Scotland!

8 July 2007 10:36 pm

This weekend was my first without homesickness in several weeks. As we rolled into Scotland and into the green hills at daybreak, I looked through the low rolling clouds and I knew. I’m home.

After a grueling 9 hour bus ride (which began at 11 pm), we arrived on the rainy streets of Edinburgh. Phil and I were completely exhausted, as we booked the most cramped bus possible in the interest of saving money. It really wasn’t meant to be slept on, though it was a cheap way into the country. As we walked into the train station, Phil realized that he’d forgotten his passport and worried a great deal until we walked out of the train station uncontested.

Disoriented from lack of sleep (and Phil from an excess of drinking the night previous), we wandered in the direction we thought our hostel was in. 20 minutes later we reached the border of the main city, and realized we’d gone the wrong way.

A hour and a half of hobbling half awake down the streets, looking up every so often to see giant monuments and gorgeous statues, we came to the church we’d call home for the next two days. Our hostel was formerly a small church, which had been modified several years past to accommodate travelers. It was very college student friendly, and quite easy to find your way back to in the night, as we only had to look for the steeple.

Still, the accommodations were lovely, and still retained the stained glass windows. Basically, it looked as if the seats had been removed in the church hall proper and been replaced by bunk beds, and cubicles had sprung up around every 3 or so. In the basement was a nice bar area, with pool table and dart board, internet terminals, big screen tv and lounge area, and kitchen.

Phil immediately sought out his bed to try and sleep off his hangover, and I went down to the bar for breakfast. Absolutely delicious sausages, toast, and tea gone, I surfed the internet a bit and started planning the next couple of days in Scotland.

After about an hour I managed to wake Phil and get him back on the streets. It was only sprinkling at this time, which was actually rather nice to walk in. We stopped in a little pub for brunch and had really classy service. We were very impressed. It was about then that we first realized one of the major changes from England to Scotland. One, the food was much better, and much cheaper. Two, the women (we noticed the waitresses first) were much more attractive as a whole, and had an excellent sense of fashion. At least we though so, and continued to notice this trend all day. Even the girls working in our hostel were really cute! But I digress. We sought out the castle next.

It’s not exactly difficult to find Edinburgh castle, as it’s a stunning view right in the town’s center. From the park below we took a few pictures, played on the playground equipment to get some laughs and our blood going, and set off for the hill.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone says it is, but I fully understood why this castle was impossible to lay siege upon. The climb was substantial, and I can’t imagine trying to drag the tools of war up it, much less in armor and while under archer attack.

We toured the castle and got a feel for the prison inside. We saw the beautiful effects of Scotland, the Scepter, sword, jewels, etc, glinting in a case in a dimly lit room. It was all very regal, and I desperately wished to hold the sword in my hand and feel the weight of the blade. We further explored the gorgeous old cobblestones, checked out the armory, etc, and actually witness a wedding taking place at the top, complete with kilted men escorting the newlyweds, and a bagpipe serenade. I can only imagine how incredible it would be to get married in such an ancient and beautiful place. The view atop Edinburgh is one of the finest, and we took plenty of pictures from our high central view.

After a long walk and after a resounding round of cannon fire, we set off down the Royal mile. The rain really picked up again, but we went through about 80 shops looking for the same thing. Apparently my clan tartan is very difficult to find, and a kilt would need to be custom made, for the nominal fee of 200 GBP. I opted for a similar one and my clan’s effects, which make for a great combo. I still spent far too much on it all, but it’s really fun to have.

We walked the streets for a few more hours until it was about time for supper. We found a neat little pub on a street entirely full of them, all with rather raunchy names. We passed up The Bad Ass, Filthy McNasty’s, and Dirty Dick’s as we wandered.

When we arrived, we decided to make the most of our Scotland experience and go for the real deal. We ordered Haggis to test our mettle, and the first of our whiskeys to experiment with. After all, what’s a trip without a bit of adventure? We did order a burger and beer as well, just in case it didn’t go down very well, but all was delicious and we ended up completely stuffed.

As we walked home, we ended up stopping in a lively little hole in the wall, Scruffy Murphys. This was the crème of the crop for the Scottish pub experience, the kind of place the locals came and enjoyed. There was live music, traditionally Scottish, and dancing in the middle, a man in another corner telling lively tales, and just a lot of people having a really good time. We camped there for awhile and worked very hard to resist a guy we referred to as “Our friend,” who was a very intoxicated and enthusiastic man that continuously tried to pull us onto the dance floor. He was a real riot, and actually really nice to talk to.

All being said, done, and danced (for it was the only way to traverse the path from the corner we occupied to the door), we settled back into our hostel and finished in the basement with a nightcap. Neither of us were terribly badly off, and we both slept very soundly after the long day. I didn’t even wake up at six as usual and fall back asleep!

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful, and I’ll say that neither of us were bothered by that. I was feeling the nasty cold that’s currently wreaking havoc on my nose and throat, but after I walked around I felt fine. We had to leave in an extreme rush to make our bus tour, and on a very tight schedule. Half way to the bus station, Phil feels his pocket and realizes that he’s forgotten his wallet!

He took off sprinting down the road and told me to try and hold the bus. He tried to be a real hero about it and said that if he didn’t make it, I was to leave him and go on the tour. I giggle a little as he sprinted off. He was really trying hard to let me have a good time, and I really appreciate his efforts. They were very instrumental in the brilliant days I spent in Scotland, and especially for the mood I enjoyed them in.

I made it to the bus just on time, and started talking frantically with our bus driver, who, by the way, was the one of the most incredible people I’ve yet met. He too was suffering from a cold, but he was very cool about waiting for Phil, who grabbed a taxi on his way back. Bill (our guide) made a big show of pulling away from Phil as he ran up, and then opening the door as he ran along the side. He made Phil work for the tour, much to everyone’s delight. Even Phil enjoyed it afterward.

Our guide seemed to know everything about Scotland, and one thing was sure; he loved his country. Hearing him speak with reverence as we passed the monuments, I really appreciated the history I’d rushed past twice in two days and not really seen. He told stories with a fervor and talent that was really quite inspiring. We asked him later and found out that he’d had no training for his job, just a love of histories and stories, and especially for Scotland.

We started our winding bus tour through the heart of Scotland. We were determined to cross almost half the country, and we certainly made a great attempt. Bill provided stories of the places we passed, and commentary for each Loch and rolling glen. He pointed out his own hometown and local pub, the loch where he liked to camp, and his favorite spots to hike. The lowlands were full of nice little towns, green pine forests, and an abundance of giant white thistle flowering purple. Each hill was glowing a different color green, as the soil changed in acidity in every place we passed. Every hill had a character of its own, and the rain of yesterday made it ever more obvious and opulent. I was very impressed with the design of the road itself as well, as it sort of snaked through the highlands. It was in no hurry to get anywhere, and disturbed little of the natural beauty around it.

We passed Stirling Castle and the monument to the hero William Wallace. Ironically, my room mate Brian is the same height as the great William Wallace, and approximately the same weight. I’ll give him a claymore and see what he can do for Scotland!

We stopped for coffee and met Hamish, the hairy bill, which we called the emo cow. His long bangs hung over his eyes in just the right way; he was absolutely priceless. There was also an incredible collection of Lotus vehicles at our rest stop, which are a brilliant and rather rare vehicle to begin with.

We set off into the highlands next, to meet the Bens (mountains) that would awe me into speechlessness. It was like being back at Philmont, but totally green. Giant early hills loomed above us, reaching into the low clouds in a dramatic way, as if showing off their incredible reach for the bus. Bill put on some traditional Scottish music to fill the gaps between his commentaries, and the atmosphere had my skin crawling up my spine like a great burrowing rabbit. We heard stories of the clans that lived in each area, the heroes that lived and died there, the people that preceded us. People like my forefathers. The three sisters of Glencoe was yet another stop and photo op, and a chance to catch our breath. The scene overwhelmed me, the thoughts of my ancestors and the other clans of Scotland invaded my mind, and I was really sort of reeling trying to take it all in. The sheer beauty of the land was enough to make me wish to return many times.

The hills were literally alive, and I felt like I was being spoken to. Everything swayed with a gentle wind, visibly glowed with life. Entire fields of grass bounced back and forth in a beautiful dance. Great quilts of blooming heather started appearing too, patches of pinks and purples quilted into the green landscape. As we stretched into the northern lochs and glens, we climbed higher and higher into the highlands, closer and closer to the clouds. As I looked out the window and past the girl sitting beside it, I started to notice her as well as the landscape beyond, and I noticed also that she was noticing me. What can I say, she was cute.

We arrived at Loch Ness shortly after lunchtime and got onto a boat cruise, a lovely hour out monster hunting. Phil tried to lure Nessy out of hiding with a Mars bar, but no luck or sightings. A really enthusiastic Scotsman in a kilt kept a lively commentary going, telling stories of the monster and his experiences on the loch from below deck, next to a sonar screen that scanned the lake bottom as we traveled.

It was here I started talking to Ambur, the girl by the window. This started a chain of conversation that would take us all the way back to Edinburgh, 6 hours later. She was from Holland, studying in Scotland to be an Animal manager and Vet in the Edinburgh zoo. It was her first year in University, and her first internship of three away from home. She was a month into it, with only a week to go, and decided to come on holiday and catch this tour. We had a really good time, talking, listening to Bill and talking about his stories in between, gathering in the landscape together, and all of the above. Phil conveniently fell asleep, earning him the title of “Best Wingman Ever.” We’ve promised to stay in touch, and from all that I could gather, she liked me as much as I did her. We had a sort of awkward goodbye, but at the very least I had a great time with her on the trip.

We had one last stop, to a small waterfall in a small park area. I ran up the wooded trail to the top of the hill, photographed the glen below, and ran all the way back down. I was on top of the world, and I felt every ounce of it beneath me.

The rest of the journey is fairly simple and must be summed up quickly, as I’m fading into sleep. This is a LONG account of a simple weekend, but a stunning one that obviously impacted me a lot.

Basically, we spent the night taking Bill’s advice and researching Scottish culture in the best place possible, the pubs. We talked with some people, tried some whiskeys, and left feeling rather good. I picked up a comical Scottish accent that I can’t seem to access any more, but the Hostel people remarked that it was quite good when we had returned. Our Australian friend there (he works as basically a bouncer) challenged us to a game of pool and darts each, winner gets a drink from the loser. I lost pool and Phil darts, but I think evenly sober we would’ve had a chance. We still had fun, and he didn’t make us shell for his drinks. Nice guy, really.

All the while, Phil was eying three girls across the bar, who were in fact very attractive. They left a short time before midnight, and so we decided to settle in and hit the hay. We walked into our room, and low and behold, the girls were sitting in there, one on each bed. I looked at Phil who whispered something like “Thank you Jesus.”

The next morning I woke up and one of the girls was talking in her sleep. I woke Phil and we got ready to make our hasty exit. Once again, we had a bus to catch. A sickening 11 hours later, we made it back to London. The second bus was a nightmare, and while it had nice leather seats, we were stuck in traffic and really sick of coach travel. The driver couldn’t be bothered to stop more than once in the entire trip, which ended up being a 20 minute rest stop for food five hours in. As we drew closer to London, it was really pouring, just to get our spirits back in the right place. My cold has been killing me all day, and stewing in a bus seat for 11 hours really didn’t help. Still, no hangover makes for a great day.

There was one ray of hope on the bus ride home, which was really the silver lining of the whole experience. As we sat in the still roads queued for London, two massive rainbows framed the city. We sat for a full fifteen minutes as we watched them brighten and fade, and I returned home exhausted, sick, and very very happy.

Grade A London Cynicism

Greetings folks. It's been a long time, and I've just been really busy. I know a lot's been going on over here, and I want to let you all know that I'm safe. Things over here are nuts. In any case, before I go to bed I'll post my journal from tonight and you can mill it over. It should tell you what I think of what's going on over here. You'll either think me stupid or ingenious. I don't know which I find myself at the moment. I dunno if I even believe this. Either way. Enjoy

Jesse McDowell 1 July 2007

Grade A London Cynicism

This must seem ridiculous, and indeed, you’ll probably smirk as the rest of the group did when they heard this radical idea. Still, each time I consider this, it feels more and more plausible.

Most basically, my idea is that if I were to blame anyone for what’s going on right now, I’d say that Gordan Brown is a decent suspect. I am referencing, of course, this position of political unrest and the current “terrorist attacks” that canvas the news. I can firmly remember moments like this after September 11, and I can almost see the people here falling into the mindset that America did. This has real advantages for government, as people who are afraid will give up their civil liberties in exchange for protection. This idea is why America is in the Iraq war, and why the abomination of the Patriot Act exists.

So, ridiculous as it sounds, I’m going to chase the idea for awhile and see where it takes me. And, because the things I’m seeing bother me, and my brain needs an explanation to make me feel better and allow me to sleep. Witnessing my own bomb threats, I really need some absolution.

The first thing that bothers me about this whole situation is the lack of motivation. If anything, terrorists would be happy that Gordan Brown has replaced Tony Blair, because Blair was nothing if not a supporter of George Bush and his war. That’s why British people disliked him in the first place. That doesn’t seem to provoke botched car bombings to me.

The acts themselves are disturbing. Their frequency is certainly alarming, but terrible casualties haven’t been suffered. The government has been top notch in detecting these things before they become majorly dangerous, and has averted many crises. They are the heroes, and meanwhile people are getting very worried because there are so many potentially horrifying things going on. This would be incredibly useful for anyone wishing to gain control in a government.

Maybe it’s a culture shock and my Americanism is just too strong, but I have a hard time trusting a man that wasn’t elected to office. Also, his position is guaranteed for no amount of time, and is far from stable. He could stay indefinitely, or for only a bit. It seems like he is bound to try to seize more power. Plus, his personality doesn’t seem like one to cooperate with others in the way of government matters. He denied the request of the Queen for Christ’s sake, for funding to fix the palace. That takes gall, and really shows the kind of person he is. I also wonder what he plans to do with that money.

A few more thoughts and I swear I’ll end this rant. The thing that really bothers me most is the testimony that I’ve seen on television. I honestly can’t believe them, and as a person that has been watching propaganda for his entire life, I get a very familiar feeling. Every interview has had disgustingly leading questions, and the people interviewed tend to be people who work for the city. Those people are paid by the government, and will go and say what the government says. Just saying, their testimonies might not be 100% authentic.

On testimony I saw was almost disgusting. A man told his account of what happened at the Glasgow airport. The reporter sort of coughed, and then asked if the man in the car bomb had said anything when he exited the vehicle. The guy seemed to sort of think, and then said, “Oh, he was shouting Allah.” It was so poorly executed, it looked awfully fake and I couldn’t believe it. At that point, I was already beginning to doubt this entire situation, so I’m probably just biased.

The last idea just came to me tonight, as Gabe scoffed at me. He remarked that a terrorist website was saying that London was asking to be bombing, and that it was leading to hints about everything that was happening. The government was using it to detect stuff early. And I thought, you know, I can make a terrorist website, and probably make it convincing. What could the British government do? Yes, they could construct a very authentic looking site, and use it as a screen. Use it as a scapegoat. It’s really ingenious. Or just a maniacal figment of my imagination. Either way.

That’s the long and short of my idea. I need to get to sleep, pronto. Work comes bright and early.

UBER POST

Hey everyone...so, this is delayed, and is going to be weird, but I'm using it anyway. This is copied from several of my correspondences with my family and friends, so it might seem a little off, but it's a decent compilation of everything that's been going on. It will also double as my journal. Read at your leisure.

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you; they really have been keeping me well busy, and I can never find my way to my computer. That, and the internet here HATES the Clarke email client, and it’s really annoying to try to check it, much less respond to anything I get. Not that I don’t love getting it and hearing from you, but having to log in every time I click an email or try to delete or respond to something gets under my skin (I think it blocks the login cookie here).

I’m just settling down for the night, so I’ve decided to write and give you a bit of an update. So much has been going on; it’s hard to keep track of where my days are going and what is happening when! Every day seems like only a few moments, and it’s good to slow it down and sit and write. I took an hour today to just relax in the park and do just that, and it did me a world of good. St. James is basically my backyard, and it’s a totally gorgeous place to spend a morning (the afternoons are nice as well, but there are roves of tourists through most of it which is slightly less attractive).

The past few nights have been especially interesting. After everyone settled down and we started feeling more comfortable apart, I found a lot more interesting things in the city. The first few nights were sort of strange, getting used to a new and huge city, so most of us stuck together, but it’s hard to do things in groups of 18. Also, it’s hard to get so many to agree on doing anything, and was usually defaulted to finding a pub and hanging out. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy pub crawling as much as the next guy, but with the prices of pubs and the awkward surface conversations that large groups inevitably have, I’m glad to have broken from that little mold.

Last Tuesday night I decided to go out exploring the city again, and was delighted to find a few people that would split off the group to go with me. We found ourselves in front of Victoria station, and wandered into the theatre where Wicked was playing. As the show was going to start in 5 minutes and they were desperate to fill the house, they gave us a significant discount, 25 pounds for 5^th row seats! That’s less than 1/3 of the normal ticket price! The show was excellent, though I liked the leads better in Chicago.

Wednesday night was a night for the theatre as well. We went as a group to the open air theatre in St. Regent’s park (I think, though the name doesn’t sound quite right…it’s one of the royal parks in any case). We walked through the most beautiful gardens I’ve yet seen, beautiful rosebushes in elaborate grids and arranged by color, thousands of colors and gorgeous arrangements of plants in every nook and cranny of the place. We caught Midsummer Night’s Dream, and though it was lightly sprinkling, I couldn’t have asked for a better show.

Wednesday was also a museum day. I went to the museum of Natural History and the Science museum as well in South Kensington. The building of the Natural History museum was so beautiful and ancient, with incredible stone work all through it. That much was worth seeing, and the exhibits were fairly interesting as well. The dinosaurs were well done, and there were several reconstructions and fossils. I took in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery as well on Tuesday, after my class with a professor from Oxford University about British culture. There’s been a lot to see and do, but I’m getting through it all.

Thursday I had my interview. I spent an hour journaling in the park before I went off to my interview. I met my employer who seems really lovely, though not entirely comfortable with me. She doesn’t seem keen to gossip around me, and she seems rather keen to gossip. She’ll get over it eventually and realize that I just like to listen a lot before I open my mouth.

Apparently, she’s only ever had female interns, and actually thought that I would be female when she first saw my resume and materials in the winter (yay for a unisex name scoring me an incredible internship!) Basically, I’ll be a part of staff and do everything they do, from editing and layout to writing and attending premiers. She’s already looking at theatre openings and restaurant events for me to attend, so it should be pretty interesting.

We had a London Scavenger hunt which involved crossing all across zones one and two, with only three hours to get back. With pictures of my group in a phone booth, on a double-decker bus, buying fruit in an open market, and with a police officer (wearing his hat for a bonus point), three brochures, 2 menus, and a leaflet from St Paul’s cathedral in tow, we made it back with 20 minutes to spare. Most teams were at least 45 minutes late. We actually ended up in second place, but only because the tube stopped for 20 minutes at one station for a bomb inspection, as someone left their bag on the train by accident. That was sort of scary, but makes for a good story, and a better excuse as to why we lost (by four minutes!)

Friday we went to Stonehenge and Bath. Both were totally gorgeous and historic, nice things to goggle at for a few hours. Stonehenge is much smaller than I expected, and they wouldn’t let us get very close, which was disappointing. I did, however, feel a sense of kinship with the old stones; they were designed around the position of the sun at the summer solstice, which happens to be my birthday (and also happens to be Thursday).

This weekend I spent with my friends in Colchester. Actually, they’re moving to Idaho in August, so I’ve only just caught them in time. Still, Matt is ever like a brother to me, and we’ve reconnected well. We just spent the weekend like family time, catching up and eating and relaxing (which is a nice break from walking all over the city all day!).

Yesterday I went shopping, and I’ve learned to haggle the markets. I’ve purchased a very high quality bowler hat, which I’ve always wanted, and haggled the man down 25%. I thought it was well done, personally.

Today has been a terribly crazy day, and I'm honestly glad to see the back of it. Not that it was bad, just that I'm glad to be done with the stuff involved, and I feel really good right now as I've started to chill for the night.

I started my internship today, and I can only say that they pulled no punches. Right away in the morning I was designing an ad and sending proofs of it to the client. An hour later saw me researching a pianist that was to play in London, and writing an article about him. I didn't really know much and was kind of caught off guard, but I suppose it was usable, as it's going in the magazine. I'm actually thankful that my name won't be attached, and we've decided I should only sign articles that involve going somewhere and personally editorializing. Otherwise, it would be a lot of extra type, truth be told.

In any case, I spent a good 5 hours today writing an article, researching, selling ad spaces, designing and placing ads, and editing copy. This is harder than I thought, as I'm a horrendous speller, and we're working on macs with no spellcheck. I've been compulsively going to dictionary.com to verify words. We go to press tomorrow, so it's rather tight. Still, I immediately became a member of staff, and it looks very promising indeed. I'll be going to see Othello in the Globe for the magazine (*And actually several other plays, at least 5 are on tap at the moment), and I might get the chance to see the Royal Shakespeare company's production of King Lear, with Ian McKellan (sp?) as King Lear. THAT would be amazing.

Oh, and you should see my sweet keys for this place. They're ancient and angular and excellent looking, but that comes with the part of town I work in. Walking to work literally requires me to walk down four blocks lined in upscale jewelry stores, so I'm framed in shiny diamonds. Actually, the magazine is in a flat above a clothing store that one needs to make an appointment in to shop at. Otherwise, it's locked, which is wise considering that some of the clothes in there cost several thousand pounds.

Tonight, we all just sort of chilled out. I went grocery shopping for my second time, stocked up on all the sandwiches and pizza I can eat in a week (they're cheap), and I picked up the film Hot Fuzz on a whim. I can't bring it back, but I'll donate it to the hotel. More people must see it. Then I took a walk around St. James' Park with a few of my closer friends (Sarah Hayes included), and we decided to watch the movie when we got back.

This scored me uber popularity points, as nearly everyone turned up to watch it, and almost everyone laughed out of their seats. Absolutely hilarious, and in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead. They even reuse the flat in one of the scenes!

Alright, well, I need to get sleep for tomorrow, but I'll be in touch soon. We've decided to have a picnic in the park for my birthday if it's nice, so hope for good weather, eh? I'm fairly sure that at least 80 % of the group will turn up. Turns out I'm well liked...who'd have thought?

Peace, Jesse

Pics!

An update of what's been happening will follow this evening (I hope), but here are some pictures to gander at. I'll link a few of my facebook photo albums here for your enjoyment. Distribute to others as you like!

http://clarke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005494&l=5fead&id=76500641
http://clarke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005496&l=5d6b4&id=76500641
http://clarke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005495&l=00bdc&id=76500641

Wicked!

$50 for 5th row seats at Wicked rocks my face. That is all.

"If you're going to get blown up, you may as well be here."

Greetings all! I really apologize for not posting sooner; I've had some internet issues and some hiccups to work out of the system, but I think it'll be ok. From here on out, I'll be updating on at least a weekly basis. Can't guarantee when exactly, cuz, well, time is scant.

Well, obviously I've made it to London, safely and soundly. The plane ride wasn't as bad as one might think (though security and all that to get on was a beast; we almost didn't make it on time). Once we took off from O Hare, is was like all the tension that had been building up in me for weeks evaporated. I felt strangely peaceful. I didn't even mind the babies crying all around me...much.

I didn't really sleep on the flight, but I suppose that's alright too. My adrenaline was running so high when I got off the plane that I wasn't even tired, though I was rather braindead. Still, rather than retreating to my bed like everyone else, I got on the tube with Matt and Kristen and starting exploring London. Actually, in all of the waking time I've been here, I've spent more of it just wandering the city than I have actually attending meetings and classes or sitting in Vandon. Combined. Pretty much, more than half of my day is dedicated to exploring. It's pretty amazing.

It would take hours to explain all that I've seen here, and since I've just scribbled that in my journal, I'll refrain from the full account here. I'll let you read my journal when I get back, alright? Some highlights though: The architecture has been absolutely amazing, and I've seen some incredible statues, buildings, and artwork. Some things qualify as more than one category.

I wasn't at all prepared for how expensive this was going to be, and I have to say that I'm a tiny bit worried. Once I get into it I wont be too badly off, but wow. Everything is at least twice the price it was in the US, and food is even more than that.

And, wow, my time is already almost up, but I'll explain one more thing quickly. The title of this blog is quoted from the officer we met with yesterday, who explained safety to our group. He said that London is just as safe as any city (though there is a LOT of theft and scamming going on), but one shouldn't fear terrorism here any more than we do at home. The professor we've had visiting from Oxford university agrees.

It's all been exciting, but I need to dash to another obligation. Will update soon!

This one goes out to the ones I love...

As the advent of my adventure draws near, I’ve little left to say. I do wish to add my virtual phone number for those of you without it, so that you can contact me while I am away. This will be the same as calling Chicago for all billing purposes, though I remind you again that I’m 6 hours ahead of Central Standard time. Feel free to call, as it’s about 1/5 the cost for you to call me as it is for me to call you. My virtual phone number will be:

U.S. Virtual Number: +1 3142624964

The past few weeks of preparation seem inconsequential, and nothing I’ve done is of any great interest or special merit. What is crucial at this point is the love and support of those around me, and I wish to thank all of you for the force that will guide me overseas. Without any of you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you all, for the courage I’ve needed to seize my own destiny, and the tools I’ll need to successfully find it. This quest is dedicated to you.