Shouldn't He Go to Dublin with That Name?: Prologue: On the Way

For most of my summers during my academic career, I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I’ve felt content to spend all day at home, where I could read a book, watch TV, or play Civilization III for six hours straight. (True story!) Even though my friends have always lived close by and been able to hang out, I’ve always seen summer as an opportunity to do nearly nothing at all. Even once I got a summer job as a research assistant, I drove straight home almost every day and lounged.

This year, I wanted to change that. Staying home all day, while it has its benefits (free food, few responsibilities to worry about), has gotten old over the past… 19 years… I was looking for a change, one that involved more social time, more fun, and more people.

Well, I got it. On another continent.

During the one summer when I want more than anything to stay close to both the people I’ve met this year and the ones I’ve known for over a decade, I get to go to London for an internship and class for two months. Now, I’m not begrudging this opportunity at all; I’ve been looking forward to it since Dave Boeyink invited me to join the Ernie Pyle Scholars program over e-mail in the spring of my senior year of high school. And I’m not saying the people going with me are lame; in fact, the trip with them to St. Petersburg was GLORIOUS, and not just because of the shuttle launch. I’m just dumbfounded by the timing. I experience more personal and social development than ever, and I don’t get to share it very easily with more than four-fifths of my friends.

Here’s the key phrase, though: “very easily.” It’s still possible, and I plan to take every opportunity. I won’t let it detract from the London experience, because frankly, this kind of thing happens once. Maybe twice. But I still want to keep in touch, so this is a good time to say “I love you” to a few services:

1) Skype. I just set it up Friday night, but already I’m excited for it. After my parents and I set up our accounts, we tried it with both of our laptops on the kitchen table. I have to say, I felt very “meta” talking to & seeing someone across the table through the Internet. It’s like G-chatting with an IDS copy chief when both of you are in the newsroom, except in this case you wouldn’t interrupt any work if you talked or laughed out loud. (Like, say, when you’re watching Lord of the Rings footage matched with the song “Hungry Eyes.”) I’ll have to figure out when would be the best time to Skype given the five-hour difference, and if I should just improvise conversation times as I go along, but I see a lot happening with this. (Especially since, unlike using a phone, it’s free!)

2) Facebook. Now here’s something that a) is more flexible and b) I’ve used for a while. Talking to someone over Skype provides a human voice and, if capable, a face, but Facebook is much more convenient. I don’t have to organize times for wall posts or inbox messages, and when someone’s on the chat function when I am, I’ll appreciate the coincidence.

3) G-chat. Same point with the coincidence of Facebook chat, but this has the added benefit of reminding me of the IDS. Alas, there won’t be any massive reply-to-alls, but at least I’ll still have the look and feel of wasting time in the newsroom. (Especially if I get to waste time at the Science Media Centre!)

4) Blogger. Really, this is an arbitrary love. I just found a site that would let me easily share words AND photos while allowing readers to leave comments on here and Facebook. But it’s still a love, at least in the sense I’m using here.

So, even though I’ll be enjoying the work, plays, culture, and (gasp!) pubs of London, I won’t forget to keep up what I’ve built at home. Hope to see you guys on Skype, G-chat, or Facebook, and enjoy the blog!