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.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
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.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Relaxation
So over the past weekend I basically did as little as I could. On Saturday morning I rolled out of bed right before it was time for Brunch, my head felt a lot better. It was such a great feeling to kept up and know that I had absolutely nothing that I needed to accomplish. After brunch I decided to go for a walk around Oxford. I went down St. Giles to Oxfam, which is an amazing used book store. I got a book from 1860 for 3 pounds. It's a little Children's Companion book, but still, I think it's pretty cool. From there I walked down a ways, farther than I've ever gone before. Turned down some random side street and went exploring a little. I finally found a shop that sold erasers too, which they call rubbers here (making the immature part of me giggle). While I was walking I also came across the actual Oxford University Press building, at which point I really wished I had my camera. Definitely going back on a sunny day to take pictures. Now I just have to wait for one, since I missed it for today's. Afterwards came back and just vegged out, didn't even try to accomplish anything else.
Sunday I again got up shortly before brunch again. Wasted time in my room for a while, started working more on postcards that I had hoped to have mailed like a month ago. Anyway, got asked if people could use my computer to watch Tristan+Isolde for our seminar class, so I went down to the common room with them. A good way to spend a cloudy afternoon. I brought my postcards down with me, but that went nowhere. Anyway, afterwards was dinner, and then I got a little writing done. With the stress of paper deadlines gone, it's really hard to motivate myself to do anything. Hopefully that will go away after a few days of relaxing. Anyway, at night I used my gameboy for the first time since I got here. It was a good feeling to play video games after so long and so much stress. I need to find a way to charge it soon though, or once it dies I won't be using it till I get back to the states, and since it was and will be my main entertainment on the long plane ride, I would really like it to keep working.
Today I was a little more motivated, especially since it was sunny and really warm. Couldn't just sit around the building doing nothing. After lunch I went for a walk around University Parks, which is beautiful. While I haven't seen all of Christ Church Meadows, I'm pretty sure I like the Parks better. Took a ton of pictures, which I will hopefully have up on Facebook soon. After getting back I did some work on my computer, got all my pictures transfered to it, now all I need to do is upload them. Tonight my seminar class watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. While I find the first scenes funny, overall I really don't care for the movie. Not something I'm going to bring up very often though, most people worship that movie. Anyway, it's this, shower, GB, and bed. Again, no work feels so nice.
UPDATE: At some point, I will learn to check that a post was published instead of just closing the browser and assuming it was.
Sunday I again got up shortly before brunch again. Wasted time in my room for a while, started working more on postcards that I had hoped to have mailed like a month ago. Anyway, got asked if people could use my computer to watch Tristan+Isolde for our seminar class, so I went down to the common room with them. A good way to spend a cloudy afternoon. I brought my postcards down with me, but that went nowhere. Anyway, afterwards was dinner, and then I got a little writing done. With the stress of paper deadlines gone, it's really hard to motivate myself to do anything. Hopefully that will go away after a few days of relaxing. Anyway, at night I used my gameboy for the first time since I got here. It was a good feeling to play video games after so long and so much stress. I need to find a way to charge it soon though, or once it dies I won't be using it till I get back to the states, and since it was and will be my main entertainment on the long plane ride, I would really like it to keep working.
Today I was a little more motivated, especially since it was sunny and really warm. Couldn't just sit around the building doing nothing. After lunch I went for a walk around University Parks, which is beautiful. While I haven't seen all of Christ Church Meadows, I'm pretty sure I like the Parks better. Took a ton of pictures, which I will hopefully have up on Facebook soon. After getting back I did some work on my computer, got all my pictures transfered to it, now all I need to do is upload them. Tonight my seminar class watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. While I find the first scenes funny, overall I really don't care for the movie. Not something I'm going to bring up very often though, most people worship that movie. Anyway, it's this, shower, GB, and bed. Again, no work feels so nice.
UPDATE: At some point, I will learn to check that a post was published instead of just closing the browser and assuming it was.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Done
Wow it's been a while since I updated, I've been pretty busy. This last week I had my seminar paper due along with my regular two tutorial papers, and since the seminar paper is 80% of my grade for that class, I was pulling my hair out a little bit. It didn't help that I wasn't really sure what exactly I was really trying to show prove until Wednesday. So most of my week was spent either on my computer staring at a word processor, in a library reading, or at my desk reading/getting distracted by the internet. Despite the hurdles, I managed to finish, and I believe my seminar paper turned out pretty well, though I still have to find out what grade I'll be receiving for it. But it's done, along with my two tutorials, so there's no reason to stress anymore. Spent the weekend relaxing, and getting started on planning things out for traveling after term and when Mom comes, both of which I am looking forward to. After the amount of work I've done these past 8 weeks, I'm looking forward to going back to Elmhurst, which will feel like a cakewalk after this. Being here has definitely helped me prepare for the two Senior Theses I'm going to have write next year, but I am guaranteed going to miss the Bodelian Library system. It's in a class of all its own, and Elmhurst's library can't even compete.
As for this past week, it's been bittersweet. It started with GREEK ending, which made me feel old. That show has been on since before I started college, and now that it's over, I'm growing closer to my own graduation, which is an extremely frightening thought. Anyway, Tuesday was my last Anglo-Saxon England tutorial. While the papers for it were always difficult, requiring hours in various libraries, and Dr. Sykes always found things to critique, it was still a class I enjoyed. I liked the subject matter, and our discussions were fun, where she pushed me to think about things I didn't know or even considered, and really challenged me to push my limits. So while I won't miss the hours I spent researching and stressfully writing papers, I really will miss it. Oh, also on Tuesday they actually had Rice Krispies for breakfast, making it the first time I've had some other than Corn Flakes in 3 months. This is the St. Peter's students last week here as well, so the kitchen seemed to be pulling out all the stops.
Thursday was my last Medieval Travel Writers tutorial, which was very sad. Alun Thorton Jones and I always had such fun conversations together, and most weeks I enjoyed the topic. Some weeks felt pointless, like the Vikings in America, but still, it was all interesting to learn about. It was also to bad that I had my seminar paper this week, since the topic was on imaginary maps now that Europeans had a better understanding of the world, which really was fun but because of seminar I couldn't devote the time to it that I would have liked to. I did bring in the map from Wizard's First Rule to talk about how people still make up imaginary lands and maps today. Fortunately Alun leads the field trips we'll be taking soon, but I'll still missing having a one-on-one tutorial with him. We laughed a lot.
During all this I was working on my seminar paper, reading different books and trying to get a specific topic. I had to meet with Dr. Philpott on Wednesday to try and nail it down, which was a little scary since the paper was due Friday. I had spent about 6 hours on Tuesday after tutorial in the St. Peter's library, and still had some more reading to do on Wednesday and Thursday on top of my last tutorial stuff. Started writing my final paper after lunch on Thursday, though I really didn't start making good progress I liked till after dinner. Got stuck quite a few times where I just stared at the screen with nothing to write. Around 1am I was about 3/4 of the way done, and Craig was looking to go to bed soon so I moved to the computer lab to finish. Unfortunately being me I wasted about an hour when I got there fiddling around on Facebook and watching TV shows on my computer. Finally finished a little before 4, printed, and right as I was about to leave let Lauren M. in, who had just finished her paper. Talked a little with her, then finally went straight to be.
Didn't managed to get up for breakfast Friday, 3 hours was too little sleep. Had one of my Chewy Dips bars though. I'm proud of how long they've lasted, and I've still got some left, which is a good thing cause I haven't been able to find them here anywhere. Beside the point though, spent the morning editing my paper, and on my way to lunch meant to drop my paper off, but Dr. Philpott had a tutorial, so I threw it in my mailbox, and then coming back from lunch turned it in. He just told me to drop it on the table when I walked in, and then went back to work. I was hoping for a little more acknowledgment on having finished, like a congratulations or something. Fireworks would have been nice.
Anyway, after that all the sleep I'd missed out on over the past week or two instantly caught up with me, and my brain just shut down. Also started getting a headache. Still, decided not to nap, and played games till dinner. Friday was also our St. Patrick's day/most people are finished with work party, for which the JCR bought plenty of alcohol and snacks. Fortunately I went down late enough to miss helping with most the set-up, which I was very happy about. I'm so sick of moving that big table. Anyway, they made three things of Jungle Juice, all different, and then there was liters of cider, which is as strong as beer but tastes different, I've been informed. Whatever makes people happy, I really don't care.
I like the Doritos and the chocolate cupcakes with green frosting. Definitely ate too many of those. There were also some kids from the St. Peter's badminton team there, that people here had joined and invited over. It was a little awkward at first, but they were a lot of fun here. Sadly, even though we had to explain Beer Pong to the one English guy Nathan, he won for over over 2 hours before he finally lost the last game of the night. I'd say dominated, but since some of the rounds took over 30min, that doesn't seem like the right choice of words. Might have been easier if we actually had SOLO cups. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, but there was a BOP that night as well, so a lot of CMRS people left early to go to that. After cleaning up, which went really fast since all the English kids helped (seems to be a common thing whenever we have them over), I decided to head over and check it out one last time, since there won't be anymore before I leave.
Apparently BOP stands for Big Open Party, or so I've been informed. The reliability of the information is slightly questionable, since even most the St. Peter's people don't know what BOP means. Anyway, I had a headache that came and went throughout the night depending on what I was doing. So when I walked into the St. Peter's courtyard and the music started to make my head throb from that far away, I knew I was in trouble. Still I went to the bar, which was super crowded, definitely much more than I'm comfortable with, but I managed to squeeze through to find some of my friends. Could barely hear what people were saying, the floor was super sticky, and after like 5 min. I knew staying was out of the question. Said goodbye and pushed through the way I had gotten in, went over to the dance floor but there really wasn't anyone there either, and the music was even louder with a strobe light, so I took off right away.
Came back to the room, put on a movie and just let myself unwind. Got invited to go out to a club around midnight, but neither Craig nor I were up to it. Both of us were just fried. Took a shower, read for a little bit, and went to sleep. Craig was still doing something, but I hit the pillow and passed out. I was dead tired. Spent the weekend relaxing, which I will hopefully write about tomorrow. I feel this post has gotten long enough, and I feel like doing something else.
As for this past week, it's been bittersweet. It started with GREEK ending, which made me feel old. That show has been on since before I started college, and now that it's over, I'm growing closer to my own graduation, which is an extremely frightening thought. Anyway, Tuesday was my last Anglo-Saxon England tutorial. While the papers for it were always difficult, requiring hours in various libraries, and Dr. Sykes always found things to critique, it was still a class I enjoyed. I liked the subject matter, and our discussions were fun, where she pushed me to think about things I didn't know or even considered, and really challenged me to push my limits. So while I won't miss the hours I spent researching and stressfully writing papers, I really will miss it. Oh, also on Tuesday they actually had Rice Krispies for breakfast, making it the first time I've had some other than Corn Flakes in 3 months. This is the St. Peter's students last week here as well, so the kitchen seemed to be pulling out all the stops.
Thursday was my last Medieval Travel Writers tutorial, which was very sad. Alun Thorton Jones and I always had such fun conversations together, and most weeks I enjoyed the topic. Some weeks felt pointless, like the Vikings in America, but still, it was all interesting to learn about. It was also to bad that I had my seminar paper this week, since the topic was on imaginary maps now that Europeans had a better understanding of the world, which really was fun but because of seminar I couldn't devote the time to it that I would have liked to. I did bring in the map from Wizard's First Rule to talk about how people still make up imaginary lands and maps today. Fortunately Alun leads the field trips we'll be taking soon, but I'll still missing having a one-on-one tutorial with him. We laughed a lot.
During all this I was working on my seminar paper, reading different books and trying to get a specific topic. I had to meet with Dr. Philpott on Wednesday to try and nail it down, which was a little scary since the paper was due Friday. I had spent about 6 hours on Tuesday after tutorial in the St. Peter's library, and still had some more reading to do on Wednesday and Thursday on top of my last tutorial stuff. Started writing my final paper after lunch on Thursday, though I really didn't start making good progress I liked till after dinner. Got stuck quite a few times where I just stared at the screen with nothing to write. Around 1am I was about 3/4 of the way done, and Craig was looking to go to bed soon so I moved to the computer lab to finish. Unfortunately being me I wasted about an hour when I got there fiddling around on Facebook and watching TV shows on my computer. Finally finished a little before 4, printed, and right as I was about to leave let Lauren M. in, who had just finished her paper. Talked a little with her, then finally went straight to be.
Didn't managed to get up for breakfast Friday, 3 hours was too little sleep. Had one of my Chewy Dips bars though. I'm proud of how long they've lasted, and I've still got some left, which is a good thing cause I haven't been able to find them here anywhere. Beside the point though, spent the morning editing my paper, and on my way to lunch meant to drop my paper off, but Dr. Philpott had a tutorial, so I threw it in my mailbox, and then coming back from lunch turned it in. He just told me to drop it on the table when I walked in, and then went back to work. I was hoping for a little more acknowledgment on having finished, like a congratulations or something. Fireworks would have been nice.
Anyway, after that all the sleep I'd missed out on over the past week or two instantly caught up with me, and my brain just shut down. Also started getting a headache. Still, decided not to nap, and played games till dinner. Friday was also our St. Patrick's day/most people are finished with work party, for which the JCR bought plenty of alcohol and snacks. Fortunately I went down late enough to miss helping with most the set-up, which I was very happy about. I'm so sick of moving that big table. Anyway, they made three things of Jungle Juice, all different, and then there was liters of cider, which is as strong as beer but tastes different, I've been informed. Whatever makes people happy, I really don't care.
I like the Doritos and the chocolate cupcakes with green frosting. Definitely ate too many of those. There were also some kids from the St. Peter's badminton team there, that people here had joined and invited over. It was a little awkward at first, but they were a lot of fun here. Sadly, even though we had to explain Beer Pong to the one English guy Nathan, he won for over over 2 hours before he finally lost the last game of the night. I'd say dominated, but since some of the rounds took over 30min, that doesn't seem like the right choice of words. Might have been easier if we actually had SOLO cups. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, but there was a BOP that night as well, so a lot of CMRS people left early to go to that. After cleaning up, which went really fast since all the English kids helped (seems to be a common thing whenever we have them over), I decided to head over and check it out one last time, since there won't be anymore before I leave.
Apparently BOP stands for Big Open Party, or so I've been informed. The reliability of the information is slightly questionable, since even most the St. Peter's people don't know what BOP means. Anyway, I had a headache that came and went throughout the night depending on what I was doing. So when I walked into the St. Peter's courtyard and the music started to make my head throb from that far away, I knew I was in trouble. Still I went to the bar, which was super crowded, definitely much more than I'm comfortable with, but I managed to squeeze through to find some of my friends. Could barely hear what people were saying, the floor was super sticky, and after like 5 min. I knew staying was out of the question. Said goodbye and pushed through the way I had gotten in, went over to the dance floor but there really wasn't anyone there either, and the music was even louder with a strobe light, so I took off right away.
Came back to the room, put on a movie and just let myself unwind. Got invited to go out to a club around midnight, but neither Craig nor I were up to it. Both of us were just fried. Took a shower, read for a little bit, and went to sleep. Craig was still doing something, but I hit the pillow and passed out. I was dead tired. Spent the weekend relaxing, which I will hopefully write about tomorrow. I feel this post has gotten long enough, and I feel like doing something else.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Work Week
I've spent the last couple days pretty much just working, and all I plan to do for the next week. I have my seminar paper on top of my two tutorial papers this week, so it's crunch time, and I am really not looking forward to it. I got a letter from Grandma on Tuesday, which helped to brighten my day quite a bit. It was also coated in glitter, which was fun to clean up from all over my desk. I'm wary to take it out of the envelope now. Also found a new way to waste time. I downloaded a book I own but didn't bring with me to England so I could read parts of it, and suddenly several hours disappear. Stupid thing to have done this close to the end with so much work to do, but too late. Hopefully I won't procrastinate with it too much. I also did laundry, which I have decided is a main reason to get married. I really hate doing laundry. Otherwise nothing really interesting going on, spending most of my time with my eyes glued to my computer screen or a book. *tear*
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