5th Week: Balls, Tea, and Lear, Oh My! (bad attempt at parallelism)

Well, many big events have taken place in the last week. the first of which was some good though very difficult news. I found out on Wednesday that I have been offered a the International Ambassadorial scholarship from the Rotary Club. It is worth $25,000, and it's purpose is to afford me the opportunity to study in France for 1 academic year. I was initially both flabbergasted and extremely thankful, and then reality started crashing down on me. first of all, this scholarship is only good beginning next fall, essentially I would have to go to Angers, France from September till next June. To me this is amazing, but I am hesitant to give up another year of precious time at Mercer and to be away from my family. I could hear both the happiness and sadness in my parents voice when I told them. Though they are undoubtedly supportive, I know that it would pain them for me to be away for another year after this six month period at Oxford. I still haven't made up my mind nor have I received all of the information I need before I must make a decision; however, I am leaning toward going. Angers is a beautiful place, I would get to live with a family while studying at l'universitie catholiqe de l'ouest in a program for foreign language students. I just don't think I can give this opportunity up; I can finally master French in a way not possible in the States. I still have a lot of thinking to do. I will let you know when I decided! I have to by April 1st.

Off of that small issue, I also went to my first Ball last Friday! It was called "From Russia with Love," and or course, it was James Bond themed. I have to say it was absolutely amazing. Held at the Oxford Union, the ball had everything you could imagine, ice sculptures, a faux casino, two chocolate fountains, G & D's Ice cream (BUTTERSCOTCH!!!!), Live music, a disco, and laser tag, and about anything else you could imagine. Not to mention all of the people were dressed in amazing formal wear! about 10 or 11 people went from the program, so it was a really fun time for all of us! I will most definitely go back for the Trinity term ball as well (regardless of the cost).

High Tea also took place this last week on Sunday, and it consisted of the most delectable consortment of baked goods that one could ever image. Penelope is an amazing baker, and she spent the preceding three days preparing her confections for us. I had two cups of glorious earl Grey tea while eating numerous baked goods I still don't know what they were; However, what i do know is that they were absolutely delicious, and I got to enjoy engaging and wonderful conversation with everyone there, including Francis who is as we all know quite amazing (last student of C.S. Lewis, he is Lord White Fellow, Dean of Degrees of St.Peter's college, and even taught Sir Ian McKellen many many years ago!)

Last but certainly not least, was the play "King Lear," which we all went to see last night in Stratford (where Shakespeare was born). The play was absolutely riveting. I spent 3 and a half hours sitting on the edge of the seat. The actors where superb and Greg Hicks played Lear (he was astonishing) his voice was always laced with emotion and his anguished screams were torturous as he was destroyed by his daughters: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Luckily, I study King Lear in two of my English classes last semester, so I was well versed in the language and plot and was therefore able to concentrate on the visibly stunning quality of the production. While they did some things that I really didn't care for (namely setting the the main plot and sub-plot in different time periods (as denoted by their dichotomous garb)). It was till interesting to see the directors imagination at work. The end of the play was mind blowing; I sat back in my chair and take a few breaths afterwards. it completely drained me emotionally and it took most of the ride back home to recover. According to Jacqui (the Shakespeare tutor for Oxford) it is common custom for everyone off to the pub after Lear is performed because it is so depressing. haha. I am incredibly happy I got to see it! It was really masterfully done and by far the best play I have ever seen!

4th Week - A Shower, An Ipod, and Contentment

Well, It is officially 4th week here at Oxford, meaning I am halfway through the Hilary Term. I can't believe how fast a month has flown by! I seems I have merely blinked an eye and already February is here to great me. However, I am happy to be very well settled in. I have learned how to stretch my stipend (I can make it a week on approximately 20 pounds (that doesn't include going out or buying rather huge editions of Victor Hugo's Poetry).
Anyways, on a more academic level, I have also gleaned an appreciation for the novel, which I might never have had without Barry's tutelage. Since I have arrived, I have read more books then I normally would in a month at school; however, I was afforded the time to do them justice. I have very little to do during the day, except for meandering around the ashmolean and hanging out with friends, so my studies are getting the intensity they deserve. Accordingly, It has been very difficult to write 5-6 pages required of me for every weekly tutorial. Where 5 pages use to be a burdensome problem, I now find myself continually cut out paragraphs and quelling lines of thought and analysis in order to distill my papers into very cogent pieces. I love it here and image that this is the form of study I will be encouraged and able to perform in graduate school. So far my list of read books include the following: John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress," Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones a Foundling," Richardson's "Clarissa," (which I wasn't forced to finish thanks Barry!!! (hated it)) Pat Roger's "Henry Fielding: a Bibliography," Michael Irwin's "The Tenative Realist" (an excerpt) Voltaire's "Candide" (in Fench during my leisure time), and I am currently working on Fanny Burney's "Evelina," which thus far i am enjoying very much - It is like a much more distilled "Pride and Predjudice" (but honestly, I am liking it much more than Austen) :)

Otherwise, I have spent my time in the Union. It has the glorious library that you are able to see in my pictures as well as the Union Bar, where there are always a humdrum of people. The other day I met a scholar and professor named Dr.Franklin Smith, who studies the movement of Christian through the African American community. He was very cordial; however he is a bit full of himself. Once he discovered I was studying English and French Literature, He began to test my wits. He first quoted a famous line from Hamlet to see if I knew from where it originated-Which I did. He then moved on to quote a bit more obscure, yet a quite recognizable excerpt from Milton's "Paradise Lost." Once, again I was able to answer the question successful. He then persisted to one final quote of which I was completely at a loss...When I admitted that I didn't recognize the piece. He told me that it was from a great Author...Himself. Yes, He had quoted a piece from his own book! C'est la vie. Let's just say I had to take a leave in order to get some reading done.
As far as more recent events are concerned. The shower which was "mysteriously" broken during 1st week has finally been repaired, and I no longer have to walk to another house in order to take a shower. Also, after 3 weeks, a feud with customs, and me having to pay a hold of 45 pounds (approx. $80), I have finally received my wonderful Ipod touch. It is amazing especially considering my other ipod refused to play through the right head phone, a situation which is not very conducive for running! But now I can have skype (and facebook) with me when I travel abroad in a month and 3 days! I am very excited. I will be flying to Madrid on the 13 of March, then to Valencia for the Festival of Las Fallas, followed by visits to Rome and Venice, up to Amsterdam, then back down to Paris, at which point, Alvin and I will then set off on a 2 week tour of France: From Paris to Strasbourg to Aix-en-Provence to Tours to Normandie (Mont-Saint-Michel). I am absolutely floored and more than excited that I get this opportunity to see Europe. I have dreamed for so long of experience the world outside of my little Southern Bubble. Expensive -> Yes. Worth it -> ABSOLUTELY!
I am really in a good place at the moment. Very content and happy to be blessed enough to be here. This experience is in every way irreplaceable. I have put so many hours into study and here are the results laid before me, not to mention all of the support and help I have received from family, friends, faculty, and people who have influenced my life and aided me in ways I may never know. Thank you all for making my dreams possible. Love you and miss you all.

It's Third Week!! - Celebrity CITING

Well, things have been going well thus far. I just returned from a tutorial will Barry Webb on "The Rise of the Novel." Luckily everything went well, and I nailed my paper. I really enjoy having the liberty to write crazy, theoretical pieces here, and thus far, they have all been responded splendidly. Barry is absolutely brilliant, and I ironically enough, he is slightly hammered every time we have tutorial. To be perfectly honest, I would have never known if not for the rolling profusion of whiskey that spill from between his teeth, when he speaks to me. I guess a little Irish coffee never hurt anyone, and for Barry that certainly isn't the case. He has written several pieces and is a reputable professor of Harris Manichester college (Oxford University is comprised of approximately 40 different, individual colleges and halls). Below is the piece he wrote on a reputable poet:


Furthermore I have one celebrity citing to report of my mine and another prosepective citing.

First, while on my way to Trampolining last week, I spotted, though very well dissemble amongst a group of gaggling teenage girls the infamous Siamese twins from TLC, Brittany and Abby Hensel. Though I have only seen then twice on television; I feel safe in avowing that I am their biggest fans, for I was the only one who recognized them in my group of friends.


Secondly, I have learned that Susan from the Chronicles of Narnia movies is currently a student of Magdalen College here at Oxford. Accordingly, two members of the OOSC have already spotted her on Cornmarket (a busy street full of shops, restaurants,etc.), so hopefully I will be able to spot her as well!!!


Other than these few bits of news, I can also report that I am now reading the longest Novel written in the English language: Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. It is the episotolic account of one woman's social oppression in 18th Century England. It promises to be very interesting, but I must get on with it considering i have to have it read by tuesday!!!! Ahhh... I guess that is enough for now. I am really starting to miss home, family, friends, and Mercer. It is an uphill battle as I am forced to confront the vicissitudes of my emotions. However, this is part of the experience, and I will take it in stride!


"the finest composition of human nature, as well as the finest china, may have a flaw in it" - Henry Fielding, Tom Jones.

Two Crazy Weeks!

Well, I have already been here for two weeks, and I can't believe the things I have already experienced. One of the most amazing opportunities I have had thus far was to see a play preformed in the London Westside (a.k.a. the Broadway of England). We watched the Play Enron, and I was completely dumbfounded. It was a perfect melding of traditional drama with Modern technology.
A brilliant light saber duel, a slew of blood hungry raptors, and some of the worst american southern accents I have ever heard all coalesced to form a riveting depiction of the downfall of Sam West and the Enron Corporation. It was very intense and in some aspects rather disheartening. For instance, One of the ending scenes depicts the crashing of the planes into the twin towers and their eventual fall. While in itself the remembrance of such a tragic event is a memorial to those who died, in this instance, it was merely a parallel to the fall of "Big Business." All of us Americans were very taken aback by the scene, though we had been warned about it in a lecture earlier that day. I have to say that seeing such a disrespectful display made me more aware of the innate love I have for my country. I may not agree with many of the things that we have done and are doing, but I am American!
In other news, I have found a love for Curry I never knew existed because every Thursday is Curry night here in oxford, and my friends and I all set out to the local pub in order to get the 6 pound special. I had the chicken korma because it's one chili pepper rating; I am very much a lightweight in the way of spicy food and unlike the other members of the table, I refuse to sweat from every pore while crying for the sake of the chicken vendaloo - No thanks!!!
OOOOOHhhhh, One more thing. Yesterday I went Trampolining for the first time. I don't mean getting on a dinky 10 foot, backyard trampoline; I mean jumping on a competition style Trampoline and flying through the air. It was amazing fun, and today almost every muscle in my body is sore. I will probably go again Sunday and then I have to decide if I want to pay the 30 pound charge to continue participating in the Oxford Sports Areana; It is a bit expensive!
"And so to Bed." - Pepys

Oxford Tips & Tricks

So While I am waiting an exorbitant amount of time for my first load of laundry to get done, I have decided to write another quick entry into my blog.
First and foremost, I absolutely love it here. I haven't had to drive in more days than I can count, and the only thing I must do is read books (Perfect world). Also, the people here are wonderful, and I have learned quickly what things to say and what things should be avoided.
One: Don't make jokes about titles (particularly ones concerning princesses) while applying for your Library card.
Two: Pants here are most definitely not pants but are instead underwear.
Three: Avoid using the word "fanny" at all cost (thankfully I was warned about this one in advance albeit I don't remember the last time I actually used the word "fanny"). Four: Cookies = Biscuits, Biscuits = Scones, Crisps = Chips, Chips = Fries, and Fries don't exist!
Five: Street food vendors are the best things ever created; There is nothing like a good Cheese & Chips (look above for translation) while walking home between 9-3 at night! They also serve Doner (Lamb) Kebabs, which I have yet to try but am looking greatly forward to it. They are a little pricey but smell absolutely worth it. Anyway, These are a few of the quick tips and lessons that one needs in order to function here in Oxford. Good times!

Insomnia

Well, It is 3:21 in the morning, and for the life of me, I cannot get back to sleep. So Instead, I will write my next blog entry.

Thus far, England has been amazing!. initially, I got off the plane, was incredibly jet lagged, and didn't understand why I had done this to myself. The bus ride was beautiful and everything was covered in snow (which I love!!!). However, I could have seen any of it in Tennessee (minus the sheep). Anyways, It wasn't until we actually turned into Oxford that I realized why I had tortured myself with a six hour lay over in philly followed by the 7 hour plane ride and the hour and a half bus drive--Oxford was amazing. The first sight I remember that truly epitomized Oxford for me was Christ Church. Though I thought it was the university itself at first, Christ Church is amazing. it's "dreaming Spires are the epitome of what an American thinks Europe should be.

I then walked into my flat and realized had my apprehensions return. It was small; My room appeared to me a cupboard; and I the Pound system over here had me completely befuddled. However, these places and obstacles are quickly becoming home.

The Thames River is right out my back door (though I had no idea what it was at first), and the snow that has blanketed the entire country is breath taking. Also, I can walk to anywhere and pick up anything in just a few minutes; it is glorious. I truly detest vehicles, and there is NO abundance of them here! (the exception being the very speedy taxis which seem to attempt running us Americans over at every opportunity.)

Well, It is now 3:36, and I really need to attempt sleep once again. These few musings have barely tapped the surface of what I have been experiencing here thus far, and I completely intend to write more when I am a smidgen more Cognizant.

Best Wishes and Cheers! (BTW I will typo check this later; it's late)

Last Night in the United States

For nearly a year, I have known about the journey. I knew I was going to Oxford and that I would be forced to leave behind my home, family, and friends; However, now, it looms before me, ominous and inadvertent.

Continuously, I have been asked, "Are you excited?" or "Are you scared?," and until now, I could have stoically answered , "yes." But my answers were wrote. I was merely repeating the answers I knew I was expected to give. Now, I am truly consumed by both of these emotions. I am both petrified and thrilled by the greatest opportunities which has been presented to me, thus far.

I can't wait to step out of my house and into the air. The sky is the limit for the next 6 months, and I plan to make the most of them. I can't wait to sit in the places that Lewis and Tolkien sat and to walk in the self-same paths they trod. To stare at the awe-inspiring sites that have graced the eyes and imaginations of so many thousands before me.

I am ready to embrace what life will deal me--I am ready to learn!