Leeds Castle

The Uni set up a trip for international students to visit one of Kent County's main attractions, Leeds Castle. There were well over 700 college students on this trip!

This land use for this property was first documented with the reign of William the Conqueror and was listed in the Book of the Dead in 1086. The oldest structure remaining is from the 13th century, and was, in essence, used primarily as a retreat for the wives of kings after the kings had died. Later, however, this became the primary residence of Lord Fairfax and family...the namesake of the Faifax Stone, the marker that sets one of the boundary lines of West Virginia. 

The property was privately owned until fairly recently, when the last owner died and left the castle to the nation. 

Whitstable, Church Wood, and the Ploughman's Dinner

Just 1/2 hour by local bus is the harbour town of Whitstable. It is a bustling weekend spot for Londoners and others in the region to get fresh oysters and shop this quaint village. 

In the background, are former fishing huts that have been renovated for weekend getaway rentals. The style takes over this section of town as fronts for restaurants (complete with outdoor picnic tables and piles for oyster shell castoffs) and huts like this are set up for a market/gift shop villiage. 

The town was a bustling place this weekend, filled with cafè's, antique shops, and lots of vintage clothing shops. 

Of course the obligatory:

On my return to Rough Common, I decided to explore Church Wood, which, if you Google Canterbury, Bleen, and Rough Common on a map, you'll see sits just behind the development where I am staying. There are loads of walking and biking trails through the woods, and I read that these woods are some of the oldest, untouched woods in the country. 

So- a selfie in the woods:

Since my first day in Canterbury, at my "return trip neighborhood bust stop," there has been an event sign stuck in the ground for "An Evening of Jazz and Ploughman's Dinner" slated for last night. It was a neighborhood function at the Rough Common Village Hall, and since I'm taking ownership for 12 days of this neighborhood, and I'm no stranger to "fire hall dinners" back home; I figured this Yank would crash the party!

It was a nice function with a 7 piece jazz band, Jazz Omnibus, and as I had come to find out was a fundraiser for the hall and for aid for families who are effected by cancer. 

I met Mathew, who lives just across the street from where I am staying, and he is head of IT security at the University of Kent...so, of course I asked him if he could get my U of Kent email on my phone...

I also got schooled in the best British play productions of the last ten years by Margaret. 

She had been to London on Friday night and had seen the avant guarde production of Marlowe's Edward II and is a fan of the smaller theatre spaces. 

The Final Induction

This week I have attended no less than seven "welcome and orientation" meetings. The only wrinkle thus far is that I am required to attend a researchers assessment workshop while on campus, but the only one that takes place while I'm on campus is already full. So, I'll go on Tuesday and hope they can get me in. 

I have been staying about a mile from campus, a 20 minute walk, in a grarage apartment.  So, I figured I'd post some pictures as I do my laundry for the week.

This is the development. Sounds iffy, right?  Actually it is neither rough, nor common, but a very nice neighborhood of single family homes. 

This is the owners house. 

When I was searching for flats in the area, I found a website that showed a nice little place that was affordable and close to campus. http://acorn-canterbury.com/holiday-let/

Here is the shot of one of the doors leading in (interior shots are on the website). 

And, the back yard...

As I've been in Canterbury, as you might be able to tell since my initial post, I've been spending time on campus, meeting the faculty, meeting other Phd and Master's students, and getting in some sight seeing. This weekend, the University (here they call it Uni) has a planned trip to Leeds Castle on Sunday, and today I hope to see a neighboring seaside town, Whitstable. 

All the while, I've been finalizing my Phd plan with Duska (who I meet on Monday for an official advising meeting), and reading through a few books on ensemble theatre that I brought with me. Look forward to more details about Duska's book, which I hope to put up a nice post about next week. 

School of Arts

Thursday was a series of meetings at the School of Arts.  We first met as a full group of post-grad students and were given the low down on the Arts department and how it fit into the campus structure. We were introduced to Student Services, the library staff, and other business needed to get accommodated. 

We then broke into meetings depending on our cohort; research students vs taught students, Phd's vs MA's and MPhil's, had smaller meetings, then went on a building and campus tour. This allowed us a bit of time to actually meet other people in the school, and gain an understanding of their placement and projects. After the tour, a group of 10 or so of us went to the cafe on campus, then in the evening the school had a wine and snack reception for the first year students. 

James from the UK (it was his birthday) and Eleena from Belgium. 

Reception in the Scool of Arts lobby. 

Martin, from the UK is doing a Master's in Stand Up Comedy!

G is Belgian, grew up in Thailand, and is a Master's candidate in theatre.

Between Dawkins and the Pope

Today my mother was with me.  She was a devout Episcopalian and she raised me in Christ Church in Fairmont, WV.  I was an acolyte, crucifer, and, at times, in the choir.  I attended Episcopal church camp at Peterkin in Romney, WV, where (slight gloating) I received a prayer book from the bishop because I was a "model camper" (one of 6 recipients in my camp, and the only one in my family of five to have that honor).

Currently, my religious fervor is somewhere to the right of Richard Dawkins and to the left of the Pope; however, it is difficult not to be moved at the Canterbury Cathedral.  Not only is this site historic for many reasons, has a direct connection to my life in education, literature, and the theatre; our American Episcopal Church draws its lineage directly from this location.  The space is vast, ornate, cold, musty, ghostly, and has great reverb!  My hometown church was not ornate, nor musty, nor vast and that is the way I liked my church. While in Chicago, I attended a huge, ornate "smells and bells' (Mom's term) church and it was uninviting and standoffish. So, I was interested to attend a service, but apprehensive.

Today, I attended two services at the Cathedral.  The first was communion in The Jesus Chapel that is housed in The Crypt about 50 feet from where Thomas Becket was originally buried.  It was a small, spoken service, with about 30 people in attendance.  The reverend who ran the service was a very personable woman (a nice reminder of our split with the catholics) who was very welcoming.  This evening, I attended Evensong, a more formal service with a male choir (they alternate each evening between women's choir, children's choir, and a full choir).  You've probably already listened to the clip above.  It sounded incredible in that space, and you can't help but get caught up in the history.  A church has been on that site since the 500's and there is a ground-plan when you first walk in that shows when each section of the cathedral was built.

As I sat in the Evensong service, I couldn't help but think of the "theatre" of the service and the space.  This is a huge, ancient, used stage for Christ. I noticed the lighting, the sound, the decoration, the ritual. My mind flowed to the theatre's of Epidaurus and Dionysis.

Thinking of Family

How could I not be thinking of my family?

International Student Day

Yesterday the university housed activities for foreign students. We attended a Welcome Meeting in the morning (where they explained that the British always say "please" when ordering, and no one else really does that), and had a dinner in the evening.

 Actually, the university is comprised of about 25% international students, so there were a LOT of students to feed. They split the dinners into 4 different locations...here us my dinner and the students at my table:

(She looks thrilled, right?)

One girl at the next table was "packing" with the three girls at my table. They are all friends from Mauritius who traveled to school together. All in Pre-Law...that's what kids do from Mauritius. 

The girl in the white top and sweater was from Norway, next guy is from Canada...there was a girl from France that didn't end up in the pic, the dapper kid with the tie and 5 o'clock shadow is from France as well.  Then, there was Toby, with the pony tail.  He is from London, and was basically crashing the dinner. He's 38 and getting to school for the first time. Good for him!  Then the bored girl from Thailand. She is 26, going to law school, and this is the first time she's ever been away from home. 

A Less Efficient Day

On Sunday, I had a long list of "to do's," cranked them off the list, and had plenty of time to spare for tea, an exploration of the City Center, a tour of the Cathedral, a blog post, and caught an episode of Downton Abby. Monday was one of those days that you walk and move and search and keep moving, but you have little to show for it. 

I spent most of the morning crisscrossing campus in search of administrative offices. Due to Welcome Week, some offices relocate into the Sports Center (the gym), some are in thier regular offices, and some are in the gym for the weekend, but move back on Monday. At about 3:30pm, I returned to my garage apartment and did everything they needed me to do online. 

But, I did get to explore the campus and get a feel for the layout. I set my sights on the location of a meeting I have in a couple of hours- the International Students Welcome Address.

A few things I realized yesterday, however: the drinking age is 18, and this 2000+ year old town is a "college town."

Each dorm complex has a dining hall, which after 7pm becomes a night club- complete with DJ and moving lights. Students walk freely around campus with cans of beer and cocktails. There are cafés in every complex that are primarily caffeine by day and alcohol by night. And at night, the City Center is a Mecca for drunken miniskirts and the boys who chase them. Open containers everywhere, velvet roped lines outside of night clubs, and the clacking of heels on cobblestone. 

Yesterday afternoon, I did have the highlight of catching Country Roads sung by a street musician in the old City Center. I can't post it to this blog from an ipad, but it can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/tad.janes

From campus, there is an incredible view of the town.  I wish I had a nice enough camera to do it justice, and it is over-the-top-incredible at night.

I mentioned the fortification of the city center, so, I got a pic of that.  That wall is on the South and East, as there is a river on the West side of the town.

As you can see, the sun does shine here sometimes!  I overheard a local telling a tourist that this is the region with the best weather in the country. 

So, I took a similar picture of one from Sunday to compare. 

Of engelond to caunterbury they wende

It must have been the spring of 1983 when on the North side of the second floor of Fairmont Senior High School, overlooking the campus walkway which winds up to the school, that I had to memorize and recite a portion of the prologue to The Canterbury Tales. We had to learn our "Whan that's..."  The class was Phase Four English with Linda Morgan, who at the time mentioned that when we learned this Olde English verse, we would never forget it. And, I guess she was about right...I can get through most of it. 

Yesterday the memory could not escape me as I listened to The Beatles while training trough the English countryside on my way to Canterbury. 

Besides the connection to 11th grade English class, a connection to Canterbury runs through me due to the fact that I grew up Episcopalian and the head of the Anglican Church is the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

I also directed an original adaptation of five of the tales with our theatre company, written by Reiner Prochaska, in 2011. The play was published (http://www.plays4theatre.com/bookdetails.php?pr=912), and you can see a teaser online (http://youtu.be/hr0v9kgk0_g) and, of course, we started the whole thing off with the prologue! (http://youtu.be/55JNwvMiTuM)

My original intention of writing this blog was purely academic, however, it seems that for the next 18 days it will be hijacked by a travel blog. So, my family and friends can keep up to date on my travels for the first part, and the academics who want to see the "documentation of my process" can skip ahead. 

I arrived at the Canterbury West train station at Noon yesterday, stepped off the train, and was greeted by Tricia (pictures to follow) who has a converted garage apartment that I'm renting. She and her husband built the apartment for their daughter some time back who now has a family and lives elsewhere. The parallel does not escape me as I have been renovating our carriage house/garage into a studio space...so, this is research from a renovation perspective. 

Tricia and husband Ian (imagine- a British guy named Ian) live just a few clicks from the University of Kent campus. When we arrived at the house, she showed me around then asked if I'd rather get settled or "come 'round to tea." "When in Rome."  I drank tea and got to know Tricia. 

I then headed to registration where I got put in the line for international students and waited and commiserated with a couple students from Canada. 

After, I finished my registration process and got my student ID, I hopped a bus into Canterbury. 

The city is an ancient walled city that, in the 1st century AD the Romans called Durovernum Cantiacorum. The town is laid out in a circle, due to its walled fortification, and it's interior is a combination of historic sites, of course the Cathedral, and a section that was renovated into a fairly massive pedestrian shopping center.

I explored the town a bit and found that on Sundays you can enter the Cathedral free of charge to roam around. The Cathedral has, on average, three services a day, so, I hope to attend a service this week. 

Here are the obligatory tourist photos:

This is one of the gates into the "walled city."

From my trip into the Cathedral. 

In the center of the shopping section of town there is a clock tower that is the remains of and old church. Pix:

And on the clock tower, the plaque to my fallen theatre comrade:

The "Mile" theme continues to run through my life; in college in Morgantown there was The Mileground- in Chicago, the Magnificent Mile- in Frederick, The Golden Mile- in Edinburgh, The Royal Mile- and in Canterbury, King's Mile. 

When we were in Edinburgh five years ago, we ate breakfast at a place called Chocolate Soup, so, Lena, this one's for you: