Pre-post Post

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have a TON to tell you about my wonderful, wonderful trip to Scotland. But, unfortunately, I have a paper to write tomorrow, so I won't be posting until sometime on Thursday. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you all!

The video I've posted above is a little inspiration to get you ready for my Scotland posts. God used my trip to teach me a lot about Himself and his nature, and I'm excited to share it with you! One of the highlights of my trip was getting to go to the Isle of Skye. I've really only wanted to go there since I heard this song by Andrew Peterson. For those of you who don't know of Andrew Peterson, you should definitely check him out! My whole trip was basically set to a soundtrack of his music. This song is about the Isle of Skye, and this song sparked my interest in going there. Every word of the song is true--even though it's really short!

So have a listen, and check back around Thursday night for an exciting post or two--or three!

Until then!

Tutorial Update and Trip Planning

Hey everyone!


I know it's been a while since my last post, but I didn't think you'd be interested in my weekend activity--namely, laundry. So fun, right?


Well, all of my roommates were in Scotland last weekend, so I had the room to myself and used to to get organized. I've been working on papers on Coleridge's poetry (which I turned in yesterday) and one on the novel Great Expectations (which I should really be working on now!) in order to get ready for my most exciting bit of news--I'm going to Scotland this weekend!


I'm so, so excited to get to go--it's one of the things on my "bucket list." Here's the plan--


I'll leave Oxford after my tutorial tomorrow and take a train to Edinburgh. I'm staying the night there and then Friday at 8:00 am I set off on a tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Here's the description from the tour website:

Day One
Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness (2 nights)

Departing from Edinburgh or Glasgow we make our way to lonely Rannoch Moor and then into Glen Coe, Scotland’s most famous glen and the scene of the terrible massacre in 1692. We will make a stop in the midst of this awe-inspiring scenery so you can enjoy the magic of this special place.

From Fort William the striking scenery of the Great Glen unfolds ahead of us – first Loch Lochy, then Loch Oich and finally Loch Ness. We will travel to the attractive village of Fort Augustus then drive the entire length of Loch Ness. There is a stop at Urquhart Castle where you can visit the castle and enjoy a short cruise on the loch (optional). Shortly we will arrive in Inverness, our home for the next two nights.

Day Two
The Magical Isle

Today we enjoy a full day excursion to the beautiful island of Skye. From Inverness we travel through pretty Glen Carron to Kyle of Lochalsh then "over the sea to Skye” by way of the road bridge. After a stop for lunch we take the stunningly beautiful road through Glen Suardal which provides breathtaking views of the Red Cuillin Hills. We’ll have an extended stop in Elgol where there are superb views of the Black Cuillin Hills and, if the weather is kind to us, to Rum and the Small Isles.

A real highlight is our stop at Eilean Donan Castle, perched on its island at the head of Loch Duich. Here you have the option of visiting this most picturesque of castles. Our return to Inverness will take us through Glen Shiel where we will see the "Five Sisters" mountain range.

Day Three
Inverness to Edinburgh/Glasgow

This morning there is an excursion through the Black Isle to the picturesque village of Cromarty. Later there is free time in Inverness for individual sightseeing or shopping before we join our motorcoach for a spectacular drive south through the Highlands. From the Spey Valley and the Cairngorm Mountains we travel through Glen Garry to enjoy scenic views of picturesque Blair Castle. After a break we’ll make our way through the gentle rolling countryside towards Perth then onwards to Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Then Monday I'll be seeing as much of Edinburgh as I can before my train leaves to take me back to Oxford!

Basically this tour is a whirlwind of Scottish "highlights." But looking at the maps, I've already decided that I'll have to come back at some point. I won't be blogging this weekend because I'm taking a break from my computer--I'm tired of constantly checking e-mail, facebook, and all that stuff. I'm so excited to be able to go on a trip and see things I've always wanted to see without having to worry about school or anything! So, you can expect a pretty long post (or series of posts) next week sometime! I'm planning on exhausting my camera, so keep checking in!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support!

Sarah

Procrastination Post

So, dear readers, this is where I am right now:

An exclusive sneak peak into the Radcliffe Camera's upper reading room. Also known as...the library. Yes, I've spent my entire afternoon shut away reading Coleridge and Dickens, but with an atmosphere like this I wouldn't really call it "shut" away. It's by far the prettiest library I've ever seen!

Anyways, It's now 5:20 and I've been at it since 2 ish, and I'm taking a little break to post on the Keble Ball. The Keble Ball occurred last Saturday, May 14th at 7:00 pm in Keble College. It was a huge, extravagant affair with the theme "A Scandal in Bohemia." There was unlimited food, drink, carnival games, giant slides, and entertainment with the price of admission. It was intense. I heard a rumor that the planning committee planned on 40 drinks per head, just so they were sure to have enough alcohol to go around.

Anyways, it was a big event, and we all got dressed up to go to the ball. I pretty much ate my ticket's worth of food--they had burgers, burritos, cotton candy, popcorn, a chocolate fountain, chocolate pudding, fudge brownies--lots of food. (Not to mention my favorite--Krispy Kreme doughnuts!) The party lasted all night but I dipped out at 2 am to head back to the house. It was a long night, but I'm glad I went! Here are some pictures to fill in the sketch I've given you!

My Roommates and I

The Keble Lawn was filled with candles, and they projected a picture of Sherlock Holmes onto the Cathedral to keep up the "Scandal in Bohemia" theme. 

They even rented and installed a giant helter-skelter slide, much like the one on the Brighton Pier. I personally did not venture down the slide in my dress, but others told me it was really fun!

Sadly, my procrastination post didn't take as long as I wanted it to...so I'll have to get back to work until dinner time. 

Until my next post!

S

Brighton Rocks!

Hello again!

Just wanted to fill you in on the day trip I took last week to Brighton--a little resort town on the coast. It was a fun day trip--I went early and got back to Oxford around 8. I've included pictures of the main attractions and things I saw. As always, you can click on them to make them bigger!

1. The Royal Pavillion--a palace built by the Prince Regent. It's has a weird asian/oriental style to it.

2. Brighton Pier--a huge pier with arcades, amusement park style rides, and lots of food! 

The food in Brighton was strangely American--this was the best bad burger I've ever had. 

Unlike the burger, the Brighton "American-style" doughnuts were absolutely delicious!

My favorite part of the day, though, was probably just being by the ocean. I had great weather apart from a little wind, but it was beautiful and so relaxing to just sit on the beach! The beaches there are very rocky--but that meant no sand in my socks!

 

Brighton has one specialty--Brighton Rock, a long stick of hard candy that has "Brighton Rock" spelled on the side and all the way through. Hence the sign, and hence the title of the post! :) It was a fun day, and I'm glad that I went--if only to see the ocean! Check back tomorrow for updates on the Keble Ball and my second full week of Tutorials! I've been crazy busy writing two papers that were due yesterday, so now I'm starting on next week's work and hoping to get ahead. I never would have gotten the papers done without the generous supply of chocolate my parents sent me--you wouldn't think it, but the candy here tastes different! Thanks for checking in!

Love,

Sarah

Tutorials

So, after my first real week of tutorials, I'm getting my feet on the ground here in Oxford. The tutorial system is vastly different from anything I've ever experienced at home. Basically, you meet with your tutor once a week to discuss your previous week's work. You talk for about an hour, then you decide what you'll be studying during the upcoming week. Then, you're on your own.

Tuesday I had my Romantic Lit class--we read Wordsworth and Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads." I had to read my paper out in that class--which is pretty scary, but since I had practice reading out in a seminar, it wasn't too bad. So after we discussed my paper and one of my classmate's papers, it was pretty much the end of our time together. This week we're looking at William Blake's "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience," as well as some of his longer poems.

My favorite class, though, is my 19th Century novel class. It's just me in that class, and my professor is really flexible about what I get to study. She leaves it almost entirely up to me. So for my first week, I got to study Jane Eyre--which, if you know me, is one of my favorites!! It was so nice to pick my own topics and do my own research--even if it did get a little overwhelming sometimes. This next week I'll be looking at Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," and possibly Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." So, I think this week will be good as well!

More exciting travel plans are in the works--I go to Brighton tomorrow, and I'm planning my wonderful, wonderful trip to Scotland for about two weeks from now.

Exciting times in Oxford!
Thanks for your continued love and support! (Especially you, Merv and Tish! Every time I get something in the mail from you it makes me smile and think of you!)


Cheers,

Sarah

Bath Time!

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted--trying to write two papers for my tutorials has kept me pretty busy.

I'll probably post another post tomorrow that talks about my tutorials (I have my second class tomorrow), but this post will be devoted mainly to the subject of Baths.

Not bathtub baths, the city Bath. My friend Nicole and I went last Saturday. We had our first real "English weather day" that day--rain, drizzle, and wind. Fortunately, it didn't rain on us while we were sightseeing in Bath, only on our way to the train station.

Bath is actually a really beautiful place. I didn't think I would enjoy my time there as much as I did--it's definitely a place I would return to!

First we caught our train from Oxford to Didcot Parkway, and then from Didcot Parkway to Bath. This was my first train adventure, and I was also pleasantly surprised by how efficient it was. The trains were either early or right on time, so it was a pretty quick and painless way to get from place to place. All told it took us around 2 hours to get from Oxford to Bath.

First we went to see the main attraction in Bath--the Roman Baths. I'm not 100% sure of all the history related--but if you have some time, you should google it or something. It's pretty cool! The Romans had a settlement there called Aquae Sulis. The Romans built baths there and a temple to Minerva. Here are some pictures of the Roman Baths:

Great Bath

Great Bath

Great Bath

Great Bath

Sacred Spring

Underground channel built by the Romans 

Cold Plunge Pool

Sacred Spring

The Roman Baths museum was really cool, but because we went on a Saturday, it was also really crowded. Definitely worth the trip, though! 

Bath was (and still is, to some degree) a very fashionable place. Jane Austen lived here for a while, and she set two of her novels in Bath--one of which, Persuasion, is my favorite!

So, in her honor, we just had to visit the Jane Austen Centre! 

The museum's collection was sparse, to say the least, but it was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Then we had lunch (and tea, of course) at the Regency tea room on the third floor of the Jane Austen Centre. It was quite delicious!

Then we headed out to see the two main architectural features of Bath--the Circus and the Royal Crescent. 

A cynical person would say that the Circus is no more than a glorified roundabout, but I think it's beautiful. The houses are curved so that they form a perfect circle. If you don't believe me--ask Google!

Then the Royal Crescent--a HUGE crescent shaped wall of houses. I couldn't even get it all in my camera!

Next we went to the Fashion Museum and the Assembly Rooms--giant, beautiful rooms where balls and parties would have been held. Jane Austen would have danced there, and her characters certainly did. Sadly, a very lucky couple was getting married in the Assembly rooms, so we couldn't go in--but we did get a chance to peek in the Fashion Museum.

Dress from around 1660

What's a fashion  museum without dress up?

After that it was time to splash back to the train station and catch our train to Oxford. We were starving by the time we got back, so we grabbed a pizza and ate dinner on the stairs outside the Oxford business school. All in all, Bath was a delightful excursion to make, and I'm so glad that I went! I would jump at the chance to go back. 

More tomorrow! 

Cheerio!

1st Week

Hey everyone!


This has been a pretty busy week. I had my first tutorials this week, and I'm really excited to start my official Oxford Term.

Tuesday was my meeting with my Romantic Lit class. There are three of us in the same course, and we're writing a total of 5 papers. After some introductory remarks, we were assigned to read Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads. The Preface is sort of like a romantic 'manifesto,' and it includes poems like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 


My second tutorial was on Wednesday, but we'll actually be meeting on Thursdays from now on. This course is just me and the professor, and we're focusing on the nineteenth century novel, specifically the Victorian period. My professor seems really flexible about what we study. For example, I'm reading Jane Eyre this week. (Which, for those of you who know me, is one of my favorite books of all time!) And she said that if I hit on something in my research this week that interests me, we can make that the focus of our second week together.

So, I'm really, really excited to get reading and writing on these fun topics. I enjoyed my seminar, but because we were limited to four choices, the topics weren't my favorite. For the last 8 weeks I'll have the freedom to pick what I'd like to study and research. That's the "Oxford Way," I suppose!

Tomorrow we're taking a day trip to Bath, so check back for pictures and updates!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Sarah

May Morning Festivities

Good Morning Everyone! 

It's now 8:09 am in the UK, and I am "up and at 'em" after a fun May Morning Celebration. Basically May Morning is a big celebration to welcome spring and the time of new life. I know at home spring starts in late March, but usually it's cold here up until May. (We've had amazing weather, though, and all the natives tell us that it's almost never like this here!) 

We woke up this morning at 4:00, and I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to a day where I don't have to get up at an abnormal hour to take place in an insane amount of tradition! Maybe tomorrow?

On May Day everyone wakes up early and migrates to Magdalen College (home of Oscar Wilde, Andrew Lloyd Webber, William Tyndale, and C.S. Lewis--he was a fellow here). Once there, they all wait for the clock to strike exactly 6:00 am. 

The crowd as we approached Magdalen

There used to be a tradition of people jumping of Magdalen bridge into the River Cherwell. For the last few years the water levels were so low that people were getting injured, and they had to close the bridge. This year the bridge was open, but they had these signs asking people to not jump. 

Everyone has either gotten up early or stayed up all night celebrating. There were lots of students in their tuxes and ball gowns from College celebrations. As you gather in front of the college the sun rises and everything starts looking new and fresh. It really is a beautiful building! 

Then at exactly 6:00 the choir starts singing. I read online that Magdalen College is one of the few Choral Foundations at Oxford. That means that their choir was set up as part of the statutes of their University. 

The first song they sang was (I think) the Hymnus Eucharisticus, and after that they sang several more songs. Then the choir director (or someone else, I couldn't tell) prayed a really beautiful prayer about springtime. It talked about how in Springtime we see Jesus' victory over death, and it asked a blessing on the city, the University, and all those gathered here, asking that we would see life in the newness of spring. It was awesome! Then the choir sang a few more songs and the bells started ringing. It was short, but beautiful, and I'm so glad I got to see it!

On a funnier note, there was this man standing in front of us in the crowd and he had three poles with three styrofoam heads. He would hold them up over the crowd and turn them around to make it look like they were looking at stuff. None of us could figure it out, and when we asked him about it he didn't give us a direct answer. It was funny...and a little creepy, because he drew eyes on them. Here's a picture: 

Strange.. 

By the end of the ceremony it was almost as tightly packed as the wedding had been. (On a smaller scale, of course!) So we had to fight our way out of the streets. All of the sandwich shops and pubs open early so you can grab breakfast and a drink (if you're so inclined) and get the day started off. We were back at the house before 8, and now I'm getting down to business to read and write for my Tutorials this week. 

Below is a video I took of the choir singing. Let me apologize in advance for the zooming in and out and the random creepy styrofoam heads. But the quality is good enough to hear them--so enjoy!

Love from Oxford,
Sarah