Transitions

I have not been very consistent with blogging this time around. My first inclination is to say that even though I’m living in a very cool place doing a very cool thing, ‘life is still life’ (my catchphrase, it would seem). Looking back on it, though, there are definitely things I could have blogged about. I could have blogged about the incredible time my friends and I had in Amsterdam - visiting the Van Gogh museum, strolling across canals, hitting a biker (yes, I hit him - he didn’t hit me), visiting the Museum of Prostitution, and the many discussions over a glass (ha!) of wine. I could have blogged about any one of my work placements (mini internships) in various publishing companies - September Publishing, Macmillan, Hachette. I could have blogged about any number of London restaurants, museums, and venues. I could have blogged about London theatre or, lets be real, meeting Kit Harington (still dying). Alas, I didn’t, but here we are.

Modern Art

Several years ago, I was ecstatic to be touring the Palace of Versailles. Despite its connotations of wealth and disparity, it happens to be one of my favourite places on the planet (so far, that is). I remember turning to walk into the Hall of Mirrors and seeing, to my complete dismay, giant anime-style statues filling the Hall. The bubblegum pink and cerulean mocked the gold and silver of the room and the faces of the oversized dolls sneered at the stunning statues around us. Moral of the story, I don’t get modern art.

Museum Musings

Last week, along with a friend, I visited an Imperial War Museum in London. There, WWII fighter planes dangle from the ceiling and a jeep is frozen just before it drives off the second floor. We guessed how many uniform-clad school children running about could be jammed into the single-man bomb shelter, and we squinted at paraphernalia and pamphlets. We laughed at the sassy letters evacuated children wrote to their parents, and we commented on clothing styles, many of which we find on streets today. We walked in silence through the holocaust exhibit, which bars anyone under the age of 14, and watched in rapture as Hitler spoke.

A quote from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone stuck out to me as a child, and to this day it comes to mind when I hear Hitler speak. Harry has just received his wand at Ollivander’s when the wandmaker says, “I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter . . . After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great.”

About a Boy

I've been in London for a bit over two weeks now. I find myself settling in, falling into patterns, and enjoying my new normal. For several months I've been anticipating the panic to set in, realizing the magnitude of what I am doing, and to freak out just a little. It hasn't happened yet, so I'm just going to go with it.

The KU Big Read program has punctuated my first few weeks here. Essentially, Kingston University sent every first year graduate student, staff member, and incoming freshman a copy of About a Boy by Nick Hornby (a KU alumnus). Nearly 12,000 specially printed copies were distributed with lots of social media chatter, pictures on Twitter tagged with #kubigread, and events on campus. One of my lecturers developed KU Big Read (this being the inaugural year) and, as a publishing student, we received lots of information about the program prior to arriving on campus. It was a great, natural conversation starter with my new classmates, and it encouraged me to read a book I may not have picked up otherwise.

New Adventure

In a few short weeks I will be jetting off on a thrilling new adventure that will take me back to school at Kingston University in London. 

It has all happened rather quickly and things have fallen into place in ways I cannot explain. I was in a confused, complacent, and somewhat lukewarm place just months ago and now I am headed in an undeniable direction with excitement, anticipation, and most of all, faith. 

I will be working for a MA in Publishing, a field that has not only interested me for a long time but also seems to fit with the experience I have gained over the past few years in the internships and jobs I have worked. Perhaps more importantly, it fits with the skills I have enjoyed developing and the natural inclinations that have become more clear to me over the past few years.  

My dad asked once if I was going to London for school or if I was going to school for London. In all honesty, it is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. I am beyond ecstatic to have found a program that, while providing the education and experience I desire, also allows me to travel and experience a new city and culture. 

Where there is excitement, there is also anxiety. In both of these emotions (and so many more) I turn to a phrase that guided me while I was studying abroad in Spain, a Hebrew word that means surrender while simultaneously meaning movement (see more about that here). I hold onto that as I approach these last few weeks before leaving and ask that, if you feel so inclined, you send positive thoughts and prayers my way. 

I hope to keep up this blog with thoughts and adventures of this new chapter and I'd love to have you along with me. Also, I am now officially letting whoever said "never say never" say "I told you so" (Brad, I am looking at you).