So I realized I never actually finished and closed this blog out, so I figure a little after a year since I came home might be an appropriate time to do so. My last days at CMRS were extremely happy and sad at the same time, a very sublime experience. On one hand, we all spent as much time together as we could, just hanging out and making a big deal out of every goodbye. I wrote most of it down in my journal, but seeing as how upset I was with the end of everything and already missing everyone, I would rather end this piece on a happier note.
Our second to last night we had a big goodbye party, where we all had fun in our diminshed common room, with people slowly drifting out to leave either the next day or the day after. I of course stayed to the bitter end, where since they were planning to remodel the entire common room anyway, we stole pieces of the fuzzy 70's wallpaper for mementos. The next night, with everything packed, I just sat around talking with everyone, especially Lauren, Alix and Jason. Going to bed that night was hard, especially since Craig was with Laura and his side of the room was completely barren, and he'd be gone before I got up.
As I walked down the stairs Saturday, there were a number of suitcases on the landing, and I will admit that I dillydallied as much as possible. Eventually though I had to admit there was nothing left for me to do, everything was in my bags that I was somehow supposed to get to the airport, I had said my goodbyes to Dr. Philpott and the rest of the CMRS staff, and while there were still a few students around, we were all pretty busy and had already said our goodbyes, so encounters were usually just sad little smiles as we passed each other by.
Getting to Heathrow wasn't too bad, though I definitely got weaker in my time away from the gym. Getting to my terminal was a bit of pain, since it required taking a shuttle that really wasn't designed to accomodate people with large bags, and it was a little crowded. Anyway, the night passed okay, spent it reading books and took a nap on top of my bags, and with other people around me doing the same thing it felt a little better. I was still pretty on edge though. Actually gettting on the plane is an ordeal I do not feel like recounting here, just ask me about it in person and I'll start ranting about it no problem though.
Once I was settled on the plane I was able to relax a bit, knowing that there was nothing left for me to do except sit back and wait for the trip to end. Amsterdam really wan't a problem, I was able find my gate easily and then just sat around waiting to go. Each gate had its own security, which was a neat idea, but it required waiting in line for a while to do it again, which was a little annoying. The second plane ride was fine, I read a book, slept, and watched tv. It was weird seeing NCIS with edited accents and words.
Landing and getting through customs wasn't a problem. I was a little concerned since I reported only a few things on my card thing and had tea with me, but I just got waved through no problem after waiting in line. I also turned my cell phone on while waiting in line, it was strange having it working again after so many months without it. Grabbed a cart and got my luggage pretty easily, then went outside to wait for mom and dad. I will admit, I didn't smell that great. I'd been wearing the same clothes for over 36 hours at that point, (jeans, 3 t-shirts, a hoodie and my jacket because of weight issues at Heathrow, and sweating from having to run a little), so I was looking forward to getting home, showering and sleeping.
Dad found me standing around outside (it was so much nicer outside with all those layers on), and eventually mom managed to reach us. Through my stuff in and away we went. They'd also brought Kanik, so that was fun. It was good to be home.
And now it's a year later. I should be writing my senior thesis, so of course this seemed like the better choice to do. In graduate in two weeks, and while the work load in front of me looks daunting, my time in Oxford has well prepared me to deal with it. I don't know what will happen after graduation, unfortunately I was not accepted to Oxford for grad school, so now I don't have any real plans. But I have a list of options, so no need to worry yet. I'm still in contact with a number of people from CMRS, and no matter what happens, I know I will always look back on these past few months as some of the best in my life. Looks like I am taking my next steps into the sun.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Thursday, July 21, 2011
An Amazing Day
Today I blew off work again and went to Blenheim Palace again, this time with Lauren N., Brenna, Shelby and Jenn. Such an amazing day, one of my favorites here. We left early in the morning so the girls could buy tickets, grabbing breakfast from a local shop while we waited for the store to open. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky. We reached Gloucester Green at the perfect too, arriving just as the bus was about to depart. Blenheim Palace was a lot busier this time than when Mom and I were here, most likely a combination of it being such a nice day, our arriving earlier, and it being a Saturday. There was a long line of cars as we walked up, and the kiosk where Mom and I exchanged our tickets was really busy, and no one said anything as we walked right by it. There was still a sense of awe walking into the palace courtyard, and being with people who had never seen it before made that feeling all the stronger. We had a little bit of trouble getting into the palace because we hadn't traded in the tickets where we were supposed to, but that was sorted out soon enough.
We went through the Churchill exhibit and tour first, the second time I did it. The guide this time was not as informative as the other one I had. When we reached the end in the library, all of us talked about how we would love to have one just like it. It's so much fun being with book nerds just like me. After the tour we went outside, and since it was so gorgeous out none of us were in a hurry to be back indoors. We spent a while taking pictures iin the first garden before we finally walked down one path, which didn't last long before the girls decided to lay down in the grass and bask in the sun. Eventually we convinced ourselves to move, and we headed off to the Rose Garden, passing some ancient trees, sheep, and tons of wild daffodils along the way. Sadly the Rose Garden wasn't in bloom, so it was just a metal circle, but we spent more time just sitting in the grass. From the Rose Garden we decided to take the long way round that went by another part of the water. At one end of the path there was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking pictures, so we had our own little photoshoot. We also had a little banter over my preference for taking pictures instead of being in them, since I was the one taking most of the group shots there with everyone's cameras. After finally tearing ourselves away form the waterfall, we started along towards the Secret Garden. Along the way we saw a herd of sheep, but there was a creek between us so we couldn't get close, and since some of the girls were in skirts and dresses, they really were not up for trying to jump over it. Along the way we decided we were hungry, so we took a detours across the South Lawn to the cafe for lunch. There weren't many choices available, especially for a reasonable price. I got a ham and cheese sandwich with onion pickles and a victorian sponge cake. The onioin pickles tasted different, and while they weren't bad, it's not something I'd want on a regular basis. Lauren and Jenn decided they didn't like it at all, and wound up scraping it off their sandwiches.
After we finished eating we started heading in one direction but then decided instead to do the other half of the house tour. It was a neat automated tour, with animatrons and video screens that told about the history of the house under its various Dukes and Duchesses. They did a cool trick where they had the animatrons looking in mirrors, and then the reflection was a screen so it was like they were actually talking to you. It was fun, but definitely a Disneyinsh tourist attraction. After that we wanted to go back outside, so we headed over to the Pleasure Garden. Sadly the train between the garden and main house is out of operation for maintenance, and the buggy was really full, so we decided to walk over. Again the scenery was nice, and we were joking and laughing the whole way over.
The Pleasure Garden was a separate enclosure designed more for families to enjoy themselves rather than show off the magnificence of the palace. There were a lot of shrubberies and benches set-up for people to relax, most of which was pretty full. The first area we went to was the butterfly house, which was awesome, though extremely hot and humid. The first area was a little explanation room about the different types of butterflies and how they were cared for at Blenheim, and then you entered a long room with two aisles full of various types of flora, all labeled, with butterflies everywhere. Quite a few people were in there, and many people were trying to get a butterfly to land on them. Aside from butterlies, there was also a little koi pond full of fish under a bridge and a couple of birds flying around. There were also a lot of signs asking people to not take anything out with them and to be careful when exiting so nothing got out.
After being in there for a bit, we made our way out, with the exit of course being through a giftshop. Then we went the next big area, which had model homes of the local town along the edge of the walkway as you entered. We spent a while playing with the sundial circle, then went over to do the hedge maze. Honestly, this one was much more challenging and better upkept than the one at Hampton Court. We tried dividing into two teams and racing to the center, but we kept crossing paths and the teams got all mixed up. Eventually Brenna and I were the first two to make it to the center of the maze. We had to wait a few minutes for the others to catch up. We took a couple of photos, and then went through the exit. That was pretty much the extent of what there was for adults to do in the Pleasure Garden, so being mature we went over the little kids' area to have fun. There were ground mazes and different games on the ground, and a couple of giant chess and checkers boards. Brenna and Jenn started having an epic checkers match, and while the rest of us were watching a couple little toddlers came up and started stealing the pieces, and none of us had the heart to yell at them. They gave the girls a couple of chess pieces to replace them, but they decided to call it quits. We left through another area we thought would be fun, but again it was meant for little kids and there were signs saying no one over 4ft or so (it was in meters, I'm not sure how that converts) was allowed on them.
Again the buggy was really full, so we walked back towards the exit. We tried being energetic, but by this point we were all pretty worn out. Upon reaching the crossroads, we decided there was no real reason to go back to the palace, so we left. Had to wait a little bit for the bus, so we looked over some of the souveniers we'd purchased while we waited. When the bus came, it was the same driver we'd had that morning, who even remembered us and asked us how are day had been. We stopped at Tesco on the way back for dinner, the girls got mostly health stuff while I picked up a couple frozen pizzas. I also grabbed a couple bottles of Oasis, which I am definitely going to miss when I get back home.
After getting back to CMRS I went to my room and checked on Facebook for a little bit before heading down to the kitchen to make dinner. The four girls who went to Blenheim were there, along with a few other people. Kelsey even commented that I looked a little tan, I guess we were outside quite a bit. Ate in the common room, and while I had intended to get some work done tonight, that never happened. Wound up watching a movie with the group while scrawling this entry in my notebook. Blowing off work was totally worth it. This has been by far one of the best days I've ever had. I definitely smile and laugh a lot more while I'm here, and I really am not ready for this semester to end.
We went through the Churchill exhibit and tour first, the second time I did it. The guide this time was not as informative as the other one I had. When we reached the end in the library, all of us talked about how we would love to have one just like it. It's so much fun being with book nerds just like me. After the tour we went outside, and since it was so gorgeous out none of us were in a hurry to be back indoors. We spent a while taking pictures iin the first garden before we finally walked down one path, which didn't last long before the girls decided to lay down in the grass and bask in the sun. Eventually we convinced ourselves to move, and we headed off to the Rose Garden, passing some ancient trees, sheep, and tons of wild daffodils along the way. Sadly the Rose Garden wasn't in bloom, so it was just a metal circle, but we spent more time just sitting in the grass. From the Rose Garden we decided to take the long way round that went by another part of the water. At one end of the path there was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking pictures, so we had our own little photoshoot. We also had a little banter over my preference for taking pictures instead of being in them, since I was the one taking most of the group shots there with everyone's cameras. After finally tearing ourselves away form the waterfall, we started along towards the Secret Garden. Along the way we saw a herd of sheep, but there was a creek between us so we couldn't get close, and since some of the girls were in skirts and dresses, they really were not up for trying to jump over it. Along the way we decided we were hungry, so we took a detours across the South Lawn to the cafe for lunch. There weren't many choices available, especially for a reasonable price. I got a ham and cheese sandwich with onion pickles and a victorian sponge cake. The onioin pickles tasted different, and while they weren't bad, it's not something I'd want on a regular basis. Lauren and Jenn decided they didn't like it at all, and wound up scraping it off their sandwiches.
After we finished eating we started heading in one direction but then decided instead to do the other half of the house tour. It was a neat automated tour, with animatrons and video screens that told about the history of the house under its various Dukes and Duchesses. They did a cool trick where they had the animatrons looking in mirrors, and then the reflection was a screen so it was like they were actually talking to you. It was fun, but definitely a Disneyinsh tourist attraction. After that we wanted to go back outside, so we headed over to the Pleasure Garden. Sadly the train between the garden and main house is out of operation for maintenance, and the buggy was really full, so we decided to walk over. Again the scenery was nice, and we were joking and laughing the whole way over.
The Pleasure Garden was a separate enclosure designed more for families to enjoy themselves rather than show off the magnificence of the palace. There were a lot of shrubberies and benches set-up for people to relax, most of which was pretty full. The first area we went to was the butterfly house, which was awesome, though extremely hot and humid. The first area was a little explanation room about the different types of butterflies and how they were cared for at Blenheim, and then you entered a long room with two aisles full of various types of flora, all labeled, with butterflies everywhere. Quite a few people were in there, and many people were trying to get a butterfly to land on them. Aside from butterlies, there was also a little koi pond full of fish under a bridge and a couple of birds flying around. There were also a lot of signs asking people to not take anything out with them and to be careful when exiting so nothing got out.
After being in there for a bit, we made our way out, with the exit of course being through a giftshop. Then we went the next big area, which had model homes of the local town along the edge of the walkway as you entered. We spent a while playing with the sundial circle, then went over to do the hedge maze. Honestly, this one was much more challenging and better upkept than the one at Hampton Court. We tried dividing into two teams and racing to the center, but we kept crossing paths and the teams got all mixed up. Eventually Brenna and I were the first two to make it to the center of the maze. We had to wait a few minutes for the others to catch up. We took a couple of photos, and then went through the exit. That was pretty much the extent of what there was for adults to do in the Pleasure Garden, so being mature we went over the little kids' area to have fun. There were ground mazes and different games on the ground, and a couple of giant chess and checkers boards. Brenna and Jenn started having an epic checkers match, and while the rest of us were watching a couple little toddlers came up and started stealing the pieces, and none of us had the heart to yell at them. They gave the girls a couple of chess pieces to replace them, but they decided to call it quits. We left through another area we thought would be fun, but again it was meant for little kids and there were signs saying no one over 4ft or so (it was in meters, I'm not sure how that converts) was allowed on them.
Again the buggy was really full, so we walked back towards the exit. We tried being energetic, but by this point we were all pretty worn out. Upon reaching the crossroads, we decided there was no real reason to go back to the palace, so we left. Had to wait a little bit for the bus, so we looked over some of the souveniers we'd purchased while we waited. When the bus came, it was the same driver we'd had that morning, who even remembered us and asked us how are day had been. We stopped at Tesco on the way back for dinner, the girls got mostly health stuff while I picked up a couple frozen pizzas. I also grabbed a couple bottles of Oasis, which I am definitely going to miss when I get back home.
After getting back to CMRS I went to my room and checked on Facebook for a little bit before heading down to the kitchen to make dinner. The four girls who went to Blenheim were there, along with a few other people. Kelsey even commented that I looked a little tan, I guess we were outside quite a bit. Ate in the common room, and while I had intended to get some work done tonight, that never happened. Wound up watching a movie with the group while scrawling this entry in my notebook. Blowing off work was totally worth it. This has been by far one of the best days I've ever had. I definitely smile and laugh a lot more while I'm here, and I really am not ready for this semester to end.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Integral Week Three: Kenilworth and Stratford-Upon-Avon
My inability to get wireless at St. Michael's hall, a lot of work, spending time with people, and lack of motivation since getting home means these last few blog posts are a few months behind. However, I did write things down in a notebook while I was lounging in the common room or somewhere else away from my computer. So while not posted while I was in England, they are still what I wrote while abroad.
Monday was our last colloquium, which was an extremely bittersweet feeling. It's funny, our first colloquium really didn't start till it was already getting dark, and the last one finished while it was still pretty sunny out. Just shows how long I've really been here. I talked more than usual this time, and even managed to touch on the main point of the article, so I was pretty satisfied. After that though, I managed to accomplish basically nothing. Really need to buckle down, I still have a lot of reading to do. Tuesday I went to the St. Peter's library and was a little disappointed. Since the Oxford students are done, I expected to have the place to myself, but instead it was as crowded as usual. And of course people still left stuff all over the tables so you couldn't use them even after they left. I did manage to get some work done, so I was satisfied.
Wednesday was our last field trip, so sad. We went to Kenilworth Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. While I was looking forward to seeing Shakepseare's birthplace, Kenilworth was actually a pleasant surprise and the better part of the trip. Kenilworth is basically ruins of an Elizabethan castle that once belonged to one of the Queen's favored, Robert Dudley. It was amazing, walking amongst castle ruins in England on a beautiful, sunny day. I loved exploring, and I admittedly went a little camera crazy, so that by the time we left my camera was dead. I walked around the entire place and stuck my head in every little nook and cranny I could find. Sometimes I would go with a group, other times I would just go off by myself. I also took quite a few creeper shots while I was on my own. We did spend a little more time there than was necessary, though. We spent an hour just laying in the grass enjoying the sunlight, or other little random things like cartwheels and somersaults.
Finally we went straight to Stratford, which is an interesting little town. The Shakespeare connection was actually not that important until the last hundred years or so, so most of the monuments or buildings are rather new. Of course, there are many old ones as well, and the birthplace and some of the surrounding shops are original. We went straight to the birthplace upon arrival, but had to wait a while before we could go in. It was interesting to see, but I definitely liked the globe better, and I really didn't learn anything new either. After the tour we only had an hour to explore the town, so a group of us hurried over to the church where Shakespeare is buried. I wasn't willing to pay to see the actual spot where his body is, and I was rather irritated to see that the church had its own giftshop inside the chapel. I liked walking around the tombstones, where some of them were so old and moss covered that you can't make anything out on them anymore; or there were some that written in lettering that none of our modern eyes could distinguish anymore. It took us a bit to reach the church, so we were only there about 10-15 minutes before we had to leave. I would have loved to see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which just finished major renovations earlier this year, but it was definitely too far away to go and see. There were also a couple of book shops I would have loved to look at along the way to the church, but being me it is probably a good thing that I didn't. There were actually quite a few shops in Stratford that you can find in Oxford.
Looked into getting a snack for the bus, but decided not to. The people who did were late getting back, so we gave them a little bit of a hard time. I meant to do homework during the ride back, but go figure I fell asleep instead. Back at CMRS I stayed up watching TV and talking with people, which is basically what I want to spend all my remaining time here doing, especially considering there's so little of it left. I really don't want to leave.
Thursday I got some work done on my paper after lectures, one of which was given by Alun.
Friday was our last lecture, only one instead of two. The topic was interesting and the lectern was good, but I really couldn't focus and only took one page of notes. Lunch was fun, since we spent it admitting how little work all of us had actually done on our final papers. Sadly, this is probably going to be a serious work weekend. However, while watching a movie in the JCR, I agreed to go to Blenheim in the morning with some people. Not entirely sure who all is going, but it should be fun.
Monday was our last colloquium, which was an extremely bittersweet feeling. It's funny, our first colloquium really didn't start till it was already getting dark, and the last one finished while it was still pretty sunny out. Just shows how long I've really been here. I talked more than usual this time, and even managed to touch on the main point of the article, so I was pretty satisfied. After that though, I managed to accomplish basically nothing. Really need to buckle down, I still have a lot of reading to do. Tuesday I went to the St. Peter's library and was a little disappointed. Since the Oxford students are done, I expected to have the place to myself, but instead it was as crowded as usual. And of course people still left stuff all over the tables so you couldn't use them even after they left. I did manage to get some work done, so I was satisfied.
Wednesday was our last field trip, so sad. We went to Kenilworth Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. While I was looking forward to seeing Shakepseare's birthplace, Kenilworth was actually a pleasant surprise and the better part of the trip. Kenilworth is basically ruins of an Elizabethan castle that once belonged to one of the Queen's favored, Robert Dudley. It was amazing, walking amongst castle ruins in England on a beautiful, sunny day. I loved exploring, and I admittedly went a little camera crazy, so that by the time we left my camera was dead. I walked around the entire place and stuck my head in every little nook and cranny I could find. Sometimes I would go with a group, other times I would just go off by myself. I also took quite a few creeper shots while I was on my own. We did spend a little more time there than was necessary, though. We spent an hour just laying in the grass enjoying the sunlight, or other little random things like cartwheels and somersaults.
Finally we went straight to Stratford, which is an interesting little town. The Shakespeare connection was actually not that important until the last hundred years or so, so most of the monuments or buildings are rather new. Of course, there are many old ones as well, and the birthplace and some of the surrounding shops are original. We went straight to the birthplace upon arrival, but had to wait a while before we could go in. It was interesting to see, but I definitely liked the globe better, and I really didn't learn anything new either. After the tour we only had an hour to explore the town, so a group of us hurried over to the church where Shakespeare is buried. I wasn't willing to pay to see the actual spot where his body is, and I was rather irritated to see that the church had its own giftshop inside the chapel. I liked walking around the tombstones, where some of them were so old and moss covered that you can't make anything out on them anymore; or there were some that written in lettering that none of our modern eyes could distinguish anymore. It took us a bit to reach the church, so we were only there about 10-15 minutes before we had to leave. I would have loved to see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which just finished major renovations earlier this year, but it was definitely too far away to go and see. There were also a couple of book shops I would have loved to look at along the way to the church, but being me it is probably a good thing that I didn't. There were actually quite a few shops in Stratford that you can find in Oxford.
Looked into getting a snack for the bus, but decided not to. The people who did were late getting back, so we gave them a little bit of a hard time. I meant to do homework during the ride back, but go figure I fell asleep instead. Back at CMRS I stayed up watching TV and talking with people, which is basically what I want to spend all my remaining time here doing, especially considering there's so little of it left. I really don't want to leave.
Thursday I got some work done on my paper after lectures, one of which was given by Alun.
Friday was our last lecture, only one instead of two. The topic was interesting and the lectern was good, but I really couldn't focus and only took one page of notes. Lunch was fun, since we spent it admitting how little work all of us had actually done on our final papers. Sadly, this is probably going to be a serious work weekend. However, while watching a movie in the JCR, I agreed to go to Blenheim in the morning with some people. Not entirely sure who all is going, but it should be fun.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Integral Week Two: Bath
This week has been interesting, and non-homework wise the most stressful since I arrived in England. Honestly I don't know why I'm surprised though. Anyway, Mom and Linda came to Oxford after lectures by train, and I went to the station to get them. I was there when they arrived, but somehow in the crowd of people we missed each other and spent a good 20 minutes trying to find one another. Eventually we did, and headed out. We stopped at Jessops for a while so Linda could look into getting her camera batter replaced, and then came back to my room. After dropping out stuff off we went to the Eagle & Child for lunch, which I was very happy about. From there we went to the Bodleian, but the earliest full tour was already full, so we signed up for the later shorter tour. While we waited we did some souvenir shopping at a few university shops, took a little longer than I would have liked, but oh well. The Bod tour was fun, and I even learned a few things about it that I didn't know, and also learned how to get into the Exeter College gardens, which I will do sometime before I leave. After the tour we were pretty tired and came back here to plan out ticket stuff for the rest of the week. Sadly, that did not go as planned, and after a little while I just gave up and let Mom and Linda deal with it. When settled, we still didn't have play tickets, nor did they know how or when they were getting to Bath on Wednesday. And the plan was not to see each other on Tuesday, such a great idea. Anyway, after that fiasco we picked up all their bags and headed out to dinner. We went to Pizza Hut to prove that I'm not insane and it really is quite different. They agreed with me, and in the end I got leftover pizza for later. I walked with them to the train station and said goodbye, hoping for the best come Wednesday. I came back to the JCR to watch the first Lord of the Rings with people. I really like my group here. We're all so like minded and into the same things that it really is a good fit that I don't want to end-
Tuesday was a much needed day of relaxation for me. After breakfast and lecture, I looked up books I wanted to get for research, and found out what was available from St. Peter's library. At 2 there was my local field trip around Oxford with Dr. Philpott, which I really enjoyed. I like Dr. Philpott, despite some people's opinions of him; he makes little comments that if you are able to catch them are rather quite funny. We got to see Worcester (Wooster) College, which is a sort of mishmash of buildings from different medieval buildings and then some newer ones around them. The trip did run a little longer than it was supposed to though, and by the end I was starting to get ancy to be done. I think there was something I wanted to do, but now I can't remember what it was. Oh well. I relaxed until dinner, and afterwards did a little homework reading. Got an e-mail from Dad telling me what time I was supposed to meet Mom and Linda. It said a different location, but I decided to just go with the one we had picked on Monday.
On Wednesday we had our third field trip, this time to Bath, and honestly it was not my favorite. The countryside we passed on the way there was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed riding the bus around town. There were some nice buildings and neat sites, while thinking about all the famous people who have come here over the centuries and had an influence there, like Jane Austen. Still, it was too much of a tourist town for my tastes, they even had a Disney store! You got nickled and dimed for everything you wanted to do, and we weren't able to get into the Roman Baths until later in the day, so we had to spend the morning finding our own things to do. You even had to pay to get into the parks, which were closed anyway though. And to top it off, we had some true English weather of clouds and rain. While I like the rain, most the girls were anxious to be indoors. We tried the Fashion Museum first, which charged more than most of us were willing to pay. Then we walked over to the Jane Austen house, during the hardest part of the rain, and it still charged an exorbitant amount, at least more than I and a few others were willing to pay. Finally, sopping wet, we went to Bath Abbey, right by the Roman baths. The place was big, and apparently only have the size of the one that stood there previously. It was a cool church, though again if you wanted to see the whole thing you had to pay. We left there and found somewhere to eat, a cool pub with a sort of modern Roman theme. I got a Chicken club sandwich, which was good but definitely tasted different/interesting. I've taken on a policy in England where as long as it doesn't taste bad I'll eat it and don't even bother asking what some of the English names or mixtures are anymore. I ate fast since I had to meet up with Mom, meaning I inhaled my food, and then said goodbye to be at the designated meeting place by 2:05.
There were a lot of school and tour groups around the entrance to the Bath, most non-English speaking, which made looking around a little difficult. I stood around till 2:15, and then decided that maybe they were waiting somewhere else and started looking around for them. After 2 laps around the building I expanded my search area and walked farther away. With still no luck I went back to the front of the baths, and of course there they were, talking with Laura and Craig. Go figure. But we finally met up, except they had to go into the Baths right away, while my group had to wait a little bit to go in. The Bath was amazing, and full of history. It was also an interesting mix of ancient and modern to make it more tourist friendly and preserve it. The audio guide was a nice touch as well, and very informative. While I was walking around and taking pictures of the entrance, Mom came and found me, saying she only had an hour before she had to be back on the bus, so we had to rush through a lot of the baths. The water in the main bath was an interesting shade of green, with signs warning you not to touch it. Mom had to leave after that, and I joined up with people from CMRS. We sat around the main pool for a while, and then did the rest of the rooms pretty quickly. After we reached the Pump Room (a misleading name, BTW, since it isn't actually a pump room. Just a fancy restaurant that they pump the water into), we stayed there killing time till we had to be back on the bus. We stopped in the Abbey for a few minutes, since it was closing. We also stopped in a chocolate shop, where the smell of sweets was extremely overpowering. Later after getting back we watched the Two Towers. A very good movie, but we were all so burned out from the field trip that it was a little too long. It was also a surprise when we got back, because the scaffolding that's been on St. Peter's since last term was gone. It was weird to see the actual building.
Thursday after lecture I grabbed a bus to London. Mom wanted me to take the train, but I waited to long to get a ticket and it was really expensive. I prefer the bus anyway though, so it really didn't bother me. It was also nice knowing I would get dropped off right by the hotel and not have to walk far like I would from the train station. I got there around 3:30, which was when I thought I was supposed to be there. I checked with the concierge first to see if they were there, and then went up. Apparently Mom thought I was supposed to be there earlier, and so had been waiting for me. Oh well. Linda was out shopping when I got there, and the cleaning lady was making the beds, so we discussed what was supposed to happen that night. Surprise surprise, they didn't get tickets to the Children's Hour, or Wicked, but to a musical called Million Dollar Quartet. It had Elvis music and some other big hits, and I enjoyed it, though parts of it were a little too old for me. Getting ahead of myself though. We took the tube to the theatre district, which was slightly problematic and illegal due to some problems with the Oyster Cards they had gotten earlier in the day, but we got there. For dinner we went to a pub next to the theatre our play was in. I got a meat pie, and for the first time since I've been here, mashed potatoes. Considering I'm sick of potatoes at this point and don't want to see one for the rest of the year, it was surprising to see mashed on the menu; it's very unusual here. I did enjoy the play and a good deal of the music, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis (still not a fan of Cash). The end concert was really cool, though the older crowd dancing in the aisles during this freaked me out a little. Glancing around the audience during this, I saw similar expressions on most the younger people's faces, so good to know I wasn't alone. Went back to the hotel after the play, and went to bed pretty soon after. Mom was interested in watching a movie, but Linda and I vetoed that. We were exhausted.
Friday was a bittersweet day, knowing that mom would be leaving soon. We grabbed breakfast and then grabbed a train to Oxford. I got a 3-month return ticket as an attempt not to get ripped off too much, the train is so expensive here. Upon arriving in Oxford, we avoided St. Michael's since class was going on and I didn't want to flaunt that I was skipping. We went to a varsity shop so Mom could deal with some issues about a sweater she bought, but unfortunately the boss was out and the workerbees couldn't solve the problem, so I was nominated to comeback the next day and finish it. Great. We stopped at a few other shops to get some last minute souvenirs as well, and then came back to my room to drop it off. From there we headed out to Blenhiem palace, stopping at Morton's for lunch to eat on the way. On the way we saw Dr. Philpott, and Mom insisted on saying hello. A rather awkward meeting, with me holding my lunch while Mom brought up why I had ditched (I got an e-mail about that later, BTW), but overall it went as well as could be expected. From there we took the bus to Blenheim, which is amazing. A super long driveway with beautiful grounds, though not the most pedestrian friendly entrance; more designed for cars. Sadly the inside was a little disappointing as well, rather gaudy and overdone, and not a whole lot of info available since it is a private residence. Still, it was rather nice, though it would be nice if you could explore the sections marked 'private,' but something says that would be a bad idea. Also got my ticket turned into an annual pass, which is itself a cool card souvenir and a guarantee that I'm going back. After one of the tours we walked around the nearest garden a little, and then decided to come back to Oxford. It was rather cloudy and windy, and Mom's ankle hurt, so neither of us felt like really exploring the grounds, and since the place was pretty empty, I'd say most people felt the same. After walking all the way back down the driveway though, we were informed that it was a closed and that we had to go back and around to get out. (The gate closed at 4:30, and it was like 4:31 when we got there, so that was extremely irritating, it's not like they couldn't see us coming.) We basically had to do a giant circle through the village of Woodstock to get back to the bus stop. Mom was pretty upset, her ankle was really hurting.
After getting back to Oxford I let Mom talk to Dad on my computer for a little bit while I organized some things for her to take home. When she finished we set out for the train station, stopping in some random Italian restaurant for dinner along the way. We both got the same pasta dish, which was pretty good, especially considering it didn't have any meat. When we reached the train station we had a rushed goodbye so she could catch an earlier train. Rushed goodbyes again, not something I wanted. On the way back I was not in the best of moods. Pain and stressful as Mom is, I'm going to miss having her around. Spent the rest of the evening doing nothing. Watched the 2nd half of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with everyone in the JCR, they had watched the first part the night before. Too bad I still haven't seen it, but at least now I've seen the ending. A relaxing way to end a busy week, and hopefully the upcoming week won't be too bad. I have a lot of work to finish.
Tuesday was a much needed day of relaxation for me. After breakfast and lecture, I looked up books I wanted to get for research, and found out what was available from St. Peter's library. At 2 there was my local field trip around Oxford with Dr. Philpott, which I really enjoyed. I like Dr. Philpott, despite some people's opinions of him; he makes little comments that if you are able to catch them are rather quite funny. We got to see Worcester (Wooster) College, which is a sort of mishmash of buildings from different medieval buildings and then some newer ones around them. The trip did run a little longer than it was supposed to though, and by the end I was starting to get ancy to be done. I think there was something I wanted to do, but now I can't remember what it was. Oh well. I relaxed until dinner, and afterwards did a little homework reading. Got an e-mail from Dad telling me what time I was supposed to meet Mom and Linda. It said a different location, but I decided to just go with the one we had picked on Monday.
On Wednesday we had our third field trip, this time to Bath, and honestly it was not my favorite. The countryside we passed on the way there was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed riding the bus around town. There were some nice buildings and neat sites, while thinking about all the famous people who have come here over the centuries and had an influence there, like Jane Austen. Still, it was too much of a tourist town for my tastes, they even had a Disney store! You got nickled and dimed for everything you wanted to do, and we weren't able to get into the Roman Baths until later in the day, so we had to spend the morning finding our own things to do. You even had to pay to get into the parks, which were closed anyway though. And to top it off, we had some true English weather of clouds and rain. While I like the rain, most the girls were anxious to be indoors. We tried the Fashion Museum first, which charged more than most of us were willing to pay. Then we walked over to the Jane Austen house, during the hardest part of the rain, and it still charged an exorbitant amount, at least more than I and a few others were willing to pay. Finally, sopping wet, we went to Bath Abbey, right by the Roman baths. The place was big, and apparently only have the size of the one that stood there previously. It was a cool church, though again if you wanted to see the whole thing you had to pay. We left there and found somewhere to eat, a cool pub with a sort of modern Roman theme. I got a Chicken club sandwich, which was good but definitely tasted different/interesting. I've taken on a policy in England where as long as it doesn't taste bad I'll eat it and don't even bother asking what some of the English names or mixtures are anymore. I ate fast since I had to meet up with Mom, meaning I inhaled my food, and then said goodbye to be at the designated meeting place by 2:05.
There were a lot of school and tour groups around the entrance to the Bath, most non-English speaking, which made looking around a little difficult. I stood around till 2:15, and then decided that maybe they were waiting somewhere else and started looking around for them. After 2 laps around the building I expanded my search area and walked farther away. With still no luck I went back to the front of the baths, and of course there they were, talking with Laura and Craig. Go figure. But we finally met up, except they had to go into the Baths right away, while my group had to wait a little bit to go in. The Bath was amazing, and full of history. It was also an interesting mix of ancient and modern to make it more tourist friendly and preserve it. The audio guide was a nice touch as well, and very informative. While I was walking around and taking pictures of the entrance, Mom came and found me, saying she only had an hour before she had to be back on the bus, so we had to rush through a lot of the baths. The water in the main bath was an interesting shade of green, with signs warning you not to touch it. Mom had to leave after that, and I joined up with people from CMRS. We sat around the main pool for a while, and then did the rest of the rooms pretty quickly. After we reached the Pump Room (a misleading name, BTW, since it isn't actually a pump room. Just a fancy restaurant that they pump the water into), we stayed there killing time till we had to be back on the bus. We stopped in the Abbey for a few minutes, since it was closing. We also stopped in a chocolate shop, where the smell of sweets was extremely overpowering. Later after getting back we watched the Two Towers. A very good movie, but we were all so burned out from the field trip that it was a little too long. It was also a surprise when we got back, because the scaffolding that's been on St. Peter's since last term was gone. It was weird to see the actual building.
Thursday after lecture I grabbed a bus to London. Mom wanted me to take the train, but I waited to long to get a ticket and it was really expensive. I prefer the bus anyway though, so it really didn't bother me. It was also nice knowing I would get dropped off right by the hotel and not have to walk far like I would from the train station. I got there around 3:30, which was when I thought I was supposed to be there. I checked with the concierge first to see if they were there, and then went up. Apparently Mom thought I was supposed to be there earlier, and so had been waiting for me. Oh well. Linda was out shopping when I got there, and the cleaning lady was making the beds, so we discussed what was supposed to happen that night. Surprise surprise, they didn't get tickets to the Children's Hour, or Wicked, but to a musical called Million Dollar Quartet. It had Elvis music and some other big hits, and I enjoyed it, though parts of it were a little too old for me. Getting ahead of myself though. We took the tube to the theatre district, which was slightly problematic and illegal due to some problems with the Oyster Cards they had gotten earlier in the day, but we got there. For dinner we went to a pub next to the theatre our play was in. I got a meat pie, and for the first time since I've been here, mashed potatoes. Considering I'm sick of potatoes at this point and don't want to see one for the rest of the year, it was surprising to see mashed on the menu; it's very unusual here. I did enjoy the play and a good deal of the music, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis (still not a fan of Cash). The end concert was really cool, though the older crowd dancing in the aisles during this freaked me out a little. Glancing around the audience during this, I saw similar expressions on most the younger people's faces, so good to know I wasn't alone. Went back to the hotel after the play, and went to bed pretty soon after. Mom was interested in watching a movie, but Linda and I vetoed that. We were exhausted.
Friday was a bittersweet day, knowing that mom would be leaving soon. We grabbed breakfast and then grabbed a train to Oxford. I got a 3-month return ticket as an attempt not to get ripped off too much, the train is so expensive here. Upon arriving in Oxford, we avoided St. Michael's since class was going on and I didn't want to flaunt that I was skipping. We went to a varsity shop so Mom could deal with some issues about a sweater she bought, but unfortunately the boss was out and the workerbees couldn't solve the problem, so I was nominated to comeback the next day and finish it. Great. We stopped at a few other shops to get some last minute souvenirs as well, and then came back to my room to drop it off. From there we headed out to Blenhiem palace, stopping at Morton's for lunch to eat on the way. On the way we saw Dr. Philpott, and Mom insisted on saying hello. A rather awkward meeting, with me holding my lunch while Mom brought up why I had ditched (I got an e-mail about that later, BTW), but overall it went as well as could be expected. From there we took the bus to Blenheim, which is amazing. A super long driveway with beautiful grounds, though not the most pedestrian friendly entrance; more designed for cars. Sadly the inside was a little disappointing as well, rather gaudy and overdone, and not a whole lot of info available since it is a private residence. Still, it was rather nice, though it would be nice if you could explore the sections marked 'private,' but something says that would be a bad idea. Also got my ticket turned into an annual pass, which is itself a cool card souvenir and a guarantee that I'm going back. After one of the tours we walked around the nearest garden a little, and then decided to come back to Oxford. It was rather cloudy and windy, and Mom's ankle hurt, so neither of us felt like really exploring the grounds, and since the place was pretty empty, I'd say most people felt the same. After walking all the way back down the driveway though, we were informed that it was a closed and that we had to go back and around to get out. (The gate closed at 4:30, and it was like 4:31 when we got there, so that was extremely irritating, it's not like they couldn't see us coming.) We basically had to do a giant circle through the village of Woodstock to get back to the bus stop. Mom was pretty upset, her ankle was really hurting.
After getting back to Oxford I let Mom talk to Dad on my computer for a little bit while I organized some things for her to take home. When she finished we set out for the train station, stopping in some random Italian restaurant for dinner along the way. We both got the same pasta dish, which was pretty good, especially considering it didn't have any meat. When we reached the train station we had a rushed goodbye so she could catch an earlier train. Rushed goodbyes again, not something I wanted. On the way back I was not in the best of moods. Pain and stressful as Mom is, I'm going to miss having her around. Spent the rest of the evening doing nothing. Watched the 2nd half of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with everyone in the JCR, they had watched the first part the night before. Too bad I still haven't seen it, but at least now I've seen the ending. A relaxing way to end a busy week, and hopefully the upcoming week won't be too bad. I have a lot of work to finish.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Weekend in Londond with Mom
I really need to get over my dislike for cities, but I have decided that I never want to live in a really big city. Oxford is about as urban as I am willing to go. However, I did see Mom for the first time in months this weekend, which was nice. After lunch I took a train to London Paddington. The ride was pretty smooth, and a lot faster than the bus. Sadly, my trip to the hotel didn't go so neatly. Being me, I of course got lost. I wasn't even able to find the first street I had used to map out how to reach the hotel. After wandering around for a little bit, I stopped in a convenience store and bought a London map to help me find my way. Eventually I found my way to the hotel, sweaty and with aching soldiers. I got some nice looks from the concierge when I walked in, but after calling up to the room there were nice enough and sent me on up.
It was a relief to see Mom as I walked down the hallway and into the room, though I wasn't exactly huggable right when I walked in. After sitting around and talking for a little bit (they really were jet-lagged. Gee, I wonder who said that would happen?), we decided to explore for a little bit and then get something to eat. We walked for a while and reached the wall around Buckingham Palace. Mom and Linda wanted to see the actual thing, so we walked around the to the opposite side to see the palace. Took a couple pictures of it and the fountain out front, and then tried to head back. After some confusion with the map we finally got on the right path along the other side of the wall, and finally after a little more confusion wound up right back where we started. So, we basically walked around the entire place, though thanks to a lovely barbed high wall, really didn't get to see much. Also go figure that the hotel was on the complete opposite side of the palace. Anyway, on the way back we kept our eyes peeled for restaurants, and except for a McDonald's, we didn't see any. By the hotel we walked around a bit more and found a few, picking a little Italian place. I got a really good soft pizza, and Mom and Linda only caused a few problems for the waiter. From there we were exhausted and went back to the room to relax and sleep. We planned out what we wanted to do the next day, and then crashed. Literally for me. My bed kind of sank when I got in it, not very comfortable.
Saturday we planned on just doing some sightseeing on our own and using the tube to get around. There was a mistake. There was a major rally going on that day in London, and the main point of it was the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, right across from Mom's hotel. They estimated that there were and extra 250,000 people coming into London for the rally, so setting out in the morning was fun. There was also the Oxford/Cambridge boat races going on, which added another 100,000 people to the city. Never got the chance to see it either. So the streets were more packed than usual, and to top it off, the tube line in the direction we wanted to go was closed for repairs. So we got to walk quite a long ways. We stopped on the way for breakfast, and also to try waiting for a bus, which were so packed that there wasn't even a chance of getting on one. Eventually we reached the Portobello Market by Notting Hill, our first intended stop for the day. There were some neat things for sale, though again it was a madhouse and super packed. Mom and Linda looked at a lot of jewelry and clothing, while for me there were old books and antique maps, but nothing that really seemed worth the price they were asking. There were some nice pocket watches for a decent price, and in retrospect I really should have gotten one, but too late for regret now.
Took the tube over to the British Library then, which had some awesome ancient manuscripts and book collection. Sadly, you needed a library card to see most of it. There was still a display room downstairs that was a lot of fun. It had a copy of the magna carta, different copies of Alice in Wonderland, one of Jane Austen's notebooks, Handel's sheet music, and one of Shakespeare's folios, too name a few of things people would easily recognize.
After we finished there we looked for a place to eat, but most restaurants in the area were packed, so we decided to just go back. Hyde Park was a mess from the rally, and people were still filtering out. We stopped back at the room for a little bit, then set out to fine food. Also on the TV we saw people rioting after the rally and that Oxford had won the boat race. We went to a really fancy Chinese restaurant, fancier than I enjoy going to, but it was nice with good food. Also got fried ice cream for desert, which was delicious, and probably really bad for me. After that we went back to go to bed. I got a new one, which was a lot more solid and comfortable than my old one.
Sunday we took a hop on-off guided bus tour around the city. I went up top right away, Mom and Linda came up and joined me later cause it was "cold." I got some great photos, though my camera died pretty early and I had to steal Mom's. What I get for not charging it after Hampton Court. We got off by St. Paul's Cathedral, and somehow went in just in time to hear mass. After that we went to a little cafe for breakfast, and then went across the Thames on Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theatre, my favorite thing in London.
I could have spent a lot more time there, and I definitely went camera crazy. We walked around the outside a little bit and spent a little while in the gift shop; so many books I wanted. I did get a Manga of Twelfth Night, my favorite play. From there we took a guided tour of the inside, and Mom really should have taken the camera away from me there. After our tour we spent a while in the museum, probably more that we should have. After we finally finished, we got back on the bus where we got off and rode to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Spent a little bit walking around and looking at the gift shop before hopping on the ferry that came with the bus tour. It was fun cruising around the Thames, and the guide was rather amusing and informative. The boat dropped us off by the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and it was rather hysterical when I informed Mom and Linda the building they were taking so many pictures of was actually the Houses and not the Abby. I got a burger from a street stand by the statue of Boudica, which was really good actually. Unfortunately when they did find the Abbey they insisted on going inside during a service, and I refused. So they went in while I walked around outside. They came out when the service ended, and we went over to grab the bus. Unfortunately, because of their little excursion the tour buses had stopped running, so we had to grab a regular city bus back to the hotel. Of course right as we were getting to the correct stop, the bus pulled away and we had to wait forever for another one. When we finally got back to the hotel, I spent a little while packing up and making plans, then grabbed a bus back to Oxford.
It was really nice to get back. Being in London made me realize how much I'm going to miss being here. It was also really nice to have an internet connection again, which is probably not a good indicator about myself. I stayed up later than I intended, but finally got to bed. Week is going to be busy.
It was a relief to see Mom as I walked down the hallway and into the room, though I wasn't exactly huggable right when I walked in. After sitting around and talking for a little bit (they really were jet-lagged. Gee, I wonder who said that would happen?), we decided to explore for a little bit and then get something to eat. We walked for a while and reached the wall around Buckingham Palace. Mom and Linda wanted to see the actual thing, so we walked around the to the opposite side to see the palace. Took a couple pictures of it and the fountain out front, and then tried to head back. After some confusion with the map we finally got on the right path along the other side of the wall, and finally after a little more confusion wound up right back where we started. So, we basically walked around the entire place, though thanks to a lovely barbed high wall, really didn't get to see much. Also go figure that the hotel was on the complete opposite side of the palace. Anyway, on the way back we kept our eyes peeled for restaurants, and except for a McDonald's, we didn't see any. By the hotel we walked around a bit more and found a few, picking a little Italian place. I got a really good soft pizza, and Mom and Linda only caused a few problems for the waiter. From there we were exhausted and went back to the room to relax and sleep. We planned out what we wanted to do the next day, and then crashed. Literally for me. My bed kind of sank when I got in it, not very comfortable.
Saturday we planned on just doing some sightseeing on our own and using the tube to get around. There was a mistake. There was a major rally going on that day in London, and the main point of it was the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, right across from Mom's hotel. They estimated that there were and extra 250,000 people coming into London for the rally, so setting out in the morning was fun. There was also the Oxford/Cambridge boat races going on, which added another 100,000 people to the city. Never got the chance to see it either. So the streets were more packed than usual, and to top it off, the tube line in the direction we wanted to go was closed for repairs. So we got to walk quite a long ways. We stopped on the way for breakfast, and also to try waiting for a bus, which were so packed that there wasn't even a chance of getting on one. Eventually we reached the Portobello Market by Notting Hill, our first intended stop for the day. There were some neat things for sale, though again it was a madhouse and super packed. Mom and Linda looked at a lot of jewelry and clothing, while for me there were old books and antique maps, but nothing that really seemed worth the price they were asking. There were some nice pocket watches for a decent price, and in retrospect I really should have gotten one, but too late for regret now.
Took the tube over to the British Library then, which had some awesome ancient manuscripts and book collection. Sadly, you needed a library card to see most of it. There was still a display room downstairs that was a lot of fun. It had a copy of the magna carta, different copies of Alice in Wonderland, one of Jane Austen's notebooks, Handel's sheet music, and one of Shakespeare's folios, too name a few of things people would easily recognize.
After we finished there we looked for a place to eat, but most restaurants in the area were packed, so we decided to just go back. Hyde Park was a mess from the rally, and people were still filtering out. We stopped back at the room for a little bit, then set out to fine food. Also on the TV we saw people rioting after the rally and that Oxford had won the boat race. We went to a really fancy Chinese restaurant, fancier than I enjoy going to, but it was nice with good food. Also got fried ice cream for desert, which was delicious, and probably really bad for me. After that we went back to go to bed. I got a new one, which was a lot more solid and comfortable than my old one.
Sunday we took a hop on-off guided bus tour around the city. I went up top right away, Mom and Linda came up and joined me later cause it was "cold." I got some great photos, though my camera died pretty early and I had to steal Mom's. What I get for not charging it after Hampton Court. We got off by St. Paul's Cathedral, and somehow went in just in time to hear mass. After that we went to a little cafe for breakfast, and then went across the Thames on Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theatre, my favorite thing in London.
I could have spent a lot more time there, and I definitely went camera crazy. We walked around the outside a little bit and spent a little while in the gift shop; so many books I wanted. I did get a Manga of Twelfth Night, my favorite play. From there we took a guided tour of the inside, and Mom really should have taken the camera away from me there. After our tour we spent a while in the museum, probably more that we should have. After we finally finished, we got back on the bus where we got off and rode to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Spent a little bit walking around and looking at the gift shop before hopping on the ferry that came with the bus tour. It was fun cruising around the Thames, and the guide was rather amusing and informative. The boat dropped us off by the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and it was rather hysterical when I informed Mom and Linda the building they were taking so many pictures of was actually the Houses and not the Abby. I got a burger from a street stand by the statue of Boudica, which was really good actually. Unfortunately when they did find the Abbey they insisted on going inside during a service, and I refused. So they went in while I walked around outside. They came out when the service ended, and we went over to grab the bus. Unfortunately, because of their little excursion the tour buses had stopped running, so we had to grab a regular city bus back to the hotel. Of course right as we were getting to the correct stop, the bus pulled away and we had to wait forever for another one. When we finally got back to the hotel, I spent a little while packing up and making plans, then grabbed a bus back to Oxford.
It was really nice to get back. Being in London made me realize how much I'm going to miss being here. It was also really nice to have an internet connection again, which is probably not a good indicator about myself. I stayed up later than I intended, but finally got to bed. Week is going to be busy.
First Integral Week and Hampton Court
Mom visiting and a lack of internet connection over the past week has made me fall extremeley far behind with these, so there is going to be a lot of backtracking. Hopefully I can remember most of what happened, and I did keep track in a notebook, so it shouldn't be too bad.
The first week of integral was like having regular classes at Elmhurst again, which was rather nice. Get up in the morning, have breakfast, play on Facebook for a little bit and then spend the rest of the morning listening to lectures and taking notes. Unfortunately we have the rest of the day to ourselves, and being me, so much free time has meant I have not been very productive and not done any of the extra work we are supposed to. Really need to get started on those readings, especially since the next few weeks are going to be busier (were, at this point, and yes, now I have a ton of backed up work and pressure. Woohoo procrastinatoin!).
As far as lectures go, I generally like them, but my feelings vary depending on the subject and the lecturer. For instance, there was one lady who was so scatterbrained that she was very difficult to follow, and she assumed we knew quite a bit about Renaissance art, which most of us did not, me included, as this was a subject that I really didn't care all that much for. Anyway, my notes from it are a mess, full of my comments, and after about 3/4 of a page I just wrote "I Quit" and stopped really paying attention, just stared at the pretty pictures. But then there was another lecture on Erasmus that I found fascinating, and I took over 3 pages of notes for that lecutre. It just depends on your interests, and then how the lecturer presents it. By the way, in a week and a half I burned through a new pen, to show how much I've been writing.
Wednesday was our 2nd field trip, this time to Hampton Court Palace. It was a massive and gourgeous building. It is hard to picture people actually living in such a place. There was beautiful architecture and some magnificent paintings. It was really cool. The stairs and hallways are massive, and what they deemed closets would really make my Dad jealous. And then it is difficult for me to comprehend that so many large rooms belonged to one person and they actually lived there. Not really sure I would want to. Again though, it was a little hard to picture exactly what the place would have been like in the Middle Ages, with so much meant for tourists and so many people milling about with cameras (myself included, of course). Still, a really cool place, and somehow I also managed to learn a few things about Henry VIII, the palace, and some of the other monarchs who had resided there.
Of course, one of my favorite parts of the palace was the gardens and grounds. There were so many, and so massive. They were gorgeous, with carefully cultivated landscaping in a huge expanse of green. And since it was so warm and sunny, we spent a good deal of our time outside just basking in the sun. When I learned it was snowing in Illinois at the same time later, it made it all the sweeter. I spent our time there with both Laurens, Brenna, Katie, Pilar, Claire, and for a while Jason and Shannon were with us a good deal of the time, though they eventually disappeared. We did the maze, which was supposed to be really famous. Took us like 2 minutes to reach the center, especially since we were running and chasing each other like little kids. Kind of found the center by accident. Then there are a lot of pictures of us outside. Overall, one of my favorite days in England.
The first week of integral was like having regular classes at Elmhurst again, which was rather nice. Get up in the morning, have breakfast, play on Facebook for a little bit and then spend the rest of the morning listening to lectures and taking notes. Unfortunately we have the rest of the day to ourselves, and being me, so much free time has meant I have not been very productive and not done any of the extra work we are supposed to. Really need to get started on those readings, especially since the next few weeks are going to be busier (were, at this point, and yes, now I have a ton of backed up work and pressure. Woohoo procrastinatoin!).
As far as lectures go, I generally like them, but my feelings vary depending on the subject and the lecturer. For instance, there was one lady who was so scatterbrained that she was very difficult to follow, and she assumed we knew quite a bit about Renaissance art, which most of us did not, me included, as this was a subject that I really didn't care all that much for. Anyway, my notes from it are a mess, full of my comments, and after about 3/4 of a page I just wrote "I Quit" and stopped really paying attention, just stared at the pretty pictures. But then there was another lecture on Erasmus that I found fascinating, and I took over 3 pages of notes for that lecutre. It just depends on your interests, and then how the lecturer presents it. By the way, in a week and a half I burned through a new pen, to show how much I've been writing.
Wednesday was our 2nd field trip, this time to Hampton Court Palace. It was a massive and gourgeous building. It is hard to picture people actually living in such a place. There was beautiful architecture and some magnificent paintings. It was really cool. The stairs and hallways are massive, and what they deemed closets would really make my Dad jealous. And then it is difficult for me to comprehend that so many large rooms belonged to one person and they actually lived there. Not really sure I would want to. Again though, it was a little hard to picture exactly what the place would have been like in the Middle Ages, with so much meant for tourists and so many people milling about with cameras (myself included, of course). Still, a really cool place, and somehow I also managed to learn a few things about Henry VIII, the palace, and some of the other monarchs who had resided there.
Of course, one of my favorite parts of the palace was the gardens and grounds. There were so many, and so massive. They were gorgeous, with carefully cultivated landscaping in a huge expanse of green. And since it was so warm and sunny, we spent a good deal of our time outside just basking in the sun. When I learned it was snowing in Illinois at the same time later, it made it all the sweeter. I spent our time there with both Laurens, Brenna, Katie, Pilar, Claire, and for a while Jason and Shannon were with us a good deal of the time, though they eventually disappeared. We did the maze, which was supposed to be really famous. Took us like 2 minutes to reach the center, especially since we were running and chasing each other like little kids. Kind of found the center by accident. Then there are a lot of pictures of us outside. Overall, one of my favorite days in England.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Exploring Oxford
So I've had no classes this past week, which has meant that I have not been getting much done at a very fast pace. Basically this last week has been our version of Spring Break, though there were still a few classes and some people still had work to do. Fortunately, not me! So this past week has been pretty nice, if unproductive.
This weekend was a big travel weekend for some as well. Most of the building was gone, and for the past 2 days there's only been 6 of us here; Me, Jason, Alix, Lauren, Shannon, and Claire, it's really weird. Craig and Laura went to Ireland, a lot of people went to Scotland, and then another group went to France. Easier to keep track of who is here rather than who's gone and who went where. I ate breakfast by myself Thursday and Friday, eveyone else who is willing to get up having left. Still, much as I like Craig, it is really nice to have the room to myself for a while.
Thursday I went around with Alix, Jason and Lauren M. to look at some of the colleges around Oxford while our Bod cards could still get us in for free. Saw Lincoln, Merton, All Souls and two others that I can't think of off the top of my head. They are all gorgeous, and much bigger than St. Peters. A lot of them have little passages connecting the various courtyards, and all of them had at least 4, whereas St. Peters has more like 2 1/2-3 depending on how you look at it. After that we climbed St. Mary's tower. There was a stupid idea. One of the staircases was outside, like a fire escape on a modern building. Then there were these tiny, narrow spiral stairs with ropes hanging down the center to help you hold on. The view up top was amazing, and it's kind of obvious where many postcards have been shot from. But the walkways are super narrow, and getting by people was very ackward. Often if two groups collided, one of them had to turn around, which was a definite problem with the one set of stairs. Good thing I'm not generally scared of heights or anything. Going back down was even more fun, cause first we had to squeeze our way back to the stairs, then we had to wait a while for groups coming up the stairs, and finally some idiot college kids were trying to take a group shot of themselves up there. Oh wait, that was us. We finally had to ask someone to take the picture, no one's arms were long enough to get the 4 of us in such a narrow space. After getting back down (which makes the stairs in Michigan look easy) we decided to come back, since it was almost time for dinner. Pretty relaxing night after that.
Yesterday was pretty much the last day to use my Bodleian card, which I am really going to miss. I really like being in there, especially the camera and old library. So despite someone's protest, I went to the Bodleian after lunch just to read for fun in the Duke Humfrey library. I may also have taken some pictures with my laptop and phone while I was there, but whatever. It was my last day, so I wasn't as worried about getting thrown out. Also, I saw from the window a gorgeous garden that I wanted to visit, that looked like it was part of Exeter college.
Also stopped in the Divinity school when I was leaving, just to have a look around. It's part of the original Bodleian and also where they shot parts of two Harry Potter films. While I was in there Jason, Alix and Shannon showed up, who were just starting to see more sights, so I decided to tag along with them. We went to Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin), New College, University College, Exeter, and poked our heads in Jesus. Again all very pretty, but the gate into Exeter's gardens was locked and said private, and since it was so late already no one was in the mood to find another way in. Maybe I'll go look for one another time. So hours after I planned to be back, finally got here and just relaxed till dinner.
I'd like to say that I spent the rest of the night just relaxing and we had just hung out, enjoying having the building to ourselves. Sadly, such was not the case. There has been quite a bit of drama last night and today, the result of something that happened last weekend and has been building up throughout the weekend. While I am not directly involved, with so few people in the building right now it is rather hard to avoid. Still, being social has not been as fun the last bunches of hours.
Otherwise, things are going well, and classes are starting up again on Monday, so hopefully that will help me to get back into a schedule and motivate me to finish some things. Mom and I are stressing about her visit, there's so many details to figure out. If someone wants to make a lot of money, they should come with a website that explains the best ways to utilize and pay for all the various methods of transportation and how to figure out the cheapest cost to you. It's all very confusing and each little thing is run by different companies and erg, I hate figuring this stuff out. One of the reasons being a homebody is so nice.
This weekend was a big travel weekend for some as well. Most of the building was gone, and for the past 2 days there's only been 6 of us here; Me, Jason, Alix, Lauren, Shannon, and Claire, it's really weird. Craig and Laura went to Ireland, a lot of people went to Scotland, and then another group went to France. Easier to keep track of who is here rather than who's gone and who went where. I ate breakfast by myself Thursday and Friday, eveyone else who is willing to get up having left. Still, much as I like Craig, it is really nice to have the room to myself for a while.
Thursday I went around with Alix, Jason and Lauren M. to look at some of the colleges around Oxford while our Bod cards could still get us in for free. Saw Lincoln, Merton, All Souls and two others that I can't think of off the top of my head. They are all gorgeous, and much bigger than St. Peters. A lot of them have little passages connecting the various courtyards, and all of them had at least 4, whereas St. Peters has more like 2 1/2-3 depending on how you look at it. After that we climbed St. Mary's tower. There was a stupid idea. One of the staircases was outside, like a fire escape on a modern building. Then there were these tiny, narrow spiral stairs with ropes hanging down the center to help you hold on. The view up top was amazing, and it's kind of obvious where many postcards have been shot from. But the walkways are super narrow, and getting by people was very ackward. Often if two groups collided, one of them had to turn around, which was a definite problem with the one set of stairs. Good thing I'm not generally scared of heights or anything. Going back down was even more fun, cause first we had to squeeze our way back to the stairs, then we had to wait a while for groups coming up the stairs, and finally some idiot college kids were trying to take a group shot of themselves up there. Oh wait, that was us. We finally had to ask someone to take the picture, no one's arms were long enough to get the 4 of us in such a narrow space. After getting back down (which makes the stairs in Michigan look easy) we decided to come back, since it was almost time for dinner. Pretty relaxing night after that.
Yesterday was pretty much the last day to use my Bodleian card, which I am really going to miss. I really like being in there, especially the camera and old library. So despite someone's protest, I went to the Bodleian after lunch just to read for fun in the Duke Humfrey library. I may also have taken some pictures with my laptop and phone while I was there, but whatever. It was my last day, so I wasn't as worried about getting thrown out. Also, I saw from the window a gorgeous garden that I wanted to visit, that looked like it was part of Exeter college.
Also stopped in the Divinity school when I was leaving, just to have a look around. It's part of the original Bodleian and also where they shot parts of two Harry Potter films. While I was in there Jason, Alix and Shannon showed up, who were just starting to see more sights, so I decided to tag along with them. We went to Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin), New College, University College, Exeter, and poked our heads in Jesus. Again all very pretty, but the gate into Exeter's gardens was locked and said private, and since it was so late already no one was in the mood to find another way in. Maybe I'll go look for one another time. So hours after I planned to be back, finally got here and just relaxed till dinner.
I'd like to say that I spent the rest of the night just relaxing and we had just hung out, enjoying having the building to ourselves. Sadly, such was not the case. There has been quite a bit of drama last night and today, the result of something that happened last weekend and has been building up throughout the weekend. While I am not directly involved, with so few people in the building right now it is rather hard to avoid. Still, being social has not been as fun the last bunches of hours.
Otherwise, things are going well, and classes are starting up again on Monday, so hopefully that will help me to get back into a schedule and motivate me to finish some things. Mom and I are stressing about her visit, there's so many details to figure out. If someone wants to make a lot of money, they should come with a website that explains the best ways to utilize and pay for all the various methods of transportation and how to figure out the cheapest cost to you. It's all very confusing and each little thing is run by different companies and erg, I hate figuring this stuff out. One of the reasons being a homebody is so nice.
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