Tuesday, 2-27-96
11:58 PM London
5:58 PM E-Town
I am writing w/ my new bic 4 color pen! I found it at “Woolworth” this morning when Jenny & I were out exploring our neighborhood & trying to find the “Real World IV: London” house! We walked for 2 hours all over Notting Hill Gate & much to our dismay did not find it! When we got back to Pembridge we asked in the office & Gail and Peter told us it was on Portobello Road in a private section blocked by large rot-iron gates! When I arrived at class this afternoon Dave Heron was just finishing telling everyone how he had thought he’d seen Neil from the show earlier today at Russell Square! We all thought it was an interesting coincidence & the Real World became like the pre-class topic till Matthew Broderick wandered in, late as usual, for another oh so exciting MBS (Modern British Society) lecture!
After class I did e-mail till Mel was done w/ class. Then we went to the English National Opera to see if we could get “student stand-by” tickets for tonight’s performance of Puccini’s “Tosca!” Well, we were successful & got 12th row stalls seats for only £15! (They are usually £47!) After we got the tickets we had a few hrs. to kill till curtain call at 7:30 PM… So we went to Pret at Manager to eat our sack dinners & Mel ordered a drink & a croissant so we could eat there! While in there, there was a security alert near by & 2 streets in our direct-line of view from the restaurant were blocked off by the police! We hung out, ate, & chatted till it was over & then window shopped till about 7 PM & were off to the opera!
It was my first REAL opera ever & I really enjoyed it! Some of the music just touched my soul… It was awesome! It was in English, but I still didn’t understand much of what they were singing! But their actions & inflections in their voices were often enough to get a gist of the love story! What a lovely experience! I am so glad we went!
Since yesterday morning I didn’t have class I stayed home & organized many things in the room… Then I journeyed to the Guildhall Library to research “Victorian Leisure” for my London History essay. Then I went to the Birkbeck Library to get books for my “Ethnicity & Race” presentation for MBS next week. Afterwards I did e-mail.
I got my first b-day card & present today! (a week & a day early! Not bad… ☺︎) The sweet card & present (a music mix tape — the way to my ❤︎! ☺︎) were from Erin Sadler! She has been so thoughtful while I have been here abroad! ☺︎ I am sure some of it has to do w/ the fact that she can relate since she studied 2nd semester of her Jr. Yr. in Spain! She is a such a good friend, I feel so blessed to have her in my life…
I also got a great & long letter from Jacquie Bradford! She is doing well & is continuing to date Todd seriously! I am so happy for her… She also mentioned, that her brother, who I dated for a few months last year — Lloyd, has asked her for my address here! This should be interesting. It is sure ironic since he has been on my mind lately & never really lost a place in my ❤︎! But last I heard he was in a great relationship, so I will go on that for now & figure this letter, if & when it comes, will be out of friendship on his part… I am so curious what his intentions are!
Well Erin’s mix just stopped & the 1st listen was great! It even has my favorite Pretender’s song “I’ll Stand By You!” I can’t believe a week from tomorrow I will 21 years old! YIKES! ☺︎
CHEERS! ☺︎
P.S. – Great e-mails received yesterday & today from Mom, Dad, Meg, Kelly, Deb, Ruth, & some K-friends!
P.P.S. I also got my Ma-Wan-Da essay written & e-mailed it today! ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: I find it amusing that there were almost 3 weeks between my last entry and the previous one from my London Semester Journals and once again, I’ve let 3 weeks pass since getting back to this. I do really enjoy the process, but sometimes life gets in the way and that’s okay. As I’ve shared, I’m mostly doing this for me and thus whenever I do (or don’t) get to transcribing and reflecting is no biggie. Like so many things in life, there will be ebbs and flows.
I love that I’d just bought one of my favorite kinds of pens (to this day) and decided to alternate colors while writing this entry! I though it would be fun to capture that by changing the colors of type in this post, as I did in my journal entry.
I recall walking all around that day trying to find the Real World IV: London house and how frustrated we were not to being able to find it, only to learn it was behind a gate, where we couldn’t see it. It was so cool that season of the show had aired right before we got to live and study there. I’d love to watch it again and will have to see if it is available somewhere/someway.
As I shared in this post,
There is a scene in the movie Philadelphia where Tom Hanks’s character, who has AIDS and is very sick, introduces his attorney (representing him in a wrongful termination lawsuit), played by Denzel Washington, to one of his favorite opera arias. He closes his eyes and translates the story being sung while they are listening. As he speaks so passionately about La Mamma Morta we can see and almost feel how moved he is by the music.
I am pretty sure that scene was a factor in my wanting to see/experience an opera in person and I was not disappointed. I’ve been to a few more since, here in Chicago, including a crazy long one with Bob (that I don’t remember the name of) and La Bohème (that helped to inspire one of my favorite musicals, Rent). I saw La Bohème in January 2009, with my mom and sister the night before we found out we were pregnant with our Abby (I was starting to suspect we might be at dinner and during the show, as my period was late).
Once again, I am reminded how its possible to get used to living in a place where there are frequent bomb scares and security alerts. It was scary and I recall doing my best to make peace with the situation and continue to live my life, without feeling paralyzed by fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I am pretty sure I saved at least some of my projects and essays from that semester and reading what I wrote about working on them makes me want to find them more. Especially knowing how much I care about social justice and equity at 43, I am curious what my perspective was at almost 21.
Music mixes were the best and I love that one of my besties from back home sent me one for my birthday! I recall listening to them often on my Walkman and how much it meant to me when a friend or family member made me one. I would also put a lot of time and thought into those I made for loved ones, so both giving and receiving mixes were among my favorite things at that time in my life.
Also, interesting to recall when I found out that one of my old flames wanted to reconnect while I was abroad. My mind and heart was all over the place that semester when it came to “male interests,” as (not her real name) Erin used to refer to the guys we dated and/or had crushes on/romantic feelings for. I may’ve shared before that I intentionally did not date anyone seriously before I left for London, so I could really immerse myself in the culture and my experiences there vs. pining over someone back home. That said, those intentions did not keep me from day dreaming about every bloke I spent time with overseas that I thought was cute and fun, as well as pondering what might’ve been (or still could be) with those I had relationships with and connections to in the past.
P.S. – “K” stands for Koinonia, which was the name of a Catholic retreat community that I was active in, through the Newman Center, at U of I in college. “K-friends,” were thus my friends from that group.
P.P.S. – Ma-Wan-Da was an activities/leadership honorary at U of I that juniors could apply to be accepted into for our senior year.
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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