Around and About Oxford :)

'Ello Ladies an' Gents!
Jus' thought I'd 'ave a post 'bout me travelin' 'round Oxfordshire! (Do say this out loud with an obnoxious Cockney accent...the British just LOVE when Americans do that...

But really, here's some fun-ish shtuff you may enjoy while I walk about Oxford and the like :)

1.) I went punting on the Thames! All I could picture was Dick Van Dyke as Bert in Mary Poppins looking at his chalk drawing! Here's a lovely video to satisfy:

2.) One of my friends, Audra, played violin with the Oxford University Strings Ensemble, and this is a taste of their amazing recital in the chapel of Merton College, arguably the oldest college in Oxford.

Here are some fun pictures - captions are probably a must...otherwise, they just might not make sense.

'Zis is a cake of the RadCam!

Blurry pictures of Hall of Christ Church, which inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter

My reading spot at Christ Church meadows :)

Fun stuff! More updates soon!

Peace.

Disney, London, and Trout, Oh My!

So the past few days, it's been common practice in the Vines (my loverly abode), to assign Disney characters to each person based on personality. Just to give you an idea of how my pals see me, this was their consensus...

Anyhow, just thought I would give a little bit of an update!
Last weekend I was supposed to meet up with Blake, who's studying in Italy, but she got stuck in Spain due to a stolen backpack! Grr! We bought tickets for Phantom of the Opera, and even though she couldn't go, I was still able to make it down to London in time with Miss Charlotte to claim our tickets. I was bummed I wasn't able to see Blake, but it was definitely worth still going into London, and we had a great time!

During the day, we went on a field trip to St. Alban's Cathedral, which was built in honor of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Here are some pictures :)

Outdoor Theatre

We had to go straight from St. Albans to London, and it was a really complicated process to get there because I had to take a train to the tube, and I hadn't taken either of those before, so it was most certainly an adventure! We got there no problem though :) When we got there, we picked up our tickets and were trying to decide where to get food, WHEN lo and behold, it came to us...We haven't had legit American food in 3 months, and we didn't realize this until we found ourselves desiring just a good 'ol burger with fries...not chips, but FRIES. :) Success! Walking valiantly into a TGI Fridays, we have possibly never felt prouder to be an American. Amidst a loud restaurant (never happens), a Harley parked in the entryway (yup.), "Restrooms" clearly marked out for our use ("Toilet" just gets old after a bit), and REAL HEINZ KETCHUP, we had it made. Posters of ET, Baywatch, Scooby Doo, and the Mighty Ducks (California, woot!) coated the walls, and we were home. Needless to say, oh yeah, sure, yummy dinner :) I got a little taste of the red, white, and blue for an hour. Very weird to explain, but we figured after living here for 3 months, it was worth it to have at least one American meal.

We weren't exactly sure at this point...

Please correct me if I'm wrong...but we were at King's Cross Station...and this was Platform 9...so Platform 9 3/4 should have been around this general area??

Tres more things...

1.) The other day, I went to a place called the Turl Street Kitchen, which is a restaurant for Oxford students. It was one of our friend's birthdays, so nearly 15 of us had a night out on the town and went to the schnazzy place to get some grub. I saw Cotswolds Trout on the menu, and I know their food is local, so I thought, "What the heck, Leah, you've never tried trout...go crazy." So I did. This is what they gave me. Looks pretty fresh to me.

2.) I saw a "lorry" (truck) for the first time here! I looked out the library window, and BEHOLD. They are pretty much non-existent unless they are big rigs.

3.) I'm seeing Hunger Games at 1 pm tomorrow Pacific Standard Time tomorrow. You know, just saying. No more waiting 24 hours before, Krikorian. Psh.

BTDubs...still getting a list going for 'Merica vs. da Brits. Soon and very soon.

Wales!

Apologies on the absolute fail of blogging in the last couple weeks!
Here's an explanation as to why :) ---
The week of March 5th (last week) was my last week of tutorials! Yay! If I failed to mention it before, my Oxford time is split up into two sections: the regular Oxford student phase and the longer classes after term to make up my American Biola credits phase. The permanent Oxford students have 3 terms instead of 2 semesters - Michaelmas Term (Sept.-Dec.), Hilary Term (Jan.-Mar.), and Trinity Term (Apr.-June). So, I just completed Hilary term of tutorials and lectures! Needless to say, Oxford has a bit less students and a bit more tourists.

So, what am I doing for the next four weeks, might you ask? Well, everyday I will be watching an episode of a documentary by Simon Schama (whom all of us students love dearly in a quite teasing sort of way) which is on British history. I will have 2 essays to write on British history from a theological perspective, which will take care of a Bible elective for me. I also have to read 4 historical Christian autobiographies (C.S. Lewis, John Bunyan, etc.), and to top it all off I will be writing a 4,000 word essay which will be taking psychological theory, applying it to literature, and seeing how they compare on the topic of children's grieving processes of death. Oh, and did I mention I get to go on field trips every week to different cities in England? Yay!

So I decided to make a blog post specifically about my spring break last week! WALES. Amazing.

Two of my program leaders, 10 students, and I went on the trip to the Brecon Beacons National Park in Southern Wales. We stayed at a large house in the middle of the countryside, and it was BEAUTIFUL!

My trip consisted of:

- Traveling to Caerphilly Castle, Castle Coch, Chepstow Castle, and Tintern Abbey
- Making and eating a homecooked meal by candlelight every night
- Watching The King's Speech, The Painted Veil, Romeo+Juliet, and How to Train Your Dragon
- Finishing the Hunger Games series - woot! (a nice easy read after 8 weeks of intensity!)
- Playing Bananagrams / Spoons
- Making friends with local sheep
- Hike under a waterfall
- Getting stuck in mud past my ankles. (My Sanuks hate me.)
- Throwing and catching marshmallows in my mouth
- Having lovely quiet times
- Hike up Pen Y Fan, the highest peak in Southern Britain!!!
- Hearing my Australian and British leaders attempt American accents
- See wild horses

All in all, the trip was a success :) Here are some pictures!

Castell Coch (Gothic castle finished in 1891 but on the foundations of a 13th century site)

Caerphilly Castle (Built between 1268-1271)

Me at the top!

Starting out in the morning

We're going up!

At the top

Jessica, Shannon, and me :)

We made it!

Part of the house we stayed in

Tintern Abbey

"And at once I knew, I was not magnificent..."

Chepstow Castle

It's a Comin'!

Hello All!

Just wanted to write a quick post to say that...

Uno: Sorry I haven't posted in a while (save for my crazy, out-of-nowhere, nonsensical marriage proposal). Fail on my part! I've been getting about 2-3 hours of sleep each night because they're working me to my academic limit! :) Hence, the lack of regular bloggyness.

Dos: I am currently working on one. Yay!

Tres: For those of you that have written me...you know who you are...postcards coming your way. They're just a tad late...but I didn't forget about you! 

Stay tuned...

That is all! Miss you!