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.