Footloose and Fancy Free

I should be working on a paper right now, in case you’re wondering. I have a ton of work to do this week…multiple papers, presentations and exams. And yet, I’m sitting in a great coffee shop, drinking warm coffee whilst the temperature drops outside, and I am quickly losing the motivation to be productive. And so I am instead catching up on blogging. A completely legitimate enterprise in my opinion. That, and I have to pee and this is a much better distraction than examining the changes experienced by the British monarchy. 

This past week was pretty low-key; class, studying, reading, writing…rinse, repeat. There are some new developments, though. I’m writing again! Alright, I know what you’re thinking. “Sarah, I’m sitting here reading a blog you wrote. Isn’t the fact that you’re ‘writing again’ kind of implied?” Well smarty-pants, that isn’t the kind of writing I’m talking about. I’m writing a story again.

I took a creative writing class my freshman year, and I absolutely loved it. It was challenging and rewarding and produced some of the writing I’m most proud of. Since then, though, any creative writing I’ve done has come in fits and spurts, most of them decidedly uninspired. This time is different, though. I’ve already written more in the past week than I have in the past year. It’s a story I love, characters I’m fascinated by, questions I don’t actually know the answers to…it’s the writing experience I’ve always wanted. Even when I don’t have anything in mind, I’ll sit and wait until something comes, or I’ll just start writing until it turns into something somewhat usable.

If you’re thinking this is the part where I tell you what the story is…you’re out of luck. I’ve probably already jinxed myself be talking about how great the writing process is going, I’m not gonna push my luck by giving away the plot. I’ll tell you this much, though: it’s a fantasy story, one I hope will turn into a novel. The story focuses on an unlikely heroine (original, I know). That’s all you’re getting. Honestly, some of the secrecy comes from the fact that even I don’t know all of the plot details yet. I have no idea where the story is gonna go, what the main conflict is going to be, how it will be resolved, what characters will come or go. I have some idea, obviously, but it’s growing so organically that I hate to ruin it with some sort of systematic outline.

The only downside to this wave of inspiration is that, paired with my intense workload for school, I’ve had almost no time for either of my blogs. Luckily not much has happened since I returned from Wales, so it isn’t as if there’s oodles of stories I’ve failed to document. Friday was the first day I really did anything of note.

Brittany, Rosy and I went to dinner and then to see Footloose. I’ve been waiting to see this movie ever since I first saw the trailer at the beginning of summer. AT THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER. It didn’t disappoint. It was set firmly in the present, but it still had some of that nostalgic 80’s-teen-flick charm. The dancing was fantastic (duh) and there were so many great lines I laughed like a little kid through the whole thing. It did make me miss home, though. Seeing the shots of fields full of horses and corn, the honky-tonk dance scene, hearing thick southern accents and phrases no one other than a native southerner would understand…it was both comforting and slightly painful. It was all alright, though, because after the movie ended and everyone had left the theatre the three of us silently agreed that the only logical course of action was to dance around the theatre like maniacs until we were completely out of breath. It was wonderful.

Now it’s Sunday, my last week of classes starts, and in 8 days my mom will be here in London with me. This week will be stressful and I’ll probably find myself suffering from severe lack of sleep, but I’m okay with it. Life is good and God is faithful. It can rain on my parade all it wants, cause I’ve got an umbrella.

Too much coffee. 

P.S. I apologize if this post seemed manic or didn’t make much sense…I’m hyped up on coffee and I really really really have to pee.

Tales from Wales and Other Thoughts

I’m back in the kitchen at my flat in London, drinking a cup of coffee made with my new aeropress (it’s pretty darn good). I refuse to think of this place as the dorm it actually is; maybe if I keep referring to it as a flat it will magically turn into one. Brittany and I returned from Wales last night, somewhat sad at having left behind our Welsh paradise and somewhat relieved to be back in our neighborhood.

Excited to finally be on our way!

The train ride from London to Aberystwyth, Wales was beautiful and relaxing. I stuck my in my earbuds, turned on my favorite music and soaked in all of the natural beauty flying past. We arrived in Aberystwyth at eight that night, starving, tired and so happy to be there. Our B&B, Bodalwyn House, was lovely and its owners kind and friendly. Our room was warm and cozy, the beds were marvelously comfortable, and there was a bathtub long enough for me to completely stretch out in. In short, we were in heaven.

Our lovely room. 

We ate dinner at a place in town called Little Italy (we were both craving Italian food). Keeping in mind we were in west Wales, I don’t think either of us was expecting much above Olive Garden level food. We were so wrong. We had to wait an hour to get a table (always a good sign), but we just took the opportunity to take a walk around town. Aberystwyth is actually a college town on the Welsh west coast, small and quaint with a faint undercurrent of teenage rebellion.

Little Italy...amazing food! 

Back at Little Italy, the owner was generous and talkative. We both ordered glasses of Pim’s and he brought us a pitcher instead…I think it’s things like that that set smaller towns apart. The food was to die for, seriously some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had. It tasted fresh and rich without being to heavy, and there was more flavor in that meal than I’ve had in my entire stay in London so far. We left absolutely stuffed and appropriately chastened for thinking good Italian food couldn’t be found in Wales.

We woke up Saturday morning to the smell of delicious breakfast filling our room. Apparently our room was located just above the kitchen, and that smell was what propelled me out of bed. We dressed in a hurry, packing for our day of hiking, and went down to see if breakfast would taste as good as it smelled. It did. Nothing fancy…orange juice, toast, cereal, eggs, bacon, coffee (French pressed coffee to boot), it was all lovingly prepared and served by the owners.

We took the Vale of Rheidol Railway from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge, a steam train that takes passengers through the Rheidol Valley in mid-Wales. The scenery was absolutely stunning, covered in misty fog though it was. Devil’s Bridge is an area with waterfalls and slightly precarious hiking trails. The danger is absolutely worth it, though, and we had a great time slipping and sliding our way up and down the hills. The falls were gorgeous, and I honestly didn’t mind the rain. It made everything smell green and earthy, and the colors seemed all the brighter because of the water.

We ate lunch in a hotel bar/pub at the top of the hill…best decision EVER. We decided on it when we heard several men singing traditional Welsh songs as we passed by. How are you supposed to pass that up? The food wasn’t half bad, but it was the people that made it an experience to remember. After learning we were American we had multiple Welshmen teaching us Welsh phrases (some naughty), singing us songs, asking us how we liked Wales, filling us in on the latest rugby news and helping us have a generally good time. Brittany found herself being serenaded as we tried to leave, and neither of us got out the door without several kisses on our cheeks and hands. Needless to say, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Our wonderful Welshmen :) 

We got Chinese food for dinner and rented season one of Gossip Girl…sometimes all you need is some warm food, television drama and good company to make a good evening. We slept in a little later on Sunday, had another delicious breakfast and set out to explore Aberystwyth a bit more before we left to return to London.

We walked along the beach, saw ancient castle ruins, took an electric rail to the top of Constitution Hill to see miles of Welsh landscape…it was the perfect way to end the trip. We had lunch at Little Italy (seriously, it was that good) and were again charmed by the owner and his generosity.

It was a wonderful weekend, and came at the perfect time. It’s nice to be back in London, back in the place I think of as a kind of ‘home’ now, even if it doesn’t have a working bathtub and the bed isn’t nearly as comfortable. It feels a bit as if my heart is split in two, lately. Not in the broken way, but in the growing kind of way.  I’ve learned to love where I am, both geographically and in the grander scheme of my life’s journey…but that doesn’t mean I don’t anticipate the future, or even long for the past sometimes.

Aberystwyth, from the top of Constitution Hill. 

I think it’s all part of growing up. You become increasingly aware of how your past has shaped you, for better or worse, and it makes you hold tight to the present, knowing it will eventually define you in some way. You look forward to the future while acknowledging you have absolutely no idea what it will bring you, because you never imagined yourself where you are now. Basically, you learn you don’t know everything.

Partners in crime (and hiking).  

Past, present, future…they’re all there, vying for our attention. Maybe the key to happiness is acknowledging the past, accepting the present, and anticipating the future. Change is good, but don’t try and change yourself…time will do that for you.

See ya later Wales...

The Nurture in Nature

Perhaps my whining about how I must update this thing more often will become a sort of ritual beginning to every entry…

In any case, I’ll start with last Thursday. Brittany and I made the trek up to Hampstead Heath, in the north of London. We knew immediately as we walked down the street that this was going to be a good day. Cute shops (both chain and independent) lined the street, and as we began the walk to the coffee shop we planned to visit we came across Whittard Teas and Coffee. That’s right, the two coffee-hunters coincidentally came across a store devoted entirely to their drink of choice. Wonderful. Inside were walls lined with all sorts of teas and coffees, biscuits and hot chocolate, mugs and saucers. There was even a lower level with even more mugs and teapots…we were in heaven.

Such a great little place.

After forcibly ejecting ourselves from the shop, we walked a bit further to the lovely alleyway we were to turn down in order to reach our newest coffee destination. It was one of those backstreets that brings words like ‘darling’ and ‘charming’ to mind. Before we reached the coffee shop we were sidetracked by the Hampstead Antique Emporium. Tucked away in another backstreet (yes, it was a backstreet of a backstreet) was this haven for treasures of bygone eras. Unfortunately, the ‘Button Lady’ shop was closed, but I did end up with some fabulous vintage 1950’s costume earrings. Marvelous.

The darling and charming backstreet.

In Hampstead Heath

Finally we made it to Ginger & White, our motivation for coming to Hampstead in the first place (that and the Heath). Again it was love at first sight. That’s the things about coffee shops, your first impressions can usually tell you a lot about a place. The open-air feeling and the Pottery Barn-esque décor had my heart from the get-go. And they had a couch. If you’d like to read a full review, check out Little Cup of Heaven. But I will tell you this much…Ginger & White is currently at the top of my London coffee shop list.

Afterwards we set out to explore the Heath. It was unseasonably warm that day, and even though we’d dressed accordingly we found ourselves sweating in the noon sun. Things looked up once we got into the Heath itself…walking paths shaded by oodles of greenery, views for miles, and the kind of peacefulness parks inside London-proper simply can’t offer. We walked, took pictures, leaped and enjoyed seeing and smelling all of the green around us. Funny how nature always seems to bring out one’s inner child. No matter how old you are, the thrill of running through a field never goes away.

Leaping about Hampstead Heath 

Now flashback to a couple of weeks ago…remember when I went to the American Church in London? Okay good. Well when I went I met a guy named Will, also studying here for the semester. He traded numbers with our group so we could all hang out; we Americans have to stick together after all. Now fast forward to last Friday night. We hung out at the National Portrait Gallery’s late night, cracking jokes and having a generally good time. We decided to go for drinks afterward, and eventually found ourselves in Chinatown eating Chinese food (what, you were expecting Italian?)

For those of you who don’t know me so well, I’ve never like Chinese food (with the exception of my mom’s homemade beef and broccoli). I decided to be adventurous that night, however, and was pleasantly surprised that, by George, I do like Chinese food! All in all, it was a fantastic night getting to spend time with and know a great guy. Note to all travelers: not all of the interesting people in London are natives!

Very large deer in Richmond Park.

Sunday I set out for Richmond park solo. Nothing says nature like having a buck with huge antlers come right up next to you in the middle of a forest path. It was an incredibly relaxing day, and it felt so good to breathe in the smell of trees and fallen leaves. I chatted with several people whilst in the park, all of them elderly, and was so happy I did. It brings my heart a little bit of warmth to think that, just as they’ll occasionally enter my mind in years to come, I might just cross theirs every now and again.

Yesterday (Monday) I took the initiative and joined the Kensington Central Library. I have a research project for my history class due in a few weeks and I needed some resources that came in print-form. I can only take the Internet for so long before I need something substantial to hold and read. Ironically, despite my love of books I haven’t been much of a library person since I was a kid. I remember checking out books all the time as a child, but I guess that impulse went away when I starting collecting them for myself. I really like this library though, and the librarians are marvelously kooky.

As a side note, this project is on a fascinating woman named Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop. She was a traveler in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. She’s funny and original and so inspiring…I’ll have to write more about her once the presentation is done with. If you think your life is interesting I can assure you even a passing glance at her biography will convince you of just how wrong you are.

Brittany and I have new coffee plans for Thursday and are heading to Wales for the weekend. I promise to write a post worthy of the memories I’m sure we will make, and not just a run-down of all of our activities.

For the curious, I am absolutely loving London. And becoming quite infatuated with adverbs, it seems. The city always manages to surprise me, and even when I tire of it there is a variety of things to see and do to get me away from it. The past few days have seen me enter a kind of slump, but I’m sure it will pass. More importantly, I’m happy in spite of the slump. Quite possibly for the first time ever, I am totally content and happy with who I am. I love my life, the good and the bad, and wake up each day eager to see what God has in store. There are still things that get to me, still times I have to do things I don’t want to do, and life certainly isn’t perfect…but it is good. 

Let's see where the path goes...