Dear Caitlan
I am writing to invite you to attend an interview with the PPE tutors on Thursday 17th November at 11.00am.
Please report to the Porter’s Lodge and then ask for Room PL 14 where
the interview will take place.
Please let me know if you are able to attend.
Yours sincerely
Madeline Mitchell
Admissions Secretary
Mansfield College
Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TF
Paddington Bear
So I didn’t set my alarm clock or anything yesterday, but I woke up at 7:30, so I decided to get up and go to church at 9:30 since I had never been to a morning service yet. I also got train times to get to the London Paddington Station and then headed out. Church was nice, singing and a sort of band, rather than the organ. They had string instruments and stuff. After church, I walked to Regents. There was something going on on the street that I walk along, St. Giles, but I don’t know what it was. The streets were blocked off and I think there were some military people. And there were some people holding up signs that said Oxford for Peace or something. There have been people selling and wearing “Poppies for Peace” (when I first heard it, I thought they were saying “Puppies for Peace”) so maybe it was some sort of peace rally or something. I got it on video, though.
Then I went on to Regents and went up to the library to look at train times and stuff about Paddington station. I about wrote my blog for the day before but decided I didn’t have enough time. So then I walked to the train station, got on the train, it was direct and Paddington was the end station so I didn’t have to do anything. I read some on the way and looked at a magazine they had on the train. It was a nice train, pretty roomy.
At Paddington, I just walked around on the streets for a couple hours. I forgot that it was a Sunday in England so not much was open, except drug/grocery stores and American companies. I saw a Subway, but I had brought my lunch so I didn’t go in. I almost bought some chocolate donut things from a grocery store, but decided I didn’t need them. Then I walked around the train station, which also had lots of stores and restaurants, that were open. I had seen a picture of the Paddington Bear statue thing, but at first I couldn’t find it. So I was sad. But then I found it, but there was a guy sitting by it. So I walked around until I found it with no one around. I got the picture just in time because then another person came over and sat down. I forgot my remote so I didn’t get a picture with me in it, but I got video of it so that’ll have to do.
Then I looked for what platform my train was coming on and waited, reading while I did. The train back wasn’t as roomy but it was still fine. No changes again, and Oxford was the last stop so I couldn’t mess it up. This time the train stopped more, though, so the ride was longer. I read some of the way and then got a headache, so I looked out the window and listened to my iPod.
So I’ve been to London now, sort of. When I got back to Oxford, I was walking to Stanley Road, and I looked up in the sky and there was the moon, almost full, but not quite. I haven’t seen the moon since I’ve been here. Then I looked at my watch. It was 4:45 in the afternoon. The moon was out before 5:00. How crazy is that? Usually, I’m not out that early, in the library until 6 and stuff, so maybe it’s already hidden by the time I’m walking around and that’s why I’ve never seen it.
Anyway, I got back to Stanley Road and stretched because I was really sore for some reason. I checked e-mails, made some corn for supper, and had it with peanut butter and crackers and hot chocolate to drink. Pretty random meal, but that’s okay. Eventually Kyle called and we talked but he was falling asleep throughout most of the conversation, so I told him to go to sleep until he had to go to church and then he could call me when he got back from church. His roommate ended up losing track of time and not waking him up so he didn’t make it, so he messaged me when he woke up. Before that I had called my mom to check in with her. She was at the farm with my grandma. Then I was talking to Amanda, who had just told me exciting news, but I’m not sure if I’m supposed to write about it, so we talked for a while. I miss all my friends. Then I called Kyle and talked to him a bit longer. Then he had to go study and I was tired so I went to bed.
Yesterday, I didn’t do a whole lot. I didn’t get up until a little before 9 and I didn’t take a shower til even later. I looked at magazine websites and read about Christmas and Thanksgiving crafts and foods that I can’t make right now, but can’t wait to get home to try. And then I told myself I needed to read, but didn’t. I had tuna for lunch as usual. Then I called my mom and told her about my conversation with Pamela so we talked for a while.
Finally I convinced myself that I needed to get out of my room at least for a bit. So I headed over to the Natural History Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum (they’re in the same building). A lot was closed off and things were being renovated so it wasn’t that big. I got through it in an hour. The natural history consisted mainly of stuffed animals and lots of rocks and bones. Most in glass cases. I’m not sure how I feel about the animals. You could tell they were alive at one point. They did have a few live things, such as bees, crickets, and roaches, also in glass cases. There were a lot of cool rocks though.
Pitt Rivers consisted of mainly glass cases stuffed full of lots of different stuff. That’s how British museums are different. They find a bunch of similar stuff, stick it in a glass case, and then put an overall label on the case, no individual labels that tells about each thing like our museums, which maybe it’s because they have so much stuff. Or like my mom said, they may just want you to buy the guidebook, especially since admission is free. An example of one of the cases, “Religious Figures - Asia.” Can you get more general? There was also “Treatment of Dead Enemies,” which was mostly shrunken heads. Sort of freaky. Now I didn’t bring my cameras along because I figured I couldn’t take pictures, but there weren’t any signs so I might try to go back and take some pictures.
So after this, I walked over to Borders and looked through some craft books and some magazines. Then I started back to Stanley Road. I stopped in a couple more shops, Boswell’s and Boots, and looked to see how much their tights cost. It’s getting cold, finally. When I got back to Stanley Road, I did some laundry, mostly socks and underwear, but our dryer doesn’t work so my room is tastefully decorated with underwear hanging everywhere. I took a picture, but I decided maybe I shouldn’t put that up on this. Then my mom called from skype so we talked again, about how St. Mark is falling apart and a revolution may happen soon. Then my mom held the headphones up to Greg Brown’s (the dog) ears and I talked and he made dog noises. It was fun. I miss him too.
Then I made some chicken noodle soup for dinner and ate it with crackers. I e-mailed some of my G-town friends a long group e-mail to tell them I might end up being at Oxford longer, because I had written them earlier and said I wouldn’t. Had to clarify. But who knows? I still may not get in or I may still decide not to go. I do have to register for classes for next semester Monday, though. Then Kyle called and we talked for a little bit, but then he had to go buy my Christmas present because it’s on sale right now. I have no clue what it is. But he said he might have to give it to me early because he wants me to have it as soon as I get back, I think mostly so he can play with it too, whatever it is. Then I decided to be lazy and fell asleep early and didn’t set my alarm. I decided I would wake up when I did and then I would decide what to do with my day. No advanced planning, though I had some ideas.
Yesterday, I slept in until 8. It was wonderful. I know it’s not that late, but I had been getting up at 7 every morning so it was very nice. Then I wasn’t very productive all morning. I don’t even really remember what I was doing but I was managing to waste time and not do work. I ate some oatmeal for breakfast, took my shower, checked e-mails. Then around 11:30, I decided I should try to do at least a little something before lunch. So I read the first chapter in one of my books. Then I got ready to leave and headed out to Regent’s for lunch. I had the salad bar and talked to some people about family and they were asking me if I missed my brothers and stuff. I said yes, although one is in California so I wouldn’t be seeing him anyway.
After lunch I went to Keston and addressed envelopes for an hour. Then I was meeting with Pamela Anderson at around 3 so I headed back to Regent’s. I checked my mail while waiting for her to get out of a meeting with someone else. Then we talked for a while. She said she had just wanted to talk to me because she hadn’t really gotten to and my name had come up a few times. Apparently she has some connection with Mansfield (Ruth said she thinks she was a student there) so someone had contacted her from there about me and then she is Ruth’s personal tutor (not academic, it’s like to check on you socially and stuff) and Ruth had mentioned my name. And I think she might have talked to David Harper too because she said she had heard about my interest in journalism and she knew about my application and asked me if I was asked for interview if I would still be considering Oxford. I was honest and said I was keeping my options open and had considered staying at G-town for a fourth year, but Oxford was still very much an option and if I got accepted it would be hard to say no. She said she had also talked to Mark Rogers, my tutor, and he was very impressed with my work. He had told her that I hadn’t been exposed to a lot of the things we are studying but I have been adapting well and picking them up, which is good and is exactly what Dr. Hadaway had said would be a good thing. If admissions people talk to my tutor and he says I have adapted well, then it is likely that I will be able to adapt if I were here two years. And Mark also said he could tell I was working really hard. Pamela asked if I had been talking to other people about it but I said I mainly was just reading and learning it on my own, which I think that’s a good thing, but I explained that no one else was really doing the same things as me.
She also asked me if I was coming into Regent’s or how I was studying and stuff. I think she wanted to make sure I wasn’t holed up in my room. I told her I always came in for meals and usually stayed at one of the libraries in between and said I was hanging out with Ruth and stuff. And then we talked about the interview process and stuff. She said if they did ask me for interview, either Mansfield or Regent’s, that they should provide me with a free room if it was on that Monday before I leave. She said they might be able to do it in one day, because I told her I was leaving Tuesday, so I might just be in Wales for Saturday and Sunday and then be in Oxford all day Monday with interview stuff. She said to keep my dates open because I told her I was going to Wales. And she told me to keep her updated on what happens and stuff.
So she gave me a little confidence that maybe I do have a slight chance of getting in. I think I had pretty much convinced myself that I wasn’t going to get in and in some ways I sort of don’t want to because then I don’t have to make the decision of what I want to do. I was pretty sure I would stay at G-town but I don’t know if I could turn down Oxford if they offer me a place. Pamela said that if I got a second BA from them in PPE, then I wouldn’t be doing journalism, that businesses and stuff would be snatching me up and I guess, sort of, that journalism would be beneath me. So now I’m really confused. In a lot of ways, I don’t really want to be over here for two years. I know I could bear it, but I don’t know if I want to, but then maybe it’s what I am supposed to do. And now I sort of wish I had put Regent’s as my first choice just because I’ve gotten to know everybody there and I feel like I would have more of a chance of them letting me in. Although I guess if Mansfield turns me down, they can decide to pick me up. And I think they would still be in contact with me if I was at Mansfield.
So now all this stuff is on my mind again and I worry about it and stress about it. I hate when I do that but I don’t know how to stop. I had succeeded in pushing it to the back of my mind and not thinking about it but then it got brought up again. And I had my decision made in my mind but now I don’t know. I hate this stuff. And the only thing I can do is just wait and see. So I’ll try not to think about it, but I don’t know how. So that was the most important part of my day, I think.
Afterward, I went up to the library and got quite a bit of reading done. Then I changed for formal hall and went to it. I got invited to a dinner tonight, but I said I would be in Essex, so now I wish I could go but I don’t know any details or anything, so oh well. The girl who invited me, I had never met but she was really nice and she knew who I was, just because I was a G-town student. Dinner was pretty good and Ruth and I had a language misunderstanding, which was funny. She asked me what a vegetable was in this vegetable pie like thing that we had. I said it was zucchini and she said, “A what?” I said it was like a cucumber. She asked if it was the same thing as a courgette. And I said, “A what?” She said it was like a cucumber but it was mean, which means it tastes bad. She thinks celery is mean also, and at first I didn’t understand what she meant, but I figured it out. So Luke was sitting across from me and we asked him if the British used a different word for our zucchini and he said courgette, so we got that cleared up. Then Ruth asked if another thing was aubergine, and I said yes, and I knew what that was, although we call it eggplant. It was amusing. We have the same language, but not really, like everyone says.
After dinner, Ruth and I met up and went to G&D’s. She had tea. I was stuffed so I didn’t have anything. We talked. I told her about my meeting with Pamela and how now I was worrying about it. I think she would really like it if I came back. Which I think we would hang out and stuff, but I just hope I would make other friends too. I’m doubting my ability to make friends lately. So anyway, after that, I walked home, hoping to talk to my mom. But she had already left school so we only talked for a couple minutes. Then Kyle called and we talked for a really long time. He says if I get into Oxford, I can’t turn it down because then I might regret it and it would be worth it to go into debt for it because I would get a job that could pay it off quickly. Then Judy called my room while I was on skype with him. She said she was sorry, but something had come up so she was going to have to cancel. She said maybe we could do it another weekend or even on a weekday or something, so I might still be going to Essex but not this weekend. In a way, I was sort of relieved. I’ve sort of been going non-stop and I thought it would be really nice to have a day off, which is what I had planned for Sunday. That’s why I was only going to stay in Essex for the day.
So now I have today to relax and tomorrow I might do something. I might even venture into London, just so I can say that I did go. In way I don’t have that much desire to go because I’ve seen a lot of the sights already and it’s such a big city that I don’t really want to go by myself, but maybe if I just go to one place and stay in the vicinity of the train station, then it won’t be that bad and I’ll have gone to London. So we’ll see. I talked to Kyle until really late, and he sent me some Christmas music online because I really wanted Christmas music. So yay! Then I fell asleep without washing my face or anything. I was really tired. I think I fell asleep on the phone a couple times. So I slept very well.
I got up early yesterday morning, around 7, which I have been doing lately. I took my time getting ready because I sort of have no motivation to get my papers into Mark real early because he rarely seems to get them before we meet. I read through my paper one more time, put it on my flash drive and headed out to Regents to print it off. I had some paper from earlier so I wanted to get rid of it by using Regents’ printer rather than the social sciences one. I got there and the computer wasn’t logged on. I had to ask two people before I figured out a way to get onto it. I printed out my paper and took it to Mark’s mailbox a little later than planned.
Then I went to the social sciences library and read some articles in The Economist issue my mom had sent me. Then I got online and read some. I looked briefly over my notes and walked over to Harris Manchester. I checked Mark’s mailbox and he had actually gotten my paper. So I walked over there. And while I was waiting for him to let me in, I realized that I didn’t have any notes for the question my paper was written on, just the actual paper that he had. So I was trying to review the main points I had made and I could only remember one. I started worrying but just tried to think and then thought oh well. So I got in and he gave me my paper, already marked so I could look at it luckily if he asked any questions. I got an A!!! Not even an A-, an A, which was very exciting. And when Mark gave it to me, he said it was very good, “which seems to be the trend.” Pretty good compliment I think.
We talked about a couple things that were a little unclear and one thing that I wrote that I wasn’t even sure what I meant so we reasoned that out. Then he asked what I wanted to talk about. One of my questions had been on the US deficit and the paper was on the European Union and whether or not Britain should join it. So we talked mainly about the US deficit and whether it was really that bad. I found that interesting so we spent most of our time on that and I think I understood it fairly well. It’s much better when I’m actually interested in what I have to explain. Then we talked a little about a flexible exchange rate and it was time for me to leave. I asked him some questions about the reading list and he pointed out what would be best to read. Then he gave me an extra book on that topic that wasn’t on the reading list, he said because I wouldn’t be taking a test at the end. So I guess the reading list is mainly for the test in the end so you have to focus on that but since I’m not taking the test, we can be a little more flexible. I asked him if he wanted me to write anything on it and he said no, why don’t I give him a break from reading for a week, which made me laugh. So no paper to write, even if I wanted to. Yay!!
After this, I went and got my books from the library and then headed to Regents for lunch. Ruth and I sat together and then afterward, we headed to the theatre for the ballet. Then we realized that we were supposed to be sitting in the same row, which we were both sitting in Row F, but Ruth was in the balcony and I was in the circle so we weren’t even close to each other. We asked someone about it and she said they still had seats open so we could go to the box office and see if they could find two seats together. It turned out there was no one else in my row, so Ruth could sit next to me. It took a while to get it sorted out, though, and we were almost late getting into the theatre, but we did. We were in the middle of a big group of school children so we had kids walking in front of us to go to the bathroom throughout the whole thing, but our seats were actually really good, so it was worth it. We had a handrail in front of us so it was supposed to be limited view, but it was only really half in front of us.
The ballet was awesome. It amazes me what they can do. And there was a full orchestra too, so it was like we got two things for the price of one: a concert and the dancing. The costumes were really neat too. The end of the story was a little weird, didn’t go along with the Disney movie so we were a little confused as to what was going on. But it was still really cool dancing and music so we enjoyed it. When we got out, it was already 5, so not many shops were open. So instead of shopping we went to Starbucks for tea. Ruth insisted on treating me. She kept thanking me for inviting her and I was just glad she came with me, so I guess we were both grateful. I got a Chai Tea. Yum! My favorite. Then we talked about the American education system compared to Oxford, about our tutorials, about our families, about boyfriends, a little bit of everything.
Then we walked back because Ruth had to be at a meeting. We were talking about the bop and Ruth thought I was leaving for Essex Friday night so she said she didn’t know if she would go or not. She said she felt like she should but at the same time, she didn’t really want to go. My feelings exactly. Apparently, there is a theme, which I didn’t know: 999 (our 911), which means, as Ruth put it, the girls dress up like sexy nurses and she knew she wouldn’t be dressing up. So I said I wasn’t going to Essex until Saturday morning, so we might stop by the bop, not in “fancy” dress, but then we might go hang out at G&D’s for a bit. So that will be fun. I feel sort of bad because Ruth and I have really clicked and she said she hasn’t really clicked with the other groups that have formed in the first years, nor have I, I guess. But then I’ll be leaving after this semester. I mean she has other friends, but I think in a way, we’re closer even though she’s known some of the other people longer. We’re just a lot alike I guess. I told her she should come over to G-town to visit, that she would fit in with my group of friends, because they’re all like me, or I’m like them, or something.
Anyway, after that, I went up and read some more articles in the Economist that I hadn’t gotten a chance to read before my tutorial that I thought looked interesting, until dinner. I think dinner was the worst thing I have had since I got to Regents. I didn’t think anybody could mess up a baked potato for me because I like about anything, but they managed it. It was almost like a twice baked potato but was really dry and had something in it that didn’t taste very good and was just chunks of potato instead of like, mashed potato inside. The soup was good, but the dessert wasn’t very good either. Some sort of spice cake, also really dry, with custard. I walked home after dinner without my coat on. It had gotten really warm as the day went on. It started out cold. Weird.
I checked e-mails and got train times when I got home for my trips. The one tomorrow, I have to take the tube between trains so hopefully I’ll be able to figure that out. And the guy I talked to, I’m not sure if he knew what he was talking about. But I guess I’ll just try it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just be in London all day or something I guess. I’ll manage. I tried to call Jane to give her train times for when I got there but the line was busy all night my last weekend. So I guess I’ll try again today. I e-mailed Judy to let her know when to pick me up. Then I talked to my mom and later Kyle. I thought about writing my blog but decided I was too tired, so I fell asleep, planning on sleeping in today, which actually worked somewhat. Yay!
This morning, I got up early and talked to Kyle because he was still awake from playing poker. Hopefully our talking patterns won’t always be like that. Then I wrote my conclusion for my essay and read some in another book, which gave me more to add to my essay. By the end of the day, my essay was quite long, or at least longer than any of the other essays I’ve written since I’ve gotten here. I e-mailed my tutor to ask him if I had a word limit. He wrote back and said no, as long as whatever I write is interesting and concise, so hopefully it is. I also got an e-mail from Dr. Pamela Anderson asking if we could get together sometime to just chat about stuff. So I am going to meet with her on Friday after I try to volunteer at Keston for an hour because I won’t get to volunteer tomorrow since I am going to the Ballet!
After doing all this, I walked to lunch. I felt like someone nobody wants to sit next to again. Ruth wasn’t there and I just sat at one end and nobody else did for a while. After a bit some people came and sat by me though, so I didn’t feel quite so awkward. After lunch, I walked over to the social sciences library and finished reading about economic policy in the UK. Then I found a textbook in which he said read chapters 13-21 or relevant parts thereof. This is like a big book textbook, so I read mainly the headings and tried to figure out what I hadn’t already gotten from other sources. I did some revisions on my essay and then took notes on my discussion questions. Then I read over my essay one more time. There were some guys sitting at a computer across from me talking for a while, and not quietly. I thought about telling them that some people were trying to do work, but then they finally left so I could concentrate a little more.
Before I walked back to Regent’s for dinner, I looked up my books for next week. There are quite a few again, but at least I don’t have to write an essay. He might give me another book to read though. I was supposed to be reading The Economist and the Financial Times this week. I haven’t done either. I guess I’ll try to catch up at least on The Economist tomorrow morning before my tutorial. Dinner was actually really good. It was rice with vegetables and chicken, I think, with a starter of melon and ice cream for dessert. Yum! I ate all of everything. I sat next to Ruth and she’s coming to lunch tomorrow so we can walk to the theatre after eating. By then I will be done with my tutorial and I’ll be able to relax and watch the Ballet. That will be so nice. I can’t wait til that time tomorrow.
I left right after dinner so I could come back here and do a little more work before I went to bed. It’s so hard to do work at night now. I drew some graphs to go along with my essay and glanced through some more articles from journals but they seemed to say mostly the same stuff I had already read. I talked to my mom for a bit before she went to the post office, and by the way, she started her blog. Her entry isn’t big but it’s a start. Now we just have to get my grandma to start her’s. Haha. I stretched too and I’m getting my head to touch the floor on most of my stretches. Exciting! I know I’m weird but I take pride in that.
I read through my paper again and I’ll probably do it one more time before printing it out tomorrow morning. Then I almost went to bed and remembered I hadn’t written in this yet so I’m doing that. And then I’m going to bed because I’m tired and I want to be ready for my tutorial tomorrow. Hopefully it will go much better than last week’s. Again, I can’t wait til that’s over. I’m just dreading it because I felt so bad about it last week. If it isn’t bad this week, I’m sure I won’t dread it as much again. But I guess even if it isn’t wonderful, I’ll have to ballet to cheer me up afterwards. Yay!! So not a lot happened today, a lot of hard work and hopefully it will pay off tomorrow.
It was actually a bit chilly today but still not quite cold enough to wear my coat. I did wear my scarf though. I’ve been thinking about weekend plans and I realized that the weather may not always be perfect like this, so I need to travel when it is weather that I can walk through hopefully. We’ll see if it holds for me. 
So I think Kyle made a joke last night when we were talking about English people and nasty teeth and I just now got it. I know I’ve gotten scholarships and good grades and stuff but sometimes I wonder about myself. I think I may be a bit slow or maybe I’m just a complete dork. Oh well, at least I got it now, right? If it was a joke. I’ll have to ask him about that, if I ever get to talk to him again. He got a promotion at work, which means more hours and higher pay, which is good, but it also cuts into our talking time because of the time difference and stuff. We’ll figure it out I’m sure, it’ll just be harder to find the right times to talk.
Anyway, this morning, I woke up early and got an e-mail from Kyle that told me about his promotion and I published all my journal entries from the weekend. Then I got ready for the day and procrastinated on working on my paper. I made myself sit down and write an introduction and get the works cited page done and stuff. Then I e-mailed Mansfield (the college over here that I applied to) admissions to ask them about when my interview might be and stuff, if I was asked for interview, trying not to sound pushy or like I thought I would automatically get an interview, but my case is a bit unique since I’m not in the place where the interviews are given for any of the times but I am in Oxford so hopefully they’ll interview me early. We’ll see if I get a response. I’ve sort of put all that stuff in the back of my mind, so I won’t worry about it. Then I finished one of the books for my tutorial. Then my mom called because she had gotten to school early so I talked to her for a couple minutes.
I left a bit early so I could go see the bursar at Regent’s and ask him if I could stay at Regent’s the Monday night before my Tuesday morning flight and if I could leave my luggage at Regent’s while I am in Wales. He said that it was no problem, that he was actually getting ready to send out an e-mail about filling out a form for “vacation stay” so he went ahead and gave me the form so I could fill it out. It will be 13 pounds, but I figure that’s worth it so I can leave my luggage here and not lug it around on the train as much and I won’t have to ride the train all night but I’ll be able to be sure to get to the airport on time. So that’s a relief. Now I can figure out train times and let Jane know so that will all be taken care of. Yay!
I saw Ruth at lunch and talked to her. She had wondered where I was the night before because I’m always at dinner so she was just hoping that I wasn’t stranded somewhere. She knew I had gone to Durham but when I had talked to her, I didn’t know if I was going to be there until Sunday or Monday. Helen was sitting across from me and she was impressed with my salad plate. She said whenever she gets the salad, she doesn’t get much so she thought my plate looked really good. I said I felt like I got too much but she said no. So I make my plate look good I guess.
After lunch, I went up to Regent’s library and worked on my paper all afternoon. Three hours straight and I got it pretty much done, or at least a very rough draft. I still need a conclusion and a lot of revising but that will all happen tomorrow. At least I got something down. So I went back to my old habits of just sitting down and writing it in one sitting, but it was hard. And it probably isn’t the best, but I’ll get it better hopefully. The essay had two parts, with the first part bigger, but as I was writing I forgot about the second part so I was making sure it was long enough and then I remembered about the second part so I had to add it in, so now it’s too long. Although he never really gave me a word limit so I guess maybe it’s not too long. I may cut it down. I don’t know. But I used graphs in this paper, so hopefully that will be good.
At 5 I had to get to the Christianity and Culture lecture. This one was on Feminism and Christianity. It was very interesting and the lady who gave it was really neat. She didn’t really strike me as the typical feminist, not someone who shoves it down your throat, but more open to things but still fighting for women, I guess. There were quite a few funny things that she said, and it was a really good talk. Afterward, Kyle, Dr. Curry, and I went down for a discussion with tea and biscuits. I had a tea that Kyle said he didn’t like but I hadn’t ever heard of it so I decided to try it. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I didn’t like it too much either, wasn’t terrible but definitely not something I would choose over other teas. We talked about women’s roles in churches and Catholicism and stuff. Then Dr. Curry had to leave so Kyle and I talked some about the Catholic Student Association at G-town and how it’s not very active. He said when he first came it was sort of active and then it seemed to diminish once Fr. Jim came and then just disappeared. I agreed, but said we were trying to get it back up, but we’ll see. Funny how things fall apart when Fr. Jim becomes involved, though, isn’t it?
Then the dinner bell rang so I went up and had dinner, tuna for the starter, then fried brie with potatoes and broccoli. I sat next to Ruth and Esther and found out they both live quite close to Jane, my mom’s friend in Wales. Crazy. Ruth and I talked about the ballet too. We’re excited. Dessert was jello with fruit and custard on top, which was pretty good. I liked the fruit and jello, but you have to go through the custard to get to that. Then I rushed home, hoping to get there in time to talk to Kyle before he went to work. It was raining so my pants got really wet because all my pants are too long so they touch the ground, but luckily I had my umbrella so the rest of me didn’t get wet. I got an e-mail from Kyle that said he had to go to work at 3:00 and I got there at 8:10 (3:10 his time), so I just missed him, so that stinks, but oh well.
Then I wrote my grandma an e-mail to thank her for an e-card she had sent me and then I wrote my mom an e-mail. I also got an envelope in the mail from my mom with my new credit card in it (the other one expires after this month), so I activated it. Now I’m writing this, and I’m going to call my mom. Then I’ll probably go to bed early so I can get up early tomorrow and try to finish my reading and get my discussion questions answered and also revise my paper so it will be ready for my tutorial. Still lots to do but I got most of the hardest stuff done today, so I’ll get it done.
I did each day of my trip as a separate entry so you have to scroll down to start at the beginning on Friday but I thought this would make it easier to read. 
Today we mostly drove. We got up and I packed. Then we took a “cooker” (mini-stove) over to the church because they had an extra so they were donating it. We visited with another American from Ohio who lives there now, going on 10 years, so she’s picked up some of the accent. Which by the way, there was a lot of Cockney spoken here, which was fun to listen to. Then we loaded up the car and headed out. They were going to drive me to London or something so I could take the train back because Oxford is kind of out of their way, but then they figured out a way to make it kind of along their way so they drove me the whole way to Oxford, which was really nice because I didn’t have to carry all my stuff back from the train station while walking back. We stopped at a place called a Welcome Break on the way for lunch. It was sort of like those over the toll-road stops around big cities, with restaurants and stuff. Judy and I had KFC. I still haven’t had McDonalds, but KFC was probably the cheapest choice and since that’s where Judy was going, I said that was fine. When we were done eating, we started back on the road. When we got near Oxford, we stopped a couple times to get directions. When we got into the area where I knew, I could give directions but before that I was helpless. We got there around 4:30 and we had left around 11, so not too bad a drive. I said bye and I think I’m going to see them at their home next weekend at least for a day so I said I would see them then. When I got in, I checked all my e-mails. It killed me not having the internet for so long. Crazy how we depend on it now.
Then I had to walk to Regent’s to sign up for dinners for the rest of the week and then came back because I hadn’t signed up for dinner that night so I couldn’t eat there. I made myself one of my frozen pizzas, which aren’t as good as American pizzas but it’ll do. Judy and Charlie gave me this thing to heat water in my room so I made some hot water and tea also. They also gave me some hot chocolate but I’m going to save that some. I read some while I was making the pizza, but then while I ate, I started to finish my blog. Then I talked to Kyle, which was really nice. I felt like I hadn’t talked to him in forever. I told him all about my trip and then he had to go to work. So then I called my mom and talked to her for a bit and told her about my trip. Then I was really tired so I fell asleep. It’s crazy how car rides can make you so tired when you’re not really doing anything. I read some but mostly looked out the windows at all the scenery, which shouldn’t take up too much energy but I guess somehow it does. It was a good weekend but now I need to buckle down and work really hard to get this paper to be amazing for my tutorial.
Today I had tried to sleep off my headache, which didn’t work. It was one of those terrible headaches where you can barely move. It was really painful so I didn’t sleep real well. I tried but it’s hard to fall asleep when your head hurts so bad. I washed my hair in the sink, hoping that might help, getting hot water on my head. It might have a little. Then I went back to bed. When I got up later, I asked Judy if they had anything, but the headache had subsided a little. They didn’t, so I figured I would just suffer through. Then it rained and the headache let up quite a bit. I always get headaches before it rains and they’re awful, but usually I have something to help me with it. The headache still lasted a little but it was mostly gone after the rain.
So I had my first experience in a Pentecostal church today. Judy came up and warned me about it, but it really wasn’t that bad. Different, but nothing crazy happened. She said there was sometimes speaking in tongues but I don’t think that happened this time. And I knew some of the songs from FCA in high school so I could sing some. The people were all really nice. After church, we went back to the house and had a lunch of vegetable soup that Judy had made from the leftover vegetables from dinner the night before. It was good and filling. Then I went up to my room and read some of my tutorial book until we left for New Castle.
We sort of just drove up and back. On the way, we saw the Angel of the North, so there’s not really a place to stop and look at it. So I was glad I bought the postcards because I couldn’t take pictures. Then we stopped in the center of New Castle and there was this cool bridge that they call the “blinking eye” because when it lifts for boats to go under it, it’s supposed to be like a blinking eye. It was cool. Then we saw Hadrian’s Wall, or a portion of it, which was built by the traveling emperor, whose many works I had seen in Italy and Greece too. It was a nice little trip and I got to watch out the windows and see the English countryside also. When we got back, Judy and Charlie went to church again, but I opted out to try to get some reading done. I got through another book while they were gone and then I took a semi-nap, really just closed my eyes and didn’t fall completely asleep. We had a dinner of leftovers with baked potatoes and such. Good stuff. Then I went upstairs and wrote my journal and fell asleep early. My back had been hurting so it was nice to have the heated mattress pad. Sort of like a heating pad for my back.