INDIA!

Leaving for India in three days! So much packing to do. I also started taking malaria pills (you have to start a week in advance and continue taking it until four weeks after you've left the malaria zone). I really hope I don't get vivid nightmares or any of the other very unpleasant side effects listed on the label. In my suitcase I have mosquito nets to hang above my bed, deet bug spray, water testing tablets, guidebooks, a slash and pick-pocket proof backpack, and a brand new camera (an early Christmas gift from Corey)! Thanks, Cor. It's not a digital SLR (too bulky), but a really nice Canon G10 that fits into my day pack.

Here's the itinerary:

Fly from Heathrow to Muscat for a short layover and then on to Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, then overnight on board a train to reach Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Shantiniketan, then back to Kolkata to depart for Dhaka (Bangladesh).

While in India I'll be visiting the various places that the poet Rabindranath Tagore lived as well as visiting universities associated with him. I also hope I can get access to the Tagore archives at the university. Crossing my fingers.

I won't always have access to internet, so I may be slow in responding to emails.. but, I'll check email/update my blog whenever possible. I'll be in India until the beginning of January and then in Bangladesh until February. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Snapshots of Oxford

Here's a long overdue post about my time in Oxford. Despite not having a "fixed" schedule, I've been really busy lately. It's been nice to not have to continually pack and re-pack as I have a flat at the moment. However, my rental period is about to expire, which means I'm about to hit the road again. I leave for India on December 17th with a layover in Muscat, Oman first. But, I'm planning to go to Edinburgh this weekend and then visit Wales (Swansea, Cardiff, Dylan Thomas Center) next weekend.

I love Oxford. The university buildings and pedicured lawns (reminiscent of Wellesley) are gorgeous. But, there's also an intellectual hunger/fervor in the air. There are bookstores galore! Additionally, the university hosts a wide variety of lectures, many of which are open to the general public since Oxford prides itself on also educating the community. I've managed to get special access to the New Bodleian Library to attend two lectures that were part of a manuscript lecture series (one was on Philip Larkin and the other on Shakespeare). The Philip Larkin lecture was given by Larkin's literary executor and was therefore filled with amusing anecdotes. Other than that, I've traveled into London a few times. Last week was Thanksgiving and I cooked my first turkey...by watching youtube! It was stressful and I set off my fire alarm twice. But, the turkey turned out well! I also made pumpkin pie (not from scratch), but with some Libby's pumpkin filling from the international food market store in town.

Here's some photos from around town:

Worcester College Quad

All Soul's College Quad
The Radcliffe Camera
Archway through Bodleian Library to Radcliffe CameraInspector Morse was here! At the Turf Tavern, a university favorite.
Turf Tavern
Trinity College gate
The Clarendon Building
The Sheldonian Theatre

3 months + Ruth Padel

I recently discovered the anthology The Poem and the Journey, compiled by British poet Ruth Padel. I've been busy writing my first Watson quarterly report (due today), but wanted to share some interesting quotes from the opening portion of the book.

“Poetry’s effects are inward and personal. It is still what it has always been, a necessary art, enriching what goes on privately inside us through our lives. It fortifies our inwardness. And so it is the ideal thing to hang on to, in our very externally driven world of image and screen, surface and soundbite” (Padel, xi).


“In life, too, poems and journeys go together. Both move. Both take a bit of time and effort. Both let you reflect on other things as you go. Both can upset and surprise you. There may be boring moments; or moments that seem boring at the time though afterwards you realize they were crucial. Both give you new windows on the world, take you out of yourself but let you more deeply into yourself at the same time. They get you to new places”(3).

I've officially survived the first three months of my Watson! Now, off to finish my report.

Inspector Morse Country

Happy October!

My computer isn't fixed just yet, so I'm borrowing a computer that my dad brought up for me to use in the meantime. Hopefully my dad will be able to fix my computer and resurrect all the poems I've written up until this point.

I'm currently writing from Oxford, also known as Inspector Morse Country. How many of you know who Inspector Morse is? I honestly didn't until a week ago when I moved into my rental flat and found a book about Inspector Morse and Oxford (Morse Country). Morse is a fictional character originally from a series of detective novels, later developed into a TV series. Wikipedia's description of the detective reads: "With a Jaguar car (originally a Lancia), a thirst for beer, intellectual snobbery and a penchant for Wagner, Morse presents a likeable persona, despite his sullen temperament." Sounds like Corey, right? (Kidding!) Anyway, I've been teased nonstop ever since it was revealed that I had no idea who he was. But, I'm quickly learning all about the detective and his favorite Oxford haunts. For example, one of the pubs he frequented, the Eagle and Child on St. Giles, was also a favorite of writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Prior to Oxford, I was in London for two weeks. My parents took two extremely long plane rides to come and visit, but I'm glad they did. It was fun being able to play tourist for a few days and be introduced to a city at the same time as my parents. None of us had ever been to London before and my parents had never even visited Europe, so it was a memorable and exciting trip. It wasn't only to visit their lonely, vagabond daughter on her Watson, but also to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Happy 25th anniversary, mom and dad! I'll blog more about their trip in a bit.

I'm renting a flat right along the Thames river or as the locals call it, the Isis. After months of living on the go and out of a suitcase, it's so nice to have a place that's solely my own! I even have a little patio that faces the river. It's very conducive to writing, so on the whole, Oxford will hopefully be the perfect place to spend the next two months. I will be using Oxford as my "home base" while I go and explore other parts of the countryside. Particularly, the Lake District, which inspired Wordsworth and Coleridge (among others)! I will definitely be heading north up to Yorkshire to attend the Ted Hughes poetry festival slated for October 22nd-25th. If anyone knows any other places or poets I should look into, let me know! I want to get on some buses and go exploring.. there's also a plethora of poetry-related events going on in London. Particularly at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden, London (which I will also blog more about at some point).

One of the biggest and oldest bookstores in town is Blackwell. It beats all the other bookstores (Borders, Waterstones, etc) since it has its very own "Poetry Corner" filled with all these hard-to-find books like special UK versions of Li-Young Lee collections. I've signed up for one of their famous Oxford literary walking tours tomorrow and will let you know how it goes. Other than that, I've just been relaxing and winding down with lots of reading. I finally finished "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" (I highly recommend it), so am looking for a new book. Oh, and I also started running. The river is right there and the pain is less real when you're running alongside something so pretty!

I took these photos of the Thames when I came back from town today. It was already past dusk, but the sky had this deep purple glow to it. To end, here's some Ted to celebrate October and the first inklings of autumn:

October Dawn

October is marigold, and yet
A glass half full of wine left out

To the dark heaven all night, by dawn
Has dreamed a premonition

Of ice across its eye as if
The ice-age had begun its heave.

The lawn overtrodden and strewn
From the night before, and the whistling green

Shrubbery are doomed. Ice
Has got its spearhead into place.

First a skin, delicately here
Restraining a ripple from the air;

Soon plate and rivet on pond and brook;
Then tons of chain and massive lock

To hold rivers. Then, sound by sight
Will Mammoth and Saber-tooth celebrate

Reunion while a fist of cold
Squeezes the fire at the core of the world,

Squeezes the fire at the core of the heart,
And now it is about to start.

-Ted Hughes

Computer woes

Sorry for the silence! My computer is broken.. sigh. My dad complains that I go through about a computer a year (which is probably true). I'm so bad with technology! I just got this HP netbook for my trip since I wanted a really light weight and portable computer. However, since there's not a lot of memory, I compressed a lot of my files (including my hard drive) so now my computer doesn't even start. Oops. Hopefully when I see my parents tomorrow my dad will be able to help me out.

Which brings me to more exciting news... tomorrow I leave Belfast and fly to London! I leave at the crack of dawn for London where I'll be meeting my parents who are visiting me for a week. It'll be nice to see them and it'll be their first time in Europe.

The Belfast poetry scene is really quiet these days since Queen's has yet to start classes. Sadly, the Seamus Heaney Poetry Center wasn't as lively as I thought it would be. However, I did meet some really awesome people. Including a PhD student named Paul who is currently working on establishing an audio archive of Irish poets. I also met up with Lia Shimada, a Wellesley AND Watson alum! It's nice to make connections and talk to someone in-depth!

More to come once I'm in London...

Cheers!
Courtney

Derry & The Giant's Causeway

Hi everyone!

Currently in Derry (my last night here). I'm so exhausted! During the past few days, I've walked around the entire city (viewed from the top of the walls), toured the bogside and learned all about the sad history of "The Troubles" as well as visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site--The Giant's Causeway. The Giant's Causeway was incredibly gorgeous and it was probably the place where I felt the most inspired. Despite warnings that it would be a tourist trap, I went early in the morning to avoid the crowds and ended up just sitting on this tiny, well-worn bench at the very top of the cliffs writing. I of course forgot my notebook (argh) and had to resort to using all the brochures I had stashed in my bag (might as well get some use out of them)! But, I now have the skeletal outlines for a few poems written on my Cliffs of Moher brochure! I have about a half dozen or so poems that I'm currently revising, so once I feel they're somewhat polished and decent, I'll post them. In the meantime, here are a few more photos from the Giant's Causeway as well as an excerpt from Seamus Heaney's poem that discusses Derry (there's a display on "Derry in Verse in the town center).



Here's the link to the photos uploaded on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066847&id=2102998&l=4d0b588886

My next stop is Laurel Village(http://www.laurel-villa.com/), a poetry themed B&B in Magherafelt. I'll be taking a guided tour with Eugene to visit "Heaney Country" and his childhood home Mossbawn. I'm really excited! Each room is supposedly decorated in honor of a different Irish poet. I'm hoping for the Michael Longley or Seamus Heaney inspired room.. haha nerdy, I know!

Final thoughts: "...your solitude will be a hold and home for you even amid very unfamiliar conditions and from there you will find all your ways." --Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (Worpswede, July 16th, 1903)

The Aran Islands in photos

I took a ferry out to Inishmore, the main Aran Island just off the coast of Galway for a day. There are three islands: Inishmore (the biggest), Inishman, and Inisheer. Most of the ferries run between the coast and Inishmore, although you can find ferries that will take you to the smaller islands. Since it was only a day trip, I only made it around the main island. Inish is the main language spoken on the islands and I was able to see one of the summer schools where intensive Irish language summer schools are held each year.

Most tourists visit Inishmore in order to see a fort called Dun Aengus. Built on the edge of a cliff at a height of 100 meters overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the hike up to the top wasn't as easy as it initially looked especially with very, very gusty winds and heavy torrential rain. Although, it miraculously cleared once I hit the summit.

The Aran islands have a very rich literary history. In addition to local poet Máirtín Ó Díreáin of Inishmore who upholds the tradition of written Irish poetry, Lady Gregory sought solace in the rugged beauty of the Aran Islands. W.B. Yeats also has a connection to the island as he famously told his friend and playwright J.M. Synge: "Go to the Aran Islands, and find a life that has never been expressed in literature." Synge listened to his friend's advice and the Aran Islands had a profound influence on his plays, forever altering the direction of his work. W.B. is everywhere in Ireland and it seems that I can never move to a new town or county without locating places he stayed, visited, or referred to in his poems!













Final thoughts: "In this world, there are things you can only do alone, and things you can only do with somebody else. It's important to combine the two in just the right amount." — Haruki Murakami (I'm currently reading "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle")

Galway City and Cliffs of Moher

The last time I blogged I was in Dublin, so I have a lot of updates for you! After Dublin I traveled to Galway where I was staying in the Kinlay House Hostel (right in the center of Galway city off of Eyre Square). Galway is often considered the "heart" of Western Ireland and is known for its numerous cobblestone lanes and village atmosphere that invites various musicians, artists, and writers every year. Galway also has a number of renowned festivals (particularly music and arts festivals), although none were going on when I was visiting. For anyone thinking of visiting, you should time your visit to conicide with the annual Cuirt Poetry & Literature Festival which is scheduled for April of each year and features poetry readings, book signings, and theatrical performances.

On my first day in Galway I decided to just explore the city. The city itself is very walkable and I found that it was a lot smaller than I had expected (although maybe this was because I had just come from Dublin). Some of the main streets looked a lot like Dublin, but it was really the back roads and streets where the shops and stores were interesting. I found a bookstore that seemed to have every single edition of Time and National Geographic magazines available. I also found some rare Yeats books in a vaulted case. I was interested in seeing them, but the owner was reluctant to open the glass cabinets unless I was "extremely serious" about purchasing them. (Which I was not since I didn't have the money!) A few hours later just before dinner, I came across a Japanese restaurant "Kapa-ya." I had been craving rice and Japanese food, so I decided to splurge and ordered katsudon, which was really very good. I was surprised! The owner/cook is actually from Japan and didn't speak much English, so I thanked him in Japanese and he seemed appreciative.

The next day I took a day tour of the Cliffs of Moher. I was trying to resist pricey bus tours, but the Galway countryside is just too huge and there was no way I could see the coastline without a car. The cliffs are really beautiful, probably one of my favorite places in Ireland so far. (My favorite is still the summit of Knocknarea in County Sligo!) During a visit, you're able to walk along the edge and peer over the craggy limestone cliffs. Peering down the 203m was a test of my fear of heights! I'll have to update more later with pictures from the Aran Islands.

Here's a poem to conclude by Julie O'Callaghan (who gave a poetry reading at the Yeats Summer School). I can certainly relate to the poem:

Leaving Home

The first night
you’ll lie face-down and cry.
That helps to clear your head.
In the morning, you aren’t sure
what to do about breakfast
since you’re in a strange house.
You unfold the map
your father gave you
and follow the mark
of his felt-tip pen
along the outlines of streets
that seemed impossible
to imagine last week
but now stalk right outside.

-Julie O’Callaghan

Dublin

Hello from Dublin! I'm currently in the living room of my hostel (The Globetrotters) blogging for the first time in a long time. Dublin has been both exciting and chaotic. Being in a city after the slow pace of Sligo has been invigorating and I can understand why so many writers resided in Dublin and drew on the city as a direct source for their work. However, with moving to the city comes high prices, crowds, and an abundance of concrete everywhere. On my first day I stumbled across Trinity College's academic quad and immediately found solace in the green lawns (manicured and lined by signs that prohibit walking or even stepping foot on the grass). The quad also has numerous stone pathways leading to huge academic buildings which loom overhead. It doesn't have a lot of red-brick buildings like many US universities and colleges, but it does reminds me of being at Wellesley. Since I'll reach the maximum number of nights enforced by my hostel this upcoming Saturday, I'll be moving to the Trinity dorms for another week to continue my time in Dublin. Afterward, it's onward to Galway! So far I've seen the Hugh Lane gallery, the Dublin Writers Museum, the National Library and their amazing Yeats exhibit (probably THE best museum exhibit I've ever seen--good job Gabriella!), and the Charles Beatty Library. Tomorrow I'll head to Temple Bar for their weekend used book fair as well as to get some produce for the week. I'll also have to blog about the literary pub crawl that I went on with my friend Jess. More to come! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Bask in the sun for me... it feels like Fall over here with the rain and winds!

Leaving Sligo for Dublin

Sorry for the long hiatus! I haven't had internet recently. I just wanted to update and say that tomorrow I'm leaving for Dublin. I'll be there for a few weeks and then I'm planning to visit Galway, Derry, and Belfast. I'll post more once I'm all settled in Dublin and can find decent internet! Until then.. thanks for reading and being so patient!

Snapshots of my first few days

I took a boat out to see the Lake Isle of Innisfree. Once lonely in London and homesick for Sligo County, Yeats wrote one of his most famous poems and vowed, "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree..." I'll post more about this day trip later.
A letter from Yeats regarding The Abbey Theater. (On display at the Sligo Country Museum)
A view of Sligo town and the Garavogue river.
My bedroom in the hostel Yeats Village. It comes with my own dresser, desk, and bathroom as well. I also have access to a full kitchen with cooking supplies. The only problem is that I'm a horrible cook.. (I'm working on it!)

The view outside my train window on the way from Dublin to Sligo. Ireland is exactly the way I imagined--rolling hills and a lot of horses and sheep!

Sorry they're chronologically placed backwards. I'm still trying to figure out how to blog! My Yeats seminars start on Monday, but I'll try to post as often as possible. So far I've met three women from Japan, one really nice local Sligo pastor, and one student from Poland.

Sligo, Ireland

I'm currently in Sligo, Ireland and have officially begun my Watson! I've been here for three days now. On my first day I arrived in Dublin and then took a train for three hours to reach Sligo. The train ride was beautiful and in some ways reminded me a lot of all the trains I used to take in Japan. The trains themselves are very clean and quiet. The windows are large and made it easy for me to view all the greenery and hills dotted with sheep, cows, and horses.

The town I'm currently staying in for the next few weeks is called Sligo. Sligo is a really small town, but very pretty and very wet (it's always raining). Sligo is best known for Yeats. Yeats's father owned a shipping company, so I was able to see the harbor where his ships used to reside. I'll also be going to a painting exhibit that showcases paintings by Jack B. Yeats (his brother) this weekend.

I'm staying at this self-catering hostel called "Yeats Village." I'm in a huge house, but no one else is currently staying here. So far I've just been exploring the town--going to small cafes and browsing through bookstores. I've noticed that unlike bookstores in the US, the poetry sections here are always displayed near the front in a prominent position. While I usually have the entire section to myself at Barnes and Nobles, I now have to reach over other browsers to find the poetry volumes I'm looking for.

I've been hanging out in the Yeats Society building a lot. It's a really cute brick building directly across the way from the town's Yeats statue. Attached to the building is a Yeats tea room where you can buy scones and tea. The Yeats building also has a large collection of books (a Yeats library), display of photographs, and a place to view videos on Yeats. With nothing else to really do, I've currently watched all the DVDs on Yeats. Until my seminar classes start next week Monday, I have a lot of writing/thinking time. Registration for the summer seminar series starts this Saturday. Famous poet critic/Harvard professor Helen Vendler supposedly arrives in Sligo tomorrow! Although her seminar was full by the time I registered, I still hope to meet her and am looking forward to hearing her lectures.

I don't have access to my pictures yet, but once I figure out a way to upload my photos off of my camera, I'll post them to my blog!

Miss you all already!

A little bit more about my project...

Here's some background information on my fellowship and what it entails:

The mission of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program is to offer college graduates of unusual promise a year of independent, purposeful exploration and travel outside of the United States in order to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community.

Here's the blurb about my project that appears on the Watson website (http://www.watsonfellowship.org/site/index.html):

Courtney Sato, Wellesley College
"Writing Toward Home": Tracing Poets and Places
France, Ireland, United Kingdom, India, Bangladesh, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, the Czech Republic, Germany

I have always been told: write what you know. Writing is deeply rooted in place, one's childhood home or neighborhood. I plan to visit the homes of international poets, to re-trace their steps, and seek out specific places developed in their poetry. My aim is to understand how their sense of place seeps into their writing and shapes their creative habits and tendencies. Immersed in these neighborhoods and poetic circles, I will create my own poems in response to the settings and share my poetry with these literary communities.

So, that's what I'm up to this year! My first stop is Ireland and I leave tonight at 10:45 pm! I still need to finish packing. My suitcase is bursting at the seams with items like a silk sleeping bag for hostels, a camping first-aid kit, macadamia nuts for gifts, and a lot of different medicines for any sort of ailment I might have along the way.

My itinerary for Ireland:
Saturday, July 18th (today): Leave Honolulu at 10:45 pm
Sunday, July 19th: 8-hour layover in San Francisco then depart on Aer Lingus for Ireland
Monday, July 20th: ARRIVE IN DUBLIN! Take the train to Sligo, Ireland and settle in for the next three weeks (until August 7th) I'll be attending the Yeats International Summer School for two weeks (http://www.yeats-sligo.com/html/summer.html)
Saturday, August 8th-August 15th: Return to Dublin and check-in at Globetrotter's hostel and stay for a week

After that, my plans are up in the air. I'm excited, but am also equally nervous.

The best way to contact me while I'm away is via email: courtney.sato@gmail.com or csato@alum.wellesley.edu.

I'll write once I find internet somewhere in Sligo!

Beginnings

I apologize for the delayed creation of my blog! After months of telling people that I would create a travel blog, I finally sat down and made one with only a day to spare since I leave for my first stop (Sligo, Ireland) tomorrow night. True to being a writer, I agonized over the title of my blog until I finally settled on "postcard poetics." In a way, this blog will serve as my postcards to you all (although I will try to send as much snail mail as possible) with updates on my travels. However, it will also be a place for me to share poems, words, or phrases that I write/encounter during this upcoming year. I would also love to hear your responses to anything I post whether it be my poems, photos, or musings.


Here's my most recent version of my itinerary:
Mid-July, August: Ireland
September: Northern Ireland
October, November: England
Early December: India
Mid-December: Bangladesh
January, Februrary: Trinidad & Tobago; St. Lucia
March, April: Germany
May: Czech Republic
June-mid-July: Provence, France

To conclude my first post, here's one of my favorite travel poems by Elizabeth Bishop:

Questions of Travel

There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streams
hurry too rapidly down to the sea,
and the pressure of so many clouds on the mountaintops
makes them spill over the sides in soft slow-motion,
turning to waterfalls under our very eyes.
--For if those streaks, those mile-long, shiny, tearstains,
aren't waterfalls yet,
in a quick age or so, as ages go here,
they probably will be.
But if the streams and clouds keep travelling, travelling,
the mountains look like the hulls of capsized ships,
slime-hung and barnacled.

Think of the long trip home.
Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?
Is it right to be watching strangers in a play
in this strangest of theatres?
What childishness is it that while there's a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around?
The tiniest green hummingbird in the world?
To stare at some inexplicable old stonework,
inexplicable and impenetrable,
at any view,
instantly seen and always, always delightful?
Oh, must we dream our dreams
and have them, too?
And have we room
for one more folded sunset, still quite warm?

But surely it would have been a pity
not to have seen the trees along this road,
really exaggerated in their beauty,
not to have seen them gesturing
like noble pantomimists, robed in pink.
--Not to have had to stop for gas and heard
the sad, two-noted, wooden tune
of disparate wooden clogs
carelessly clacking over
a grease-stained filling-station floor.
(In another country the clogs would all be tested.
Each pair there would have identical pitch.)
--A pity not to have heard
the other, less primitive music of the fat brown bird
who sings above the broken gasoline pump
in a bamboo church of Jesuit baroque:
three towers, five silver crosses.
--Yes, a pity not to have pondered,
blurr'dly and inconclusively,
on what connection can exist for centuries
between the crudest wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden cages.
--Never to have studied history in
the weak calligraphy of songbirds' cages.
--And never to have had to listen to rain
so much like politicians' speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence
in which the traveller takes a notebook, writes:

"Is it lack of imagination that makes us come
to imagined places, not just stay at home?
Or could Pascal have been not entirely right
about just sitting quietly in one's room?

Continent, city, country, society:
the choice is never wide and never free.
And here, or there . . . No. Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?"