The last blog in the form of fivers

Top 5 Things That Happened In The Last 24 Hours
5) Nearly every other person at the Corporate Challenge ran with a Blackberry in their hand
4) I tried to look nonchalantly cool after I couldn’t figure out the Gatorade drinking nozzle thingy and had to pretend like I was actually drinking the beverage even though there was nothing coming out of the spout.
3) I watched 15 minutes of Big Brother for the first time and felt really thankful that I’m leaving tomorrow or else I would probably watch that show religiously.
2) While waiting for the race to start, I listened to a woman talk about her sister’s hysterectomy.
1) I unknowingly saw G for the last time since it’s 9:37 AM and I don’t think he’s coming into work today.

Top 5 British Words I May Or May Not Start Incorporating Into My Vocabulary
5) Fiver
4) Ta
3) Row
2) Nappy
1) Pants

Top 5 Places In London I Will Miss
5) The row of global embassy mansions behind Kensington Palace
4) Soho Square
3) The library on Shoe Lane
2) Portobello Road
1) Oxford Street

Top 5 Places In London I Won’t Miss
5) Queensway (it’s like walking around Downtown Crossing only trashier)
4) The Circle Line at rush hour or any time on the Central Line
3) Hackney and Peckham (where 90% of the stabbings happen)
2) The British Museum on a Sunday afternoon
1) Oxford Street

Top 5 Random Londoners From My Daily Routine
5) The guy who hawks TheLondonPaper outside my office
4) The security guards who are skeptical of my badge EVERY SINGLE TIME
3) The guy at the front desk of my apartment building who always has my LoveFilm movies for me
2) The barista at the coffeeshop on my floor who looks surprised every time I get a Diet Coke even though that’s the only thing I’ve ever bought there
1) The street cleaners who wave to me every morning on my run

Top 5 Foods/Restaurants I Will Long For Back In America
5) “Authentic” Indian (although I didn’t really notice too much of a difference)
4) Caramel-filled waffles
3) Sandwich shops EVERYWHERE (especially Pret A Manger)
2) Gourmet Burger Kitchen
1) Kitchen & Pantry coffeeshop in Notting Hill (any coffeeshop with plush leather sofas and chairs is okay by me)

Top 5 Co-workers
5) R – because who else uses as many exclamation points when they’re not needed? (“I had a tuna sandwich for lunch!!!!”)
4) M – she gets a little overeager with fixing defects sometimes, but she’s got an awesome South African accent
3) K – the best-dressed straight man in London
2) T – probably the only person who I would be friends with outside of work; he also wears cowboy boots which earns him 80 Awesome Points
1) G - you had to see this one coming

Top 5 Places I Visited Outside Of London
5) Bath – even though I made Susan wait an hour in the gift shop of the Roman bathhouse, walking around that quaint, English town was a lot of fun
4) The gardens at Hampton Court Palace – when I get rich I’m going to have an expansive garden just as beautiful
3) Beneath the streets of Edinburgh – okay so the ghost tour lady scared the absolute crap out of me by screaming in the dark, but I still found those old streets and homes intriguing
2) The Burren – seeing the look on Susan’s face when she saw that stone formation was about 3 feet tall was priceless
1) Paris – Theresa made that trip one of the best I’ve ever had and it wasn’t even because she fell down a lot

Top 5 Potential Cat Names For My Future Cat
5) Onoshobishobi Ingelosi (Shobi shobi for short)
4) Marvin
3) Meester
2) Killer
1) Schrute

Top 5 Things I Am Excited About Returning To In Boston
5) The Phantom Gourmet tv show
4) The South End Open Air Market, Shakespeare on the Common, Movies By Moonlight at the Boston Harbor Hotel, and classical music concerts at the Hatchshell
3) Papa Gino’s and Dunkin Donuts
2) My apartment (but not the year-old bagels from Finagle A Bagel I stole from work that are still in my freezer)
1) Hanover Street in the North End and the smell of garlic wafting out of the restaurants

Top 5 Things You Should Know
5) I can fit all my belongings into my three suitcases, but I can’t move them
4) I know how to say ‘meatballs in my bellybutton’ in Spanish
3) When I see you again, I will give you an excessively strong and uncomfortably long hug
2) It has been so much fun writing to you all every day and hearing your (mostly positive) responses
1) I will continue this blog when I get home, but it probably won’t be as frequent and it will only be found online (http://www.lisashoshana.blogspot.com/) as I won’t be sending out emails anymore

Much love to everyone and see you all soon!
Lisa