tea & shenanigans

This rainy Wednesday morn, Jeff and I headed to Cafe K'Tizo on Gary Avenue. We split a pot of black Keemun, a light, earthy, slightly smoky tea.

where there's tea, there's hope

The store itself is one of my favorite places: it stands as a cathedral to all things tea—warm, spacious, and bright, the building is two stories (with an accessible loft!). Windows line half the wall-space, the other half is covered by paintings from local artists. Suspended lights provide a gentle glow while acoustic music croons in the back-ground. Snuggle up in a plush arm-chair or browse through the wide range of tea-pots on sale.

Order a pot of green, white, black, oolong, herbal, rooibos, or mate. They make their own blends in store, so you can choose from the Great Wall of Tea (a bookshelf almost two-stories high lined with gleaming metal tea canisters). In short, Café K’Tizo allows you to be at home away from home; it's a place to curl up in an armchair and allow your soul to wonder and separate from the world for awhile. And that, friends, is priceless.

Completely unrelated, we read some absolutely crackin' modern poems today in class. Try this one on for size-- oh, it gave me shivers! It's "A Display of Mackerel" by Mark Doty. 

Read it here and/or listen to it-- it's worth it!

Also, Dr. G had us parody Taylor Swift's "Blank Space," asking us to replicate 17th century poets as we addressed the song to God, instead of an attractive man. It was... something, to say the least. We all got a good chuckle out of the lines "So it's gonna be forever/ or it's gonna go down in flames." 'Cuz you know -- heaven and...hell.

A bit later, Sophie, Jeff, and I headed to Glenn Ellyn for some shenanigans

sophie

 

 cat fights over denim -- understandable (PC: Jeff Camp)

We meandered around, snapping photos, taking in the sunshine, and unabashedly loitering like the general hooligans we are. Afterwards, we headed to Blackberry Market for some Bourbon Pecan gelato. 

yum, i'm cute (PC: Jeff Camp)

It turned out to be a lovely evening, so I plopped down on a grassy lawn to do some non-school-work reading (gasp! that's a thing?!). I'm chugging through The Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. With this view and my Spotify playlist on "A Beautiful Mellow Mindset," I reveled in the summer dusk.

That's about it, kids

Sorry it's not England, but it'll have to tide you over.
Until next time--
 
Cheers!

picnics, unsturdy chairs, rain, george herbert

Since last I left you, I wilt not feign the pretense that much hath occurred.

However, I am getting considerably better at speaking like I belong in 17th century England thanks to my good friends Herbie and Johnny (aka George Herbert and John Donne, if you'd like to be a bit more reverent to dead poets or whatnot).

Yesterday evening, we gathered for dinner on Blanchard lawn and feasted upon pasta, roast chicken, and brownies amidst a crowd of gathering flies. Many literary puns were exchanged ("I'm so Donne with all this homework," "I just don't know if the WORDS are WORTH it," etc), Jane Austen was quoted ("why yes, I would like to take a turn about the room") and books were compared.

Note: Yes, I am among English Majors. You may call us nerdy if you'd like, but we aren't really. We just have love affairs with literature on a daily basis.

Then, excitement struck: the plastic chairs were a bit un-sturdy and one of our group went toppling over.

AJ takes a tumble

However, she made the best of it and lay there with a rather contented smile on her face. Soon, friends joined her and a rather clumsy moment transitioned smoothly into an endearing document of friendship.

AJ and Emma (or the new Fault in Our Stars cover)

Tuesday morning greeted us with rain and muffins, supplied by the wonderful English Department secretary, Marie. Most of us rolled into class drowsy and wet, yet some of us managed to still carry an aura of transcendental with us. The feather in the hair helped.

Namatha 

We've moved onto George Herbert now, a clergyman with a penchant for poetry. I'm teaching on his poem "Virtue" tomorrow. He published it along with several other poems in a 1633 book The Temple.

For our Orientation, we discussed certain British stereotypes of Americans. I mean, even though we're not all gun-totin', flag-wielding, patriotic fatties... we have some definite negative connotations attached to us. Brits see us as super friendly, tell-you-every-thing-about-us, touchy-feely, sentimental, and loud. (I fit none of those descriptions...that's funny because it's not in the least bit true. Guess I'll have to work on uppin' my Brit)

For reference, see "10 American Habits Brits Will Never Understand." It's pretty amusing and covers everything from flossing to drinking milk.

In other news, it's still rainy.

least I know my umbrella works

My theory? The weather is obviously just preparing us for all that wonderful England drizzle.

Consolation: least it's not snow. Wheaton's landscaping is simply gorgeous in summer-time. Here's a picture of a flower I took just to prove to all of you who know our Chitown school as a barren wasteland.

this is pretty

Stay cool out there, kids.

Cheers!

weddings, silent lambs, more poetry

Good morrow, friends!

Pardon...too much metaphysical 17th century poetry will do that to you, I suppose...

Donne's Good Morrow poem, if you're curious. Don't worry, if you're not, it's not that great.

This weekend was a blur of lovely business, so I'll fill you in on the highlights.

Friday, my 17th century class discussed Donne's Holy Sonnets (quite different from his secular love poems) and wonderfully spiritual. We also tossed around the idea of social performances in Travel Writing-- are you different depending on where you are? Work, party, public, private? Why? What social performance do you give? What do other people give? How do you pick up on it?

Saturday-- I was supposed to go on a field trip to Kline Creek Farm for Travel Writing. I'm sure it was lovely-- my peers informed me that there were goats, chickens, and a fourteen year old girl with braces who led the tour. Fascinating.

However, I skipped out on it. For all those living this WIE experience vicariously through me, I apologize. But I had a good reason: a wedding.

Photo cred: Jay Fort.

And it was lovely.  Congratulations, Ashley and Tyler! The wedding was beautiful, the reception a blast-- complete with R2-D2 ice sculpture, a photo-booth, a buffet of absolutely amazing brunch food (waffles and ice-cream!) and pretty people.

wonderfully, delightfully, awful

Later, I watched "Silence of the Lambs." This has nothing to do with WIE, I just thought I'd let you know about this monumental viewing...something I've been wanting to do for awhile, but have just been too terrified. And gosh, was it good. Scary, terrifying, nail-biting? Yes.

But I must say-- I'm rethinking my English major and contemplating joining the FBI academy....

No. Scratch that. Terrible idea-- I practically faint at the sight of blood.

In other news, we went to Dr. Colon's house for Sunday evening dinner. As we were roasting marshmallows, one of them flew off, landed on a girl's skirt, and burst into flames.

It was exhilarating.
She escaped unharmed, however her memories of marshmallows will be forever tainted, I do believe.

In other news: if you want a bit of inspiration to get you through the day, check out this wonderful example of when metaphysical poetry goes wrong:

"...Was there no milder way but the Small Pox,
The very filth’ness of Pandora’s Box?
So many Spots, like næves, our Venus soil?
One Jewel set off with so many a Foil?
Blisters with pride swell’d, which th’row’s flesh did sprout
Like Rose-buds, stuck i’ th’ Lilly-skin about.
Each little Pimple had a Tear in it,
To wail the fault its rising did commit:
Who, Rebel-like, with their own Lord at strife,
Thus made an Insurrection ’gainst his Life.
Or were these Gems sent to adorn his Skin,
The Cab’net of a richer Soul within?"

This poem by eighteen year old John Dryden (who went on to become the first poet laureate of England) reminds me that you have to have a few duds before you reach the gems.

Practice, practice, practice.

Cheers!

sunshine & metaphysical poetry

Studying in the summer-time has its perks, I guess. One of them being open windows and sunshine.

I snapped this view of the BGC from the fourth floor of Blanchard. Not too bad of a study view, eh?
 
At the moment, I'm taking a break from writing about John Donne, a 17th century meta-physical poet. You might know him for his scandy-candy poem "The Flea." Apparently flea poems were all the rage back in the 1600's-- not a whole lot of hygiene going on, apparently. Check it out if you're feeling brave enough.

Link to Donne's poem "The Flea"

Turns out, Donne was also quite the looker. Half the class thought him rather attractive, though the other half was a bit turned off by the weaselly face, unkempt uni brow, and rather obnoxious peach fuzz gracing his upper lip.

What a charmer.

As one of my fellow peers put it, "I can see how he was a player." I'm a bit perturbed by the length of his fingers, though.

For Travel Writing, I've already written about a moore and a fen, both places I assume we'll see much more of in England. For reference, they're a bit like marshland.

Tonight, we'll be watching 84, Charing Cross Road. According to Wikipedia (the ever-present source of goodness and knowledge), "84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co, antiquarian booksellers located at the eponymous address in London, England, and her."

Should be thrilling. Stay tuned.

As always, stay safe out there, kids. And thanks for reading my blog.

Cheers! 

second blog post (aka titles are not my strong point)

Hello, friends!

So the Wheaton in England program (affectionately known as WIE) officially began yesterday evening. Thirty-five students gathered in the hallowed Blanchard hall-- some were eager and excited, others were filled with trepidation and dread. Still others sat quietly, observing the mass of babbling students with bemused expressions and wondering what they'd gotten themselves into. I'll admit, my reaction was a good mix of all three. 

Not much happened other than: pizza was eaten, ice was broken figuratively speaking (no, what is YOUR favorite animal noise?), and a WIE handbook was passed out.

One one hand, the handbook is, well, handy. It includes a trip itinerary, tidbits of history, plays to see, sights to take in, and deals to be had.

On another hand, there are at least six maps in the back of it that I can't make heads nor tails of. Also, I wanted to be the most England savvy of the group with my newly purchased and thoroughly studied Rick Steeves guide book (yes, I'm that kind of a person) and now, the other students will have almost as much foreknowledge as me. Which is fine, fine. I still know the better pubs. Thanks, Rick.

We're living in the on-campus apartments for two weeks, just chilling and taking classes. Things are relatively calm at the moment and the weather is a bit chilly for summer (50ish degrees? ugh). Still-- it's good to be back in Wheaton for the summer time. One forgets how nice it is when it's not covered in four feet of snow.

We had chapel today and read a Franz Wright poem that was rather cutting and relatable. Discussion was about visiting the chapels in England and how we might feel: outsiders and yet still able to recognize a good bit of the familiar in it.

Here's a link to it: http://www.typomag.com/issue02/000024.html
Read it if you get the chance. It's just dazzling and poignant and profound. Yum. 

I'll include a brief itinerary for the trip so you can know what to look forward to.

June 3rd: Fly to London
June 11th: Holmbury St. Mary
June 13th: Canterbury
June 16th: Beer
June 30th: Swadlincote
July 2nd: Cambridge
July 5th: York
July 9th: Haworth
July 10th: Ambleside
July 13th: Depart from Manchester

Fellow England travelers: any sights I simply must see at these destinations? Comment and let me know. Happy to receive advice/recommendations.

Cheers, friends!

beginnings

I am going to admit some thing to you:

I am rather naive when it comes to traveling abroad.

Most of my preconceived notions of England have come from Harry Potter books, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen novels, and random BBC documentaries.

These are not proper foundations on which to judge our fine neighbors across the pond, however, it's the best that I could do.

Until now.

This blog is to document my travels to the U.K. through the Wheaton in England program beginning May 18th.

I couldn't be more excited, though I am a tiny bit nervous. If I get into a pinch, I plan on just belting "God save the Queen" quite loudly and bolting right on out of there. That ought to do it, yes?

There's about thirty wide eyed students (yours truly included) led by our two trusty leaders, Dr. Colon and Dr. Galbraith. Rounding out the group is Dr. Galbraith's wife and three small children. Such an addition may provide interesting anecdotes. Stay tuned.

Hopefully featured on this blog:

• Sight-seeing in London, Canterbury, Beer, Cambridge, York, Manchester, etc. 
• Decent writing (putting that English writing major to good use, Mom!) covering humorous tales, group drama, and day-to-day "exotic" travel stories
• Adequate photo-journalism (fingers crossed here)
• Reflections on plays and books as the muses lead

Also, there is always the slightest possibility that I'll run into Benedict Cumberbatch, fan-girl extravagantly, and have lots of lovely pictures. No promises, but one can always dream.

Anywho, check in every now and then-- I hope to update this thing properly.