Back in the states - Saturday 7/30

Well, the final craziness of the London Study Abroad trip is now beginning to pass. Wednesday was a blur of last minute issues, packing (how did I manage to get an additional 20 pounds of stuff while I was there?) and figuring out what to do with my last evening in London. I finally opted for a quiet evening of reading. That turned out to be a good choice. I had to get up at 4:30 on Thursday morning, so I turned in fairly early - once I finally sat on my suitcase to get it closed. Yes, I really had to do that!
Thursday was a travel marathon. As I mentioned, I woke up at 4:30. That's when I planned to wake up, but I actually woke up at about 3:45. I left the dorm room to walk the four blocks to the other dorm (where the bus was going to pick everyone up) for the ride to the airport. The bus left the dorm at about 5:40 and arrived at Heathrow about 6:30. I was a little surprised at how quickly we were able to get there. The check in process was also amzingly smooth and relatively short. I was beginning tr get a little suspicious at the way things were working out so smoothly!

The first leg of our flight home took us from London to Dallas/Ft. Worth in Texas. The odd stop over location is the price we had to pay for a flight with a group booking as large as ours. Anyway, we cleared customs in Dallas instead of Atlanta, and I am sure that was a great thing. The lines at DFW were relatively short and fast. Then all that was left was to wait about an hour to get on the plane from Dallas to Atlanta.

Ah ha! My string of lucky travelling DID have a cost. I was stuck in a middle seat from Dallas to Atlanta. I get claustrophobic in middle seats on a plane. Further, I was sandwiched between a type-A personality business type who kept elbowing be in the ribs as he thrashed around in his seat and a high school girl returning from a summer in Guatamala who apparently thought that talking non-stop about her experiences and her future academic plans to an absolute stranger on a plane would be a great way to pass the time. All I wanted to do was sleep, but that didn't really happen.

Finally, we arrived at Atlanta. It was 6:30pm EST. That meant I had been awake 20 straight hours by the time we landed. Oh, there had been a few cat naps on the flights, but nothing very effective at all. The luggage took about 40 minutes to get from the plane to baggage claim carousel. That seemed excessive, especially as all I wanted to do was to sleep, and not listen to all of the passengers greet their friends and families across the waiting area at full voice. My positive karma returned briefly when my suitcase was one of the first to come off the carousel. I grabbed it, wished a safe journey home to all of those around me within earshot of a quiet voice, and made a bee-line dash to the exit.

I spent my three hour drive from Atlanta to Tifton trying not ot fall asleep behind the wheel. I was successful. I arrived home, exhausted, 26 hours after I had woken up in London. The trip was over.

My cats greeted me when I got to the door. They both purred loudly from the moment I walked in, through a quick round of cat treats, and while I got ready for bed. By the time I fell asleep, our routine had been reestablished. I truly felt HOME from the five weeks of the London Study Abroad program.

Friday was a day to unpack, get some work done with end of summer term grades, share a few stories with colleagues at work, and rest with a good book for much of the afternoon.

I still have a few pictures to download from the camera and to post here, but that will have to wait until later this weekend.   

London, wrapping up - Tuesday 7/26

Tuesday was our last real academic day in London. After a morning of fielding issues with students planning their final day (Wed.) in and around London, I met with my class for the final time. They filled out class evaluations and took the final exam.

After the final exam, the faculty gathered one last time to have dinner. We took a our boat down the Thames to Greenwich. Once there, we shared a pint at the Trafalgar. It's a pub named for the famous and decisive sea battle won by the British national hero, Admiral, Lord Horatio Nelson, over teh combined French and Spanish forces of the Napoleonic Wars in 1805. After sharing some time there, we went to a great little restaurant in Greenwich. It's called Inside. We had a splendid meal and enjoyable conversation. 

I have to admit that I have really liked this summer, and especially my class. I have been impressed with what they have been able to glean from their reading and our discussions. I just hope that their final exams reflect that, too. The field trips have been a lot of fun, and judging from the general reactions each week, the students enjoyed them almost as much as I did.

This summer, as a co-site director, I have also had to be involved in the assistance and discipline roles with some of the students. I know that it is a necessary part of the program, and I am always happy to assist when there are problems. However, I think the discipline side of things - and we had some relatively serious issues with out-of-control behavior on occasion - is the part I like least. I won't say anything more about it here, because I don't want to spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on what is essentially the negative side of study abroad.

I hope this blog has been of interest. It has been a good way to journal about the experiences I have had on this trip with the class readings and in the non-academic times. Wednesday 7/27 will be a flurry of activity with packing, last minute issues, and a very short night. We leave our dorms at 5:30 am to get to the airport to leave London at 9:30 am. Consequently, this will be my last blog entry from London, but I will write a wrap up blog entry after I return to Georgia. I will also go back and add in some pictures here and there across the 5 weeks worth of entries as I get a chance to go through my downloads more carefully. 

I have had a great time, and I hope you have been able to share in it a little bit.

Last day of class - Monday 7/25

Well, Monday was the last day of regular class meetings for my class. We discussed the field trip to Oxford. Most of the students seemed to have really enjoyed it. We also talked about the upcoming final exam so they could start to prepare for it properly. Then we turned our attentions to the readings for the day. I had assigned three poems, or selections from poems, written by a contemporary English author, Geoffrey Hill. I want to give credit where it's due, so I want to thank Dr. Jeff Newberry for introducing me to his writing. The three poems I assigned were "Requiem for Plantagenet Kings," selections "from Mercian Hymns," and "Tenebrae."

These are different poems from what we had worked with previously. Hill's writing is very difficult to read. He intends it to be though. His syntax is very complex, and he uses a variety of traditional forms with modernist methods. One of his stylistic choices is to mingle English and European historical events with modern elements to create his intended effects. The class was focused on seeing how to "unpack" his syntax in several cases in order to understand what the poem was saying. In other cases, we had to review the historical events that he alludes to in order to understand the context of the ideas that the poem addresses on a larger scale. It was an interesting class, essentially a workshop.

After class, we had a meeting with all of the students to give information about our departure plans. We also took a group picture.

After the meeting, several of us went to dinner on Brick Lane. I love Indian food, and I had a wonderful meal. This trip's dining has convinced me to learn how to make some for myself.

The beginning of the end - Sunday 7/24

On Sunday, the realization that we are entering our final week here finally hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't feel at all ready to leave yet, but at the same time I am entirely ready to be back home. I miss my cats, my bed, and my friends, but I still have a lot that I want to do here in and around London.

Anyway, I took advantage of the free time I had, while I wasn't preparing for the final two class meetings of my class, to try and finish up my souvenir shopping. I didn't quite finish as it turned out, but I did have a pretty good time walking through the markets.

I started out by going back up to Camden Market. It was even more corwded than the first time I was there on this trip. I looked around, bought a few things, and then I stumbled upon the same seller of windspinners that I had purchased mine from the previous week. Since I didn't take a picture on that occasion, I did this time. Here it is.

the windspinner shop at Camden Market in London

Those of you who know will realize that bright shiny objects rate high on my "like-o-meter." I bought one like the sun-shaped one near the center of this picture.
After Camden Market, I went to Oxford Road. This is another major shopping district in London. I had been looking to purchase a tie or two, and after I stopped, I had, in fact, purchased nine ties! Again, as any one who knows me will understand, I like ties and wear a different one each day of each semester. This batch will be added to this fall's collection.

my new ties - purchased in London

After my shopping, I had a sandwich in my dorm, and started contemplating the packing challenges that are ahead of me.

Shopping Day - Saturday 7/23

Saturday was a day to hang around London and get some souvenir shopping done. Several of us got up early and went to Portobello Market, a large outdoor market that stretches about 2 miles along Portobello Road that has a wide variety of shops and stalls/booths with some very interesting items. For example, one had an eclectic mix of doorknobs, tin boxes, and porcelain floor tiles (historical and modern).

Portobello Market - London

me at Portobello Market

The best part was the people watching. Actually, that may have been the second best part. The best part was the strawberry and clotted creme crepe that was made at a booth along the street. I don't normally eat food from street vendors, but this was so tempting that I could not resist. I would have had a picture of it, but it disappeared too quickly!

On the way back from Portobello Market, I stopped off and had a pint at a wonderful little quiet pub. It was like sitting at a cozy countryside pub, but it was right near the heart of the city.

a quiet little pub just a block away from Euston Train Station

After the pint, I had dinner along Drummond Street. The second highest concentration of Indian restaurants in London is along Drummond Street. The most concentrated area is along Brick Lane in east London. That place is truly wonderful. Just walking down the road there must be fattening with all of the luscious smells wafting and mingling in the air.

The rest of the day was spent recovering from my overeating.

Catch-up Friday - Friday 7/22

Friday was a day to get caught up on my school work, reading, and resting. In the evening, several of the faculty went out to dinner. Next year's Program Director came to London to help get everyone ready to go back to Georgia next week. As a way to let her meet the the faculty who are here this year, we went to a very nice Italian restaurant, Strada, in Canary Wharf.

Canary Wharf is an area of London that used to be all docks and warehouses. In the last couple of decades, the area has been renovated into an upscale housing area and business district. It was a very enjoyable evening with good company and terrific food.

A wonderful dinner of lamb and vegetables cooked to perfection and crusted with rosemary

On the way back to the dorm, we stopped by the Westminster area of London. It is always an interesting sight to see the buildings lit up as dusk falls over the city.

Big Ben at night

Final class field trip - Oxford - 7/21

For the final field trip for the British Literature II class, I thought a trip to Oxford would be a good experience. We would have the opportunity to see several sites associated with our readings from this week.

My initial hope had been to get a group picture, before we left London, at the site set up in King's Cross station for Platform 9 3/4. However, when we got there, the station is being refurbished, and access to the site was blocked by construction area walls.

We took a train to Oxford, where it was overcast and drizzling like it had been in London when we left. It was going to be a dreary day weather-wise, but it wasn't going to be in terms of anything else. In fact, it seemed that after our bad luck at King's Cross station, we had only good luck. When we lined up to go someplace, we would only have to wait a short time, but within ten minutes of our arrival at any given place, there were large crowds formed with much longer waits.

Our first stop was for lunch at the Eagle & Child pub. This was the location where a group of writers in eearly 20th century would meet. They referred to themselves as t Inklings, and they included notable writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and others. They would meet to discuss and share ideas, and to act as a sort of sounding board for specific ideas as they worked on their own writing. We were able to have lunch there, and it was very good.

The sign for the Eagle & Child

part of the British Literature II class at the Eagle & Child pub in Oxford, England - L to R: Robin Padick, Kellie Patterson, Dr. Ray, Cassie Wooten, Brittany Wade, Rebekah Huffmaster, Kassie Bettis

the rest of the British Literature II class at the Eagle & Child pub in Oxford, England - L to R: Heather Ness, Kasey Mangum, Courtney Jess, Christy Prewett

After lunch, we strolled past a few other places in Oxford associated with the University of Oxford.

A plaque marking the location of the palace of Henry II

the Sheldonian Theater - a building designed by Christopher Wren

a bridge built on the design of the Rialto (Bridge of Sighs) in Venice

We then visited the public areas of the Bodleian Library, and took a few pictures there.

door to the original School of Music library

door to the School of Languages (Hebrew and Greek) and the School of Geometry and Arithmatic

After our all too brief visit to the Bodleian, we went to Christ Church College. It's one of 38 colleges that make up the University of Oxford. It's also one of the places, with its long history and large number of medieval buildings that influenced set design choices for the Harry Potter movies.

First view of Christ Church College, Oxford University from the visitor's entrance 

a quad at Christ Church College in front of the cathedral

interior of Christ Church Cathedral, Christ Church College, Oxford University 

Great Hall - dining hall - Christ Church College - Oxford University - inspired the design of the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies

dining table in the Great Hall, Christ Church College, Oxford University

Our field trip to Oxford included a little time to shop at the stores along Broad Street since most of the students wanted something with the University of Oxford logo on it as a souvenir and/or a gift. As we made our way back toward the train station, we stopped briefly at the remains of the medieval castle at Oxford. Since it was still rainy and all of us were tired, we did not take the tour.

It's onward we go as we enter our final week in England.