Sept. 6, 2009

After a wild past three days, I finally have internet access at a local coffee joint and can sit down and gather my thoughts. Traveling to an unknown land is absolutely incredible. Arriving at an entirely new place where virtually everything is unfamiliar provokes feelings that cannot be duplicated. This is my first time experiencing such, and when describing these feelings to a former GA teacher who I met yesterday, she said “That is why travel is my drug of choice.” The feeling truly is euphoric.

I suppose I will pick up from Thursday, when my limbo of hanging around Philadelphia and waiting came to a sudden end. My visa arrived Thursday afternoon, and I was lucky enough to get on a flight Thursday night. It was a bit nice to take off so suddenly, because no one likes saying goodbye for a week straight. I grabbed a Cheesesteak, Crab Fries, and a Rolling Rock from the Chickie’s and Pete’s in the International Terminal in Philly, sort of an appropriate farewell meal. The Eagles preseason game and the US Open blared in the background of my meal in the most appropriate way. I made a few phone calls before communication became a lot more expensive, and took off.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep a wink on the flight due to my fantastic positioning next to the lavatory and kitchen- but I doubt I could have slept anyway because of all the excitement. I took my first hit of the travel drug during the descent when land became visible, and I saw with my own eyes a country and continent that I had only previously read about.

Customs and luggage pickup were uneventful, and I met with an American gentleman named Bill from Eton who kindly picked me up. I blindly opened the door of the American passenger side, and it took me about two seconds to realize the steering wheel was in front of me. Bill just chuckled. The phenomenon of driving on the left side caused me undue stress during our ride home, as each time I stopped gazing out of the passenger windown (in awe) and looked forward, I thought we were about to be slammed by oncoming traffic.

Upon arrival, I met with the Eton accommodations officer who kindly showed me my bedroom and my study, and gave me lots of useful tips and hints that unfortunately I will forget due to my delirium of having not slept a wink the night before. I fought through a brief tour of the immediate area around my colony, absolutely fascinated by each step, but literally swaying back and forth from exhaustion. The colony where I am living is very cool. Everything around Eton is very very antique, and truly different than most homes in the United States. After we split, I fell face first on my unmade bed and slept like a rock for about two hours. This charged my battery to about an eighth full, enough to do some exploring and light shopping in this incredible new world.

I encountered similar turmoil and stress from the driving on the left routine, as each time I crossed the road, I would look to my left for oncoming traffic (going by 20 some years of crossing the road instinct), only to nearly get sideswiped by traffic and bicycles whizzing by me from the right side. I survived my journey, picking up some toiletry essentials and outlet converters- a life saver. The outlets in the UK look like large smiley faces and are not compatible with American electronics. So with these I was able to keep up my phone, camera, computer, etc. A fascinating thing I noticed about the buildings on Eton High Street is that the windows in the old structures are remarkably close to the ground. This is because the street has risen over the years with new layers of concrete, yet the buildings have stayed the same. So the structures, have sunk, so to speak, and what was the first floor 400 or so years ago, is now the basement. It is all very beautiful, and another instance of beauty that only age can provide.

I wandered around the town of Windsor, just over a small bridge (above the River Thames) from Eton. Home to the Windsor castle, the town is kept up to be so gorgeous because I imagine it is a major tourist hub. The castle is like nothing I have ever seen. I hope to write more about it when I actually visit, but it basically looks like a mile long structure of stone in the shape of well, a castle, which to me was a fantasy before actually seeing it. The picture below catches the front “mouth” of the castle, and it literally stretches back with similar structure all the way back to where the eye can see.

After some shopping I was invited for drinks by an experienced master who met with me at Hopkins during the final round of the Fellowship Interviews. He was very interesting and inviting, and certainly made me feel welcome during my first evening in this new world. Our discussions ranged from everything about Eton to my career to his career to family, and it was all very interesting. There was even a book on his coffee table that had a chapter written about his family- he comes from a long bloodline of Scottish scholars and headmasters. It was all very impressive. We proceeded to a local pub where I indulged in fish cakes, ribeye steak, and “Eton Mess”- a strawberry and cream dessert enjoyed worldwide that carries the Eton name. The gentleman with whom I dined begrudgingly told me that it was not true “Eton Mess,” but that it was nevertheless quite good. I drank London’s Pride beer, which was very different than beer we drink in the United States. At home, we drink very cold, carbonated beer which was explained to me as very difficult to drink. Compared to what English people drink, it is. This beer was a tad colder than room temperature, flat, and dark in taste and appearance. The alcohol content is also higher, but it certainly did go down easier than a Coors Light or Budweiser. Dinner was very enjoyable, and I made my way home around 11:00 and immediately went to my bed, exhausted from my redeye flight the night before.

The next morning I unpacked, and around lunchtime headed for London where I met a former GA teacher of mine, who is British, and spent four years in the United States teaching at GA. The train and cab rides over to the St. John Wood neighborhood in London gave me some nice visuals of London. Those who know me well know that I am almost obsessed with understanding my surroundings and memorizing maps and street names, so being somewhere completely unfamiliar was very stimulating and exciting. The way I was very alert and interested in everything going on around me during my train ride had some people nervous around me, I’m sure.

I met for tea with my former GA teacher for tea, and we caught up for about four hours. We had fantastic conversation, and it was particularly great because she understood where I come from very well, while also being a London native. We worked closely together at GA in the Mock Trial Society and School Newspaper, so catching up was great. She left GA the same year my class graduated, and since had done some incredible traveling and service projects throughout the world. Currently, she heads the Global Studies program at the American School in London, a highly regarded high school, and does teaching there as well. We discussed potential joint projects between Eton and ASL, and at the least I plan on sitting in or giving guest lectures to her classes when Eton goes on holiday.

I ventured back to Eton around 8:00 last night, traveling through places like Paddington Station, another place that is commonly referenced but I had never actually seen. So fun and tough to describe to those who haven’t experienced something similar. A funny thing is- at Paddington Station you have to pay roughly 75 cents to use the bathroom. There is a turnstile where you feed coins for entry. Healthcare is free here, but using the toilet in a public train station is not. Funny which things different governments decide to make public goods.

I thought I had overcome jet lag, only to discover I couldn’t fall asleep until about 3:30 this morning, and I woke up at 1:30 PM this afternoon. Oh well.

I’ve spent this afternoon largely in a local coffee shop, and tea time has just crept up (around 4:00), so there is a massive influx of people. Tonight I plan on having drinks and dinner with Eton Masters who are just arriving today, and tomorrow is my formal induction to Eton. Tomorrow night I am having dinner with a mother from San Francisco who contacted me- she is here dropping off her 13 year old for his first year at Eton. Most of the boys are scheduled to arrive Wednesday evening, and I am told it is quite the site seeing 1300 high school aged boys descend upon the school at once.

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