The last week
I actually have a heartache today I think. Today Melissa and I walked around to say goodbye to everything and we both actually felt sick, and my heart hurt a little.Monday was a good class day. We had our last class in New College classroom. Then I went to buy my book for my last paper this week. Somehow I have put it off doing it until today, but thats the beauty of procrastination here. It was actually warm and pretty this week so I wanted to be outside alot. After class Melissa, Will, Maddy and I got sandwiches from the covered market. I am indecisive in my thoughts on sandwiches here. The baguettes and paninis they have everywhere are like so delicious, but nothing is made without mayo. I could do without all the mayo. They even put it on salad and no salad dressing. Another concept of English people I don't understand. We walked over to Christ Church meadows to have lunch. Everyone was out there because it was actually sort of sunny, so we just laid on the grass and ate our lunches. After that most of my friends had to go to their tutorials or were writing so I just went home and tried to read. I think I actually worked out for the first time in awhile. After that I layed in bed and napped. Great nap because the sun was shining perfectly on me right through my window, and I miss the sun so much. Like Taylor said, "our Americaness comes out when the sun comes out" We like flock outdoors and we're literally happier people when the sun comes out. Well I just napped and then I think I watched the Bachelorette. Gotta keep up with all the craziness from home of course. Guilty pleasure. It was a good just rest type day. It is summer after all so I shouldn't feel so guilty doing nothing.
Tuesday I woke up and it looked almost sunny. Taylor came over, and we decided to go read our books on the Trinity lawn. Well of course it started raining on the way there. Tricky weather. But fortunately they put up a tent just for us! haha, not really it was already up. But we parked inside the tent and read our books while it rained. All the tourist coming through the lawns probably thought we were crazy, because Taylor is now obsessed with the music from Phantom of the Opera. It was a very nice casual afternoon. Then we went to the covered market again for a little lunch. It was the yummiest sandwich. Turkey and Brie. After that, came home and had to get ready to go to Trivia night!
We had decided that we needed to play Trivia at the Eagle and Child pub. That's the pub of course where the Inklings met, other than C.S. Lewis's rooms at Magdalen college which I visited also. But the Inklings is Tolkien and Lewis' group that met once a week. Its so cool the relationship that they had, and being here and learning how they influenced each other and their writings. I recommend everyone go read something by Lewis or Tolkien right now! Anyways, we show up to the Eagle and child and get a table in the back. Its me Taylor, Melissa, Will, and Alex who is our trick up our sleeve. He's big on trivial knowledge that no one else would know. So we got our fish and chips and had some cider, yummy. Then trivia started. It was like all locals, and some teenagers who cheated the whole time and us loud Americans. The categories were fun too, there was Connections first. All the things were connected by being hats, but somehow we came up with the answer that everything was connected by "america." Still not sure how top, panama, ascot, baseball and others have anything to do with america. Seems so obvious now. But we did really well on the "birds" category hahaha. Emotional songs was another, which like I've said English people are way behind, so of course we got all the new songs, and they played like Johnny Cash as an old song. Totally unfair for the English people, we had that! Then the history round was like all American stuff. Where are the 49's located, or who shot Martin Luther King Jr. etc etc. Owned that round too. Anyways we came in 2nd after the usual winners. I'm still proud of us! And it was a really fun night.
Wednesday we had class again, but this time we had it outside at New college. There are fortresses built around all the colleges from when the University was first getting started and the townspeople didn't want the students to take over their city. There would be actual battles, and so the colleges were made like fortresses. Well, I sat in the fortress wall, in a slot that was used to shoot arrows out of. That was kinda cool I guess. Last class of the term! Finally, I mean other than Dr. Snyder making us write a paper due the last day that we're here, and then a research paper due in two weeks. After class we all went to Nando's for lunch. Then Melissa and I went shopping for gifts. Headed to the tea store, and may have bought too many t-shirts. We got like caught up in the poster shop looking for pretty prints. So much shopping. We also made it over to the Alice in Wonderland shop. It's the original shop that used to be Alice's sweetshop when Lewis Carroll had rooms in Christ Church College right across the street. I guess thats where he got the name, I imagine him just staring out the window and being like, "now ill write a story about Alice." Now its a gift shop with tons of Alice stuff. Very cute.
Then I went home and had the best run through the city and the meadows. Port meadow really is so pretty, and I just ran back there and got lost for awhile. Then I ran back through town, and its just so funny how people look at you when you're running in shorts here. When I came home, me and Melissa cooked dinner. Well I cooked some pasta and shrimp, and we had asparagus. I'm very proud of my culinary skills this trip. Like I've actually cooked well. Weird, I really could survive if I had to. Still my point is that I have a kitchen staff cooking me 3 meals a day so I will pretend to be incompetent for another year. After that... while I should've been working on my paper yet again instead me and Melissa did our nails and watched "Drive me Crazy." Then Alex and Taylor came over and bugged me for awhile.
Thursday morning I woke up and read for my paper, then we got to go tour Magdalen college. That was where C.S. Lewis was a don and had his rooms. It was one of the prettiest colleges to me. There's really pretty cloisters in the middle. Then they own a ton of land, so theres a meadow and forest. The college itself actually owns deer. They're all just hanging out in Deer Park. We went back through Addison's Walk down by the river, through the forest. That's where Tolkien and Lewis argued about Christianity. Tolkien was yelling at Lewis that he was wrong. He says thats where he had his intellectual conversion. The next day he says he was driving to the zoo, and when he left he wasn't a Christian, but when he got there he was. Really a special place. After we had toured all that the girls went to Granola again, and got sandwiches to go home. Worked a little, and napped. Then it was time for 5 pound pizza night! We have become locals, we know all the hot spots. 3rd week of thursday pizza night actually. After that we went out, tried to go to our favorite club The Bridge but it closed! So sad. So we had to go to another place. We started out in one bar, and Alex and Rupert joined us.
Now Rupert is a story. He is Laird Rupert Stone. He is about 27ish and he works for the program that I'm in. I'm not sure why. His father was Margaret Thatcher's speech writer. So obviously he's upper class. So he went to school at Eton, the most famous school in England. While he went there he ate lunch and dinner with Prince William and Harry every single day. After that he went to Oxford where he studied the Classics. Which means he read them all in Latin. I was like, what do you do with that? He said, "Absolutely nothing" So I just talked to him forever cause his life is so interesting. He told me all about William and Harry. He said Harry is terrible, just out chasing girls and partying. But he said that he really really likes William. He's actually a really nice guy, and not smart, but nice. I was like oh ok sure, you just hang out with Prince's at school, that's totally normal. Well he's sick of England and says he's off to America to work in D.C. Interesting man!
We all went to Lava again, this terrible club. And on top of that it was "International" night. Now, I understand that I am technically international, but I like to think of us as more like stepchildren of the English. So in that sense I just like to think im not a tourist I'm a visitor, which I really am not like a tourist here. This international night was VERY international. We talked to people from Switzerland, Germany, Nigeria, Sudan, Spain and probably other places. It was cool though, just fun. I finally found some British boys, and I was like "ummm, why the heck are you here?" Good night.
Today we had to work on papers, and most of the group has actually left to go home. So sad!!! But Melissa and I shopped again, I got sucked into Topshop again. There were sales everywhere! I can't be blamed. It's like oh yay all the college students are gone! Lets have a big sale! We said goodbye to all our favorite places, went and turned our keys into Trinity. Now im just a tourist again. Then we went to Granola for our final afternoon tea. The owner became my friend, and he was like sad that I wouldn't be back. I told him that I just loved Granola and I would come back one day.
Since then, I've been sitting at this computer trying to write this paper. At this point I've only got 4 more hours to write. Luckily for all of yall, this is taking presedent over writing. I keep getting told to blog! So here it is. Finally it's over.
Christ Church garden
Alice in Wonderland
Pints at the Eagle and child 
Class in the fortress wall
Cloister of Magdalen College
Addison's Walk at Magdalen
Francipio (made up name) at our kebab stand
View of Trinity on Maroon Friday!
No comments:
Post a Comment