Yesterday, Reinhard (one of three presenters in the session that contained my second paper) and I walked through campus, boarded a train, and walked downhill through Brighton for dinner on the ocean. This was after I posted yesterday's entry, so I’ll include some photos here. We saw the burnt-out West Pier and enjoyed a calzone at Nu Posto.
Near the ocean, we happened upon a memorial to British soldiers killed in the Second Boer War. I was as disoriented by its inscription as I was bewildered in the last two days by the most ordinary of conference conversations. Typically, I quickly answer “Where are you from?” with one of “Calvin College,” “Grand Rapids,” “Michigan,” or “the U.S.” But this meeting was different. My presentation was on Ghana, I have a position in South Africa, but my employer is in the States. “South Africa, but I work at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, but I just spent 5 months in Accra because my wife led our university’s study-in-Ghana program, but I’m currently on sabbatical in Stellenbosch, South Africa” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue!
The workshop is finished, and I’m waiting in Heathrow to go home. But the concept of “home” is a little fuzzy at the moment.
—Matt
