It has certainly bee a long time since I added to this blog. Hopefully, that just means that I have been having a great time although I know that laziness has a lot to do with it. For that, I am eternally in your debt (whoever you are). I will begin my penance with brief explanations (and pictures) of what I have been up to.
The week before classes begin is called "noughth week" or "0 week". Essentially it is when you are dying for tutorials to begin, and not knowing what you are asking for at the time. When tutorials come, you stop updating blogs. This is a dinner that we put together during the deceiving nought week season. It is an especially odd meal because, as you might notice, there is a portion of Indian curry right next to a healthy sized portion of beef. I had completely forgotten that Manash, my Indian roommate, would not be joining on the beef-eating festivities. Luckily, Manash is a forgiving guy and was able to look past my cultural ignorance.
In order to tell this story, I have to confess that while in Oxford, I joined a fairly dangerous gang of bikers. we ended up calling ourselves the "Trouble Gang". We would go on dangerous quests on our bikes to neighboring villages and forests. The picture below illustrates how Kelly was prepared to sacrifice anything for a fellow member when John was attacked by a thorn in the depths of the Wytham Woods. "No man left behind", she said--which was good because we were thinking about going on without him.
This is the freakiest tree I have ever seen. Wytham woods is a magical place that shouldn't be trifled with.
The gang escaped the clutches of the woods in victory. A statue of Harry, Kelly and John still stands there today so that the world remembers their triumph.
As the Trouble Gang headed back to Oxford, we stumbled upon one of the most wonderful of British inventions: an Ale Festival! If you like beer, you simply must have a true British cask ale. You will be very surprised at the first sip. Being unlike cold, crisp american beers, British Ale is served "warm" and has very little carbonation. The experience is much smoother and makes it enjoyable to drink even on a cold day. The festival took pub called The Perch just outside of Oxford near a beautiful place called Port Meadow. And it was pretty fancy!
The next day, many of the Americans in my program all got a hankering for apples so we decided to visit "Apple Day", and what a glorious day it was.
The walk back was beautiful!
Soon, it was time for the eager Americans to be officially accepted into the college. No longer would we be annoying tourists who studied their map in order to find where Draco Malfoy was turned into a ferret by Mad-Eye Moody, or where Lewis and Tolkien drank their frequent ales together, or where the college was that Emma Watson went to. We would become
students. After swearing an oath not to burn down the library, we would begin flashing our Oxford Bod cards any chance that we could get. This wonderful, yet unfortunately pink, token would get us discounts at shops as well as immediate respect from those who saw them. Soon enough, people began thinking that we were way smarter than we actually were. It was great.
The ceremony took place outside of the Divinity School which took about eighty years to build.
Later, I had my first tutorial at Balliol College which celebrates its 750th year anniversary this year. Its gardens are beautiful.
I was a little worried about being late because I had to go through a small labyrinth in order to get to my tutor's office.
Sidenote: This would be a sweet job.
One Saturday morning, Monica and treated ourselves to a Full English breakfast at the Royal Oak Tavern. It was too much for two people, and we had to leave our blood pudding behind as we went to the Oxford University Parks to throw around some frisbees.
More to come! Cheers!
