Saturday, December 7, 2013

Week 8 - Ending with Song

This week was one of busyness and mixed emotions.  It's hard to believe that Michaelmas term is really over.  I've experienced so much academically - being stretched beyond what I could have imagined before studying here.  I've also seen so much of the area - so rich with history and tradition.  As a romantic soul, I found so much to love in the Oxfordshire area.

Sunday, I attended church services at St. Edward's Chapel with Larry and Rhonda Kees.  Woodstock Baptist Church is worshipping in the chapel while their facility is under renovation.


Sunday afternoon we had lunch at the Anchor Restaurant, which was formerly a pub and is now a restaurant.  Afterwards we walked down to the canal and took some photos.  Sunday afternoon and evening I spent reading research material for my final essay: "What factors contribute to civil war or revolutions?" 

Monday I studied all day until 5 pm, then went to choir practice for Evensong service with the Christ Church College Choir.  After the service, and following dinner at formal hall, we drove to St. Margaret's Chapel at Binsey.  The chapel dates from the fourteenth century, and has no electricity.  The room was lit by candles, some of which we held, while we had an Advent Service.  We sang traditional carols and took turns with readings from the Biblical Christmas story.  It was very moving and a perfect way to begin Advent Season.


Left: Christ Church Chapel Evensong Service



Below: St. Margaret's Chapel lit by candlelight.
 
Tuesday and Wednesday were all about the studying... finishing up the reading and working on my outline and rough draft.  I confess to being old-school: I take notes while reading, make an outline, complete the rough draft, then edit.  Wednesday night I decided it was time to get out of the house - after being housebound with study for two days.  Carrie Ann had heard the Oxford college vocal group, "Out of the Blue" this summer in Edinburgh.  We attended their concert at the Oxford Student Union.  Their voices were phenomenal and they were very entertaining with their humor and choreography.
 
Thursday afternoon I finished off my last essay and sent it to my tutor by email.  In total since coming to Oxford, I've written approximately 30,000 words for the twelve tutorial essays.  The research, while guided by the recommended reading list, is very self-driven and promotes a great deal of independent thinking as you process the information.  The more I read, the more I found myself assessing during the reading, knowing I had to be able to articulate the material both in the essay and during our discussion during the tutorial itself.  I would have to say I've learned more within this one term than I ever knew was possible in such a short time. 
 
Friday was the end of Michaelmas term.  I had two administrative meetings at Regent's Park - one with the Principal, Dr. Ellis, and one with Dr. Lynn Robson, the Visiting Student Program Coordinator.  We reviewed the final reports from each of my tutors, discussed my "marks" (grades) which were very positive, and talked about my experience as a visiting student to Oxford.  Friday afternoon I had my final tutorial with Dr. Finlay and my fellow-American visiting student, Mina.  We had another very in-depth discussion about the readings and our essays.  One of the enjoyable aspects about sharing four of my tutorials with Mina, was that even though we both read from the same assigned readings, we would create unique essays, based upon our own views and perspectives.  She is a Political Science major back at Georgetown University, and I am a Sociology major, so we had different aspects of the material that would appeal to us.  It was sad to end this very productive learning relationship, and I admit to not enjoying having to sad good-bye to both of them.  Friday night I attended the Advent formal dinner at Regent's Park. 
 
Riding back on the bus after dinner, it struck me how fortunate I am to have been at Oxford for Michaelmas term.  Fall 2013 was my last semester - once my Regent's Park grades make it back to Columbus State, I will officially be a graduate with my Bachelor's Degree in Sociology.  For a mature, returning student, this has been a long process.  But it is a dream fulfilled, and I am very grateful that Oxford was where I completed my undergraduate experience.
 

Saturday I spent time shopping for Christmas gifts, and doing some additional sight-seeing in Oxford.  We had a lovely sunny afternoon, so Larry, Rhonda, Carrie Ann, and I went up to the St. Mary's (University Church of St. Mary the Virgin)  tower, and got some truly break-taking views of the city. Saturday evening, we attending the Handel's Messiah concert at the church.  The vocal and instrumental performers were outstanding. 
 
I'll be staying in the U.K. for a few more days, to spend some time traveling to areas I want to see before I return home for Christmas.  Oxford is a magical place - a combination of past, present, and future all merging together in an absorbing kaleidoscope.  It's been my pleasure to have been a part of that for the last twelve weeks.
 
 
 
 
 


Monday, December 2, 2013

Week 7 - Scotland, Thanksgiving, and Postmaterialism

This week began with what should be Rule #1 when travelling: expect the unexpected.  Now that I've completed one tutorial, and only had two essays left spread over two weeks, I planned an overnight trip to Edinburgh.  However, things did NOT go according to plan.  The plan was to leave Oxford via bus early Sunday morning since the Oxford trains on Sunday don't leave until about 10 AM.  The bus would take me to Birmingham, where I'd get on the train for the remainder of the trip.  Getting to Edinburgh takes about 6 hours, so I was trying to arrive about 2 pm to have some daylight remaining and hopefully have time to see one or two things on my "wish list" before dark was upon me.  I packed a backpack, grabbed a book from my assigned reading list, and headed to Scotland.
 
What really happened:  the Megabus was thirty minutes late, so I missed the train from Birmingham to Edinburgh.  In order to avoid a one hour wait in Birmingham, I was re-routed to Carlisle, where I would then pick up the Edinburgh train.  However, about one hour north of Birmingham, the train comes to a dead stop, and we sit for thirty minutes waiting on some sort of relay repair crew to make corrections to faulty relays ahead.  As you can imagine, by the time I arrived in Carlisle, I had also missed my train to Edinburgh.  So I sat in the Carlisle waiting area for 45 minutes, and caught the next train.  I finally arrived at Edinburgh Waverly Station about 5 pm.  So much for the daylight plan.
 
At this point I decided to forget sightseeing, check into my hotel, get some dinner, and start fresh the next morning.  I found the hotel which was wonderfully close to the Royal Mile.  Walking around the area, I decided to eat dinner at the White Horse Pub, and ordered haggis pie (at least I could cross one item off the wish list).  I'm not sure if it was representative of all haggis, but I found it quite tasty - rather like salty sausage.

 
 
I returned to the hotel, made a cup of tea, and turned on the television, when the fire alarm went off.  As I was grabbing my handbag (passport inside) the lights went out leaving me in complete darkness to stumble around to the door, and exit the hotel.  The other guests and I waited outside while the fire "brigade" (department) arrived to assess the situation.  After thirty minutes we were informed that all was safe, no fire had occurred but there were some malfunctioning alarms due to a severe pipe leak in an upper floor.  Unfortunately, that did not stop the alarms from remaining on - and sounding off loudly.  The hotel clerk moved me to a room on another floor, hopefully to get away from the fire alarm volume.  Unfortunately, that was the floor with the leaking pipes.  At this point I pulled out my cheap Vodafone (pay-as-you go cellphone), dialed up another hotel down the street, and booked a room elsewhere.  Once I got checked in at the second hotel, my calm was restored.  I made another cup of tea, relaxed, and called it a night.
 
Monday was wonderful; I was the American tourist in a hurry, but still managed to see the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the Queen's residence for a few weeks each summer), the Scottish Parliament (wonderful modern architecture), the John Knox house (Scottish reformer), St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle, and the Scottish National Gallery.  It was a whirlwind day, but I made the most of it.  Here are some of my favorite photos of the day...
 
 
 
Left: Political Martyr's Monument on Carlton Hill.  Right: Exterior of the Scottish Parliament building.  On September 14, 2014, they are scheduled to vote on Scottish independence from Britain.  Below: Interior of the Scottish Parliament, the debate chambers.
 

 
Left: Me, in front of Holyroodhouse.  The house was built on the site of Holyrood Abbey which dates from the twelfth century.  Below: interior room of the John Knox house.  This home is said to be the oldest residence intact in Edinburgh.  It dates to 1470, and is believed to be the home Knox lived in when he died.  He was a major Scottish reformer, and founder of the Presbyterian Church movement.
 
Right and below: a bust of Sir Walter Scott, on display at the Scottish National Gallery.  I mean no disrespect to Sir Scott, but the image looks remarkably like Russell Crowe to me !!

Below: The view toward Princes Street, taken from Edinburgh Castle.  Monday had clear skies, and I could see all the way to the ocean.


Thankfully the return to Oxford was uneventful, with my Edinburgh train leaving on time, and my connection in Newcastle occurring without incident.   On a side note: thanks to all the waiting, I completed the assigned reading book - 340 pages.
 
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent finishing up my research reading  and then writing this week's essay on postmaterialism.  It was a critique of the postmaterialist theory developed by Ronald Inglehart to explain the change in values and political activism of post-war generations. I turned in my essay via email at 4 PM.
 
Thursday was also Thanksgiving Day, my second one to be spent overseas.  (Three years ago I celebrated in Ukraine.)  Anyhow, to make us feel less homesick, our gracious CSU House Director Larry Kees and his wife Rhonda made a wonderful dinner for us.  However, it was so good, we ate too much! 

Friday was a BUSY day.  My tutorial was moved forward to 3 pm, as later my tutor and I both planned on attending a talk to be given at Christ Church by Senator Mike Lee from Utah.  He was in Oxford giving a speech on the importance of the American Constitution.  The speech was followed by an incredible formal dinner at the Rhodes House.  The Rhodes house was created by Cecil Rhodes, and is affiliated with his scholarship foundation.  http://www.rhodeshouseoxford.com/the-venue  It was a bit intimidating eating in the same location as had notable persons, like Edwin Hubble (astronomer), Lord Florey (penicillin researcher), and  President Bill.  The dinner conversation was quite interesting as I  discussed the U.S. Constitution and our unique tri-power government to students from Poland, Norway, India, and the U.K.

(Photo of the Rhodes House, left) 


 
Saturday was another Thanksgiving celebration, this time held by Regent's Park College.  Our turkey was prepared by the RPC chef, and we each brought side dishes and desserts to contribute to the meal.  Afterward, "The Hobbit" film was shown for those that weren't in a starch coma from the fabulous food :)


Left: Senator Mike Lee, Utah

Below: Mixing and mingling in Helwys Hall, at Regent's Park College, before our Thanksgiving Dinner.



Left: Dr. Lynn Robson, Visiting Student Program Coordinator at Regent's Park College, doing the honors of carving the turkey.
 
And thus completes another week in Oxford.  It's hard to believe that I only have one more week of this term remaining.  While I miss my family at home a lot, I have a feeling that saying goodbye to this town will prove more difficult than I had imagined.  But I'm trying not to think about that too much right now.
 

Below are some additional photos taken travelling to and in Edinburgh
 








These three are my "scenes from a train" taken while riding  from Birmingham to Carlisle.
 
 

 

 
 
Above: Palace of Holyrood House, exterior.  It was built by King David I, on the site of the Holyrood Abbey.  Right: Ruins of the  Holyrood Abbey.  
 
 
Matchstick sculpture of Robert Burns inside Scottish Parliament building.
 
 
 
 Monument to economist Adam Smith.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
St. Giles Cathedral
 
 
 
 
A William Wallace impersonator (or maybe he's a Mel Gibson impersonator)

Edinburgh Castle
 

 
 
 
St. Margaret's Chapel inside Edinburgh Castle - oldest building in Edinburgh, from 1100s.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Hind's Daughter, in the National Gallery 
 
 
 
 
 
Sketches by Allen Ramsey, Scottish Artist.