First Days

Hello everyone...er, Cheerio? ( for the record, I haven't heard anyone say that yet--and I am still not sure if it's 'hello' or 'goodbye' like 'aloha' is, but whatever),

I am finally here and finally taking a few minutes to update the blog. I have had a busy 48 hours or so in London and so far it is fantastic. Granted, there are no students here yet, I have a fabulous house in a terrific neighborhood all to myself, and most of my class prep is done. Talk to me in a couple more weeks and I probably won't be so glowing, but for now, it's ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!

So, I was hoping for some interesting stories from my trip over here (you know, like crazy drunk people on planes and such. One time I was on a flight from FL to Chicago with this old, very tan, and very drunk couple named Bill and Trish. They were completely hammered from the get-go and I watched as Bill had about four more vodka cranberries on the plane. I tried not to laugh as I watched as they--in all seriousness--tried to use their credit cards to order sex toys from the back of a Cosmo magazine (they didn't succeed). Hilarity also ensued when Bill went off on some woman in our row because she was a born-again Christian. Trust me, you can't pay for this type of entertainment) but alas, no interesting people on any of my flights (unless you count me, of course ;). I even had the double seat to myself on the long flight from ATL to London, and I almost slept the entire way. That was incredible, I almost never do that. I was actually kind of annoyed because only in the last hour of the flight did I see that the in-flight entertainment contained episodes of Nurse Jackie, that Showtime or HBO show I've never seen. It is awesome, but I missed out on the end of the third episode, dammit. Anyway, I flew through customs, my bags were on the conveyor belt when I walked up to it, and I took the train to London. The hardest part BY FAR was me schlepping my huge bags across Paddington Station to the taxi queue. But then when I got there the black taxis were so cute (just like the one Jo rides in, if you ever watch the show Supernanny) I didn't care anymore.

So I got to the house and Sylvia, the real house manager/cook was there to greet me. She was so cute and there was lots of 'oh you poor little thing, you carried all those big bags, you must get some rest' yadda yadda. I got the tour of the house, the lowdown from Sylvia, and a quick tour of the neighborhood. The house and area are amazing. The house is technically 6 stories if you count the quasi-basement (where my room is) and is quite nice, very charming. With just me, it's fantastic. We'll see how it is with 18 others arriving shortly. It is a row house in a lovely street that is just up the road from the British Museum, and one block off of Tottenham Court Road (I just love saying the word Tottenham) which has lots of stuff. There are two Tube stations nearby, but really, I can walk to the theater and shopping districts within 15-20 minutes so I wonder how often I'll really even use the subway. It's awesome. So I managed to unpack and get my computer set up, etc., do lots of walking around, lots of good eats (though it's so expensive to eat out here, but whatever, for now, it's good times) and some pub drinking too. My sleeping schedule is still pretty whack (I'm staying up to late and sleeping in WAY too late, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. This is the first time I've ever been in Europe where there hasn't been a rush to fit in a million activities ('We're in London for 3 days! We have to see everything!') so it's nice not to worry to much about sleeping a lot and taking naps. :) The bonus is that I was able to see one of my favorite students who is studying here on a different program, and today met up with Cristiane, one of my friends from grad school who lives here now. Cristiane--herself from Brazil--will be a GREAT contact to have here, as she's about two stops away on the tube and has a kid in school, so she has her days free. BONUS.

So anywho, my observations about London life thus far are pretty good. I have been here before but have been in so many better/more interesting areas now, it's great. I had forgotten about how international of a city it is, how big it is, how efficient the Tube is, and how polite people are, and how charming the British accent is. I find myself walking around a lot in places that sometimes remind me of NYC or Chicago (the commercial areas, for instance) but then I hear all the British accents and am like 'Oh, I'm in London!' Kind of like how now when I go home to Iowa and drive around, I'm constantly saying 'Oh look, an Iowa license plate' because I get so excited when I see one ! Both situations make me smile. :)

So obviously I knew that the TV situation here would be quite different than my digital cable/DVR back home, and we all know I'm in love with television, so I have gotten quite the kick out of British TV. There are two BBC stations that I swear mostly play the same thing, then a few others that seem to have lots of bad movies (think of Lifetime movies or after-school specials). The jarring thing is the almost complete lack of commercials (the BBC and ITV are both heavily subsidized by the gov't...I'll learn more about this through the BBC TOUR my students and I have for FEb 12th!) and just quick notes about particular sponsors. Things are on at weird times too. Like today I saw a show that ended at 11:26 am and one started right after it. Huh? But my fave is that today I ran into several shows that have been copied in the US on either TLC or HGTV, and one that was like Antique Roadshow on PBS. My favorite was the British edition of what we know as 'House Hunters' on HGTV. The premise is the same--a potential buyer looks at 3 houses, weighs the pros and cons, then picks one at the end. In the USA version, there is a lot of suspense...'which house will they choose?, then a review of the houses, then the final call. Then they will show an update of the buyer/family a few months later so you can see what they've done to the place. Here, the show progresses somewhat the same (look at three houses, talk about them) but the end is hilarious. No suspense whatsoever. Instead, the host and the buyer are sitting there, having tea, and simply discuss which house the buyer bought. No images of the 'winning' home, nothing. The woman just sits there drinking her tea and is like 'Yeah, I bought the 3 bedroom with the small kitchen' and the host sits and drinks his tea and is like 'So tell us about your grandchildren' and they talk for a few minutes til the show ends (randomly at 11:26am). It was cute I wanted to hug the TV. I mean, no drama, no suspense, no flash, no follow up. It's like they were too lazy to really finish the show, so they just went for tea instead. Or else, as we all know, it really just comes down to Americans being more competitive and flashy.

Anyway, I promise not to give you such a rundown of every TV show I encounter (though I was watching this really weird game show at about 2am that involved pulling letters out of a hat, and making as many words as possible out of the chosen letters--similar to Boggle. Then the contestants were like 'I made 7 words' and the next one would say something like 'I made 8 words'. Then the host would say, 'Ok, the guy with 8 words wins the round' but you NEVER SAW THE WORDS THEY MADE. Apparently, you don't need proof you can be a wordsmith on this show, they just took it for granted. I mean, what kind of game is that? Then again, maybe I was half asleep and missed a critical component of the game, I don't know) but as a media scholar, I get a total kick out of this stuff and it just cracks me up. We'll see, though..in a few weeks I'll probably be in the fetal position and throwing shoes at my TV begging for all my shows I'm missing.

And so, yeah, that's the rundown for now. I will say the weather is colder here than I expected, and it can change on a dime. Today Cristiane and I went to Indian for lunch and it was humid and almost warm, and by the time we left it was raining and really, really cold. Within an hour and a half, a big change. I love it, reminds me of Iowa. I did go to the British Museum yesterday and was basically overwhelmed with the artifacts and the HUGENESS of it all (galleries upon galleries of stuff from Ancient Egypt and Greece, mummies, Iron Age stuff...colonization and empire sure to get you a lot of cool souvenirs) and tonight my plan is to go the Tate Modern because it is open til 10pm and will serve as my Friday evening activity. More on those later, I need a nap first.

I have been taking some pics and will post them soon so you can see the Mary Poppins house I live in and what my tiny little flat looks like. Oh and my bathroom, too, is probably the best--I could literally sit on the toilet and take a shower at the same time, they are all in the same little room about the size of a phone booth. I say, seems like bathroom efficiency to me!

Hopefully the British 'charm' of all of the above won't wear off too soon.... :)

The Clock is Ticking

So...yeah, I finally made my blog known to the general public, so ya'll should probably start with my first entry below to get the real scoop on what I'm doing here! (hey--when did I start saying "ya'll" anyway? Scary). While this blog is mostly for myself and family and close friends (or any stalkers out there), I welcome any and all who want to join me on my journey for the semester. I also welcome any publishing houses who want to option this blog for a book deal or movie script. I mean, isn't it basically the same thing as Eat, Pray, Love? Aren't I like a real-life version of Bridget Jones? (if so, that's fine, I just don't want Renee Zellweger playing me in the movie version. I'd say Demi Moore might be a nice choice--you know, we're practically twins with blue eyes and dark hair--but she can't act for the life of her. I'll cross fingers for Maggie Gyllenhaal for the movie version. There would be real Oscar or Golden Globe potential there. Excellent.

ANYWHO, I digress (and yet used to that--if you know me at all you know I'm a huge fan of the random tangent as well as parentheses). It is about T-minus 48 hours now until I'm on the plane to London (via Atlanta). I am mostly done with most things--packing, school prep, cleaning out my office (probably the hardest thing of all!) and getting my house in order for the extended absence. I am also full of nerves and anxiousness thinking about dealing with/mentoring/caring for and about 18 college students. And living with them. In a smallish old house that could probably go up in flames with a left-on curling iron. But I try not to think about that fact too much.

Anyone who has ever traveled with me knows I am a terrible packer. You would think by now with all the travel I have done I would be good and efficient at this, but I'm not. I mean, every time I travel abroad I remember that you really only need like one pair of jeans, a skirt, some sort of top, and a scarf. Yet, every time I get ready to go somewhere again I'm convinced that there's lots of stuff I might need JUST IN CASE (just in case what? The Queen wants me for tea? Posh and Becks call me to go out and party? Sheesh). Therefore, packing for being away for so long has given me a lot of anxiety. I mean, I make no claims to be a fashionista of some sort, but I just really like having my entire wardrobe available at all times. My shoe wardrobe too--I think I'm bringing a total of 7 pairs, plus slippers, plus flip flops. And trust me, I did some serious editing to get the numbers that low. I don't know what I'm worried about--for crying out loud, I'm heading to an international mecca of fashion and sophistication, it's not like there's NO SHOES in London. Cripes--I will probably need a bag just to bring all my European shoe purchases home with me.

So anyway, along with the clothes (ok, I managed to get my stuff in just two bags, which I feel is an accomplishment!) I have several other 'extras' as well. Because I'm cheap and I know the UK is super expensive, I went all Sam's Club and got huge bottles of shampoo and various toiletry items--which, of course, will probably have to be purged at the airport to some innocent (lucky?) bystander if my bags are too heavy. I also brought a few staples--granola bars, power bars, and yeah, Easy Mac. Because, you know, just in case I can't find a thing to eat while I'm there.

I have done all the other stuff, like officially forwarded my mail and given away all my full bottles of beer to friends. I'm trying to soak up as much of my TiVo and terrible reality TV shows as possible before I go, because I have no real idea of what the TV situation will be over there (this also gives me a great deal of anxiety, particularly because LOST starts up again for the final season in about 2 weeks. That AND the fact that I *must* be able to see who wins in The Bachelor. Priorities, people). I am feeling better about the fact that I finally learned how to use a webcam and have video chat set up--technology in this way rocks and makes me feel more comfortable with being away for so long. Because, anyone who knows me (to those of you who don't know me well--don't worry, you will soon) knows I like to be in the center of things. The life of the party, if you will (maybe some people don't think of me as the life of the party, and that's fine. I just like to be invited, really). And I hate to be away from the 'scene' I have established here in FL and one easy breezy phone call away from my family and out of state friends. But whatever. Who am I kidding. I'll be hitting West End theater and drinking my tea with milk and drinking room temperature beer in no time. Like in about 72 hours, to be exact.

Welcome to my blog!

For years I have considered doing a blog, but never really knew what I would write about. My ever-exciting life as a college teacher? My TV obsessions? My complaints about Iowa's cold and Florida's insane humidity? Well, now I have my chance: as of January 27th, 2010, I will be living in London as the Faculty Director of the Eckerd College London Study Centre (that's right folks, we're moving on to the sophisticated version of 'center' here) for the entire Spring Semester. As you can see from my blog description, my job this term is some sort of conglomeration between a tour guide, house manager, accountant, historian, doctor, mother-figure (I prefer to think of myself as more the 'older sister' type), psychiatrist, RA, travel agent, disciplinarian, and, oh yeah, a teacher. Here's a bit of an overview 'by the numbers', as they say:

Zero: Number of other adults or faculty that live with me and the students. Oy.

1: The number of housekeepers/cooks that come to the house everyday and will save my sanity (and provide a wealth of knowledge as to how I do all this stuff).

2: Number of courses I will teach while I'm there (namely, 'The British Experience'--which I consider to be better referenced as "Exploring London", and 'British Media and Pop Culture', which clearly will be delightful and full of investigations into the Royals, Monty Python, and Posh & Becks, ).

2: Number of week-long breaks where the students and I can travel (note: students can travel on weekends, but I cannot...save for the two special breaks!)

3: Number of rooms I have to myself (my own bedroom, bathroom, and mini office)

4: Number of other professors from London that will come to the house and offer my students other types of courses (Art History, Politics, Theatre--see, the 're' again--and Literature)

4: Number of men living in the house for the semester.

14: Number of female students living in the house for the semester (I can't decide who to feel more sorry for--the girls or the guys?).

15: Approximate number of weeks I will living in this pumped-up version of The Real World: London.

So, as you can see, I am insane for taking this on...

...or extraordinarily lucky, I'm not sure which. :) Actually, I am pretty excited about it all and try not to worry about some of the random horror stories told to me by other faculty who have done this before (I'll never forget my Division Chair who told me he recruited one of his best/sweetest/smartest students to spend the semester in London and told me, (and I quote), "She made my life a living hell") and hope for the best. I thought it would be fun (or perhaps I'm just narcissistic) for anyone interested to follow along with me in my experience abroad. While I've done a fair share of European and domestic travel, I have never actually lived abroad for any period of time (and certainly not with a house chock full of 18 to 22 year-olds that are kind of my responsibility), I'm excited to see what happens.

And I hope you are too!

P.S. Soooo....I struggled with a title for this blog ("Professor Pitcher in London" was just so lame-o) and recalled the delightful little automated announcement (delivered in a lovely British accent, of course) that runs every time you exit the London Underground train: "Mind the Gap". Which is saying, in a charming British way, that you better not be stupid and fall in that space between the train and the platform, you dumb non-urbanite or American tourist. :)