frances
lai
blown a
wayfarer
IN PREPARATION
August 31
I’ve known since applying for my double major that the degree would entail a year of study in two countries where my target languages, French and Arabic, are spoken. Yet the awareness of this life changing experience did not prevent me from leaving all of my to-dos until the very last moment, as per usual. I rapidly oscillated between freaking out, excitement, and the somewhat defeatist attitude that there was nothing I could do at that point to prepare myself, linguistically speaking anyway.
In addition to packing for the year abroad, I also had to pack the remainder of my life into boxes to make Kyle’s eventual move from our former residence as easy as possible. This required much foresight, as I had to essentially anticipate what I would want or need for the entire year, including a trip home for the holidays and the subsequent semester in France.
Of course I didn’t delay one moment to dive into doing the fun things. Two months of working part-time at Bumpkin afforded me a spankin’ new Nikon DSLR. Granted I bought the cheapest DSLR Nikon offers, but this compact travel buddy suits my intents and purposes perfectly. I was easily convinced to sign up for an all-day photography class offered at a special rate by Jessops, where I bought my camera kit.
Having taken a photography class at community college years ago, this one served as the perfect refresher course because I don’t recall much from the previous class. While the college course concerned the creative side of rendering images, Jessops focused much more on the technical side of photography, and we learned the basics of how cameras work to capture images, imperative to understanding the settings and how to adjust them accordingly. Wielding an incredible mode of expression and experience in my hands, it’s tremendously satisfying that I know how to use and manipulate the camera to create attractive photos without using the auto setting.
The more unfun, albeit necessary, things took longer to take flight. More accurately, their flights were delayed almost to the point of not being okay. I hadn’t even stopped to think about things like vaccinations and travel insurance until it was mentioned on the SOAS student Facebook group. Clearly I was too preoccupied with buying new travel bags and cheersing my good-byes away. Insurance was easy enough and instantaneous enough, but I felt like such a moron attempting to get immunized a week before my planned travel dates. The nurses at the NHS and travel clinic were very understanding, and they were able to sort me out with what little time I had left.
Then there are other obvious things like exchanging money and figuring out which adapter to get. There are also the circumstantial considerations regarding where you’re traveling to and why, which in my case involves letters from my school and consulate. Finally, there’s the stuff that strikes you randomly and gives you moments of, “Crap, how did I not think of that sooner?” This usually happens with regard to things necessary for an extended stay such as a SIM card, banking, drinking the tap water, or the possiblity of receiving post and deliveries.
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I thought it a good idea to pack a few comforts from home (away from home): Twinings tea and Marmite. I also included plenty of blank pages for jotting and logging, as well as my latest recreational endeavor, a Hohner harmonica. Realizing for some time now the lack of a musical outlet in my life, I figure that the harmonica is the most portable and cost efficient way for me to stretch my magic music legs. For some reason this struck me as the perfect year abroad hobby to pick up. After a
slew of cocktail receptions, high tea, lavish dinner parties and other high-octane events like Carnival, all of which serve in my subjectivity as an extended farewell hoopla, the number of people I spent my remaining evenings with dwindled with each night. My extensive good-bye to London was boisterous and kept light, made all the more easy by the fact of my return next year. However, I didn’t fail to notice the foreboding of my conclusive departure from London in two years’ time.
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THE DEETS
Travel insurance
Insure and Go, www.insureandgo.com. Budget worldwide coverage for four months. 122 GBP.
Immunizations
Hepatitis A booster and tetanus/diphtheria/polio: NHS.
Hepatitis B booster: London Travel clinic, multiple locations, http://www.londontravelclinic.co.uk. 40 GBP.
Money exchange
Thomas Exchange Global, Unit 3 Broadway Shopping Centre, London W6 9YD, +44 20 7183 9265.
