Home again, and musing - August 29, 2016

Home again. I write this after two days of recovery – frenetic grocery shopping and laundry, mounds of laundry. Sleep – nine hours at a stretch. And a great deal of contemplation.

We OLLI travelers left Britain around 1:00 p.m. BST Friday and arrived in Tallahassee at around 10:30 p.m. EDT that same day. This is what Mike and I term a four-movie flight. It seems less stressful because there is no great pressure to sleep, as there is on the flight from America, which consumes the night-time hours. So four movies it was, and great ones, too, but that’s a different blog. (Note: “The Big Short” is pretty scary and depressing, but also funny.)

All went smoothly, we arrived in our very own house around 11:15 p.m. or so (nearing 24 hours of wakefulness), greeted our human son and our fur baby, unpacked the bare minimum (toothbrush), and collapsed.

Now, after a bit of a reboot, I’m in contemplative mode.

The two previous OLLI at FSU Study Abroad trips that we made, to Florence and Barcelona, were dazzling. We were immersed in the experience of European art, culture, and history. We didn’t speak the language, yet managed to survive and thrive. “Dazzling” is just about the best word I can come up with. And we loved it.

This trip was different. It dazzled, yes – who wouldn’t be enthralled at the Tower of London, the Old Vic, and Stonehenge? But it also wormed its way into my consciousness in quite a different way. Perhaps it’s because there was no language barrier (or maybe a tiny one – my accent was pretty amusing to more than one Brit). But I really think it’s the history. There is such a sense of connection between Britain and America, such an awe-inspiring feeling to visit places that are basically the foundation of many of our American institutions.

We loved the bustle of London, the efficiency of tube travel, the 24-hour diner right next door to the FSU Study Centre where we could get breakfast at 9:00 p.m. after a very long excursion day, the ease with which we became oriented in a city in which many notable venues are very far apart. Being able to read signs and maps was a bonus. And the people – so very friendly and helpful and patient with us old folks – so charming!

But Cambridge – ah, Cambridge. The whole city is soaked in the concept of the life of the mind. Intellectual curiosity is a given – no one would dream of NOT being interested in just about everything there is to learn and know. Television exists, but only peripherally. Families were loving the fine weather, picnics were everywhere, students on bicycles were the biggest traffic hazard. For me, it felt like a different kind of home.

As I stood in my backyard this morning with my sweet dog, I felt a breeze, heard an owl, and contemplated the sun slanting through my neighbor’s trees. North Florida is a different microclimate, of course, and the flora are decidedly different. But the peace is very similar. I continue to dream that we are still in that little dorm room just across the way from Corpus Christi College of the University of Cambridge and that we must get up and get to class.

This trip was different. We treasure the experience and are truly grateful to OLLI at FSU staff and the FSU Study Centre in London and the lifelong learning program at Corpus Christi College for working so hard to provide the opportunity. Believe me when I say this is absolutely the best way to spend one’s third thirty!