An Oxford Winter Wonderland

If any of you have been watching much of the Weather Channel or keep up with international news, then you must already have heard about the "blizzard" and terrible weather that is sweeping the UK this week. I'll admit, I was not expecting snow during my stay. It was in the forecast but I figured it would be a few snowflakes, much like the snow that we had every now and then when I was little in Virginia. Well, the first day it was much like that, a glorified powder that was just enough to cancel the local schools (but not my lecture) on Monday. It was actually just beautiful and I spent the afternoon sliding around the cobblestone streets taking pictures of the beautiful buildings with the light snow covering them. Here are a few photos:







So, as you can see, this is real snowfall but it's not the serious business that I'm accustomed to in Illinois. Well, just a few days later, (this morning) I woke up to a much more dramatic scene! We had a full two inches or more at ten a.m. and it was still coming down!












This is the scene outside of my apartment this morning. It was beautiful, but I had a few things to do in the city today and no practical footwear or hats to deal with this sort of snowfall. Needless to say, I spent the morning being chatted up by strangers who were making fun of my awkward tip toeing and slipping around the streets of Oxford. I should have seen this coming.


Aside from the snow (which is said to continue through the weekend) other interesting events of the week include my new residence. I have actually moved from 25 Faulkner to 29 Faulkner in efforts to make myself and another boy more comfortable. So, now I live with two lovely girls and the boy lives with my two lovely former roomies. I think our community is all the more happy for it, and my new room is much smaller but much cozier. I'll have to take some pictures sometime. The carpet is hideous but it most certainly has character!

Also, one of my favorite musical artists spoke at the Oxford Union earlier today. His name is Rufus Wainwright and his appearance was much more meaningful for me than any other might be. It's actually sort of strange, but last year at this time I was corresponding often with my friend Sarah, who was doing her semester abroad here. Talking with her led me to daydream about Oxford and begin to consider coming here, and for some reason I was on a big Rufus Wainwright kick at the time. For some time now, I have vividly associated his music with my far away conceptions of life at Oxford. When I heard that he would be one of the Union's guests, I was just so struck by it. Many of you know that I had a bit of a rough start here, but it is these small things that have really led me to be so sure that this is where I am meant to be. It's nice to have these small validations and comforting to know that God is sending these things my way. And, aside from it's meaning, hearing Rufus Wainwright speak was AWESOME! He told a few ridiculous stories and shared some great insight to his work. He is obviously a genius but equally nonsensical a lot of the time, so it was nice to get some perspective. I was even interviewed by the BBC afterwards! It was truly a great afternoon.

Since then, I've been consuming an unnatural amount of tea and working to finish my second paper of the week, this time on Rousseau. I really enjoyed reading his work, especially because there are some glaringly obvious political philosophies that set off the American Revolution. You all know how much I love the States, so reading things like this and thinking of our history is always nice.

I've got two tutorials tomorrow, although the weather could change that. The fairweather Brits are not so good at being inconvenienced by the weather.

I hope all is well in America, which I hear is warming up. Enjoy the weather and let me know how you are doing!

Cheers!