Found Writing
One of the ever present difficulties of being a composition professor is not finding time to read or write for me. Unlike a graduate professor who must publish every few years and who is given time in the teaching schedule for research, I teach at a state college, and someone has to teach composition. I enjoy seeing students learn, even if they finally "get it" after they've left my class, but the weekly grading of papers is tiring. And we all know that the only way to improve our writing is to write more. For beginning writers that means guided practice and more writing in sixteen weeks than they ever thought they could do. It also means that I end up with limited energy during term to write.
Last night, though, I found some writing related to my Summer 2017 study abroad to Oxford. I believe my original intent was to find some way to chronicle my six-week stay, but the amount of thinking and writing required overwhelmed me (and the experience changed me), so I have but a few lines.
Preparation
two mentions and it's a
"You should go."
hesitation
go? in reality?
six weeks in a foreign country?
paperwork commences
Author's note: I mentioned the possibility of going to Oxford twice: Once to my husband and once to a dear older man from my church when we were out to lunch with a group. My husband overheard the conversation, and really did say I should go, but how does one live for six weeks away from one's home and husband? I did, and it was amazing thanks to my husband's support.
Course Work and Beauty
2 classes
at once
HOW?
so much to read
and then roommates
chose "Just assign me someone my age"
because I saw a photo afraid of The Beautiful One
no one can be that pretty
beautiful, kind, and intelligent
the whole package
and, yes, one can be that pretty
beautiful, kind and intelligent
awed by The Wise One
so much knowledge of people
so much beauty
so helpful when I was crashing
disappointed by distance
I failed to keep an IRL connection
The Airport
over an hour away
arrived more than four hours early
once on the plane the nervousness
disappears
he waits with me
check in
security and then
the SOB, the tears
where the hell did that come from?
wasn't I composed?
didn't I know what this was?
leaving for six weeks
felt
like leaving for a year
step aside
hug
calm down
through the looking glass and on my own
my plans
my travel
my study
still questioning loneliness or independence
Storms
summer storms in Florida
the gatekeeper reroutes me away from Miami
will my bag arrive with me?
"Of course! It's autotracked."
leave on a different plane to a different city
they weren't kidding when they said it was
a mile I ran
to the international side of the airport
Philly waited
rain there, too
with others delayed
I could have walked that mile and still
arrived
on time
Author's Note: Florida was astorm as was the entire East Coast the day I was to fly to London. When I told the attendant that I had to be in London by a certain time, he rerouted me to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, my bag still went to Miami. After two hours in customs, I discovered that my bag did not arrive with me. It would be a total of four days before I had all I needed, including the texts for the two classes I took. Additionally, because I never boarded a plane in Miami, my return trip was canceled without notification. Fortunately I am a planner, and a week before leaving Oxford tried to check my flight only to discover that because I didn't make my original layover my return was canceled. So much for "autotracking." What ensued was a week-long pass the passenger from domestic to international airlines, each stating that they could not reschedule the flight. It was only when I called my credit card company (to try to get my money back so I could book another flight) that my credit card company got involved and managed to book me a flight back at no extra expense. The suitcase-that-went-to-Miami incident marred my first four days and my final week at Oxford. I don't handle surprises very well. Nor will I use either airline again if I can avoid it.
