Looking Forward

I'm feeling pretty darned calm this morning. This is a bit of a surprise, given that today, I leave Cincy with 23 over-the-top excited college students and my co-leader, bound for study abroad in the UK and France. I'll need to spend a lot of time focusing on them for the next three and a half weeks, but I thought I'd take a little time here today to mention the things I'm looking forward to on this trip:

1. Getting back to Harlaxton Manor: this is a big one. There is something really special about this place, and I have so many memories there. In 2005, my friend, John, and I co-led a WWI program there. In 2007, my friend, Lee, and I led a Holocaust and WWII program at Harlaxton. I can't wait to see the place again.



2. Seeing my students' faces when they get their first glimpse of [insert the name of anything European here!]. This is the best part of study abroad, in my opinion. I know I should see the classes as most important, but...

3. I have this image of myself with a handful of students, sitting in some cafe or some cozy Harlaxton corner, talking about big ideas, about life, about literature and art. I don't know that I can manufacture that, but I do wish for it.

4. My class! I had been dreading this class for a variety of reasons (my harsh feelings about Eliot and Pound chief among them). My preparations have made me pretty excited about the literature and the class, though.

5. Free weekends! I'm going to visit my old college friend, Kristin, while I'm in England. She's lived there for years, and she's just moved to a town near Oxford. She feels really connected to this literature I'm teaching, since I was first introduced to it during our days at Gannon University in Erie, PA.

Well, time to do my last minute packing. With luck, I'll post here often. If I don't, you can follow our trip on our official study abroad blog: http://ucbastudyabroad.com/
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