On the Scale From 1 to Awesome…

Life continues to be AWESOME here in Oxford, and I’m still afraid to pinch myself thinking I’ll wake up and find out I'm dreaming.

[Speaking of dreams, quick side note to show how English culture has even begun to creep into my dream life: The other morning I woke up from a nightmare that I had to get braces. But not only that, I had to get them in ENGLAND. And true to the Brit’s reputation for bad teeth, mine turned out HORRIBLE. I spent the rest of the night chasing the dentist around a massive castle trying to get him to fix them, but he wouldn’t. Then I woke up, ran to the mirror, and breathed a sigh of relief.]

Port Meadow

Port Meadow continues to be one of my favorite spots in Oxford. Although I started out running there, I must say it is not the most conducive environment to getting rigorous exercise. Most of the time the landscape is just too breathtaking and I have to just stop and stare. There’s nothing quite like running through a meadow with horses and cows and bunnies next to a river with swans and ducks.

One night, a group of us wandered back there to get away from the city lights and stargaze for a while. Two of us had taken swing dance lessons before, and one of us had an iPod with swing music on it. We happened to have four guys and four girls, so we did a quick lesson and then danced for the next half hour or so. There’s nothing quite like a spontaneous swing dance party at midnight under the stars in a huge field in England.

We also did a night of s’mores, campfire singin’, and poetry over a bonfire one night.

London

The eye!

Since my last post, I’ve been to London twice. But it has yet to get old. As Samuel Johnson once said: “If you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life.”

The first time I went in to see a friend from nursing school who was traveling through the area (I’ve lucked out with the amount of friends from the States I’ve gotten to see over here!) and he and his friends and Lis and I spent the day walking around London. We toured the London tower where SO much history happened, got to see the Crown Jewels, took a ride in the London eye, and then out for a lovely dinner.

Lis trying to decide if she is afraid of heights or not...

Inside the eye

George and moi

Lis and I

View from the eye!

The second time, I got to see some family friends who took me to Covent Garden, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Harrods (a ritzy seven-ish-story shopping center that is just…crazy. There are entire ROOMS full of handbags, other rooms full of perfumes, others full of chocolates, coffee, and tea.. you name it. “A woman’s heaven” as Andrew described it. Although, grandiose as it is, I personally think it’s a little overwhelming). We got sandwiches at Harrods and took them for a picnic dinner in Hyde Park. It was one of the best days weather-wise and sitting on the lake was the perfect conclusion to the day.

Covant Garden

St. Paul's Cathedral

Andrew and Anthony! How are they taller than me now?!

Uncle Mikhael

REPRESENT!

Hyde Park

And to answer your question, no royal baby sightings yet.

Theatre!

Got to see two outdoor plays in one week!

Taming of the Shrew!

In the Bodlein quad

Pride and Prejudice!

in the Trinity College Gardens

Windsor Castle

C.S. Lewis weekend

This past weekend was particularly enjoyable for me, because I happen to be a huge fan of C.S. Lewis’ writings. Saturday, I spend the day at Magdalen College (pronounced ‘Modlin’ strangely enough) where C.S. Lewis was a professor. I had four hours of thinking, journaling, processing, introvert-time which was glorious. There’s also a beautiful path called the Addison Walk that runs along the Thames which I walked for a ways.

Sunday, three of us went to Lewis’ church in Headington. We sat in his usual pew, now marked by a Narnia-themed window. I think it was pretty clear to everyone around us that we were not regulars at that congregation: We were ‘THOSE people,’ whispering excitedly and snapping photos ‘inconspicuously’ and sitting on the ‘seat cushions’ which were actually the ones you put on the floor to kneel on during responsive prayer.

After the service was over, we went outside and visited his grave:

Then we decided to walk to Lewis’ house because google maps told us it was less than a mile away. We got there and were taking a couple pictures from the outside when a man (who we soon found out is the current resident) rounded the corner and asked us, "Can I help you with something?" We explained that we had been in the area and just wanted to see the place where Lewis lived. He replied, "Well, why don't you come see the garden?" So he opened the gate and we sat in the garden talking to him for a while.

Then he said "Well, I'm gonna leave here soon, but why don't you come in and see the common room (living room) real fast?" So we got to go INSIDE and see where Lewis had a couple bookshelves, a couple couches, and this stuffed chair where he would sit a lot.

We talked for a few more minutes. Then he looked at his watch and said "Well, I'm gonna leave here soon, but why don't I show you two more rooms." Then he took us into the dining room and, afterwards, the kitchen where we chatted a little more.

He looks at his watch one more time and says, "Well, I only have a couple more minutes, but let's go upstairs and I'll show you his study and bedroom."

study

Saw the wardrobe where the original one used to be (aka entrance to NARNIA)

..and saw pictures of Lewis' friends with friends who he developed characters from! The man on the left was the inspiration for Puddleglum!

Then he had to get ready to leave, but left us to hang out in the garden for a while if we wanted. So we took a few pictures (reading C.S. Lewis books in his garden...no biggie.) :

He was leaving around the same time, asked where we were headed, told him Oxford. He looked at his watch and said "Well why don't you just get in the car and I'll drive you to Headington. You can catch the bus much more easily from there." So we did!

And he dropped us off 30 seconds before our bus came!

I still can’t believe that happened.

Punting

Sunday night we got to see András Schiff perform two of Schubert's sonatas at Christ Church Cathedral. Here’s a little clip of his: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4FgsVhP9GM

"Uni" (aka, school)

After all this, you might be wondering if I’m actually doing any studying. YES. A lot of it. But the cool thing about Oxford is that as a student you can get into all these awesome places to study that no one else can get into. Probably my favorite place has been the upper reading room in the Radcliffe Camera. Not gonna lie, it’s pretty fun to march right past the “No Visitors” sign and feel like a true Oxfordian.

Upper reading room in the Rad Cam

And yesterday was my last day studying here! I turned in my final paper this morning!

I can hardly believe that one week from today I’ll be waking up at home. Until then, my planner is packed full of last-minute bucket list adventures.

Cheers, friends! 

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