across the pond

We flew across the pond just the other day… It took a while longer than we thought due to an initial 3 hour weather delay. No worries, though: I listened to a couple of CDs (which were amazing gifts; thanks!), learned about a new and somewhat controversial artist (Banksy), and read up on the UK’s gov’t and politics… and I learned a lot about the system which is rather important… I’ll be working outside of Parliament in Westminster.

(Good news, by the way… we came across a British hippie and I want to talk with him… soon. He has—supposedly—been camped out in the square across from Parliament for the past 5 years in a peaceful protest about the war in Iraq. There are flags and signs reading “peace” outside of his tent. A few others have joined him. Hmm…)

The first two days here were pretty blurry. Exciting, but blurry. (I think jet-lag can be blamed for that.) We are living in Chelsea. We are a neighbor of Hugh Grant. Chelsea is more expensive and upscale that most of London… not a good representation of the city at large. (It actually reminds me a bit of downtown Charleston; just not as humid.) There are parks everywhere, though, and that makes me happy. We are also very close to the river. I love the group that we’re with, but I’ve found it tiresome to travel and site-see in the group, especially during the times that we had the tour guide. I hate feeling like a tourist, even though that’s what I am. I’d just rather blend in. Oh, and I’ve decided to write a haiku for everyday… or at least try to. Yesterday’s was this:

Tubes and trendy scarves

plus a plethora of pubs-

and this is London.

—>Not as poetic as I had hoped for, but it’s a start. I’ll blame it on the jet lag once again.

Today was better, though… no haiku just yet, but the day is still young. And today was the first day I wandered off by myself. I figured out the bus and tube system and found the building I will be working at (which is directly across from St. John’s). Then, I sat and read for a bit on a bench shaded by a canopy of trees, overlooking the River Thames (*pronounced “Tim’s”). I had not been there long until I met a student named Lloyd. He grew up in the UK and Northern Africa and his mother was from Egypt and his father from Sudan. I will write about the discussion we had soon… it was a very good and important discussion because of the way it made me think. (Andrew and Richard: you’ll be glad to know that the discussions we had in Lit Theory came to life today, as they tend to do again and again… good stuff.) More to come, my time @ the internet café is up!