Leaving on a Jet Plane

July 12, 2008

Lindsey and I at the bus stop before coming home...

Last day in Oxford :(

July 11, 2008

I woke up early this morning and Emily, Sarah, and I went to breakfast in Gloucester Green.  We had Belgian waffles and then we went shopping! We had to be back at Wycliffe Hall at 11:00am to have a debrief of the trip (we all called it the "disorientation"). We filled out an evaluation form for the program and then we did an activity where we talked about how we changed during the program.  When the session was over, Lindsey, Katie, and I walked into City Centre and shopped.  It started raining so we had lunch at "The Mission", a Mexican grill.  Katie and I bought silk scarves.  We walked to the Ashmolean gift shop and then back to Wycliffe.  Then we walked to Crick to rest.  When I woke up from my nap, I started packing and then a few of us had spaghetti again.  Everyone gathered downstairs in the living room and Evelyn played the violin for us.  Then a few of us jammed on the guitar and sang songs together.  We ended with "Leaving on a Jet Plane."  Then we set out to do our chores.  I had to vacuum the downstairs living room.  I finished up my laundry and said goodbye to people who were not getting up in the morning.  Tomorrow I will be leaving Oxford and it will be bittersweet. I will miss these people and being here, but I am excited to see my family!

Tolkien's house/grave...Tea with Professors...playing Sardines

July 10, 2008

I woke up this morning and found people still up downstairs working on their papers. I was so thankful to have mine finished. I packed a little and then Emily, Sarah, and I set out to find Tolkien's grave and house. We gave in our papers first at Frewin Court and then caught a bus to the Wolvercote Cemetery. We found his grave and people had left all kinds of little things: a lantern, flowers, a candle, and funniest of all, an orc figurine to commemorate Lord of the Rings. We took pictures and Emily and I left 2 pence. We hopped back on the bus and visited the house where Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings. We walked back to Crick and put on our garden attire for the closing event at the Vaults. Some of our professors came and then Chris handed out our superlatives. I am "most likely to befriend a statue of Jane Austen." We all left and some of us went to take a nap and then met up in the living room. We fixed spaghetti and watched "Ferris Buellar's Day Off." Then we all changed into black clothes and headed out to play a game of Sardines. We played until 2:30am and then headed back to Crick. We made some tea and sat out in the backyard for a while talking about books and then finally headed to bed. Tomorrow's our last day :(

Finishing papers...

July 9, 2008

It rained all day today so I stayed in and wrote on my papers.  I camped out in the common room all day with several other Crickers.  Lindsey and I cooked lunch and then went back to working.  We cooked dinner and everyone sat around the table and talked about their progress on their papers.  I finished my papers around 9:00pm and I was surprised to find that some people had not even started on their second paper.  We hand them in tomorrow and then have tea with our professors.  Emily and I are also planning on going to see Tolkien's house and grave.  It feels so good to be done with my papers but I will greatly miss being here.  This program has really fulfilled my yearning to learn and made me realize that I have much more knowledge to acquire.  I have been thinking while I've been here about staying in undergrad one more year rather than graduating early.  There's a lot I still want to learn and I have even thought about coming back for the semester-long program.  I will just have to see where I think God is leading me...

Real Da Vinci and Raphael Prints at the Ashmolean!!

July 8, 2008

Today I walked into City Centre and went into a few shops to buy some souvenirs.  I made my way to Waterstone's (a bookstore) and bought a cold drink and found a place by the window to work.  Leslie came by after about 2 hours and we walked together to Ben's Cookies for a snack.  Then we joined some of our group at the Ashmolean Art Museum.  We got to look around for an hour and I really enjoyed the Pre-Raphealite exhibit.  We met back up with the group and they took us down to the print room.  We sat at a table and they brought out prints by Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Turner, Rosetti, and several others.  It was so neat to be up that close to them! I left the museum after that and walked back to Crick with Emily.  We had a family dinner of taco salad and then spent the rest of the night trying to work on our papers.

Working on papers and Movie Night!

July 7, 2008

Today I got up and headed to the Bodleian to work in the Radcliffe Camera with Chad, Emily, and Leslie.  I stayed and worked on my paper there for 2 hours and then walked down the street to Blackwells.  I got a coffee and found a seat to work for another hour and a half.  I walked to the local Sainsbury's and bought some more cereal, milk, and fruit and the headed home. We had a family meal of pancakes, fruit, and juice! Then a group of us decided to go to the University Parks and play a game of ultimate frisbee.  It lasted 2 and a half hours and then we walked back to the house for the night. Lindsey and I decided to have a movie night and we watched "Love Actually" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's"...

Rainy Days and Out on the Town...

July 6, 2008

We woke up this morning to rain and headed out with our umbrellas to church.  Lindsey, Emily, Sarah, and attended the morning service at University Church where C.S. Lewis preached his first sermon. I really enjoyed the liturgy and I'm becoming quite accustomed to the High Church.  After the service, we walked to Blackwells and had coffee. Then we headed back to the house and had a family lunch of tacos.  Lindsey, Howard, and I decided to play around on the guitar and sing together.  We all looked in the cupboards and decided to go "out on the [rainy] town!" A few of us got dressed up and walked to City Centre to eat at a place called Geno's.  It was a small Italian place and some of us split delicious pizza.  We had a great time talking and then decided to walk to "The Eagle and Child" pub.  I had a half pint of Old Rosie cider.  We walked back to the Crick house under our umbrellas...

Going to the Kilns (Lewis' House)

Most of us slept in late today, resting up from our big day and late night last night.  A few of us left Crick at 2:00pm and walked to the Bus Stop heading for The Kilns (which is the house of C.S. Lewis).  We arrived near Lewis Close and got to walk around the little cottage. Nicole, the SCIO director, told us about the inside while we sat in his garden.  She then showed us the pond where Lewis and Tolkein would go swimming.  We then walked to Holy Trinity Church where Lewis preached a few sermons and attended services.  He is buried in the graveyard beside the church.  We got to see the pew where he and his brother sat and there was a window beside it that had pictures of Narnia.  We walked back to the bus stop and headed back to Crick.  Some people went back out again so it was really quiet for a change.  I went downstairs and played guitar for a bit until the rest came back home and we used our new TV to watch "Casino Royal." Four people from our group left around midnight for Paris so we saw them off.  Tomorrow is our last Sunday service here and we are planning on going to University Church.  

Happy 4th of July in Jolly 'Ol England!!

July 4, 2008

We woke up for our last Friday field trip and met up at Wycliffe Hall.  We got on the bus and rode to Coventry.  We weren't too impressed with the looks of the city, but the Cathedral was really nice.  It had been bombed in WWII but the part that survived still remains.  They built a new modern Cathedral beside it that is almost all made of concrete but has beautiful modern stained glass windows.  Much of the architecture was very modern. There was a large mural in the front of the church and the stained glass had a very modern art look.  After our short tour of the Cathedral, a few of us chose to take Holy Communion at a small service.  Then we walked around Coventry to find something to eat.  We decided on Subway and took our sandwiches back to eat them on the lawn behind the Cathedral.  We visited the gift shop and then played in the fountains in front of the Cathedral.  We got back on the bus, damp from playing in the water and made our way home.  We all gathered in the kitchen to finish our dishes for the 4th celebration.  We walked with our potluck dishes all the way to the Vines.  When we arrived we were greeted by red, white, and blue decorations and more than one person wearing a flag shirt.  We put our meat on the grill and then Chris had us all take turns reading the "Declaration of Independence."  We prayed and then dug into all the delicious food.  It was looking overcast so we gathered around the TV and watched "The Royal Tenenbaums."  It started clearing up outside so we headed out for soccer and an egg toss.  Some of us decided to throw water balloons at the guys but it was short-lived when they started retaliating.  We ended the night with an intense game of Mafia.  I didn't play the second round so I got the guitar from the living room and played.  Then Katie came and listened and we talked until the others were finished playing. We didn't walk back to Crick until 3:00am.  It was a great 4th of July celebration in England!!

Scones, Tea, and the Bodleian Library...

July 3, 2008

Today I had my last Jane Austen class and our professor brought us scones and tea! We talked about "Persuasion" and "Emma."  After class, I walked to the Bodleian Library to look up sources for my papers.  I really enjoyed it because I got my books called up into the Radcliffe Camera. I climbed up on the ladders to get my books on the top shelves and found a seat near the window so I could view the inspiring spires of the city.  I lost myself in my work and stayed there for three hours! Then I walked back to the Crick House, taking a short cut through the University Parks so I could take off my shoes. I arrived in time for another family dinner of spaghetti & meatballs and salad.  It is so nice to come home and find everyone gathered around in the kitchen ready to share a meal together.  A couple of us stayed around the kitchen and talked about music for a little while.  I went up to take a nap and then Lindsey came to wake me up so we could go feed the horses down the road with Howard.  We took them carrots, apples, and oats.  Then we headed back to the house and Lindsey and I started carving the pineapple for our 4th of July dish!

Family Dinners

July 2, 2008

Today was our first rainy day in a while; we've had such beautiful weather.  I walked with Lindsey to Sainsbury's and we bought groceries for the family meal! I offered to do the dessert of ice cream cones and Oreos. We also bought fruit for our own dish for the Fourth of July.  We took a cab back to Crick because we had a lot of groceries.  It was so different from the first time we arrived by cab because we knew where we were going.  We unloaded our groceries and then read our selection of reading for class.  We then headed to our last Literature class. We talked about Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."  After class, we came back to Crick and started on the meal of chicken alfredo pasta and caesar salad.  I turned my laptop on to some jazzy tunes and everyone said it was like we were in a restaurant.  We all had our family meal together after Howard prayed of it and then dessert.  Then we gathered around the sinks to wash dishes together.  We hung out downstairs for a bit listening to music and then headed to our rooms to work.

The Crick Family

July 1, 2008

This morning some of went to an optional meeting about Oxford scholarships, fellowships, and other programs we might be interested in.  After the meeting, I went to my Jane Austen class and we discussed "Mansfield Park" and our views of Fanny Price.  It was fun because the other girl in my class and I disagreed.  After class I walked to City Centre for some more groceries.  When I got back I met Lindsey, Leslie, Howard, and Julianna at Wycliffe and we walked to the Yo Sushi for dinner.  It was really neat because we sat a table where a conveyor belt came around containing different colored plates. None of us had been to a place like that so we really enjoyed the new experience.  We walked back to Crick and took a nap and around 9:00 we started setting up for the dance party we were planning to throw for Lindsey's birthday.  We danced to crazy songs and had "some good clean fun" as Lindsey describes it! We didn't think anyone could hear us but apparently you could hear us three houses down!

A Day in the Park...

Today we all got to sleep in later because we didn't have morning lectures.  Lindsey and I went to the University parks down the street and read our books for classes.  It was such a pleasant day and the weather was great for a day in the park.  We watched people practicing Cricket and playing soccer.  We had our literature class and then we came back to Crick for dinner.  We went out again to the park to read and then headed back for the night...

Church Services, Delicious Cake, & British Horses

Happy Birthday Mum!! Well today was the first day I did not carry my camera around with me everywhere so my descriptions will just have to do! This morning a group of us made the early trek to Christ Church but when we arrived we found out that they were having ordinations for priests and visitors were not allowed.  We walked across the street to St. Aldates (which is a pentecostal church) so we went from one extreme to another! After a pleasant service of praise and worship, we headed down the street to the Alice Shop (from Alice in Wonderland) where the "real Alice" went to buy sweets. I really enjoyed looking at all the Alice gifts.  I bought a new journal and some notecards with the characters from the book on it. We headed to the mall next to pick up groceries and such and then back to Crick for a nap.  Really, everyone was passed out around the house! It was a good day for a nap though and much needed for our walking! We headed to Christ Church for the Evensong service which was really beautiful! We then had dinner at Pizza Hut and made our way to The Vines for birthday cake.  I found a guitar in the corner of the living room and a few of us jammed for a little while, which was so much fun! On our way back from the Vines a few of us saw horses and we went under the fence to pet them.  It was so peaceful! Well this week we only have seminars and no morning lectures or dinners that we have to attend.  We will all have to start our two big papers due at the end of the program.  We are all excited for some free time though! 

*P.S. I know some of you have been trying to make comments and haven't been able to...I changed the settings and you can now post without an account! Feel free to leave comments...I really enjoy them!

Trip to Bath!

We took the train to Bath today and it was such a pleasant day! We had wonderful weather to explore a great city.  We first had lunch upon arrival and then bought our tickets to see the Roman Baths.  We tried the "healing water" in the Pump Rooms and then walked around the city.  We saw the Circus (see the video) and the Royal Crescent (see the pic where we are jumping off the wall).  I then got to visit the Jane Austen Center where I got to see costumes and dresses from many of the Jane Austen movies! That was really exciting! I met back up with the group at Sally Lunn's House (the oldest house in Bath) and we had Sally Lunn buns and tea/coffee.  It was a great end to an enjoyable day! We took the train back to Oxford and ended the night watching "Sense and Sensibility" to keep to the Austen theme.        

Glastonbury and Wells

 Today we took a field trip to Glastonbury and Wells.  We got to visit the Glastonbury Abbey ruins where the first Christian church was established. It is also the site where King Arthur is buried.  We then went to Wells (not Wales, the country) and on our way there we saw all the people at the Glastonbury Music Festival camping out.  We went to the Wells Cathedral after having tea and coffee in a quaint little tea house in Wells.  The Cathedral was really beautiful and we learned a lot about its history in the tour. The Cathedral used to be painted in all kinds of elaborate colors but during the Reformation it was white-washed; there are still traces of the colors on certain walls and statues. It was neat to go around and find the small traces of color! We then took the bus back and made our way through the rain to Wycliffe for dinner.  Tomorrow a group of us are going to Bath and I am so excited!!

Stewards of God's Creation

Today our morning lectures dealt with the Biblical responsibility that Christians have of being stewards of God's creation.  Mr. and Mrs. Hodson took us to Port Meadows where we saw a vast landscape of wildlife right outside the city of Oxford.  There were wild horses, cows, geese, and ducks all living just a few blocks away from Oxford.  We walked along the Thames and had a picnic lunch together of sandwiches, fruit, ginger snaps, and juice.  We all commented that we felt like little children opening our lunches to see what our mothers had packed for us.  We also saw river boats docked on the Thames which reminded me of the movie, "Chocolat."  We all walked back for our evening seminars, aware of the weight lifted from our papers being turned in this morning.  

Oxford Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum

 
This morning our lecturer was Revd. Dr. Michael Ward, writer of "Planet Narnia." I was really excited to hear him because I read a book review of his book before I left. I now have a signed copy of it! During my break after lunch I walked to the Oxford Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum which is just down the street from Wycliffe Hall.  I got to see the remains of the Dodo that influenced Lewis Carroll's Dodo in "Alice's Adventures in Wondland." There was also an exhibit about the "real Alice" and remains of Dinosaur bones.  It was a pleasant break from writing the papers that are due tomorrow.  I then went to the University Parks and read some of Emma for my Jane Austen class.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

 

I got the opportunity to go to the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge! It was an amazing experience! It is the only time in the year when they take the fences down and you get to walk up close to the stones...you can tell from the pictures that people are really up close! There were reported to be around 20,000 people so there was just so much energy.  I went with Kathleen, Leslie, and Lindsey and we stayed on the grounds from 11:30 to 5:30 the next morning.  We stayed to watch the sun come up, although it was very cloudy so we didn't get to see the sun come through the stones.  It was still worth the rain, mud, and cold! 

*The video is of a man playing the bagpipes at the celebration. There was all kinds of different music! You can't see much in the video but you can get a feel for the energy!

My Fellow Crickers and Vineys...

As I said earlier, there are 19 of us in the Crick Road House and 5 other students in the Vines House, which is across town.  I've uploaded some pictures of all of us out and about in Oxford.  It is great to get to know everyone since we all come from such different backgrounds, but we all have the eagerness to learn in common. Since this is a Christian program, most everyone else is from a Christian college! We are all having a great time discovering Oxford and furthering our walks with God :)

Walking through Oxford...