California Bound...for the Moment

In the midst of making packing choices, (how many cashmere sweaters will I need in England? Should I include my measuring cups and spoons for all the kitchen pottering I intend to do?) I'm making Bed and Breakfast reservations all over the Scottish Highlands. Llew and I intend to drive (meaning that he will drive, I will navigate) for ten days in Scotland and Northern England before I begin my teaching stint in London in early September. As I browse through the websites trying to find suitable digs, my mind is filling fast with the most tempting visions of mist-hung lochs and heather-clad mountains, not to mention pebbly streams stocked with wild salmon and trout and wooded pathways alive with the sounds of grouse and pheasant. I fear we might never want to leave those heavenly vistas behind.


Then, reality strikes and I hasten to my duffel bag, forcing myself to bring my thoughts closer to home and the trip I will take this Saturday to the University of California at Santa Cruz to attend the annual Dickens Universe (where the focus is on Hard Times and Mary Barton by Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell). Because I know how chilly I was last year in those giant redwood environs--also mist enshrouded at dawn--I have stuffed the duffel with woolen sweaters and pantyhose and will keep a merino cardigan on hand for the flight. The long drive into Silicon Valley from San Francisco past San Jose into the heights of the campus that overlooks Monterey Bay will require me to switch from my East Coast summer uniform (shorts and T-shirts) to West Coast summer uniform (hoodies and jeans). I hope to get some serious writing done during the week while also exploring parts of the Bay, downtown Santa Cruz , Salinas and perhaps also snazzy Carmel-By-The-Sea.


It's hard to deal with the triple projects of packing for a conference week in Northern California on the one hand, for a week's vacation in the Scottish glens on the other and for a year in the British capital on the third. Talk about confusion worst confounded!


Tomorrow I am also on duty as a volunteer at the Pequot Library Annual Summer Book Sale where I shall probably be assigned the handling of the credit card payment gizmo--a thingamajig I learn to use afresh each year. Over 100,000 books, donated year-round by the members of our community, are on sale for an average of $1 each. This is the same weekend that our stores hold their Summer Sidewalk Sale but only early birds and eager beavers get the best bargains. The most coveted merchandise will be long gone by the time I wend my way to the stalls after library duty ends at noon. Still, my inner shopoholic is optimistic.


Summer in Southport...what's not to love about it?

Sorting, Packing, Weighing, Labelling...

With time galloping towards August 15, my departure date for the UK, I'm focussed on shrinking my life down to a few sturdy boxes. Apart from my books, lecture note files, contact details for the folks I need to interview for my next book, there are a few non-Media type items I wish to cart across the Atlantic. So what would you include?

I'm taking (not "bringing"--I can't stand it when people use the word "bringing" when they mean "taking") a queen-size down comforter (God knows I will need it for those biting British nights), two down pillows, two sheet-size fluffy terry towels with matching hand towels (yes, I know that basic linens will be provided in my furnished pad, but I simply can't tolerate the idea of using someone else's towels for a whole year--besides, I have become so spoiled by the giant ones we use at home that anything short of colossal seems like a handkerchief to me). Oh and my plastic lined terry towel shower cap.

I'm also taking my trusty Italian Moka (gifted to me by my Italian professor friend Annalisa from the University of Padua during my last visit to her place in Vicenza), my hinged tea infuser, and a few kitchen odds and ends--like a small whisk and a balloon whisk, a wooden lemon reamer, my microplane (for making all those salad dressings for every salad I will make from scratch), ice-cream scoop, pizza wheel, set of knives (Chef's, serrated, paring), a load of small Tupperware containers, large tray (so food can travel from the kitchen to other parts of my home), an electric hand blender (yes, I will carry an adapter) for all those soups on which I intend to live. I might not be Nigella Lawson but I can't imagine resisting the urge to putz around the kitchen for a whole year. Plus, I'll want to try out those essentially English ingredients: golden syrup and treacle, Cumberland sausages and chipolatas, lemon curd and potted shrimp and Wensleydale cheese. Yummy! Just thinking of all these goodies gets me salivating. Above left is a picture I took in March this year of the chocolate truffles on sale at the famous Borough Market where I made a meal of the freebies that were being passed out as samples.

My Tanita weighing scale is near at hand. Each time I add another item to the box, I weigh it-- not just with shipping expense in mind but my ability to handle these loads. I will need to transport them from NYU's campus in Bloomsbury to my flat--wheverever that will be located (still a mystery at this point). While books weigh tons and Llew will be there to lend a hand with the hauling and the lugging, I don't want to kill myself in the quest for comfort. So... I'm packing light. Despite my determination to take the move in manageable stages, I am exhausted at day's end and this interminable heat is hardly helping.

M is for Media-Bags.

Snagged three of them M-Bags at the Post Office at Fairfield, Connecticut, this morning (thanks to my pal Delyse) and discovered that the M stands for Media, as in books, files, tapes, DVDs and CDs--anything that might be classified as Media can travel across the pond at a special rate. Anything that falls outside the scope of the media as in clothes, jewlery, kitchen appliances and other doodads cost a whopping amount more to ship.

Armed with those bags and my aforementioned boxes, I am in editing mode--weeding out the dispensables from my life and retaining the barest bones. Being the compulsive list-maker that I am, my lists are growing: Materials related to the courses I will teach, Materials related to the book I am researching, Materials related to the trips I want to take, Materials related to Pampering my inner Domestic Diva, etc. etc.

Might need an M-Bag to stash all these lists!

Hauling a Life Across the Pond

UPS? Or Fedex? Or the trusted old US Mailman?

How do I haul a life across the pond? According to my colleague Karen, who is ten steps ahead of me, the last is the best option. I need something called an "M-Box" which isn't a box at all but a bag of sorts. As long as my boxes are no larger than 12"x12", they'll be good to go (into the said M-Box), she said.

A late-night call to my friend Delyse followed. She is my buddy at the local Fairfield PO. Hopefully, she will provide the best (and most economical) suggestions. Delyse, Delyse, wherefore art thou Delyse?

I guess a trip to the Packaging store is on the cards---yawn! Tomorrow is another day.

Have UK Visa, Will Travel

So, the UPS man delivered my passport today with my UK work visa stamped in it. Now all that's left is for me to remember to carry it along en route to London. The paperwork was surprizingly easy now that everything is done online. No horrendous queues to stand in, for one thing. This almost felt like "Take Out Service"--like receiving my passport and visa in the mail the same way I receive pizza from Dominos.

Once I sign up for Aetna's Global Insurance coverage which is provided courtesy of my employer, NYU, I shall be set for the year--hopefully it will be a healthy one and I will not have to avail of the services of the the UK's Public Health System (which is supposedly very impressive overall).

The Countdown Begins

OK, UK visa's been issued, air ticket's been booked. I'm on my way to teach for a year at NYU--London! YIIKKKEES!

Picked up some boxes today and will soon get down to the serious business of deciding what I will ship to London and what I will leave behind at Holly Berry House. Decisions, decisions! Imagine stuffing everything you will need for a whole year into 2 suitcases. It's a good thing Llew is accompanying me to London to settle me down. That will allow me 4 suitcases, I guess. Now, suddenly, things are looking up!

My recent birthday gifts included a ton of books on London and the UK (mainly from Chriselle and Chris, bless their hearts) which I will start to read once airborne.

So, I guess with exactly a month before departure, the countdown has begun. I am SOOOO excited!