Open Mic Night...

Today was a productive one. After breakfast with Marcela I did two loads of laundry while I began on my first paper for Hollywood Film. Then it was time for Miller's class and lunch before returning to write some more and dry the clothes before squash with Caitlin. As we were walking back I finally got to see some British summer after a very humid start - warm rain is a real novelty. I typed up the last sentence of the paper just before dinner, at which we saw a pretty decent lightning display from the dining hall window as the storm rolled in. 

After dinner some of us headed downstairs and spent the rest of the evening in the Egg for the open mic night, which was a really good night to chill out, hear some good music and generally unwind after a long day. I finally clicked into plans this weekend, when a group of us are going down to Ocean City where Fran has a place for us to stay - thanks Fran! Here's hoping the hot weather holds out until then.

Midday Music...

Back onto 'Grapes of Wrath' today after a few days break and with 100 pages to go I'm on the home straight (I think). After the first class I read for a while and then, having emailed the music department, went over to Gibson to where rooms of vacant pianos were waiting. So, I broke up the day with twenty minutes of playing, which after nearly a month of playing not touching a musical instrument, was a really good. I think I will fit into my ever-growing schedule and make it a regular session just to get away from the laptop. 

This evening I headed to the library with Sam, Lenka and Ester to read some more before reverting to some writing. Now I have an RA meeting upstairs in the common room that I never knew existed, and then to bed. Sleeping past my alarm this morning told me that I need an earlier night. 

Sunshine And Squash...

Washington College's Photo

Today began as a subdued affair. Not in the mood to do any work and with class cancelled, I filled the morning with a bit of writing and half-hearted essay planning and reviewing. At noon I made my way down to Martha Washington Square along with over 500 others. President Reiss and the local vicar gave brief talks and there was a minute's reflection and the ringing of the campus bell. 

After lunch I headed down to the JFC and spent an hour doing some squash practice before I was joined by Caitlin and Dale for another hour and a half of playing, all of which helped to take my mind off things and I felt somewhat brighter afterwards. I returned to Worcester in over 30'C and welcome shower later, I Skyped parents whilst I had some free time before dinner. For the rest of the evening we relaxed and chatted in Hodson before turning in after a long day.

A Flame Went Out Tonight

Most people that know me, will know that I dislike sharing my writing with other people, mostly because I don't like knowing what they think of me because of it. But, I will make an exception tonight. 


That spark of creation, of imagination, for preservation,

fell victim to a wash of sorrow in the depths of despair.

But as one world crashes to the shore ours still turns,

feeling the flood that follows, and the tears

swell the flow that pours through the minds and hearts

of those once close, now stranded,

by the waves.

Feeling isolated from us who hold back the tide.

But words can traverse this sea.

They travel on the air and carry messages of faith;

the dove that promises a light of hope in this future

suddenly thrown into darkness.

We must cast this light through the gloom,

for the flame that went out tonight. 

Back Into The Cycle...

After the manic schedule of the weekend, even the busy Monday felt quiet. Classes were routine, with the film Employees' Entrance to wind up proceedings. Back at Worcester I read for tomorrow and then spent the hour and half leading up to dinner relaxing with some online TV. 

After dinner, I made my way, slightly unsure of the right direction, to the Sassafras lounge for the first History Society meeting to go over events and proceedings for the upcoming semester. Naturally, I will be attending the inherited Blitz Ball and my RAF uniform will be arriving with my parents later in October. 

Feeling slightly guilty for my ninety minutes of slacking earlier in the day, I went to the library to review my first paper and begin setting out a plan for the second. 

On a serious note. My purpose with this blog is to inform people back home and here in the US of what's been happening. Therefore, I would see it as a mark of disrespect to simply ignore and omit the tragic news of an apparent suicide that occurred on campus earlier this evening. I only write this now because we have been formally informed by the President of the college. I will say no more details on the matter, respecting the privacy of the student in question and their family, to whom our thoughts and sympathies go out to. In case no one has checked their email, there will be a moment of campus silence and reflection tomorrow at noon in Martha Washington Square.

Aching Limbs...

Yesterday was a much warmer day than Saturday with a longer lie-in. Breakfast was excellent once again and we were soon on the road back to Chestertown. Surprisingly, I did not burn on Saturday, but not having aching limbs was a bit too much to ask for. My arms feel fine, but my shoulder blades and thighs, from sitting high in the raft, are certainly feeling the strain. But, I'm still determined to continue my routine of playing squash on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Anyway, the drive back was largely uneventful, except for the longest hour of my life when I desperately needed the toilet, which didn't apparently constitute an emergency so that they could pull over. I did try to reason that if I couldn't hold then there would very much an emergency situation, but I was resigned to hold off until the rest stop. However, after the toilet break I could take a nap and rest up after a long weekend.

Getting to college at 3pm, I had forgotten that I had volunteered to cook curry for people at Shannon's so I went out with her to buy food. After a rush to beat the Freshmen from the Mt. Vernon trip to the dining hall, we headed over to KC at 6:30pm and I donned by chef's hat and apron to cook everyone the Birmingham delicacy. After food, we sat down for a good old British evening of comedy with 'The Holy Grail'. 

A Wild Day In Whitewater...

On Saturday the alarm went off at 6am and I grudgingly left the cosy confines of the bed to get the ball rolling, as we had to be outside the hotel and on the road by 8am. Breakfast was amazing with a huge buffet selection for us to chose from. It would be a long time and several hours of rafting before we would stop for lunch. 

At 8am we left the hotel and drove to the rafting centre in a great deal of early morning fog that blanketed the hills. The journey took around forty-five minutes with occasional glimpses of the Potomac River that we would be riding later in the day. 

Arriving at the centre, we had a brief talk and filled out another form, then we collected our life jackets and helmets and boarded a school bus that would take us to the launch point for the rafts. There, we had a brief talk about how to sit and paddle the rafts, as well as any hand signals used by the instructors to help guide us through some of the larger rapids of the day. As the only person in our five-man raft with any kind of experience on a raft, which I admit wasn't much, I was chosen to be the captain and rudder for the raft. This meant I had the special job of sitting high and unsteadily on the back of the raft with only a small pocketed on the floor to put a foot in. 

After a first slightly disastrous rapid, we were soon in the flow and once I had got the hang of steering and viewing submerged rocks from my vantage point, we were rowing as a well-oiled team. Overall, the day was a success with only Sam and Lenka falling from the raft in a couple bigger rapids, and not flipping the raft - admittedly we came extremely close to doing so, which caused me to throw myself heroically to the across the raft. Unlike most captains, I was not prepared to go down with the ship. We stopped after a few hours for a quick lunch and then paddled for a few more before we reached the exit point, where we loaded up the rafts and took the bus back to the centre. Throughout the day, one of the instructors had been videoing our progress and once we had changed, we took the opportunity to see how we had done. 


We arrived back at the resort after dinner at Ruby Tuesday at about 6pm. There, we had welcome showers and chilled out for the evening, going down to the dining hall to settle a craving for desert, before turning in, hoping that we had staved off sunburn and sore limbs.