Stanley Roadhouse

I would like to take this post to make a special shout-out to my current housemates--Alanna, Ali, Hannah, Jelsa, Jennifer, Jonny, and Matt. You guys rock ;-)

Last week

It's odd to think that after next week, Oxford will be minimized to only a memory. It's a shame since I feel as if I'm finally settled. I really have loved it here. I wonder how much I've changed. Academically, I feel stronger. It's a safe claim to say that I'll be the best art history major Georgetown when I graduate (I'll be the only one). Seriously though, I do feel as if my critical writing has improved considerably. Also, my formal analysis has really benefited from being able to experience the objects first hand. I told Tyler that I feel as if I know how to look at art now, but he said that sounded really pretentious. I would have to agree, so I won't be saying that again. Though I'm happy to be leaving with a few respectable essays under my belt, I'm not going to regret not being a student here anymore. One thing that Oxford has led me to reconsider is what I would like to do post-undergrad. It has made me reconsider grad school especially a program that would take several years at a prestigious school away from home. I've always said that I don't want to be defined by my line of work, and I think I'm actually starting to believe my own mantra now.



I've been asked by several people what I feel as if I've gained most from this experience. I always say independence. It's nice to work at my own pace on my own hours (I like to wake up and stay up late). I love being able to walk around the city and enjoy my solitude. I feel like I won't have that free time at home. I know I won't. Obviously, I have more friends and responsibilities at home, whereas here, I can take it easy. But it's more than just solitude, it's also becoming less dependent on others. I've always required my "me-time." I haven't always been able to cook, or book my own flights, or even seriously had to budget my own time.

I'm really looking forward to being home again. I miss my friends and family, and basically, my comfort zone. It'll be nice, but I wonder how different it'll look to me. Yesterday, I was at a the book shop/cafe Blackwell's and these four girls were having a loud conversation beside me. They were American, and they said "like" a lot. They sounded hilarious. A guy I knew who is Northern Irish was sitting nearby, and I knew he overheard the girls too. "Please tell me I don't sound like that," I said. "Yeah...you do," he informed me. When I go back home, I picture myself just staring at people in conversation with my eyes widened in awe and mouth slightly opened. Maybe a slight head tilt as well. It'll definitely be interesting. One of my favorite games to play in my head here is spot the American tourist. I almost feel as if I sound snobbish, but Americans do dress and act distinctly.

There's much more I need to blog about, so I'm going to make a list of things for myself. You can stop reading this now.
*Summer eights
*final fling
*bath, maybe Winchester
*punting?

Discrepancies

I've been meaning to post the cultural differences for some time now, here's a few...

**pronunciation (American English translated into English English):
-aluminum- AL-U-MEN-EE-UM (I would actually like to adopt this one)
-derby- Dah-bee (just wrong)
-oregano- or-ah-gahn-o
-underwear- pants (this has caused some major confusion in the past)

**EVERYTHING'S SOOO SMALL!!
-the cartons of juice, if you can call them that, can be swallowed in 2 large gulps. and they're outrageously overpriced.

**roundabouts...who knows....

**People here are environmentally conscious as well as humanitarian
-SUVs do not exist--nearly everyone rides a bike
-Fairtrade stores- products from third world countries that actually pay their employees decent wages
-everyone recycles, no one leaves lights, radios, etc on...
-free range eggs--some people make this into a HUGE deal...I'm still learning.

**boys wear capris, but they just call them shorts. the way guys dress here is a good deal different from American guys. they're definitely more metrosexual.

**Refrigerator confusion
-jam on the counter
-bread in the fridge
-honey in the fridge

**food
-beans for breakfast
-proper bacon does not exist
-bland does not mean healthy--food here is extremely fattening
-Indian food is the British equivalent of Mexican food
-vegetarians do exist...and in large quantities

**pubs and american bars are not synonymous. there's this pub by my house here that has a playground.

**this probably isn't a cultural thing as much as it's an oxford thing...but I feel as if I can get away with saying a lot of things at home, and it would be accepted for what it is. often here, I say what I think is an innocent statement, and people jump all over it...analyzing, critiquing, etc.

**that being said, I also think people here are much more passive agressive. this may be due to my blunt, yet loving, friends at home, but I find people here to repress their emotions often here.
more to come later.....

One more month

One month from today, we'll bid Oxford adieu. This brings a mix of emotions. Sadness--Oxford is such a great city to live in. It's perfect in size. There are tons of places where one can just sit and think. Very rare for a city, I'd assume. And best of all--the SMELL!! Oh...I'll miss its florally goodness ;-) However, I'm VERY excited with the thought of seeing friends and family again! I just need to relish my time left...

Time management really gets me. I get caught up in doing nothing a lot. Well, not nothing as in just staring blankly into the darkness by myself. That would be a sad thought. But, I get caught up talking to people. Today for instance, I planned on catching up on my reading, but just as I had finished my lunch and was about to get to work, my housemate Jacob came in the kitchen, and we chatted for a good 3 hours! By the time we were finished, it was time for my skype date with Tyler. Then, I went back downstairs to make some coffee, and I ran into another housemate, who I then talked with for about another hour. I like talking to people, especially one-on-one, but I need to learn when to stop. I wonder if it's even enjoying the conversation as much as it is an excuse not to do work.

I guess I would have a lot more free time if I didn't have an essay due every week now. My tutor (God bless her) forgot about our previous tute in which we planned on an essay every other week. Oh well. I'm here to learn...blah, blah, blah... This is actually a pathetic complaint. Other students here have quite a bit more work as well as other social responsibilites that just don't come with a visiting student.

I don't think I could really make it at Oxford as a serious student. Aside from not being incredibly bright, I just procrastinate way too much. Matt was telling me that's how the Oxford admissions determine who get in. They judge you by how much you'll be willing to work when the work doesn't count (fyi: of the 3 years they study, Oxford students don't get graded the first two years).

There was something I had in mind earlier to write about but I've lost it. I was long overdue for an entry anyway.

Trinity term tutorial

This term I'm studying Medieval art. My tutor is Cathy Oakes who is the chair of the art history department at Kellogg College. She's a funny person. She fits nicely into the stereotype of the eccentric art professor. For one of our meetings, she showed up late and disheveled in appearance. Her turquois bra was showing. She's very nice though, and I think she'll be a good teacher. She has been very personable and clever in pointing me towards important texts. On our first tutorial, she asked me to explain the American education system. When she asked me what I did in my last paper, I silently thought, "This is amazing! I bet she'll only give me five essays like Claire!" I calmly told her that I wrote five essays, four of 2500 words and the last one had 5000 words, to which she exclaimed, "That seems like a lot of work!" Well....considering my Georgetown peers wrote at least eight last term, I didn't think it was too overbearing, but I didn't mention this. I think I'm going to end up having four essays this term though not everything was settled since she didn't even give me a syllabus; so basically, I'll have plenty of time to relax and enjoy my final weeks in Oxford.

Currently, we're entering into our third week, and I have yet to turn in an essay. I'm actually working on my first one on the themes of stained glass in four Oxford colleges. It's been interesting to read about, but I've lacked motivation. The weather has been incredible, so I just want to frolick in the quad or walk by the river. I also feel as if I have a much better idea as to what my tutor will expect and how to give her what she wants.

So here I am, struggling with the minute amount of work that has been given to me....

My little Schmer...

Two nights ago, I received an unexpected call from my mom in which she told me one of my good friends from home had passed away. I was shocked. One of my worst fears is someone close to me dying while I'm here, and of all the people I worried about, Erin never made the list. It's odd that I would have never thought this. Erin had cancer for as long as I was friends with her--four years--but I honestly never foresaw her dying so young. I was uncontrollably emotional at first--simultaneously upset and angry. I hurt physically as well--my body just ached. I was upset at the loss of one of my dearest friends. We were really close in my high school years, and though we drifted slightly due to distance, I still saw her regularly during the summers. But I was also extremely mad at myself. I was mad for not contacting her while I had been here. I had done a good job (for me anyway) of keeping in touch with friends, but I just never facebooked Erin or wrote her a postcard. Actually that's not true. I had written her a postcard the first week I was here, I just never took the next step of getting her address. Erin was such a great friend to me, and I was so angry at myself and sad that she may have thought that I had forgotten her. I really wish I would have known how bad off she was...

I'm much better about it emotionally. I talked it through with Tyler, and he was amazing about it. It's insane how someone willing to listen to you cry and vent can make such a huge difference. It seems as if people usually feel really uncomfortable and like they have to say something right away. Usually the person says something dumb when really the best thing they can do is just lend some time and a listening ear. I just cried for the first bit to Tyler, then went through my anger at myself, but I mainly reminisced the good times. I'm still in shock though. It's just so sad to think that she's not going to be there when I get back. Her funeral is today. I'm sure that tons of people went. Everyone loved her. Though people will mostly be grieving, I can't help but think that her funeral will be kinda funny too. I mean, I'm sure Erin would have found some amusement in it. She was the type of person who would laugh at the most sad, serious moments in a movie. It drove me crazy even though I would often laugh too. When I was telling Tyler about Erin, I couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't get the image of her squeezing my arm so she could fart while we were in church or her saying "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness" and waving her hands like she was about to have an anxiety attack. She was one of the biggest dorks I knew. I'm going to miss her so much. My little Schmer...

Paris: Our culinary quest for edible perfection

I just read three pages on images in medieval art, and I have no clue what I had just read. I hate when that happens. But you know what that means? Blog time!! Hmmm….I still have yet to record my Parisian experience….

My favorite thing about Paris was the food. In a fight, French food would destroy all other food. Jennifer and I actually splurged a little in Paris and ate at a couple quaint little cafes. We had slept the night before, so unlike our first day in Dublin, we were well energized. We found our hotel pretty easily. The tricky part was learning how the metro works. They don’t label the lines very well. After dropping our backpacks off at our room, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Honestly, it’s not that amazing of a sight, but it does mark the top of the Champs Eylsees. It was lunch time, so we stopped at the first café we ran into (another rarity…usually we wander around for a while trying to find the best and cheapest place only to discover everything’s pretty much the same). The café we stopped at had this really neat deal where you could get a drink, a sandwich, dessert, and coffee for about 7 euros. The desserts looked amazing, so I was immediately sold. The café was fairly touristy, so thankfully the servers spoke English although it was no English I could understand. They didn’t speak my type of English either. I enjoyed the pointing method. I chose this chicken sandwich on the most delicious garlic bread, a sprite, this chocolate and banana pastry, and I was given a receipt for my after meal coffee. When I was given my coffee, I was surprised to receive a shot of espresso. Now I had always inwardly rolled my eyes at the people who would come into the Mulberry ordering only a shot of espresso, but I decided to remain open-minded after all, it seemed to be a very Parisian thing to do. It was heavenly. Taking a nibble of my chocolaty pastry and sipping on my espresso was one of the best things I have ever done. And yes, drinking my double shot, I did feel slightly better than everyone else.

Another noteworthy culinary experience of mine was going to another café before strolling over to Notre Dame. I had this huge pizza thing which was good although it was nothing special. What I’m talking about is the pistachio macaroon I had for dessert. I had read that the macaroon was somewhat of a big deal among French pastries, so I knew I would regret not trying one. I had a choice between coffee, chocolate, and pistachio flavored macaroons. I opted for the green one. It wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing as the other pastries on display. It had a round cookie shape and like I mentioned before it was a rich sea green color--not the most appealling color for any food. My first bite was life altering. It had a nice crunch to it, but it remained moist on the inside with a type of cake and filling in it. Oh…it was such a beautiful experience.

Ireland pics

Handel Messiah Concert

Cricket

Trinity College

Georgian doors

Celtic cross in Pro Cathedral

Temple Bar

St Stephens Green

St. Stephens Green

Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square

U2 Wall

Dublin Castel

Chester Beatty Library

Andy Warhol exhibit

Christ Church

Inside St. Patrick's

I miss Ryan...

Trinity term is on the brink, but something just doesn't feel right. Our good friend Ryan had to call his Oxford experience to an early end. He is now in good ol' Kentucky. I'm gonna miss that fellow. The Zodiac won't be the same. And I'll miss his "short cuts" and other weekend adventures...

Dublin, Ireland

A few nights ago, Jennifer and I returned from our final holiday journeys. Dublin was wonderful--relaxed and quaint for a large city. Our flight was scheduled in the wee hours of the morning. For those who aren't familiar with the procedure of catching a flight, you need to be there at least two hours in advance. For a six o'clock flight, this meant leaving Oxford to catch our bus at 1. Apparently, we had a high opinion of our bodies' capabilities and opted not to sleep beforehand. Not smart. When we arrived in Dublin, it was around 8 in the morning, and we had only a couple of hours of sleep scattered between our bus ride and flight. Our fatigue took awhile to hit, and we managed to do quite a bit before passing out in St. Patrick's park for a quick power nap. We first dropped our luggage in at our hostel, but it wasn't check in time, so we didn't get our room assignments or anything. From our hostel, we first ventured to Dublin Castle. Our map was horrible and didn't name major streets, but we managed to run into the castle. Connected to the castle is the Chester Beatty library, and we went there first. The Chester Beatty library has a nice collection of Oriental art, but most of it was being restored or something...I'm not sure. It wasn't available. They did, however, have a really neat exhibit about the world religions. The section on Christianity took up the majority of the exhibit, and there were several ancient manuscripts of the four gospels. I think I've learned as much during travelling as I did last term. All of the cities we visited were full of things you learn in school. It's been neat actually seeing them.

After leaving the Chester Beatty Library, we went to the castle which cost 4 euros or so for a guided tour. We decided against the tour, but there was an Andy Warhol exhibit beside the foyer that was free to explore. I found it funny that they weren't really watching the art, and it make me think of this book I had just read, Stealing the Scream. The book is about how it's easier to steal art than it is something from a department store.

Dublin Castle is in the medieval district of Dublin and near the two large churches, Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We walked past Christ Church, admiring it and taking pictures. Then, we walked to St. Patrick's. St. Patrick's is full of Irish history, plus it's named after their famous holiday, so we forked over the 5 euros to go inside. We saw the grave of Jonathan Swift and other typical church things...we've seen so many they begin to run together. After our self-guided tour, we walked to the nearby park and rejuvenated in the grass. We napped for at least an hour. I just passed out lying on my stomach, and I woke up to the sound of a dog breathing really hard. Sure enough, there was a dog nearby, and some punk kids who asked Jennifer for a fag (cigarette).

After our nap, we walked to Temple Bar which isn't a bar at all. It's the artsy district where there are cool thrift shops, the film and photography institutes, and lots of pubs. We didn't buy anything, and walked through to St. Stephen's Green, another park. We ate pizza there and walked around. Parks in Ireland are much better than the ones in London as there was plant life other than grass and trees. It was really beautiful, but there were all of these couples who were lying in the grass together really going at it.

We next walked to Merrion Square which also had a park. Merrion Square was were Oscar Wilde lived, and like every other good college student, I have recently joined the Oscar Wilde cult. We saw a sculpture of him looking very flamboyant. I posed next to it of course.

The last thing we did was go to the U2 wall. I had no idea what it was, but I love U2, so I thought it could be interesting. Our map was failing us, and we had difficulty finding it. The Irish were so friendly, one man who we asked for directions offered to give us a ride to the U2 wall. I was tempted to accept because my feet hurt so bad from all the walking.Don't worry, we learned in kindergarten not to take rides from strangers. He wasn't creepy though. He had an ice cream cone. When we found the U2 wall, it was not what we were expecting. It was kinda lame actually. It was their old studio which had a massive amount of graffiti all on the building.

Unimpressed, we went back to our hostel to check in and take another power nap. We planned on going back out to experience Dublin's nightlife, but we just passed out. I fell asleep in my clothes and slept soundly.

The next day was more relaxing. We had time to take it easy since we had accomplished so much the first day. We went back to Temple Bar to shop around since we both wanted souvenirs. We didn't find anything, but we did go to the Handel Messiah festival. We saw Messiah performed on the streets by a choir and orchestra which was amazing. We also went to the photography gallery. The best thing about the photography gallery were these coupons for Subway that were lying around. So after the gallery, we ate lunch at Subway.

We later went to Trinity College. Apparently the night before, Bill O'Reilly had spoken and there were posters of him everywhere which Jenn and I found hilarious. I took a couple of posters of the bulletin boards. The posters seemed to make fun of him, so we couldn't understand why he would want to speak at a place where people aren't going to like him. One of the posters said "Americans will respect your views if you just keep the private." Also on Trinity College campus, I saw my first cricket match! And I couldn't understand a thing! It seemed like they stand around a lot.

We finished our second day going to an Irish pub for some traditional Irish food. We went to bed early again. The people in our rooms probably thought we were huge losers as they were just going out as were going to bed. Oh well. We had a flight to catch to Paris.

Happy Mother's Day!

So either I'm losing it, or I've never had it. Today whilst talking to Tyler, I asked him if he had gotten his mom anything for Mother's Day. Well, he started freaking out because he hadn't. He asked me when was Mother's Day, and I told him that I think it was during his Oxford visit (which I had mentioned this to him while he was here but he just doesn't listen to me). Tyler calls his mom to right his wrong to the woman who had birthed him. He returns on AOL. "You're a liar," he says. "Huh?" I ask. "Mother's Day isn't until May," he tells me. "Hmm...well, I bet my mom is wondering why I sent her a Mother's Day card in early March then," I think aloud.

This might not be so troubling to me if I wasn't living in Oxford where crazy* is as common as Full House reruns (I don't know where my my similes come from...really). Sure people here are really smart, but they're smart because they study non-stop in high gear. I think that makes a lot of people here crazy. I'm not quite sure where this leaves me though. Can't say that I have "I'd rather study than eat/sleep/live like a normal person" thing going for me. Hmm...is crazy contagious?

Just last term, I kept hearing this crunching noise under one of my keys on my laptop keyboard. I thought it was a frosted flake, so I yank that sucker off to see for myself. While holding the /? key in my hand, I realized that wasn't the best decision. Now, there's nothing but a square space left next to my shift key. And oh yes, there was no frosted flake to be found. That's not all, last term, I had found butter in my silverware drawer, my keys in my underwear drawer, and my pants in my school locker (okay, the last one's not that crazy, I just like to abide by the example rule of three). Anyway, the point is I'm losing it. I frequently find myself talking to myself sometimes in a Dr. Cox voice and attitude.** I guess next term will be the sure test of my mental state, but hopefully I'll have no more episodes to report.

*sorry if my use of the word "crazy" is offensive to those sensitive to people in the loony bin
**Dr. Cox is a character on Scrubs who often berates everyone around him using clever imagery and syllable elongation.

Our next excursion

Jennifer and I booked our flights to our next destinations! We're flying to Dublin, Ireland, this Thursday. We'll stay for two nights, then catch our flight to Paris. European flights are sooo cheap! I found a flight to Ireland for 10 pounds which is pretty amazing considering we booked it only three days in advance! If anyone is looking for flights use www.skyscanner.com. It compares all the discount and regular airlines, and you can book really cheap tickets especially if you look far enough in advance. Paris was expensive, and skyscanner wasn't too much of a help, but there was no getting around the pricey of Paris regardless of how early we booked. I found it funny that our flight from Paris to London is only 25 minutes flying was about half the price of the chunnel though! I'm getting pretty excited with thoughts of travelling again. I think Jenn and I feel as if we know the ropes now...hopefully we're not getting too big for our britches as my granddad liked to say. Just the thought of Dublin is exciting to me even though I really don't know much about it. I love the Irish accent. It's definitely been my favorite. I am, however, slightly nervous about Paris. I know no French. And I definitely have no understanding of how it works phonetically. I'll have to work on the art of gesturing prior to our trip because I'm a lost cause at learning the language. My attempts are seriously laughable. I know. I've been laughed at several times because of this. I think my last tutor purposely worked in French art into my essays to get a chuckle.

So I have a small vaca, then I'll be back to writing essays....ugh...not looking forward to that. My next tutorial topic is medieval art which I have a scant amount of knowledge of so I've tried emailing my next tutor to get a few sources to read before term, but she hasn't replied. I guess I'll just have to do...nothing. Shucks. From now till Thursday, I suppose I could read up on the Crusades and feudalism, but I'm finding it very, very hard to motivate myself to do that.

It's a contest and cooking fun

As usual, my blogging has been sub par, and I'm a wee bit behind. It wasn't until recently that it was brought to my attention that Ryan's, Jennifer's, and my parents read all of our blogs. It's kinda funny....and nice. It makes me want to be a better blogger though I feel as if I'm losing an unspoken contest of who is the best blogger with Ryan in the lead, Jennifer not too far behind, and me, well, I'm about to be lapped. I guess I'll just have to focus on my stronger qualities like how beautifully decorated the upstairs kitchen now is and how I always manage to have chewing gum and that I always generously share.

On a different note, Jennifer and I have been living in Stanley Road by ourselves for awhile. It was rather scary at first. Jennifer lives all the way on the first floor, and I'm in the penthouse, so we're living with two flights of stairs between us!!! Whew, makes me tired thinking of it! It's been nice though, just the two of us. We went grocery shopping the other day and bought tons (about 7 pounds) worth of food each. We bought bread, and vegetables, and cheese, and most excitingly of all....potatoes!! Jenn and I have been looking through cookbooks and the Internet searching for new ways to cook our potatoes, and it has been fun! Yes, it sounds as if we have simpler tastes than we may have once had, but believe me, cooking at Stanley, even with our minimal amount of ingredients, is one of the highlights of my break! I've discovered the wonder that is pesto, and pasta will never be the same! And seriously, the versatility of the potato is mind-boggling! We've mashed them, sliced and baked them in seasoning, boiled them, scalloped them, and made french fries and hash browns!! If this isn't fun, then I don't know if I can handle what is!

However, this week, Jennifer's parents are coming for her, and Tyler is coming to see me, and I fear we cannot subject them to the all-carb diet that we're used to. It's really something you need to ease into, but once you get used to it, you'll never go back.

On a side note, I really miss Mexican food and sweet tea.

My first European excursion

So Bobbie Jo, Jennifer, and I made it back safely to Oxford. Amazingly there were no major catastrophes. In hindsight, the thought of us three backpacking through foreign cities with Jennifer's street smarts, Bobbie Jo's ability to blend in a crowd, and my sense of direction, it's truly a miracle how successful our little trip was. We didn't lose anything permanently (there was a good couple of hours that we lost Jennifer in the Vatican, but I'll go more in depth on that later), nothing was stolen, and good times were had by all. I absolutely fell in love with Italy especially Venice. I just wish that we could have stayed longer. However, I'm thoroughly exhausted and quite excited of the thought of doing nothing for the next few days. Bobbie Jo went home this in the wee hours of this morning, and now I have a good five days before Tyler's arrival, so I have no choice but to blog, facebook, and reminence. I really don't know where to begin recalling our adventures. I suppose I'll post a "few" key pictures first then tell later.

Barcelona










Venice












Florence
















Rome