LESSONS
LEARNT
ULLENSVANG, Norway: I'm teaching three online
classes this summer: two introductions to travel writing and one advanced
workshop. And, boy howdy, do they up the excitement-ante on the road.
Skipping dessert, I skulk off to critique my students' submissions. I sit on a circular dock protruding into the fjord – my own private island – until rain threatens the iBook. I work in a quiet backwater of the lounge for a while.
I retreat to my room, editing late in the night. Overwhelmed, I finally sleep four hours, race downstairs for a quick swim, then back to the room. Forget breakfast. I graze from the complimentary bowl of cherries. Edward's promised to smuggle some bread and cheese from the buffet too. Good man.
Finished. Yes! And a whole ten minutes before the bus leaves.
I log onto the wifi. And naturally it doesn't work.
I laugh and laugh, because it's better than crying.
Amanda - sorry to hear the wi-fi didn't work ... technology can fail you at the most inopportune times, huh?
ReplyDeleteDear God, the setting for the hotel you're staying at is absolutely stunning. Norway ... one of the Nordic countries I haven't been to yet ... but someday ...
On the road, net access works about 50% of the time I hope it will.
ReplyDeleteI try to be mellow, but losing $1k worth of work – because of a ban on file-uploads, for example – can leave one, well, SOUR.
But yes, Norway is durned pretty. Looks a bit like Puget Sound, the inland ocean region that embraces Seattle, truth be told...