one year ago...

This is a view from Dover Castle in Dover, England.
A year ago in this time, my husband was teaching a study abroad class in England for a few weeks. Both of us got bronchitis from the college students, and we learned a lot. Neither of us recognized how hard the transition was for the students, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, to cope with a big city of 10 million, that is, London. I went along mainly to visit with some friends of ours in the UK, to enjoy the January sales, to have some good meals in restaurants and have some fun. I did all that, but I also served as impromptu housemother. "No, you should not go to the public loo in the underground here, let's go back to the hotel, yes I know you have to go, but this isn't safe. Yes, I already know it isn't safe, let's go..." or "MOVE OVER! You can't block an escalator during rush hour!" Aggrieved Britons queued behind this poor 22 year old guy who straddled both the left and right of the escalator. He'd only ridden an escalator before at a mall--and in Kentucky, we don't have public transportation, to speak of. It was, well, an adventure. It made me realize how great the divisions can be-between big city Americans and rural Americans, and between rural Americans and urban Britons.

However, we many good meals in the evenings. Even though we invited students, they were not risktakers in terms of cuisine, so we had slightly exhausted but romantic meals on our own, including several incredibly good Turkish and Lebanese dinners in Mayfair restaurants. It's 70 miles one way to our nearest Turkish restaurant, and if you want other, certain kinds of Middle Eastern cooking, uhh, you come to my house. I've been wishing we were in London this week! Yesterday I bought some 10 year old balsamic vinegar, a couple of nice olive oils, and some dark chocolate. I'll pretend and eat well at home.