To England, Or Not to England...Decision's Already Been Made

I have one friend who just left for England. Two other friends are currently in Costa Rica. And another friend will be leaving for Greece fairly soon.

I have another 36 days before I get myself out of this country.

A lot of people have been asking me how excited I am to go for England. I'm surprisingly not as excited as I should be. Sure, the minute after I found out about England I called up my mom and begged for my parents' permission. The day I turned in my deposit and paperwork was the day I walked down McKinley and though "wow, I'm really doing this. I'm going to England." And now summer break has arrived and I'm sure before I know it I'll have my bags repacked, passport in hand, and a long flight with an even longer adventure waiting ahead of me.

I have very mixed feelings about this.

On some days, like today, I can not wait until that moment comes. On days like today where I blast The Police's album Ghost in the Machine while cleaning the house I dream of what it will be like to visit all these places the band once struggled at many years ago. I dream of meeting other Police fans and what they can tell me about their music culture compared to what I've known here in the US. And (don't laugh) but I secretly dream about seeing Sting roaming the streets of London, maybe sitting in a small cafe drinking his tea and eating his one-side toasted piece of bread. With butter. Maybe jelly. But I definitely see butter. Also in this fantasy dream of mine, I stop and talk to him and write some killer article about it that gets published in the Rolling Stone. Now there's dreaming for ya.

But one dream that is coming true is that I will be in England. As Sting was the Englishman in New York, I will be the American in London.

I wonder if it's pathetic that my main reason for going to this place is because I have this odd obsession with this band and their music. Also, with the exception of some accent and slang differences, I always liked England because I know I can speak the language (something about language barriers scare me). I wonder if I'm putting too much emphasis on this trip because of The Police. I wonder if it'll disappoint. Maybe I won't find all these places The Police began at. Or maybe they won't be as cool as I expect them to be. Maybe it'll be just as significant as going down to Riverbend and saying "This is where Dave Matthew has played!" I hope dear reader you understand this cheesy analogy I'm trying to make.

Because on some days, I'm not very excited for England. Some days I'm just happy right where I am, enjoying summer in the states, even if I am in Ohio. Or when I think about all the money I am NOT making because no one will hire someone who will be gone half the summer and takes weekend trips to new york whenever she can. Some days I worry about missing my boyfriend and friends. I worry about being homesick. Some days I just don't even like thinking about England because I realize that going there means giving up things here. Even if it is for only 6 weeks. I have deep emotional attachments to people and places here at home.

So to cure this problem of not looking forward to England, I've decided to invest some time in some research. I plan on making trips to the library and doing some reading. I plan on surfing some sites to see what interesting things I can learn about that I'll look forward to. And most importantly, I'll start talking to people. To the people who've been to England, to the people who are going with me, to the people who have never left the country and never plan on leaving. Because I think you can learn so much from people. From their thoughts and opinions, positive or negative. I'm drawn to England not because it's a cool place, but because of three musicians. Three interesting people. I can't wait to see what they're home land, and its people, have in store for me.