers asked if the forklift from the construction site next door could be borrowed to move the piano body. In the end, tilting it on its side on the back of an open lorry, they reversed up the incline of the driveway to the forty foot container. With a three foot height difference between the back of the lorry and the container, a thick cardboard bridge was created before the piano body was then rolled, slanted and flipped into its crate, perched upright in the back of the container. The lid was then quickly slammed shut. Wonderful. I must say, I had the time of my life being woken up by old British men's husky smoker voices shouting across the household during those few days. 

Not to forget, I was also back for another dance rehearsal due to the upcoming showcase. That made it all better, no doubt.

Another packed house, just the usual for an expat family

London, England

July 7 - July 11, 2010


The UK road-trip came to a close with a final stop along the route home to Rosslyn Chapel, just outside of Edinburgh, after a last overnight stay scheduled in York was voted out. With 'Knights Templar' fame, Rosslyn Chapel was featured in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, as well as in scenes of the novel's movie, filmed in 2005 with Tom Hanks.

So a few days back in the area were necessary as I had Street dance practices to attend, leading up to the Summer showcase in late July. The dance school runs showcases semiannually, in Summer and Winter, however, I was definitely not going to miss this upcoming performance as it would be my very last with Street Vibes Dance School in London. And if you didn't know already, as of four years old, dance has been my life.


In addition, I did not let the chance slip when it came to spending some final time with the couple friends who were still in town (the disadvantage of attending an international school: you never want to be home over holidays as it becomes a ghost town; everyone travels, whether it be back home or to another holiday destination), one of which was moving abroad to Detroit a mere four days after we caught up over lunch in Windsor. We conversed for hours over a very last Nandos meal for both of us.
I miss that chica.

Gravesite of Earl and Countess of Rosslyn at Rosslyn Chapel

London, England

June 18, 2010

My Grade 10 year (Sophomore year for you Americans, Year 11 for you British) came and went with incredible speed. And remembering back to thinking the exact same thing in regards to the end of Grade 9, then I must be growing old...fast.

Numb goodbyes to those who had been my life for the past four years in London occurred in routine, and one by one, we moved away over the course of the Summer. The routine of attending an international school overflowing with culture and expats does include having to let go of some incredible friendships made with classmates from all over the world. So I, of course, was not the only one leaving. Out of a grade of 60 students, I easily run out of fingers when counting those who did move on to various corners of the globe at the end of this past school year, just as I have.

And so without taking a minute to breathe, we packed our bags for the very first time of this adventure. It all began a mere three days later...