To put my brain in order or perhaps simply to procrastinate, I have decided to make a list of what I’ve done so far in London, and what I have yet to do. For those of you reading who are on the London program with me, let me know what’s on your lists — perhaps we can go together.

So far, in London, I have…

1. Eaten curry in Bricklane.
2. Danced and drank red wine in the Cuckoo Club, then eaten KFC in Picadilly Square with new friends.
3. Gone on the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
4. Failed to see Buckingham Palace from exhaustion. I’ll have to get back to that one.
5. Walked around Hyde Park with Amber, and on my own.
6. Seen the Mousetrap. Absolutely fabulous! Go see it if you haven’t.
7. Toured Parliament. The House of Lords was gorgeous in its scarlets and deep dark blues and gold gilding.
8. Had a birthday party! I skyped the lovely Giselle and Rebecca, went down to a beautiful Italian restaurant/bakery, and had a chocolate cake with dessert wine.
9. Saw Measure for Measure at Shakespeare’s Globe.
10. Toured the Lake District, stopping at the Brontë and Wordsworth museums. We stayed up late drinking in country pubs and chatting, walked through heaths and over sheep-covered ridges, and took a boat tour of a lake.
11. visited Danny and Chantaneu, my sister’s friends, in East London.
12. Went to Soho with friends.
13. Grabbed icecream and tea in Covent Garden with Amber.
14. Went to Dinerama with some friends from my hometown in the area.
15. Went to the London Literary Festival’s talk on the poetry of Angela Carter.

What I still need to do, and may have to find cheap alternatives to:

1. See Buckingham Palace, damn it! Ideally well-rested.
2. Shop Bricklane Market.
3. Windsor Castle.
4. Stonehenge.
5. The London Eye.
6. The Tower of London.
7. Westminster Abbey.
8. The Sherlock Holmes Museum.
9. Resist seeing In the Heights and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which both look absolutely fantastic.
10. Definitely not buy a gorgeous travel guitar and all these feminist fairy tale books on credit. I will not. I will not. God, I wish I could work in London.
11. Portabello Market.
12. The Chocolate Festival?
13. Crimson Peak…
14. Pan.
15. Perhaps learn krav maga?
16. Perhaps volunteer locally!
17. Museums. So many museums.
18. Camden.
19. Oxford.
20. Cambridge.
21. Bath.
22. Dublin.
23. Edinburgh — for this, at least, I have flights already booked.
24. Glasgow.
25. Visit that detective-themed speakeasy where you have to bring in a case to get in.
26. Phantom.
27. Make some London friends! I may shop for clubs at the local colleges and see what looks fun, since that seems like a good way to meet people.
28. Finish my novel, and write one short story a week, so that by the time Clarion comes along, I’ll at least be able to submit.
29. Find a writing group to edit said stories and novel!
30. Relax.

So there it is. A list of things I’ve done, and twice as much still to do, neat and orderly and ready to be checked off. I probably won’t get to all of it — I only have a semester — but all the same, I’m excited.

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