Papers Papers Everywhere.

Oh my...so many papers to write. I think I have somewhere around nine papers to write.

Today we went to visit All Souls College and walked around for a while. And I worked for a while on all of my papers. I waited for a long long time at the post office to get envelopes for my World Wide Witness letters.

I didn't do a whole lot today...homework and walking around town. We did watch Peter Pan (the Disney version) tonight. Apparently people watch movies over here in house 9, but being in house 10, I'm normally too lazy to come over here. It's probably better, because otherwise I'd never get anything done.

I'm excited though, because when this weekend is over, I should have at least all of my flights booked for the semester, and on my way to having all of my trips planned. Plus the homework is going to start getting easier as the frontloading part of the semester comes to an end, and we get to spend the last part traveling and basically enjoying life, with some school thrown in. Ahh...can't wait.

House boats.

Who needs a mobile home when you can get a house boat? No really, we were walking by the river for one of our walking tours, and these boats had little yards and mailboxes where they docked. It was so cute.

We went on this walking tour, and went to little Alice's shop from Alice in Wonderland, Christ Church Meadows, and walked along the river for a long long time. We did almost get attacked by some angry swans though. We went to St. Freidswide's church, and walked along the river some more. And then we came home.

So this weekend I think I'm going to Bleinheim Palace, just a 20 minute bus ride away, and trying to get caught up on all of my homework. There's a lot that's due at the end of the semester that I really should get done now.

Now we're reading the Magician's Nephew for C.S. Lewis, so that's pretty cool.

Oh, and I can't wait to register for classes next semester. I love planning my schedule, but now I want to have it. I'm tired of waiting.

And here is a picture of some interesting art that I saw at the Tate Modern in London. It's a large crack in the floor. I'm not always sure what to make of modern art...I think that's why I find it interesting. You can make up your own mind.

Overcoming iPhone Jealousy.

Okay, so, I'm jealous. I know I'm not supposed to be, but I am.

All the incoming freshmen at ACU get free iPhones. Here's the link to the story.

Not that I'm mad that they get one, I'm mad that I don't. Mostly because I really want one already. I guess I just went to college too early.

In other news for the day, I tried to get a Bodlian card, but we were mislead when we listened into someone else's conversation on cost, and it doesn't look like it's going to happen after all. Sad day. I am going to Berlin, Germany in a week, and Ireland for St. Patrick's day the weekend after that. And then to somewhere, maybe Scotland, the week after that. And Italy in April. It's a wonder we do any work around here...or maybe that explains why we have so much to do when we are here.

I do love the conversations we get to have on Wednesday nights downstairs in one of the professor's flats. We're going through the Purpose Driven Life, and mostly it's really good conversation.

Today it hit me how much I really want a good hug though.

We talked about trust tonight, and trusting in God. It's strange, because for all of growing up, everything in my life was constantly changing. Now that it's been the same (ish...I mean, college and such, but you know), I'm not sure I'm as used to dealing with change. It's hard being so far away from home, with everything changing. But it seems like from here on out...things are going to change. I guess that's a part of growing up...slowly becoming an independent adult. So much of life was easier when I was little. I watched Kennedy talking to her mom tonight (wife and kids of one of the professors), and I remembered being that age, and how safe everything was when your parents deal with everything for you. And now I'm starting to learn to deal with things for my self. Not there yet, but starting. I can, however, see where this goes. And it is kinda daunting.

Anyways. Sometimes I get stressed, and lose sight of how very blessed I am. Because I am. I'm living in Oxford, traveling Europe, I have a dear wonderful family and great friends, and God is so very good.

My message for myself at the moment: God is Good. God is Love. God will take care of me.

And to end: I really have a liking of this artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Here's something of his.

I can't tell you exactly why I like him...I really just do. So there you go.

Earthquake!

Okay, mid day post. Or morning post to be more correct.

I've now been in earthquakes in Peru AND England. Last night Britain experienced the largest earthquake they've had in ten years. [Edit: Biggest in 25 years now.] It was a 5.3 on the Richter, but it the epicenter was a couple of hours away from here, so all we got were some little tremors.

So, here's the story.
I was laying in bed last night as it approached one am. Reading I think. All of a sudden, I felt my bed shaking, kinda like someone had grabbed a hold of the side and very rapidly rocked it. So, being on the bottom bunk, I thought that Holly was shaking the bed or something. Then I looked over at the wardrobe, which doesn't touch the bed, and it was shaking too. Odd. So I sat there and told Holly..."What was that?" After we concurred that we didn't know, I mentioned to her that it felt like an earthquake...but I was pretty sure that earthquakes didn't happen in England.

I was wrong.

So I woke up this morning, and another roommate, Krisann, told me that it had been an earthquake, someone else had looked it up. She was half asleep when it happened, and doesn't remember feeling it, but she did remember my talking about it, and so when she heard some other people talking about it this morning, she came and told me.

Then I looked it up:
Heres the BBC report,
And here's the Times report.

Now, if you read those, keep in mind that I was in Oxford, and the epicenter was near Lincoln. They're several hours away, and so those crazy stories are not around me. I'm safe and fine.

On this Map, if you can't find them, Lincoln is directly above the "n" in England, and Oxford is directly below the "g".

Anyways, that was an interesting story, and now I've been in earthquakes on two continents. Neither of which is the one where I've spent most of the 19 years of my life. (I would say the one where I live...but I kinda live in England right now.)

But anyways, I hope your day is wonderful and earthquake free!

Package from Home

So today I had a midterm in C.S. Lewis, and for Oxford Through the Ages we went to the Oxford Museum. The highlight of my day was that I got a huge package of food and other assorted items from my parents, and the two 4gb flash drives that I ordered two days ago got here. Exciting!

Our C.S. Lewis midterm was intense though, as we had to write eight intelligent typed pages in two hours. It was rough. And now it's over.

Fair Trade Fudge.

So today I woke up, and went to work at Oxfam again. While I was there, I was talking to one of the guys who works there, probably the only one even near my age, and he asked me what I had done the last weekend. So, reluctantly I told him that I went to Spain. I didn't want to say it, because it sounds kinda strange. "So this one weekend I went to Spain." Anyways, I told him, and he just looked at me for a moment. "You went to Spain...for the weekend?" he asked me. Needless to say...he thought it was strange.

After that, I went grocery shopping, but not before I got some fair trade fudge on my way out of Oxfam. It was so wonderful. Then I went to class, did a presentation on faith and culture, and then came back to work on some more homework. We met for my bible class, and then I sat over in the common room in house 9 for a while. All in all...not very eventful.

I love Spain.

Okay okay, I feel bad for not posting. But first, I was gone all weekend, and second, we no longer have reliable internet in our house. Sad, I know.

Well anyways, this weekend I went to Spain. Palma de Mallorca to be more specific. It's an island off the coast. It is so so so pretty. I love the place.


We left the houses at 4am on Thursday morning, walked to the bus station, took a 4 hour bus to Stanstead airport, waited there for a long time, took a 2 hour flight to Mallorca, and then waited for a bus, then took a bus to our hostel. Only we don't speak Spanish so we missed our bus stop and had to walk back.

Our hostel was nice, and we went and got groceries for breakfast and lunch the next two days, and ate dinner. We managed to order because no one there spoke English, and we don't speak Spanish. Dinner was good, and we sat and talked for several hours.

After dinner we went and walked down by the marina, and went to see the Cathedral there at night. It was towering and majestic and absolutely wonderful. We stayed there for a little while, just in awe. Then we went back to the hostel and went to sleep.


The next day, we got up, and hiked to the castle...in flip flops because we didn't expect to be hiking. It was a lovely walk though. And the view from the castle was breathtaking. You could see almost forever. Out over the hills and the Mediterranean Sea...ahhh lovely.
After we explored the castle for a while we left, and went back to the Cathedral during the daytime, and it was still wonderful. We didn't pay to go in though. So we wandered around the gorgeous Spanish streets. We ate lunch in some beautiful gardens, and then caught a bus to the beach.


The beach was so wonderful and beautiful. One of the best things that I've ever seen. We explored, and napped, and relaxed to the sounds of the waves. After a while of that, we went back to the hostel, rested, and then went out to dinner. We had this really great dinner at a place by the marina, and again, talked for several hours.

The next morning we woke up early and went to the Catholic Mass at the cathedral. We got to see the inside, which was beautiful, but we didn't get to take any pictures.

After that, we went shopping, and I got some Mallorcan pearl earrings, and then after eating lunch, walked for a long long time, caught a bus to the airport, and flew back to England.

It was sad coming through the cloud into England though, because Spain was warm and sunny, and we saw the sun the whole way home, and then we went under the clouds in England, and it was dark and gloomy. After another 4 hour bus ride and a 2o minute walk home, we made it back to the houses.

Today I slept in, and did a lot of nothing. I enjoy being in a English speaking country again though. Language is a big deal. It's hard when you don't speak the dominant language.

But I'm also glad, because Oxford feels more and more like home, and it's good to be back.

This is some dodgy updating.

Sorry about that.

Okay, the last couple of days....
Sunday I went to church at St. Aldates', loved it. Did some homework.
Monday I went to work at Oxfam again, and had my first day with no mistakes!!! Then I came back and went to class, and then after class, I went to KEEN, which is a program for people with things like Down's Syndrome and Autism. So I got to hang out there for a while. It was a lot of fun.

Today I went to C.S. Lewis and OXTA, and found out on our tour of the Bodleian Library that it was possible to get a card...and so next week I am.

Thursday I'm leaving for Spain for...well, for a day. But I have to get everything done before I leave, but I'm lacking in motivation.

My First Show Ever.

So yesterday we went to London. It was amazing. But I didn't get any pictures because I forgot to charge my camera. It's okay though, some of the coolest things didn't allow pictures anyways.

First we went to go see the changing of the guard, which was cool, but really hard to see because there were so many people there. After that we took the underground and walked past St. Paul's Cathedral and over the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern Art Museum. It was pretty cool. They had some Lichtenstein, Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse, Andy Warhol, Kandinsky, Pollock, Monet, and this really neat work called Shibboleth, which is a huge crack in the floor.

After that we went and saw the outside of Shakespeare's Globe, and then went to Parliament. We got an inside tour of the Sovereign's Entrance, House of Lords, House of Commons, and Westminster Hall. It was amazing, I got to rub the foot of Winston Churchill, and stand in the place of the Prime Minister.

After that we got some dinner and then went to see my first show ever - Wicked! It was amazing and wonderful and one of the best things that I have ever seen. I'm still in absolute awe. It was incredible. But I don't want to describe it too much, because if you haven't seen it...you should.

After that we took the underground to Paddington, then came back to Oxford and had to walk half an hour back at 1 am in the really really cool. But then I slept well.

Today I slept in, then took a nap, and have lots of homework to do as always.

Valentine's Day

So today is Valentine's Day. Most of the day passed uneventfully. I woke up, went to class, had lunch, finished reading the Da Vinci Code, did some homework.

But then for dinner, we were to dress up, and the boys came and escorted us to the classroom turned dining room. There we were served a lovely three course meal all prepared by the boys. After dinner, they lead us over to the common room in the other house, where they surprised us by bringing in a music group. I had never heard of them, but that's not surprising. Some of the other girls knew about them. It's this boy Joe Allen who sings and plays guitar and Angharad who plays the violin. They were so amazing. One of the boys, Adrian, got them to come and play a private concert for us. So basically, Valentine's was really cool.

And now on to more homework. Tomorrow I probably won't post because I'll be in London.

Getting Sick

So I think that I'm getting sick. I had the typical pre-sickness fatigue that I usually get, and now my throat hurts, and almost everyone else in both of the houses has had the same thing. And I was so close to thinking that I was going to escape it.

Anyways, I went to work at Oxfam again today, and then came and slept for most of the afternoon. Had some dinner, now I'm working on homework.

It made me laugh today, because on the way home from Oxfam I passed a store that is much like the American Hallmark, and sure enough, there was a line of guys at the till (register). I smiled as I walked past

Plus I got some valentine notes from Abilene! That was exciting. I like mail. I like any contact really.

It kinda seems like the workload is overwhelming here. Not that it's really hard, but there is so much to keep track of. I think that I would rather big projects in smaller numbers than trying to keep up with everything that we have now plus trying to get to know Oxford and travel all over Europe. Oh dear.

Cold and Rainy - NOT

So we've been told that it would be cold and rainy this semester. I was hot today in my long sleeved t-shirt. So much for the cold.

As for sing song, it's online now!



All of the songs except for the nutella song are by British artists. And the whole thing was learned and taped, words, music, and motions, in two hours.

As for today, I spent most of it in class. Today for OXTA (Oxford Through the Ages), we went to the Botanic Gardens, saw the Radcliffe Camera, and went to St. Mary's Church where Cardinal Newman started the Oxford Movement, where Archbishop Cranmer was tried and condemned, and where C.S. Lewis preached his famous "Weight of Glory" sermon. So it was an interesting church.

After I came home, I've spent the rest of the evening relaxing, and preparing to work hard some more tomorrow.

Making History

It appears I've become a bit dodgy in my posting. sorry.

Well, the last few days were basically normal. I went to work at Oxfam again today, and made impossible cheeseburger pie for dinner. However, tonight was exciting.

Tonight, we made history as the first ever Oxford Sing Song act! For those of you who don't know what Sing Song is, it's a huge deal at my school, and it happens every spring, in this case, next weekend. Here's an example. Ours is not quite as cool as that video though. Anyways, we video taped it, and we're going to send it in so hopefully they can show our act. So that was kinda exciting.

As for everything else, there's a lot of doing homework. I sleep sometimes as well, and go to class. But this weekend we're going to London again, and the weekend after that I'm going to Spain.

I know this is going to sound weird, being in Oxford and all, but as my weekdays get more routine, they kind of get less interesting.

Tomorrow I'll be able to tell you about my OXTA tour...but I'm not sure where we're going. I guess you'll find out tomorrow!

A Castle, the Coast, and a Cathedral.

So, I know I haven't posted, but it's only because I've been out exploring England. Sorry.

This weekend we all went on a trip to Warwick, Whitby, and York. We left on Thursday morning, and went to Warwick Castle. It was very cool, and very castle-like. I climbed so many stairs that day, probably like a thousand. Not even joking. I climbed to the highest castle hill, both of the castle towers, and to the tower of the church in town (where Robert Dudley is buried). So after a few hours there, we continued on in the bus for almost 4 hours before getting to Whitby, right on the coast next to the North Sea. It was very pretty. I got some Whitby Jet earrings, some fresh fish and chips, enjoyed the shops, museums, and the pier, but we didn't get to go to the Captain Cook museum, or the pottery shop, or a boat ride, or a lot of other things because they were closed for much of the winter.

Our hostel in Whitby was four stars, and absolutely wonderful. It was also right outside of the Whitby Abbey ruins, which were beautiful, and made me imagine what they must have looked like intact.

After spending Thursday and Friday night in Whitby, we left early Saturday morning to head to York. There we saw the wonderful York Minster (I'm not sure if that's one word or not) Cathedral. It was so magnificent. After that we wandered around York for a while, and almost went to some museums, but they were too expensive. And after a few hours in York, we made the 4-5 hour bus ride back home. It was a wonderful trip, lots and lots of fun, and charming as well.

Volunteering

Again, I've skipped a day.

Yesterday my morning class was cancelled due to the fact that my teacher was sick. So I slept in, then went to my afternoon class, and proceeded to spend most of the rest of the day ready the entire second book in the Golden Compass series.

Today, Lent starts, and so does my waking up at 8 in the morning. Which I did. Then after that I went to Oxfam for my first hour of volunteering. I learned to work a till! Well, it's not really that exciting, as a till is a cash register. But I like it, and I'm glad that I get to do it. Although there's not enough empty volunteer slots for me to get all my hours, so I'm also looking into other options.

Then this afternoon I started the third and last book in the GC series, and did not do my homework. I have all weekend, but, I will also be gone to York and Whitby for most of it. We'll be back Saturday evening though, so I have that night, Sunday, and some of Monday. In a little while tonight I'm going to an Ash Wednesday service at a church I've never been to. We'll see how that works out. Most of the kids here don't know what that is, and some of them didn't even know about Lent.

But I'm excited for what's to come, and hopefully everything will get done that needs to get done.

Christ Church and Harry Potter Hall.

So today was an interesting day.

I woke up, had some breakfast, and then went downtown to turn in my application to volunteer at Oxfam. They have lots of stores, but I really wanted to work at this one because it's all books. I was a little worried thought because I know of several other people who have applied and not heard back yet. Plus...I really need those service hours soon. But, I guess my schedule works out with theirs, because they called me this afternoon, and I start on Wednesday!

Anyways, after I came back and had some lunch, we set off for our tour of Christ Church Cathedral and the Great Hall where Harry Potter was filmed. Our tour guide was kind of hostile, and talked about stained glass for an hour an half and wouldn't let us explore the Cathedral. Luckily, I had already been there, and it's wonderful. After that, we had tea (I'm still learning to try to like it.) Then we got to go up this grand staircase into the Great Hall...which was so cool.

After coming back home, I had dinner, did some homework, some yoga, and some more homework. Gotta love class.

Super Bowl Sunday

So today was decently uneventful. I didn't go to church this morning because I was going to go tonight with Jacque, but then I found out she was sick, so I didn't go tonight either. Well, I went to the store, did my shopping, hopefully for the week, and came home. I finished my reading of Mere Christianity and my Oxford Through the Ages book, and did a little bit of homework. I made some tuna noodle with garlic bread for dinner, which was so wonderful. Now I'm about to go to 9 at 9, and after that, watch the super bowl in the middle of the night! It starts at midnight here. Woo! And at some point soon I should do homework as well. It'll get done sometime. As for me, I'm off for worship!

Oh Adventures.

So, London yesterday was wonderful. I don't remember what I posted about it, but it was amazing. I still really want to see a show sometime though.



So today was an adventure. I slept in until 11 (I was so tired), ate some cereal, and lazied around (if that's not a real word...I don't really care) until around 2. Then I decided that I needed some alone time for God...and just to get away. I also knew that I had to do a walking tour, and that I needed to go rambling. So, I combined all three!

So I started out heading to port meadow. I needed to go to the iron works first, but I couldn't find the right path. I did find a wrong path with some boys hiding in a little cutout sniffing something. Turns out some things are universal. Well, I got back on the main road, and some wonderful British lady helped me find the right way. She and I had a nice talk about places around there as well, and she left me with a friendly warning not to be out too late after dark. So I saw that, and then continued to Port Meadow. I got to see the wild horses that are there, and they came up to me, and I got to pet them.

A far off view...see the album for more close ups.

Continuing on, I went over some bridges and down a path. It kinda makes me want to sing "over the river and through the woods". So after crossing the Thames, I went to the little village of Binsey, and on through the winding path to the very secluded St. Margaret's Church. It's rumored that St. Frideswide fled here from Oxford, and the Treacle Well is there, said to have healing water. Walking back into the little town of around three houses, I saw the burnt down Perch Restaurant, the Godstow Lock, the Godstow Nunnery ruins, the Trout Restaurant, and began to head back down the other side of Port Meadow to return home before dark.

This is where it gets interesting. I started down the path, and either it ended or I got off of it while watching the pretty meadow and the horses. Whatever happened, I was not on a path. As I continued walking, I realized that this part of the meadow was flooded and very marshy. My shoes got all wet and muddy. I came across this bridge...surrounded by water. But it was the only way...and it was just marshy mud instead of a river, so I decided to try to cross it. Well, I got to the other side, but my shoe didn't make it. So I took off my muddy sock, but my shoe back on, and sloshed across the marshy meadow. However, it did not get dry, and eventually, it kinda looked like a lake. Just then, there was a man walking on a trail on the other side of the river. I didn't know it was there, so I asked him how to get over there. He told me to walk back the way I came, and I would come across a bridge. So I walked (sloshed) back, and didn't see any bridge, and wanted to cross as the sun was starting to set. I did find a tree that had fallen across the stream. I tested it to see if it was secure, and it was, so I crossed...very carefully. After climbing through the thicket, I found the path, very thankfully. There may have been a bridge further on, but I was just so tired of sloshing.

The tree I climbed over.

So anyways, with my wet boots and carrying my muddy sock, I had a fairly uneventful rest of the walk home. I made it home just as the sun set. Then I showered and made some garlic bread. After a little rest, I went with some of the girls to get kebabs. I had never had a kebab, so it was exciting. There's all these vans that come out at night and sell them. It's basically a pita with meat (I got chicken), lettuce, other veggies, cheese, and sauce. It was very good. So then I came back to the house...to do homework or watch a movie. I'm not sure yet which will win.

Trip to London

So today I went to London, for the first time to really explore. We took the train, and rode the underground (or the tube) for the first time. We started out with the British Museum, and that was really cool. It was really large, and had a whole lot in it. Then we went and had our lunch, and went to the National Gallery. After that, we went and explored Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. We wanted to go to a show, but by the time we tried to buy tickets, they were too expensive. Again, after walking all day, I'm tired, so I'll try to add some more details tomorrow.