Over the past couple weeks I’ve had some of the best and worst of my times here at Oxford. Don’t fret, they are highlighted below. Highlights include: Day trip to London, 5 papers in 13 days (turned into 4 in 8), a Manchester United football game, my whack sleep schedule, late night chats, a black tie affaire, dancing, museums, trip planning, beds breaking, meltdowns, and the occasional sunny day. Details below.
1. Day trip to London. What a better way to start the month of February than a day trip to the city of London. Because of #4, I missed the group bus ride into the city. A battle began against my inner introvert who was wanting to sulk around the empty house sipping tea and reading away, but alas, I pulled myself from my slumber put on a dress and a perfect shade of lipstick (red, obviously) and away I went. After meeting up with some of the girls by the Marble Arch we were off to Trafalgar Square. We explored the National Gallery, hollllaaaa at those free museums #thanksEnglishtaxpayers #socialism, and got to see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. And let me tell you, it was so worth the 1+ hour wait, not to get all earthy hipster artsy on you, but it was a moving experience. Then we wandered around the city in search of good coffee and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Both of which we found. Thanks to our affiliation to Wycliffe Hall, we were invited to attend the Evensong service at special setting amongst the choir (which happens to be a world’s renowned boy’s choir). The night was spent attempting to find a Jazz club that would transport us back in time. While were not able to find a Gatsby Party, we found a few nice pubs, stumbled in and out of Chinese New Year celebrations, and took in the city of London overlooking the River of Thames.
2. 5 papers in 13 days; but now 4 in 8 days. Probably the main reason my posting has be lacking is the vast amount of work that I’ve been procrastinating doing. If I survive this next 9 days, upon completion you’ll find me curled up in a ball and probably clutching my new bottle of lilac hair dye or a bottle of bleach. Or lets be honest, both.
3. Manchester United Game. This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a game at Old Trafford. We spent the day wandering around Manchester, I realised how much of a nerdy bunch we were when thinking about how we spent our free time: visiting their cathedral and the John Rylands Library where everyone fangirled over the Rylands St John Fragement of the Bible (aka the oldest dated New Testament writing to survive). It took three separate tram rides to fit all 6 of us in to make it to the Old Trafford station. British people don’t know the art of mastering the trams like I’ve seen on the L. We had seats as far back of the stadium as we could get, but it was still amazing. The air was filled with excitement, pride, and overpriced alcohol (Fun fact, beer bottles aren’t allowed within the stadium now because fans used to throw them onto the field/start to many fights). Manchester couldn’t keep their lead and Fulham tied up the game in the last bit of extra time. Still, I had been warned on the tram ride there that the game would change my life, and oddly enough I think they were right… Nothing tops Europeans and their pride for their football teams.
4. I’ll just give you a run down of my sleep over the past few days. Whoops.
- Thursday: woke up at 12, went to bed at 6.
- Friday: woke up at 12, went to bed at 5 am.
- Saturday: wake up at 4 pm, didn’t go to bed.
- Sunday: slept for 45 min on the bus ride to Manchester, slept maybe 2 hours on the bus ride back to Oxford, fell asleep at 7.30 am.
- Monday: Woke up at 3pm, went to bed around 4.30am.
- Tuesday: Woke up at 10.30, then 12.15, then 3.30p and we’ll see when I’m going to bed.
5. Late Night Chats. As the eyes grow weary the talk grows heavier, but not necessarily, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve met some of the most wonderful people here and I will continue to sacrifice my sleep to hear anything and everything they are willing to share with me.
6. A Black Tie Affair. Or a black tie pizza dinner rather. Here at Oxford we like juxtaposition, and so what better way to spend a Friday than eating pizza in fancy clothes. We had a photo op, and it was divine.
7. Dancing. It’s becoming a fairly common, okay fine it happened twice, occurrence for our fearless leaders Brad and Nancy to tend to their flock and attempt to teach us how to dance. And when I say dance I mean Waltz, Salsa, Tango, Swing, and a bunch of other styles I’ve never heard of. I started off laughing and thinking it was so stupid, now I’m that girl who goes around and makes everyone come join in. Thx middle school dance class.
8. Most (if not all) of England’s museums are free. This term I’ve only made it to the Pitt River (Oxford), and National Gallery (London). I still want to go to the Tate Modern (London), Freud’s house (London), and the Ashmolean (Oxford) to name a few.
9. Trip Planning. As of now it looks like I’m going to be spending about 2 months gallivanting around Europe, sleeping on trains, and living out of a backpack. And I. Can’t. Wait. Candidates for travel include: Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Copenhagen, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, and Turkey. (Got any places I should see there? Friends of a Friends’ Mother that will let me sleep on her couch? TELL MEEEEE).
10. Last night my top bunk bed decided to start to collapse, that was fun. Don’t worry, it’s fixed now, but I think I like my bed on the floor better than the top bunk anyways.
11. Meltdowns. Let’s just say its been an emotional few weeks for, um everyone. Tears, chocolate, walks, and diet coke.
12. We’ve had TWO sunny days in the past couple weeks and they have been so great. Now we might still have flooding problems, and I may have had to tread water to get myself and my bike through the cycle path, but the sun was out and when the sun is shinning, all your problems melt away. Until the sun sets at 5pm and you realise you didn’t get anything done toady and you have 4 papers to write in 8 days and a tutorial in two hours you know nothing about, but hey, c’est la vie.