Oxfordian

First and foremost I must say that every picture I am going to put here I did not take. Why? My phone fell in the toilet and I have been without a camera for a few weeks. I will put the photo cred on the bottom of the picture so the person who takes it will get credit. If you are mad at me using your picture, I am sorry and will take it down if you want. Okay now that is done, let me tell you about my programs trip to Oxford for a week. We stayed at the University College of Oxford, and apparently the University of Oxford doesn't exist. It is all just separate colleges, mind-blowing I know. To accurately tell of what we did there I am going to categorize our activities into the days we were there. I am also doing this to spice this blog up a bit and because I can't read about King Alfred anymore today.

Saturday:

University College Oxford
Photo Cred: Catherine Hopkins

This was the day that we left! We were picked up at 9am on a coach bus and drove to Oxford. I only slept for about half an hour the bus which was new for me. Cars of any form make me pass out. We pulled up to Univ, as they call it, and got our rooms. We all lived in dorm style buildings with single rooms. Some people were lucky and had huge rooms with a common room attached, or just a big room with a double bed. Others, like myself, had a tiny room with a bed that you could feel every single spring in the mattress. The nice thing was that it had its own sink and also you had space to yourself. Personally, I hate being all by myself but it was great that I could dance around in my underwear. After unpacking, we got lunch and then had a welcome talk with a man who is the exact stereotype of an Oxford professor. Then we had a tour of the college, just where everything is. Then walked around the city. For dinner some of my friends and I went to GBK or gourmet burger kitchen which is delicious! Then we hung out in a common room, went to a pub, then found a secretly awesome club. We randomly found it and ended up staying for a long time. They played some great throwbacks such as 'Get Jiggy Wit It' and 'Crank That'. Also, there were some very interesting characters. We left and went back to my room where we devoured two bags of crisps (aka chips) and then I went to bed, realizing that breakfast is at 8am.

Sunday:

Me punting backwards
Photo Cred: Sarah Longenderfer

I made it to breakfast at 8am! It was delicious and they had coco krispies! I went to mass at Christ Church which I actually loved. Everything was sung and the choir sang beautifully. Later in the afternoon after lunch we went punting. It's basically like a gondola ride with someone standing on the back of the boat using a long rod to push you down a river. It was so much fun. So relaxing and hilarious. Only one person fell in and they weren't from my boat. I tried to punt but I was horrible. The only way I could make my boat go straight was going backwards and using the heavy long rod to canoe us. I only punted for a few minutes then decided I liked being a passenger better. After punting, we went to a cafe and had hot chocolate and did some 'homework'. I did a little bit of homework and then fell asleep for almost two hours on one of the couches. Three of my friends and I got pizza which was an experience. We basically passed the restaurant atleast twice then got two 'large' pizzas to 'share' but they ended up being individual size. That night we had a disco at the univ bar with the entire program and our tutors who were there with us. SUCH A BLAST! We danced all night, played pool and Foosball. Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and some One Direction was requested and played.

Dancing at the Disco
Photo Cred: Emily Gumbrecht

Monday:

No classes for me on Monday but I still made it to breakfast, even though it was a little bit later than 8am (830ish). I put this day aside as my day to finish all my work for the week. I spent most of the day in the common room that we had to do work. I went shopping a little and got a bunch of new clothes for cheap. We went to this pub for dinner called the Eagle and the Child, where CS Lewis and Tolkien used to go. I had a delicious burger! We then had a talk called Bloody Oxford which was really interesting. I watched a movie for class and that's all I did.

Harry Potter Staircase
Photo Cred: Emily Gumbrecht

Tuesday:

I woke up late and went to Patisserie Valerie where they have this deal that in the morning you can get a pastry and a coffee for only 2.98 pounds. It's called the 'Early Riser' but I went at 930. Then I had a meeting with all the people in the internship program. I went shopping to my new favorite place called PrieMark where everything is really cheap. I got the best sweater ever. Then after lunch I went on a tour of Christ Church College which was interesting and had the staircase from Harry Potter and the entrance to the great hall! That night the whole program, minus two, went and had Indian food. I thought I was going to hate it but I really enjoyed it! I ate so much naan bread and Korma that I couldn't do anything but work and sleep that night.

Wednesday:

I had two classes today. For my first class, History of the Middle Ages, we went to the Ashmolean Museum before class. It was a really cool museum where we looked at relics from Anglo-Saxon England and the Vikings when they came to England. We then had class in a ginormous lecture hall which was funny because there are four people in my class. My second class for the day was Beast, Big Brother, and Beyond. In the class we read post-war British Literature and compare them to the screen adaptations. This week was the book 1984 versus the movie of the same name and this movie called 'Brazil'. More on my classes later. Afterwards I went to this great restaurant and then drank wine with my friends. I sang some celine dion on a bridge and went to a club where everyone was at least 28.

The ASE Program
Photo Cred: Catherine Hopkins

Thursday:

One class today which was my Women in Culture and Society in the eighteenth century. After class, I went up this tower. It had something like 270 steps but it had a beautiful view. At night, we had a formal dinner with all of our tutors and you had to dress very smartly. The food was delicious! Afterwards we went back to the Univ bar for drinks and to hang out. I went to bed afterwards because of course I ended up getting a cold.

Friday:

The Proposal
Photo Cred: Megan Doeg

We left today but stopped at Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born. It was a gorgeous palace that made me want to be a princess more than ever. We had a tour of the palace, then got to walk around the gardens that were so big and beautiful. We went to the place where Winston proposed to his wife and I was humorously proposed to by my friend. We got back to Bath and after unpacking, I went to my friends house. We had dinner and watched Pride and Prejudice, the one with Kiera Knightley.

Wow. Sorry for the long posts but as I said in my first post on the blog this is mostly a diary for me so I can remember everything I did. I wanted to get everything down but again sorry for the long paragraphs. I give you permission to skim.

Cheers!

Being Sick

Being sick wherever you are is the worst. Except for when you were little and got stay home from school and watch cartoons. Personally, the part I hate most about being sick is not being able to do anything. I hate being forced onto a couch for a day, in pain, doing nothing. So when I started to get a sore throat, I was dreading being sick abroad. It was bound to happen. Don't worry everyone, I don't have the flu or plague, just a really sore throat. That's not to say that it doesn't hurt, because it does, especially when I have to swallow. You never really notice how much you swallow during the day and night until you have a swollen gland. Anyway, here are some of my tips on what to do when you are sick:
1)Cry
-Okay this is kind of sad to think of someone sick crying but believe me it helps. Everyone needs a good cry every now and then because it's therapeutic. The same goes when you're sick. Just do it.
2)Wear baggy clothes
-Self-explanatory. No one should look nice when they are sick. This is a known fact. If you are wearing makeup and a nice outfit when you are sick, then I applaud you. If you are like me and wear the same outfit for the entire length of your sickness then we should compare outfit choices.
3)Oranges
-Vitamin C is good for you, but I swear that oranges are the cure to any sickness (and delicious).
4)Ibuprofen
-Ignore the warning labels. If you are in pain take 2 every 4 hours. Also, children's Motrin helps if it hurts to swallow the pills.
5)Water
-Not fluids, just water.
6)Sleep
-Wake up at 12, then nap for two hours, then nap for another hour, then go to bed. Repeat.
7)Dance.
-Yes, I understand you are sick but does that mean you can't dance? No. Sweat it out on the dance floor especially if its Motown night.
8)Socks
-Wear comfy socks. They make you feel better. This could probably go with baggy clothes.
9)Cough drops
-If your throat hurts get some cough drops. Even if you don't have a cough they help soothe your throat.
10)Hygiene
-Don't forget to take a hot shower. It feels good and makes you smell and look like a normal person. Rather than looking like a zombie from the eighteenth century.
Well, that's all I can think of for right now. I would add more things that I do when I'm sick like watch scary movies and eat cheese, but that's a lifestyle choice. Specifically if you are abroad and sick, go to the nearest pharmacy, get some cough drops, and act strong in front of the pharmacist.