Reading "Wow"

I was asked by a campus reporter to submit a story from Reading, something that shows the behind-the-scenes joys of the program and something that made me go "wow"! It took me a day to narrow it down, and while I cut out getting mugged in France, finding an apartment for myself in Athens via a one-in-a-million-chance-rendezvous in a Tube station, and dancing Thriller in silence with the rest of my house in Trafalgar Square, I thought this was a nice moment to relay. Not as epic, perhaps, but it was more relevant to the Reading program itself.

It was a dark and blustery night. I'd been listening to the Beatles my whole life, so just being in Liverpool was a dream come true. But I was beside myself that night because my friends and I were all talking about going down to the Cavern Club, the venue where the Beatles got their start. It was still a thriving club, and we'd heard the night before had had mediocre music, but we decided to go give it a try, if only for the novelty of being there. We fought the wind (we must've looked like those men in the old movies who hold onto lamp posts, it was that strong) all the way to the pedestrian center of Liverpool and finally arrived in the Cavern Club. I think the next moment is a memory that will live in my head forever. As I led the group down the spirally stair case that descended into the cave-like club, I slowly came to the realization that the air was filling with the sound of the climax of Hey Jude, being sung by a live band. When I finally reached the bottom, it was like I walked into one of my childhood dreams: the room opened up from the tunnel of the stair well and exploded in sound as an entire mob of people sang the final words of "Hey Jude" in front of a stage littered in color. To me, that moment was the very meaning of the word "perfection". It was like bringing my parents to the Westminster Tube stop right under Big Ben and telling them to look up right as she starts ringing. Or finding the perfect pair of Wellies while standing in a shoe store in Bath, my current shoes completely soaked through and leaving puddles on the floor. Or cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my housemates, my new found family in my home-away-from-home. Or eating meat pies in a shop called Sweeney & Todd. Or seeing Les Mis in Covent Garden. Or going to Midsummer Night's Dream in the Globe Theatre. Or watching Harry Potter in Leicester Square. Or taking the train into Paddington Station. Actually, it was perfect like spending a year of my life in Reading, England with some of the best people I could ever care to meet. It really doesn't get any better than that.