It's been awhile...

It's been a long time since my last post, and that is because I have been traveling throughout different countries in Europe.

Tomorrow will begin a series of entries about my travels - one city per day, starting with Milan. Stay tuned.

7 Cities, 16 Days: An Accelerated EuroTrip

Tomorrow I embark on the most spectacular adventure of my life: 7 European cities in 16 days. Of course, my excitement is overwhelming, but so is my nervousness. I've never taken on a such an endeavor as this, but I am confident that all will go well and that I will certainly have the experience of a lifetime. I will either update occasionally on my trip, or there will be one (very) long entry when I return. The latter is more probable. I'm off to get some rest before a big day of travel tomorrow! (Stop #1, Milan!)

P.S. Saw an INCREDIBLE performance of Waiting for Godot tonight. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen had the most incredible chemistry on stage. They looked like they were having a fantastic time together. The performance was superbly acted, wonderfully directed, and entertaining to the last moment. I'm simply astounded by Samuel Beckett's writing. Perhaps more of a review to come later.

All the best to everyone in your part of the world. For now, "Nothing to be done." I'm off to bed.

Confiscated Bus Pass

The bus pass that I've been using since I arrived in Norwich in September was confiscated today by a bus driver because she believed the 9 in 2009 in the expiry date looked like an 8. Not cool.

Day 201 and the End of the Semester

Yes, I've been abroad for 201 days. Yes, the semester is over. I finished classes on Tuesday, so I was finished with classes in my junior year of college in March (at Dickinson, classes don't end until May. Classes officially end at UEA on Friday, April 3). I handed in my final paper about the Holocaust today, but I have two more papers due May 5 and 6, respectively. Lastly, my final project for Dickinson is due June 12, which I've been working steadily on for a few weeks.

The assignment for the project is relatively open. The requirements are as follows: we need to have an experiential component (some sort of interaction with the community or British people) , a research component, and we need to write a research paper. The paper, however, is quite open to creative interpretation.

My project has evolved a few times since its conception. My original plan was to interview people who were alive during World War II (Norwich was hit quite hard during the Blitz) and then write a short piece of fiction based on their lives. The interviews would be complemented by outside research of both primary and secondary sources.

A few weeks later, my plan changed. We've been focusing on what it means to be British, so I wanted my project to have something to do with the question, "What does it mean to be British?" I decided to keep the research component, but decided to do interviews with people not only of the World War II generation, but also subsequent generations to see if I could trace changes and similarities within the past 60 years in British identity. I then decided to write short pieces of creative non-fiction (a la Hunter Thompson, Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, but from a 3rd person perspective) about each person I interviewed, creating different chapters in a chronological study of personal perceptions of British identity. To add another dimension, I wanted to take photographic portraits of the people I interviewed to accompany the writing, to put a face to the stories.

Alas, my idea changed again, but this time less drastically. I realized that one interview was nowhere near enough time to get to know enough about a person to write non-fiction about them, so I abandoned the creative non-fiction idea but kept the chapter aspect and nixed the photographs.

The final idea: write short pieces of fiction based on the interviews and incorporate them (somehow) seamlessly into my research paper (i.e. not having two different sections: fiction and research paper).

So that's that. I've conducted two interviews, one with a 57 year-old minister whose grandfather shook hands with Hitler and 76 year-old man who drives an awesome red sports car. The interviews have been incredibly successful. I got excellent impressions about how each man perceives his own British identity and the identity of the British people as a whole. It also made me happy when the older gentleman told me he was really enjoying the interview because it was really making him think about things that he doesn't usually think about. To make someone who has been around for so long suddenly reconsider who they are and the culture they're apart of is a very good feeling.

I have another interview tonight with Tom, the first of the interviews with someone of my generation. I'll probably finish the interviews when I return from the first leg of my travels in late April.

That being said, on Monday, myself and several members of the Dickinson Humanities program will be going to see Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, probably my favorite playwright. The production stars Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. I'm INCREDIBLY excited. Then, Tuesday, my flight leaves for Milan at 2 p.m. An exciting 17 days it will be!

Those Crazy Brits

Just a taste of what I've been up to for the project I have yet to share with everyone: I interviewed a 76-year-old man today who arrived in a candy-red convertible MG, something a little like this, wearing a red baseball cap with the MG logo on the front and a long-sleeve shirt with the MG logo monogrammed onto the left breast. On Monday, I interviewed a 57-year-old man whose grandfather shook hands with Hitler.

More to come when I have less coursework to do...

April travel plans...BOOKED! I will be flying from London Stansted on April 7 to Milan. I will then take a train to Florence, then a train to Rome. Then, I will be flying from Rome to Paris, from Paris to Prague, and then taking trains from Prague to Berlin and Berlin to Amsterdam. I will take a ferry from Amsterdam back to England, arriving back in Norwich the night of April 23rd.

I'm very excited to have plans set in stone. All that's left to do is find places to stay. The other day I registered for CouchSurfing, a network of like-minded people who want to make traveling fun, inexpensive and safe, and to also make friends along the way. CouchSurfing is exactly what the title implies. You can search the website for people who are registered CouchSurfers who have free room in their place of residence, and then you get in touch with them and hopefully they can offer you a place to stay for a couple nights. You can write reviews of people you stay with, and that's the main way to judge who may be good to stay with. The more positive reviews, the better.

Chances are I will split time between CouchSurfing and hostels. In some cities, I will CouchSurf. In others, I will hostelize. Ha. Hostelize.

Anyway, those are the plans. The dates are as listed below. I can't wait!

Oh - one more thing. Ticket home has been booked. I'll be arriving back in the States for good on May 24!

Tentative Travel Plans for April and May

[UPDATED 3/23]

As we have a month off in April and May is exam month and I have no exams, I am planning a lot of travel. Here are my plans as of now.

April 7-9: Milan, Italy

9-11: Florence, Italy

11-14: Rome, Italy

14-16: Prague, Czech Republic

16-18: Berlin, Germany

18-21: Paris, France

21-23: Amsterdam, Netherlands

May 9-11: Lisbon, Portugal

11-13: Sevilla, Spain

13-15: Granada, Spain

15-17: Madrid, Spain

17-19: Barcelona, Spain

I believe I will be returning to the States on May 24, as well. The Dickinson group will also be taking a trip to Liverpool, UK, May 20-22. A lot to look forward to!

Cassidy's Visit, Cork, Blarney and Kinsale

It's been quite awhile since my last post! I've had essays due, and last week I had a very special visitor: my girlfriend, Cassidy, came to visit me for her spring break.

Cassidy arrived at Heathrow Airport in London on the morning of Saturday, March 7. I met her at the airport, then we took the Tube into London for a bite to eat before heading back to Liverpool Street Station to catch a 4:55 p.m. train back to Norwich.

Sunday morning we left Norwich for Stansted Airport. We flew to Cork City in County Cork, Ireland, one of Ireland's larger cities located in the southern part of the country. We didn't have time to do much when we arrived (because of ridiculous travel time to do rail work in England), so we found some dinner and walked around the the city a bit before heading back to the hotel and going to bed.

We found ourselves, for the next two days, spending most of our time outside of Cork. Cassidy had expressed the desire to see some of the Irish countryside, rumored to be very green and very beautiful. We had to see it for ourselves. Monday morning, after finding out how to get to Blarney, the home of Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone, we got some coffee and a blueberry muffin and found a place to sit and people-watch in the Cork city center. We watched the Irish people walk by, commented on the hats the old women wore and the fact that we could rarely understand a word that was said around us because of the thick Irish accents. Our favorite was a man who yelled profanities at at a bus that he missed with a daughter who we believed couldn't have been older than two-years-old in his arms. Expletives are given new life when yelled with a rough Irish accent.

We caught an 11:20 a.m. bus, right outside our hotel, to the town of Blarney. The short drive, no more than 20-30 minutes, was stunning. The fabled Irish countryside is just as beautiful as we had imagined.

The Irish countryside from the top of Blarney Castle

The town of Blarney itself is tiny and quaint. The castle is hidden behind trees until you enter the beautiful grounds, which are gorgeous and well-maintained. We explored the "Rock Close", a nice nature walk through some beautiful scenery near the castle.

The castle was incredible. At the base was a cave through which it is believed people would escape from the castle if it came under attack. It is believed that there were tunnels that led as far as Cork City. We explored the dungeons, also at the base of the castle, before making our way into it. It was incredible inside. There were a few rooms which were larger and more open then they would have been when the castle was inhabited as the timer floors were gone. The walls were rough, the floors uneven, and the staircase to the top of the castle was narrower than any I think I have ever been in. It was fun to explore the small rooms throughout the castle, and the view from the top was incredible (see photo above). Also at the top was the Blarney Stone, rumored to give you the gift of eloquence if you kiss it (Winston Churchill has kissed it). Despite stories of drunken Irishmen urinating on the stone in the dead of night for a laugh at the boneheaded tourists who come from all over to kiss the stone, Cassidy and I both kissed it. I have yet to notice a difference. I'll give it some time.

After our castle visit we made our way to a small pub in Blarney where we sat for a lunch and a pint. I tried Murphy's, a local favorite in Cork (according the Lonely Planet's book, "Europe on a Shoestring"). I also had Irish stew (lamb in broth) and vegetables. Cassidy had a veggie burger. We made our way back to Cork on the bus and fell asleep in our room (Cassidy was still jet-lagged, and I was tired from walking around all day!).

Blarney Castle

The next day we went to a bagel shop in Cork that we had noticed the previous day. Cassidy and I are huge bagel fans so we were excited to find somewhere to have a bagel. We then made our way to the bus station to get a bus to Kinsale, a small town about 17km south of Cork City right on the coast of Ireland. I'm not sure where I had heard about it, but it sounded like a nice place to visit so we bought two tickets and boarded the bus.

The bus trip ride was another beautiful one through the Irish countryside, however when we arrived, we had no idea where we were, so we followed the few other passengers down the road from the bus stop and into Kinsale, a town of colorful, two-story buildings on a small inlet from the Celtic Sea. We spent the day wandering the small streets, taking photographs of the picturesque views of the town and the surrounding green landscape. We found a small touristy shop where Cassidy bought an Ireland rugby shirt and we had a brief conversation with the man in the store, an Irishman with a habit of repeating everything he said at least twice. He was very kind and directed us to a pub for a bite to eat and a drink.

Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland

We found our way to the pub via a brief walk along the water. I had a sandwich and we each had a drink before heading back towards the center of town where we went to two more pubs (an impromptu, two-person, three-pub pub crawl) before catching the bus back to Cork. Kinsale, however, was exactly the little town Cassidy and I had hoped to visit. It was quaint and afforded a plethora of photo opportunities, both of the small, winding European streets that I have come to love and the green Irish countryside. We didn't visit any sites in Kinsale, did not take a tour of the town, and yet we were both completely satisfied wandering and exploring the town's nooks and crannies. We returned to Cork that evening exhausted but happy after a wonderful day.

Wednesday we took the the morning to explore a bit of Cork - and managed to find its less charming corners. We accidentally ended up in a meat market (whole cows hanging off hooks, butchers sawing at joints of meat: the whole nine yards)...Cassidy is a vegetarian. We wandered over to one of the city's main attractions, St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, one of the smaller, but none less beautiful, cathedrals I've seen. Unfortunately, there was a service being held in the cathedral so we could not enter, but we wandered around it, admiring its beauty from the outside. From the cathedral we wandered some more run-down streets. Stores with boarded windows, but I believe we both found this part of the city to be fascinating. The true character of a city comes out in its most seedy sections (which is why NYC lacks so much of the character it once had, but that's an issue for another time). We returned to Norwich, by plane, that night, exhausted. Cassidy was still slightly jet-lagged, and that much traveling can really wear a person out.

Thursday, we took the day to explore Norwich. We visited Norwich Cathedral, the market, the lanes and Elm Hill, home to my favorite tea shop in the city, the Britons Arms. It was a somewhat relaxing day after the crazy previous three days. That night we joined my flatmates for dinner at a Japanese restaurant for my flatmate Domneek's birthday. It was great fun to have Cassidy meet my flatmates and to spend time with them. I was very please with how well everyone got along!

On Friday morning, Cassidy and I caught a 10 a.m. train into London, both to see the city and to make it easier to get to Heathrow for Cassidy's 11:15 a.m. flight the following day. We arrived in London around noon and were not able to check into our hotel until 2 p.m., but they did let us leave Cassidy's bag behind the desk while we went out to see the sites. We did the big ones: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's.

As all we had done all week was walk and travel, we were pretty worn out by the end of the week so only had the energy for the big sites. We returned to our hotel to check in and get settled. We capped off the day with a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant and a visit to "Platform 9 3/4", the place from which Harry Potter departs to Hogwarts at Kings Cross Station in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

The next day, alas, we took the Tube to Heathrow so Cassidy could catch her flight home. It was a travel- and sight-seeing-packed week, but it was fantastic to see Cassidy and to get to spend some time with her. Ireland was wonderful as I was very pleased to get to see some of the countryside and smaller towns after only seeing Dublin the last time I was there. It was also a nice brief break from university life and Norwich. Altogether: an amazing week.

Here are the pictures from the trip:

Ireland 1

Ireland 2

Ireland 3

Norwich and London

Hope all is well with everyone in the many reaches of the world!

POTENTIAL Schedule for Fall Semester 2009

Dickinson posted the course offerings for the Fall 2009 semester today. Here are my ideas:

Monday: 10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Introduction to Philosophy; 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Craft of the Short Story.

Tuesday: (First half of semester) 9 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Badminton; (Second half of semester) 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Rock Climbing.

Wednesday: 10:30 a.m. - 11.20 a.m. Introduction to Philosophy; 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Craft of the Short Story; 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. English Senior Seminar.

Thursday: (First half of semester) 9 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Badminton; (Second half of semester) 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Rock Climbing; 1.30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Advanced Creative Writing.

Friday: 10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Introduction to Philosophy; 11:30 a.m. - 12.20 p.m. Craft of the Short Story.

Three of these classes I need to graduate on time: The Craft of the Short Story, Advanced Creative Writing and the Senior Seminar. I believe I will have no problem getting into Craft and Adv. C.W. because there aren't that many Creative Writing Fiction minors at Dickinson (I don't think). The Senior Seminar is one of four that are offered. The one I want is called "Sexuality & Modernism" with Professor Wendy Moffat. The other seminars are "Critical Terms for Literary Study" with Professor David Ball, "Naipaul and Rushdie" with Professor Robert Ness and "Reading Race in Post-WWII Britain" with Professor Victoria Sams. Course request period is March 30 - April 1. I'm excited - classes for senior year! Unbelievable...

Paul Celan

You were my death:

you I could hold

when all fell away from me.

from Fadensonnen, 1968

Paul Celan Selected Poems, Translated and Introduced by Michael Hamburger (Penguin, 1996)

It's MARCH?!?!

Rabbit rabbit...

I'd be more enthusiastic, but I'm not sure how it's March already (Yes, it's March already, it's now midnight on March 1, 2009 here in England). Time has been flying by. Cassidy will be here in less than a week (!!!), and then I'll be home in late May.

Right now, I'm still working on that Holocaust paper...midnight on a Saturday workin' on an essay - it doesn't get any better than this!

Well, Happy March, everybody!

Word of the Year

Yesterday, I read an article about Obama's speech on the night of February 24 (link to the article by Jeff Zeleny). The article discussed the highlights of Obama's speech - some of his plans for the next four years: the $787 billion stimulus package, the bail out of US banks, a decrease in dependence on foreign oil and the reform of health care (among others). Zeleny does note, however, that Obama was rather vague in his speech. He said what he desires to do, but not how he intends to do it. As has been my tendency so far with our new President, I began to worry.

I began to worry that because of his vagueness, Obama will be criticized. I wondered how much I myself could trust someone who doesn't share how they plan on turning the country around with millions of viewers watching around the world.

And then I remembered...again...patience.

1. Obama has been in office for barely over a month;
2. A little under an hour (the length of Obama's speech) is nowhere near enough time to outline just how Obama plans to essentially undo all the Bush administration has done in eight long years;
3. The day after Zeleny's article was published, today, there is an article by Jackie Calmes describing how Obama plans to lower tax cuts for the wealthy and to use the money gained to make health care more affordable in the future.

Of course, Calmes talks a lot about tax brackets and just how the new tax cuts will work, but no matter how long I stared at the words on my screen I couldn't quite make head nor tails of exactly what it all meant.

The bottom line is this: of course Obama has plans for what he intends to do during his term. Of course there will be opposition from people throughout the United States. And he's been in office for one month. One month isn't even enough time to grow a decent-looking beard (although...how would I know?), much less know how to pull one of the most powerful countries in the world out of an economic recession and change a great deal of what has been put in place in the last eight years.

I simply need to have confidence in Mr. Obama and have faith in the fact that he can lead us out of these dark(ish) times. I've no reason to doubt him.

Some quotes I liked from the speech:

"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

"While the cost of action will be great, I assure you the cost of inaction will be far greater."

He also said (and I'm paraphrasing) that we need to sacrifice short term benefits and comforts for the long term ones.

I'm going to make "Patience" my personal word of the year.

-ZMG

Brief Academic Update

As we are already past the halfway point in the semester (our 7th week out of 12) I have begun working on my coursework for this semester (essays). On Monday, March 2, I have an essay due for my Holocaust class. I'm attempting to answer the question, "Did Germans kill Jews because they wanted to?" I also have an essay due on Thursday, March 6 for my Poetry in Dark Times class. I've yet to decide what I'm writing about for that paper.

For my Holocaust paper, I have three books to consult (so far): The Origins of the Final Solution, The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy 1939-1942, by Christopher R. Browning (Arrow, 2004), Hitler's Willing Executioners, Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust by Daniel J. Goldhagen (Vintage, 1997) and Hitler, the Germans, and the Final Solution by Ian Kershaw (Yale University Press, 2008). 

It has been fascinating, overwhelming and heartbreaking reading about the holocaust, and I will elaborate on why and what I've learned thus far when I have some more time. For now, though, I'm off to continue doing research and to continue outlining my essay. 

-ZMG

Spotify

My flatmate Tom recently told me about a computer application called Spotify. Download it, listen to all different kinds of music legally and for free. It's incredible. You can choose genres of music and time periods - for example, Jazz from only the '40s and the '50s, or Hip-Hop from only the 21st century. The possibilities are endless. I highly suggest downloading it and using it. It's a great way to discover new music. www.spotify.com

I think it was developed in the UK, so I'm not entirely positive that it will work in the US. I hope it does. Good luck!

-ZMG

Last night, Emma and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The movie was remarkable, but what I wanted to share was this: on the way there, I saw an older gentleman stop to give a homeless man his jacket. It was one of the more compassionate, caring acts I think I've ever seen, particularly from one stranger to another. 

-ZMG

Success!

A successful attempt at oatmeal this morning! No burnt oats, no lumps, no soapy dishwater - just oatmeal and milk. I ate while listening to a podcast of the New Yorker fiction section, a reading of John Updike's story, "Playing with Dynamite". A pretty good Saturday morning...uh...afternoon.

-ZMG

Zack's Oatmeal Adventures

In a bold move this morning, I attempted to make myself oatmeal for breakfast. Unsure of proportions, I eyeballed the amount of oatmeal and water. There wasn't enough water. I burnt (only slightly) some of the oatmeal. I spooned it into a bowl and decided it would be a good idea to add some milk to make it less clumpy. In the process, I spilled some milk on the counter. I grabbed a sponge out of the sink - that was completely waterlogged (shocking, right?) - and in the process of transporting the sponge to the spill...over my bowl of oatmeal...I accidentally squeezed some delicious, partially soapy sink-water into my breakfast. "Oh, good, that'll be delicious," I said...out loud...to myself. Sometimes I think doing something really stupid is better when there's someone around to laugh at you, because otherwise - especially when it ruins your breakfast - it's hard to laugh at yourself when someone else isn't laughing at you. I cleaned up the spill, put some more milk in the oatmeal, and then dumped enough sugar in to make an eight-year-old bounce off the walls for four days. It was still too clumpy, and now only warm because I had put so much milk in it. I ate it anyway, clumps, soapy sink-water and all...

Ah, well, tomorrow is another day, another breakfast...

-ZMG

My Purchase of the Month

I ventured into Norwich today to find some reading material that I'd been craving (despite the fact that I have a ton to read already and told myself at the beginning of the semester that I was not allowed to buy any more books until I read the ones I already have...oh well), and found what I was looking for at Borders. I came across this ENORMOUS volume of short stories by John Updike, compiled by the author himself. I also found a copy of his novel, Rabbit, Run (Penguin) which was part of a 3-for-2 deal at Borders, so, naturally I had to find two other books bearing the same sticker so that my money would not go to waste. I decided on a collection of stories by Raymond Carver entitled, will you please be quiet, please? (Vintage) and The Collected Dorothy Parker (Penguin) by, of course Dorothy Parker. As I've ventured cautiously away from writing that first novel that will win me international glory and fame and have tiptoed towards writing more short stories to see if I can actually finish some of my writing, I've been reading more short stories than I ever have in my life. I've even considered the possibility that I never tend to finish writing stories because, until recently, I never really finished reading stories. I'll let you know how this experiment goes. 

I've read three of the Updike stories so far, and, to my merriment, I'm hooked. 

-ZMG

Yet another good New York Times Article

I like to pretend I'm at home with a copy of the Sunday New York Times on Sundays here in England by reading a few articles on the Times website. Today I came across this one, about a program at the 92nd St. Y through which New York City public high school students get to sit down to dinner and discussions with various contemporary authors. First of all, I began wishing I was a New York City public high school student. What a fantastic opportunity! And what a fantastic idea on the part of the Y. It's wonderful that the writers donate (I'm not positive they actually donate, perhaps they get paid for this...) their time to, as the article states, showing young aspiring writers that not all authors are dead. 

I wanted to bring attention to one quote from one of the students, however. One student said she was looking forward to reading some of Junot Díaz's stories because like Mr. Díaz, she is from the Dominican Republic and has spent time there and has, "felt what he felt", and, "seen what he saw." She says that, "With other authors, you're not always a participant, you can't always relate." 

I've always wondered just how important it is to be able to relate to authors and their experiences. If an appreciation for literature had its roots in a reader's ability to relate to the author, the author's experiences and the subject matter within the book or poem or essay or whatever it may be, I feel there would only be a small percentage of literature that an individual could appreciate, or "participate" in. This is, in no way, an assault on the young lady that made that point in the article, because I have heard people say the same thing to some effect before. In fact, I've probably said it several times myself. But when I think about it, I don't think a reader should have to be able to relate to an author. If this were the case, would anyone like the Harry Potter series? If this were the case, I don't think I could have enjoyed The Human Stain, American Pastoral, even The Great Gatsby. I can't relate to those stories at all. I believe whether or not a reader can relate to a story depends on the author's ability to allow the reader to relate. The writing should be accessible enough, vivid enough that anyone can appreciate it, no matter who the author may be. Thoughts?

-ZMG

Classic

For anyone that doesn't know us...or, for anyone that does even, this picture epitomizes the relationship I have with my close friend Kristen Lee. This was too funny not to post. More later about a fun weekend...

-ZMG

John Updike

In light of the passing of this esteemed author:

A great article about the life and writing of John Updike

I've never read any of his work, but after reading this article, I plan on doing so. 

-ZMG

Some Food (or...Words...) for Thought

I was reading excerpts from Charles Baudelaire's The Painter of Modern Life for my Literature and Visual Culture class last night, and I came across the following quote:

"But genius is nothing more nor less than childhood recovered at will - a childhood now equipped for self-expression with manhood's capacities and a power of analysis which enables it to order the mass of raw material which it has involuntarily accumulated."

For Baudelaire, curiosity is the key - that curiosity that only a child has - the wonderment of everything new around you, no matter what it is.

-ZMG

Capa and Rothko

Today my flatmate Tom and I (www.teekae.co.uk) got a 10 a.m. train to London under partly cloudy skies, at my offer, to go to the Tate Modern to see the Mark Rothko exhibit which I believe opened  November 2008 and closes February 1. We both brought our cameras and took photographs the whole day--the long walk from the Chancery Lane Tube stop past St. Paul's Cathedral, across the Millennium Bridge to a pub on the Thames where we ate lunch, and then to the Tate Modern. It wasn't quite 2 p.m. at that point, but the next admission to the Rothko exhibit wasn't until 4. Tom had heard about a photography exhibit at the Barbican Centre of photographs of the Spanish Civil War by Robert Capa, so we bought our tickets to the Rothko exhibit and walked back across the Thames (taking a minor detour since we weren't quite sure where we were going and got slightly lost) to the exhibit. 

There were photographs by other photographers as well whose names I don't recall, but Capas photographs were extraordinary. There was a quote on the wall from Capa: "If you're pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." This was clearly the mantra by which Capa performed his profession. Many of his photos were right up in the faces of the soldiers as they were fighting, including his famous shot entitled "Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death" of a soldier falling to the ground nearly the moment he was shot. There has been some controversy surrounding the photo as people have wondered if the shot was actually staged, but from seeing many of the rest of his photographs of the war, I can't say I'd be surprised if he did manage to capture the moment of death of a soldier. It is a haunting photograph, and it is truly incredible how close he was to the battles, the wounds, the death. 

Unfortunately, as we had to be back at the Tate Modern by 4:30 p.m. at the latest, we had to rush slightly through the Capa exhibit and didn't quite get to see all his photographs. But when we emerged from the gallery, the clouds of earlier had cleared giving way to a clear blue sky accentuated by the gentle light of a setting sun. We walked back past St. Paul's and across the Millennium Bridge again, taking photographs all the while. The light hitting the Cathedral was absolutely stunning, which did nothing to cure me of my captivation by that immense building.

The Rothko exhibit was, to say the last, packed. I don't believe I had ever seen any Rothko paintings in person before, but I had studied Rothko second semester of freshman year in an Art History class. Our Professor, the much adored Professor Dorrill, had told us about the Houston Chapel in Houston, TX where eight of Rothko's paintings grace the interior of the octagonal chapel. Professor Dorrill told us that people would visit the chapel and sit amongst Rothko's paintings and weep inexplicably. I was hoping to experience the power of Rothko's work in the Tate Modern but, to be honest, it was difficult to feel anything with the noise and bustle of the crowds visiting the exhibit. I had trouble looking at the paintings one at a time due to their simplicity. I didn't know what to do with them. I felt they were much more powerful as an ensemble, but because of the crowds I couldn't sit and feel myself surrounded by them. I did enjoy the exhibit, it was quite beautiful and a privilege to get to see some of this prolific painter's work, but I found myself getting frustrated with all the people and the constant bustle. Frankly, I was disappointed. Not by the exhibit but by the limited experience I felt I had. I suppose I could have tried harder to feel enveloped by the work, but it was difficult and distracting to constantly have viewers walking in front of me and to be worrying about whether I was blocking anyone else's view. 

There was, however, one painting which I liked the most: "Red on Maroon", painted in 1959. The colors played slight tricks on my eyes with the lighting and it appeared that they changed or faded from a lighter maroon to a darker shade at certain places.  This effect wasn't all tricks, there are places on the painting where the maroon fades gently to a darker shade of the color. I found it very pleasing. It also may have been that there weren't that many people standing around it. Regardless, it was my favorite. Tom said some of the paintings reminded him of the gates of hell. They kind of reminded me of electricity sockets. 

On the whole, it was a successful day. I was very happy to get to see both exhibits, despite my reservations about the Rothko exhibit. It was a good experience nonetheless. Tom and I took many pictures and it was, of course, good to get out of Norwich for a little while. And London never ceases to amaze me. Every fiber in me craves a city life that Norwich simply cannot supply. 

Tomorrow, I must finish a project proposal for a big project due at the end of April for my Dickinson class, Humanities 310. Details about that when it gets underway, but I'm looking forward to putting it together. 

Ah, I almost forgot! I saw the movie Milk last night (starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk) with Emma. It's a fantastic film. It gave me a brief look at the fight for gay rights in San Francisco in the late 1970s. Sean Penn is a phenomenal actor. I recommend it.

That's all for now! Love to all those at home and abroad! Hope all is well in the many reaches of my small world...

-ZMG

A Step in the Right Direction

The New York Times reported that President Obama signed an order today to have use of all "secret prisons and detention camps," including the camp at Guantánamo Bay, terminated by this time next year. The article, by Scott Shane, reports however that the president has not made decisions about certain sticky details, such as where to send dangerous prisoners, whether or not to keep some interrogation methods secret so that future prisoners cannot be trained on how to resist them and where to send prisoners that cannot be kept in the US so that they are not tortured. 

This is the second time thus far that I've heard of Obama keeping his mouth closed about difficult issues. The first was his lack of comment about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My first instinct was to worry that critics would see this as indecisiveness, and I even caught myself - I'm not sure what to call it - not worrying, but almost being skeptical of...something. I couldn't pinpoint it. I think it's that I want Obama to succeed so badly that I'm afraid his critics and skeptics are going to pounce at even the smallest, most insignificant sign of weakness or indecisiveness. 

Then I remembered: an era of responsibility and patience. These are not small issues, nor are they issues with clear or easy solutions. The decision to close the prisons and detention camps in and of itself is a big deal after eight years of immoral interrogation methods, and a year is not a long time. In fact, it almost seems somewhat ambitious when I give it some thought. 

I've proved to myself tonight that I do need to make sure I remain patient. It's been 54 hours or so since Obama was sworn into office, and I believe he's already begun turning the US back in the direction its founders intended it to travel.

-ZMG

Read the full New York Times article here.

Well, my flatmate Tom got my ridiculous mug some publicity, so I thought I should do the same for him. He just got his own website up and running. He's quite the up-and-coming photographer, and on his site you can view some of his photographs. The site is still under construction, but it's looking pretty good so far, I think!

http://www.teekae.co.uk

-ZMG

Interesting...

It's incredible how clean my room gets when I have a lot of work to do. Observe...

Before

After

I love that accomplishing a little cleaning can briefly substitute for the feeling of accomplishing some work I actually need to do. Short lived, but satisfying. But now, off to the real stuff...

-ZMG

P.S. I managed to catch the inauguration. It was fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years. What. A. Speech.

January 20, 2009 - Pre-Inauguration: An Era of Responsibility and Patience

On this most historic of days for the United States of America, there are a few points I think need to be made before our new president is sworn into office. The first is, of course, that this is a momentous occasion. I am so proud of the citizens of this country to have come out in such impressive numbers to elect Mr. Obama. I do believe he has the potential to help our country through the most difficult of times. However, I also believe it is imperative to remember that Mr. Obama is, in fact, not Superman. He cannot change this country by himself. Change can only occur with the assistance of the citizens of the United States of America. Obama cannot solve climate change by himself. It will take the responsibility of each and every one of us to be conscious of what we use and what we waste. We must be responsible enough to know what we can do to damper the effects of climate change. It is unfair and unrealistic to believe that our government, no matter who it is led by, can stop climate change and restore our environment to what it once was - if that is even possible at this stage. We must be responsible and mature enough to accept that our government alone cannot bring about the end of the current financial crisis. While the government can try to bail out banks, to boost the auto industry, to "jump-start" the economy, we have just as much of a responsibility - if not more - as the government to be mindful of how we manage our money. 

A reporter on CNN said this morning that Obama has called this an "era of responsibility and patience," and I don't believe anyone could have said it better. There will be no immediate results. There is no issue facing us right now that can be solved instantaneously. Slowing climate change and strengthening the economy will take years, perhaps even more than a presidential term or two. Responsibility and patience.

The beauty of the United States of America is that we can come together when it it most essential to do so. Now is one of those times. Now is when John F. Kennedy's speech holds the most truth: it is not what this country or this government can do for us as a population or as individuals, it is what we can do for our country, both as a population and as individuals.

That being said, let's celebrate the end of an era, and the start of a new one that has all the potential in the world to be great.

-ZMG

A Brief London Visit...

I have returned from a fascinating 24 hours in London. Yesterday, 22 of the 25 of our group departed for an optional trip to London to meet with three members of the US Embassy and talk about the "Special Relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom, and then proceeded to an exclusive speech at the Chatham House, Royal Institute for International Affairs to given by US ambassador to the UK Robert Tuttle entitled, "Reflections on the US-UK Relationship." Today, Friday, we met with Martin Williamson of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for a conversation titled "Britain's Place in the World," and finally to Barclay's Wealth, a division of Barclay's bank to meet with the CEO of Barclays Wealth and a few of his staff members for a conversation entitled "The British Finance Industry, Global Markets, and the Credit Crunch." 

I found the conversation at the US Embassy with Mr. Philip Breeden to be incredibly gripping. We discussed how the US is portrayed to the UK through the media and through American students (like myself) studying here in the UK. One of the staff members we spoke to stressed how useful time in the Peace Corps is as he joined after college. He said the Peace Corps, and traveling, as well, is really the way to be the true ambassadors to other countries. Only through real people can people in other countries get a true feel for what Americans are like. The media gives people in other countries a very skewed view of who we are. For example, after seeing a documentary about Philadelphia, all of Dwight's flatmates (Dwight is from Philly) thought that all Philadelphians were gun-toting maniacs. Dwight had to assure them that this was not true. 

We also discussed the relationship between the US and UK governments and the fact that both countries have been allies for a long time. While there are disagreements on certain issues - the war in Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, climate change and how to deal with it - since both countries' values and interests have always been similar, they have been willing to work together often. 

Mr. Tuttle spent most of his time defending President Bush and attempting to draw focus to the more positive things Bush accomplished throughout his two terms in office. Of cures, this is his job - to support the president. It was simply a privilege to be able to sit at the Chatham House and listen to the ambassador speak, and I believe that was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so grateful that Professor Rudalevige was able to beg (as he put it) to get it set up.

Mr. Williamson at the FCO spoke about the UK's foreign policy and more about its values and interests and about their relationship with the EU. 

At Barclays Wealth, the two young employees did a wonderful job explaining what led to the current financial crisis, the cycle that keeps the recession going, and what can be done (and what is being done) to slow the recession and help the world's economy recover. For someone like myself who has trouble wrapping his mind around economics, they broke it down into terms and ideas I could understand, so that I now feel like I have a better understanding of what's currently happening with our economy.

Apologies for the brevity of this entry, but I'm a little tired and delirious. For more information about any of this entry, feel free to contact me!

-ZMG

Edinburgh, Reading and the Beginning of a New Semester

[Post published 1/14/09]

After returning from a five day trip to Scotland with Emma, I have been thrown - no, gently shovel-passed - back into the world of English academics. Monday was our first day of classes, but the one class that I had was canceled so that we could pick up necessary books and begin reading. I'm taking three classes this semester at UEA, as opposed to two last semester. More on that later.

Edinburgh is a gorgeous city. It's ancient castle sits atop a hill in the middle of the city, overlooking the surrounding expanse of developed land. The city is made up of two main sections, the Old Town and the New Town. The Old Town is mostly medieval (I believe) and the New Town, interestingly, was mostly constructed in the 1700s, thus by American standards...there is nothing new in Edinburgh. The New Town is laid out much like modern cities today are - with streets that create grids when looked at from a birds-eye view. The Old Town has the small, winding cobblestone streets that I have become so fond of here in both the United Kingdom and the European continent. 

Our first day there, Emma and I took a three-hour walking tour of the city. It was a good tour, providing us with a brief history of the city of Edinburgh. We saw St. Gile's Cathedral (which isn't actually a cathedral as it doesn't have a bishop), the Writer's Museum, the school that inspired Hogwarts in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and also the small café where she began writing the books that made her wealthier than the Queen and many other small gems the city had to offer. Our tour guide also told us several stories related to the different sights we saw to accompany their histories. After the tour we visited the Writer's Museum, which highlights the lives and careers of Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. We climbed Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano that provides a gorgeous view of the entire city. We spent five hours exploring Edinburgh Castle and the exhibitions within its walls, most of which pertained to Edinburgh's military history. We visited Hollyrood Palace, where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland in the summer. We spent a tremendous amount of time walking up and down what's known as the Royal Mile, a mile-long street with the castle at one end and Hollyrood Palace and Scottish Parliament at the other. 

Me in front of Hollyrood Palace

Edinburgh Castle

This was not Emma's first time in Edinburgh. The first time she had gone with another friend of ours who is studying in Norwich with us named Julieta. Julieta knew of a program called Couch Surfers which is a community of people who allow travelers to stay in their apartments or houses for free. Emma and I stayed with the man, a forty-something year old part-time tour guide named George who she and Julieta had stayed with the first time they were there. George was an incredibly nice guy, and very willing to suggest places to go and things to see while we were there. He even made dinner for us one night (we did the dishes)! 

I'm very happy to have been able to spend a few days in Scotland, and we lucked out with the weather, as the first two full days we were there it was relatively mild and sunny. We got some rain and cold our second two days there, but overall I was pleased that I wasn't freezing and soaked the whole time. 

Here are my pictures from the week:

Edinburgh 1

Edinburgh 2

Edinburgh 3

As Emma had a paper to work on while we were in Scotland, I brought a book that I started reading at home, The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, which I highly recommend. Unfortunately, I finished that book the night we arrived in Scotland, so the next day I bought The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Human Stain by Philip Roth. I had read The Great Gatsby in 10th grade, but didn't remember much of it, so I decided to reread it. Like his short stories, I loved it and gobbled it up. Then I started The Human Stain. This novel was not as slow and difficult to get through as Roth's American Pastoral was, but it was just as captivating and just as tragic. Again I experienced the same feeling I had while reading American Pastoral. I felt so strongly for the characters involved that it felt as if they were close friends of mine, and again it was because of Roth's incredible ability to delve into the depths of the histories and personalities of his characters. 

My contemporary writing professor last semester, Dr. Stephen Benson, called to my attention the fact that Roth didn't gain much recognition until later in life (he was 65 when he received the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral in 1998). Reading his novels, I can't help but feel - for better or for worse - that it is not Roth's narrators that are telling the stories, but Roth himself. Paragraph after paragraph is filled with what appear to me to be Roth's thoughts on humans, love, life, death and anything else you can imagine. It seems to me that his novels are outpourings of meticulous and relentless meditations on issues that humans deal with throughout their lives. They say, "This is what I think. I've had 60 years to experience everything I write about and think about it until I go numb, and now I know how I feel about it. And I want you to know what I think." There's no arrogance about it, only honesty - honesty that at times can be quite brutal. I highly suggest - no, I demand that anyone with an interest in literature and a good book read either The Human Stain or American Pastoral. 

I finished The Human Stain today (Wednesday, January 14th), and I think it is safe to say that I have not read this much this consistently for my own enjoyment since I was eight- or nine-years-old and reading the Hardy Boys series (of which I probably read about 50 books). 

On another note, I've had one class thus far, and it was yesterday. My schedule this semester is as follows:

Monday: Literature and Visual Culture at the Fin de Siecle; 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Tuesday: Poetry in Dark Times: Holderlin, Rilke, Celan; 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Thursday: The Holocaust; Lecture, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.; Seminar, 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.; Extra lecture (to view movies, or other course-related activities) 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

As I mentioned earlier, my class on Monday was canceled, but I had Poetry in Dark Times yesterday, and it was a fantastic class. As the poets in the title of the class all wrote in German, we will be dealing with the issues that arise because of differing translations. We close read (analyzed text using only the text, and not going outside of it to do research or thinking too much about context) several translations of a poem by Holderlin, and it was fascinating and sparked my excitement for the course. 

Tomorrow, the Dickinson Humanities group will take a trip to London and stay the night to hear the US Ambassador to the UK give a talk called "Reflections on the US-UK Relationship," hear a talk called "Britain's Place in the World" by Martin Williamson at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and CEO of Barclays Bank Thomas Kalaris give a talk at the Barclays Headquarters called "The British Finance Industry, Global Markets, and the Credit Crunch." While I do have to miss class to attend this trip, I think it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (maybe...) to hear these three men speak on important issues facing the UK and the US today. We will return to Norwich Friday evening. 

I have a paper due for my Dickinson class, Humanities 310, next Wednesday, and a proposal for a final project due the following Monday, which I will reveal to the virtual world when my plan becomes solidified. As I said, we've been gently shovel-passed back into the academic world. I'm looking into doing some traveling in the next few weeks, and will keep everyone updated on that as well.

I hope all is well with everyone at home, in Africa, Canada, Mexico, wherever! Until next time!

-ZMG