Hello folks!
Consider this my first official entry. It’s my first non
lets-make-sure-all-the-technology-works entry. I am counting the days now. I
leave on Monday! I won’t arrive until Tuesday morning though, 11:30 A.M. London time
(that’s 5:30 A.M. U.S. Central Time). I will have a few days of free time before
classes begin and I plan to use them wisely.
There are a number of places I am looking forward to
visiting, including class scheduled field trip locations and some that I plan to visit on
my own time. Just to give you a taste of what to expect in the coming weeks, I’m
going to list a few of my favorites. First and foremost though, my top free-time
priority is to watch Joss Whedon’s Much Ado
About Nothing. I am a proud Whedon fan and the film has yet to come to Cape
Girardeau, Missouri, so I am not going to miss this chance to see it on the big
screen. Besides, who wouldn’t go watch a modern adaptation of a Shakespeare
play while in London?
Aside from being a Whedon fan, I am also a Tolkien fan and a life-long
fan of J. M. Berrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy (the play and the novel). Thus,
Oxford and Kensington Gardens are two of my favorite locations on our class
agenda. I have actually visited both locations before, during a
previous study abroad trip, when I was still an Undergraduate Student in English at
Southeast Missouri State University. However, I didn’t get very good pictures
of the Peter
Pan statue, and my camera died half-way through the Oxford trip, so I am
making a promise to myself to get lots of better pictures this time.
The British
Library is another location I am looking forward to. I was dumb and didn’t
visit during my first time in London. I took a course in Library buildings
last fall, and the British Library was covered in that course. It is an
exceedingly interesting structure and I can’t wait to see it in person.
And then there’s all my personal interest trips. I am a
Whovian (Doctor Who fan), as are several of my classmates, so we’re planning a
trip to the Doctor Who Experience
in Cardiff, Wales. I also want to stop by the Ianto Jones memorial if possible (if you are a Torchwood fan, you will understand).
I am also a Dominic
Monaghan fan, and because I like to travel outside of London (trains in
Britain are amazing!), I want to try and visit Manchester. Although, I’m
wondering if visiting during festival season is a wise idea. If I do though,
you can bet I will go out of my way to buy something Manchester United (Dom’s favorite football team).
I am also a book lover, and poetry lover, and comics lover.
I was hoping Paul Cornell would make
a public appearance at some point while I’m in London, but apparently, he’s attending
US cons while I am in the UK. Ironic really. Although, he informed me that he might attend Mike Carey’s signing at Forbidden Planet, so maybe I shouldn’t count him out just yet. I am also keeping a lookout to see
whether my favorite YA (Young Adult) author, David
Almond, might be doing any signings or readings anywhere, but haven’t seen
anything. Even if I don’t manage to track down favorite authors, I plan to seek out bookstores and really want to find
comics stores. One of my professors, Carol Tilley, has comics from a number of foreign
countries she’s visited and I would love to have a similar collection someday.
And, most importantly (after Much Ado, of course), is my planned return to The Poetry Café. I
discovered this little out of the way place during my first visit, ate lunch
there a couple of times (love the soups!), and visited their open mic (Poetry Unplugged) every
week. I loved it there, made some friends, and can’t wait to go back. I will
arrive on Tuesday, which means I will arrive just in time for Poetry Unplugged!
So, stay tuned. I will be back shortly to post pictures and
videos. See you in London!
