Photos!

This is the link for my photo album online:
http://picasaweb.google.com/suz.bottorff/OxfordJanuary#

When I upload pictures, I will be sure to repost the link.

Enjoy!

Daytrippers!

Well, it's been a few days since I have blogged, but honestly this is for lack of things to share. I have been doing a lot of reading and writing, and realizing that the history and foundations of the European Union are VERY dull. There are no good wars or betrayals to study... just lots of treaties and agreements. Oh well. I did have my first real tutorials last week, however, and they went pretty well. Neither of my tutors told me that I was a raving genius, but neither seemed terribly disappointed, so I came away pretty satisfied. I can already appreciate the quality of the learning in the one-on-one tutorial system. I feel like I learned a month's worth about Hobbes and Locke in just an hour and a half, and a considerable amount of information about International Political Economy in just under an hour. It's so nice to just ask any questions that I have and to be asked questions directly. It requires a lot of preparation and hard work, but I think it's going to be a great two terms of learning.

The most exciting thing I have done since last blogging, however, is take a day trip to Bath! Some of us were starting to feel a little melancholy and restless here in Oxford so we planned a quick trip up yesterday. The train took just about an hour and was affordable. The only problem that we ran into was Emma and Christina's accidental boarding of the wrong train. Thankfully Grey and I figured it out and ran screaming, two obnoxious American girls, waving frantically into their train car so that they just barely made it off before the train pulled out for London. It was pretty comical! Now, for those of you unfamiliar with Bath, it is a town that once was one of the most posh "resort" towns of England. It holds the ancient Roman Baths from thousands of years ago, which are said to have healing powers. It also has a famously beautiful abbey, as well as a Jane Austen museum, fashion museum, and other beautiful sights. Here are a few photos of the day:

This is the main bath in the Roman Baths. There are several rooms, but this is the most famous and recognizable. It smelled like sulfur and did NOT look like something I would want to immerse myself in.






This is the "high priest" of the Roman Baths. He didn't really know what a camera was, but was glad to pose for a "painting" with us. He was VERY funny!








It's hard to tell, but that's me in front of the abbey in Bath. It was so beautiful and majestic!

Well, I'm off to the library to gather books for my next tutorial. Institutions of the European Union... should be thrilling! I'm looking forward to the weekend, as the pub near my house will be playing the Superbowl (at midnight, yeesh) and some Americans we met in a pub who were really nice and friendly are going to meet up with us there. It will be a great treat to look forward to! I hope all is well with everyone back at home, I miss you so much and always appreciate hearing from you!

Until next time,
Suz

It's Getting Better All The Time

As my cliche title implies, things are getting better here everyday. My homesickness has mostly subsided and I've really been waking up more excited every single morning. Getting solid nights of sleep has also seemed to help this, as well as the wonderful friends that I am becoming close to here. In other good news, I've had FOUR days of sunshine and finally have some pictures to add! The picture at the top is actually a photo of the gardens at Christ Church. I actually attended the Evensong service here on Sunday evening. It is famous for its beauty and its place in history. The cathedral is actually a part of Christ's College, and the entire college is incredibly beautiful. I'll be going back for church again, as well as to more discovering as this is the famed location of many parts of the Harry Potter movies. Among other more important events, of course.
Next, for those wondering, here is what my room looks like. It's very large and plain, and contrary to what you may think, I've managed to do a lot with the place:

As a personal plug... if you draw me funny pictures and send them, it's a free way for me to decorate my wall and regularly remember how much I love and miss you;).

As for my weekend, Saturday was a pretty lazy day that I spent searching for some of my books and reading at our beautiful Union. The only problem with the Union library is that it is SO quiet and peaceful that just turning the page or unzipping my bag sounded incredibly loud and rude. It's almost TOO peaceful. Regardless, the library is absolutely beautiful with a gallery above the main floor, and tiny staircases. It reeks of old books (in a nice way) and has comfortable leather chairs for reading. I feel smarter just sitting in there, really. Here is a photo of the outside of the Union:


That evening, some of us decided to brave the nightclubs here at Oxford despite some wind and rain. It was a lot of fun, but I did learn a few things. 1) British boys like to flirt with American girls by insulting our intelligence and country 2) It may be cold outside, but British girls don't dress like it 3) McDonald's is open later here than in America and may be even more delicious and 4) Techno music + fog machines + Europeans - deodorant = a smelly mess. I'm glad we went out, but I do think I'm more of a pub person. :)

Speaking of, here is a picture of our favorite pub! It is just around the corner from my apartment and so far we've had two of our girls' nights here. The manager is an extremely nice Brit who really likes us. He invited us to come and watch the NFC championship there on Sunday night. It was really fun to watch such an American event from here, as well as interesting to watch the Brits get so excited about it. I think we're going to attend their Superbowl party, even though it'll be a late night as it won't be on until midnight here. It's worth the experience!



Yesterday began with a lecture and then I did research all day long for one of my two papers due Friday. The one break I took was for a nice dinner with the roomies, of which there is a photo below. They are very sweet boys and we're getting along very well. It's proving to be pretty entertaining to discuss our different views on things based on our gender. It's going to be a good semester together I think!



Then today I woke up for more research and spent the afternoon writing in a local cafe across from Christ Church. I took a short break to walk around the meadows, which was quite a luxury. I'm so glad to be settling in here so that I can finally appreciate all the beauty that surrounds me. Here are just a few other shots around Oxford. I'll make attempts to set up a photo account and a link for that once I start taking more and after my first two papers are written, but for now here are a few.




I must also remark on this day, the Inauguration Day. It was a strange experience not to be in the United States after spending the previous year and a half obsessing over the election and following it so closely. I spent the morning streaming CBS via internet and then after my paper was written we went to a bar that was hosting an inauguration event. This was actually pretty funny but also really wonderful. It's a Hawaiian bar named Kukui, and since Obama is also from Hawaii they hosted a luau. They had free Michelob, popcorn, pork BBQ (was not good, I got my hopes up for it though), hot dogs (same as the BBQ), a live band playing classic American rock, and Krispy Kreme donuts. Besides all of the freebies, they had multiple plasma screens playing the coverage, and even amidst all the silliness, it was an incredible ceremony to watch. I am so grateful to be an American and I think that watching such an event from out of the country gave it even more significance for me. It was a humbling moment as I watched the faces of the spectators, as well as leaders of our country, all looking toward the future. I may be a reluctant supporter of Obama, but I am a supporter nonetheless. I am proud to say he is our nation's President and of what it means to our nation and its history. I'm truly excited to see what the future holds and I hope that someday I can look back on this time when I have learned so much and use it to contribute to the nation that has given me so much. Oh, America, I love you! As shown below, in the picture of the girls, myself, and Uncle Sam.



Well, the next two days will be filled with reading and writing for my second paper. The first is behind me and I actually enjoyed learning about and writing about international political economy, but the next is the less interesting topic of Locke and Hobbes.

As always, feel free to drop me a line.
God Bless America!

The First Week's End

Well, I'm one day away from celebrating my one week anniversary in Oxford. I'm somewhere in between the feeling that the time has flown by and that I have been here forever... but nonetheless, I'm glad to have this anniversary. Since my last post, the biggest events that have occurred are my initial meetings with my tutors. The first meeting was on Thursday, when I met with Robert Fletcher. Robert lives VERY FAR AWAY so a group of us who were to meet with him made the hour long hike together. We were greeted by quite possibly the most stereotypically British man I have ever seen. He met us out front of his house in a blue blazer with a red and blue plaid scarf carefully laid around his neck. He is probably in his sixties and seems to be very kind, but also very smart, serious, and uh, just very British. Anyway, he led us around his house and to a shed. This concerned all of us, but we had heard that his shed is his office, and luckily it is actually a very cozy and nicely done shed, though it's a bit weird to have a tutorial in a shed in some man's backyard. This tutorial will be my minor tutorial, which means that I will only see Dr. Fletcher once very two weeks (a fortnight) for my Political Modern Thought course. I'm starting out with a comparison of Hobbes and Locke that is due this Friday, as I wanted to get started right away so that the eighth and final week of term I will have just my major paper to work on so that I can get away to Scotland and see some of my Mercer friends for a day or two.
Yesterday I started the day at Penelope and Francis' basement gathering book for my tutorials. They have a fairly well stocked library for the use of the students in the program and welcome us in every morning for a few hours to have books, conversation, and biscuits. It was really nice to talk with Penelope and Kristin - it puts me more at ease to know they're here for me too. Later that afternoon I met with my other tutor, Christian Glossner. This was a wonderful appointment because first he led a group of us around Oriel College, where he is based out of, and gave us some history. This college was founded by Henry II and graduated many famous graduates, such as Walter Raleigh and someone by the name of Oppenheimer who started what is now the De Beers diamond company. Queen Elizabeth dined in their hall a few years ago and they honored her with what is officially the largest portrait of the queen in existence. So, now I can say I've seen the largest picture of her in the world. Woo! Christian himself is an extremely interesting individual with a LONG list of ridiculous accomplishments and degrees. He was a foreign correspondent for CNN and CBS out of DC for a few years, has two or three different degrees from Oxford, has done work at the higher corporate level, was taught by Bill Clinton, etc. Needless to say, he is an ideal (and dreamy) tutor! This is my major tutorial, which means I'll have a paper and a tutorial every week for eight weeks. My topic is the European Union and Global Political Economy, more or less. We combined a few syllabi and have left the last two weeks up in the air so that I can decide what I want to learn about most. It should be very exciting!
Last night then a few of us went out to dinner and then a group of us girls had a drink at the White Horse pub near my apartment. It was relaxing and a good time, but after such a good day I did end up with a tinge of homesickness. I have been feeling more frequently like myself, but am still having a difficult time adjusting. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and I am thinking of and praying for all of you that I miss so dearly! I heard that the Mercer Bears won last night (woo!) and also that the States is particularly chilly and it makes me glad I'm not experiencing negative degrees. Today is actually strangely bright and sunny here, which I am taking as a good sign, though unfortunately it gets dark around four here. I'm off for a day of reading, but please do feel free to email me or Facebook me! Also, here is my address for those of you who requested it:
25 Faulkner Street
Oxford, OX1 1UA

Cheers! (and love),
Suz

The Beginning

Hello all! I am so glad to finally sit down and write to you about my first few days here in Oxford, England. The flight over was delayed several hours thanks to a lovely blizzard in the Chicago area, but the journey was pleasant nonetheless, with little turbulence, decent food, and my row consisted of two other girls my age who were on the way to Spain for a semester abroad. Once in Heathrow, it was also easy to catch the bus to Oxford and I must say that I was in great spirits! As we drove out of London I so much enjoyed watching the landscape as we passed quaint little towns once we were out of the city. It was when we drove into Oxford that I was really amazing - it is really the most beautiful city I've ever seen. As one may imagine, it isn't simply a scattering of beautiful buildings or scenes, it is literally entirely made up buildings and castles that are centuries old. Despite the rain and clouds, I was overwelmed with excitement as we drove to town. My first problem, however, occurred when I got off the bus to make the quick walk to the Warner's (the married couple, Francis and Penelope, which are the directors of the program)house on St. John's street. I had two rolling suitcases, one LARGE hiking backpack and my smaller (but quite heavy) backpack carry-on. The bus driver was kind enough to help me put on pack on my back and the smaller on my front, and sent me on down St. John street with a roller in hand. It only took a block of walking for me to completely lose my ability to manage this, and after much frusturation I was moving two bags at a time, walking up and back, up and back, down the street. Then a man called out to me and after noting my misery, he offered to walk me down the street. As it turns out, he's an Anglican priest and our brief walk was incredibly interesting. I told him I was Lutheran and he assured me that despite this I should give the Anglican church a try... I hope to attend a service at his church, which he also pointed out.
Anyway, once I had arrived at Francis and Penelope's, Penelope drove me to my apartment. Within the first five minutes I managed to trip over and break our internet cord, which is part of the reason this post has taken so long. It was alright though, as I have two very nice flatmates who didn't seem to be too upset with me. They are actually two boys, which is quite a different experience after my semester in the ADPi house at Mercer. One of the is Russell and the other is Pascal, both are from Hendrix College in Arkansas. We are getting along very well and I think all are in for an education on living with the opposite sex.
That first night all of us in the program met up for dinner at the Red Lion, where I enjoyed a typical roast meal of roast turkey, baked potato, and salad. Yum! Everyone I met from the program (there are 16 students from three different schools in the states) was very nice and I think we will all be getting along very well. After the Red Lion, we headed off for a drink at the Turf Inn, which is the oldest pub in Oxford and has been around since the 1300's!!! It was incredibly interesting even walking there, as we had to stop and take a moment to appreciate the breathtaking architecture as we were walking down the street. It is absolutely incredible - I promise to upload pictures sometime soon.
The next morning we had our first lectures with a few of the Oxford tutors which were over various topics regarding 17th century England. One was on Jacobean theatre, one on literature, and the other on poetry. It was all very interesting. That night we shopped at Sainsbury's, the grocery, for supplies and had a quiet night of dinner. The following day we had another set of lectures but then we went into London for a night at the theatre! This was by far the most fun I have had, as we arrived a few hours early and were able to explore. We were in Covent Garden in downtown and our first goal was to find a pub with fish and chips for dinner. Afterwards, we walked around the charming market and took in the incredible buildings and culture. As we were walking, we all of a sudden heard opera music that sounded live... and sure enough we found a flamboyant man singing opera in the middle of the market. It was quite a sight and all of us girls found it to be pretty entertaining. We then stopped for lattes and croissants on our way to the Fortune Theatre where we saw "The Woman in Black", a fairly notorious play that was VERY scary! It was also extremely interesting and entertaining.
Today was then a day of exploring. Penelope took us on a tour of Oxford so that we could continue to get our bearings in this new city, and then a few of us continued to explore and begin to procure our various ID cards and other essentials. We finally visited the beautiful Oxford Union, where we are so fortunate to be considered members.
Tomorrow I will meet with my first tutor for my Political Modern Thought tutorial. I am a little nervous, but ready to have some work to get to. I have had a bit of a rough time adjusting, but mostly just at night. I am hoping to improve my sleeping and get rid of any jet lag/homesickness soon, but please keep me in your thoughts. I miss all of you and would love to hear from you! My email is suz.bottorff@gmail.com, or Facebook is fine, though I am much worse at responding to Facebook messages than regular email. I hope that all is well with you whether you are back home, at Mercer, or someplace in between.