A summer of travel

Well, this is a blog, it is about Chernoffs (the Graham and Nathalie contingent) and it is about our summer travels.  

Today, Graham and I begin a summer of travel, the destinations include London, Paris, Washington DC and Akron, Ohio.  Three massive, world renowned cities and then one small city that barely anyone knows about but which, I can already vouch, has the friendliest people I have ever not met.  

This summer has come about due to series of work opportunities.  

 Big Ben by bthomso

Next week, we will be in London for some research at several of the giant and amazing libraries there. Love London, love libraries.  It'll be great.

Opera Garnier

In July, Graham is taking a french course in Paris.  I will be accompanying him as official trophy wife, suffering through many hours of sitting by the Seine, gazing in amazement at the Eiffel tower, feeling intimidated by the glamourous Parisian women and trying to remember to eat food other than crepes and pastries.  I also have a chapter to research and write about the psychology conference that took place during the Paris World Expo of 1889, but I assure you that the order of activities listed above should be read as a ranking of how much time/commitment I plan to devote to each one.

Our flat

At the end of July we will return to Edinburgh for a few days (and lots of socialising!) before setting off for the American portion of our summer.  On this part of the trip the roles reverse and Graham becomes trophy husband, free to indulge himself in long lie-ins, proliferous clothes shopping, resenting me for working too hard, reminding himself that the money is worth it and drinking too many cocktails by the hotel pool.  Oh wait, that doesn't sound anything like him. Well, I'll keep you posted on what he does choose to do.  I can guarantee that some of it will definitely embarrass me, that's the just the way our relationship goes.

The Capitol by katmere

Our first stop is in Washington DC (for a week) where I will attend the American Psychological Association (APA) Convention.  The best thing about this part of the trip is that my mum, dad and sister will be joining us!  I feel confident that the combination of unencumbered displays of national pride in the US capital and the Oakes-Chernoff humour + holiday mood will result in much hiliarity and fun.  We're also excited about finding delicious breakfasts, looking at the Smithsonians and feeling relieved when we don't get shot in Baltimore.  

Akron City Centre, photo found here

The final leg of the trip will be three weeks in Akron, Ohio.  Akron is famous for several things.  First, it is the world capital of rubber.  World headquarters of Goodyear, Firestone, Goodrich and General tyre companies, Akron surely holds a special place in all car loving hearts.  Wikepedia tells me that Akron is also where Alcholics Anonymous was founded (I have no comment on what that signifies about the city) and most relevantly to me, Akron is the home of Quaker Oats. Hmmm, delicious delicious porridge.


Given its history it makes perfect sense that the University of Akron is also the site of the largest History of Psychology Archive in the world.  A Smithsonian affiliate, the Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) is a major resource in my field and so I have arranged to do a three week internship there to learn more about archiving and curatorship.  Again, Graham will be trophy husband here and work on his thesis at the house where we will be stay in Hudson Ohio.  We are doing a house-swap with the a couple called the O'Tooles which I will fill you in on in some other blog post.  The story is amazing and they are seriously the nicest people ever.  No really, ever!

So, there you have it, a quick summary of how our summer is shaping up and what you can expect to read about on this blog.  I promise it will be long winded and probably full of huge cultural generalisations, but what's the point of being an academic and tourist if you can't partake of those things?  

-Nat

p.s. I would love if this didn't turn into a one-way communication so please make use of the comments section to give your opinions, say hi, share travel tips, correct my spelling or announce your pregnancy.   

p.p.s. Well maybe not the pregnancy one, I'd rather get a phone call about that.