British Days: Meeting A Girl Named Holly

After one of my adventures trying to get back to Muswell Hill on the bus one night I met a girl named Holly. After I had gotten back to my homestay I went up the street to get some chips. It was almost 2 AM in the morning, but I was hungry, and I knew a place up the street where I could get some chips at that time. The trek back to Muswell Hill on the bus took almost two hours because I went beyond Finsbury Park (the place where I can catch a bus to Muswell Hill) and I had to figure out how to get there from Edmonton, which is north of Muswell Hill.

After I had gotten my chips I made my way back to my homestay. I noticed a snail slithering across the sidewalk. I have noticed that Muswell Hill has a lot of snails, and they usually come out at night. One time when I went into the kitchen at my homestay four snails had gotten in there and I accidently stepped on one with my barefoot. It was a gross experience and I didn’t want to step on another one with my shoe. So I checked the soles to see if there was any gooey mess on there. A girl who was walking down the street behind me asked me what in the world was I doing. I told her I didn’t want to step on snails.

That must have sounded like a strange thing for someone to say. I turned around and looked at her. She looked like she was in her early 20s--22, 23 perhaps, maybe older. She stood around 5'4 and she had long brown hair and blue eyes. As we walked down the hill I munched on my chips and heared her footsteps. They went plop, plop, plop. I thought maybe she was drunk. She told me she was on her way home because she needed to get changed because she spilled wine. I introduced myself. I told her I was an international student interning at a record label and how much I liked London. She looked at me like I was crazy. I told her in London I ccould see many of my favourite bands, and that there was more stuff up the street than the entirity of my hometown of Danville, Va. Danville has hit hard times. When I left Danville the city had the highest unemployment rate in the state. This might be due to a shrinking labor force. Muswell Hill has been a nice change for me. They have all sorts of shops on Muswell Hill Broadway, which is the main street in the community there. You can buy clothes, eat all sorts of delicious foods you can't get in Danville--Thai, Indian and Greek resteraunts are all within walking distance--, buy wine from several wine shops, go to the movies or even drink coffee at Starbucks. Muswell Hill is a far cry from life in Danville.

As we made our way down the street I told her my dream was to be a rock journalist, and she listened intently to my story.

"You sound like your from America or Mexico," she said.

I replied that I was from the U. S. and I offered her some of my chips as we talked. After I told her who I was and why I was in London she told me some things were meant to be. I know many people believe fate exists in some form, but I don't know if anything is meant to be. I am of the philosophical postion that is something we can not know. But her comment does make me think because of the way things have worked out. I had a previous opportunity to study abroad in London, but I passed it up because I wanted to finish my philosophy minor. At the time if I had gone to London I wouldn't have been able to have finished the minor. I still had to take the capstone class, which was a topics class. Nothing at Middlesex University would transfer into Radford University as credit for it. I could have taken the capstone class as an independent study, but I was uncomfortable with that idea because I wouldn't have any direct supervision from a teacher. Also, the capstone class is supposed to be the hardest course in a curriculum, and the idea of me doing an independent study of a capstone class made me uncomfortable. If I wanted to finish my minor the best choice was to stay at Radford University, which I did, and I did complete it. It was through the media studies department that I was able to take advantage of a second opportunity. Dr. Waite and Dr. Worringham formed a study abroad group. They chose students through the process of elimination. I was a shoe in because I was the department's Dean's Scholar for 2005. I've been able to do many things that I wouldn't have been able to do if I had studied abroad the first time around. At Middlesex University I probably would have spent most of my time studying, and I wouldn't have ventured out in the city much. But since I was an intern--which meant I didn't have to spend my time studying--I had plenty of time to explore London. This was a great advantage because I got to see some of my favorite muscians. I saw Neko Case at Sephard's Bush. I saw and met some the members of The Church at The Boderline. I also saw Echo and the Bunnymen play an amazing gig. Underpining all of this is the fact this is the first time Dr. Waite and Dr. Worringham have put together a study abroad group. I got lucky, and things could not have worked out any better.