Home is Where?
Laura Stiers is a third year English major studying abroad in London this quarter. In Dispatches from London, she blogs about books, curious Anglicisms, and literary culture in one of Europe’s most literary cities. This post concludes the series.
It’s cold and grey in London today. I’m glad of it, really. If it had been bright and crisp and wintry, like its been for most of the week, I would be finding it even harder to leave.
Although, in a way, it doesn’t feel like I’m leaving at all. There are so many other ways to get to London, besides crossing an ocean. I can get there through listening to songs, watching movies, reading books (of course), and now, through my memories. I don’t think you can ever really leave London.
“Go where we may – rest where we will,
Eternal London haunts us still.”
from Rhymes on the Road, by Thomas Moore
Kate Fox, author of the book I referenced in one of my earlier posts, Watching the English, says that the English are terrible at goodbyes, describing them as “tediously prolonged.” “If you are visiting an English home,” she says, “be warned that you should allow a good ten minutes – and it could well be fifteen or twenty – from these initial goodbyes to your final departure.” So, keeping this in mind, I’ll just say ‘bye. I’ll see you later. I mean, not really, but you know what I mean. Yeah. Let’s keep in touch. It’s been lovely. I’ll catch you later, OK? Give my best to your family. We should really do this again sometime. Cheers, farewell, and all the best.
That is to say, goodbye!
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