End of term 1!

I just came home from the best holiday party of all time! It started with a showing of the final assignment of the semester ("the storm"): I was really really happy with how my group's ended up. We started at 11am with only about 30 seconds of material, and after two and a half hours of work we had a pretty coherent piece. It was a wonderful way to end the semester. We then talked about the imminent move of the school to Three Mills Studio, which is a major film studio in Bromley by Bow (major studio like we're going to have to get photo ids to get in every day: so excited to be a VIP!!!!). And then we had an international potluck, with dishes that everyone had baked from their countries, everything from Indian "broken rice" to British mince pies. We then presented songs from the different countries we were from: some highlights were a costumed Santa Lucia song with pastries handed out, a fabulous Greek song where the men sat with coats and cigarettes and the women danced, and of course the crazy Americans (the second years did a dramatic version of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer", and we first years did a medley with "Last Christmas I gave you my heart", "Santa Baby", some freestyling and beat boxing, Dona Nobis Pacem, and of course "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..."). And finally we gave and were given Secret Santa presents: I got some bath gel that I intend to use right after posting this (I sure need it, ha ha). And then we cleaned up and left the space for the last time: for the first years it's not so important, but the school has been there since its inception, 6 or 7 years now, so it was a bit of a sad moment for the teachers.
And that was my day! It was a fitting end to an exhausting, fulfilling, stimulating, provoking, and thoroughly fun 8 weeks! I'm headed home to Boston tomorrow evening to stock up on sleep, Tom's of Maine toothpaste, real maple syrup, and of course family and friends. And then the adventures continue in three weeks! Until then, my friends... :)