I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Well, I've done it. I have successfully survived a term at Oxford!!! It was touch and go towards the end but all in all, the term was AMAZING. Here are some facts and figures for anyone who cares:

Number of weeks: 8
Number of essays written per week: 2
Total essays written: 14 essays, two sets of extensive notes and outlines
Average pages per essay: 8
Total pages written: 112 (plus some)
Number of complete meltdowns: 0

I would say thats pretty good...and I am, of course, oh so modest and humble.

This is going to be my last post for a while because at 12:30 tomorrow I am going to be flying from England back to the United States!!! I'm going home for Christmas and I'm really excited. I did realize today that I will certainly miss Oxford while I'm gone. Even though I haven't been here for very long, I sometimes feel that I've been here forever and that I'm more comfortable and feel more at home than I have in my two years at Sarah Lawrence. I'm flying back on 12 January.

Since it is Oxford, I do have work to do over break. I've also, typically, made myself a reading list. Will it get done? Probably not, but I will have plenty of leisure time as my family is going on vacation over break in my grandfather's RV. Oh yeah, thats right: Ridiculous Vehicle. So I shall be bringing my computer, a collection of DVD's and a stack of books. It will be lovely. My history tutor did not give me a reading list or essay question for over break but I am guessing she will email me when her end of term stuff settles down. My other tutor, Allan Chapman, the most typical Oxford don ever, will be doing the History of Science with me. My first essay is on the Copernican Revolution. I'll be doing a bit of astronomy, chemistry, physics, medicine, general biological sciences, etc. The point: 1) have Allan Chapman as my tutor, 2) take history and 3) get science credit for taking history. So excited.


On Friday night, the last night for students who live in college to stay, we celebrated Wadham's Christmas Dinner. There were two sittings in Hall and they were both full. Everyone dresses up really nicely, eats amazing food and gets slightly tipsy on wine provided by the college! The Chapel Choir (of which I am a part) sings carols from the balcony looking over the hall. It was incredible. Most of the carols we sang were ones that I either didn't know very well or didn't like--none of the standards that I learned as a Caroler because apparently the Brits like different carols....not sure why that surprised me so much. The best one was "The 12 Days of Christmas." Normally, I don't like that carol; it bores me. From now on, it is my absolute favorite carol. As soon as we started singing it, everyone in Hall cheered and I was a bit confused. Then came the "five gold rings part." The first time, about 70% of the people stood up on the benches, raised their hands in the air, did spirit-fingers, and shouted "FIVE GOLD RINGS." The second time, more did it. By the end, they were shouting the numbers as we counted down and after the final "five gold rings" they cheered and clapped. The best part was at the second seating. They clapped along and demanded an encore. Also, at both seatings, there were fellows and dons sitting at the high table and they participated in the "five gold rings" tradition too! We were talking today at lunch about what the best part about Oxford has been so far. While I have loved every moment of my time here, the absolute ultimate part of my experience has been Oxford Christmas. I will never forget how amazing every bit of Oxford Christmas has been!



Also, we went to London for the day yesterday and did a whole bunch of touristy stuff and a TON of walking. We ended the day by going to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree and then wandering down to check out the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben at night before catching the double-decker bus back to Oxford. Every year, a 20-30 metre tree is sent from Oslo, Norway to London as thanks for the help recieved in 1940-1945. This tradition has been going on since 1947.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The appropriate subtitle for today's post: I love it when Katie propositions Rachele.

Thanksgiving...it is a solely American holiday and us Americans certainly celebrated it here! On Wednesday night, there was a feast in Hall in honor of the Sarah Lawrence Programme students. We had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, apple and raisin pie and ice cream. We also got wine and coffee--only the Sarah Lawrence people that is. The Wadhamites weren't special enough!!!! As we were waiting in line before dinner, Emma and I were talking to some of our British friends about Thanksgiving and Rob thought it was actually on Tuesday. He was horrified (and I think a bit embarrassed) when we informed him that it was actually on Thursday. It was actually pretty funny.

On Thursday, my flat and the flat next door prepared a feast for ourselves. We made 2 roast chickens, a VAT of mashed potatoes, herb bread, 2 kinds of soup, 2 apple pies, 2 kinds of stuffing (one was pork and pre-stuffed into the chickens, the other bread in the oven), cookies, gravy, cranberry sauce, and creamed spinach. AND we did it without burning anything, setting anything on fire, ruining any thing, no major kitchen catastrophes--other than the mess--and a whole lot of laughter and fun. There were 10 of us eating and it was lovely. We brought our kitchen table out our patio door, through the courtyard and into the other flat via their patio where it still sits because we are too lazy to reverse the journey. SO MUCH FUN!

We really had a wonderful time and it has just occurred to me that I am almost finished with this term. I have two essays due Tuesday and Wednesday next week and then I will be done! I cannot believe how fast this term has gone. I will be home on the 8th of December...its approaching really, really rapidly!

Also, because it is now after Thanksgiving, I get to do two things.
Number 1: I get to listen to Christmas music ALL THE TIME.
Number 2: I can drink peppermint mochas at Starbucks! I had one today while I read Milton's Paradise Lost and it was lovely.

PS. Sara, I didn't have to go to three different Starbucks this year...my first attempt succeeded!

Pirates of the Caribbean is my LIFE.

I've been thinking (while not posting for a while--sorry, sorry) about what my life's soundtrack would be. This week, it would be the Pirates of the Caribbean. I have been listening to the first and third movies' soundtracks non-stop. Its great music to write a paper to; plus, if you'll allow me to be a nerd for a moment, one of the themes always makes me think of this great unfettered freedom and power--a great pick-me-up in the middle of an essay. That said, let me tell you about our last field trip to Tinturn Abbey and St. Fagan's Museum in Wales.

This is Tinturn Abbey. It was a fully working abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the time of Henry VIII. At that time, it was abandoned and the local people began taking it apart. As the roof was made of lead, it was the first to go. Next, they would remove the stones for use in their own buildings. In the 1800's this was stopped and it is now being kept in the condition you see in the picture (hopefully for generations to come).

This is Amy and I in one of the windows. I felt like I should have had a Bible or some sort of old Greek or Roman text in Latin to read in the sun. The abbey was incredibly beautiful and really peaceful. One of my friends who is not religious said that they felt this sense of peace--like it was just an inherently spiritual place. I absolutely agree. We were only able to spend an hour wandering around and I could have spent all day relaxing and meditating.

On to St. Fagan's. When I heard it was a museum, I got really excited because, as you all know, I am a complete history nerd and I love old, historic stuff! St. Fagan's Museum actually is a lot like Plymouth Plantation or Colonial Williamsburg. There aren't actors from the time period, but what they've done is to find buildings from all different ages all over Wales and relocate them to a 100-acre living museum type place. They take houses down stone by stone and number the stones so they can be put together the exact same way. There was a Celtic village and a 1980's row house as well as a manor house, a corn mill (flour mill to us Americans) and the most beautiful gardens EVER. I had the most marvelous time wandering around with Kate and exploring the various areas and eras. We went into the mill for funsies and there was a man sitting in front of a fire with a beautiful black cat. He spoke to us in Welch: the most beautiful language I've ever heard! It was like a song, all soft vowels and sing-songy. If I had an aptitude for languages, Welch would be the next one I'd learn!


This is part of the marvelous gardens. They kind of capped off the whole day. It had rained for an entire week before the trip and that Friday was the first sunny and gorgeous day in a long time. It was a perfect day off work.

Speaking of work, I have been so swamped for the last two weeks. Since Emma and I missed a tutorial due to a miscommunication, we had to make one up this week. This means that, instead of the usual two 7-10 page essays, we had three. In one week. I have not gotten a proper night's sleep in a long time; however, as of Wednesday, I am back to the usual two essays a week which is now going to seem like a piece of cake! This week I am reading Ben Jonson's Volpone for my lit tutorial and considering the role of fortune and either the body or the spirit. For history, I'm reading about Winston Churchill...my favorite quotation about him so far is "He was the one minister who felt instinctively at home with war and with the politics of war." Basically, my essay is supposed to consider him as a wartime leader. This is a timely essay since this week's core class lecture and outing is about him and we will be going to Blenheim Palace (his family's seat). I am very excited about this prospect.

And now, having discussed my work, I should go do some for a while! Actually, I'm probably going to go to bed and just tell myself that I'll get up early tomorrow (ha, thats funny). Either way, this post has gone on long enough and I'm getting tired. Take care and I'll try not to wait so long for an update again!


Oh yeah, one more thing. MY BIKE IS FIXED!

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like..."

Yes, I do have a bicycle. I bought one due to the 1/2 hour walk from my flat to Wadham College/the city centre. On a cycle, it only takes 15 minutes, 10 if I go really fast. Here's the problem: I am the poster child for Murphy's Law--anything bad that can happen, will. I had the bike for a week when I noticed that my front tire was completely flat. So, I took it in to a cycle shop by my flat and the guy said that what had probably happened was that the tire was not properly fitted to the frame. I could take it back to whence it came (a 45 minute walk) and it would be covered by warranty or I could pay 10 pounds for it to be repaired right by my flat. Dilemma!!!! Instead of making a decision, I just haven't ridden my bike for a week. By the way, it is blue, has a wire basket, a light on both the front and back and mudguards (or fenders as my dad likes to call them).

Now I can get to the point of this post. THE ELECTION. I am elated at the results but what I am even more excited about (if its possible) is that not only was I a part of making history but I watched history happen. As we watched CNN, the state-by-state projections rolled in. For each state projecting Obama as the winner, the entire room would cheer. I stood in the bar at the Oxford Union and watched as CNN was projected onto a big screen, predicting Obama as the future president at 4:00 am. (That is a six-hour time difference from Central Time). I was in the library of the Oxford Union watching the BBC's coverage of John McCain's concession speech. Amy and I stood watching, holding hands and crying, her because McCain reminded her of home and me because his speech was heartfelt, honorable and incredibly moving. For President-Elect Obama's speech I stood on a radiator, clinging to a window frame in the bar to see the screen while around me, Brits and Americans alike watched as history was made. Listening to those two incredibly moving speeches made me realize the integrity of both men. For Senator McCain to shush those "booing" in the crowd and the honor he did President-Elect Obama by giving him his compliments and wishing him the best was not an easy thing. However, he did it with great poise--what a great man. I hope he will continue to do great things in Congress. As for our future President, I look forward to his leadership. His speech proved he will truly be a great leader.

I had not realized until that night how lucky I am to be a part of a nation such as America. Our politics truly affect the whole world and though I knew this, I never understood the magnitude until I discussed American politics with Brits who knew as much as, if not more, about it than I did. We should feel proud that we come from a nation that can truly make a difference in this world. No matter whether your candidate won the election or not, there is one crucial thing to remember: we are all Americans, and we are so fortunate to have the ability to impact our politics.

Now that I've had my soapbox moment, (and I truly feel like I should have been standing, arms behind my back, the American flag as a backdrop while "Proud to be an American" played in the background) I'll tell you some more stuff about Oxford and etc.

Basically, my friends and I have been working and working and working. We took Friday (Halloween), Saturday (the American Halloween party) and Tuesday/Wednesday (Election!!) off work for the most part...so now we get to play catch-up. The workload doesn't wait for our convenience. Tomorrow we are off to Cardiff in Wales for a day-trip with the programme. Its a two-hour bus ride so I fully expect everyone will bring a book or two with them!

For my tutorials on Tuesday and Wednesday, I read Thomas More's Utopia and researched D-Day. Obviously, I had no problem doing the reading for my history tutorial. In fact, my tutor said that Band of Brothers is an essential read, so I bought it. Here is the teensy problem...I absolutely love it. I was supposed to be reading about D-Day (6 June 1944) and I found myself reading about the Battle of the Bulge (end of December 1944). Ooops. I told my tutor about my new procrastination tool and she just laughed. She later sent me an email to confirm the change of time for my tutorial and the post script read: "Put down Band of Brothers!"

It is now midnight and the bus is picking us up at 9:00 tomorrow. I need some sleep--still catching up from Election Night since I didn't go to bed until 6 in the morning and had to wake up at 9 for a tutorial! Have a good one and watch for futher news concerning the trip to Wales and more importantly, my bike!

ELECTION DAY

So here's the deal. I am waiting to post the next catalogue of my adventures until after Election Day because I have plans:
1. The Oxford Union is having a huge party to which I have a ticket.
2. Wadham SU also is having an election party.
3. My friends are having a party in their flat to watch for the results.
Point being, I am going to stay up all night and I expect to have so much fun! I also don't have the time at the moment to write anything other than this bit.

So. GET OUT THERE AND VOTE. It is your constitutional right as an American over the age of 18 and I've never been so aware of the great fortune we have in being such an integral part of our government as I am now that I'm in England for what could be termed as one of the greatest elections in American history.

Exercise your rights and have a great Election Day!!!! I'm off to a tutorial....

Writings, Sightings and Singings

To borrow a phrase from Emma, I seem to be remiss in my blogging duties! I have an excuse...more than one actually...that I'm sure you will be very interested in. I had a lot of work to get done and I wanted to take some pictures. That said, I've completed some of my work (though it is ongoing) and I've taken pictures of Oxford!

This is a picture of one of the many parts of the Bodleian Library. I have not been in this building yet as most of the sources I've been using are in the Upper or Lower Radcliffe Camera (of which I have no pictures, of course...), but I walk past it on a regular basis. You can sort of see two of the many men's heads that are part of the architecture. They are terribly frightening as most of them have open mouths wherein their teeth are visible and they have holes for pupils in their eyes.

This week my essays were on the Battle of the Somme (1 July through mid-November, 1916) and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. The essay on the Somme was a lot of fun to research and write. I didn't know much about it because in the US we don't study WWI until the point at which the Americans joined the fight in 1917. My other essay turned out really well, which was unexpected as I wasn't terribly interested in the subject matter.

I figured it might be nice to prove to my mother that I can in fact keep my room clean so I took a couple of pictures. The desk looks like a mess because I was taking a break from writing my essay (so its a mid-essay writing shot) but I didn't even have to make my bed before I took the other picture!

I joined the Wadham Chapel Choir and I'm having an amazing time. We sing the Sunday evening service in the Wadham Chapel and rehearse twice a week. It was auditioned so everyone has an amazing voice. The choir is truly spectacular. The chapel has fabulous acoustics and I'm pretty sure that even the world's worst singer would sound all right in there. The services are all by candlelight which makes it slightly difficult to see the music, but I appreciate the effect. There is also no heat in the chapel and since it is made of stone, the entire choir sang in their coats and scarves. I'm looking forward to singing Christmas songs later in the year but I'm not looking forward to the decrease in temperature in the chapel. We sit really tightly in the benches so we stay warmer! I also am going to play in the Wadham Orchestra and my first rehearsal is tonight. We'll see how that goes.

The other night, Emma, Katie, Rachele and I went to a pub called the Rose and Crown for a pint in celebration of having gotten all our work done. As we walked in, we noticed none other than Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, sitting at a table with a pint and a book. Yeah, that was thrilling. Also, the Rose and Crown is going to be our local haunt. Its really quaint and has a fabulous outdoor seating area with these huge heaters so you don't even notice you are cold. It is a good time.

I've been sitting in my sweatpants all morning and now I have to get dressed because I have a choir rehearsal and a meeting with our programme director, Debbie. Emma and I are co-editors of the trans-Atlantic, Wadham/Sarah Lawrence zine called Call and Response and the first issue is supposed to be coming from Sarah Lawrence soon so we need funds and a printer. This is my job for the day.

More pictures and anecdotes are hopefully forthcoming!

A Little Bit of Procrastination

I decided that, with the resounding success of my first two tutorials (humble much?), I shouldn't have to keep working constantly. Then I realized that would be a bad decision, so I kept working. I just finished volume 1 of 2 of Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. I should be starting volume 2 or reading some of my war books but I've decided instead to give you a look at Wadham College. This is a view from a bench in the Wadham Gardens. The building is the Chapel which has some of the coolest stained glass ever. And, speaking of the Chapel, I am officially a member of the Wadham College Chapel Choir! Rehearsals start tomorrow and I'm super thrilled. Also in the Chapel is the infamous Wadham Whale. I'll try to take a picture at some point because its really quite hilarious. Apparently the stained glass artist had never seen a whale...

My brain is broked.

Though I am still having a fabulous time here, I'm starting to wonder if I will survive. I'm aware that it is Fresher's Week and that after this week things will calm down (as in socialization activities) but I'm not quite sure I have the stamina to keep up with this place.

Terrifying thought number 1: I have a 7-10 page essay due Monday evening. I spent 5 hours sitting on the same chair in the library, under a flickering light, reading the main text for this essay. I'm reading the English "Mystery Plays" which is basically a Biblical pageant the guilds of pre-Shakespearean England would put on for Corpus Christie day. While I thoroughly enjoy most of the stories, and the play about the crucifixion gave me chills, I do not enjoy reading them in middle English. Which is what they are written in. Middle English has the most bizarre spellings of things and if Emma reads them aloud to me (which she can because she knows how) I can understand. Not so much when I'm reading them to myself. I emailed my tutor and told him that I'd never done middle English so he gave me a translation of sorts--basically the only difference is that the words are spelled with modern spellings. Otherwise, I still had to look up a ton of words. The next project is to gather 3-6 secondary sources and write the essay. The big libraries are closed tomorrow.


Terrifying thought number 2: I have a 2,000-2,500 word essay due Tuesday morning on World War I. I much prefer this essay and have done plenty of work for it, but I would really like to get some more sources. Again, the big libraries are closed tomorrow. Yep. Not good.

I've come to the realization that this programme is super self-selecting. You only choose to come to Oxford through Sarah Lawrence if you want your butt handed to you on a platter. No sane person would do this. Your average Oxford student takes 1 1/2 tutorials. Sarah Lawrence Programme does 2. This may not make any sense to you, but to me it means What did I get myself into?!?!?!

Moving away from the pseudo-complaints...I've been having a blast with my flat-mates. We are all almost insane and it should be pretty hilarious by the end of the term. We all congregate in the kitchen at various random times and cook. Its the most fun when we come back from whatever we were doing for the evening and all decide we are hungry. At 11 o'clock at night. Its a half hour walk from the college to our flat, so its no surprise we are always hungry. The other night, Katie was sitting on the counter, Emma and I were sitting on the floor and Rachele was reclining on the other counter. I'm talking laying, on her back, on the counter. It was hilarious. This picture is from another night when Emma (in black) and Katie (in white) discovered they both have, and love, their onesies.


This morning, Amy and I went to the Music Faculty and tried out for the University Orchestra. I'm not sure how I did; I think my solo went well enough but the sight reading may or may not have been a huge catastrophe. Afterwards, before we both went to live in the various libraries, we went exploring around Christ Church College. This is, I think, the most famous of the Oxford colleges as it was used for filming the Great Hall and Grand Staircase scenes in Harry Potter. It was fabulously beautiful. That would be the center quad of Christ Church College; forget Wadham, I wish I went there!

Not Spam. Sorry.

So apparently this site thinks I'm some sort of Spam-bot or something, but it won't let me post anything until my blog gets unblocked. This would happen to me. I assure you, I am a real person.

We'll start with Dr. Allan Chapman. On our first day we had a kind of program orientation where we met the Warden, the chaplain, the nurse, the guidance counselor, etc. Then, Dr. Chapman came in to teach us a bit about Wadham, Oxford, and the education system. I was delighted that he walked in wearing a navy blue blazer, a yellow vest spread across his portly frame, a bow-tie, and a watch chain tucked in his waistcoat pocket! He had white hair combed directly back from his forehead and espoused every stereotype of "the Oxford Tutor". So amazing. Then he goes on to ask Debbie (our programme director) what he was supposed to talk about. Apparently, with no preparation at all, he is equipped to give an hour and a half lecture on the history of universities and of Wadham's founding, including facts, figures, dates and names. This he did with marvelous aplomb. I'm fairly certain that everyone in that room was listening intently because he was a fabulous lecturer. I for sure want to take a tutorial with him. I told Emma I wanted to be him when I grew up and she just laughed at me, at which point I clarified that I obviously wanted to be a female version. Academia is for me. Its official.

Here's a bit about Oxford. The city itself is absolutely beautiful. The University of Oxford was founded in the late 12th century, though the exact date is not known. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Wadham College was founded by Dorothy Wadham in 1610. Because of both these facts, the architecture is incredibly beautiful. It combines this super gorgeous old university feel with the lovely relaxing atmosphere of the quaint English village once you get outside the city centre. I live about a half hour's walk from my college and the city centre, so yesterday I broke down and bought a bus pass. This is also necessary because I keep making bad shoe decisions and now have blisters on the back of both heels. Not so comfortable.

As a side note, it seems my flat is in the process of deteriorating. Every one of us has some sort of injury: Emma's Achilles tendon is on the fritz, Katie is convinced she's broken her thumb, my blisters complain at the sight of shoes...the list goes on.

Back to Oxford. I love it here. Its bizarre, but even after only about a week, I feel perfectly comfortable like I haven't really felt in New York City. Even when we were in London, I didn't have any problems with the city atmosphere. Its just such a different feeling. I keep forgetting my camera so I don't have any pictures to post, but hopefully I'll remember it at some point (ha!).

I've met one of my tutors so far and she seems fabulous. My first essay is: What caused strategic immobility on the Western Front? (Its about WWI) I have a two page booklist and the essay is due either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I'm thrilled, although I'm not quite sure I'm ready to plunge into this thinking business again. I suspect my brain has atrophied over the summer, which makes me nervous because I would rather not have a bad first essay. I think if I could only sit down and pick up one of the books for a period of time, I would not have a problem, its just a matter of doing so.

Speaking of work, I should go do some...expect at some point that I will begin sharing random useless information about WWI that I get super excited about. It will happen. I promise.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its off to work I go!

Lets talk about Lewis Carroll....

So I meant to tell all about Oxford and Wadham and how amazing it is, but I spent the day in London today and I'm super tired so I'll have to put off detailing both things until further notice.

Did you know...?
1. Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland because he told the story of Alice and the rabbit hole to some little girls while punting on the Thames in Oxford! If you look up Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on Wikipedia, it tells the whole story. I figured my blog name was apt for two reasons: this is the place of Alice's adventures and its like a wonderland! Seriously though, I am completely in awe of the magnificence of this place. There is so much history and knowledge and opportunity to meet people and learn really cool things that I just get super excited and everyone looks at me funny. I mean, picture your face right now. Yep, thats the look I get. I know I'm a nerd. Live with it.
2. Prisoners who were executed by beheading in the past (we're talking pre-1700's) on Tower Hill paid the executioner themselves. As they walked up the scaffolding, to the roars of approval of the crowd, they would hand a small leather bag full of gold to the axe-man who was waiting with an axe in one hand and the other held out to receive payment. The eldest illegitimate child of Charles I was executed on Tower Hill (ask me if you want more details) and he, as one who was royally born, decided not to pay the executioner. Whether by design of the executioner or by simple chance, he was not beheaded in one go. Rather it took five or six swings to do it properly. Since the executioner was 6'4" and a blacksmith, I suspect he was a bit irritated that the guy wouldn't pay him.

Also, I've found my new calling. I want to be Dr. Allan Chapman when I grow up. More to follow.

Cheers, Ashley

The Adventure Commences...

Wow. I've finally arrived. The trip itself was long and boring. I got up at three am in order to catch my 6:30 flight out of Minneapolis to JFK in New York. Once I got to New York, I had to wait until 5:40 to begin my trans-Atlantic journey. This was not a problem--or at least it wasn't supposed to be. I figured, based on previous experience with JFK, that it was going to take at least an hour and a half to disembark, get my bag, find the correct terminal, etc. What I didn't count on was what happened. The plane from MN was only half full so it took a full 13 seconds to get off. For once in my life, my bag was one of the first off the plane and Aer Lingus, my next airline, was in the SAME terminal as Sun Country!!!! Basically, it was quarter to 11 in the morning and I couldn't check in until 3 that afternoon. Ick. I sat and waited in the terminal with my suitcase, violin and backpack and was sooooo bored. There was this lounge of sorts with concrete benches that a whole bunch of people my age were sitting in with their luggage so I joined them. Basically it was a huge pile of bags and 10 or 20 kids laying around taking naps for the lack of anything better to do. Boring, but not horrifically unpleasant.

Once I finally got on the plane to Dublin (where I had a 2-hour layover) I was delighted to see that the plane was HUGE. I've only ever been on a plane that size twice before, so it was a cool novelty. It was seated two, four, two and everything was upholstered in this evergreen color. The wings had huge clovers on the tips and all the flight attendants had wicked Irish accents. It was fabulous. Then my seatmate joined me (I had the aisle) and he was wearing ORANGE jeans. Yep, orange. And, his shirt matched. It looked like those gross wacky colored candy canes you can get at Christmas that have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas colors. Orange, pink, yellow, white and blue striped. I almost lauged out loud but I restrained myself because I felt a little bad.

The flight was alright. Due to my nap in the airport, I didn't sleep very well on the plane, but I was overjoyed when the pilot announced that the flight would be an hour shorter than I thought. That was nice to hear. The movie showing was.....drumroll....Prince Caspian, which I love, and which was appropriate because C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia here in Oxford, but I needed to sleep so I didn't get too jet-lagged. In hindsight, I suspect that I probably could have just watched the movie because I didn't really sleep anyways....

The Dublin airport was pretty cool. It was ultra modern and sort of industrial. The benches were really comfortable but since I was tired and semi-delirious, the sparkly bits in the floors did nothing to help my brain. I kept getting distracted from my people watching by the shiny things. My flight was 1/2 an hour late, but at that point, it didn't really bother me. I was honestly too tired to care. I slept the entire hour from Dublin to London Heathrow.