My Oxford Summer

Most people are familiar with the bittersweet ending that a program like this has. For those of you who are not (I really hope you get to experience it soon), but I’ll try and sum it up for you: I’m so happy I spent the summer here and learned so much. I made many new friends all over the world, and we have all decided to try hard to keep in touch. I submitted papers to Oxford and did well on them. I toured the great colleges and shopped at Blackwells. I read in the Bodleian library and had a Guinness at the Eagle and Child. I wandered the streets of one of the most beautiful, and now I can say one of my favorite, cities in the entire world. That’s the sweet part, with the other side being the fact that I’m packing up now. I know I’ll be back; I want to bring my friends and family to see it and give them the grand tour, but I’ll never be able to leave Oxford for the first time again. I may never be able to study here again. I probably will never be in this city with all these wonderful people again. Despite the sad thoughts that come with ending a period of studying and living with a close group for a little while, I think we can all say we are leaving quite happy. We are leaving knowing we just had a life changing summer, one we will be able to reminisce on over tea and cold toast all over the globe for the rest of our lives.

I started the day by getting up early and writing my blog post for the day before. I headed out from Exeter to try and get some more souvenir shopping done before going to the final plenary lecture. I bought a few things, with the intention of finishing up tomorrow, and headed back to school to meet everyone else. Before going in, I stopped by the summer school office to pick up my EU paper, which I did well on! Huzzah! With the relief that I passed my first paper behind me, I went to the lecture.

It was titled Labour Prime Ministers from Attlee to Brown and was delivered by Lord Kenneth Morgan. Yes, the final lecture was given by a member of the House of Lords, and it was fantastic. He gave us the history of each of the Prime Ministers from the Labour party, started with Attlee right after WWII. This complimented my British Politics class nicely since that’s right where it ended. After giving us the lecture, he and Dr. Buchanan read off our names and gave us our certificates. We all cheered for each other and had a lot of fun. The plenary lectures during this program have been wonderful learning experiences and I think they were organized very well. I am really going to miss those.

From there I had lunch one more time in the dining hall, and then met up with Daniel, Anna, Blake, and Antonia to go explore Christ Church’s campus. I’d been around it so many times, but never inside. We walked through a side entrance and flashed our Bodleian Library cards (people in the know call them ‘Bod Cards’), and got in for free. It’s the biggest campus in Oxford, and it is quite a sight. The quad is huge, and the buildings are filled with hallways scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed in. We also toured the great dining hall which inspired the Hogwarts one. After nerding about that for a while, we got ice cream at a famous place across the street (the name escapes me at the moment), and then went over to Magdalen college. It was similarly an amazing and beautiful campus, with the best chapel of all the colleges in my opinion.

After heading back with my friends, I started packing my suitcase and listening to music. At 4 o’clock, I went to the room I’ve been having my British Politics course in to get my paper back. I would say of the two I put the bulk of my work into this one, and was thrilled when I got a good grade on it. I got to speak to Dr. Buchanan about the paper for a while, and he gave me some really helpful and interesting feedback. One of the best parts of this summer school has been the feeling of genuine interest the professors here have taken in our work. I will always be thankful for that.

I packed and walked around the streets some more, taking in all the sights I could, and then headed to Exeter for the closing dinner. After getting all cleaned up and fancy-like in my suit, I walked to the dining hall to get some pictures in the front with everyone, and then we went to the Fellow’s Garden. Like the opening reception, we had champagne and talked with each other and the professors. Unlike the opening reception we all felt a lot more comfortable and less awkward mingling. I tried to make my way around the garden to see everyone, and hopefully was able to take or be in pictures with everyone. I even got a picture with Tom Buchanan, which was really cool. We all moved from there into the dining hall for our last dinner together.

The food was wonderful; they saved the best for last. It was a fig salad, white and red wine, a steak with sautéed vegetables and then coffee for dessert. I sat with Kevin, Bryan, Alex, Blake, Jessica, Julia and Joanna and we all had a great time. After eating, the heads of both departments said a few words, thanking us for a great month and hoping we make it back to Oxford. After they had spoken and received hearty applause, Lord Morgan gave a brief speech as well. He opened with what I thought was a phenomenal speech-starting joke by saying he knows he was not elected as a Lord in a democratic process, but the Americans can’t hold that against him because neither was President Bush. I probably laughed harder than Blake on that one. He also gave an all around wonderful speech by thanking us again for our participation and welcoming us to stay in touch and come back to visit. The part I loved the most was when he said “I hope you all enjoyed the Oxford summer, your Oxford summer.” In case you hadn’t gathered already from reading my updates, I did.

Tomorrow I am spending my last day in Oxford with Blake and Joanna. Hopefully I can see some of my friends off as they leave. Thank you so much again for reading my posts, there are only a few left now, so I’m taking suggestions for what to blog about next. All I’ve got is “Benjamin’s Big Blog of Bacon Dishes,” and “I Miss Oxford: Sad Haikus from America."

Last Day of Class

My last day of classes went very well, finishing off one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. I learned so much and will never forget what I did and the great friends I met while I was here.

I woke up early to assure I made it to breakfast today. After nearly falling back on the wondrous snooze button for the third time, I finally got up. I had cereal, toast and tea for breakfast, and then headed to my final European Union class. We took a quiz as an overview of what we've learned, and had a group discussion on the direction we thought the Euro was going to go in. I am so happy I took this class, and now have a much better understanding of the Euro and the EU. I am obviously by no means an expert, but I will approach news stories and future European travel with a grounding in the financial system from the experience I gained at Oxford. Stuart Kewley is a wonderful teacher, and I hope to stay in contact with him in my future academic and professional life.

I went from there to grab a drink at Cafe Nero, and it hit me that I won't be walking the busy streets of Oxford much longer. I knew that before walking out the gate of Exeter this morning, but when I was actually there on Turl street, it hit me as a mixture of pride that I've studied here and  a sort of nostalgia for having to leave so soon. After grabbing my mocha I went to the lecture.

Today's lecture was given by Dr. Elizabeth Gibson Morgan and was titled Constitutional Change in Modern Britain. It was a really interesting talk on the history of the unwritten British Constitution, electoral reform, and the possible reform of the House of Lords. I asked her during the question period if she thought the Liberal Democrats would be able to push through any near-future electoral reform (which they need badly if they want to be a major political player again), or if the opposition to it and support for the "first past the post" system is too strong. She said with the most recent defeat of that legislation it didn't seem likely, and electoral reform could be a long way off if it happens at all.

I left lecture to grab lunch in the dining hall, and then to my room to review for my presentation in the British Politics class. When I got to class, we discussed the final years we wanted to cover, and WWII in England. There were some very good discussions in our final class about the differing ideals of 'glory' in post-WWII England. Is it the case that after Churchill, England's Empire declined, they lost a deep independence held for so long, and they succumbed to a socialist state in a dramatic fall from glory? Or are all these characteristics of post-war Britain a new type of glory all together, making the English people stronger than before? I also gave my presentation in class on the Labour party in WWII, and it went really well. I was proud that I was able to spark interesting discussion between Dr. Buchanan and the class about the reaction against Churchill and the Torys after the war. Like my EU course, I am extremely thankful and feel very fortunate I took this class. I learned more about the recent history of England than I thought possible in this short time I've been here. Knowing about how the great country I'm studying in came to be the place it is has made a world of difference in the lasting effect I expect to gain from it all.

After class I did a little souvenir shopping, and then went on a walk. I decided to head down towards Christ Church to see if I could get in. Unfortunately it was closing, but that ended up working in my favor quite nicely. I walked a little further past the college to see what was down there and noticed a sign on the outer wall of a restaurant. It was for St. Phillip's Bookstore, was was tucked away in a small alley next to the building. It's a second hand bookstore specializing in History, Theology, and Literature, and I had a similar feeling of bliss as the first time I walked into Blackwells. This place is much smaller, but they have an amazing selection of History and Theology books, as well as a whole shelf for the Inklings. I ended up buying a book on Tolkein and a really old copy of The Sign of Jonas by Thomas Merton. I had to leave because they were closing, but will most certainly pay them another visit tomorrow.

Before dinner, Tom Buchanan took my British Politics class to a nearby restaurant, The Beefeater, for drinks. I had a Guinness and talked about the differences between academia in our respective countries. We had a great time, and headed form there back to Exeter to eat. After dinner (which was a very thick, delicious hambuger; way to go England!), there was a trivia night in the undercroft bar. I formed a team while down there and we put up a valiant effort. Unfortunately most of the questions were more suited to the Literature students, but we had a lot of fun none the less. Three of the people in the Literature program even put on a small play as a brief break from trivia, which was hilarious and well done.

I went out to Three Goats Heads with some of my friends before heading back a little early. I'm going to try and get up early tomorrow and walk back to the bookstore before our final lecture. I also get my grades tomorrow. I'll let you know how they go! And if they are bad grades I'll just lie and say I did well! I'm only kidding, I wouldn't use my blog for such foul purposes. If I do bad I just wont mention them at all on here.

Exploring and Speech Writing

Today I got a decent amount of exploring done, and I also finished my last assignment.

I slept in a little more than usual (until about 9), and stayed in my room to get some of my presentation for tomorrow done. After some noticeable progress was made, I went down to grab some breakfast before the lecture of the day. I went over to the Missing Bean Coffee shop and got a almond croissant (one of my new favorite snacks), and a tea. The lecture of the day was titled Blasphemy and the Right to Speak Freely: Lessons from the UK, and was given by Dr. Christopher Nock. Dr. Nock is the assistant director of the History and Politics program here, and an expert in Political Philosophy. The lecture was a review of blasphemy laws in the UK over the couse of history and their gradual decline in importance as the liberal democracy progresses. Mainly the decline is because the laws only protected adherents of the established Church of England, so no one else (a large population of British subjects), had full rights.

I went from the lecture with Blake to pay for our one extra night of staying at Exeter, and then to eat lunch at a really fancy restaurant. It was called "Pizza Hut," and it served greasy buffet pizza and old bread sticks. I am joining a campaign to get such a wonderful place started up in Louisville.

After lunch, Blake and I headed back to Exeter and split up. I did some more work on my presentation and wrapped it up in preparation for tomorrow. I now am not only a master of Irish Home Rule history and Italy's involvement in the European Union, but also am well versed in the Labour party's difficulties and rise during WWII. My knowledge will no doubt be in high demand when I return home to the ignorant masses of Americans thirsting for a brief glimpse into British Political History.

I went from working on the speech to explore the city a little more. I went into the Sheldonian Theatre, which was designed by Christopher Wren, the famous British architect who designed St. Paul's in London. The Theatre is an amazing thing to see in person, and was exciting because I had seen the main room in a movie called The Oxford Murders, which thankfully has not been recreated while I've been here. I also climbed into the cupola of the building for another top down view of the famous spires.

I went on a long walk over near Chrits Church, and then back to Exeter, where I did my reading for tomorrow's British Politics class in the Fellow's Garden. The bench where I sat in the garden has a great view overlooking the Radford Camera and the Bodleian Library as well as Mary the Virgin Church. I read about People's views of Churchill before the 1940 election and how he came into power under a very unlikely series of events. When I was finished reading, I went to take a nap before meeting Joanna and Blake for dinner.

We went to the Turf Tavern and had a great dinner. It was nice to hang out with the two of them again, we haven't been able to do something with the three of us since the paper-writing madness began. We told stories about high school and about our classes here at Oxford, and then headed back to meet up with everyone else in the undercroft bar. After sitting outside in the quad and having a drink with a big group of the students, we all walked back over to the Turf Tavern to hang out there. We made our way over to the King's Arms afterward, and then headed home. It was a successful pub crawl where I met a really nice Australian teacher named David who was teaching German students in Oxford at the moment. He asked me and my friend Anna if we were hanging out as a big group on Friday and if he could join, since he said he was tired of going to hang out with 16 year old German kids. We'll have to give him a call soon.

I got back to my room and video chatted with my good friend Ted and then my family, and afterwards called it a night. Tomorrow are my last two classes and my presentation. Thanks for reading, there will be another update soon.

Due Date

Today I turned both my papers in. It is at the same time a feeling of relief that its over, and regret that I couldn't put more work into it. That is inevitable when you have only a week and a half to write two big research papers and keep them at Oxford-level though. Overall I am very happy with my work here. Regardless of what grade I get, I learned so much during my research of the two essays I did not know before.

After getting up early and having my usual breakfast of cereal and tea, I went to the European Union class. We discussed both the foreign policy of the EU ad Turkey's potential membership. Foreign policy within the EU is an interesting topic because of the continued search for a European identity and the lack of a clear spokesman. Turkey is also a fascinating subject; if demographic trends continue and they joined, Turkey would be the biggest country in the EU, surpassing Germany population-wise. They would also be the first Islamic country, and the border would be stretched all the way to Iraq. Lively discussion ensued, and the class was insightful as always.

From there I went to the day's lecture, which was titled Four Fifths Expired? Al-Qaeda: The Deadly Franchise. It was given by Dr. Mark Raford, an Irish former soldier and policeman. The talk was very interesting, he touched on the lack of leadership in Al-Qaeda at the moment and the fact that they depreciate in both numbers and credibility when they go without a large scale attack for a ling time. Terrorism is obviously still a large threat, but the chapter on Al-Qaeeda may be coming to a welcome close.

I left the lecture and went on a brief walk, getting a traditional cornish pasty for lunch and reading a little for my next class. I went to British Politics next, where we discussed the pre-WWII years and appeasement. We spent a lot of time discussing Chamberlain as PM and his role in appeasement with the fascist powers of Europe. One really interesting thing we discussed were the instances when British politicians went to meet Hitler in Germany before the outbreak of war. The way they described the Nazi leader was very odd to a room full of people who grew up already knowing the monstrous things he was capable of. Lloyd George and Chamberlain both met him and described him as a charming, even likable man.

After class, I went over to Blackwells to meet my good friend from high school and college, Andy Brill. We went to the Eagle and Child for dinner, where we ate in the same room the Inklings would meet in. He is studying in London at King's College, so we discussed how much we love London and Oxford and all the fun we've had here so far. After deciding to form our own world-famous literary group, we went over to another famous pub, the Turf Tavern. We had a lot of fun talking, laughing, and having a good time. I walked with him back to the train station and he went on his way back to London, and I headed back to Exeter.

Tonight I am trying to get some more of my presentation for Thursday done, and maybe going out with some Exeter people tonight to celebrate the end of our papers. Huzzah! I'll update you soon about the continuing efforts during my last week to see all of Oxford. Thanks for reading!

Tourist Time

For the beginning of my last week, I decided to try and knock off some of my list of Oxford attractions I have yet to see. I started off the day by getting up early and returning my six Irish History books to the Rewley Library where I checked them out almost two weeks ago now (hard to believe). My desk looks a heckuva lot emptier now. I walked from there over to Carfax Tower, which is the only remaining part of the medieval St. Martin's church. The tower advertises a birds eye view of the city of dreaming spires, so I had to do it. Since I got there as they opened, I was the only person there for a little while. The view was wonderful, I saw Exeter's chapel and the other buildings that make up the famous image of Oxford. The weather was perfect for it too, it was a good way to start the day.

I grabbed a mocha and a piece of baklava from an Italian coffee place in the covered market for breakfast. Yes, I had baklava for breakfast and I'm proud of it, I'm just sick of corn flakes! I took my healthy choice breakfast with me over to the lecture theatre for the day's talk, which was on, you guessed it, divorce. It was titled Divorce: Reasons and  Repercussions, and was given by Dr. Amanda Palmer. She discussed the divorce rates and changing trends in family life in England and how our society is becoming more accepting of divorce as a normal thing. She also spoke of how it affected children in the divorce and how that differs with age. She did a very good job, and it was obviously a lecture people had a lot of questions for her by the end of.

From the lecture I had lunch and went over to the Oxford Botanical Gardens. I wasn't sure how I would like it since I knew nothing about the gardens, but when I walked in I couldn't have been happier. I spent about an hour and a half walking around and looking at all the plant life from around the world. They had rooms for different kinds like an arid room, a lily room, and a palm room, and they were all fascinating. To get around in that area you have to walk through a jungle-like hallway of giant leaves and vines, pushing them out of the way and ducking under others. The rest of the gardens were beautiful as well, with beds of different flowers and fruit trees. I sat on a bench in the center of the gardens and just took it all in for a few minutes. I also got distracted by a lady bug that was walking around on the arm of the bench next to me for entirely too long before deciding to head back to Exeter.

When I got back, I wet to a couple shops around the area and got an Exeter sweater to add to my small arsenal of Oxford clothes (I didn't pack enough from home) and some souvenirs for my family. Then I took a brief nap, which is always a glorious recharge for the rest of the evening. I had dinner in the dining hall and then got some work done on my presentation for the British Politics course on Thursday. I hung out with Bryan for a little while afterwards and then called it a night. Tomorrow night people want to go to a club for karaoke night. That may be fun for me to go watch, but if I want to keep any of the friends I've made here I should probably stay away from the microphone.

Blenheim Palace

I had my ideal morning today. I woke up about 7, which was difficult, but once I was awake I was very happy I did it. I went to an 8 o'clock Mass at a different church than last week; this time I went to one called Blackfriars. The church was smaller than the other one I went to, and very plainly decorated. There was something really nice about how simple it was, and the service was wonderful. The priest gave a really touching call to prayer for the people of Norway. Also, this time around I was aware of the wording differences, blending in with everyone else with relative ease.

I went from there over to the little park next to Christ Church Meadow I like so much, and read some of The Sicilian Vespers. I'm trying to knock it out before school starts back up. It's about the politics and history around the Mediterranean in the 13th and 14th centuries, so it's helping a lot with my Dante thesis at school. Not to mention it reads like a suspense/thriller novel, which is always welcome with history texts. I sat on the grass under a tree and read for about an hour and a half, and then headed back to Exeter to meet up with Blake.

We went out with two other people from the program, Daniella and Sean, and got paninis at a little sandwich shop for lunch. Once we had talked an eaten, Blake and I split up with our friends and caught a bus going to Blenheim Palace, the amazing birthplace and home of Winston Churchill.

When we pulled up to our stop, we saw 2 huge fields with hundreds of cars parked in each one. We found out later that there was a game exhibition going on today with events like hot-air balloon flying, dog shows, archery, fishing, and shooting ranges. Sir Winston would have loved it I'm sure, he was all about that kind of stuff. Blake and I walked past the cars pulling in to join the others and down the long road towards the palace. Even from a distance the place was overwhelming. It's a massive collection of buildings that rightly deserve to be called a palace, and the vast expansion of property they sit on is almost too much to take in during one visit. We got a ticket and went through the three, not one, but three huge and ornately decorated gates until getting to the main palace. 

The two of us took pictures of the statues in the courtyard and the front of the building as well as the tall victory statue off in the distance to the front of the palace. If you were to stand at that monument, facing towards the palace where we were, and walk in a straight line, you would first come to the front entrance of the palace, pass through out the back, continue walking straight and eventually end up in the small church at Bladon, where Churchill and his family are buried. The entire walk probably wouldn't take more than 45 minutes.

Blake and I went through the left side of the palace, which is set up as a museum to Churchill's life. I was able to read hand-written notes he wrote to his father as a school child while listening to them play snippets of his most famous speeches in each room. The notes made me kind of sad, he started off almost every one with "My dear Papa, I'm so happy you wrote to me," or "My dear Papa, I'm so happy to be writing to you, I know how busy you are so you don't have a lot of time to read my letters," or something like it. I learned in the Churchill lecture last week he had a very cold, distant father, but Churchill idolized him anyway.

I saw pictures of the man from all through his life, letters from the Queen and world leaders to him, many of his books and possessions, and even a few of those landscape paintings I mentioned when writing about the lecture Dr. Jackson gave. They were very impressive. One of the stranger sights in the tour was walking through the room he was born in. They had the bed there, and above the bed was framed "Winston's curls, cut from his head when he was 5 years old." That would have sort of grossed me out, being framed hair and all, but when I was in Florence I saw two of Galileo's fingers and some of his teeth that had been preserved, which makes hair from the late 19th century not as jaw-dropping. I'm building an impressive resume as a creepy secular relic hunter though, which has always been a sort of back up professional dream of mine.

We walked through the rest of that side of the palace, and each room was more impressive than the next. There were paintings of the family for generations back, as well as amazing tapestries, maps, letters and furniture in each room that was all very interesting. I walked through the gorgeous dining room, with the beautifully set table and ceiling with a cathedral-like painting on it. While in there, I read that the family only uses it to eat on Christmas. Probably because the rest of the year its filled with tourists, many of whom don't speak English and might not understand "Please stop touching my food sirs and madams! You most certainly do not live here and this microwave ravioli is not rightly under your jurisdiction! No! I live miles from any city, it took me an hour to drive to the nearest Target to grocery shop I'll have you know!" That's how I imagine the Duke of Marlborough speaks.

Blake and I went from the photo-less indoor area into the back garden (garden of the year in 2008, no big deal), and took in the scenery. There is a little cafe and ice cream shop in the front of the garden. The actually fountains and plants that make it up are all neatly trimmed and well taken care of, as you could probably guess. There are three levels of garden area to walk in, and they all overlook to one side a big field, where today they were flying hot air balloons, and to the front a lake and forested area. We walked through, took pictures, and stopped at the cafe for a quick soda. From there we walked the lake-side path through the woods. We came across "the Cascade," which is a little man-made waterfall, and looked out over the lake. Then we stopped to watch a woman who was training her dog for the contest. We went from there through the rose garden and then to the Temple of Diana, where Churchill proposed to his wife. 

Blake and I finished the walk back in the garden, and then walked out of the palace down to the victory monument before leaving. We wanted to see Bladon and his grave site, but the fair that day had blocked our path. We would have needed to take a bus if we wanted to go there, and we were both feeling that it was some serious nap-time, so we called it a successful end to the trip and got a bus back to Oxford. 

I went back to my room and took a much-needed nap. Then I got up and went down to dinner, went on a long, aimless walk to a part of Oxford I haven't explored yet, read and revised my essays one final time, and ended my day at The Royal Oak with a Guinness and more Sicilian Vespers reading. 

I'm really looking forward to my last week in Oxford, I can assure you I'll make it count. Here's to you, my loyal readers and friends, cheers. 

And Now For Something Completely Different

I will now attempt to do something no man has ever done before and lived to tell of. I am going to include two days of my English adventure in one blog post. Please pray for my stamina and courage to keep up during this ordeal.

Friday-Essay Completion
I went to lecture on Friday morning, which was called Sustainable Cities: Environment, Economy, Equity, and Emotion. It was given by Dr. David Howard, and he discussed the geo-social ramifications of building sustainable cities in the future. He is a Geographer, so his take was very interesting and insightful. I went from there to work on my papers some more, and after numerous revisions, running out of free-prints and refilling my balance, and one final go around with revisions, I finished, huzzah! It was very fulfilling, so I awarded myself with a nice walk. I went farther than I've walked since being here, and found Oxford Castle as well as some really pretty side streets. I ended up over by Christ Church Meadow again, and enjoyed the scenery as I wandered aimlessly for a while and listened to music. I ended the walk with a well deserved visit to Blackwells Poster Shop.

When I got back, I was able to skype with my friend Adam who is participating on the prestigious Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts. I went from there to dinner and then hung out with a bunch of people in our friend Anna's room. We all talked and had a good time, and then everyone went to a club. I walked with them, but didn't stay at the club. I was too tired from the walk and long day, so I went to bed early.

Saturday-Bath Time
Today I woke up very early and went to breakfast, where I met a large group of students I was traveling to Bath with. We loaded up on a bus for the trip, and had a nice ride (about an hour and a half) through beautiful English countryside. We arrived at the city of Bath, which is located in an very pretty, hilly area of the country.  I walked from the bus with a big group, and we first grabbed something quick to eat. I had my first pasty (for my American friends, its pronounced like past-ee, so I sounded dumb when I asked what one was). It is basically a croissant with vegetables and meat inside, and I had a chicken and vegetable one. It was delicious, I'll have to check the ones in Oxford out more often now.

Stewart, Anna, Kaitlin, Daniel and I went to the tourist center to buy a ticket for the Roman Baths, and we found out the price also included a visit to the Fashion Museum. We headed straight into the baths and began walking through the museum built around the ancient Roman ruins. The whole place was extremely impressive; they have very well preserved areas of the baths and Temple to Minerva that used to exist. The baths actually still look pretty good, though the water was not what I would call bath-worthy by my refined, American standards. It was more like something a pig would bath in...or an ogre, yeah it was totally ogre water.

We walked through and saw all the amazing preserved statues of gods and where the hot spring was first found by the Romans. I also saw the hot and cold bath areas, which reminded me of the bath house I went to when I visited Pompeii. It was surreal seeing and hearing (I had an audio guide) all the history there. We ended the tour of the baths in the Pump Room, a really fancy restaurant. We didn't eat there, however we did taste the spring water. They had a small fountain of the natural hot spring water and with our ticket we got a free taste. At first the woman asked "Do you want just a few to share in case you don't like it? Or do you want five separate ones?" We said something along the lines of "Five separate of course! We're brave enough to try this!" That was a mistake, because it tasted like if you boiled a glass of water with pennies in it. We all downed the water though, unable to risk the shame of returning them to the woman who doubted us from the start. Having successfully done that, we moved on.

The five of us walked through the Bath Abbey, which is a beautiful Gothic church right in the center of town. The stained glass window and altar were both gorgeous. They had a massive pipe organ and ancient British flags across the aisles. When looking at the graves inside, I noticed one for William Bingham, a U.S. Senator. Bingham being the name of renown it is in Louisville, It caught my eye, though he was from Philadelphia. We went from the Abbey towards the Circus, which is a large circle of what I can only assume are very expensive apartments. The apartments are built so they have three different types of columns going up the sides of the walls, and the area of the town was very pretty and nice to walk through. We went from there to the Crescent, another world famous apartment complex, which costs you about 3 million pounds to buy. After Bellarmine I'll probably get it as a summer home.

We walked through the Fashion Museum, which had models and clothes from different centuries. One section had wedding gowns worn by royalty, inspired by the recent royal wedding. I got some photos for Stewart and Kaitlin (since they are in the Literature program) of them dancing in the Assembly Rooms, which are two ballrooms from the time of Jane Austen. We walked to a small cafe from there, and then it was about time to head back to the bus. We passed the Jane Austen Center on the way as well as street performers and people singing.

On the bus ride home, I saw some of the breathtaking views I missed early this morning while I napped on the ride from Oxford. I saw one of the most amazing scenes in my life when we went over a hill and had a view of the rolling country side, with farmland, forests, and sheep all across the hills. It was unbelievable. When we got back we had dinner together and all agreed heartily that Bath was a great trip.

Tonight I think I may go on a walk and read next to the river. Tomorrow Blake and I want to go to Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born and buried. G'night and thanks again so much for reading.

First Drafting

Today was a small victory, but it began in defeat.

I woke up weary and with my eyes still burning from the long night of staring at my computer screen, making marginal progress on my papers. I reached over to grab my phone and check what time it was, "9:05 is it? Hmm...I missed breakfast." I put the phone back down and thought for a moment before doing a deadly double take/fall out of bed combo upon remembering I had a 9 o'clock class. I expertly brushed my teeth in close to one second and then got dressed as I ran down the stairs, hoping against all odds that I hadn't forgotten any vital books, notebooks, or articles of clothing. I caught my breath in front of the classroom door, and sauntered in like it was no big deal. Unfortunately, the only seat left was at the head of the conference table, literally right next to the professor. Having only missed ten minutes of class, it wasn't really that big of a deal. It still was a defeat though, and I was able to rise from the ashes the rest of the day, like the majestic phoenix, soaring through the skies of oxonian academic success. I also spent about 2 hours on youtube.

The EU class was focused on lobbying in the euro zone, and it was really interesting. We broke up at one point into two groups as an exercise; mine was acting as a Chinese company that just bought the British car producer Rover, and the other part of the class was an eco-conscious group. We had to lobby against each other. I learned that the U.S. does one of the best jobs lobbying the EU actually, in part because they don't have to represent a member state government, while everyone else does.

The lecture of the day was simply titled Churchill. It was given by Professor Ashley Jackson, who did an awesome job detailing Churchill's early and young adult life, showing us how he developed into the man we all recognize. One one the many things I learned was Churchill, apart from being arguably the most recognizable statesman of his day, won a Nobel Prize for Literature and was a prolific landscape painter (he did these things before becoming famous, so he really earned them too, not just because he was Winston Churchill). The talk inspired me to try and one up Sir Winston in each facet of his success. At this rate, I will only need to live to be 240.

I went to lunch in the undercroft bar and then headed to class.  The British Politics course was also really interesting today; Dr. Buchanan continues to impress me with his deep knowledge of the rich history in this country.  We discussed England in the 1930's, the National Government (led by Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour PM), and the abdication crisis. Fun fact: The King's Speech is a pretty accurate movie, but Churchill was portrayed incorrectly.  He was actually in favor of  Guy Pearce remaining King, which upset everyone because A.) They felt he should focus on more pressing maters like the failing world economy and rise of Hitler, and B.) No one had seen Memento yet.

After class, I headed back to my room to write some more. I went to a quick dinner in the dining hall, and then went straight back to write again. I stayed up rather late, but completed my first draft of both papers, huzzah! Hopefully tomorrow I can clean them up some more and be finished by this weekend.

Essays, Reading, and More Essays

I'm in the middle of essay madness right now. I'm about to pass out from all this researching and writing, so forgive me if any of this post is incoherent.  I'm almost finished with the British Politics essay, I know I'll have some final touches for tomorrow though. As for the EU paper, I am about halfway done with my first draft. I'm aiming to have them both finished by Friday, it's realistic, but with a long day of classes tomorrow it's gonna be hard work. I was expecting to work hard, being at Oxford and all, but I mean come on Professors, this is really tough.

Today's lecture was called Capitalism and Liberalism: Between Reconcilability and Responsibility. It was delivered by the German scholar and Oxford professor Christian Glossner, who gave one of the most interesting talks so far in my opinion. He gave a brief history of Neo-Liberalism, arguing with the popular belief that it started in the 1970's. He thinks, and convinced me pretty handily, that it started about 40-50 years earlier. He also gave a short lesson on Locke, Marx, Keyenes and Hayek, which was fascinating for an Political Science and Economics nerd like myself.

After that I ate lunch and headed to the Bodleian Library's Social Sciences wing and Law Library. I did a lot of journal browsing and headed back to write more in the room. Today was mainly eating and writing again, but I need to get these things done.

My main motivation right now is working pretty well too. I stopped by Blackwells on my way from the Law Library to see if they had some books I could use on the EU paper. While walking through the languages section, I noticed they had tons of French, German, English, Icelandic, Irish, and Spanish literature on one back wall. I was upset at the lack of Italian reading material, being the studente della bella lingua that I am, so I turned around upset and defeated only to find the Italian section was on a shelf right behind me. They have about two shelves devoted only to Dante and tons of dual-language books of short stories. I quickly left Blackwells and decided I would not go back until my essays are complete. Then I will treat myself to some readin', Italiano style.

Classes: Week Two

Today I resumed classes after a long weekend break, and getting up at 7 was about as difficult as I planned it was going to be. I did it though, and even made it to breakfast in the dining hall. I need to start going to that more often, the orange juice/tea and cereal combo is a good way to start the day.

I went to the European Union course at 9, and today we discussed the unification of Germany in 1990's affects on the Deutsche Mark. We also talked about the Celtic Tiger and how the Euro has been both a blessing and a curse. It's been good because without the Euro Ireland would have lost a lot of its investments to England (with nearly all of the businesses starting in Ireland from the U.S.). It is bad though because the Euro made them raise corporate taxes, which was the reason they grew so much in the first place. It was a really interesting class, and I am going to try and get started on my essay on Italy in the EU tomorrow.

After class I went to the lecture for the day, which was on the Arab Spring, and was given by Dr. Farhang Jahanpour. He was really cool, and was certainly qualified to talk about the issue. He was head correspondent for the BBC in the Middle East at one point. The talk focused a lot on what the U.S. can do (and stop doing) in the Middle East, as well as how the societies there can empower themselves.

I went to lunch with Blake from the lecture, and from there I headed to The Missing Bean coffee shop to get a chai tea latte before my next class started. In British Politics, we discussed the coalition government of the 1920's, the uncertainty of the country and the decline of Lloyd George politically. This was also the time Labour really developed as the third major party, eventually to steal the Liberal party's spot as one of the big two.

Classes were both really interesting today, and I headed back to my room to work on my British Politics paper some more. Unfortunately a large part of my paper dealt with Ireland pre-1900. With this being a class on 1900-1945, I decided not to press my luck and actually write about what the Professor wants me to. I got some good work done in correcting my paper, and then headed down to meet with Dr. Buchanan and some of the other students for 'Directors Drinks.' I went to one of these meetings (where students gather and are able to chat with the program director) last week but realized today that I was supposed to go to this one. Luckily I passed Dr.  Buchanan earlier in the day and asked if I could still come to this one, "The more the merrier." was his welcome response.

I went down from there to dinner, and then back to my room to finish up this essay once and for all. So far tonight I have also done laundry, talked with friends and family and my lovely girlfriend, and gone on a nice nighttime walk. On the stroll, I was passed by a big group of kids about my age who were less than sober and letting everyone on that side of the city know they were present. An older man passed me after they did and joked that you'd expect better in Oxford. I asked him if he thought Cambridge had these kinds of problems ad he said "I'm sure they do." Then he said "cheers" and  went on his way. I don't care how many times I hear people say that, it still sounds so cool.

Lazy Day in Oxford

If you are a bright person, you can guess that this was a lazy day for me. You figured that out from reading the title of this post, yes? (That's how people here talk, they say "yes?" instead of "didn't you?" or "right?"). Well good job, you should be at Oxford with me you smart, clever person.

Today I woke up right as breakfast was ending, which usually isn't that big of a deal. But my stomach was grumblin', so I headed to Cafe Nero in Blackwells, which I've decided is my favorite coffee place here. I got my usual morning snack of an almond croissant and a mocha and headed out on a walk. I went and looked at the official Oxford Store for a while, and found a sweater I want but can't afford. Message me if you want to wire me money. I haven't been to work in over two weeks now. Not all these posts can be free.

The lecture for today was called "The Social Dimensions of Climate Change," and was given by Dr. Emmeline Skinner, a specialist in International Development. She wasn't interested in debating whether or not climate change was real, she wanted to discuss the implications it had on impoverished people. An interesting thesis she is researching and writing an article on is how it affects genders differently. Women are often the ones most affected because they have to work with the water supplies in developing countries, and are often the ones left behind when climate change forces immigration.

Obviously in a good mood after the lecture, I went to lunch feeling good about sitting in an elaborate dining hall after seeing pictures of impoverished people. Joking aside, it really was a good lecture, and it was interesting to have a new perspective on the issue. I headed from lunch with Joanna and Blake to try and resolve an issue we are having with our flight scheduling. We booked a flight for the 31st to leave from London but we need to leave Exeter on the morning of the 30th. So we have an extra day to try and find something to do, and we may have to book a hostel in Oxford or London that night if we don't want to sleep in the airport. A hostel is sounding good because when we land in Newark we have to spend the night in that airport. Jolly good planning on our parts!

I worked some more on my paper and successfully have a draft done of it. As soon as the final touches are put on this I can get started on my European Union paper, which I want to have done by the end of the week. If I can do that, as well as plan my brief presentation for the British Politics course, I will have my final week in Oxford with no homework, and oh what a glory that would be. I think I can safely say that I have never had a more appealing reason to get a massive research paper done in such a short time.

I met my friends at dinner and then headed to the undercroft bar to celebrate Joanna's birthday with everyone. We all sang to her and presented her with a chocolate muffin someone had kept from lunch and put candles in. We all got drinks and Blake and I played pool for a while. It was a successful lazy day. Tomorrow I have another long day of classes. Two of my good friends from high school will be in town as well, so if they are still around when I'm finished I can hopefully see them. Maybe they know a thing or two about the Eurozone they'd be willing to share with me.

World Cup

Early on, I was worried today was going to turn out like yesterday. I was determined not to remain a sedentary Oxonian all weekend though. I got up early and began working on my paper again, with minimal progress at first. I went out to a pub called "The Grapes" for lunch and had a beef pie with mashed potatoes and peas, which was a little pricey, but delicious. After the massive lunch I walked back and worked some more on my paper.

Around 2 o'clock I decided I wanted to go on a walk. I headed out towards where I went punting, and took a little side road called Rose Lane, which was beautiful and scenic. It took me past a little cottage onto a road that followed along with the creek the punters used. To my right I saw Merton Field, outside Merton College, and the awesome Christ Church Meadow. I walked past people in boats and families walking together, it was really nice. I am going to have to remember this general area for the next couple of weeks when I get more free reading time. 

I took pictures and went down a windy street with really neat old buildings on my way home. When I got back to Exeter, I worked some more on my paper and took a brief nap. After finishing a very rough first draft of my Irish Home Rule paper (I mean, this thing is an abomination of academic attempt at the moment) I headed down to dinner in the rain to meet my friends (that's what I'm going to start calling all the other students here). We had a nice dinner, though there was some tension because Joanna and I thought Blake wasn't coming after he didn't show up for the first fifteen minutes, so Joanna took his bread roll. Blake eventually came down, and I think it will take him a while to get over that. He was very hurt and upset that he had no bread with dinner, I think I'm going to take him to get ice cream tomorrow to cheer him up.

We walked with a big group to various pubs after dinner trying to find a place where we could watch the women's World Cup game between good ole America and Japan. After a few failed attempts, we found one that switched the channel for us. Our group took up the whole pub, and we really got into the game. It was the first time I had really invested any interest in a soccer match, so I was pretty upset when Japan beat us. Either way, it was a great game and we all had fun. Bryan and I don't know if we can face the U.S. again though after such a loss, so we may get an apartment in Oxford and move our families over here with us.

Now I'm back in my room again and am going to do a little reading before bed. Tomorrow it's back to lectures and school, and I want to start some research for my European Union paper. Ciao for now.

Loads of Excercise

Today I did four things: 1.) I wrote the majority of a paper. 2.) I ate. 3.) I went to church. 4.) I saw Harry Potter. All of these things were enjoyable, some more than others. And none of them employed the use of movement. After a trip where I have moved quite a bit over the course of every day, this sounds like it wouldn't be too bad, but I think tomorrow I am going punting again. Except this time I'm not using a boat. I'm just going to swim to London.

I got up after sleeping in a little while, and started right in on my paper. There is a little sandwich shop called Mortons about 40 feet from the entrance to Exeter, so I didn't have to go far, and I took it back to have a picnic in front of my computer while I wrote. The paper is on Irish Nationalism and Independence, and it is going well so far. Tomorrow I will hopefully have a first draft done early, so the rest of the day I can revise it and work on my presentation, which is about the Labour party in WWII. I worked on the paper in my room for close to 7 hours, which is depressing because that means I wrote almost a page an hour. I'm scouring 6 different books on Irish Independence, which was a topic apparently I knew absolutely nothing about other than it involved Irish people. Fortunately I have good music on my iTunes to keep me from going crazy. Also, out my open window there was a wedding reception or something like it in Fellows Garden. Listening to the general merryment with the city's bells in the background was nice too.

At around 6 I decided I had to move. I walked around my room by using the walls as crutches until there was once again some blood in my legs. I had planned on going to church tomorrow morning, so I was only going to go on a walk, but I saw on one of the church's websites that they had a 6:30 service for Saturdays. I went to The Oxford Oratory, connected to the Church of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. It was really cool going to Mass here, and there was a nice crowd of all ages in there with me, which I always love to see. I noticed some interesting differences in wording, which made me sound stupid when I was trying to talk in unison with them. Most of the people around me gave me dirty looks and muttered "bloody yank." That didn't actually happen, but I deserved it.

The priest had an English accent, which you already know I'm a fan of, and the Deacon who gave the homily could have talked about anything and I would have nodded along and said "of course" because of how smart he sounded. It really was a great homily on the importance of parables though. It was also really cool hearing one of the prayers for "Our Queen, Elizabeth, and our government."

I walked back to the college while everyone else was eating dinner in the hall, so I went and grabbed a bite at another little sandwich shop. It was a small, nasty piece of pizza, but I was still pumped about the English Mass so I didn't mind. I met Joanna and some friends and we walked over to the movie. I am not a fan of 3D, but I had a good seat (in a row almost completely made up of people I'm studying with who I didn't know were going too, which was awesome). A word of caution: If you ever go see a movie in England, specifically in an Odeon theater, you can expect two things: a comfortable, fine movie experience, and an amount of pre-movie commercials that put anything I've ever experienced in the U.S. to shame. And I see me a lot of movies. It was close to 25 weird commercials, and I can't really remember what they were advertising.

 It was interesting seeing the movie in England, I bet a lot more people laughed here when they mentioned Kings Cross Station. I loved the movie, and it makes me sad that such a big part of my childhood is officially over. I'm a grown up now, so when I go see the movie again in the States I am going to scoff at the utter lack of talk on economics and business ventures. Walking back onto Exeter's campus was extremely neat after seeing that movie. I know Oxford inspired a lot of how she designed Hogwarts, so it felt like I was at school there. This delusion may hinder my ability to continue studying here, so I'm hoping it will wear off before Monday. I want it to be true so badly though, so I don't think it will.

On an interesting side note, I got a picture of Oxford's oldest building today. It is called the Saxon Tower of St. Michael at the North Gate, and is nearly 1,000 years old. I'm heading to sleep now so I can get up early and knock out that paper. Thanks for reading. I'm going to fall sleep tonight as I write a letter to Alan Rickman telling him how great I think he is.

Punting and Such

I took my time getting up today, with it being my first Friday in Oxford and all. I wanted to sleep in until about 9, but there is some serious construction going on at Exeter this summer. I kept hearing a power drill through the wall and thinking it was my phone on vibrate. Every time there was the same level of dissapointment that not only was no one trying to call me, but instead there are angry British construction workers mere feet from where I'm sleeping seemingly with the sole purpose of keeping me from getting any rest.. After waking up this way for the 10th time or so I decided to just go ahead an get up.

I went to the lecture for today, which was titled Europe: Origins of a Crisis. Dr. Martin Conway gave the talk, and he focused on international problems with the European Union so far. He focused on this topic from a Historian's point of view, since we have already had an Economist weigh in on the subject. The most interesting point was brought up in someone's question after his speech, dealing with the possibility of Germany leaving the EU. He discussed possible conflict, maybe even military, if the EU were to collapse. Like Dr. Kewley though, he seemed doubtful that it would ever go that far. 

After the talk Blake and I headed to lunch, where we met some friends. After eating, we walked down to try punting. We first decided to just take a rowboat out, but our friend Brittany convinced us to try actual punting (It was Blake, Joanna, Brittany, and myself). I started off rowing, and got us going, albeit with the occasional ramming into trees or a stone wall. Brittany took over after me, and then Blake finished out by taking us back to dock. My advice to future visitors to Oxford is hence this: prior to going punting, scout out how many other people are doing it. From my now invaluable personal experience I can say that when there are large groups of people who don't know what they are doing, its like bumper cars with a long, easily tip-able boat you need to stand up on to operate.The worst part aside from the fact that it was nearly impossible to turn were the other boats full of screaming tourists scared that they were going to crash into us. It was much more difficult than I imagined, but I highly recommend it, with it being part of the Oxford experience and all. If that isn't selling something well I don't know what is.

After our wonderful punting expedition, I headed back to Exeter with my punting team. We stopped by an ice cream place where I bought some of the tasty snack from a Frenchman who didn't seem as interested as I was that Louisville was named after a French king, I forgive him though since he had an awesome accent. I got back to my room, read a little and took a nap. 

We had an early dinner tonight (fish and chips). Blake, Joanna and I went to Blake's room to play rummy for a while, and our friend Emily came up to join us. We laughed and had a good time before meeting some of the other students to head to a club. Blake and I had fun, but being the non-club types we are, headed out a little early. Tomorrow I am hoping to get my British Politics paper's first draft done. That is a bit idealistic, but we'll see how it goes. Cheers.

One Week Down

I've completed one third of my classes now with the first week being over. Tomorrow I just have a lecture, so hopefully I can make time to just have fun and get some more of my first paper done. I got up really early today and got ready, which was a good thing because a fire alarm went off at about 8 o'clock. I went to the chapel which is our meeting place, and sat with the large group of tired angry people as they lectured us on how we didn't come down fast enough if there was a real fire. After that I went to breakfast and had nutella on toast for the first time; I now count myself among the nutella fiends everyone else here seems to be.

I went to The European Union class after breakfast and we discussed the 70's and 80's in EU development. We then talked about our "favorite European," meaning one person we thought was inspirational in the way they handled European integration. I didn't have a good answer with my limited experience, so I said Delors, a Frenchman I remember reading about over the summer who was a big proponent of supra-nationalism. The we each individually talked for a minute with Dr. Kewley about our proposed paper topics. He liked my idea about writing it on Italy, so I'm free to get going on that one.

I me Blake outside the room I have class in and we walked to today's lecture. It was called The Big Society and the End of Big Government, and was given by Dr. Philip Davies. He discussed David Cameron's pet project, 'The Big Society,' which I actually read about almost on a daily basis in Bellarmine's cafe when I was preparing myself for the ESU interview. He was a great speaker, and explained the problems with the Big Society very adeptly. Briefly, the Big Society is Prime Minister Cameron's goal of getting rid of big government and empowering local societies to volunteer and take more control over their lives and law making. Unfortunately he has very little support, even in the Conservative Party of which he is the leader.

I went over to lunch and for the first time tried a sandwich from the undercroft pub. It was really good, and then I headed to my room for a few minutes before British Politics. In that class we discussed WWI in Britain and Lloyd George. It was really interesting, I've been trying to learn more about Lloyd George after seeing his statue in Parliament and grave in Westminster Abbey. I walked from that class over to the library Dr. Buchanan showed me after the first class on Tuesday to get some books for my paper in his class. I checked out 6 books on Irish Nationalism and History, and now feel prepared to dive into that paper as well.

After getting a paragraph written and feeling accomplished, I went down for dinner. Before eating, I met some of the other History students and Dr. Buchanan for "Director's Drinks," where he as the program Director talks with us over wine. It was fun and I got to talk with some other students I didn't know very well yet. For dinner we had caesar salad and baked potatoes and cheesecake.

I went on a walk with nearly every other student down to a really pretty park after dinner. Eric, Bryan and I walked down together and when we got to a bridge going over a river, we saw some people punting (and struggling pretty badly at it, two of them almost kept colliding).  We all got great pictures and a really nice walk. After getting back, I stopped by this little cart that sets up outside the college on the street at night. They sell different kinds of "chips" (french fries to the untrained American). I got a nice, healthy order of cheese chips and took them to my room.

Tonight I want to make headway into my Irish Nationalism paper with the help of my cheese chips and good friends the Avett Brothers. If you are still keeping up with me after all these posts thank you so much. I love writing this as my journal and it makes me feel like its all worth it if you are enjoying it too.

P.S. While speaking with an Englishman today, he ended the conversation by lifting his glass and saying "Jolly good." That made my day.

Walking and Writing

I slept in something fierce today, and missed breakfast completely. I think I needed the sleep though; I might be up late getting started on my European Union paper tonight. After showering I did a little research on possible topics and then headed to the lecture of the day. It was called The Changing Nature of War, and was given by Professor Jeremy Black. 

He was a very good speaker, and he made some interesting points. One of the main ideas he tried to relay was that viewing military history by changes in the kinds of weapons people use is a faulty one. Even the ideas of the Iron, Bronze, Steam, etc. ages are driven by this view. He proposed that believing the wars your particular country is involved in as the most important is wrong too. An example for Americans is Vietnam, which was an insignificant war for most others. War should not be viewed just as contact between two armies or how many people died on both sides, but take into account changing technology and the kind of advanced warfare we are capable of now. It was a cheery start to the day.

I had a brief lunch and then did a little more research for my paper. Then I headed over at 2 o'clock to the Porters office to meet some other people for a walking tour of Oxford. The woman who gave the tour was very funny and insightful. She definitely knew her Oxford history, and made a lot of jabs at Oxford and Cambridge both during the walk in her thick German accent. That being said, we didn't get to see very much. We walked around Exeter for almost a whole hour. I loved getting more history on my school, but I have explored this area already. We really only made it about a block outside the college in the whole two hour trip.

Still, I got to see the inside of another college, Wadham College, and its chapel. Then we walked down by the Radcliffe Camera building (the circular part of the Bodleian) and the beautiful Mary the Virgin Cathedral. I split from the group with some friends and we climbed the tower of the church to get some views of the whole city. We climbed an intensely narrow and small stairwell up to the top and got some great pictures before heading back down. Unfortunately it was sort of a one way deal, so we had to push a family back to the bottom as we were coming down.

We walked back to Exeter and had tea in our friend Rachel's room. I wrote up a proposal paragraph for my EU paper, on the history and current issues dealing with Italy as a member state in the EU. I really need to get a good start on my paper though, think the time here is going to go a lot faster now that I have a couple assignments.

For dinner I had lasagna, and then Joanna and I went to meet our friends Bryan (from Florida), Olivia (Australia), Kevin (Texas), and Eric (Virginia) at a pub called ‘Three Goat’s Heads.’ We went from there to ‘The Royal Oak,’ and then headed back in to Exeter. We are all calling it an early night so we can skype with people back home and get some rest. I have a long day of classes and lecture tomorrow, and hopefully a productive weekend. I want to get some papers done and go punting (renting a boat to take down the river) on Friday with Blake, Joanna, and some of our new friends. On top of that we have Harry Potter on Saturday. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes, grazie per leggere.

European Union and British Politics

Both my courses started today, and now I officially have homework. Fortunately for me, I also have a city full of wondrous resources known the world over for being a good place to get information, like the Bodleian Library, so I just might enjoy writing these papers more than I think.

I woke up just in time to catch the last few minutes of breakfast. My bowl of corn flakes marked the 8th overall day of my English trip I have started the day with that particular cereal, so that is an integral part of the British lifestyle for me. I'm working on saying corn flakes in a British accent to make this point more clear.

After breakfast, I went to my first class, The European Union in Perspective. Dr. Stuart Kewley is the tutor, and he seems pretty dang qualified. We introduced ourselves (13 people in the class), and discussed why we thought the Union was formed in the first place. He seemed to want to make the course much more of an open discussion with him doing a bit of lecturing when we get to a good point, which I really like. We have people from the U.S. and Australia  in the class as the outside the EU people, and students from England, Spain, the Netherlands, and one girl from Turkey as the EU member state students (or potential member as far as Turkey goes). It's a good range of opinions, with the Spanish needing help from the EU, Turkey wanting to be in it, the Netherlands already there, England disliking it, and we Americans not knowing what to talk about.

I left that class with the task of thinking up what I want to write my paper on. Tonight and tomorrow I'm dedicating some time into researching it. I think I want to write it on Italy and the Eurozone, but I haven't decided on any specifics yet. The lecture all History students had to go to for today was by the same Dr. Kewly, and also focused on the EU. The title was "European Union: Integration or Disintegration?" He is a big proponent of European states becoming less nationalistic and more part of a European identity. It was a good lecture, and I think he will be a lot of fun to learn from.

I met Blake after the lecture and we walked over to lunch in the dining hall. We ate pretty quickly and then went back to our rooms to rest for a minute before we both had class again at 2. I showed my room to Blake, but he was unimpressed since he has a bigger one. I'm going to build an expansion on mine to compete with him. I hope Oxford doesn't care.

My second course, taught by Dr. Buchanan, is called British Politics 1900-1945. It's a much smaller course, only 6 students, and it is also very discussion driven. We covered 1900-1914 today, and I need to pick a paper topic for that one as well. For the paper I think I want to write about Irish nationalism and the formation of the Republic of Ireland. On top of that I also need to present on the very simple topic, Britain in WWII. That should be no problem, seeing as there are only like 12 libraries full of books on it within 2 minutes of where I'm staying.

After class I walked with Dr. Buchanan and one other student over to a library that should be all I need though. It has a shelf full of 20th century England texts, and I can check books out unlike most other places. I walked back to the college and took a nap before heading to dinner, and then had coffee in the undercroft with Joanna and some of the Australian students. I think tonight I'm heading to bed early and trying to do some basic research on my two papers using the good old internet. Thanks again for reading all my updates.

Lecture Time

Today was my first day of lecture. I got up early to have breakfast in the dining hall (cereal and orange juice), and then had to have any electronics I brought with me checked by the school electrician before I was allowed to plug them in the outlets in my room. It's nice because for the first time on my English trip I have a reliable source of internet. Hooray!

Before my lecture, I went out to buy post cards and look around the ares close to Exeter. I found Blackwells bookstore, which was recommended to me by a couple of professors at Bellarmine. When I walked in I wasn't completely sure I wasn't in heaven until I tripped over a staircase and it kind of hurt. The bookstore is so awesome. It is a massive place full of every category you could imagine. I also found a second hand department on the third floor, and they even have a room just for rare books. I left before destroying the sad remnants of my bank account, but I know I'll be back. Back with a vengeance and a wad of cash I should probably save for food.

After getting back from Blackwells I went and found the room for the lecture. It was given by Dr. Tom Buchanan, who is also teaching my British Politics course. He spoke on current British politics, giving us a good background on the last 20 years or so. He discussed Blair and Brown in the New Labour government as well as the current coalition government with Cameron and Clegg. It was really interesting, especially the bits about Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World scandal. I can tell he is going to be a great lecturer during my coursework here.

After the lecture I was free to explore the city. Blake and I went back to the hall to grab lunch from the buffet, which was great. I can get used to this free food deal. Then we both headed out to try and find some Oxford clothes, being the student/tourists we are. We shopped around until we both decided it was time for rest. I went back to read some news online and chat with the family. I got to talk to my brothers and sister on facebook video chat which was awesome, and I'm hoping to get more video chatting in soon. Then I went out and explored some more, mainly getting lost, but also finding some cool reference points. I found Christchurch  cathedral and the Bodleian Library, both of which are beautiful. I got some great pictures and headed home.

The Bodleian was closing when I got there, but I can't wait to check it out. I feel very honored to be given a pass to study in such a famous library. I know I'll be in there all the time as soon as my classes start.

After resting in my room and reading a little (The Sicilian Vespers by Steven Runciman), I headed to dinner. I sat with my friend Fernando from Madrid, as well as Felix from the Philippines and Sarah from London. Also, there was a woman named Ruth from South Carolina who sat next to me. I love talking to her because she is probably the oldest person to be taking the summer courses here, and she has some great perspectives on things. She reminds me a lot of my grandmother, and was making me laugh really hard by explaining that her hearing problem makes her sometimes confuse what the news says. She told me she went almost a whole day thinking "baby seals killed Osama Bin Laden."

Fernando and I discussed the European Union and our expectations for class tomorrow, as Sarah and I talked about American politics and our thoughts on the tea party movement. Then I headed out for a pub crawl that almost everyone in the program was going on. We went to the 'Eagle and Child' first, and I got a picture of the Rabbit Room where Tolkein and Lewis would meet. Then we went to the 'Lamb and Flag' and after that the 'Royal Oak.' The group went on the another, but I had to get back after the long day. I'm calling it a night early to try and get up and ready for my first course. Thanks again for reading, I'll update you on how the courses go tomorrow. Cheers.

Oxford Day 1

Today consisted mainly of travel for the first half, and then of getting to know the Exeter college campus and other students for the second. Joanna, Blake, Alexis and I started off with an early breakfast at the apartment’s café, and then bid farewell to the Great Dover Street apartments for the last time. We headed off to the Tube, where we split up with Alexis as she headed off to Cambridge to, as we are all sure, have a wonderful time.

Blake, Joanna and I got on a train for Oxford and settled in, waiting for it to get moving. Right before it did, I noticed the sign outside listing its destinations, Oxford very noticeably not being one of them. We rushed off the train just as it took off and asked around to find out where our correct ride was, and then got settled in on it. That was a close call which could have made out day much longer.

We met our friend Brian who we got to know at the ESU welcome party in London on the train ride, which was only about an hour. When we got to Oxford, we moved our suitcases and luggage through the beautiful city until we got to Exeter College. I couldn’t be happier with it so far. Registration consisted of me meeting the two student aides in the college with us, Ben and Andy, as well as the summer school program advisor. I got my room key and headed over to Staircase 9 to check out what they gave me.

My room has plenty of space (not to mention an awesome view from the window), and I have a pass to the world famous Bodleian Library to study, which I have a feeling I will use quite a bit. After I got settled in my room and having a minor panic attack because my suit was wrinkled, I took a brief nap and then headed down to orientation, drinks in Fellows Garden and a welcome dinner.

The orientation was a great experience because I sat in a small lecture room with all the summer school students. Everyone is either in the English/Literature program or the History, Politics, and Society. We listened to the director of the two programs (Dr. Tom Buchanan is the head of mine, and also my lecturer for one of my courses on British Politics) as well as a speaker on optional events such as a political philosophy reading group (awesome) and tours of Oxford (awesome). Then we headed out to have champaign with the lecturers and other students in the garden of the campus. I talked with a girl named Nan from China who said I don’t sound like a southerner. I appreciated that. I also met a man named Frederico from Madrid who is in my European Union course. We briefly chatted before heading in for dinner.

The dining hall looks pretty much like the one in Harry Potter, which I will be honest, I can live with. It has old portraits of former Exeter professors and a huge ceiling. We were served a 4 course dinner with two glasses of wine and coffee afterwards. I spoke with Joanna, a girl named Judith from the Netherlands, Brian who I met in London, and a few people from the U.S. during dinner. We talked about what we are all studying back home and our careers, as well as how awesome the dining hall is. They began and ended dinner with a loud gavel sort of thumping on a table, and had speakers up at the Professors table at the end extend a final welcome. Underneath the dining hall is a pub (endlessly fascinating to American students), where we all went afterwards to talk. It made me very happy to discuss world politics and the Eurozone in a pub, as I’m used to bar talk being about sports or bad movies. If this is what the three weeks of Oxford will be like, I can already say I’m going to have a wonderful time.

After talking and meeting new people in the Exeter pub, we walked to a place called ‘The King’s Arms’ down the road (I swear this is all very classy pub visiting, it sounds like that’s all I’m doing here). We had drinks and laughed over different words we use for the same things since the majority of us were American, Australian, or English. One example: pants are underwear here, I have to get used to calling them trousers. We joked about all the stereotypes about where we came from and our accents. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to have more nights like this when the classes start.

I met people from Australia, the Netherlands, England, the U.S., Spain, and China over the course of the evening who I’ll be studying with. I have one lecture to attend every day and two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m excited to start the lectures tomorrow and also to try and see more of the city. 

Parliament

Today is my last full day in London, tomorrow morning I'll be on a train headed to Oxford.

I started out the day with a trip to the Starbucks down the road to get internet access and connection to the world outside my island summer home. Going a week without a steady internet connection was brutal, at times I didn't think I'd make it, I even shouted "Go on without me!" out loud once much to the chagrin of everyone else in the Tube. But I've done it. I don't know how all those people I've learned so much about this week possibly managed. 

Blake and I went to an early afternoon tour of Parliament, which was awesome. We started in the room where the Queen gets prepared to give a speech to the House of Lords, with its paintings and statues of Royalty, and a series of carvings depicting the story of King Arthur around the walls. The room for the House of Lords was very interesting, and we learned about the protocol and how one becomes a member. There are only 92 out of 792 seats that are still hereditary-given, with the others coming by party-appointments.

The rooms connecting that with the House of Commons were all fascinating too, with my favorites being the room with the painting of the Speaker of the House standing up to the King when he demanded to see the list of MP's he wanted, and the room with the statues and busts of important former-Prime Ministers. A neat tradition is for newly elected Conservative MP's to rub the shoe of the Churchill statue as they walk into the room to be sworn in, and for Liberal Democrats to rub the shoe of Lloyd George standing opposite him. There are also full statues of Thatcher, Attlee, Asquith, and a couple others. It was a really neat way to tie up my trip to London, seeing and hearing about these powerful figures I read about all summer.

The room for the House of Commons was very cool to see in person. I watched the Prime Ministers Question Hour a few Wednesdays this past year, and I got to stand in the same spot I se it happen in. There were a few tours going on in the room, and mine got to stand on the side the Government sits, with the other tours over on the Opposition side. I've grown to know a lot about the Parliamentary system, and admire a lot of the way it operates. It has also taught me to love and be more critical on my own form of government.

We ended the tour in Britain's largest Great Hall, which was a huge, ceremonious room with a ceiling that was near a thousand years old. It was a great tour, and I am very happy I took it.

We went back to meet our friends at the apartment to plan ahead for our day of travel tomorrow. I need to find my train times and get all packed up. I also may try and stop by Trafalgar Square on my last night here. I am extremely grateful to have been able to spend this week here, as are my friends. Starting tomorrow you will be reading, loyally no doubt, as I write from Oxford. Cheerio.

English Tea, Now I Know What All the Fuss is About

Today I slept in despite my alarm clock and building fire alarm urging me otherwise. Before you all get worried that I slept through a potential fire, the alarm was, in the words of an employee of the place, “experiencing some glitches,” and went off multiple times through the night. But even so, I was so tired this morning from all the walking this week that I may have slept had it been a real fire anyway; who else would defend my photos and books?

I got up around 10 and went to explore the Strand. After seeing a street performer and looking in a few shops, I had lunch at an Italian restaurant called ‘Paradiso e Inferno.’ I am a self-proclaimed Dante nerd, he is the subject of my Thesis at Bellarmine and also who I'm reading or reading about 80% of the time I'm reading. The restaurant had pictures of him all over it, so naturally I would be rather upset if I missed the chance to stop by. It was easily my favorite meal I’ve had in London so far; I can’t recommend this place enough.  It is run by an Italian family who was very welcoming and gave great service, they also spoke in Italian the whole time which gave me a chance to practice and refresh my memory. The floor you walk in on is called “Paradiso,” and is full of soothing colors, hanging plants and picturesque windows looking out onto the street. The downstairs is “Inferno,” and is darker colors and really cool lighting. I was seated in Paradiso, which was a relief. Hopefully I can repeat that last sentence when I go off to the great Italian Restaurant in the sky too.

I had Prosciutto e Meloni and Pollo Milanese for my meal, bennissimo. If you are ever in London and want an Italian meal you will remember, this is your place. I took a card from them that says they've had the same chef for the past 40 years. Hurry and try them before they get a new one.

After making my way back to the apartment, Joanna, Blake and I went to a tea at the English Speaking Union’s international Headquarters.  It was in Dartmouth House Charles Street near Green Park. It is a beautiful building and we were soon inside and mingling with teachers who are studying at the Globe this summer as well as fellow Oxford-bound students. I had a nice time meeting people I hope to see again at Exeter, and I had my first cup of tea in England. I had my tea with cream and one sugar, which ended up being rather scrumptious. I didn’t think it would take me this long to say that, but now that it’s behind me I need to find some crumpets. No way I’m staying in England for a month and not having crumpets.

One man I met at the tea is a member of Oxford's International Development Department. He was really interesting, a specialist in British Political History. I'm going to need to look him up when I get to school, one of my classes is on that very subject.

After going back to the apartment to rest and bond over our mutual love of Frank Sinatra, the four of us went off to get some diner. We ate at a place right next to the Millennium Bridge called the "Centre Point." We ate downstairs in a room called the Charles Dickens room, which was neat. It had old pictures and a sort of stage curtain in it. We hung out there for a while before heading across the bridge to the Globe to meet some of the people we got to know at the tea earlier.  We walked over to "The Anchor," the restaurant next to the Globe, to get drinks and talk with them. They are all very nice and a lot of fun to talked to. We discussed where they went to school in the U.S. and abroad, and the courses they were taking at the Globe. 

Their classes sound awesome, since their instructors have them acting out scenes from Shakespeare and teaching them techniques to remember lines that sound fascinating. Most of them are teachers so it will be great for them to take back to their own classrooms. I discussed Politics and Stephen Colbert with one of the teachers, which was sort of a back and forth of the two of us repeating our favorite jokes of his. 

We headed out early to catch the Tube before it closed, and on our way home talked about trying to get Richard III tickets for tomorrow night. Hopefully it works out. I will also be seeing Parliament by tour tomorrow. Which I've been looking forward to this whole trip. You'll hear what I thought about it soon. Thanks for reading!