December 20, 1996
Hello!
I hope that you have had a good and healthy year.
First of all, I want to thank those who supported me while I lived in England this year. Thank you for your e-mail, letters, and packages of wonderful things from home I don’t know how I would have kept my sanity if it wasn’t for your humor, advice, and ability to help me keep my feet on the ground during constant change.
It is difficult to know where to begin in describing 1996. That’s me on the cover of this card, standing in beautiful country land this past March in the southwest of Wales, just across the Mouth of the Severn from England. South Wales is heaven on earth for me, and this photo captures the connection I feel to the land there. I keep going there again and again — seven times now — and can’t get enough. I am already planning another trip in late January.
The adventures of 1996 literally began on December 31, 1996, when I flew to London from Cleveland. I arrived on a cold, foggy morning and waddled my way to the London Bridge train station, where I met Hugh Hill. Hugh and Joyce Hill were my host parents for the first month in London, and I want to thank them for being such a wonderful example to me. They are truly lovely Christians, and we spent many hours talking and learning from one another. I also got to meet their children: Vicki (an art student at University of Portsmouth), Jacqui (a gynecologist), and Jonathan (a Ph.D. student in Physics at Imperial College, University of London). I would like to give a very special thank you to Joyce’s sister in Chicago, Margaret, and her daughter, Andrea, for arranging my stay with the Hill’s.
By the end of January, I moved to Walthamstow (northeast London) to lodge with Jenny, her daughter Katherine, and their cat Sheba. What an exciting eight months we had! Jenny introduced me to wholefoods cooking, Delia Smith (Britain’s better answer to Betty Crocker), hiking, candles, YHA Adventure shops, and different genres of literature and music. Not to mention the fact that she is a great advice-giver! I think we both helped each other at tough times. Katherine, with whom I had hours of fun, taught me a lot about seven-year-olds and myself. Jenny, by the way, has been to Columbia, Missouri! I nearly fainted on the London Tube when she told me that during my first ride home with her.
During this time, from February to August, I traveled extensively throughout the UK, Ireland, Hungary, Austria and parts of southeast Germany. The memories are too plentiful to mention here, but I especially treasured my trip through Ireland with Curtis (we hitchhiked!), and the lovely talks I had while traveling with Martin. Thank you, Jean, for hosting me for two weeks in Eastbourne, where you introduced me to your family. I especially loved the Eastbourne Leisure Centre — what a swimming pool it was!
In Budapest, I saw Missouri classmates Amanda and Richard (both working at the rival English-language newspapers, Budapest Sun and Budapest Business Journal). Amanda and I traveled outside of Budapest for a day to visit the parents of her boyfriend, Geza. While at their house I learned about the bomb at the Olympics in Atlanta over CNN Europe. All in all, I saw the Olympics as covered in Austria, Hungary, Germany, and the UK this year!
But, I musn’t forget what I used my fellowship money for! For those who aren’t thoroughly bored with my discussion of this topic by now, I am writing my master’s thesis at the University of Missouri School of Journalism about The Big Issue, a British street magazine sold by homeless people. I worked at The Big Issue as a reporter in February and spent the rest of the spring/summer interviewing national journalists about their attitudes toward it.
My project enabled me to visit the newsrooms of all five British national dailies and even interview the new editor of The Independent! Thank you to all who helped me, especially Robert Franklin from the University of Sheffield and Ken Warn from the Financial Times for his lunches and support. Thank you to my thesis chair, Betty Winfield, for her advice and patience!
When you couldn’t find me on the phone persuading reporters to take my survey, I kept an unofficial second residence at the laptop section in the main reading room of The British Library on Great Russell Street in London As always, old Big Issues and piles of books about homelessness kept me company. I learned British Library etiquette: Don’t sleep, don’t lean on books, no pens, turn the sound off on your computer, don’t wear beeping watches, don’t go the wrong way up the stairs, and allow three days for books to reach you from the Yorkshire storage site, one from Woolwich, and 1/2 day from Bloomsbury. And run to the advance reservation desk as fast as you can after the noontime shipment of books!
While I was in England, a lot of news came to me from home. My father has realized a goal and has now lost 23 pounds. I think my avowed vegetarianism and new hobby of wholefoods cooking is wearing off on him a bit. My sister and her husband, Dennis, and two children are looking toward possibly buying their first home this year. My mother goes down to West Virginia quite often to care for her mother. I see my paternal grandparents in Orrville, Ohio whenever I can. Slowly everyone is getting onto e-mail, so it makes keeping in touch a lot easier.
My research followed me back to the States in September. I moved back to Columbia, Missouri in October to finish my thesis. There were chances to catch up with classmates, bemoan our unfinished theses, and commiserate about the future. My Oberlin College friend, Rob, visited Columbia in October and we devoured the vegetarian meals we cooked. I discovered the beautiful Columbia First United Methodist Church, where I became an associate member.
Columbia gave me a chance to work further on my thesis and take upon a job helping out at the university’s Black Studies Program’s office. It was wonderful to make reasonable money! But the salaries were soon offset by the cost of my Australian visa and required health fee.
In November, I flew out to the American west to attend the Speech Communication Association Conference in San Diego. There I presented my paper about The Big Issue. Entitled, “Five Stages Toward Socio-Political Change: Theory of the Alternative Press and The Big Issue of Britain,” the paper won both Top Five and Top Paper in the International/Intercultural category. It was wonderful to get some hard-earned recognition in academia. The conference also gave me the chance to meet potential colleagues; one of the highlights was meeting a British researcher sharing similar interests.
Besides all the academics, San Diego was marvelous! I spent a glorious week in San Diego with my Oberlin friend, Chris, and his father. We walked along the beach, took hikes, and tried Afghani food! On the way back from California, I flew over the desert, saw Phoenix, Arizona, stopped in Texas, and spent a few days with my friend Oberlin friend, Nathan, in Kansas. Nate told me fascinating stories about his Peace Corps experiences in Botswana as a math teacher in a secondary school. He saw elephants and fought brush fires. I really admire his courage and sense of adventure. All in all, it was a great trip!
Columbia was only a short jaunt, however. By early December I was planning my next trip to England on January 26, after I defend my thesis. I will stay in London until February 10, when I fly to Perth, Australia. There I will begin classes in cultural studies at Murdoch University as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.
The fellowship lasts for a year, and after early 1998 I have no idea what the future will hold!! The plan for fall 1998 is to enter a Ph.D. program in cultural studies, possibly at University of Wales at Cardiff if I get a fellowship. Long term, I would like to put together some type of book about The Big Issue and the international street newspaper movement. I’m presently applying for a grant to research the Australian Big Issue in Melbourne in winter-spring 1998.
For your information, even after I arrive in Australia you can reach me at my old e-mail:
T.Heiz@ic.ac.ukI’ve no personal postal address in Perth yet, but feel free to get in contact with me through my Rotary host family. Their address is:
I’ve no personal postal address in Perth yet, but feel free to get in contact with me through my Rotary host family. Their address is:
Melodie Kevan
c/o Teresa Heinz
47 Calley Drive
Leeming
Western Australia 6149
Australia
Well, all in all it has been a busy year. One full of changes and excitement. I can only hope that next year will offer more challenges. I also hope that you will keep learning about your potential as we all grow together. Everyday I am baffled at how much there is to see and do in this world. Take care, have a safe holiday season, and keep in touch
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