Why I listened to her sweet whisperings I still do not know, but something in me found English Fiction desirable, and made me yearn for more. Initially, this occurred through the imported programs shown on public television stations, and what episodes in other areas friends and relatives could share with me via videotapes. There was something distinctly different and unique about British entertainment that I found at least as entertaining as its American counterparts. I might have enjoyed comedies like "Family Ties" and "Home Improvement," but I also came to love "The Good Life" (or "Good Neighbors") and "To The Manor Born." For all the flash, action, and great characters of shows like "Magnum P.I." and "Miami Vice," I also found the style and clue-detection of Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Poirot to my liking. And then there was Doctor Who, that timelord who could travel anywhere in space or time, and even bring himself back to life (albeit with a new face and personality) when his old body died. How could a starship captain, even ones so great as James T. Kirk or Jean Luc Picard, compete with that?
Gradually, a love of such entertainment made me yearn to visit the country in which it was made, in order to learn what everyday life was like there. I yearned to immerse myself in the culture that had given birth such enthralling characters, vivid settings, and world-threatening (even universe-threatening) situations. But international travel is expensive, and the preparations for it much more laborious than that for destinations closer to home. So for many years, I contented myself with the movies and TV programs I could watch, and the novels of English authors whom I admired.
Time has a knack of preparing the individual in ways which, on a daily basis, are not immediately apparent. And so, one day I awakened to the realization that not only was I able to visit England, but that delay would only bring lessened capability to cope with the many differences I would find there. The time to go was now: delay made little sense, and would only remove me further from that which had initially attracted me to visit this foreign country. And so here I am, my bags stowed above my head and between my feet, writing these words in a small, black journal atop a wobbly plastic tray, and watching white, puffy clouds pass below the wing of an airplane. Into my little notebook I plan to record some of what I learn and see and do, and plan to share some of those experiences with you when I return home, interspersing those blog entries with other topics I hope you will find interesting and enjoyable.
But for now, I travel East, not only to connect with the land of my ancestors, not just to visit historic and interesting sites, but to better understand the places and the outlook of those who created such memorable characters such as Alec and Zoe Calender from the TV show "May to December," the Inspectors Morse and Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway inspired by the novels of Colin Dexter, and of course, those great rivals Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs. Emmeline Lucas, immortalized in the Mapp and Lucia novels of E.F. Benson.
My arrival in Heathrow is but a few hours away, yet seems so unreal. Despite all the preparations, my stomach is twisted in knots. What will I find in England, and will it be to my liking? Fear clings to anticipation; dread is mixed with yearning. But the time for turning back has passed. The path ahead is uncertain, unknown. I find a measure of strength in the dogged determination of Captain Christopher Pike, and his willingness to still venture to alien worlds, even after the deaths of his crew on Rigel 7 and his imprisonment on Talos 4. For one thing is certain. Whether I am ready or not....
England, here I come!
Gradually, a love of such entertainment made me yearn to visit the country in which it was made, in order to learn what everyday life was like there. I yearned to immerse myself in the culture that had given birth such enthralling characters, vivid settings, and world-threatening (even universe-threatening) situations. But international travel is expensive, and the preparations for it much more laborious than that for destinations closer to home. So for many years, I contented myself with the movies and TV programs I could watch, and the novels of English authors whom I admired.
Time has a knack of preparing the individual in ways which, on a daily basis, are not immediately apparent. And so, one day I awakened to the realization that not only was I able to visit England, but that delay would only bring lessened capability to cope with the many differences I would find there. The time to go was now: delay made little sense, and would only remove me further from that which had initially attracted me to visit this foreign country. And so here I am, my bags stowed above my head and between my feet, writing these words in a small, black journal atop a wobbly plastic tray, and watching white, puffy clouds pass below the wing of an airplane. Into my little notebook I plan to record some of what I learn and see and do, and plan to share some of those experiences with you when I return home, interspersing those blog entries with other topics I hope you will find interesting and enjoyable.
But for now, I travel East, not only to connect with the land of my ancestors, not just to visit historic and interesting sites, but to better understand the places and the outlook of those who created such memorable characters such as Alec and Zoe Calender from the TV show "May to December," the Inspectors Morse and Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway inspired by the novels of Colin Dexter, and of course, those great rivals Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs. Emmeline Lucas, immortalized in the Mapp and Lucia novels of E.F. Benson.
My arrival in Heathrow is but a few hours away, yet seems so unreal. Despite all the preparations, my stomach is twisted in knots. What will I find in England, and will it be to my liking? Fear clings to anticipation; dread is mixed with yearning. But the time for turning back has passed. The path ahead is uncertain, unknown. I find a measure of strength in the dogged determination of Captain Christopher Pike, and his willingness to still venture to alien worlds, even after the deaths of his crew on Rigel 7 and his imprisonment on Talos 4. For one thing is certain. Whether I am ready or not....
England, here I come!
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