On my third day in England, I boarded a bus to the seaport
town of Southampton. Kaki, especially, was very sad to see me go. We had
definitely become very attached in the few days I was staying with them. I gave
them both big bear hugs, asked for blessings and found a seat on the bus (while
furiously waving goodbye).
I had met a couple of Semester at Sea people on facebook
before departing for England and I knew a few of them would be taking the same
bus to Southampton. It turns out that they sat right next to me so we chatted
on the way. I met a couple of the Resident Directors of Student life (Zaibis,
Dave, Marissiko, Dani), one field program coordinator (Adam) and one medical
official (nurse Emily). All were very kind but sleepy since most had flown in only
that morning (I was very glad to have come a few days earlier and gotten over
my jetlag!). A few of them had been on semester at sea voyages before so I
bombarded them with questions. Emily, who was sitting closest to me, was very
kind to answer all of my neurotic questions – what’s the shower like on the ship? Did you get sick of the food? How
much port time do medical officials get? What are the best areas to get some
quiet time? Their friendly faces and excitement was seriously contagious
and my butterflies began to calm down – this was going to be better than I
thought, if that was even possible!
When they took naps, I starred out at the English
countryside and made note of weird signs, animals and greenery. We reached
Southampton and first made a quick pick-up stop at the University of
Southampton. I clicked some pics for my boss and colleague Tom Hothem, who had
studied abroad at this university some 20 years ago. We made it into the port
city and grabbed taxis to our hotel. Mine, the Grand Harbour, was a stone’s
throw away from the water – very pretty! I checked in, got wifi, ate some
snacks and clicked on the tv. I called home and chatted with the parents for a while,
assuring them that I was safely in Southampton. In that hotel, it really hit me
– I was about to begin an adventure that would be way beyond my expectations.
Here we go!
The librarian, Catherine, had also posted extensively on
facebook before the trip and she had made plans for dinner so I headed to her
room and met a new faculty member, Ricki K. Both were very warm and welcoming.
We ventured out to dinner, in an attempt to find a Thai restaurant, but
meandered instead all over the main shopping area of Southampton. We passed
bombed monuments, tributes to Jane Austen, Tom Hothem’s favorite Red Lion pub
and the famous Bar Gate memorial. We never found the Thai restaurant so we
dipped into a Spanish tapas place and had a lovely meal. We went shopping at the
mall and I bought a sweater at Primark, it was colder than I thought it would
be – such a drastic change from Merced and Houston heat! It really felt like
the journey was about to begin now. London was a short vacation, Southampton was
the beginning of a new kind of education. Needless to say, tons of butterflies
in my stomach!
The next morning, the day we were to embark on the MV
Explorer, I headed back into Southampton to get some snacks and see a few more
of the historical locations. I learned that both the Mayflower and the Titanic
left on their maiden voyages from the Port of Southampton. There were beautiful
floor plaques commemorating various events in Southampton and the old
buildings, now half broken from war bombs, really brought home the historical
significance of the place. There was a memorial to the embarkation of the Mayflower
and a park attached to it where the ship actually left. I ran into both
Catherine and Ricki again and miraculously, found the Thai restaurant we missed
the day before. It was on the pier, looking out at the water. It was kind of
serendipitous to find both of them and the Thai restaurant we were searching
for! We had a really tasty last meal of curry and noodles before grabbing our
bags from the hotel and taking taxis to the ship.
Southampton was a very sleepy yet historic town. I had
thought it was going to be just a cute resort style place where lots of cruise
ships docked. But, it turned out to be much more historically and culturally
significant. The juxtaposition of the new and old, the modern and the ancient,
the somber and the uplifting, the past and the present were very striking. I
began to ask myself, could I live here? The answer for Southampton: not for a
very long time, but maybe for a few months. I sent Tom tons of photos from my
time there and managed to convince him to return next summer! Don’t tell him,
but I might stow away in his luggage too!
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