I am missing my English friends. And it’s weird to think that they’re preparing for this term, and I’m not. But now I’m getting to go to my graduation, so at least I’ll see them in November. Which by the way, Mike Calhoun has been fighting for me and has gotten Georgetown to give me some money for flying over to my graduation in exchange for me writing a story for the alumni magazine. So that’s great, and I’m really appreciative. Now I just have to see if anyone can come over with me. And decide when I’m leaving because, of course, the graduation is on Thanksgiving weekend, the one holiday I’ve been looking forward to being in the US for for three years. But oh well, Thanksgiving comes around every year, and an Oxford graduation is once in a lifetime. So this week has been strange, but a good kind of strange. And I’m glad not to be flying over the ocean again at this time of year.

Most days now, I ride the bus to and from work (though I’ve walked a couple times this week), so rather than worry about fighting traffic or getting somewhere the most quick way I can (I have no control over these things when I’m on the bus, so there’s no point in thinking about them), I can use my time to read. Lots of people don’t understand how anyone could choose to ride public transportation, but I find it quite enjoyable. I get to listen to my music and read my book. I know for some it doesn’t make sense (Christi’s mom takes 15 minutes to drive to work, and it would take her an hour and an hour and a half to get to and from work, respectively, on Louisville’s bus system). But for me, it’s worth it to wake up 15 minutes earlier and take about a half-hour to get to work (including walking to the bus stop and waiting for the bus), not only cost-wise, but also because it gives me time to read (and helps the environment). I also read during lunch. I bring my lunch to save money, but it also saves me time. Now right now, I’m writing in my blog instead of reading, but it’s still time used during my lunch break.

Anyway, back to the original concept of this entry, I had forgotten how much I loved to read, just to be reading, while I was in school. Especially at Oxford, I was constantly reading, but it was always for something else, not for my own pleasure. It was for a test or for a paper, and whenever I did take breaks I watched TV instead of reading because I was tired of reading. And I never got to read for fun. The few times I did, I felt guilty for not studying instead. So now I’ve been reading for fun. And it makes me so happy. It puts me in a good mood when I can just relish in the fact that not only do I have time to read, but I really do enjoy reading. I had missed getting so involved in a book that I didn’t want to do anything else but read. I missed getting absorbed into the world of the book and forgetting my surroundings, reading outside on a sunny day but being convinced that it was rainy because of the torrential downpour happening in my book. And now I have that again.

I’ve apparently also missed writing for fun because I’m rambling on, so I’ll stop now. Just wanted to remind people to try not to forget the things you truly love to do because its just makes life better to do those things and enjoy them. Or do forget and then get reminded so you can have a restoration of sorts. I find it very beneficial in enjoying life.

The door to our bathroom always stuck a little at the top, so I decided one evening to be productive and fix it by sanding the top of the door and the door frame. And then we wouldn’t have to make a big noise yanking the door open whenever we came out of the bathroom. Christi wasn’t home. Kyle had just called and said he had gotten done with a meeting early. So I was going to start dinner and he was going to come over. But I thought I could do this really quickly before I started cooking and still have time before Kyle got there. So I stood on the toilet next to the door and sanded it some. I thought I had gotten quite a bit of the paint off the top of the door, so I thought I would try and see if I had fixed it. For some reason, I decided to close the door from the inside of the bathroom. I shut the door, and then pulled, and the bottom came out a bit, but the top of the door was wedged. Somehow I seemed to have made it worse. I pulled a lot until my neck sort of spasmed. Then I decided I should stop.

Of course, I had set my phone on the dresser outside the bathroom after Kyle had called, so I couldn’t contact anyone. I just kept thinking, at least Kyle is on his way, and luckily, he has an extra set of keys to my apartment. Our neighbors were in their backyard watching TV or playing the radio really loudly (that’s what they do). So I considered opening the window and yelling down to them, not that they could do anything because the door to the apartment was locked. Finally, I resigned myself to waiting.

When I first moved in, I had put a CD player in our bathroom for Christi and me to play music when we get ready, so I put in Christi’s Coldplay CD (calming music), and I tried the door every few minutes, just thinking maybe if I let it rest it would pop right open. It didn’t. So I washed my face, rearranged some carpet. Then I decided to do Satin Hands because I had it in there. Then I did Satin Hands on my feet. Then I found a pencil and my hair dryer manual and wrote a note that said, “I’m stuck in here. Don’t think I’m just using the bathroom,” and I slid it under the door, in case I didn’t hear someone come in. Then I turned down the music some to prevent that from happening.

Finally I heard our black gate slam, and Kyle came in and yelled up. And I yelled, and told him I was stuck in the bathroom. I knew the door could be opened from the outside because of how it was stuck at the top, as long as someone could pound on it, rather than pulling on it. So Kyle pounded once, and it opened. He was my knight in shining armor. It was very traumatic, and I will probably never go into our bathroom without my cell phone. However, I did fix it later that night, taking a box cutter blade to it, instead of just sand paper. Now it opens smoothly, as long as the door knob is turned all the way (which sometimes it isn’t).

Christi got home around 11, so if Kyle hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have had to sleep in the bathroom at least. We discussed the possibility of it being our little girl ghost trapping me or just my bad luck with doors. At G-town, our doorknob fell off multiple times and our deadbolt got stuck out, so the door couldn’t close. And something happened to my door in England too. So I’m pretty sure it’s just me. Multiple doors in this apartment are pretty tricky too. So that’s my funny story for a little while.

As a last update on Oxford, here’s a breakdown of my results:
British Politics and Government 61
Microeconomics 68
International Relations 67
Macroeconomics 68.5
Economics of Industry 66
International Economics 63
International Relations in the Cold War 64
Thesis 67.5

(average 65.625)

Above 70 is a first, from 60 to 69 is a 2:1, so I got a solid 2:1. (Of course, my highest mark was in Macroeconomics, the one I liked least.) I ranked 30th in the 2:1s, which I think had 193 students out of 256 PPEists total, though I don’t know how many of those got firsts. So I didn’t do the best, but I did pretty well. And I passed, so I have an Oxford degree, which I’ll officially get in November. Still don’t know if I’m going back for my graduation, depends on money, but we’ll see.

It’s on 6th Street, backs up to the alley that St. James backs up to. So we’re close to Kyle and close to Central Park, with tennis courts and Shakespeare in the Park in summer. In the back, there’s a garage with a small garage door at the alley. Susan said we can use the garage for storage, but the door is small so we might want to park on the street. And Susan is really cool. She lives in the house, which will be good in case anything goes wrong. She’s really nice. And she loves me. It’s a second-floor apartment, with a separate side entrance for us. It has a big kitchen, which is painted yellow and red. She said she would repaint it if we wanted, but I sort of like it, so I think I’ll tell her to keep it. We don’t have a dishwasher, but we do have washer and dryer hook-ups. I’m working on getting us an old washer and dryer. If anyone knows of one I can get for free, let me know. It’s 1.5 bathrooms. One shower in a big bathroom, and then a toilet and sink in the room with the washer and dryer. The bedrooms are a little small and don’t have closets, but there’s a walk-in closet next to the bathroom that Christi and I will share. It’s hardwood floors everywhere. The living room has an old fireplace that doesn’t work anymore, so it’s just decoration. And the two bedrooms have a connecting door, so we can barge into each other’s rooms without even having to go into the hallway.

So that’s the layout. About the house in general, which was built in the 1800s. It supposedly used to be haunted. Last year it was on the Old Louisville ghost walk, and it’s in Kyle’s Ghosts of Old Louisville book. In the 1920s, a little girl who was living there ran out into the road and got hit by a car, and people said they had seen a little girl in a white dress standing on the stairs in the main part of the house (we’re not in that part, we’re in the back). And there were other little weird things, like things disappearing, but Susan said all of it has stopped since they had a bunch of construction done on it. So shouldn’t be any weird stuff, but we can still brag about it.

I’m going to start moving in this weekend hopefully. My mom and I went and saw it and dropped off a check and got keys. Yay!! I’m really excited!

I was home for four days, with a third interview with E.ON the morning after I got in. And now I’m in Hawaii, which is 11 hours different from England time. So my body clock is completely off. But we’re having fun with Ian. Went snorkeling yesterday in Kona and then made it back to Ian’s place in Hilo. Not sure what’s on for today, but I’m sure it will be great. Soon I’ll be home for good rather than just a couple days. And hopefully then I’ll get to see people more often rather than mainly communicating by blog.