The Cambridge Diaries: The Cambridge Soundtrack.

What will the Cambridge soundtrack sound like? Will it be comprised of the Beatles,  Beethoven and Bach on shuffle? I thought of this as I was listening to Tonic on CBC radio 2 one evening and was lulled into a trance by the intoxicating voice of Billy Holiday. Jazz. It has been my soul language ever since I discovered it in high school and yet, if you think about it, is a completely American art form. It came out of the Blues and Gospels, Spirituals and the appropriation of white man’s religion forced on an oppressed people. Miles, Coltrane, Dizzy…all American.

Folk musicians like Sarah Harmer, Emmy Lou Harris, even Great Big Sea have also been responsible for a number of tracks. But is what I know as folk the same as what the British know as folk?

And while the world is small and the music industry vast I couldn’t help but wonder if the everydayness wouldn’t be more different than the same? 

In 10 short days we will be boarding a plane for London, England with no intention of returning for the next four seasons. We have planned out every detail, crossed every “T” and dotted every “i”. We have our passports, our visas, bags are packed and every item on my lengthy “to do” list is emphatically checked off: complete. 

And now I dwell….What will life be like?

Will I be in awe?

Will I be happy?

Will I heal?

Will I be lonely?

Will I want to come home?

Will I make friends?

Will Jakob like school?

Will I get tired of the rain?

Will I be homesick?

Will I be comfortable?

Will I regret?

Will it be what I expect?

Will I grow?

Will I change?