Marilyn Visits Larissa: Bristol, 1995

Larissa’s Study Abroad: University of Bristol

Marilyn’s Version:

In 1995, Larissa chose to attend the University of Bristol for her year of study abroad from Scripps College. Bristol was an English-speaking university, and she could easily transfer the credits to Scripps. Another student, whose name I don’t recall, was also going to Bristol. Larissa’s friend Cori chose to do a semester in Paris, and her friend Kate chose to do a year in Australia.

Larissa and a friend headed out to the United Kingdom a week or two early, and so I had to deal with the registration office at Bristol when they phoned a few days before the beginning of term. The nice lady had several questions, and I had to explain that Larissa was somewhere in Scotland at the moment, and she would have to speak with the office at Scripps to get the details she needed. I provided her with all the information I had about the study abroad office, and I guess it was enough, because Larissa was able to enroll.

Marilyn’s Visit to Bristol

Marilyn’s Version:

During Spring Break in the U.S. School year, I decided to visit Larissa in England. As I remember, she and I both had some time off from classes, and the time when I would be visiting included the English Mother’s Day (“Mothering Sunday”) weekend. Gary had to spend that week working in San Jose, California, so I would be travelling alone. I packed a small bag that I could handle by myself, and I flew off to London.

Larissa met me at the airport, and we went into the city. We walked around a little, and had something to eat. Larissa asked if I needed to do anything in London, because it would be hard to come back once we had gone to Bristol. I don’t think I had anything on my schedule, so then, as I remember, we took a long-distance National Express bus ride to Bristol. It was a very nice bus, with a waiter serving tea and snacks. We crossed nearly the whole width of the island of Britain in about the same time it took to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles when I was young!

When we arrived in Bristol, Larissa took me to the hotel where she had made reservations for me in a ground floor room. It looked like a small family-owned enterprise, probably built at about the same time as my grandparents’ house. I think it was fairly near the University, and once I was settled in, Larissa hurried back to the campus while I took a nap.