huzzah for built-in cameras!

i'm in the upper room of the radcliffe camera right now studying about african democracy. i wish you all could sit here with me and see how beautiful this room is! BUT... i discovered a way that you sort of can...see my laptop has a built-in camera, so i decided to take some clandestine photos. unfortunately they're pretty lame and don't do the building justice AT ALL. but they give you some idea. i'll take photos of the lower room another day, and also other libraries so you can all get the insider-perspective. :)

and p.s. - my blog is public now, you don't have to sign in to read it! huzzah again!

i live in oxford.

today was beeeeautiful in oxford. it was cold, but bright blue skies and sunny (rare for england). after picking up some books from the library, i continued riding my bike all around oxford - i just couldn't help myself. it's moments like that when i just get overwhelmed by the beauty of oxford, and have to pinch myself that i live here. i didn't have my camera on the bike ride, unfortunately, but came back and grabbed it and then went out to take some shots right around where i live. these first two are of wellington square, a beautiful park right behind my college. gorgeous, eh? the next is the street behind my college, with 18th century houses all lined up. i love the aesthetics of this street. and finally, the classic oxford shot: the radcliffe camera - one of the many libraries that i can now plop down and read in, and within a 5 minute walk from my home. this is where i have to pinch myself - that i really do live here, and really am a student here. see, the last picture is one of the many huge groups of tourists that i see roaming around the city everyday. i've never lived in such a tourist attraction - i have to admit, provo sort of flies below the tour radar. :)

hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

matriculation

so matriculation is the 900 year old traditional ceremony that marks your official induction into oxford university - they also have the same thing at cambridge and trinity college, dublin. so here are some snapshots from the day - me in my "sub fusc" robes...you never wear the hat, you just carry it - it's traditionally the hard mortar board (like the one people wear at graduation ceremonies in the US), which i'm guessing doubled as a writing surface back in the day, that's why we carried it all day? i don't know - people don't really explain, and to be honest, no one really knows anything around here. haha! even the official date of the founding of oxford is still uncertain...sometime in the 1100s.

anyway, the next 2 shots are from the inside of the sheldonian theatre, during the ceremony. the guy standing with the official get-up on is reading off things in latin about how awesome we are now that we go to oxford.



(the last picture is where i live, my college's main site with fellow st. cross members gathering for a group photo. really, i live in the most beautiful place ever...) this was a classic oxford experience...one you don't get at too many other institutions. :)

(sorry no pictures)

so today i had my first official lectures, aka classes have begun.

yesterday was a gorgeous day - i took the train out to meet mom and dad for a day at buckland. i had yummy food, and walked for hours amidst the hills and villages of the cotswolds. so picturesque and relaxing. the past week exhausted me! every night out until the wee hours at pubs gets tiring. and meeting dozens and dozens of new people is wonderful, but i did want some peaceful moments of solitude at the end of it. plus i need to seriously think about certain things. the huge decision on my plate was whether i wanted to leave oxford the end of next summer to work, or stay for another 3 years to get a phd. i have to decide basically this month, and over the past few days think i'm leaning more towards leaving and working. that will most likely be my course of action. i want to have some practical effectiveness, rather than let academia completely swallow me. i will return to get a phd sometime, but not quite yet. i feel good about that decision at the moment, so we'll see where the year takes me.

i couldn't be happier with my situation here - everything is truly wonderful. life is moving very fast and i have no real idea of where it is going, but it'll all work out i'm sure. :)

i'll try to snap a photo or two sometime this week so i have something to post beyond boring text! love you all!

birthday wishes from oxford

happy birthday elliott and mimi!!!