Finally Home

Well, I made it back safely on Saturday. Still adjusting to the jetlag. Went to bed around eight and woke up bright and early at six this morning. It's good to be back, but still a bit sad. Still waiting for it to hit me that the whole Oxford thing actually happened and wasn't just a long dream. I'd like to thank American Airlines for their generous Global Leaders scholarship award, which paid for my flight. Excellent service, good food, and a smooth ride. Time to relax and enjoy the next few weeks before classes start back up again.

The Last Hoorah

Well, the Oxford program is finally coming to an end. Papers have been written and turned in. Exams have been administered. Just getting some last minute shopping out of the way. Looking forward to the banquet tonight. At least we get to go out with a bang. The last few weeks have just charged along, and I have to say I'm sad to bid the UK farewell. I've enjoyed my time here in Oxford, a place I've come to know as a second home. I've made good friends, eaten good food, and just had a fantastic time taking in the scenery, hanging out at the pubs, and traveling throughout the UK. Wish I had more time. But, as the saying goes, all good things...

It's been fun,
T

More Pics

Stonehenge, Sheeeep!, Gardens at New College, Drinks with Dr. Holmes, Inishmore

London

Finally made it to the City. We had perfect weather and only a smidgen of rain around 6:00. Saw the Tower of London, the Millennium Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, and Abbey Road. And they say you can't do London in a day. Nonetheless, I'll have to go back to get my shopping done. Hoped to go yesterday, but the rain and having to write two papers put me off. Maybe one afternoon this week. Ate dinner at the original Hard Rock Cafe (yes, the first one was in London, not New York). Hard Rock was apparently a British restaurant serving bonafide American food. Clapton ate there just as he was on the rise to fame, donated a picture of himself, and the owners decided it was a great way to attract customers. Thus the franchise was born. First decent cheeseburger I've had yet. Granted the other was a not-quite-beef burger from Hussain's kabob van, but what do you expect for a pound? Today's the first day of our last week here, and I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Doing whatever I can to stay away. It's been such a wonderful time here in Oxford, and I'll definitely miss it when it's time to go home.

More Photos

My transportation on Inishmore, Joe Watty's Pub: shelter from the rain, the intrepid pioneer, the breathtaking Inishmore landscape, Eyre Square

Dover, Galway, Inishmore, and More

Inishmore, Ferryport at Inishmore, Eyre Square in Galway City, Me on a Very Big Gun in Dover, White Cliffs of Dover

Galway and Inishmore

Just got back from the long weekend in Ireland. The scenery is beautiful, but it's WET. Unfortunately I landed during the worst weekend they've had in a while. Not that rain is unusual in this part of the world. When I asked a barman in a pub on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, if they were accustomed to this sort of weather, his reply was, "It's Ireland, mate!" This past weekend, however, was especially bad, even for the locals. Didn't ruin my stay, though. Galway is a quaint town, though it is growing. Went down to the city on Friday and did some souvenir shopping. Got dinner at a pub called The King's Head. As the story goes an English colonel took over the building during the English occupation, and it is believed he was the executioner of Charles I (which he revealed during a drunken conversation with the bar's owner), thus the pub's name. Excellent fish and chips, and the best pint of Guinness I've had since arriving in the UK. Took a ferry to Inishmore on Saturday, rented a bike, and rode as far out as I could get before getting dumped on. Quickly located the nearest pub, and decided to wait out the rain. Two cups of coffee, a salad, and a coke later no such luck. Apparently the rain doesn't let up in Ireland. It just gets worse. Got soaked head to toe and when I finally made it back to Galway, after a stomach-turning ferry ride through Gale Force 5 winds (according to one of the crew), left my shoes on the window sill to air out. Unfortuantely it decided to rain this morning, so no luck drying them out. Just managed to give them a bath. Back in England today. Beautiful weather. Perfect temperature. It's a nice switch from the rain and wind. Took some lovely pictures in Galway and on Inishmore, a rural landscape with plenty of rocks, hills, quaint cottages, and livestock, though I didn't see one single sheep, much to my disappointment. Hopefully I'll be able to get them up soon.

Even More Photos

Port at Dover, Oxford, White Horse Pub, Dover, Stratford-upon-Avon

Tea

Something the Brits do exponentially better than Americans. I'm a diehard coffee drinker, however, British tea may yet free me of my ways. Yes. It is THAT good. But it must be done right. According to Dr. Holmes, our history professor, the tea must be strong (something Americans know nothing about). You have to add whole milk, a generous spoonful of sugar, and stir vigorously. It's piping hot and wholly delicious. Better than coffee? It just might be...

And More...

Wilton and the guys, Canterbury Cathedral interior, cloisters at Canterbury Cathedral, Me in front of the cathedral, Caterbury Cathedral exterior

More Pics

Dover Castle, Dinner at Browns, Garden Party, Christ Church College (where the dining hall scenes were filmed for the first two Harry Potter movies), Somerville College

Photos...at last!

Bath

Decided to do Bath today instead of London. We'll probably do London the weekend after next, when we all get back from our various travels. I'll be heading to Galway on the coast of Ireland on Friday. As for Bath, it's beautiful. Probably one of the prettiest cities I've seen in a long time. Anyone who's a fan of Jane Austen will recognize Bath as the center of social activity and high culture during the time period. Though Austen herself paints Bath as oppressive and unfriendly city in many of her novels, particularly Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, it is nonetheless happy to play such a large role in the works of a talented and well-respected author. We toured the Bath Abbey, a modest church that echoes many of the architecutral features of other cathedrals we've seen in Oxford and Canterbury. The Roman Baths were interesting, with antique sculptures, Roman columns, and 10,000 year old water that fills a central reservoir once used by the Romans after their invasion of England. The baths were an attempt to mirror similar structures found in Rome. We also took a brief tour of the Jane Austen Centre, an interesting yet overpriced exhibit devouted to the famous author associated with the city. Not really worth the six pounds we paid to get in. Just got off the train from Reading after an hour-long ride from Bath. Bout time to catch up on some sleep, I think. Classes resume tomorrow.

Garden Party, Canterbury, and Dover

The garden party went well. Tea, champagne, and sunshine make for a nice afternoon. The weather's been cooperating recently. No more rain. Just enough cloud cover to give us a pleasant temp with a cool breeze. Hope it holds out. We'll probably pay for it next week. We went to Canterbury today, a bustling town from which Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales takes its name. The town hosts an abundance of fine restaurants (Strada serves fantastic Italian) and the famous Canterbury Cathedral, quite possibly the largest church I've ever seen. Colossal stain glass windows, elegant Norman arches, and cavernous chambers that could swallow a modest cathedral like St. Patrick's and still have room for its usual congregation. 12th century architecture is mindblowing. To think they could make such gargantuan structures, which were in and of themselves works of art, with such limited technology is nothing short of amazing. Nothing today can compare. After we toured the cathedral we went to Dover Castle on the coast. The castle was used as a military fort during WWII and there are still a number of anti-aircraft batteries stippling the perimeter. The view from the castle is beautiful. France is just 22 miles off the coast, on the other side of the channel. Below the grassy hills surrounding the structure is the sprawl of a modest port city. The waters are clear and serene and the white cliffs of Dover loom in the distance, great chalky masses that have been eroded over the years by the unwavering force of nature. Not much on the schedule for this evening. We had dinner at Browns, a nice restaurant up the street. Probably going to go to bed early. Had a late night last night, and tomorrow we're off to London.

Croquet

We learned to play croquet yesterday afternoon, a game that turns close friends into bitter enemies. It went by quickly at first, but then we all ended up at the final wicket trying to knock each other's ball to the other end of the field instead of focusing on making the winning shot. Wilton was forced to declare us all losers after no one was able to get through the wicket. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. No long tours. Got dinner at Taylor's, an affordable and tasty deli right down the street and hung out on the lawn before knocking over to the Royal Oak, Somerville's local watering hole, for drinks. It's cooled off this morning and it's been raining a bit. Finally feels like England. Today's our garden party, but I have doubts we'll survive the rain, so we shall see. We'll be heading to Dover and Canterbury on Saturday. Sunday we'll hit London, I think.

British Hospitality

Punting was fun. No champagne or strawberries, but there was Foster's (ugh) and wine. Fortunately it's not only Americans who are bad at steering a boat with an eight foot pole. Everyone seemed to find it difficult. We met a couple of local students, John and Laura, out in the garden yesterday evening. They're residents of Somerville and are giving tours during Open Day (Oxford's equivalent of an Open House). We spent a long time discussing the differences and similarities between English and American culture, most of which have to do with words. I was happy to learn that they do know what band-aids are. I'd read that they're also called "plasters" but I didn't want to go around saying "do you sell sticky plasters?" and look like an idiot who just read a travel guide by some freelance writer who got all his information from Wikipedia. Hopefully we'll be able to hang out later this week before they leave. Oxford is quite different from what we're used to in the States. The whole of the university is about the same size as NC State's campus, but it includes something like thirty-eight different colleges, each of which has every subject available. They don't have "majors" or "minors." If you're here for music, you study music. If you're here for law, you study law. No college trumps any others for specialization. They all offer everything, and application and admission to each college is the same (there's no such thing as one college being harder to get into than others, it doesn't work that way). Classes have been interesting and entertaining. I'm particularly fond of Martin Holmes's history class. He has such a good grasp of history that he spells it out like a narrator on the History channel. Very exciting and very enjoyable. Still working on getting pictures up. Unfortanetly I can't get a hold of a cable that will work with my camera. I'll see what I can find at the local electronic shops. More to come...

Shakespeare and the Golden Arches

Took a tour of Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday afternoon. Got to see Shakespeare's grave and, incidentally, his birth place (though it wasn't on the tour, our group stumbled upon it by accident). We stopped for a bonafide American meal at some place called McDonald's, where if you order chicken strips you don't get anything as mundane as honey mustard, but sour cream with chives. Last night we saw The Winter's Tale at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre, which was good but had me scratching my head in a few scenes. I'm thinking dancing sheep with wooden erections weren't in Shakespeare's original manuscript, but hey. It was entertaining enough. I'm particularly fond of the giant bear made out of paper. I was wondering how they were going to pull that off. I've slept well the last few nights and made the adjustment to local time relatively quickly. Punting's on the schedule for today -- something about drinking champagne and eating strawberries on a boat. Sounds very...British. Pictures coming soon.