Blogging Abroad: The Right Place at the Right Time

Even though this week was pretty much overshadowed by my first six-page case study, there were many adventures to be had! Also, I have given up on attempted conciseness, so you're welcome for the detailed update, just to warn you from the outset.
Here's the basic rundown of awesome/enjoyable/lovely things I encountered this week:

~Evensong at St. Paul's cathedral

~Hitting up London tourist spots (Buckingham Palace, Horse Guard's Parade, 10 Downing St., Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Tube, Grosvenor Square, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, Tower Bridge)

~Geeking out with Harry Potter and Jane Austen references. In London.

~Getting in last minute to see Richard III at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for SUPER cheap and standing the whole time like back in the old days: legit!

~Having random strangers to explain the story because everyone and their mother is in that play...

~Writing my paper in the quintessential old Oxfordian library

~Realizing your feet are standing where Henry VIII may have stood at one time... O.O

~Dressing up in Tudor-period attire to walk through Hampton Court feeling like a queen (not one of Henry's though...)

~Once again being thwarted in my attempts to go through a hedge maze!

~Jumping pictures

~Having a friendly security guard give me a tour of a crypt and chapel at one of Oxford's colleges

~Boudicca, Foodica, Boudicake, and my dinner group in general

~Rambling through downtown Oxford on a regular basis

~Going to the Ashmolean Museum and crashing the Art History class tour

~Having a personal tour/explanation of a Japanese tea ceremony given to me by a sweet curator lady

~Encountering THE worst and most enthusiastically unimpressed student tour guide EVER

~Walking across the Bridge of Sighs

~Bow ties, flat caps, tweed, Oxfords, examinations suits, knit sweaters, and Oxford style all-around
~Pub time with friends =)
~The first of (I'm sure) many all-nighters
~Being in buildings that are four times older than the entire U.S.
~Getting to know my fellow SCIOites even better
~Submitting my first Oxford paper

(Pardon the lack of pictures for the rest of these. My camera battery died and I perpetually forgot to recharge it. More pics next week!)

My British Landscapes seminars and Philosophy seminar continued this week. I have really come to appreciate getting deeper into British history specifically through the landscape courses. It's made me realize just how singular our view of world history can be. It's slightly overwhelming just how much knowledge is out there, untouched and unsought by the majority of people.

One of our professors mentioned that a previous student in this program described Oxford as the place "where your best is never good enough," and after talking to our professors and completing my first case study (on Romanesque and Gothic architecture and society), that's struck me as very true. We were also asked why we came here to England. For me, I think this is why. We all need to be reminded that our best is never good enough (at least I do)--and not just here at Oxford, but in everything. There is always a way to do better and to BE better. Looking back at the case study I submitted and looking forward to the rest I will have to write, I think this is going to become painfully obvious--but it is such a good thing to go through!

I also want to take a second to thank everybody who helped me in getting here and ever pushed me to be better: Mom and Dad, Justin, Dr. S, Dr. M, Professor B, Pastor S, Melissa, Emmett Kiwanis Club, Mark, Emily, Britt, Grandma, Case and Bep, every single one of my Sea Beggars, all of my church family in Idaho and Cali, and I'm sure I've managed to forget someone... But you know who you are and  how you've helped me. I'm missing you all while I'm here even if I am being kept busy. You've all contributed to my being here (or even WANTING to be here) in so many ways, whether with money, encouragement, advice, recommendation-writing, and just through your care for me as a daughter, a student, a sister in Christ, a friend. I want you all to know that I am enjoying my time here in every way possible because of how you've been a part of my life.
So once again: thank you!

Anyway, that's all of my rambling for now. More case studies, adventures, and life lessons coming up next week! Also, I am counting this post as still being within my every-week time frame (even if my week technically passed on Thursday...) so my streak is still running! There is hope for my blogging abilities yet!

The road goes ever on and on,
Dani

Blogging Abroad: Getting Settled

I find that the amount of things I have done this week is slightly overwhelming, so I'm going to try to keep it as concise as possible. This week was one intense in orientation. There was a lot of exploring and establishing of routines and habits this week, as well as a lot of pushing out into the community. What follows is a list of the things I did that I found enjoyable interspersed with various things that I have discovered that I really appreciate about being where I am. Enjoy!

~Having a super cheap and super yummy English breakfast in a pub with new friends (and having a pint of beer come with the meal...)

~Squishing into the Eagle and Child pub with about 20 people

~Church at St. Ebbes

~Singing in church with a bunch of British accents

~Meeting some Oxford locals

~Wandering downtown Oxford and some of the University's colleges with my new buddy, Chloe and a bunch of others over the course of the week

~Marveling at the architecture and realizing that our schools will be aesthetically humbled in comparison from now on...

~Having tea with the group every morning and/or afternoon

~Breakfast buddies

~The St. Giles festival

~Walking and biking EVERYWHERE and realizing that I WILL have legs of steel by the end of all this (along with that, figuring out different traffic laws for pedestrians and bikers)

~Being part of The Vines biker gang for the first day of orientation (about 40 of us riding at one time)

~Going to an Evensong service at Christ Church Cathedral

~High church services in general

~Mysteriously losing my bike... and getting it back again!

~Exploring the libraries (that I'm sure I'll be VERY familiar with by the end of the semester...)

~Being able to flash my university card and get into places closed to the public

~The first chapel of the term

~Creating and exploring our memory palaces with some of my fellow students

~Great late-night chats

~Watching and discussing TED talks

~Visiting the ruins of a Roman British city

~Walking through a gorgeous Gothic cathedral

~Encyclopedic tutors and staff members

~Figuring out how I'm going to be feeding myself over the course of the term (yay for food groups!)

~Finally starting to get a grasp on what I will be doing class-wise

That's about the extent of it for this week. It's been kind of a whirlwind with all that and general orientation seminars going on throughout the week, but a good kind of whirlwind. This next week promises the same with a trip to London planned and my first paper due. So far, there has been lots of excitement, but apart from even that, I am seeing just how much I am starting to love it here for many various reasons. Here's hoping the academic side of things prove as positive an experience (I'm betting it will).

The road goes ever on and on,

Dani

Blogging Abroad: Taking Flight

Here I sit early in the morning with my cup of tea, and here's the moment you've all been waiting for (or maybe just I've been waiting for it...)!

My first blog update from Oxford!!!!

During the couple weeks before the day I left, I met six different people who have been to Oxford or the nearby area in England (all but one for the purpose of studying there). One of them was a German lady who studied at Cambridge in the 50s, another studied abroad here in Oxford for a semester then came back for two more years, and another did this exact program last year. I feel like I got a good amount of helpful advice from all of them and it was cool (and kind of strange all at the same time) to suddenly meet all these people who are/have been connected with the place I'm going to be spending the next few months.

After saying goodbye to my family (would have fit them all in my suitcases if I could, but airlines tend to frown upon that), I got on my flight from Boise Thursday morning for my first leg to LAX. I had a super talkative row buddy on the airplane so it made that leg go quickly, which was nice. We got along surprisingly well after he started out by telling me he was in the Navy going for his degree right now and didn't see the point of people going to school for 'irrelevant things like philosophy' (before I told him what I was going to school for). He was a nice guy though and was embarrassed to have stuck his foot in his mouth so badly. I just found it amusing.

I met a couple friends (SOOOOOOO happy to see them both!) during my nearly 6-hour layover in LA. We got lunch, went to the beach, got some ice cream, and just hung out and talked. It was lovely and I miss them (again) already.

Note to self and others: do NOT go into the ocean before getting onto a 10-hour flight--it makes you kind of cold and miserable...

Oh yeah... the 10-hour flight...

I had a good seat and didn't really talk to my rowmates this leg, but sleeping was an issue. I got in around 12:30PM on Friday. That's a looooooong time to be on a plane... Surprisingly though, I didn't really get jet lagged--even after 3 questionable hours of sleep. I do feel like I'm a day behind, but managed to stay up until bed time and even got up early this morning. Hopefully jet lag doesn't catch up with me later today.

Until the point that I actually stepped foot on English soil (on my way to the bus station), it still hadn't hit me that I was actually IN England. Driving through a tiny bit of London and through the countryside was absolutely beautiful. 

(I sat on the good side of the airplane and saw the Olympic setup on our descent into London)

Speaking of which, Heathrow is still decked out in Olympics gear (the Paralympics are still going) and Oxford itself is just as picturesque as I thought it would be. And yes, driving on the opposite side of the road is a little disorienting...

And the house where we're staying is gorgeous! Just look at this yard!

It's an old manor house on a tiny lane (like I-and-my-two-suitcases-had-to-move-off-the-side-of-the-road-to-let-one-car-pass tiny) around other university housing. I ended up getting to the house around 3PM (15:00 here). Most people had shown up earlier that day and were in town when I got here, but we all got to hang out last night and it was wonderful meeting everyone. I feel like I will fit in very well here and I'm super excited to start classes in a couple days (as is everyone else).

That's all the update I have for now. Let the adventures begin!

The road goes ever on and on,

Dani