Fit for A Queen

Outside the Hampton Court Palace, once residence of Henry VIII, I was freezing cold but still in awe of the grandeur of the palatial beauty I have seen today.

My journey today took me to not one, but three English palaces - each with its own history and unique design. I visited Kensington Palace first, which was the residence of Princess Diana when she was alive. There, I saw an exhibit on English debutantes in the late 1950s and saw a collection of gowns worn by Diana in her lifetime. I clearly remember seeing photographs of Diana wearing those gowns from my childhood, and it was rather striking to see them on display. It made me sad to see them - I could imagine her in them, dancing with Prince Charles at many of the royal balls she must have attended. I also thought about her sons and how painful it must be to see these gowns that once held their mother in their varied colors and shapes. Kensington was less palatial and more exhibit, and I must say that there my interest was primarily in the legacy left by Diana.

The next stop was Buckingham Palace, where I was fortunate enough to witness (and video) the changing of the guard. The beefeaters look so royal in their purple coats outside of the place, which is surrounded by gigantic wrought-iron gates with gilded embellishments. The Union Jack was flying high, indicating that Her Majesty the Queen was indoors. How neat - I was quite close to a real queen, even if I didn't see her! I had already seen the Crown Jewels earlier this week at the Tower of London, but today I got to enter the Queen's Gallery which housed a collection of Flemish oil paintings, armor, furniture, and other art objects from as early as the 1600s. There I saw Queen Victoria's ruby tiara and diamond earrings (WOW - more than 60 carats!) and several portraits of the royal lineage.

To Americans, the monarchy seems like a lot of meaningless pomp and circumstance. Balls, tiaras, and waltzing don't seem especially important. But seeing the history of royal lineage and the impact of the monarchy on English (and world) history is surprisingly impressive and inspiring. It is easy to overlook this history because it isn't my own - but seeing it firsthand makes me feel as if I understand it more. The monarchy is important. It's not just palaces and "God Save the Queen" and jewels and state apartments. It's about a blood line that has persisted through centuries and has accepted both the duty and responsibility of making decisions that affect a nation of people and thereby the entire world.

Buckingham Palace was great - but the highlight of the day was definitely the trip to Hampton Court Palace which was once the residence of King Henry VIII (and all his wives!) and the site of Prince Charles' 50th birthday party. Here, I saw the most gorgeous English gardens and a fabulous display of Tudor and Gothic arhitecture. One of the curates there informed me that there are over 240 chimneys on this palace and they are all different - no two are alike. I am amazed by the grand scale and level of detail in these palaces - they seem as if they would take hundreds of years and men to build them. But they are a huge part of history and it was undescribable to walk through them. I can't believe that I was going up the same staircases that Henry the VIII once did, and walking through the hallways through King George III's private bedchambers. I stood inches from paintings by Rembrandt and Bruegger. I saw real diamonds bigger than my eyeballs. Things that once only existed as photographs in books were real in front of me.

All in all, the events of today were fit for a queen - many queens, in fact. I know that tomorrow's adventure will be even more exciting. I will be headed to Westminster Abbey to Poet's Corner to view the graves of my most favorite and beloved authors - above all, Geoffrey Chaucer. I have spent countless hours combing through this man's life and work and tomorrow I will be standing as close to him as is earthly possible. To fully comprehend the magnitude of this reality is difficult. I do not feel that I can describe the impact this has on me. What I can describe, however, is the aching of my feet, legs, and back - I feel like I have been steamrolled by a tow truck, beaten and horsewhipped. I am the most tired kind of tired that a body can be. I am going to look through the pictures I have taken and go to bed, dreaming of kings, queens, princes, and royal balls - they are not the fairytales I once believed them to be. They are a real part of history that has meaning and value and I feel blessed for having learned and appreciated this fact today.

Pastries, Rain, and Tube Stops

English 243 Extra Credit Question: What poet was once the dean of this famous London church pictured above?

Despite the fact that I have the biggest blister on my left foot that I have ever seen in my life, the last few days have been memorable and interesting.



I have decided I should write about all of the things I am noticing that are different than what I experience in the U.S., since I am beginning to grow accustomed to them and may forget to mention them upon my return. First off - no refills in restaurants. Not only is food astronomically priced here, but the portions are tiny and there are no free refills on drinks. No wonder those Europeans are so skinny and fit. The shower in my hotel room has a folding glass panel that covers only half of the tub, and the water here gets quite hotter than it does in the states (which I love) - it is well water, however, and is not treated quite like our water is so it's not a great idea to drink from the tap. When you order water in restaurants, you need to specify sparkling or spring - I get spring; it's the most like home even though most of it is mineral spring water and it has a biting taste that takes a while to grow used to. Speaking of water, it rained here today. London rain is the coldest and dirtiest rain that I have ever experienced - it will cut you like a knife and make you smell really, really bad.


Some other differences I have noticed are in the expressions used here. As a pseudo-linguist, I enjoy hearing the other languages all around me. I have heard Russian, German, French, Yiddish, Polish, Arabic, Spanish, and so many others. London is full of so many people and they are all very diverse. A few nights ago, I stood in Picadilly Square with a group of about 15 people and only two of us spoke English. On the flight over, I remembered hearing everything in German first before the English translation; for the first time in my life, I experienced the feeling of being a minority. I was totally dependent on other people who knew the language and how things worked for help, and that was a little dizzying. As far as English expressions, signs that we would see for "exit" say "way out." Food that we would call "take-out" or "to-go" is called "take-away." With the obvious difference in money, what we would call a "check-out" line is called "cash and wrap." Cookies are called "biscuits" and french fries are called "chips. Here, you don't stand in a "line," you stand in a "queue."



Another cultural thing I find interesting is that just like the English drive on the left side of the road, the flow of people on staircases and in hallways always hangs to the left side, as well. People move quickly and if, like me, are moving against the flow of traffic, you will get sideswiped. I have also noticed that people sit and walk intimately close with each other and that people speak much more softly here than in the U.S. I am always straining to hear and asking people to repeat themselves. Grocery stores here are small- there are very few and they are on the street in random places - the storefronts look like other regular stores. You don't see people with grocery carts or buggies - you see them putting the food in bags, paying for the food, and then carrying the bag home. Everyone buys groceries daily and just takes the food home fresh - many people here do not do a lot of cooking, especially large cooking for meals.

Probably the starkest cultural difference here is the manner of dress. I am shocked at how scantily clad some of the women are - today on the tube (subway), I saw lots of women in sweater dresses that were super short wearing stockings and high boots. It was less than 40 degrees today, especially with the wind chill, and I saw several young teenage girls wearing short denim shorts with pantyhose underneath with tall boots. Boots are all the rage here, especially high-heeled boots. It is extremely rare to see women in flat shoes here, unless they are young (teenagers or young girls). Wool coats are the main type of jackets worn here, and scarves are on everybody - women, men, and children. One trend that bothers me is that the mothers here who have their babies in strollers have the strollers covered in some sort of plastic zip-up bag thing that fits over the strollers to keep out the cold and the wind. I haven't seen so many babies here, though - and come to think of it, I haven't seen any pregnant women either. I can't imagine being pregnant or having my daughter here with me - I think of how difficult it is to carry her around in grocery stores and in and out of the car and it makes me tired to think of schlepping her up and down the stairs in the subway stations.

I have also discerned how European women are so skinny. After schlepping myself around and up and down stairs and carrying things while running from one street to the next, I have dropped some pounds myself - and not the spending kind! More to come on the fashion later!

When in London...

London is cold - but it's a good kind of cold. It's the kind of cold that makes you spring up and grab a scarf and walk quickly. When you breathe in the cold wind, you feel clean inside...unless you are behind one of the millions of smokers in this city. London is full of smokers - ew. I really hate coming home smelling like a cigarette and feeling gross. However, aside from their nasty smoking habits, Europeans are beautiful people.

There has been some great fashion here in London - of course I fit right in! Everyone wears very dark colors and women usually are dressed to the nines. Every woman I see has on some kind of boots, and tights are really in fashion here at the moment. Large handbags, scarves, and dark sunglasses are like appendages here. Additionally, the women here are of two types: stick-thin or super curvy. There aren't a lot of overweight people here (probably because walking so much is really good for your body) and almost everyone walks and takes public transportation (which requires a lot of walking in and out of stations, to stops, etc.) And they walk FAST. Us Southerners take our time and drag slowly to the next desination where there *might* be sweet tea. Here, these people are on the move - they are going places and they will push you out of their way.

But London has proved to be a welcoming city, as well. I have met some people here (none of them are native Londoners) who were very nice. I met a woman on the plane yesterday who was Polish and she didn't speak a lick of English - but we talked for about 2 hours. She actually thought I was a native German because I was translating on the plane when the pilots were making announcements. I pick up language very easily and had learned about 50-60 words by the end of the flight. I knew a few Polish words from researching in my WWII class last semester and I was able to communicate with her by gesturing, writing, and repeating her own words until I could understand.

Today, on the subway, I met a French girl who is living here and studying acting. She and I recited some lines from Macbeth and Othello together, which was fun. One thing that is strange is that everyone here seems kind of important - they are all moving quickly, dressed nicely, carrying electronic things and speaking quickly in foreign languages. Everyone I pass seems to be either a businessman or a tourist. I know there are regular people here - I've seen some of them - and they are easy to pick out. You can spot a native Englishman or woman simply by examining the nose, eyes, and teeth. Most of the Caucasian people with slightly reddish complexion and strong noses are native English. Our tour guide today, Chrissy, had a great accent and I picked up some neat expressions from her. One that I am particularly tickled by is the saying "Mind the door" and "Mind the gap," both of which are phrases that advise passengers to watch their step when entering or exiting some sort of transportation like a bus, subway, or elevator (which is called a 'lift' here).

Tonight I ventured into Picadilly Circus, which is essentially the "Times Square" of London. It was great - all of the large television screens in the street and the wild throngs of people everywhere. Very few people in the streets were actually speaking English, which I find ironic. Certainly, London is a world class city and many international travelers find themselves here. But I hear all kinds of languages around me on every street corner, swirling in this strange yet sweet global melody of discordant unity. I even danced in the street to an Irish bagpiper (who, after playing a song, caught his breath long enough to kiss his girlfriend very passionately!) Seriously, the way European men kiss over here is crazy - I see them grab these women (presumably their wives or girlfriends) and kiss them so deeply that I am sure the ladies will drop dead from lack of breath. It is like the men are trying to suck their souls out through their mouths - but it is all very sweet and romantic.

I am exhausted, to say the least. Today has been amazing and I'm sure tomorrow will be just as good. I have a full day of shopping planned after we visit Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and others for a self-designed walking tour. I am very excited! To show my excitement, I have posted a photo of myself here grinning like an idiot before entering Shakespeare's birthplace earlier today.

Cheerio, loves. More to come on the morrow.

Dreams Really Do Come True

Whoever said that a full stomach and a full night's rest can solve the world's problems was right. Sure enough, after a good 10 hours of sleep and a gigantic chocolate pastry for breakfast, the sun was shining in London once again. Today, I saw several of my lifelong dreams accomplished in a mere few hours - and the experience is really more than I am able to take in.

Today, our group visited three locations on a very nice guided coach tour. First off on the list was a drive out into Oxford where we toured two colleges of the Oxford University system (there are actually 39 colleges, we learned). This was particularly exciting for me because I actually walked by the classrooms where J.R.R. Tolkien studied. Some of my other beloved authors (including Lewis Carroll) studied here and it was very humbling to walk down the cobbled streets that I know they walked on while going to their classes. I also enjoyed seeing the Bodleian Library, where several of the scenes from my favorite Harry Potter movies were filmed. As impressive as it is, the Carpenter Library that serves me and my students so well is actually a little cooler. At Bodleian, there is a strict silence policy - it is what the University library is famed for. Additionally, the tour group was not allowed in to even see it. So pooh on you, Bodley!

After a quick (really quick - 50 minutes!) tour of Oxford, our group jetted off again through the Cotswolds, which is some really beautiful English countryside where sheep graze and quaint little English cottages cover the roadsides boasting thatched roofs and original Cotswold stone. Several bed and breakfast establishments and pubs dot the lush green landscape and the busy life of London is countered by this quiet, peaceful calm. Riding through the Cotswolds is like a trip back in time - and it looks strikingly like Lebanon, Virginia (a town near where I grew up as a child).

While the Cotswolds were great, the next two phases of our tour were simply amazing - and definitely my favorite part of the trip so far. A short tour through Stratford-upon-Avon was a very emotional experience for me and one that I have not quite processed yet. There, I walked through Shakepeare's birthplace and home, and was moved to tears before I ever walked through the first room. As the tour guide was talking, I caught some green grass blowing in the breeze through the window and as I looked at it, I wondered if the young William ever stood there and gazed out the window, too, entertaining ideas that would become his future masterpieces. I don't know why I was so overcome with emotion - I believe it is because he is such an iconic figure and a brilliant writer. I know his words by heart and preach and teach his life every semester in my classrooms - and to see something of him that was real, actualized, was more than what I have words for at this moment.

The gardens were beautiful, and the ride out to Warwick was just as lovely as the Cotswolds. The locals here do not pronounce the second "w," so it sounds as if they are saying "Warick" - so that's how I am saying it now, too. I have learned (having grown up in the Appalachian Mountains) that the rule of geographic pronunciation is that you pronounce it as the natives do. So, my trip to "Warick" was unforgettable.

There, I saw the oldest medieval castle in the world, Warwick Castle. Having studied medieval literature as an undergraduate, this experience was daunting, to say the least. I have read so much about knighthood and chivalry, battle and famine, archery and weaponry....to see a real castle for the first time in my life was so cool. When we went into the entrance, we did not see the castle immediately. When we walked through it, however, and the gate was opened...we rounded the corner and castle stretched as far as the eye could see. I could have dropped to my knees for shock and amazement - one of my lifelong dreams of walking through a medieval English castle came true and it was absolutely nothing like I had imagined - it was more. Having seen the Biltmore estate was impressive, but this castle was (and is) the stuff that history and fairytales are made of. My photo at the top is me standing outside one of the towers, taken today.

It is impossible for me to describe everything I have seen and done today - I even saw peacocks in the Peacock Garden at Warwick. It almost didn't seem real to me - I was walking across castle grounds among peacocks! It was like the best of dreams come true - and it was tangible and real. I hiked to the highest point of the castle and looked down all around the grounds, and truly felt as if I was the queen. Standing there, I just knew that hundreds and hundreds of years before me, some young girl had stood there and looked down at the surrounding countryside and felt as if anything in life were possible. Having stood there today myself, I now know that it is.

24 Hours Later....

The trip here was HORRIBLE. It is 10:19 a.m. London time, and 3 p.m. 'home time' - which means it took 24 hours from Charlotte to London. Add up all the flights, delays, layovers, and pure travel hell and that's the grand total: 24 hours.

I haven't eaten a solid meal since 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4th and haven't showered since the day before that. I haven't slept more than 2 hours and I am so angry and keyed up that I could strangle someone (maybe the front desk guy who didn't seem to care we walked around town for 2 hours trying to find the hotel because the website directions were wrong and I now have blood blisters on my feet).

I am going to shower...I am going to lay down...I am going to calm down...and try to enjoy my trip. So far, London is not calling - I am calling out for help because I am losing my mind. Am I going crazy? I might be going crazy! I am delirious, dehydrated, and exhausted. I have to sleep - now. More to come when things calm down. Pray for our group - we need it. We are tired, hungry, and frustrated.

Trip Mornings...Ugh

So, after finally giving it up and turning off the laptop and lamp at 2:00 a.m., I really only slept about four solid hours last night. That's not good for me - I'm not a morning person, and I need at least eight hours to feel human.

On top of that, I had to say goodbye to a really cute 19-month old baby who kept waving, blowing kisses, and saying "Mama" when I got dropped off at work this morning - talk about sad! I am sitting in the Carpenter Library at SPCC (YAY Library!) finalizing some last-minute business before leaving for the airport. I'm a little nervous and I have a bit of a queasy tummy. I don't take well to flying, and the thought of being on another continent is overwhelming.

I am really excited and grateful to be going on this trip - but my tummy will not calm down until I get to jolly old England and my feet touch the ground. I am thinking that ginger ale sounds good right now - so I am going to track some down.

Can't Sleep!

It's a little after 1:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time and I am laying in my bed watching the clock. In less than 24 hours, I'll be boarding the plane headed for my first international trip. I think this is the first flight I've actually been excited about, rather than anxious about. I just got finished "Googling" an image of a Lufthansa Airbus, which is the plane I'll be getting on tomorrow.

I packed my clothes a week ago, but I finalized all my packing tonight. I actually just got back from a midnight trip to Wal*Mart - I decided it was easier to buy clean socks than to do laundry! I made sure that I have packed all of my 'fun items' for the plane - I have two books (Wuthering Heights and The Bell Jar), my PlayStation Portable with two UMD movies (Starship Troopers and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), a bag of Pizzeria Combos, and some fiber bars. (English 111 Extra Credit Question: What term describes the sentence structure of the list I just wrote in which all of the parts of speech must be the same? E-mail your answer to gr8npowerfuloz@gmail.com) For those of you reading my blog who are not my students, I promised them I would embed some extra credit questions in my entries. If they're reading and keeing up with my trip, they have the opportunity to earn some extra points on their assignments.

I also have my journal and my mala beads in my purse so I can have those whenever the spirit hits me. Of course I have my passport ready, and I also have plenty of Dramamine!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, but I think today was busier - getting all the paperwork ready for the trip and situating my money was stressful. Today, I got traveler's cheques for the first time in my life and thought they were pretty cool-looking. Even though I am one of the trip advisors, I am learning a lot myself. For my first international trip, I have had to learn how to convert money (U.S. dollar to British pounds), understand how to differentiate between Celsius and Farenheit (to plan my dress accordingly) and learn how to write English addresses - they look VERY different than American ones! I have also had to do lots of research for the trip so that I would be familiar with the area where we are staying.

While I am very excited, I am also feeling very at peace. I enjoy traveling and it always gives me an opportunity to just be myself. I am going to miss my daughter so much, but I do enjoy the moments where I just get to be me. While being a teacher and being a mom is a big part of who I am, it is only one part of who I am - and traveling lets the other parts of me out. I hope that the writer in me gets to surface on this trip. I write a lot - but I rarely get to experience new things and write about them. I think every good writer has to travel at some point in his or her life. Most of our famous novelists and essayists are well-traveled. They have seen the world and can therefore write about it. I hope to come home with a journal full of pages that I have fervently covered with thoughts, ideas, and reflections (English 113 Extra Credit Question/English 243 and 233 Extra Credit Question: Name one writer we are studying whose travel abroad influenced his or her work. Where did he or she go?).

I know where I need to go: to bed! It's 1:30 and I have to get up early tomorrow. I hope I'll get a chance to blog again from the airport. If not, I'll be blogging from another continent!

A World Away....A Week Away!

I'll be in London in less than a week. Wow.

As my excitement about my trip is building, so is my anxiety! I am really worried about being away from work for a week and also worried about how my daughter will feel with me gone for so long. I will not be able to make any calls from abroad, and I will have limited access to my computer (mostly for blogging and checking maps!). It will be refreshing, yet scary to be somewhat 'disconnected' from my home and from the world that I know.

I have begun contemplating my packing. Do I really need that many outfits? Or do I need more? I lie awake at night thinking about what's in my suitcase. Last night, I read my London travel guide from cover to cover and have mapped out all the spots I want to see - some of them are 'touristy' and others are not. I have currently been reading Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights and I am quite prepared to imitate the Cockney accents of some of her characters while on my trip. It's very much the same experience I had when I read Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. In my head, I was speaking in the dialect of the characters for weeks after reading the book! It's probably a little corny that I am on Brisith literature overload before my trip, but it's my area of teaching specialty and my primary interest in this trip.

I have a London-themed calendar in my office and I am looking at the picture for March - it is the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. I'll be there in 7 days. Yup - me in front of a palace. Who would have figured?

My Kingdom for a Hotel

The first real challenge in planning the London trip was realized today. The other trip coordinator, Heather, called me this morning to tell me that she thought the hotel we had booked, The Prince William Inn, did not have two beds in each room. This realization is problematic, considering this is a school-sponsored trip! After doing some more investigation, we decided to switch to another hotel.

I spent about half an hour on the phone today with a woman named Jade who works for Hotels.com. She was fantastic - she booked our group of 11 people and had all the details and confirmations in my e-mail inbox before we finished the phone call. Much better customer service than what we received with the Prince William - it took a month to book six rooms and we have still been waiting on email inquiries sent two weeks ago. I wonder how long it will take them to respond to my cancellation e-mail when they realize how much money they'll be losing.

Now, our group is staying at the Shaftesbury Paddington Hyde Park Hotel which looks to be wonderful. It is a 4-star hotel that is extremely close to Paddington Station, where we can catch the Tube to various locations we plan to visit on our trip. This morning, I was worrying if we would get off the plane with even a place to stay because of the poor customer service we had received.

I am packed, I have a place to stay, and most of the paperwork is completed for the trip. Good thing - it's only 9 days away.

Epic Packing

My most recent discovery is that I am quite the efficient packer. After discovering that my family's largest suitcase got destroyed in my last flight (interior plastic liner was crushed into a million pieces), I embarked upon a journey to purchase a new one. Sadly, there are no nice, large suitcases available for individual puchase for under $60.00. Determined to save my money for spending at Harrod's and a host of English pubs, I returned home with a simple mission: cram a week's worth of clothing and necessities into the medium-sized suitcase.

The packing job I have done is nothing short of epic. I used the rolling method, but I also packed clothes inside of clothes - I downsized as much as possible, opting for trial size in all of my beauty products and using all available compartments. It helps that I have somewhat of a container fetish; I had several cosmetic bags that I used for various items like batteries, jewelry, and medicines.

A lesson I learned from my very first flight experience was that 99% of everyone who travels has a black rolling suitcase. A companion on my last trip to Boston decorated her suitcase with garbage bag strips and another tied blue ribbons on her zippers. I have puchased bright pink luggage tags and I have also tied neon green and electric blue ribbons on not one, but all of my visible zippers. My bag looks a little like it is sprouting blooms, but I am sure that I will find it more quickly. Last time at the baggage claim, I got dizzy watching the rotating conveyor belt in search for my bag.

I am also pleased to report that I have managed to pack some fun things, as well. I have magazines, a journal, my PSP, my mp3 player, and my mala beads. I'm ready to rock and roll. I will probably end up taking a novel with me as well, and I still feel like a travel pillow couldn't be a bad purchase.

Regardless, I am one step closer to London than I was yesterday....and one day nearer to my life-changing adventure!

Countdown to London

I am a little overwhelmed as I sit here at the kitchen table contemplating the arduous task of packing well for my first international trip. In eleven days, I will be flying to London, England for a week-long stay as a trip coordinator for my college. The empty suitcase glares at me, taunting me with the fact that there is no way to truly, completely, and perfectly pack the right things.

Simply put, I'm nervous. I'm a nervous flyer; I hate the takeoff and I hate the landing, but I absolutely love the middle of the flight. Weak-stomached, I am easily nauseated and my level of anxiety is much higher than the average person's. Add in the fact that I'm extremely obsessive-compulsive, and it's easy to see why packing for a trip of this magnitude is stressful for me. The fact that I am semi-responsible for the students (granted they are all adults capable of decision-making) in a foriegn land is daunting. The only thing I know about London is that Chaucer and Shakespeare are both buried there, and I am absolutely thrilled to be going.

In truth, I know a lot about London - but only about London hundreds of years ago through reading poetry. As an English teacher specializing in British Literature, this is my pilgrimage to what is basically the equivalent of Mecca for avid readers and nerds. I'm not sure why some of the other trip participants are going. Certainly, London is a world-class city and there's lots of fun things to do there, but I feel something internal pulling me there, as if it's a place I have always been destined to go. Rather, it's a place I must go - I need to feel and see that the literature I have dedicated my life to teaching is tangible and therefore real. I must walk in Shakespeare's steps in Stratford and breathe in the air of inspiration and creativity. For me, this trip will be life-changing and even more life-affirming.

As I look at my empty suitcase and contemplate the things I will be taking with me, I am more excited about what I will be bringing home. Not souveneirs or photographs, but memories and emotions. I plan to do a lot of writing there, as well, because I want to preserve how I feel about everything. My friend Rhonda always tells me that when people go on trips, they gain perspective. It's true - everytime I have taken an extended trip (the fathest away from my 'home' in the southern states that I've ever been is Leamington, Ontario and San Antonio, Texas), I have come home full of ideas and inspiration. My soul is rejuvenated by the new experiences and my mind is clear of old clutter.

What I'm even more worried about, however, is what I will be leaving behind. This will be the longest I've ever been away from my daughter, and that pains me. I will miss her so much. She's only almost 2, so I doubt she'll miss me terribly! Part of me feels guilty for being away from her for so long, and to be honest, I was very torn about taking this trip in the first place. But it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'd be foolish not to take it. London is calling - and I am answering!

Countdown to London: http://www.bored.com/makecountdowns/show.php?id=158004