This blog is as much for my own personal record as it is for my friends and maybe family, if I keep it clean, to keep track of me. I'll post funny stories, details of my travels, snippets of my coursework if it's any good, pictures aplenty, and whatever else I want, because this is my blog and the Internet offers a lot of freedom.
The title comes from Shakespeare, who I'll study seriously for the first time ever this summer, despite the fact that I'm an English major, and he, well, practically invented the language. The line is from King Richard II and the full passage (as quoted on www.allgreatquotes.com; seriously, I've never really studied Shakespeare) reads thus:
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,-
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
Isn't that beautiful? I didn't think anything could make me *more* excited to go to England, and then I read that.
So: you might want to know what I'm doing this summer. Well, about 1/3 of what I'm doing this summer is taking classes at Cambridge. I'll be taking Reading Shakespeare, Short Story Writing, and Avant-garde Literature.
The rest of what I do is up in the air. Traveling is a big goal. I'm already making plans to go to Barcelona and Ibiza before the program starts on June 27th. I'll travel a bunch around the UK (stalking JK Rowling in Edinburgh is on my to-do-list) and Ireland. I'm planning a trip to Paris with two of my closest friends who will also be in Europe this summer, and finally, I'll go wherever else ryanair and easyjet take me. I'm amazed at how many cheap flights there are on these somewhat-questionable airlines. Just yesterday I saw a flight to Oslo for 3 Euro. What.
Anyway, I hope you'll join me from wherever you are this summer. I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try to make it worth your while.
God save the Queen,
Erica
*Hopefully, I'll have more than one reader. But right now, I just have Harry (sadly, not Potter).
