Visiting the Queen...

With four hard weeks of the semester behind us...and starting to feel like life was all a bit too much like hard work...an academic perk came to the rescue...with the week arriving that would see us fly to London for me to attend a conference. Fortunately for me (and Jen - who decided that London was too good to pass up), one of the top psycho-oncology societies is run by men and women who consider conferences to be largely social events - and one that should take place in exotic European locations. Thus last Friday we were on a plane to London for a week of sightseeing, London pubs, catching up with friends and family...and attending conference sessions.

It was an incredible week - with time spent with my most hospitable family on the outskirts of London; drinks with friends who we had not seen in years; and afternoons spent in Hyde park and all around London. We visited all the museums and galleries we could, rode double decker buses to nowhere in particular, and escaped to Richmond where I used to work, and to the nearby area where my grandmother lived. We were also fortunate enough to be welcomed into a friends home in Hampstead - where we lived the London high life for a day or two - as well as feeling a pressing need to discuss my relationship with my mother - only to find out that we were indeed only a few houses along the street from where good ol' Sigmund Freud lived. In all - it was a wonderful week - and one that we felt very fortunate to have been given.

Pictured: Hyde Park's many sites, and the House of Freud...tell me about YOUR mother.

The Annual Blueberry Festival…without Blueberries.

The second week back in town saw the start of classes, the return to routines, and the consequent need for distraction during the upcoming weekend. The distraction came in the form of a German named Jasper – a close friend from UCLA – and recent international student arrival to Chicago. With a weekend to plan – we decided we would need to find some serious Midwestern fun…thus…on Saturday morning…with a hangover in tow…we found ourselves standing in another world…the Annual Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Indiana.

The locals made us feel most welcome as we arrived in town…with one fine gentleman declaring as we drove past…’…if you hit me, I will hit you back’. Fair enough I say! Then we began our tour of our first Midwestern Festival – and the most striking array of gastronomical adventures I have seen in awhile. From deep fried Twinkies to chocolate-dipped cheese cake on a stick…turkey legs the size of small children…elephant ears and anything else you could possibly imagine to deep fry. As we walked around…taking a day off our lives with every bite of food…the most amazing aspect of the festival was the distinct lack of blueberries. Granted – you could have get them mixed with sugar...in a smoothie or ice cream – but if you just wanted plain blueberries – then the blueberry festival was not the place to be. A cool experience none-the-less – and then it was back to South Bend to partake in the insanity that is Notre Dame Football.