Windsor Castle

Yesterday our group went on a trip to Windsor Castle. Nice place, but I liked Chatsworth better. The grounds weren’t as nice and there wasn’t as much to do there. The inside of Windsor is extremely fancy, but you’ll just have to take my word on that since they didn’t allow any photography. It was cool to tour a place that still in use. So someday when I’m watching British political stuff on TV, and they have a State Dinner at Windsor, I can say “I’ve been there.” Queen Mary’s dollhouse was pretty amazing. It was several floors, had a garage with 5 cars and a garden. Working electricity and a working “Hoover” (vacuum). It even had a safe for all the crowns. The town of Windsor is really nice. We ate at a local pub where I had the best meal yet, complete with cheesecake and tea for dessert. When we got back, a bunch of us went to the Crew Formal, even though most of us aren’t even in crew, but it was a good excuse to dress up. Rob was a little scared to go since he backed out of his Regatta the day before the event, but we promised to protect him. When the British say Black Tie they mean it, all the guys were in tuxedos. It was a fairly small group, and it reminded me somewhat of a junior high dance (even though I’ve never been to one). After that our whole group of friends went out together for the last time, since Rob leaves on Tuesday for Barcelona and Rome, never to return. Steff and Marie are also leaving, and my Marie is leaving for Prague next week. These days are bittersweet. All the Christmas lights are up in town!! But all of us Americans agree that the town tree is very sad. Americans are definitely better at the whole Christmas decoration thing. Went to church today and we even sang a Christmas song!! Oohh I’m getting so excited!! There was a lady there from Hong Kong who spoke this morning, and she brought some Chinese people with her who were formally drug addicts to share their testimonies. It was pretty interesting. I had my last Social Psych tutorial last week. She said my 16 page summary and analysis was “masterful,” “fantastic,” and that I’ve ended on a “very strong note.” That felt good, but I still don’t know how I did for the whole term. Everyone is freaking out because no one can afford to get even a B+. When you’re only taking two courses they carry a whole lot more weight than usual, and even an B+ or an A- for the whole semester could seriously damage your GPA. I’m trying not to worry. But now it’s back to my final Jane Austen paper.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, in America, here it's just another day. This morning I woke up and realized it was Black Friday, we don't have that here either. I don't know which is worse- missing Thanksgiving dinner or Black Friday sales! So yesterday I went to the open market again. Got more Christmas presents- ohhh, you're all going to be so surprised!! I finished watching "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." For some reason it didn't seem so stupid the last time I so it 17 years ago. I heard the same guy who's did Lord of the Rings is going to make "The Chronicles of Narnia" which would be awesome. Had three different dinners yesterday, despite the lack of holiday. First we went to our program's office for turkey sandwiches, pringles and pumpkin pie. The turkey sandwiches were a little strange, and I've never had pumpking pie that tasted like orange before, but it was a nice thought. And I got to see some people I haven't seen in a while. A lot of kid's families came this week. This one girls mom came over and made a huge dinner for her and her friends. Marie (the one that's not my roommate) is in London with her parents. Sarah's sister is here visiting and she also goes to Eastern. Jay's little brother is here this week. And Kevin's three friends from New York are here. So lots of exciting new additions to our study abroad posse. From there Sally and I ran home and whipped up (literally) some instant potatoes, fake gravy and salad. We went down to 24 Walton Well Rd where there was at least 30 kids. There was so much food. I was amazed! Who would have thought that a bunch of college kids could pull together an entire Thanksgiving dinner. I mean it's one thing to be able to cook, but it's entirely different here. We don't have any measuring cups or spoons, no mixing bowls, and maybe a handful of old, dented pans between all of us. Conversion is another thing, Sally gave up on her banana bread because she couldn't figure out how to convert. I think she got stuck on the eggs :) So yeah, huge dinner there. There were some British girls who had their first Thanksgiving. We explained the history and someone said it's basically just when you get together with your family and eat all day, the one girl is like "That's so American." Once that dinner ended I went down to 5 WW Rd. for the final event. I didn't eat at that one though. It was a fun night, and the first time most of us had all hung out since way back in the beginning when we didn't have work. Of course, some kids spent all of last night working on papers, sad but true. I started my final paper this morning!! I am a paper writing machine, next semeter should be a cinch. HA!

Happy Thanksgiving!

one more week to go!

England is rather depressing this time of year, I can't imagine why, the sun doesn't set until 3:45pm, that's plenty of daylight! The town has all its Christmas decorations up, but it feels weird to see unlit Christmas lights when it's still mild out. I made some "seasonal" decorations of my own, paper snowflakes, out of all the papers I've written since I got here. Sally was impressed, I guess they don't make those in California, actually I guess God doesn't make them very often out there either. So no matter what it's like outside, it's always snowing when you look out my window. My roommate is sick, and my other flatmate thinks she's getting sick. Maybe I need to find a place to stay for the week. I think this is the first fall I haven't got sick! Had a tutorial today. She said I was clever again, and even said I write well. I wonder if that means I'll get an A. It's frustrating not knowing how you're doing in your courses. Only one more week of class and I'm home free. Ok well not exactly home yet, 4 more weeks until that, but free. Free do to what I'm not sure yet. Tomorrow 21 Walton Well is going to Evensong and formal dinner at New College, and Thursday we're having Thanksgiving dinner with our program and another dinner at someone's house down the road. Check back for the story on those exciting events.

London Symphony

The internet is back. I can’t say I’m not a little disappointed. I rather enjoy haven’t a good excuse not to go online. Yesterday was beautiful, so beautiful that I am up to page 16 of my paper. Dr. Lee is going to hate me, since she usually only wants 1000 words. I’m afraid to hand this one in. Took a long walk in Port Meadows yesterday morning. I finally found the ruined abbey, and the Trout Inn. Because of all the rain on Wednesday it was a little muddy, but I got some cool pictures. I do so much reading and writing during the day that by the time evening rolls around I want to go crazy. It’s not like at home where you have classes or meetings to break up your day, and when you work at home, you can even eat while you read. I think everyone was a little restless last night. Finally, we just sat down and watched a movie and went to bed early. I have a little over one week of classes, and just one more paper in addition to the two I’m in the middle of now. Then it’s 3 weeks of free time. So traveling plans are in the works. There’s different groups of people going different places, so the hard part for me isn’t deciding where I want to go but rather who I want to go with. I was planning on going to Ireland, maybe to visit Jori, but my friends are all going on Monday, and I have papers and class on Tuesday and Thursday. Just got back from London. We went to the British Museum, out to dinner and then to the London Symphony Orchestra. The symphony was an awesome experience. We had some difficulty finding our way out and back to into a reasonable part of London, but we eventually made it. And now it's almost 3am and time for bed. My roommate is sick so she put an extra heater in our room. It's nice like this when I miss sheets instead of these duve things ...

a tragedy at 21 Walton Well

It’s been raining all day, which I find very disappointing since I am unwilling to go to the market in the rain. I was hoping to wrap up my Christmas shopping today, but I guess it will have to wait another week or so. The internet is down at our house. You can imagine the reaction- everyone has left. Which is great for me, a nice, quiet house all to myself as I continue to write my now-10 page paper. There’s something romantic in sitting at home by yourself on a gloomy day, working on a paper with the sound of rain outside your window. Yeah. Dr. Lee got the brilliant idea that I should write a paper on this book, The Psychology of the Internet. A critical analysis, which involves summarizing the entire book, then analyzing it. I’m about to start page 11, and I still have to summarize the last quarter of the book. I have a feeling much of this week will be spent in front of my computer screen. The ironic thing is that this tragic event occurred at our house right after I read about Internet Addiction Disorder. So I have a lot of real-life application to put into my paper, like how we had more visitors and telephone calls last night, because no one can reach anyone on the house by email or IM. I even quoted Marie saying, “I have no reason to live… I think I’ll just go to bed.” And she did, way earlier than normal. Flat life is starting to get to me, we ran out of toilet paper- again. But this time no one felt like buying any, and those of us who normally do are apparently tired of being the only ones to contribute. So it was napkins for a while. Someone stole my last egg, and my precious Ritz crackers are almost gone! There’s a guy at the market on Wednesdays who sells bananas for super cheap, but that means you have to get about 3 bunches. I think we all bought bananas yesterday, because there’s about 50 on the kitchen counter. Amanda said if you eat 5 bananas a day for 5 days you’ll die, so we speculate that we should each have at least two a day so they don’t go bad. They finally dropped off our desk lamps that we were supposed to have when we got here. Unfortunately, the desk in our room is too far away from the outlet to actually use it, but I guess it’s nice to just have it sitting there, anything to add to that “lived in” look. Amanda’s mom sent over steel wool pads. A huge thanks to Mrs. Cattley. They have revolutionized the way I do dishes, last night I even felt compelled to scrape off all the black stuff on one pan that has probably been there for several generations of WISC students that have lived here.

and now... back to Oxford

Everyone is back in town from Amsterdam or, in my case, Melksham, and it's back to work. On Monday night, Sally, Karen and I watched "The Shadowlands." I had forgotten how sad that movie was. But I will still add it to my faithful journal readers "You've Got to See" list, especially since we think one of the first scenes is in the New College dining hall. CS Lewis's office is Magdalen, the one scene is in Blackwell's Bookstore, and another one is in a local pub we've been to. If you want to get an idea of Oxford, watch the movie. Or maybe we could have a showing when I get back, with popcorn of course, then I could interrupt every few minutes and tell everyone that "I've been there!" and no one would be able to really watch anyway. Had a tutorial yesterday. She really liked my last paper, and said she can see the progress I'm making, which only made me feel bad because I don't think the paper I handed in yesterday was as good as the one before it. That tutorial is tough because she usually goes off on these tangents and I'm not quick enough to see how it relates to the topic. Like yesterday, I think we started out with feminism in Jane Austen, then I noticed she was discussing French Feminism in the 20th century. This was made most obvious by her talking in French. She asked me if I knew French. "No ... but I know Latin and that's a gendered language ??" Somehow she brought it all back around with 1 minute to spare, during which she assigned my next paper on parenting in Austen's novels. Sometimes I walk out of the room wondering what just happened? Last night we went to see Rachel perform in Godspell. I was surprised at how tiny the theater was, for being an Oxford production. There wasn't even a stage or curtains. But it was very well done, as far as singing and dancing. The musical itself is "eh" but the students did a good job. We discovered a gold mine last night!! Apparently, right before midnight, the Co-op (our grocery store) puts all its expired goods on sale. We got beef patties, pork chops, and scones for only 10 pence a pack!! It was too good to be true. Expect many more accounts of late night Co-op runs. Well now I'm off to the open market to do a little Christmas shopping, woo woo!!

weekend in Melksham

Well the "queen" has been temporarily dethroned, and I am free (for a few minutes anyway) to use the computer. Fortunately for the rest of us, even the "queen" has to take showers and go to sleep... On Friday I went to visit the Firth's in Melksham. I took the train (for the first time!), which was very exciting, since I had no idea what I was doing. It's a good thing I asked somebody, because the trains are labeled by final destination and I had to get off and switch at some point. Oh well, you live and learn and now I'm a pro at the English trains!! It takes less than an hour to get to Chippenham from Oxford, and that includes a ten minute wait in the middle. When I got there Catherine and Pastor Margaret picked me up. Then we went to Catherine and Owen's for lunch (they're the couple that just got set in as elders this Sunday). They live in an incredible old English farmhouse, out in the country. The cows are right in their backyard, and there was an amazing sunset that evening, it looked like the whole horizon was on fire. Catherine made us homemade tomato soup and banana bread (my favorite!). Then we just spent some time visitng with them until Becky got off work. They have a15 month old son named Samuel who is such a pleasure (that's "Growing Kids God's Way for ya), and Becky and Chris watched him that night too, so I got to see a lot of the littlest member of Good News. Catherine asked me if she'd seen me before, because I looked familiar, I was like "No that was probably my brother, Micah." Haha. Went to Chris and Becky's that night, we visited for a while, and Becky made a wonderful meal of BBQ chicken. On Saturday we had 7am prayer at the Firth's. I've been up before the sun more times this week than I have all year!! But, in addition to what was accomplished in the heavenlies, the breakfast afterwards made it well worth it!! Visited with the Firth's and the Pastor's for the rest of the morning. (It's crazy that you can hang out with people for hours, and head home while it's still morning!) Then Chris, Becky and I visited Lacock, where they filmed Pride and Prejudice, and Bradford-upon-Avon. Lacock was an adorable little town, we saw a very old church, the tithe barn, went into some little shops, and took a walk through the country. There's also this amazing old Abbey outside of the town, but unfortunately it's closed for the season. Bradford was really cute too. There was a "football" game going on when we got there. Then we went to some old stables converted into shops and had "cream tea." Mmmm, I love my English tea and scones!! Came home to another one of Becky's delicious meals- chili. Then we watched "Creature Features" which are made by the same people who did Chicken Run and very funny. We ended up going to be quite early, since we were all exhausted. On Sunday we went to church, had to get there an hour and a half early to set up. They hold church in town hall, and it's so perfect! We had a wonderful time, it was great to hear Pastor Wayne preach again. They made me stand up and greet the church, then get back up again and say some more so they could get a picture. Small churches can be embarassing ... Afterwards the whole church had a lunch of "American" food. Meatball subs!! And loads more of fantastic food, especially since I've been living off of canned soup and toast. They even sent me home with dinner to eat on the train! Altogether it was a wonderful weekend, it's great to see people from home and spend time with those you really love. But it's also a little hard to come back then... I love Oxford, and I'm really enjoying my time here, but when it comes to England my heart is definitely in the country!

third trip to London

Recently we have been enjoying some very fine weather, I could venture out of doors in only a jacket or sweatshirt, not so any longer. On Thursday we went to London for Armistice Day, and it was frigid! First we had a walking tour. Apparently I chose the wrong group. Our tour guide said it would be nearly impossible to see the Queen, so when the parade did go through, we were in some alley behind parliament. And he didn't even notice the 11:11 two minutes of silence until 11:12. The guy working the power drill behind us never noticed it ... Anyway, he was clearly wrong because a kid in the other tour group not only saw the Queen but captured her on video!! And the lucky dog also got to see Tony Blair!! Now that doesn't happen in the US- "Oh look there goes George!!" So with Armistice day the streets were crowded, there was a protest going on against fox hunting and everyone was wearing these poppies. We took a break for lunch, it must have been a day for bad decisions for me, instead of heading to McDonald's with some of the girls I thought I'd try a nice little restaurant in the park with Rachel and two other girls I don't really know. It was not only very expensive, but I didn't recognize anything on the menu. I ended up with raw salmon. Well you can't knock it til you try it, and now I feel very free to knock it. And so with some very bright pink, raw salmon chilling in my stomach, we went to the Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his men ran World War II. It was very interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone visiting London. Churchill and his men worked down there for 6 years, unbeknownst to Hitler and even Americans and Britains. The day the armistice was signed they tidied up their desks, turned out the lights for the first time ever and went home. The Rooms stayed just like that until they were re-opened in the 1980s for tourists. So we got to see them just as they were when they were vacated- papers lying about and all. The map room was very interesting. You think about the war in Iraq, and how we must have maps of that while we're fighting, but these were maps of the entire world- with pins everywhere! Anyway, we had a little bit of time before the bus left so me, Sally, Marty, Erin and Jen took a quick trip to the British Art Musuem, where we saw the Rosetta stone, the remains of an entire temple, and pieces of the Parthenon (not quite sure why they're in England). I attempted to work on my paper, but because of a very early morning, I soon got too tired and fell asleep.

I live with a queen

These days, I find it difficult to maintain my journal. Not because of a lack of time, although this week even that has not been as abundant as usual. No, it is because my access to the house computer has been limited, I have been “overruled” if you will, by none other than the “Queen of the Computer.” The Queen sits on her swiveling throne, presiding over her internet kingdom both day and night. When I come in after midnight, she is there. When I come down for breakfast in the morning, she is already halfway through her emails. Given those rare moments when her throne is vacated, I steal the still-warm seat to catch up on my internet tasks. It is usually not 20 minutes before she comes pouncing down the stairs again, and sitting down at the table across from her usual place, she stares me down as I self-consciously, and quickly, bring any email or conversations to a close and run out of the room. It once crossed my mind that she could be running an internet business, what else would prevail her to spend such long hours in front of a glowing screen? But upon further investigation I discovered that it is only emails, a great deal I must presume, and constant communication with her “subjects.” So a thousand apologies for the inconstancy of my writings, and please accept my excuses from the land where anarchy rules and weak-willed serfs like myself must learn to endure such harsh rulership. And now back to my feminism paper that I dropped off when suddenly inspired to write this…

Guy Fawkes Weekend

This weekend was Guy Fawkes Day, a celebration of the burning at the stake of Guy Fawkes, who attempted to burn down Parliament, or something- I don't really know all the facts. In short it's an entire weekend of fireworks. Everyone sets them off. All night. There were a few times when I thought I was living in a war zone. In addition to writing two papers this weekend, I also did a little shopping and sightseeing of my own right here in Oxford. On Saturday the town was crowded!! You could hardly get by. All the stores here are already decorated for Christmas, and they all play Christmas music. It's too early!! I went to the Botanical Gardens next to Christ Church Meadow. There are pictures in my album, but I'm afraid many of you will be disappointed. There's no people in them, and November isn't exactly the optimum time of year to visit a garden. My roommate, Amanda's, birthday was Sunday. So I took her out to the movies, her choice. We saw "The Coporation," a very insightful documentary on corporate America. Then last night, Sally, Karen and I took Amanda out, bought her a cake and some gifts and sang to her. Spent this morning at the science library finishing up my paper. Which I was very excited about. Up until this week I didn't know I had access to that library, and it has all the books and journals I've been looking for!! It was a social psychology student's dream!! But now it's back to reality and wrapping up these papers.

on living with Academics

Your first indication of our abnormal living situation occurred whilst attempting to cross the kitchen. It was done with much difficulty, the soles of your shoes stubbornly attaching themselves to the layers of dirt and grease that coated the linoleum. Of course, there were previous warning signs that you somehow failed to notice: a sink and counter so full of dirty dishes that the last person to eat was forced to set their used plate on the washer or stove, pumpkin seeds from the party held a week ago- still attached to the carpet, having to run next door for a roll of toilet paper because you ran out (again), “stealing” paper cups from the last event you attended because the flat could really use them, being overcome with that sense of dread when you realize that the only milk left in the house is yours, and until your flatmates replenish their own stock they will inevitably be dipping into yours. Ah, this is life with Academics. But it should be understood that they are not dirty, and they certainly are not lazy, they just have an altogether different set of priorities. Really, if given a choice between scrubbing the kitchen floor or writing a paper on Jane Austen and the Enlightenment that is due the following week, the Academic must undoubtedly choose the paper. For no matter what they are doing, the mind of an Academic is constantly overshadowed with the knowledge of studies that are yet to be accomplished. In fact, immediately upon the start of the term, cleanliness is forced to join the ranks of sleep, healthy eating habits and communicating with those at home that have dropped to the bottom of the Academic’s “to do” list. It should also be known that the Academic’s behavior during term should not be considered a reflection of his or her character as a whole, nor should non-Academics become offended by his or her conduct during this time. Next time you ask an Academic a question, and it is several moments before you receive an answer, usually an answer that has nothing to do with the original question, check to make sure that he or she is not currently working on a paper. Or should you call sometime after 10pm only to discover the Academic has gone out for the evening, rather than feel neglected, rejoice that the Academic has somehow found a way to part with his or her studies, if only for a few moments. Most importantly, should you realize that your Academic has not been to bed before 3am in several weeks and enjoys a diet consisting of toast and tea, do not be alarmed, but know it is only for a season, and that in a few weeks time your Academic shall be returned to you more knowledgeable, more disciplined and almost as healthy as when he or she left.

Ecclesiastes 12:12

"... of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh."
I wish I could write a paper on that topic ... I have cut myself off from all adventurous society and have committed myself to "many books" and "much study," at least for the next two weeks, I am a tad weary but fortunately my version has an end. I read, research and write in the house until about sunset, then I take a walk in Port Meadows until heading out to the computer lab and the library for the evening. And such has been my life for the past two days- haha, I know, two days doesn't signify much of a life, I'm just being melodramatic. On Tuesday me, my flatmate Sally and her boyfriend Marty went to formal dinner at New College. It was truly a worthwhile experience! We have to wear these black robes, (which I get to keep so now I can wear it at home too!!) and you sit at the long tables in the formal dining hall, but first you stand while somebody important mumbles something unintelligible, then you sit again, the lights are off except for the little lamps on the tables, and people in black and white serve you your three course meal. We had what we think was potato and leek soup with a roll, roasted pork, string beans, roasted potatoes and some divine pineapple desert. I think Sally is my favorite flatmate, and her boyfriend is a nice guy too. His dad stopped by Oxford on his way to Africa, where he is in charge of some churches. Apparently he has family in Milton and even knew where White Deer was!! Anyway, after dinner the APU kids had their weekly bible study at our house, which was an interesting experience, and that's all I'll say on that. Unfortunately, we couldn't get in to the Union for the election. Tickets were all sold out and there were over 400 people on the waiting list. I thought about staying up that night, but the British stations weren't covering anything by midnight, and I figured we wouldn't know anything by the time I got up anyway. Our flat was split: 3 wanted Bush, 3 wanted Kerry- but we still all get along :)
The Oxford tutorial is very interesting. I'm learning a lot and yet I'm not. Ok, I'm learning (or teaching myself I guess) a lot of depth on narrow topics, but not a lot of breadth, considering I'm only taking two courses. But I won't pretend that I don't enjoy it, despite all the studying. Being able to focus on two subjects that I enjoy has reaffirmed my belief in the pleasures of education. So I can't decide which way of studying is better. I think the tutorial would be good for graduate work or something, since it's so focused, but I have definitely gained a greater appreciation for Eastern and my classes there, which is good because now I can look forward to going back almost as much as I didn't a few months ago. But until then I have much to look forward to. I'm almost halfway through my stay here and there's still so much to be done!!

a romantic weekend

I have spent almost the entire weekend, aside from a few social gatherings, working on my Jane Austen paper: Was Jane Austen a romantic? No. But that's not romance as in roses and red hearts, it's the literary and art movement that took place during the early nineteenth century where writing was based on nature, emotion, passions, the sublime, etc. Just in case anyone is interested in the fun things I get to study. Finally wrapped up the paper at 2am last night after getting off the phone with my mom. I did have some fun this weekend, and I learned some new things, such as the British also have daylight savings time. Here I thought it was only an American thing, noooo. I couldn't figure out why the streets were so empty on Sunday morning, and the doors were locked when I tried to go to church. It's the one day a year where we get an extra hour of sleep and I missed out on it! I did make it to church that night, then my flatmates had a little Halloween type party here with pumpkin carving and bobbing for apples. Also went to our friend Kenny's house (which is definitely the nicest flat of them all, because he lives with one of the program heads.) That was cool because they have a microwave and we finally had microwave popcorn. I think Marie and I ate 3 bags between the two of us. Halloween is also a time of fireworks here, since they don't have a fourth of July, so we set off some fireworks in the back yard. Met a guy named Tom who lives in Philly and goes to Grove City. He knows Jeremy Dager (for all you non-Eastern kids, he goes to my school) and also Jeremy's friend Rob who is Jori's good friend from Susquehanna. He didn't know Lorraine Krall but he has heard of Amy Good (GC students). It's so nice to meet people from home! So this whole week has been composed of late nights and early mornings, this one being no exception since they were doing construction outside our window at 8am. I've been living off of soda just to stay functional. Maybe I'll go take a quick nap ...