England Journal

On Sunday, Ashley and I went to see the Alice in Wonderland ballet here in Oxford. It was really good, and I took some illegal pictures without my flash during the curtain call. They’re pretty blurry, but fun. I’ll get them up on flickr at some point. I think I maybe liked Sleeping Beauty better. There was more of all the lifting and everything since there were prince and princess dances. This one had one during a dream sequence, but other than that, it was mainly individuals dancing. I still liked it though, and it made me think of when I was Alice in my middle school play. Fun times. I don’t really have much to say about the ballet though. Afterward, Ashley and I went to her house and made some fried potatoes and summer sausage cooked in ginger ale, a discovery of Ashley’s, and some rice. It was a good meal. Then I came back to my room and tried to do some reading, but I think I fell asleep. I don’t remember. Oh I talked to Kyle for a little bit, but that wasn’t long because he had a paper to work on.

So then Monday, we had the family Advent dinner at Regent’s. All the students who have kids bring them, and we got crackers and hats. I have pictures of that too. Sarah and her husband Tim came. The food wasn’t that great, but the company was. And the dessert was. It was chocolate cake. Sarah said she wished she had more, and Tim immediately called one of the waiters over and asked for some more, so Sarah and I got two pieces. They’re such a cute couple. When he was talking to her, he would just randomly call her “gorgeous” and she didn’t really react, so you know he just calls her that all the time. So sweet. I really like them and hanging out with them. Sarah had invited me to come stay over one night last weekend just to get away from college for a bit, but I ended up having other things I had to do, including ice skating on Saturday. I guess I didn’t write about that. So I didn’t go to Sarah’s, but I might do that next term sometime.

On a side note, ice skating was fun. Have pictures of that too, although I got told I wasn’t allowed to have my camera there, or if I did, I had to go sign a slip, I guess for liability reasons. But do they really think I’m going to sue them because I dropped my camera after I brought it to an ice skating rink? The same security-type girl came and told me I had to wrap my scarf around my neck differently. I don’t think she liked me. But it was fun anyway. I was actually the best skater of those of us who went, so that was nice to not have Kyle skating circles around me. Haha. It was quite amusing to see Ashley getting scared too, but she was pretty good by the end.

So anyway, to bring this completely up-to-date, Monday I read all day about econ and the Thatcher and Heath governments in Britain, and then had the Advent dinner. Then yesterday, I went to the library to get a confined book, hoping it would be there if I went as soon as the library opened, but it wasn’t. So I had to make my first stack request to get a book from the Bod, but it ended up being just as quick to get it delivered to the social sciences library, so I still haven’t been into the Bod. So that afternoon, I went and read that book for my econ essay. In between, I had my politics tutorial, which I again didn’t say anything, but he had to make it short, so it wasn’t completely my fault. Simon just presented his essay, and the rest wasn’t much discussion. BUT, get ready for this, I did get an essay back, and he said it was EXCELLENT!!! The only comment was on the last page, and it started out, “This is really excellent!” So I was very happy. I’m not quite as worried about my report now. And at the dinner Monday, Sarah and Tim and I were talking about how in Britain nobody ever tells you that you’re doing well. Everything is “satisfactory” at best. Which does seem to be the case normally, so this was a nice change. Only problem is that now I have to make this next essay good too. It’s on European integration, though, so I do know a bit about this topic. So after the tut, I went to Sainsbury’s and bought two pizzas (buy one, get one free), and came back and made one for lunch before going back to the library. I came back and talked to Amanda for a bit. Then Ula and I had our business lectures that we go to on Tuesday nights. I came back and had dinner, and talked about who’s living where. I’m really worried about where I’m going to live next year. But this entry is long enough already, so I won’t bother you with my worries about that now. I fell asleep and didn’t do my essay last night like I told myself I would, but then I woke up this morning and did it, so it’s all good (well the essay isn’t that good, but I have something to turn in and right now that’s all I care about). I’m so ready to come home and be done with studying for a bit.

Okay, here’s my last entry that I talked about, so I’ll be almost caught up. If people remember last year, all I had for Thanksgiving was a brownie. Some of the people, including Ruth, said I had to do something for Thanksgiving, so we went to G&D’s and I got a brownie, which was a good brownie but not Thanksgiving. This year, Ashley made a wonderful turkey (her first time too), although we did find the bag of giblets after it was cooked. Oops! Ashley also made stuffing and macaroni and cheese. And I cut the turkey, which the knife wasn’t very good, so it didn’t cut too well, and I had no idea what I was doing, but nobody cared what it looked like. I also made lumpy mashed potatoes (we didn’t have a mixer) and sort of runny gravy, because it didn’t thicken like it was supposed to, but everyone said it was good. Katy brought good bread and some cranberry sauce, which I think I was the only one who had had it before and liked it. Ula and Celia brought yummy desserts, which we were almost too full to eat by the end, but somehow we managed. And Yihlyn brought wine. It was a great meal with great company. Here’s a picture of my plate.

And there are more pictures on my flickr under the Thanksgiving tag. After dinner, we watched Legally Blonde. We had wanted to watch a Christmas movie, but nobody had anything, so Yihlyn brought Legally Blonde. It was fun, nice to watch some mindless TV. Then we all walked back to college together, leaving Katy and Ashley, after we had all washed dishes and cleaned up, so Ashley didn’t have a mess. It was a really nice Thanksgiving.

So then Saturday, the MCR had their Thanksgiving dinner that I was invited to and I brought Ashley as my guest. I went to an hour of the rowing dinner first because it was that night too. They went to an Indian food restaurant and I tried a little bit of Katy’s, but I didn’t want to pay and wanted to save my appetite, so I didn’t eat much. Then all the girls got pictures in our T-shirts that we made, although our first “E” didn’t have her T-shirt, so she just stood in her place and you have to imagine the E. So then I left before all the “fining” where they fine people for mistakes they’ve made throughout the term, which means you have to drink wine or a drink each time you’re fined. When I came back from the Thanksgiving meal, I have to say I wasn’t disappointed I missed that part.

So Ashley and I started walking to the MCR place, which ended up being further away than we thought, and I wasn’t even completely sure of the number. But we found it. And it was really nice. Ashley and I actually didn’t end up sitting next to each other for most of the night. We sat with Sarah and a woman from China who is here getting her MBA during dinner, but before and after, for dessert, I ended up talking to Jacob, a G-town graduate who is here working on a Masters in Theology, and his girlfriend Elsa, who is a second-year, and Matt, who I lived with last year and is also an American grad student, but at Nuffield with connections to Regent’s, and Brad and Clark, both American grad students. It was a fun night. I really like hanging out with the MCR people. I feel like I fit in a little better there, but I’m still shy around them too. It’s hard for me to get out of my shell. The dinner was really good. They had sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, both things we didn’t have at our meal. But Ashley and I decided that the food we did have was better in comparison. Haha. But both meals were wonderful, and I was very full by the end. Good company and good food. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, right? Oh, and being thankful to have it!

Just for you, mom. I put a link to my flickr photos on the side bar with all the rest of my links, so now you can find my pictures more easily. Yay!

So last week (I know I’ve been terrible about updating this thing when I start out an entry “last week”), I had my first politics tutorial where I didn’t have an essay to turn in. Since I only had to do 6, I took a week off last week, and then this Tuesday, I won’t turn in an essay either. But then my last tutorial is this Friday, and I’ll turn in my last essay then, I may be presenting it too. It was really weird to not turn anything in, and I didn’t really say much either. The first 45 minutes, James, who presented his essay, focused on the second question of the two that were listed, and Simon and I had done more on the first, so we pretty much didn’t contribute much. Until Simon asked if we could talk about the first question too. So the last 15 minutes Simon talked about the second question because when he has something to say, it’s hard to get a word in. So I didn’t really participate, and even if I had had the chance, I don’t know how much I could have said because I didn’t have an essay in front of me. I had some notes, but I didn’t have a whole argument lined out. I guess this week will be the same, except there are two sub-topics, each of which has a couple questions. So I tried to make sure I know a little bit about each question, but I’m always afraid that as soon as I say something, my tutor will ask me a question that I didn’t cover in my reading and I won’t be able to answer it.

I was talking to Sarah (we met up at a coffee shop on Friday after I found out my race was canceled and I ran into her at the end of a lecture of mine and the beginning of a lecture of hers, it was fun) about how my tuts have been going and how I don’t really know how I am doing. In politics, I get a few comments on my essays, but not many and I haven’t gotten any marks. Sarah seems to think this is a good thing, but I don’t know. And I don’t talk that much except when I present my essay. Which I know you’re supposed to participate in the tuts, and it’s supposed to help you get used to arguing, but sometimes I wonder why. The exams are essays, not orals. I guess the tuts help you see your weaknesses in arguments. But I’m intimidated by my politics tutor and by the other two in my tut. I shouldn’t be, but I am. The tutor is a guy who has been studying this stuff for a long time and it is his specialty, and we’re supposed to argue with him? It’s a little crazy. I don’t think politics is my thing. I like the theory and the history, but I like reading about it, not arguing about it. Oh well, I’m in it now. I’m meeting with Suke on Friday to get my reports for my tutorials, so I guess I’ll find out what my tutor thinks of me then. I’m nervous about it. Suke might realize that whatever impressed her before isn’t really there, and I’m not that great of a student. I guess there’s not much I can do about it. Even if I participate a lot in this next tut, I think he will have already turned in my report, so it doesn’t matter.

Economics, on the other hand, is a completely different story. In those tuts, it’s more like a class and I do participate, even with other student Simon talking. Of course, sometimes tutor Simon (yeah it’s confusing with two Simons) calls on us or directs a question specifically at one of us. But he’s a D-Phil student, and people say they’re the best to have because they understand what we’re going through. And they’ve just been through other exams, so they can help on that end too. They’re also just less intimidating for me. I think we’re having one of Simon’s friends for the macro course next term. I’m not sure who my politics tutor will be. So this past tutorial was good. We had an essay, and we apparently all had practically the same essay because a really good answer was given in the book. But there were a couple things we were a little unclear on, so next week tutor Simon is going to look them up and let us know. Next week, we’ll discuss our essays, but then for the second half instead of having discussion questions, we’re going to go back and look at other questions we didn’t get to before or that we need more clarification on. I haven’t gotten any marks for this tut either, but I feel more confident about my report. I think I’ve proved that I know somewhat what I’m talking about whereas politics, I don’t know that I have. I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve probably learned just enough to be on an equal level with an everyday British citizen and not on the same level as an Oxford student studying more in-depth British politics. I guess that just means more work for over break, right? I guess I just have to wait and see what my reports say to judge how I’m doing so far. It’s nice not to have grades to worry about, but at the same it’s hard not to have grades to judge how I’m doing. It’s definitely a different education system, which I guess is what I asked for.

So rowing has been taking up a lot of my time lately, and trying to get all my tut stuff done as well has meant that I haven’t had a whole lot of time to write in here this week. So I plan on doing three entries for the past little bit: one on rowing, one on my tuts, and one on Thanksgiving. So here’s the one on rowing.

Well I already said Monday we found out that Ula couldn’t row so practice got canceled. Tuesday we had practice with Victoria, a girl who is a cox but has only rowed like 3 times. We had to have a novice. So she knows her stuff, but it was hard to adjust because everyone got switched around and we had a little trouble finding our balance. Then we found out that Ray couldn’t cox us in our races because the river was too high for a novice cox, so we had to find a new one, who couldn’t be Victoria since she was already rowing for us.

So Wednesday we had our first race, and this girl from another school coxed us. And she wasn’t very nice, and she didn’t call our start like she was supposed to so we had a really bad start and our balance was pretty bad, but we were still quite a bit ahead of the other team. So we hadn’t even really gotten to our push for the end and this big horn sounds. And the race has to stop. We had a false start before when that happened. This time, apparently a boat from Trinity got pushed out into the river in the middle of the other team’s lane, so our race got claxoned, as it’s called. We went up to the end, turned around, and came back. And we found out we would not have a re-race that day but probably Thursday, unless the other team conceded, which there was a chance of because Matt heard them talking about it. So we were bummed.

They didn’t concede, so we thought we would just have two races Thursday. Then Thursday, we find out our race is at 1:50, which meant I had to run from my lecture to get there. But when I got there, I found out we weren’t racing twice because rather than re-race, they just put all the teams who had their races claxoned into the losers’ bracket, only they didn’t call it that. But that’s what it was. So from there on out, if we lost a race, we would be done, even though it’s double elimination and we would have only lost one race. So we found out we were racing Trinity A, which apparently was the team that messed up our race on Wednesday. They were disqualified, but then the cox went and cried to the officials and got them reinstated, or that’s the story. And we totally won. We thought we were really close, but Tom, our cox for yesterday who is from Regent’s, said we had plenty of room. Emma, who sits behind me caught a crab, but she recovered really quickly, but it almost messed us up. But we still won. We were so excited. And Tom was awesome, much better than the other girl, although I still miss Ray.

So we came back and were all excited. And last night, we found out we would race at 12:30 today and then 3:20 if we won that. So I had to reschedule my tut. And I was going to have to miss my lecture at 11, which I didn’t want, but oh well. So then I go out to meet people and we find out the whole regatta has been canceled. There’s a red flag on the river, which means even experienced rowers aren’t allowed out. So our race is canceled and we won’t row again this term, which is really sad. And we could have done so well. So now I’m bummed, although I did get to go to my lecture, a little late, but I got there. But hopefully I’ll get to row next term. I know there are more than 8 girls who want to row because it’s not just novices anymore, so some of the girls who rowed last year want to row again. But I guess that means we won’t have to worry if someone has to drop out. I really hope I get to row though. I’ll get to practice with the team no matter what. But rowing has really been a good thing for me. It’s made all the academic stuff more bearable.

So that’s it for rowing this term. We’re having a dinner Saturday night, although there’s an MCR Thanksgiving dinner that night too, so I don’t know what to do. I’ll have to decide soon though. But yeah, rowing was fun, even though we did seem to encounter every problem possible. Next term we should be really good though, so maybe we’ll actually get to race and win some more. Yay!!

http://www.bigblade-photos.net/rowing/events/2006/ccr06/wednesday/W13%20Regents%20WA%20v%20University%20WC.html

http://www.bigblade-photos.net/rowing/events/2006/ccr06/thursday/Race%20W47%20Regents%20WA%20v%20Trinity%20WA.html

Sorry, I don’t know how to make them links, but you should just be able to copy and paste. Or go to www.bigblade.net and click on Christ Church Regatta 2006 and look for Regents anywhere. There aren’t a whole lot of me, but a few. And I guess there will be more as the we race more. Fun!

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I had planned on having rowing practice in the afternoon after my econ lecture and then a lecture that I hoped would help me narrow my thesis topic at 5. So in the morning, I finished reading an econ chapter and then went to the library and checked out some politics books and skimmed a couple confined books. When I went out to meet for rowing, Hannah came and told me we weren’t having practice because Ula had to drop out of Christ Church. Because of her sinus infection. So now we’re trying to find an 8th girl either from another college or maybe a second or third year who didn’t row before. Which will be sort of weird since we haven’t practiced with them all term. And if we can find someone, we then have to make sure it’s okay with rules and stuff. So I really hope we can still compete. I still haven’t heard anything, and Hannah had said we should know what’s happening by 8 last night. So I don’t know, sometimes I’m just left out of the loop.

So I came back to my room and started reading some more politics. Then I got ready for my lecture and walked to the exam schools at 4:45. I got there and the screen that tells where lectures are held didn’t have the lecture I was looking for. Two other guys came in and they were looking for the same one, so they asked a guy (sort of like a security guy, but not really, just sort of helps keep the lectures organized), and he said it was cancelled, that the Chinese guy couldn’t make it and he wasn’t sure if it was being rescheduled. So I made my way back to college, and read some more. Then I took a power nap before dinner. Then dinner and back to reading before I fell asleep. I got up this morning and skimmed the last of my politics books and I still don’t really know if I have an answer to the essay question. I’m glad I chose this week not to write my essay, but I want to get some notes down, so I can at least try to participate in the tut. But I’m really sort of lost, and I can’t even find anything very helpful on wikipedia. Oh well. I guess I’ll just talk when I know stuff and hopefully he won’t ask a specific question of me that I don’t know. Then maybe an outing on the river and onto writing my econ essay. I will be so glad when I have no more essays to write for six weeks.

On Sunday, I went to church early, and then Ashley and I met up and went to take the bus to Blenheim Palace to see it all decorated for Christmas and to see the craft fair that was going on there as well. We packed a lunch, which consisted mostly of junk food, but that’s okay. I had an apple too. The craft fair was really crowded, so we just pushed our way through, and then we got to this one part where they have food samples. There was one thing that had samples of a Scottish whiskey, Cock of the North, I think it was called. It was probably a teaspoon or something in the little cup, and we decided to try it. It was so nasty. It burned going down. But it was funny. There was also a stand that had this drink called elderflower, which my mom and Sharon really enjoyed while they were here. So I told Ashley she should try some and I tried another type of drink by the same company. She liked it. It’s like a flowery sort of drink, hard to explain. But you can get it at Liquor Barn or Liquor World, Sharon found out, so if anyone wants to try it, you can buy it in the US. It’s not alcoholic, just sold with the alcohol apparently. After going through the Palace, we went down to this bridge over a lake or river or something, and then went into this field with a bunch of sheep because Ashley wanted her picture with some sheep. Then we started on our way out and rode this little train to what is supposed to be the butterfly garden, but it was apparently closed. So we went back out and the train hadn’t left yet, so we ran through the mud to get on it and were lucky we didn’t slip and fall. Then we went out to the bus stop, where we had read the times wrong, so we had to wait a long time, so we listened to Christmas music on my iPod.

When we got back, we went to Sainsbury’s because they had had a turkey on sale for half-price. We decided to be spontaneous and bought it. It’s huge, and there’s no way we’re going to eat it all. We sent out an e-mail and invited some people over for a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, but I haven’t heard back from most of them. Ashley said if we have too much left over, we should give it to the homeless people that always stand on the streets, so we might do that. Who knows? It took both of us to carry the turkey back to Regent’s and now we have to get it to Ashley’s house because she has more dishes, so we’re going to make it there.

After my adventures with Ashley, I came back to my room and tried to read some economics, but then I ended up taking a short nap before I had to meet up with the Regent’s PPE people for the PPE curry dinner. So I went out there at 7:45. There are three PPE girls, one in each year. The third-year girl couldn’t come because she had an engagement party she had to go to, but Ula was planning on going. Then she wasn’t there at the meeting place so I went up to her room to check on her and she said she couldn’t come. I found out later she has a sinus infection. So it was me and six guys. We went to this good Indian place, but I had no idea what to order, so Mike, a third-year who sat next to me (also one of the guys who coached us on Saturday) gave me some suggestions, so I pretty much got the same meal he did. It was really good. And I ate almost all of it. There was a Sunday special where you get a bunch of stuff for 10 pounds, and then I had to buy my water and it wasn’t adding up right, so I just gave 5 more pounds. So I spent 15 pounds, which is like $30, which is so much money. I need to stop thinking of things in dollars, but it’s hard. But it was a fun meal. I still don’t feel like I fit in with the second-year guys. I can have good conversations with both the third-year guys and with the first-year guy, but my year, I still sort of feel like an outcast, which wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but we’re supposed to help each other when exams come around, trading essays and such, so we’ll see. I guess it’s only been one term. They just don’t really seem open to letting another person into their little group. So then I came back to college and tried to read some more and then fell asleep.

So on Saturday, our rowing team had our first races where we actually raced another team. Our first race, we had a false start, but then we won by a lot. We got way ahead of the other team, which was University College’s A team. And then they seemed to sort of give up. It was awesome. Our coaches just had us slow down at the end because there was no way they would catch up and they said we shouldn’t make ourselves tired. Before the race, we had been on the water for well over an hour, just waiting. They told us to go out early, and then all the races were behind. And I didn’t get any of the warm clothes, so I was freezing. The next race I got to borrow a gilet, which kept me warm. So we were really happy.

We came back to the boat houses, ate lunch, and cheered on our boys, who also won their first race. Then we got back on the water for our second race. Right at the beginning one of the girls caught a huge crab and we almost ran into the bank, just like had happened at our time trial. So we had to almost completely stop and then start again. We almost caught up, too. We were at least 2 lengths behind the other crew when we started again, and by the end, we were at the most 1 length behind. They had to keep rowing hard to beat us, and if the race had been longer, we might have had a chance. We felt sure we would have beat them if we hadn’t made that one mistake, which made it so frustrating. Even their coach told us we did really well. But we were so disappointed. The guys lost their second race too. But at least we weren’t out in the first one.

Our first race for Christ Church, the regatta that really matters, is against the C team of the college that we raced first at this mini-regatta, so we feel pretty confident we can beat them. As long as we don’t make any mistakes and we don’t get over-confident. I hope we do well and can avoid mistakes. I’ve never really been a part of a good team where I actually contributed to the outcome of the competition. Our soccer team won a lot, but I was mostly a bench warmer. It’s even more disappointing when you don’t win, but it’s more exciting when you win. I’m really enjoying rowing, even though the races are so hard. They’re not long, but we push so hard. It’s exhausting. Mike, one of the guys who coached us on Saturday (which means he rides his bike along a path on the bank and tells us what to do while we’re rowing), said that the crab we caught was huge, and that is so rare to catch one that big. So he was saying it won’t happen again, but then I pointed out to him that that was the second time it happened to us. Hopefully that means it’s out of our system, but I really just wish we could recover from them better, but there’s not really a way to practice that.

So I have practice today and then our first Christ Church race is Wednesday. Cheer for us over there! This week is going to be crazy busy, but I’ll try to write in here. At least I only have one essay.

First time I slept through dinner. I never sleep through things, and I was really hungry last night, too. Sad.