Hello All!
This morning, I decided that it would be laundry day. Actually, yesterday decided today would be laundry day, when I woke up, opened my closet, and wondered, 'where did all of my clothes go?' It was then that I realized that my hamper was completely overflowing.
So yes, this morning had to be laundry morning.
Now, I live in a building with about 50-60 people. You would think, in a building of this size, full of college students, we would be provided with a few washing machines and a few dryers. You would think wrong, however. Here in Oxford, we have ONE washing machine. (The other is currently broken). And we only have TWO dryers. So, take a moment, and imagine what is must be like to try to nab that one washing machine before everyone else. You may think, oh, well I would just wash my clothes in the middle of the night. This would be a great idea if I were still at Holy Cross, where laundry machines were indeed open all night. But here in Oxford, our laundry room is locked from 11pm-7am. This means, that 60 people are trying to wash their clothes in a space of 16 hours. Not pretty.
But I have figured out a trick. This trick involves waking up at 6:55am (with, of course, a note reminding me I can have as many cups of coffee I want on laundry day). So I get up, throw on the only semi-clean pair of jeans I have left in my closet, and stumble down to the laundry room carrying my awkward, overflowing hamper. Lucky, its early, and not many people are awake, so I get the one washing machine! Score! The laundry room, by the way, is not only separate from my building, it is also across the quad. I throw my clothes in, and hit the button (wrong temperature, but its okay. Its early and I haven't even had a sip of coffee yet). I go back to my room and take a shower (there is only hot water in the shower at 7am, too. Did I mention that?) I change back into my semi-clean jeans, and dig out a shirt from the very back of my closet that I assume is clean enough. It is only now that I am able to make myself a cup of coffee, and settle down to read the emails I received the night before. I also filled out a birthday card for my mom, whose birthday is on March 9!! (And I was still thinking it was the middle of February a few days ago).
Once I finish the card, I realize my laundry should be done. Its been close to two hours (the laundry machines take FOREVER in Oxford. And they don't tell you how long they're going to take either. They may say they have 20 minutes left. But you can come back in say 15 minutes, and the machine will be recalculating your wash, and you will find that what you thought were five minutes left, have no been changed to 32 more minutes). Mind you this is very frustrating, when you want to go somewhere, and unless you want your clothes to be thrown on a very dirty surface in our very dirty laundry room, you must wait for your clothes to be done washing. Not only is the washing machine like this, the dryer is like an arcade game. To put in the money, you must throw it in, as if you're knocking down a bottle or something. Sometimes you score, and you hear the cheerful chink as your money settles among the other coins. Sometimes, it comes flying back at you. I'm not good at this game yet, and so it often takes me five minutes alone to pay for my drying.
Luckily my clothes are indeed done. As I am putting them in the dryer, I hear the door open. A boy creeps in, avoiding all eye contact. I find out why a second later when I watch him stealth towards the open washing machine, and peer in. Now, I've already placed my next load of dirty clothing right in front of the machine, to avoid this. Potential washing machine stealing boy(PWMSB) assumes a very calculating expression, as if he is trying to figure out if he would have time to bolt back to his room, grab his clothes, and put them in, before I notice. But of course, I've already noticed. And this morning, I've decided not to be miss nice girl in the laundry room. I've only had one cup of coffee, and the clothes that are about to go into the machine are my bed sheets and duvet cover. And these have to go in. Otherwise, I'll be sleeping on a bare and uncomfortable mattress tonight. So I very kindly and firmly inform PWMSB that I am using that machine, as why yes, those are my clothes sitting in front of, all ready to go in. The boy's face falls, but I know he will return, probably scoping the area until the coast is clear so he can steal my clothes out as soon as the clock hits zero. I put my clothes in, and go back to my room to hand wash my whites, so that I can put them in the dryer with the next load. Then I glance at my clock, deciding that I should have enough time to hit the post office and grocery store.
I do. I send off my mom's card, and stock up on grocery items for the next month. Its a very expensive trip. I also buy dish soap and sponges for the kitchen as while the boys on my hall may not care if their dishes are clean when they use them, I sort of do.
By the time I get back (in under 30 minutes too! What a record! It usually takes me 40 to go to the grocery store alone! But by now I have learned the intricate organizing system of Tescos - there is none - and am able to find everything I need and get out in 20 minutes).
My clothes are nearly ready to come out of the dryer, though the washing machine is trying to convince me that my clothes should be done washing in about 15 minutes. I go to my kitchen and put away my new food. I've also bought a needle and thread - they don't like to sew buttons onto sweaters very well here. So while I wait for my clothes in the dryer and the washing machine, I sew buttons back onto two of my sweaters. By the time I'm done, my laundry is ready. I carry down my wet, clean white clothes, and throw them in the dyer with the rest of my wet clothes. (Yes, the washing machine did actually finish on time. Amazing, I tell you). I retrieve my now dry clothes. There is no sign of PWMSB, but another boy comes in and puts his clothes into the now vacant machine. He's shocked that the machine is actually available.
I fold my dry clothes and make lunch and send off a couple emails. Finally, my next load of laundry should be done in the dryer. I go to get it, only to realize my duvet cover is strangely heavy. It has tried to swallow my pink towel! After much coaxing and fanagling, I manage to retrieve the still sopping wet towel. I have to put both the towel and the duvet cover back into the machine. And I have to borrow some more money from my friend (did I mention that our drying machines take 20p pieces? And each 20p only gives you ten minutes. When I did laundry for the first time in Oxford, I thought you had to feed each 20p in every ten minutes. So I would sit on top of the dryer for an hour and a half, and feed the machine every ten minutes. Turns out I could actually put all 20p pieces in at the beginning of the drying process and then leave.) But finally all my clothes are being dried again, and in another 40 minutes they are all dry!
The lengths I go to for clean laundry, I tell you.
All in all, though, not an entirely bad laundry day. Pretty productive, eh? And its not even 2pm! I've only had three cups of coffee, and lost only one sock. I still have to put my duvet cover back on my duvet, and there are workers literally right outside my door talking about something or other. I have no idea, as I really don't want to eavesdrop. Though, its hard, when your walls are thin, and they are basically shouting about emails to so and so that so and so got, and this is what so and so said.
Anyway. I still have to get reading done. I read about 220 pages yesterday, which isn't bad, but isn't the best. Hopefully today I can get about 400-500 pages done.
And tomorrow, I will reveal where I will be spending my 21st birthday. Its somewhere I never thought I would be going to, in a million years.
Excited?
Have a good day everyone!
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Sunday 1 March 2009
Hi All!
So the pictures weren't posted in that last post. Hmm...Looks like I'll have to try to figure out how to post pictures. I'll work at it and hopefully I'll have some up soon!
In the meantime, if anyone wants a copy of the email (which should have the pictures) let me know. I've managed to track it down again.
Hope all are well!
So the pictures weren't posted in that last post. Hmm...Looks like I'll have to try to figure out how to post pictures. I'll work at it and hopefully I'll have some up soon!
In the meantime, if anyone wants a copy of the email (which should have the pictures) let me know. I've managed to track it down again.
Hope all are well!
Hi All!
I have been meaning to send out an email about my second term at Oxford for a few weeks now. But unfortunately, my studies have been insane. To make up for it, though, I am writing an epic length email to you all, with pictures included!
As I write this, I have had a total of roughly 20 hours of sleep since Sunday. Though, admittedly, much of that has to do with being in Spain from Sunday until Wednesday. And then coming back, I had to write two essays. But both of those essays have been written and turned in, and I’ve had both of my tutorials! I only have three essays left and I am done with my second term here.
It’s crazy, really, how fast time has gone. I feel like I was just sitting at home in my living room opening Christmas gifts with my family. And suddenly, somehow, nearly two months have passed since I’ve been back at Oxford! Perhaps it’s the amount of work I’ve had, and I just haven’t had time to realize that time is passing. But I can’t believe that this term is nearly over! It’s just mind boggling. One term left and then I’m back to the States, and back to Holy Cross as a SENIOR! I can’t believe it! I can’t even think about it!
Anyway, back to Oxford.
So the biggest thing this term, I suppose, was the snowstorm. A few weeks ago we received the most snow Oxford has seen in two decades. Now, in Massachusetts and New England, snow really isn’t that big of a deal. It snows, we either smile and sip hot chocolate, groan and start searching for snow shovels, etc. And then the town hopefully sends out the plows and we carry on with our day. No big deal. In Oxford though, people my age have never seen more than an inch or two of snow. So when we got roughly 6-8 inches you can just imagine the chaos it created. Everything was canceled. Stores were closed. People were going crazy. Even I took the morning off, put on some gloves and boots, grabbed a camera and friends and took a walk. And Oxford just looked stunning under all the snow. All Hogwarts and Narnia and magical. It was just the right consistency of packing snow, which meant that there were snowmen everywhere. On benches, in parks, on bridges, under trees, on buildings. It was incredible. All of the rules about NO STEPPING ON THE GRASS (really really big deal here in Oxford - NO ONE is allowed on the grass) were disregarded as everyone surged to make the biggest, best snowmen. There were snowmen, snow-women, snow kids, snow dogs, snow penguins, snow bears, snow devils, snow toilets (there was a ten foot snow sculpture of a toilet at one of the colleges called THE THRONE), snow everything. It was incredible. For people who have never seen snow before, they sure were creative. Unfortunately, with so much snow, and so little preparedness to deal with the snow, roads were left unpaved, the side-walks became hazardous ice-rinks. For the rest of the week people were slipping and sliding, and just walking down to the grocery store turned out to be a danger filled adventure.
Here are some pictures:
This was taken in the Botanical Gardens. It looked exactly like Narnia there!
Look at the size of this snow ball!!! There were tons of these everywhere!
I wasn’t even half as tall as this snowman!! I took the picture at Magdelan College – that’s where the Queen went! The actress from Narnia, Susan, goes there. I had to sneak into the college, since you can only get into the college you specifically attend.I loved the snow! It was so nice!
Here are some pictures of my college, Mansfield.
(see the perfect lines on the grass? They’re REALLY serious about grass here)
That’s a picture of the dining hall and the chapel.
Here’s a picture of the outside of the library:
``
Here’s a picture of my favorite Library. It’s called Radcliffe Camera. It was built in the early 1700s, and J.R.R. Tolkein used it as inspiration for Sauron’s Temple in Lord of the Rings. I usually sit on the top floor, since it’s really quiet, and usually warmer than the downstairs. To go into the library, you have to show your ID (bod card) and the guard checks your bag to make sure you’re not sneaking in water or food. Also, this is the library that you can’t take out the books. They have to stay in the library. Most of the books you have to order from the ‘stacks’ if you want to read them. The stacks are basically an underground book-stack that goes on for miles under the roads of Oxford. It’s rather incredible actually. When you need a book, you order it online, and then robots go and find it for you. Though, sometimes, the books I need are “offsite” which means they are kept in lime quarries in some distant town. Yes, I know. Oxford is weird.
And here are some pictures from around Oxford.
Our Bridge of Sighs:
Our tower of Oxford. This is what I look out at when I’m in the library. People climb to the top of it and sometimes I can see them as well. It’s kind of odd being watched by tourists when I study in the library.
(The people stand on that ledge above the clock).
Here’s Christ Church College where they filmed Harry Potter. This is the dining hall that they ate at:
This is my street:
(We have Subway!! I’ve never been there though).
Here are pictures of my bedroom:
(Those plants are steadily dying on me. I really don’t have a green thumb at all. And see my wellies? They’re great)
That’s basically my entire room. It’s really small, but its mine and its comforting.
Besides studying, I went to Spain this week from Sunday until Wednesday. It was the first time I’ve ever travelled alone in Europe! It was a little scary, but also very liberating knowing that I am capable of doing it. Spain was beautiful. Really warm and sunny (the sun doesn’t often come out in Oxford. Or if it does, there are always clouds, and a threat of rain). Though it was sunny and warm today! I wore a sweater t-shirt out (yes, they make them in England. Actually, I bought mine in Spain). And there were flowers that bloomed this week, and it was just really beautiful.
Anyway, Spain. So when I went, it was Carnaval. Kind of like a mix between mardi gras and Halloween. It was like one big party of dancing all night long. Most of the parties didn’t start until midnight and didn’t end until 7am. So you can imagine that sleep was very limited. The parties were amazing though. Everyone was dressed up. Kids, teenagers, adults, even the elderly were dressed in costumes and rocking out to techno music all night long. It was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!
Spain was very different from England. When you meet someone, they kiss you on each cheek and give you a hug. Guys and girls do it. It’s very different from England where you don’t even shake someone’s hand when you meet them. Suffice to say, I was a bit shocked the first time it happened.
I went to Leon. It’s in North Western Spain, and was absolutely beautiful. Here are some pictures I took:
This is the cathedral. It’s in the center of the city and is absolutely stunning.
(This building is now a hotel. It used to be a jail. Me and my friend ate lunch there when I took this picture. It was beautiful!)
This was my first sight of Leon. This bridge is right next to the bus station. It was incredible! I love the mountains!
This was where the party was being held – in a big tent in the center of the city. Look at those costumes!! It was amazing! That’s a Viking in the foreground!
Everyone was dressed up. It was just amazing. My friend and I went as matching princesses.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything quite like the Carnavel and I don’t think I ever will again. It was a one of a kind experience. And while it did put me behind in my work, I don’t regret going at all. It was so much fun!!
In other news, I joined a yoga class that is really nice. It gives me a chance to relax, and is actually MUCH harder than I would have thought yoga could be.
Anyway, I hope this is a good summary of my time at Oxford. It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks. If you have any questions or want more pictures, feel free to email me!! I also have a phone number now where people can reach me. It’s an international number that I bought through Skype. Basically, I use my computer to call people, or to receive calls. What is good about it, is that I can use it anywhere in the world, as long as I’m calling a landline. My number is 508-503-1514. Because it’s a computer number, I got to designate it to whatever town and country I wanted – so I chose home! So feel free to call me! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all soooo much and can't wait to see you all! Only a few more months and I’m home!!!
Love always,
Becky
I have been meaning to send out an email about my second term at Oxford for a few weeks now. But unfortunately, my studies have been insane. To make up for it, though, I am writing an epic length email to you all, with pictures included!
As I write this, I have had a total of roughly 20 hours of sleep since Sunday. Though, admittedly, much of that has to do with being in Spain from Sunday until Wednesday. And then coming back, I had to write two essays. But both of those essays have been written and turned in, and I’ve had both of my tutorials! I only have three essays left and I am done with my second term here.
It’s crazy, really, how fast time has gone. I feel like I was just sitting at home in my living room opening Christmas gifts with my family. And suddenly, somehow, nearly two months have passed since I’ve been back at Oxford! Perhaps it’s the amount of work I’ve had, and I just haven’t had time to realize that time is passing. But I can’t believe that this term is nearly over! It’s just mind boggling. One term left and then I’m back to the States, and back to Holy Cross as a SENIOR! I can’t believe it! I can’t even think about it!
Anyway, back to Oxford.
So the biggest thing this term, I suppose, was the snowstorm. A few weeks ago we received the most snow Oxford has seen in two decades. Now, in Massachusetts and New England, snow really isn’t that big of a deal. It snows, we either smile and sip hot chocolate, groan and start searching for snow shovels, etc. And then the town hopefully sends out the plows and we carry on with our day. No big deal. In Oxford though, people my age have never seen more than an inch or two of snow. So when we got roughly 6-8 inches you can just imagine the chaos it created. Everything was canceled. Stores were closed. People were going crazy. Even I took the morning off, put on some gloves and boots, grabbed a camera and friends and took a walk. And Oxford just looked stunning under all the snow. All Hogwarts and Narnia and magical. It was just the right consistency of packing snow, which meant that there were snowmen everywhere. On benches, in parks, on bridges, under trees, on buildings. It was incredible. All of the rules about NO STEPPING ON THE GRASS (really really big deal here in Oxford - NO ONE is allowed on the grass) were disregarded as everyone surged to make the biggest, best snowmen. There were snowmen, snow-women, snow kids, snow dogs, snow penguins, snow bears, snow devils, snow toilets (there was a ten foot snow sculpture of a toilet at one of the colleges called THE THRONE), snow everything. It was incredible. For people who have never seen snow before, they sure were creative. Unfortunately, with so much snow, and so little preparedness to deal with the snow, roads were left unpaved, the side-walks became hazardous ice-rinks. For the rest of the week people were slipping and sliding, and just walking down to the grocery store turned out to be a danger filled adventure.
Here are some pictures:
This was taken in the Botanical Gardens. It looked exactly like Narnia there!
Look at the size of this snow ball!!! There were tons of these everywhere!
I wasn’t even half as tall as this snowman!! I took the picture at Magdelan College – that’s where the Queen went! The actress from Narnia, Susan, goes there. I had to sneak into the college, since you can only get into the college you specifically attend.I loved the snow! It was so nice!
Here are some pictures of my college, Mansfield.
(see the perfect lines on the grass? They’re REALLY serious about grass here)
That’s a picture of the dining hall and the chapel.
Here’s a picture of the outside of the library:
``
Here’s a picture of my favorite Library. It’s called Radcliffe Camera. It was built in the early 1700s, and J.R.R. Tolkein used it as inspiration for Sauron’s Temple in Lord of the Rings. I usually sit on the top floor, since it’s really quiet, and usually warmer than the downstairs. To go into the library, you have to show your ID (bod card) and the guard checks your bag to make sure you’re not sneaking in water or food. Also, this is the library that you can’t take out the books. They have to stay in the library. Most of the books you have to order from the ‘stacks’ if you want to read them. The stacks are basically an underground book-stack that goes on for miles under the roads of Oxford. It’s rather incredible actually. When you need a book, you order it online, and then robots go and find it for you. Though, sometimes, the books I need are “offsite” which means they are kept in lime quarries in some distant town. Yes, I know. Oxford is weird.
And here are some pictures from around Oxford.
Our Bridge of Sighs:
Our tower of Oxford. This is what I look out at when I’m in the library. People climb to the top of it and sometimes I can see them as well. It’s kind of odd being watched by tourists when I study in the library.
(The people stand on that ledge above the clock).
Here’s Christ Church College where they filmed Harry Potter. This is the dining hall that they ate at:
This is my street:
(We have Subway!! I’ve never been there though).
Here are pictures of my bedroom:
(Those plants are steadily dying on me. I really don’t have a green thumb at all. And see my wellies? They’re great)
That’s basically my entire room. It’s really small, but its mine and its comforting.
Besides studying, I went to Spain this week from Sunday until Wednesday. It was the first time I’ve ever travelled alone in Europe! It was a little scary, but also very liberating knowing that I am capable of doing it. Spain was beautiful. Really warm and sunny (the sun doesn’t often come out in Oxford. Or if it does, there are always clouds, and a threat of rain). Though it was sunny and warm today! I wore a sweater t-shirt out (yes, they make them in England. Actually, I bought mine in Spain). And there were flowers that bloomed this week, and it was just really beautiful.
Anyway, Spain. So when I went, it was Carnaval. Kind of like a mix between mardi gras and Halloween. It was like one big party of dancing all night long. Most of the parties didn’t start until midnight and didn’t end until 7am. So you can imagine that sleep was very limited. The parties were amazing though. Everyone was dressed up. Kids, teenagers, adults, even the elderly were dressed in costumes and rocking out to techno music all night long. It was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!
Spain was very different from England. When you meet someone, they kiss you on each cheek and give you a hug. Guys and girls do it. It’s very different from England where you don’t even shake someone’s hand when you meet them. Suffice to say, I was a bit shocked the first time it happened.
I went to Leon. It’s in North Western Spain, and was absolutely beautiful. Here are some pictures I took:
This is the cathedral. It’s in the center of the city and is absolutely stunning.
(This building is now a hotel. It used to be a jail. Me and my friend ate lunch there when I took this picture. It was beautiful!)
This was my first sight of Leon. This bridge is right next to the bus station. It was incredible! I love the mountains!
This was where the party was being held – in a big tent in the center of the city. Look at those costumes!! It was amazing! That’s a Viking in the foreground!
Everyone was dressed up. It was just amazing. My friend and I went as matching princesses.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything quite like the Carnavel and I don’t think I ever will again. It was a one of a kind experience. And while it did put me behind in my work, I don’t regret going at all. It was so much fun!!
In other news, I joined a yoga class that is really nice. It gives me a chance to relax, and is actually MUCH harder than I would have thought yoga could be.
Anyway, I hope this is a good summary of my time at Oxford. It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks. If you have any questions or want more pictures, feel free to email me!! I also have a phone number now where people can reach me. It’s an international number that I bought through Skype. Basically, I use my computer to call people, or to receive calls. What is good about it, is that I can use it anywhere in the world, as long as I’m calling a landline. My number is 508-503-1514. Because it’s a computer number, I got to designate it to whatever town and country I wanted – so I chose home! So feel free to call me! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all soooo much and can't wait to see you all! Only a few more months and I’m home!!!
Love always,
Becky
Saturday 28 February 2009
Hey All!
This blog was born after I accidentally deleted a twenty-page email I'd written for my family and friends about my Hilary Term at Oxford. (This is why I usually always drink coffee before I do anything. I'd only had half a cup as I was trying to send the email and wound up deleting it instead). So, I figured a blog would make things easier - for both me and the people I tried sending the email to. Plus, anyone can read this blog, so when I forget email addresses (which I frequently do, I'm afraid), people can just check here!
So about this blog.
This will be where I tell of my crazy adventures in England and hopefully in Europe as I travel. We'll see how it goes.
Stay tuned!
This blog was born after I accidentally deleted a twenty-page email I'd written for my family and friends about my Hilary Term at Oxford. (This is why I usually always drink coffee before I do anything. I'd only had half a cup as I was trying to send the email and wound up deleting it instead). So, I figured a blog would make things easier - for both me and the people I tried sending the email to. Plus, anyone can read this blog, so when I forget email addresses (which I frequently do, I'm afraid), people can just check here!
So about this blog.
This will be where I tell of my crazy adventures in England and hopefully in Europe as I travel. We'll see how it goes.
Stay tuned!
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