Thursday, May 30, 2013

I Miss Funfetti

It's Thursday morning about 10:00, about that time for another update! This week has been very different from the previous simply because we've actually fallen into a bit of a routine what with going to our MSU led class as well as acclimating to the study habits of Oxford students! On Monday we had our first "Objects of Travel" class led by Dr. Ben Harvey. This class is very different from others I've taken at State, mainly due to the fact that I am in the UK, but also because it's a very interactive, discussion and activity oriented class. I mean, one of our first assignments was to go visit the Museum of the History of Science where I found some pretty amazing things.

This is how people carry their backpacks here. Not really. But upon entering the museum we were forced to carry our backpacks as so...


Oh you know, just a blackboard from one of Einstein's lectures here on the expansion of the universe.
And some surgical instruments used for amputations in days past. Makes me realize how thankful I am not to have lived in that time!
Later that afternoon we made our first attempt at acting like real Oxford students by studying in the Radcliffe camera. Definitely a big change from our typical "Club Mitch" experience. 
Tuesday was pretty consistent with Monday except for the fact that we attended a C.S. Lewis Society club meeting that night. Johnathan Kirkpatrick, current curator of the Kilns, was the main speaker who talked about the appearance of "Bacchus" in some of Lewis's literature. One thing hasn't changed in that I still get an awkward lump in my throat whenever I see one of my teachers outside of a classroom setting. How could I not expect to see my C.S. Lewis tutor at the C.S. Lewis Society meeting?? It's like that time I saw Dr. Carskadon in Wal Mart and didn't know what to say except "I like your jacket". Still just as awkward.

Yesterday I had my first experience with Indian cuisine at a place called Chutney's! Dr. Snyder is off to London today so he wanted to treat us for one last meal. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty hesitant to try out the curry due to some less than ideal experiences with Thai food I've encountered in the past. To my surprise I liked it a lot. Like a whole lot. Like maybe went back for a second plate a lot...Probably because everything actually had some flavor to it unlike the typical British meal which I'm pretty sure has about 3 salt crystals in an entire meal. 

Afterwards we all split up into small groups and Mary Lowry had a great time exploring where we found a quaint little shop with old timey postcards and trinkets. Later on we went off to explore Christ Church Cathedral which is a truly magnificent place. Like Steven always says, the pictures here really don't do it justice. It's hard to capture the beauty of one place in a simple 4 x 6 photo. 
Forgot to mention, we went to Evensong Monday night! This is where the college choir sings and tourists and students are allowed to worship in the cathedral for about an hour. I had actually thought about joining the choir for the remainder of Trinity term, but after about two minutes into their first song I quickly decided that probably wasn't the best idea. I think I could catch on if I had enough time, but one of the hardest parts would be trying to produce the same vowel sounds as them. They can twist their mouths into some funny shapes that I'm just not quite sure my little Mississippi mouth can do!



Outside of Christ Church Cathedral. 

Last night was a fun night in the flat just relaxing and enjoying each others company. I bought my first baguette yesterday (delicious by the way) but the other girls cooked pasta for themselves. We watched Pride and Prejudice, typical I know, and Jade and Jenni attempted to make cookies. Here's the thing, cookie dough doesn't really exist over here. I know, I know, crazy right?? They managed to find some in the crevices of Tesco but let's just say it was no Nestle's. Once again, no sugar! At least now we know. If I ever find funfetti cake mix over here I might die. 

Well I'll leave you with a little pic from one of our first days outside of Christ Church! 

Ta ta for now!







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