future shmuture

today's library: the lower room of the radcliffe camera. i took pictures of the upper room last week, and here i am in the gorgeous and much more gothic-feeling lower room. it's circular as well (of course), and i don't think you can really get the sense from these pictures, but is a series of domed enclaves in an outer corridor surrounding the large central dome. all in this rustic, rough, gray stone with dark wood bookshelves and beautiful desks. heavenly!

so yesterday was my birthday. and it was easily one of my best. i have never felt such love. not only did i get so many well-wishes from people back home (thank you everyone!!), but multiple people here insisted on celebrating with me. i had a group of friends take me to lunch, another friend take me to tea, and another group take me to dinner. i didn't get in until 11:30 at night. (on a monday in 5th week - notorious for being a hellish schoolwork week - no less!) it was such a splendid and wonderful day where i felt flooded by genuine care and love from both sides of the atlantic.

and this is the thing - life is so ideal here. this past weekend i was busy getting my future sorted out in the form of PhD applications. ugh...i hate, HATE writing letters of intent. and asking for reference letters and all that goes into applications. plus i just wish i didn't have to concern myself with 'the next step.' i mean, i've basically finished the applications, i'll send them off and then can enjoy the present world of oxford again. it's a necessary evil, but it's nice that i don't have to be consumed with it. for now, all i have to say is future shmuture. :)

thank you sigur ros

one of my favorite bands ever, sigur ros, is releasing this film/music DVD set on november 5th. aka my birthday. aka sigur ros is giving me a birthday present. well, at least that's the way i see it. :) i can't wait!

p.s. mom i think you should check this out - the film is all icelandic landscape. it should be phenomenal, especially since you've been to iceland!

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!!!

oxford!!

hello all!!

sorry for not writing until now. i got to oxford and then almost immediately left on the chunnel over to paris. i just got back late last night. paris was beautiful, but i'm very happy to be back HOME. (and the fact that home means OXFORD is what makes me so happy). so upon returning from errands etc. this afternoon home to my college dorm here at st. cross, i decided to snap some photos of what i walk through multiple times each day as i enter/exit my room. so here's the tour....enjoy! (and more updates to come)

i live on st. giles street - here's the view of the street standing on my college stoop:

and here's the door to my college:


and you walk inside that door to the porter's lodge:

then on through to the first quadrangle:

and through some gorgeous archways to a second quadrangle:

and finally to a spiral staircase at the end of the courtyard:
to my humble (and not very gothic or glamorous) little room (and that's my official scholar's robe hanging up on my bulletin board. you'll get a full picture of me in them once mom and dad get here. haha! i look like such a dork):

let me roll it to ya'

countdown! dad drives me to LAX in less than 9 hours to begin my journey (en fin) to oxford. i just woke up from a nap, and am now finishing up packing/laundry etc. and listening to paul mccartney.

much love to everyone for all their well-wishes, support and love. . .this summer especially.

see you all in the UK.

love,
jooj.

summer take III

i went to new york city with friends to visit even more friends. the picture in the middle was taken at our 100 block mark - we attempted to walk the entire island of manhattan, and got 150 blocks into it. it was rad to walk way up from 215th street through inwood and the mini dominican republic up there. a manhattan very far from park avenue. . .the gorgeous women in these photos are: me (obviously), sara (going to lubbock, texas on a mission), molly (trying to figure out what she's doing with her life back home in portland), and ali (going back to BYU to graduate). in total there were 15 of us in new york that week, which was fabulous - one last great hurrah before we all go off to our separate lives. . .