Monday, April 23, 2007
Keble Ball
On May 5th, most of the UGA students will be attending THE party of the year: THE KEBLE BALL. It's a balck tie event with unlimited champagne, alcohol, food (they will have a roasted PIG!), magic, massages, silent films and fun, fun FUN! It's put on by the JCR and everyone will be there. Joseph and I can't wait!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Seminars: 3 Weeks Down, 1 to Go (Thank God!)
So it's been a little while since we updated this. We do have, of course, a very good reason. Since Joseph and I have been here (starting Monday April 4) we have seminars. Each UGA student has two seminars (with 10-15 other UGA students) which meet twice a week. Currently, I am taking ENGL 4690: 20th century British Poetry with Dr. Rosenbaum, a UGA professor (she's great) and HIST 3371: Tudor/Stuart England with Dr. Archer, the eccentric, self-scribed "whimsical" Oxford tutor. Joseph also has Archer and ENGL 4590: 19th Century British Literature: Tales of Unrest (Adventure Stories) with Dr. Bradshaw, also of Oxford. Basically, these four week seminars give us the opportunity to get a semester's worth of credit while we are here (Oxford students only take 2 or 3 classes a semester); this means that we are doing 15 weeks of work in 4 weeks, i.e. dying slowly and painfully. Actually, I don't have it that bad. Each week, I have two collections of poetry to read, two two-hour classes and one 4-5 page paper. For history, I have about 200 pages of reading two two-hour classes and a 2000-3000 word paper. Poor Joseph has the history requirements plus his crazy English class. He has 3-4 NOVELS to read for EACH class (800 pages) and a 6-7 page paper on an ambiguous topic like "what is imperialism?" or Degeneration. Additionally, each week two students read their papers aloud while Bradshaw criticizes them line by line. This sounds like punishment to me :(
Yesterday was actually one of the worst days yet. On Thursday, I had my poetry paper due, which had consumed my week (it was really difficult), so I had Thursday night and all day Friday (minus two hours for class and two hours for this little cocktail reception thrown for us by Keble College, our host institution) to write my History paper on family dynamics in the early modern period. No sweat I thought. Turn it in by midnight- I'll be fine. About this time I should mention the food that we consume at the Dining Hall ( which looks like something out of Harry Potter). The English love mystery meat. Half the time I have no idea what I'm eating. Apparently I ate something that didn't agree with me on Thursday, because Thursday night and most of Friday morning and afternoon I was sick with food poisoning. So I actually didn't start on my 2000-3000 word paper until about 4pm Friday (keep in mind it's due at midnight). I should also mention Joseph, who had TWO papers due on Friday. He spent his week researching and reading for Bradshaw and thus was also starting his paper for Archer at 4pm. At this point, I'm still not feeling very well, but at Oxford there are no sick days. So we write and write and write. At 11pm I finally finish. Great, I think, I have 1 hour to e-mail this to Archer I'm set. I should also mention that Joseph and I have been working at the Keble Library, which conveniently doesn't have Internet access. So I start walking back to the UGA house to e-mail my paper and finally go to bed. After the 1.5 mile walk, I find out that the Internet at our house has been down all day and won't be fixed until Saturday. It's 11:30. Still, it's ok. I can print off my paper and take it to the Porter (night watchman at the gate to the college) to put in Dr. Archer's mailbox. Apparently, the printer at the house is out of toner. All store closed 5 hours ago. This is when, sick, exhausted Sara begins to freak out. It is now 11:45; my paper is due in fifteen minutes and I am 20 minutes away from Keble, which doesn't have Internet. I take my flash drive and run the 1.5 miles back to Keble. Finally after 25 minutes of searching and asking around, I discover that Keble has a computer lab that's open 24 hours- but as a UGA student, I don't have the key to get in. Luckily, Andrew, a very nice African student, took Joseph and I to the computer lab where we printed off our papers- at 12:35am. I run back to the Porter and ring his little bell. He comes out groggily and begins to yell at me. Apparently, you only ring the bell after 12am if it's an emergency. Once again, I didn't know. Luckily he took my paper. At this point, it's one in the morning and I have had nothing to eat all day (with being sick and working and running around like a chicken with my head cut off). Joseph, being the nice boy he is, takes me to the only restaurant still open: MacDonald's.
The MacDonald's in City Centre is quite the hang out. We saw thugs (yes they have ghettos here,too), and whores (real ones and wannbes) and a strange group of women coming from a batchelorette party with cat ears on. We also saw two Italians who we think were on Ecstasy (they keep talking about the lights :()). After spending £7 ($14 US) we finally made it home. It was pretty awful.
Today, Keble College's JCR (Junior Common Room- like student government) threw a Bop at the college pub (yes, all colleges have their own pubs) with "punch" and beer. Oddly, Dr. Archer was there. Joseph and I both talked to him. He didn't say anything about our papers being late, so we'll see in class I guess. Anyway, it was quite fun, althougth the UGA students tend to stick together. The English can be scary!
Other Interesting facts/things I've noticed:
Salad- the only salad dressing here is called Salad cream. It's mayonnaise.
Clothing- Girls: The 80's have thrown up all over the UK. Girls wear tiny skirts with bright tights and shirts with holes in them and huge hair. Day-glo jewellry is also very big. Boys: Tight, tight TIGHT pants, usually showing some underwear and small short sleeve shirts. Also fond of messy hair and sunglasses.
Money: The dollar is very weak here. £10 will buy you dinner at a casual restaurant like Doc Chey's or Moe's. This is about $20 US dollars, but is treated like $10 US dollars. The cost of living is very high and I am constantly in sticker shock.
People: The stereotype is true. The British are not very attractive in general. And yes, they all have bad teeth because they all smoke.
Transportation: Most people ride bikes. Most of the UGA students rented bikes for about £50, including Joseph. I, however, did not. I was really scared about getting hit by a car considering I don't know the traffic laws because they drive on the wrong side of the road. Tragically, a student was just killed by a car while riding his bike a few yards away from Keble just this week. I do really worry about all the UGA kids on their bikes. Cars: I have seen more luxury sports cars in Oxford than anywhere else. On the walk to Keble, I daily see 3 Porches, 1 Aston Martin, 1 Bentley Continental and a slew of other foreign cars that look really fast. It's quite strange to think of a BMW as the Oxford's Honda Accord, but it's true.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get Joseph to update soon, but he understandably has a lot to do. Next week is our last week of seminars, but (lucky for us) we must begin preparing for tutorials. I am taking Spanish at Christ Church College and Chaucer at Trinity College with Joseph. My Spanish class actually starts next Friday. Thus I will have my normal seminars plus a tutorial. Additionally I have 200 pages of Middle English to read by Tuesday. That being said, I think some of us are taking a day trip to London so we don't go crazy. It's about 1.5 hours away by bus (£10), which is just enough time to get into some Chaucer.
Miss all y'all in the states! I could kill for a hamburger from Steak 'n' Shake or some MEXICAN!!!
Love,
Sara (and Joseph in spirit)
Yesterday was actually one of the worst days yet. On Thursday, I had my poetry paper due, which had consumed my week (it was really difficult), so I had Thursday night and all day Friday (minus two hours for class and two hours for this little cocktail reception thrown for us by Keble College, our host institution) to write my History paper on family dynamics in the early modern period. No sweat I thought. Turn it in by midnight- I'll be fine. About this time I should mention the food that we consume at the Dining Hall ( which looks like something out of Harry Potter). The English love mystery meat. Half the time I have no idea what I'm eating. Apparently I ate something that didn't agree with me on Thursday, because Thursday night and most of Friday morning and afternoon I was sick with food poisoning. So I actually didn't start on my 2000-3000 word paper until about 4pm Friday (keep in mind it's due at midnight). I should also mention Joseph, who had TWO papers due on Friday. He spent his week researching and reading for Bradshaw and thus was also starting his paper for Archer at 4pm. At this point, I'm still not feeling very well, but at Oxford there are no sick days. So we write and write and write. At 11pm I finally finish. Great, I think, I have 1 hour to e-mail this to Archer I'm set. I should also mention that Joseph and I have been working at the Keble Library, which conveniently doesn't have Internet access. So I start walking back to the UGA house to e-mail my paper and finally go to bed. After the 1.5 mile walk, I find out that the Internet at our house has been down all day and won't be fixed until Saturday. It's 11:30. Still, it's ok. I can print off my paper and take it to the Porter (night watchman at the gate to the college) to put in Dr. Archer's mailbox. Apparently, the printer at the house is out of toner. All store closed 5 hours ago. This is when, sick, exhausted Sara begins to freak out. It is now 11:45; my paper is due in fifteen minutes and I am 20 minutes away from Keble, which doesn't have Internet. I take my flash drive and run the 1.5 miles back to Keble. Finally after 25 minutes of searching and asking around, I discover that Keble has a computer lab that's open 24 hours- but as a UGA student, I don't have the key to get in. Luckily, Andrew, a very nice African student, took Joseph and I to the computer lab where we printed off our papers- at 12:35am. I run back to the Porter and ring his little bell. He comes out groggily and begins to yell at me. Apparently, you only ring the bell after 12am if it's an emergency. Once again, I didn't know. Luckily he took my paper. At this point, it's one in the morning and I have had nothing to eat all day (with being sick and working and running around like a chicken with my head cut off). Joseph, being the nice boy he is, takes me to the only restaurant still open: MacDonald's.
The MacDonald's in City Centre is quite the hang out. We saw thugs (yes they have ghettos here,too), and whores (real ones and wannbes) and a strange group of women coming from a batchelorette party with cat ears on. We also saw two Italians who we think were on Ecstasy (they keep talking about the lights :()). After spending £7 ($14 US) we finally made it home. It was pretty awful.
Today, Keble College's JCR (Junior Common Room- like student government) threw a Bop at the college pub (yes, all colleges have their own pubs) with "punch" and beer. Oddly, Dr. Archer was there. Joseph and I both talked to him. He didn't say anything about our papers being late, so we'll see in class I guess. Anyway, it was quite fun, althougth the UGA students tend to stick together. The English can be scary!
Other Interesting facts/things I've noticed:
Salad- the only salad dressing here is called Salad cream. It's mayonnaise.
Clothing- Girls: The 80's have thrown up all over the UK. Girls wear tiny skirts with bright tights and shirts with holes in them and huge hair. Day-glo jewellry is also very big. Boys: Tight, tight TIGHT pants, usually showing some underwear and small short sleeve shirts. Also fond of messy hair and sunglasses.
Money: The dollar is very weak here. £10 will buy you dinner at a casual restaurant like Doc Chey's or Moe's. This is about $20 US dollars, but is treated like $10 US dollars. The cost of living is very high and I am constantly in sticker shock.
People: The stereotype is true. The British are not very attractive in general. And yes, they all have bad teeth because they all smoke.
Transportation: Most people ride bikes. Most of the UGA students rented bikes for about £50, including Joseph. I, however, did not. I was really scared about getting hit by a car considering I don't know the traffic laws because they drive on the wrong side of the road. Tragically, a student was just killed by a car while riding his bike a few yards away from Keble just this week. I do really worry about all the UGA kids on their bikes. Cars: I have seen more luxury sports cars in Oxford than anywhere else. On the walk to Keble, I daily see 3 Porches, 1 Aston Martin, 1 Bentley Continental and a slew of other foreign cars that look really fast. It's quite strange to think of a BMW as the Oxford's Honda Accord, but it's true.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get Joseph to update soon, but he understandably has a lot to do. Next week is our last week of seminars, but (lucky for us) we must begin preparing for tutorials. I am taking Spanish at Christ Church College and Chaucer at Trinity College with Joseph. My Spanish class actually starts next Friday. Thus I will have my normal seminars plus a tutorial. Additionally I have 200 pages of Middle English to read by Tuesday. That being said, I think some of us are taking a day trip to London so we don't go crazy. It's about 1.5 hours away by bus (£10), which is just enough time to get into some Chaucer.
Miss all y'all in the states! I could kill for a hamburger from Steak 'n' Shake or some MEXICAN!!!
Love,
Sara (and Joseph in spirit)
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