Recipes for Friends

Not much to say February 28, 2007

Well yesterday wasn’t too eventful. My tutorial actually went pretty well, I think. There were times I was floundering for an answer, but I think I gave some good contributions to the discusssion. He said our essays had some good stuff in them, but he didn’t have a whole lot of comments because they were both very brief. Which I knew mine was somewhat shorter than some previous ones, but it was still 2000 words. Next week, we’re looking at power by looking at China. I don’t have to write an essay, but I think that topic will help me somewhat on my thesis background information, so I’m excited about the reading for once. After the tutorial, I came back to my room and had a late lunch. We had had a tank session during my normal time for lunch, so I hadn’t eaten anything. I was really glad that my stomach didn’t start to growl during the tutorial.

Then I started to read econ, and fell asleep before dinner. I like economics, but reading an econ textbook never fails to put me to sleep. So I didn’t get as much done as I should have, and after dinner, the Final Fling Launch Party was happening, so I went to that. The description said, “The name says it all.” I had no idea what the point of the party was. It was apparently to announce to theme of the Final Fling, the end of the year dinner/dance thing. It’s going to cost 30 pounds without the meal and 45 pounds with the meal. Everything here is so expensive. I guess I’m going to go, but I might skip out on the meal portion. Ula told me rowing is cancelled for Thursday also. It had already been cancelled for Wednesday. So now we wait to hear about Friday, not that I’ll be rowing, but hopefully I’ll be able to cheer them on. I’m meeting with my econ tutor from last term, all of us are, about our collection results on Friday, so that might conflict, but hopefully not. So that was my day, nothing too exciting.

No more essays February 27, 2007

I finished my last essay for this term yesterday. It wasn’t as good as it could have been because of time, but it’s done. And now I have no more essays to worry about until next term. And that’s all I’m saying.

A relaxing weekend with a little stress at the end February 26, 2007

I should be writing my politics essay right now, but I’m not. My brain feels like mush. Last night I turned in my econ essay a half-hour late, and the essay was good I think, I’m just not sure if I answered the question correctly or at all. I explained the economic model though. And I kept it to the length of my last essay. He said to try to take off a page each time, but that didn’t happen. I also had a whole lot of sources. I filled up the whole works cited page, which I haven’t done since I’ve been here. So it was my last essay for econ and the last piece of work my tutor will have before he writes my report. I am really not looking forward to my reports this term. I don’t think they’re going to be quite as praising as last term. I don’t know what it is about this term, but it’s just been bad.

But before and after that stress, the weekend was quite good. Friday night, Celia, Jennifer, Ula, and I went to Sarah’s for dinner. We talked a lot and then watched Vanity Fair, which none of us had seen and all of us decided we didn’t really like. It was very colorful and pretty, just weren’t satisfied with the story. So everyone left, and Sarah and I cleaned up before going to bed. I slept for about 9 hours, I think, and was not feeling nearly as sick the next morning. My throat wasn’t scratchy anymore, though my nose is still not back to normal. I read most of the day, taking a break for lunch and decided I would stay at Sarah’s Saturday night too. She had a bunch of girls over from church and had another girls’ night where everyone brought old clothes and make-up and stuff they didn’t want and traded. There was stuff left over at the end, so when I came down, Sarah said I should go through it. So I got some new clothes! We all watched American Dreamz, which was pretty funny. Then the next morning, I got up a little earlier and did some finishing up reading for econ. I had tea with Sarah, a South African tea that’s really good, for breakfast and then caught the bus into town to meet Celia for church. I got there early, so Sister asked if I would bring the gifts up. That always makes me nervous. But she kept my stuff in a room that was locked so it wouldn’t get stolen. Then Celia and I stopped by Sainsbury’s before heading back to college.

I ate some lunch and then worked on my essay like crazy. Then Dr. Hadaway had all the G-towners up to the G-town flat for an English breakfast for dinner, complete with sausage, bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes, a mushroom, onion thing, and hot cross buns. It was very good. I left first, at 11, because I knew I needed to get some sleep so I could get my politics essay done today. I was going to try really hard to do really well on this essay, but now I don’t think it’s going to be great. There just isn’t time unless you work constantly with no breaks, and even then there might be too much. So it’ll be what it is, and I might get a bad report from him too.

Oh and to finish off this entry, yesterday we got an e-mail from Hannah, which was exciting:

Hey girls,

I have some awesome news to really motivate and prepare us for this week and to prove how our hard work and determination can really pay off…

We qualified fastest in rowing on! In a time of 3.29! That was 17 seconds ahead of St. Hughs, who we are chasing on our first day of
bumps racing! It was also only 28 secs slower than the boys! Not too shabby!

So well done to everyone for a really strong performance and lets really go into this week with this in mind, thinking positive and prepared to bump.

Well I lied and I broke my Lenten promise, but I got to save the day! February 23, 2007

I lied because this is going to be another entry about rowing. First off, yesterday Hannah came by with our gilets, which is totally awesome, with my name on it and everything. So now we can all look the same in the boat. We’re so excited. And she said she had decided not to have me row because of my cough, and she hoped that was okay. I don’t know if she just said that to make me feel better or if it was the real reason, but I said it was probably for the best anyway. I started feeling sick yesterday morning, runny nose, scratchy throat, and I’m starting to stress about my last two essays. Reading for them is taking way longer than I anticipated. I spent all day yesterday on one reading. So then later, she came by because there was this marshal meeting for rowing, and three people from Regent’s had to go to find out what the marshals do and everything (make sure the river is clear and no boats are going to run into each other or a swan or duck, etc.). So none of the girls had volunteered, and two guys had, and they needed one more. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to, but I didn’t really have an excuse not to, other than reading, so I said if she couldn’t find anybody else, I would do it. So I’m pretty sure no one else got asked, but that’s okay. So at 7:30, I went and now I might have to do marshalling.

So today I wore my gilet, and I was getting excited about getting to watch the girls and cheer them on and take pictures. And it was fish and chips for lunch. I went to the library and worked all morning, and then came back to Regent’s for lunch and Johnny and Ali both asked me why I wasn’t rowing. But I sat where I could get served first so I could get down to the river in time to see the girls. So I was eating quickly when Ali came and asked Johnny if he had seen Jennifer. He said no. I said she had a tutorial today, so maybe it ran over (it turns out she was at her tutorial). But she wasn’t down at the river, and they couldn’t row with 7 girls. So Ali was on the phone with Hannah and said maybe I could do it. I said I wouldn’t be very good, but I could. Sarah (not South African Sarah, but the one who let me borrow her dress my first time here) and Ali both said I could take their bikes, but I said I was afraid of the consequences. I really need to learn how to ride a bike over this next break.

So I didn’t finish my fish, ran and changed out of jeans, forgot my camera (so I have no pictures, sad), and ran practically the whole way down to the river. And was in some serious pain and feeling like I wouldn’t be able to move my legs, much less make them do work, by the time I got there. I was too late for us to make it for our original division, but we could row in the next one right before the boys. So I rowed at 4, the one place I’ve never rowed before in the boat, and by the end of it, I could barely breathe, I was wet from splashing, and I was freezing, but I had left in such a rush, I hadn’t brought any extra clothes. Nicola let me borrow her hoodie. We rowed quite well, good balance, kept the rate up, but our pressure wasn’t that great, so we could have done better. Or they could have, I don’t know if I could have worked any harder. I haven’t been on the river in a really long time.

So it all worked out okay. Some people had brought some food down, and I was hungry since I hadn’t gotten my whole lunch, so I had a chocolate thing and another sweet thing called a flapjack (not a pancake). So I snacked, and later, I came back to my room and ate Ramen noodles and a cheese biscuit thing because I was still hungry. I’m telling myself it was acceptable, eating three times within 2 hours, since I didn’t really have a meal. Before leaving the river, we watched the boys, and they did really well. Then, Jennifer was coming down to the boathouses when we were leaving. She apparently didn’t get the last e-mail about a time change and had rescheduled her tutorial to work with the first time. I felt bad for her. But I’m glad we got to row. It would have been really bad if the girls had missed the qualifying round. But now it’s all good, and I got to save the day, which was fun. So now I’m completely exhausted, but I have to try to do a little work before I go to Sarah’s. Thought I would write in here first, though.

I’ve been avoiding writing in here February 22, 2007

I try really hard to be an optimist. And I think I’m pretty good at it. I’ve always been sort of happy-go-lucky, most of the time. But this term has been trying really hard to make me a pessimist. And I don’t like writing in here about depressing things, but lately that’s what occupies my mind. And each time, I get over a disappointment, it seems like another one comes along. I’m definitely not rowing in torpids. Got the e-mail last night. I had gotten a response from Hannah earlier that said I might still be rowing depending on how the others did in the outings, but since I couldn’t come on Tuesday, she wanted to try the novices out. So in some ways, it almost seems like since I couldn’t go on Tuesday, that pretty much kicked me out. But I’ve told her a million times I have a tutorial then. I could go out later or earlier, but they just kept scheduling stuff then. And it also seems like they didn’t even give me a chance on the river. They just looked at erg times, I guess. But I feel like I do better out on the river, but I never even got the chance. And it’s not even that much that I don’t get to compete. I don’t really like the races, but I do like being out on the river, and I won’t get to do that anymore this term. But it’s more that it’s just embarrassing. I went from being pretty good to being one of the worst. And one of the main things I talk about concerning Oxford is rowing, and now I can’t because I’m not really on the team.

Ula came by my room yesterday afternoon after rowing and said she was wondering why I wasn’t out there, and I just had to tell her that they didn’t put me on the list, that they didn’t want me. She tried to make me feel better, said it was all just pain. She does have some pretty bad blisters. Then we decided to go on a walk, went to University Parks. It’s crazy because it’s so green and there are flowers blooming and everything. It was really pretty. So I told Ula I would still come and cheer them on. Just because I’m upset doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give my friends support. So I’ll be there, even if it is embarrassing. And that’s enough about rowing, no more entries on it besides mentioning if we won or lost.

So quick update on the rest of my life. Went to the MCR meeting and saw Sarah and told her about my bad days. We’re going to her house for a pasta dinner Friday, and she said I should just stay over, which I had thought about asking her, so I’m going to do that, maybe stay all day Saturday too. I just need to get away from Regent’s for a bit. It’s sort of stifling sometimes. I also had my politics tutorial Tuesday, and it went okay, except one time when I tried to use an example and it turned out to be completely wrong. I decided I’m going to turn my frustrations into doing really well on my last politics essay, so I still have a chance of getting a good, or at least decent, report.

Yesterday, I got up early and went to Mass and got ashes, though you could barely see them, but I didn’t wash them off. I decided my Lenten promise is going to be that I’m not going to snack. I might change it, but I’ve had trouble deciding on something that can apply to my life here and my life at home. I could do a two-parter, I guess. I talked to Dr. Hadaway at lunch, and then went to my econ tutorial after my walk with Ula. My presentation started out a little rough, but I think it was okay by the end. I also finally got my collections back for politics last term, and did even worse than econ. Got a 54, which is still a 2:2, but not very good. Hopefully I’ll do better next term. I fell asleep really early last night. I’ve been so tired lately. I just want to sleep all the time. Then time will pass by faster and I can be home sooner. Now today I’m going to work all day on politics, econ tomorrow, and then stay at Sarah’s for the weekend and have a little relaxation, I hope.