My Room With A View

My Room With A View

I remember thinking at the beginning of August that I was ready for classes to start again, that my brain had sufficiently emptied and was ready for new information. This week, my brain is screaming for a break. :) Saturday I wrote a paper analzying the historical context of Marlowe's Edward II and Shakespeare's Richard II. Today I wrote a paper reinstating Pride and Prejudice in a feminist canon. I am quite ready to leave my room. I've found that regardless of how much fun it is to study in the library or walk down to Blackwell's and study in the cafe, my best work is done when I'm isolated with headphones in my room. Boring, but the truth. And that is why the pictures for this post consist of my room (and the bathroom). Aren't you excited?
Now that these two papers are out of the way, though, I feel excited about the rest of the week. I think at some point we might take a trip to Cambridge and there's talk about going to Edinburgh, Scotland this upcoming weekend. We've moved on to Milton in my history class, which I'll admit intimidates me. And, were I not blogging, I would be reading Wuthering Heights. It's very strange to realize that I'm halfway through my seminars. With four out of eight classes down, time is passing extremely quickly. I wonder what the tutorial schedule will be like. I desperately want to travel and I hope having just the one meeting per week will mean I have more control over my schedule.
The weather is becoming more and more typically English. Yesterday it rained pretty much all day. People have warned me that my fascination with rain will slack when I encounter rain on a daily basis, but so far I still love the rain.
One of the downsides to living on Banbury Road is that everything is at least a ten-minute walk. Not a problem, but an obstacle especially on days when moving ten feet from your books and paper-in-progress brings a sense of panic deep down. As a result, we eat at very odd hours when we don't go to Keble. For example, last night at around 2, three of us walked down to Oxford to get kebabs at a late-night kebab stand. We then returned home and watched Office Space. Needless to say, my sleeping schedule is a bit screwy as well :)
One of my goals for this week is to go to the Bodleian Library. I had meant to do that for these previous papers, but since you have to request a book and it can take up to 24 hours to retrieve it, it wasn't to be. I have used the Keble library, though. For my Marlowe/Shakespeare class, I checked out a book comparing Shakespeare to his primary source, Holinshed's Chronicle. When citing it for my bibliography, I realized that the book was published in 1907 and I had been using a book that dated one hundred years. For books, that's quite old. And for me, that's quite fabulous.
The house is slowly wrapping up construction. I believe the work on the gardens is complete and they're looking wonderful. In what is looking to be a trend in Oxford, we are not allowed to walk on the grass yet because they want to give it time to grow. (Shhh! Two nights ago I ran on the grass, because honestly, if you are on illegal grass, you have to run. But I checked, and there do not appear to be dead spots in the shape of my feet, so no worries!)
My brother turned 18 last week. I was very sad to have missed it, but I hope he had a very good day! Most of the time, I don't think about my age. But on the occasion that I realize I've just a few months left of teenagerness, it's quite a surprise. Time flies.
Apologies if this post is not up to par or full of mundane details. I have been quite swamped with work and while I could write a couple of pages describing how Shakespeare might have referenced Queen Elizabeth I in his plays, I don't think you'd care. :) All my love to the people back home. I hope homecoming went well for those still in high school! Thank you for commenting! I'm always excited to find a new comment :)

Apples and Sharpened Pencils

I'd like to claim the gift of prophecy when I predicted that my originally consistent stream of posts would dwindle, but I can't. Blame it on self-knowledge. Now that I've developed more of a regular life here, less has happened that would seem to deserve updating. Going to Stonehenge definitely deserved a post, but a series of days that varied only slightly from one another do not exactly inspire writing. But then again, they are what I call "normal" simply relatively. "Normal" in Oxford is relative to Stonehenge, but not at all to Athens. My high school friends were very right in giving me a survival kit to counteract extreme anglophilism (yes, I'm making up a word for it) because I am slowly falling in love with this whole experience.

Most of my days are very laid back. I have but four classes a week, each for two hours, and as of yet no papers (that will change on Saturday). So I spend the productive part of my days reading for class. And this is no light "read Chapter one for background to Thursday's lecture" type reading. So far, and let's take into account my procrastination, I have read Thomas More's Utopia, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, four or five short pieces from Woolf, Bronte and Austen about women and fiction, Shakespeare's Richard II, Marlowe's Edward II, Austen's Pride and Prejudice (okay so I more just skimmed this one as I've had it practically memorized for years), two circa 15-page articles on P & P, Shakespeare's Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, and tomorrow I shall read Massinger's The Roman Actor and Austen's Emma. If that alone does not excuse my lack of posting, you shall never forgive me. What I've found fascinating is that with each of these assignments we have to read beyond high school book report summary, we have to look for deep contextual themes, postulate our own theories about how the author is responding to feminism or contemporary issues, and then defend those in class against incredibly smart professors (or Dons) and about ten of my peers. I am in heaven - a very busy heaven that comprises a lot of typed words.

Most meals I eat at Keble dining hall, save for when the mile walk seems too long to be parted from a book or when the meal is scheduled at 10 AM on a Sunday. I mean really, who wakes up that early? ;) I have fallen into a nocturnal sleep cycle where I stay up until 1 or 2 and then sleep until at least 10, if not later. Today I surprised myself and slept a full twelve hours, rolling over in bed and literally gasping at the clock which read "1:00 PM" I wish I could claim that I am working to escape this vicious cycle, but as I type, it is 2:30 in the morning.

The past two nights, I've gone together with some friends (Houston, James, and tonight Mary Catherine) to cook meals. I admit, I love that. We cooked some group meals in New Zealand and, especially at the beginning, they were experiences I'll never wish to forget. There's something magical about getting a group of friends and making food while talking or even singing. Last night, Houston and James whipped up these amazing mashed potatoes and pork in a mustard/white wine sauce and tonight Mary Catherine (with a little help from me) made chicken parmesan over spaghetti with a salad. We listened to jazz and Sinatra and laughed at how much food we made, enough to feed several more people.

My life is pretty much made of of wonderful moments like these, vain efforts to hide from the looming texts to be read, and excursions out into wonderful Oxford. We have been incredibly fortunate as far as weather, which I've learned is a word-that-shall-not-be-named. Saying "rain" supposedly brings forth torrential downpours. I hope the same does not apply to typing said word. I believe it rained a bit tonight around 10, but other than that, we've had beautiful blue skies and a light breeze. I've started to notice the changing of colors. There is a house on my walk to Oxford which is covered in red ivy. I'm not entirely sure if the ivy is meant to be red year-round or not, but it's a beautiful sight. I suppose I should take a picture of it. Apologies for the lack of pictures to accompany this post. I've tried to ingrain myself more in the culture here and carrying around a camera hardly helps.

I went on a wandering tour of Oxford the other day, and although part of me wishes I had my camera, it was much more fun meandering with no clear purpose. We set out to find an antique bookshop and though we only found one, we traversed the whole of Oxford. Houston supposes we walked about 8 miles, but I would guess even more. At any rate, you get the idea. I, unfortunately, got completely turned around. Oxford is a rather small city, but we'd walk up and down streets repeatedly so that my limited sense of direction just completely flew out of my head. At some point, we saw Christchurch College, which is beautiful. I think if I applied here, I'd either be very ambitious and apply to that College, or recognize my failings and apply to a college where I'd hope to find less competition, such as Nuffield College which we also passed. (No offense to anybody out in cyberspace with a fondness for Nuffield. I just found the name somewhat unusual). I now feel much more acquainted with this gorgeous city. Apologies for not taking my camera, and therefore you, with me on the trip. Perhaps one day soon I shall repeat parts of my journey.

As far as applying to Oxford, I'm steadily falling for the idea. Some of the people on this trip are here in part to visit schools for post-collegiate opportunities. I had always assumed such options to be completely out of the question, but (and I can hear my family gasping from here) I'm starting to reconsider. Getting a doctorate in England takes only three years, as opposed to something like 7 in the states. The tuition is not much of a yearly difference, and when compounded with the much quicker graduation rate, I'd even be saving money. Not only that, but getting a doctorate in British history or British literature (still haven't decided) in Britain makes perfect sense. Never fear, Katherine, I still look upon my American flag from time to time and remember my roots. I don't think I'll ever become a complete expatriate. Perhaps I'll be the eccentric Anglophile professor who begins lectures with a declaration of love for all things British while remaining in country. We shall see, nothing decided, just reveling in possibility.

As it now approaches 3 in the morning, I guess I should sign off and go read Emma before falling asleep. Definitely not my favorite of Austen's works. All my love for the people back home. I hope the leaves on the trees in Georgia (and wherever you are) begin to change and fall to the ground just as they are here. And as we approach fall, I hope you too are reminded of the smell of sharpened pencils and apples; autumn always made me feel more scholarly.

A Gorgeous Day

Oxford Again

Today marks the beginning of classes, although none of mine were scheduled today. The program runs two seminars per student and then two tutorials per student. The seminars meet twice a week for four weeks, the tutorials meet the last eight weeks once a week. I think I'll really like this type of scheduling. This week, I have two classes on Tuesday and Thursday; the rest is completely free.

This morning, we woke up and went to lunch (I think I'm either still jet-lagged or simply operating on a college schedule that I never really adopted before). Today also marks the beginning of our Keble college membership (pictured in my photos). Lunch was...interesting. It's cafeteria meets formal dining. We went through a line to get our food, but then were seated at a rather nice table and waited upon by servers. The food, although a bit dry, was tasty enough :) I think I'd enjoy anything while eating in such a beautiful hall.

I went around with Carlye and Houston today. After buying school supplies (unbelievably expensive - luckily I never leave home without my handy dandy pencil bag!) we went to the News Cafe, off of Cornmarket street, and ordered coffee while reading. Then, after a quick jaunt to a local department store to buy towels, we rushed across town so Houston and Carlye could go to class. I then went to the University Park (beautiful) and read more of Utopia. And then, get this, it got too cool! I was a bit chilly so I had to move inside! I was very happy. And not to mention, I overheard these two older ladies talking about how this afternoon had been very warm. I think it it hit 70 today. I love English weather! We've been so lucky with gorgeous weather ::knock on wood::

After leaving the park, I went to the Keble Library to study. I had to swipe my card to get in and the library was completely deserted, so I sat at a small table and finished Book 1 of Utopia. I've been underlining key passages to stay focused and to look back on later, but in the library I was constantly worried that some librarian, a la Madam Pince, would come up to me and chastise me for harming a sacred paperback book. At any rate, it was divine. I studied for a little under an hour before the 1900 bell rang across the college and I knew it was dinner time. I encountered a little bit of trouble when I couldn't get out of the library. I still don't know what that was about. The door had been locked and I couldn't open it. Fortunately, some of my fellow students passed by and took pity on me standing behind the door, with a panicked expression on my face, pounding on the glass. I believe Mr. Bennet has a quote in Pride and Prejudice that goes something like, "what is our purpose but to make fun for our neighbors and to laugh at them in our turn." Getting locked in a deserted library certainly qualifies me for that, I'd say.

I am absolutely loving my time here. I'm making some excellent friends and seeing wonderful things. I'm growing to love my Jason Elliot quote even more. It really is the small things that resonate as memories to bring together the whole trip. I doubt at the end, I'll remember some of the little things that I've done today. Things like sitting in the park reading Thomas More, or listening to the bell chime 7:00 across Keble college, or even racing across Oxford with new friends to make a class time. I doubt I'll remember those things individually, but I'm so thankful that these wonderful mini-memories will be what makes my trip.

I hope everybody is having a wonderful day! Thank you so much for commenting; I love knowing I'm not sending messages out into oblivion. Love from across the ocean.

Traveling in Somerset

Stonehenge and Bath Snapshots

Today was exciting for several reasons. One, it was finally cold enough to warrant a jacket. I had been quite anticipating the immediate need of cold weather clothes, only to find out that I could have brought a pair of shorts (although I think my suitcase might have burst). Two, I am not ill! After having a dreadful migraine all afternoon, I woke this morning very tired but pain free! And three, I traveled to see Stonehenge and Bath! It was, all in all, a very good day.

I'm going to skim over my headache yesterday, save for one rather amusing anecdote. I initially avoided taking medicine and tried to sleep away the headache. And then later I took some medicine that had caffeine in it, which meant I was up very late trying desperately to go to sleep. One thing I tried to get myself to sleep was listening to a book on tape, namely Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Somehow, my drive to sleep and listening to the book switched tracks in my mind and my semi-conscious thought took up the idea that it was absolutely necessary that I finish (in my dream?) what Harry Potter must finish in order to end his second year successfully. It was quite strange. And I laughed in the morning.

I find it amusing that human beings seem to go through cycles. As children, most of us fall asleep immediately upon entering a moving vehicle. And then we grow up and become annoying and overexcited children who cannot keep still on road trips. And then you hit college where you learn to pass out at any given moment to reclaim the sleep you've sacrificed for more important things, like talking about absolutely nothing for hours on end.

We took a coach to Stonehenge and it was a very quiet ride. As a result, it was somewhat surreal waking up and looking out the front of the coach window and seeing Stonehenge a couple of yards off the side of the highway. I don't know what I had imagined. Perhaps a mile-long trek to prove oneself worthy of approaching the site, but definitely not a parking lot, souvenir and snack shop, and a tunnel that goes under the highway to get to Stonehenge. In all honesty, however, the whole thing was not nearly as commercialized as it could have been and for that I was grateful. We received these audio tour guides which were rather dull and repetitive, and sometimes even included lame sound effects (like the sound of pickaxes or swooshy spooky music). It was interesting listening to the many different theories they have about Stonehenge's purpose, although also annoying to hear "but we really don't know anything for sure" so often repeated. I had been advised (thank you, Kristen) to bring my jacket to Stonehenge and was therefore one of the few people not cold.

We then took the coach on another hour ride to Bath. It was quiet, again. Bath was absolutely beautiful, and has such a fascinating history. It has the only natural hot springs in Britain and was therefore used by the Romans to build a bath, dedicated to the goddess Minerva. It always amazes me how extremely talented they were to build such architecture that still remains and functions to this day. The baths still operate on the same drains built by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Britain was one of the first of the Roman Empire's posts to be abandoned towards the end of its rule and it wasn't until the 18th century before Bath was reinstated as a fashionable vacation spot. During the Regency period, Bath was a favorite vacation and retirement city for the very well-to-do and was second only to London for its fashion and shopping. Jane Austen was one of its most famous residents, though certainly not at the time.

In Bath we were given free time for about four hours. First we ate lunch at La Croissante, which coincidentally sold paninis and did not speak French. But whatever, it was cheap! Afterwards, we trekked up the hill to the Jane Austen Centre. Jane Austen lived in Bath, rather unwillingly, for ten years of her life. The Centre was built to replicate the townhouse she lived in, as well as pay homage to the commercial enterprise that is anything she touched. Her home in Chawton Cottage, where many of her books were written and most were published, is the more scholarly "centre," whereas this one was focused more on the movie adaptations and the fan base. They had several costumes that had been used in the movies, as well as a letter from Emma Thompson about adapting Sense and Sensibility. For an Austen fan like myself, it was quite enjoyable. Although it might have only inspired me to go to Chawton Cottage (the real museum) than settled any desire.

We walked around Bath for quite some time and I took much too many pictures of the architecture. And then we visited the Baths. They were fascinating. It was quite chilling to walk on stones that had been placed there over 2000 years ago by a civilization that so permeates our thought. Perhaps that makes me a nerd, but that's no surprise, is it?

Needless to say, the bus ride home was quiet too.

And so it begins...

Oxford Snapshots

Yesterday I arrived in England, tired, a bit cranky, but ecstatic. I had planned on updating yesterday, but as I was so tired, it would have been short and completely lacking in wit. I hope this post is sufficiently entertaining enough to make up for my delay :)

The flight left from Atlanta at 5:30 PM ET and landed in London at 7:00 AM (London time...unsure of the abbreviation). The flight was satisfactory. I admit to being spoiled with Qantas on my flights earlier this summer. Delta was not quite up to par. They didn't even give me the moist, warm towelettes in the morning! I was sorely disappointed. The flight passed without event, as did Customs. I'm waiting for some trip where I actually have to convince an agent that he or she wants to allow me into the country. Every customs agent I've met has had others from my trip pass by ahead of me and I get casually stamped in. However, I presume being stopped by a Customs agent holds more appeal in theory than in reality.

We rode a charter bus from London-Gatwick airport to Oxford. The driver, of course, sat on the right and we boarded on the left. I admit, it felt a little like coming home after New Zealand. There have been several moments where I am reminded of that trip and it still brings a smile to my face. Even when the memories fade, I believe I will always feel more comfortable with right-side-driver charter buses being as how most of my charter bus experience has been in New Zealand, and now England.

On the drive, I naively tried to read some in preparation for my classes (which, coincidentally, I should be doing now). I did learn that Virginia Woolf, with her many wonderful qualities, is perhaps not the best read when very jet lagged. I enjoyed the nap immensely.

Once we arrived at the house, which is pictured in my slideshow (link above), I unpacked. I share a room with two girls in the attic. The room is small (which I guess should make it feel like home after a year in a dormitory) and in the attic practically, but it is very cozy and charming.

To avoid sleeping and remaining jet lagged, I went with some friends to look around. The nearby town of Somerville was very nice and convenient. We had meant to explore Oxford city proper, but took a wrong turn out of the house. I bought a hair dryer for 3 pounds 50 pence!! And it works on the square, three-pronged plugs here. :) After getting home, I took a perfect 90-minute nap (one whole REM cycle), took a shower, and went to the orientation meeting where they read the rules to us and made us sign, promising not to smoke in the house, have guests in our rooms, climb the roof, and several other amusing activities. For dinner, most of the group (around 20 people) went to a fantastic Indian restaurant which I cannot recall the name of. The food was delicious and the service, considering the size of the party, was acceptable. The only hitch was that, despite previous assurances, they would not bring out our checks separately. Which is not surprising, but rather annoying. Some people went out and perhaps I should have joined them, especially as it was the first night, but I had no wish to prolong my jet lag and we had a 9 AM departure the next morning.

Friday morning (today!) we met at 9 to walk down to Oxford, which is about a mile down the road (to the left, as we learned yesterday). Helen, the admissions director of the Bodleian Library, received us to tell us all about the very impressive library. Incidentally, the Bodleian library has around 12 million books. It is the first library to have an arrangement with publishing companies to receive the first copy of every book published in the UK (which would be copied by the Library of Congress among others). It also is not a lending library and sometimes takes almost a day to retrieve a book (some of the books are held in deep storage in an old salt mine). It was very awe-inspiring. Finally, I met people who are more obsessed with books than I am! We had to take an oath promising to value the books, not tarnish them in any way, and not to set fire to the library. And then, Helen tells us that the Divinity School beyond a door is where they filmed the hospital in Harry Potter! I took a picture :)

Afterwards, we found a cafe, Cafe Cremme to be precise, and I had a delicious chicken pesto panini. Strongly recommended. After lunch, we met Debbie the tour guide who led us around Oxford and talked (a lot). She was very informative and got us into Exeter College (which was closed off to the public at the time). Exeter College was the home to J.R.R. Tolkein and Phillip Pullman (author of His Dark Materials, which had just wrapped filming there in Oxford on the last installment of the movie adaptation). An hour later, Debbie let us go for free time. I found a T-Mobile and bought a SIM card. Then, we went to Blackwell's!!!

Blackwell's is a rather old, world famous bookstore with miles and miles and miles of shelves filled with all kinds of books. They had Harry Potter (in both British versions!) as well as rare volumes and cheap secondhand books! I could have wandered around for hours and hours. My passion, however, was not entirely shared by my companions who wanted to wander around across the street at the History of Science museum. I vowed to return.

The History of Science museum was fascinating. I saw a very, very old telescope, several astrolabes, and a blackboard used by Einstein. Yes, Einstein. I was floored, literally, standing there fore several minutes on end. Staring at the equation and symbols (pictured in my slideshow) did nothing for me. Einstein, however, was using simplified equations to explain the expanding size of the universe and its resultant age. It was quite an experience.

And now, I have brought you up to present time, which for me is almost four in the afternoon. I think I shall read Virginia Woolf some more, and quite possibly repeat my nap. Tomorrow we go to Stonehenge and Bath!!

This blog is unusually long. Don't worry, I doubt my future blogs will be this long. I felt like giving a step-by-step update here, but I imagine future blogs may include just a thought or revelation. I wanted to record my daily schedule a bit to give a frame of reference. I hope everybody at home will have a wonderful day. Please, if you feel so inclined, leave me a comment. :)