Observations About School and University

In honor of finishing my first of two exams just a bit ago, I thought I would write a quick post about what I have learned about the British school system. Some of it might not be totally accurate, or it might only apply to some places/schools in the UK.

• School refers to anything lower than university. University is referred to as university or uni. If you talk about something you did at school, the British person will assume it happened in high school, or perhaps earlier.

• It is quite common for children to attend boarding schools. They might board even if there homes are not that far away. 

• Both public and private schools have uniforms.

• You can leave school when you are sixteen, but it normally is not seen as "dropping out." It does not have the same stigma as in the USA.

• Their last two years of high school is devoted to taking A-levels in several subjects. The scores on the A-levels will affect which universities they will be accepted to.  

• At university you can a course, not a major, and they typically take three years to complete.

• All you study at university is your course (major). There are no general education requirements.

• Once you have enrolled in a course and started studying, you can not change courses. To change a course you must drop out, and then wait a year to apply for another course. So, if you end up half way through your course and discover that you actually hate that subject, then you either have to just finish and earn a degree you don't want, or leave school and the previous years were wasted.

• It is very common to take at least one or two gap years before starting university. Students take that time to discover what they really want to study since once they start they cannot change.

• As a result of gap years, the average Fresher (name for a first year student) is older than freshmen in the USA.

• Very few students bring their laptops to class. Legal pads are very popular for note-taking.

• Most professors insist that you call them by their first name.

• At the end of the semester you do not review for the test, you revise.

• Classes, at least at Oxford-Brookes University, only meet one day a week for two hours. The two hours are usually split into lecture and seminar.

You Have To Live Here to Notice

There are many differences between the United States and the United Kingdom that are obvious and well known. Americans drive on the right, Europe on the left. The American subway is the English tube or underground. The United States has a president and the United Kingdom has a prime minister and a queen.

However, many of the differences are much more subtle and you probably would not notice many of them on just a short trip. You only notice these things when you live within the culture, like during study abroad. The following are some of the small differences I have discovered in the last few months.

• Regular white printing paper does not measure 8.5" x 11". Instead, the UK and most of Europe use A4 paper which measures 8.3" x 11.7"

• Sinks often have two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold. There is no way to combine the two to simply get warm water

• Power outlets have switches to turn them off and on.

• Pedestrians do not have the right of way in the UK. If you are crossing the street without a walk signal, cars will not slow down to let you cross.

• Instead of a solid or a gel, UK deodorant comes in either liquid roll-on or spray form.

• Blackcurrant, gooseberry, and rhubarb at quite common flavors in things like candy and yogurt.

• Students rarely use their computers to take notes in class. Notebooks, especially legal pads, are much more common.

• "You're mind is like a sewer" UK = "You're mind is in the gutter" US

• Many toilets have a button on top that you press to flush instead of a handle

• In the UK, cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fruit. The equivalent of American apple cider is cloudy apple juice.

• In the UK, a subway is a walkway underground. It often leads from the stairs from street level to the Tube (US equivalent of the subway).

A British Professor

It might seem a little strange to be writing a post about a person, and a teacher at that, but Peter Forsaith was big part my life while in Oxford. I hope that by writing this post I will be able to better remember him ten, twenty, thirty years down the road.

Photo by Sarah

During our time in Oxford, Dr. Peter Forsaith has been our liaison with Oxford Brookes University and our professor. When we stepped off the bus from Heathrow Airport he was there to greet us and help us with our luggage. He is an incredibly nice person who is always willing to answer our questions or refer us to someone who can.

He was our guide during the British Heritage trips we took in September to London, Stonehenge, Bath, Highclere Castle, Ironbridge and Salisbury. Throughout these trips he related historical facts to us about all of the places we were visiting. He also had the difficult task of keeping our group of 25 people together. He did this by holding his trusty yellow umbrella up high as a beacon for us to follow when moving from place to place. It was especially useful when we found ourselves in large crowds.

We have seen him nearly every week since we arrived since all people in my program were required to attend his class British Heritage and Culture. In that class he taught us about many British things: architecture, historical events, food, government and political parties, etc.

At our last class meeting this past Wednesday he brought wine, juice, and homemade mince pies for us to eat as a last mini-party as a group. There was no need for him to do this, but that is just the kind person that he is. It is so sad to think that I will probably never see him again, and if I do for some reason, we will not remember us, as is the way with teachers who have so many students over the years. There just isn't enough room in the mind to remember everyone.
In the four months that we have known him, we have found that Peter (British professors insist on being called by their first names) is quite the character, full of seeming contradictions that combined to make an intelligent and sweet man.

Some days he wore a lavender sweater vest with a pink collared shirt, others he wore his leather jacket and pants (when he had been riding his motorcycle). Our last day of class he even combined the two styles together by wearing his leather jacket with pale pink trousers. He thinks Harry Potter is rubbish and the Lord of the Rings is great. He is an atheist that studies Methodist history. He loves learning about architecture and collecting antique silver spoons.

This is a great example of how people come and go in our lives. The Oxford chapter of my life is ending soon, but I know that when a dust it off in the coming years to reminisce, Dr. Peter Forsaith will be a starring character in those memories.

There and Back Again...or Maybe Just 1/3 of the Way

Practically since we got to Oxford, Caitlin, Libby and I have talked about going to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when it came out in December. We ended up buying tickets online about two weeks ago and last night was the night. Amy has never read or even seen The Lord of the Rings (we have promised her a marathon when we get back to the US), and did not really understand our excitement, but she was a good sport and went along anyway.

Our first Tolkien reference of the day came in the form of a link posted by Libby on Facebook, The 13 Dwarves of The Hobbit, Ranked by Hotness. I am not sure how you could even go about ranking them, you can barely their faces under all of that hair. Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I all agreed that Number 2, Kili, was the most attractive. I have a bit of a problem getting past Number 1, Fili's braided mustache. The whole idea behind the article was strange, but very amusing for us.

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We went to dinner at a pub called The Eagle and Child. We have been meaning to go there for some time but last night was the perfect time to go. Why? Because this particular pub was a regular haunt for J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and other writers of the time. The group called themselves the Inklings.

I was afraid that the pub would be very crowded with people who had the same idea as us: go to eat at Tolkien's hangout and then go to see The Hobbit, so we went early at 5:30pm. There ended up being many free tables and a very short line to put in orders at the bar.

The Eagle and Child, sometimes called The Bird and the Baby by locals, is long and narrow with many  sitting alcoves. The table were made of dark wood with half of the seating being squat wooden stools and the other half green padded benches. It was cozy and inviting. I can see why someone would want to spend a lot of time there.

Caitlin, Libby and I all ended up ordering the same meal of chicken and mushroom pie and a Rekorderlig cider. This was the first time I have ever ordered an alcoholic drink before. So far on this trip I have just tasted things the others have bought. I ended up getting the Strawberry and Lime flavor. These ciders are palatable to me because they barely taste like alcohol (only 4.0%), are fruit flavored, and fizzy.

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We got to the cinema about fifteen minutes early to collect our tickets and find our seats. I don't know if this the same in all British cinemas or just the one we went to, but we had assigned seats. That is just strange to me. In the US, it is generally "first come, first served" so you want to be there a little early. We were a bit annoyed to find that our spots were in the very top row of the stadium seating. I swear that the diagram online when we chose our seats showed at least two or three rows behind us.

I was amazed by how many seats, maybe about 1/3, were empty when the lights dimmed at 7:00pm. It was supposed to be a full theatre. And then a learned why so many people were not there yet...there are fifteen minutes of commercials before even the previews start. Obviously they all knew that and most all of the seats were filled by the time the previews started.

Most of the movie previews looked good (Les Miserables, Life of Pi) while others looked like they would probably be pretty bad (i.e. Pacific Rim which looks like an amalgamation of Clash of the Titans, Transformers and the trend for apocalypse movies).

The movie itself was very exciting with lots of humor, action, and a few very touching moments. I have read and seen all three of the Lord of the Rings, but I have never read The Hobbit, so the plot line was a surprise to me. All I knew about it was that the aim of the quest was to kill a dragon, and somehow Bilbo finds the ring of power somewhere along the way.

The picture quality was absolutely amazing and it did great credit to the expansive shots of beautiful scenery. I loved all the details of the costumes and hair ornaments (dwarves have a lot of hair to keep up with).

The movie was over at 10:15pm, just around the time we were expecting. We walked to the bus stop just in time to see the U1 pull away. The next bus would not come for another thirty minutes so we decided to walk. It was actually relatively nice outside. The day's constant deluge had finally stopped and it was slightly warmer than it had been lately (40s as opposed to 30s). Four months ago the thirty minute walk from the City Centre to our dorm would have killed me. Now, it is just a nice stroll.

On our walk back Caitlin and Libby (both have read The Hobbit) discussed what would be in the next movie since this first one ended about half-way through the book. It seemed like there should only be one more movie, but when we got back to the room and checked, there are actually three movies in the series. At this rate there will never be a new season of Sherlock with the main actors all busy with other projects (the actor who plays Bilbo also plays Dr. Watson, and the voice of the dragon is done by the actor who plays Sherlock). 

From K1 to F14

To read about Flat K1, go here.

Way back in October, we (the entire group from High Point University) were told that we would be moving flats from Block K to Block F. Mold had been found in the structure of the building, probably caused by the extremely wet summer where everything was damp for months. Some people, including my flatmate Libby, had found mold in their bedrooms and reported it, leading to the discovery of the massive problem.

Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I actually found out about moving on a Monday while in the Dublin Airport waiting for our flight back to England. I had used the airport wifi to check my email on my iPod and saw that we would be moving. We were all really frustrated about this because we were finally all settled in, only to have to pack everything up and move it across Clive Booth Student Village to Block F. Staff members of the University were assigned to help us move our things on Wednesday, but many people had class that day or they just wanted to get out of their moldy rooms, so almost our entire group moved on Tuesday night, in the dark.

My basic strategy was to load up my suitcase with as much stuff as possible, not neatly, just quickly. All of my clothes stayed on their hangers and I just rolled all of my bedding up into a giant sausage so it would be easier to carry. It probably took me about three trips to move my entire room. Each trip I loaded myself down with my rolling suitcase and at least two bags stuffed full which were then emptied out onto my desk and bed for next trip. I think we managed to move our entire kitchen in one trip (pans,  plates, cutlery, perishable and nonperishable food) with three people carrying things.

Our new flat was such a mess after moving in with things just strewn everywhere. I am pretty sure it took longer to organize everything than it did to actually move. We were all exhausted by the time everything was relatively put away, but then we had to relearn were everything was stored in the kitchen.

Moving was really a pain, but we did end up with a better flat. Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I were assigned Flat F14 to share with the Warden (similar to a Resident Assistant). The Warden, Emily, basically has a flat within a flat. She uses our front door but within her room she has her own bathroom and kitchen so we rarely see her.

Block F is newly renovated with larger bedrooms and living room/kitchen than in Flat K1. Each of the bedrooms have their own a sink, plus there are two showers in separate rooms (though we only use one because the other tends to smell really bad). The showers are also much roomier that the coffin shower we were using before. The curtains are also much nicer here. They are cream with a red square pattern as opposed to the Southwestern 80s motel ones in K1.

I am in bedroom B which looks out onto the courtyard to the other side of Block F. Not a pretty sight, just concrete and a plain brick building. The room has a bed, desk, built in wardrobe, three shelves and pin boards. The only difference besides the size is the sink with its mirror and shelf, and the towel rack next to the sink. There is plenty of storage room for me, probably since most of my things fit inside one large suitcase. It is quite plain with off-white walls. The only really decoration is my postcard wall which shows most of the places I have traveled so far. I have my necklaces hanging up on the pin board over the bed.

The kitchen and living room is much larger. There is actually room for a separate sitting area as opposed the chairs lined up again the wall next to the door like in K1. The floor is new, but not the cabinets, which each open in opposite directions without any consistency. We also now have two fridges and two freezers. One fridge holds most of the food and the other just has drinks. The stove has a broiler on top of the oven, which I have learned to use to toast bread...and quesadillas...and frittata. I really like the broiler.

Right now we have it decorated a bit for Christmas. We bought a red and green table cloth and stickers to put on the windows. We originally wanted to try to make a mantel display with stockings above the radiator to simulate the fireplace, but it would be a lot of effort to put up decorations that we would have to take down in less than two weeks.

View from our kitchen door.    

Since we got to F14 we have had problems with some of our heating which all comes from radiators. Mine and Caitlin's radiators have never worked since we moved in, though we we put in a work order form some maintenance men just came a looked at them and nothing was ever done. We did not pursue it further since both of our rooms are next to bedrooms (Caitlin's is next to Amy's and mine is next to Libby's) which have working radiators so the heat seeps through the walls. My room tends to get extra hot because I have the hallway radiator on the other side of one wall and Libby's radiator on the other.

About a week ago it became a problem once more when Amy's radiator and the kitchen radiator both stopped working. This also meant that Caitlin's room was also freezing. While we were in Barcelona for the weekend the university staff brought mini radiators into Caitlin's and Amy's bedrooms until the heating could be fixed. 

Cue bunches of guys walking around our flat for two days while we are trying to study for final exams. The heat in the bedrooms finally started working last night, but the kitchen is still freezing cold. This is a disappointment since I enjoy sitting at the kitchen table doing work. Cooking anything is a pain until the stove has heated one section of the room up a little bit. Eating dinner is also amusing (though not really in a good way) as the food is cold almost directly after taking it out of the oven, and we have to be bundled up in sweaters and blankets to sit at the dining table to eat the food.

It will probably get fixed right before we leave for the United States as that just seems to be our luck.

Update Dec. 14 
Yesterday we moved the mini heaters out of Caitlin and Amy's bedrooms into the kitchen. After several hours, the heat moved up from freezing to bearable. This morning it was actually toasty in the kitchen and the radiator has begun working. I guess I was just being to pessimistic the other day about it not working again until it was time for us to leave      

A Reflection

Friends, family, and co-workers of my Nana, as this blog was originally created for my Travel Writing class, some posts are required assignments. This Reflection post is one of those. This is not the end of my blog posts about my study abroad experience, so check back in a bit to learn about my trips to the English countryside and to Barcelona, Spain.

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Today, I am 97 days into my semester abroad in Oxford. It is so hard to believe that I will be boarding a flight back to the United States in less than two weeks, ten days to be exact. When I arrived in September, four months seemed like such a long time, but it has flown by so fast.  

Living abroad had been such a great experience. There has been highs, and there has been lows, but I have learned so much about myself and the world in only four months.

I feel more like an independent adult. My semester abroad coincided with the start of my Junior year of college. It was disconcerting to think that I only had two full years before graduation and I would be thrust out into the "real world." Before leaving for college I had never spent more than two weeks away from home (a summer camp experience I never had a desire to repeat). Then, living in a dormitory is not the same as living on your own in an apartment. My time abroad has been my first real chance to live like an adult. I go to the grocery store, cook meals, clean, and make sure I get to places on time. I now know that I can function away from my parents, and outside the conveniences of High Point University (i.e. free laundry and printing, meal plan). This four month trip across the ocean has given me the confidence to consider looking for summer internships that would require me to live away from home.

I am capable of making traveling plans, and executing them. As a child, your parents plan all of your trips, deciding how to get there, when to leave, and where you are going to stay. Now, I know how to research hostels, book plane tickets, find attractions in the destination city (preferably free ones), and how to get to those attractions. Planning is incredibly stressful, and when unforeseen events through off those plans it is even worse. It is hard, but remaining calm and optimistic that things will work out, seems to be the best way to deal with things.    

I want to do more traveling when I am back in North Carolina. This is quite a strange feeling to me because I never liked traveling that much as a child, probably since it often involved long car trips or plane ride. With my tendency towards motion sickness, I was often miserable during the traveling portion of trips. I am also a bit of a homebody. I like being in familiar places where I can relax and be comfortable. After so much traveling throughout the UK and to Ireland and Spain, I understand the appeal of seeing new places. I am realizing that I have been going to college in High Point for two years and yet I have seen very little of the city and the two other nearby cities of Greensboro and Winston-Salem. I am hoping to make a goal of taking at least one day trip a month to see more of North Carolina. These could be hiking trips in the Spring, shopping trips to the huge antique mall in Charlotte, or trips to free museum days. I am also tempted to try out a hostel in the United States. Weekend trip to Charleston anyone?      

In the future, I think I can see myself living abroad, at least for a little while. I will admit, that I chose to major in International Business mostly because it would make me a well rounded in the areas of business since it covers more subjects than just a Business Administration major. I thought that it would help me to stand out from other applicants who only studied Business Administration, while I have some language and cultural knowledge. At the time, the idea of actually traveling to other countries, to conduct business in a formal setting where manners and cultural knowledge are of utmost importance, absolutely terrified me. I am still afraid of being rude to people, but now that I have some experience living outside of the United States it does not terrify me. At times I have even found myself imagining what it would be like to live in one of the places that we visited. For some reason, Cardiff, Wales seemed to pull at me the most as a place to live. I am not sure why since it is so rainy and cold most of the time, but the city itself was very beautiful and it is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Maybe I just felt I would have a better chance to get a job there, in a place that still speaks English but still has many cultural elements for me to learn about.

Living in a city is actually quite nice. Being raised in a small town, I always thought that I never would be able to live in a city, but there is so much more to see and do. I have found I really enjoy being able to walk to places instead of driving. I always thought that people in cities did not have access to nature, but there seem to be parks everywhere. Since living in Oxford, I spend much more time outside, whether it is walking to get somewhere particular, or just to think. It is so much easier find things to go out and do with your friends, or even on your own. At home, everything is so spread out that you have to choose a destination and plan around it to hang out with friends. In a city, stores are close together so you can just wander around with your friends and find things to do as you go.

Writing blog posts was a pain at times, but I know I will appreciate it later. When I first started my blog for my Travel Writing class, I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of writing three, 1000-word posts every week. I wondered how I would ever have enough to say to complete all those posts. Knowing I would need lots to write about, I began to pay more attention to my experiences, taking note of details like smells, sounds, tastes and feelings. Once I got into a routine, writing them was easier, but sometimes I would just want to go out and actually do something instead of sitting in front of a computer documenting what had already happened. Now, I am incredibly appreciative that I wrote down so many of my experiences so that in one, ten, thirty years down the road, I can look back at the person I am now and see how much I have changed.

It will be hard to go back to the United States. It seems like I have just got my bearings in Oxford and settled in, and now it is time to leave. I will miss all of the traveling and hearing ten different languages being spoken every time I go to the grocery store. Most architecture I will see once I get back will seem plain and boring after living in a city with buildings that are hundreds of years old. It will be so strange going back to the bubble that is High Point University, where most of my time will be confined to the college campus. I have no idea how I am going to be able to function with five classes, five days a week when I have had only four classes, three days a week for an entire semester. There will definitely be an adjustment period where I have to get used to the American, or at least North Carolinian, way of life again.

I am so happy that I was brave enough to turn in my deposit for this trip on that November day, over a year ago now. I know that this amazing experience has changed me in so many ways, and opened my eyes to the great world around me. The exact ways and to what extent are still to be determined. In the years to come I will learn many new things about myself, and I am guessing that many will be traced back to these four months when I experienced so very much.

Out and About in Oxford-Town: Part II

Monday

For our last day without Amy and Libby, Caitlin and I tried to visit some Oxford University colleges that were open to visitors daily for free. Note the tried in that statement. Our plans did not go as well as we had hoped.

Our planned journey, based on opening times and the location of the colleges, was to go to:

1) St. Edmund's Hall

2) Harris Manchester College

3) Wadham College

4) Hertford College

5) Exeter College

6) Lincoln College

St. Edmund's Hall ended up being closed to visitors, according to the sign. We probably could have just walked in and pretended like we belonged their but I wasn't really brave enough to try. We walked down the winding Queen's Lane which is only wide enough for one car and surrounded by stone walls on either side. It is a very peaceful road as there are more direct roads to take and it probably isn't one most tourists notice.

The day was sunny with puffy white clouds. It was a bit warmer than on Sunday (about 44 degrees Fahrenheit), especially in the sun. The backdrop of blue sky allowed me to get some really great photographs during our walks from college to college.

Queen's Lane

Radcliffe Camera and University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

Both Harris Manchester College and Wadham College also had signs saying that they were closed to visitors. This was very frustrating since they were supposed to open at that time. At least Wadham College was closed for a "special event" so it actually had a good reason for not wanting visitors wandering around.

Since we were already at Wadham College on Parks Road, we decided to walk further down towards the Pitt Rivers Museum to see if Keble College was open. It was not on our original list of places to go but since we had plenty of time to spare before the other colleges opened at 2pm, we gave it a try. 

It ended up being a great decision. There was no sign out front saying that it was closed so Caitlin and I just walked in. We were trying to be incognito and look like we were supposed to be there, so when we walked by a group of students talking, I tried to start talking about exams. It was a nerve-wracking at first, but when no one demanded that we leave, I relaxed. We walked around the grassy inner courtyard to the side opposite the entrance and sat on a bench.

Keble College is absolutely beautiful. Architecturally, it is very different from the older colleges lining High Street. Built in 1870, the building is considered quite new by Oxford University standards. The neo-gothic structure features walls with designs formed from the arrangement of red and beige bricks. I think its architectural beauty is definitely in competition with Magdalen College for the top spot in my mind. 

  

By the time we left Keble College, it was only about 1:15pm and none of the other colleges we planned to visit opened until 2pm. So, we took the less populated streets than run roughly parallel to High Street to West Gate Shopping center for a snack. Caitlin and Amy have gone to Shakespeare's, a shop that sells only milkshakes, several times since it opened and told me how good it was. 

There are lots of flavors to choose from but I tried Bakewell Tart (Bakewell tarts are a pastry bowl filled with jam, sponge cake, almond icing and topped with a maraschino cherry). The milkshake was literally ice cream blended with an actual Bakewell Tart until it reached milkshake consistency. I found the texture a bit strange, a bit lumpy from the blended tart instead of smooth like a typical milkshake. It was still very good though, and I drank it way to fast.

Caitlin was going to try Yule Log, a special Christmas flavor, but they were out of the ingredients so she got chocolate brownie flavor...hot. Yes, Shakespeare's sells hot milkshakes. It sounds really strange, but according to the woman working there, it works really well depending on the flavor (aka, chocolate brownie flavor = good, skittles = really bad). She described the drink as similar to a really creamy, indulgent hot chocolate. Next time we go I think I might be adventurous and try a hot Mince Pie milkshake.

Our college visits after our milkshake break went no better than it did before. Both Hertford and Exeter were closed to visitors, and I completely forgot about looking for Lincoln College. Caitlin was really disappointed about Exeter being closed because that was were J.R.R. Tolkien studied. We have seen things relating to Doctor Who and Harry Potter now, so it is only right that we should do something to add Lord of the Rings to that list. We just satisfied ourselves by agreeing to go another day.

Before stopping off at the grocery store for dinner supplies, we chose to take a final walk, this time down St. Giles Street, past the Martyrs' Memorial (where we met for the ghost tour on Halloween). We were in search of a cemetery. That sounds really strange but we have been meaning to find one since we got to Oxford. Reading gravestones and trying to imagine the life of the person buried there is a lot of fun, though it could be considered morbid as well.

War Memorial

There is a small cemetery next to the Martyrs' Memorial at St. Mary Magdalen Church but there is a fence around it. We continued down St. Giles Street, going farther than we ever have before. Along the way we noticed an open door to what appeared to be an Oxford University college. It ended up being St. John's College. We went into the small, circular inner courtyard paved in grey stone, but there was not anything to see. There wasn't even a bench to sit on. 

This little journey allowed us to see the City War Memorial which is still encircled with wreaths of plastic poppies put there during Remembrance Day on November 11. Beyond the Memorial we found our graveyard.

The graveyard was attached to St. Giles' Church, nestled between to busy streets. We stayed on the pathway and tried to read the weather-worn stones. I felt it would be disrespectful to go walking in the grass over the graves. The stones I could read were more recent than I had expected. Most were for people who died in the 1800s. It could be that this particular graveyard was more recent, or it was older and we just could not read the words on the more aged markers.

   

We covered a lot of ground in one day, visiting parts of Oxford we had never been to before. As there is only about three weeks left in the semester, I feel like my time to see everything is running out. I want to imprint the sights of Oxford into my memory so I can look back on them when I am back in the United States.

First Snowfall

In North Carolina (where I am from and go to college) anytime it snows is very exciting, even if it is no more than a dusting that has melted by midday. It always annoyed me when some of the Northerners at my college were so determined to break our good moods due to the snow by saying that that was no reason to be so excited. Well, it might not be a big deal to someone who gets feet of snow each winter, but to the rest of us Southerners it was something to be super excited about.

That little rant was all the precursor to me saying that to day in Oxford it SNOWED! Of course it was only a dusting that did not even cover the grass, but waking up to it still made me giddy. At least there is a bit of a reward for most of our flat being freezing cold right now.

I think all of the students studying here from my American university were all hoping that we would be able to experience snow in England. It seemed a bit unlikely since in the United Kingdom gets more snow in January and February than in December.

Out and About in Oxford-Town: Part I

This weekend Amy and Libby ventured to Paris via a nine hour, overnight coach ride to, as we say jokingly, "repair their friendship." As a result, Caitlin and I decided we had to do something fun while they were gone.

Sunday

We chose to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum for the second time. The first time we went (read more about it here) we only managed to see the ground floor because there were so many displays. Our goal this time was to finish the top two floors before trying to get some Christmas shopping done.

The sky was a soft blue with wispy clouds that were a welcome sight after so many days of clouds and rain. The temperature has finally dipped low enough (under 40 degrees Fahrenheit) for me to really feel the cold when outside. The frosty air numbs the fingers and ears if they are not covered properly.

Beyop

The first floor (second floor in America) of the museum was dedicated to more daily-life type artifacts like bags, body ornaments, baby carriers, games, and art. I never realized just how many ways human beings adorn their bodies. Necklaces, bracelets, finger rings, toe rings, headdresses, anklets, and waist adornments were all there.

The female members of the Adi of northeast India wore metal disks attached to a string around their waists. This ornamentation, called a beyop, was worn daily from the time the girl could walk until the birth of her first child.

Bags from around the world

The most interesting exhibits were about important stages in a person's life: childhood, puberty, and marriage.

The display on body modification was also very informative, though I already knew most of the basics about scarification and tattooing. One body modification I had not heard of before was head shaping, a practice normally found in African cultures. Mothers would use cloth or a specially made apparatus to gradually make their newborn baby's head more elongated. The reshaping process took several weeks of application for about fifteen minutes a day during the child's nap. Surprisingly, the information plaque said that the process is not harmful.

There were also several brightly colored silk shoes worn by Chinese women who had their feet bound on display in this section. I knew that their feet were small, but not that they were that small. The shoes looked like they would only fit the feet of little babies. I cannot imagine how painful it must have been for the women.

Further along the room were decorated eggs, and not just chicken eggs. There was a painted ostrich egg and some were very small and probably came from some kind of songbird. Each one was hand painted with incredible detail.

In this same section were paintings from different cultures. My eye was drawn to two African paintings done in purples, greens, and browns on a background of black paper. They depicted antelopes, warriors, and birds in a slightly abstract tribal style. I really like the thin, angular quality of the images where you can tell what they are without it being strictly accurate to porportions. The bright colors and spindly trees with poofs of leaves remind me of the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
   

The top floor did not have nearly as many artifacts as the two floors below. Its displays focused mainly on weaponry, armor, and fishing. There were bunches of guns, but I did not spend very long looking at them. All of the swords and daggers were much prettier and interesting, though I did make myself a little queasy imagining what being stabbed by one would feel like. I had two favorites among the swords and daggers. The first was a plain sword from Asia with a slightly curved blade, about three feet long, with a hilt made of beige twine. It's simplicity was very appealing to the eye. My other favorite was a dagger with a hilt made of a pale, milky blue stone.

As we were heading out of the museum past the national history section, I saw this guy gazing out of a glass display case.

Yeah, I know, super creepy, right? He looks like he should be the mischievous minion of some evil villain...or he could be just contemplating when to lunge forward and bite you on the nose.

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We (meaning mostly me) tried to do some Christmas shopping after the museum, but I just wasn't feeling it. There were just too many people everywhere and I did not know exactly what I was looking for. We mostly just ended up wandering around Primark, Apricot, and Miss Selfridge (all clothing stores) without buying anything.

When we got hungry, it was off to the Covered Market for sandwiches at a French deli. We ate there our first week in Oxford and thought it was good then. I had a panini with sundried tomato chicken, mozzarella and basil. It was a very good combination of flavors, filling but inexpensive.  

All of this was accomplished before 4pm. We spent the rest of the day sitting at our kitchen table writing blog posts and doing homework while having tea and cookies.   

Winter Wonderland and Volcanoes

Last week Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I spent our first true day in London since September when we went to see the changing of the guard. We have spent a little time wandering around the city before our train left for other places, but it just is not the same.

We had three goals for the day: Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland, the Victoria & Albert Museum and a dessert lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

We took the train into London Paddington Station in order to use our last BritRail day. The ride was uneventful until we were walking off the train and Amy realized she did not have her phone. She had been using it on the train so it was not left at the flat accidentally.

We went back to the train, found our coach and looked around the table we had been sitting at, but it was not there. We were afraid to stay on the train much longer for fear that it would start moving, so we got off to look for a booth or something where there might be a "Lost and Found."

Just then, a rail station employee carrying a sweater asked if we had lost something. Amy told him she was missing her phone and that it was blue. The man pulled it out of his pocket, but in order to give it too her she had to prove it was hers. Libby offered to call it and it was a few tense seconds waiting for the call to connect.

That was a very fortuitous end to what could have been a terrible event, especially for Amy who had to deal with her computer breaking earlier in the week. I do not know how much more bad luck she could have taken without a breakdown, one she would be completely entitled to.

We got to Hyde Park by memory and just chose a random path inside the park to follow since there were no signs telling use where exactly the Winter Wonderland was located. Then we saw a ferris wheel in the distance and used that as our destination point.

The first section of the Christmas area was a bunch of carnival rides. There were small roller coasters, fun houses, a carousel and a circular swing ride that took riders up at least 100 feet into the air. There were decorations of toy soldiers, garlands, and strings of lights. There was even an electronic mounted moose head that sang songs in German since the Winter Wonderland was supposedly modeled after the traditional Christmas markets of Germany.

It was strangely deserted since it was about 11am on a Monday and most children were at school. There were a few very young children running around with their parents. It just seemed wrong to be at a carnival without tons of children yelling and getting underfoot.

After the ride section were a bunch of small, log cabin style buildings, each about the size of a shed and decorated with green garland and lights. They sold Christmas ornaments, candles, jewelry, scarves, hats, and much more. There were also tons of food stalls, many more than I think was necessary, especially since most sold the same basic things. The most common foods were crepes, burgers, bratwurst, mulled wine, beer, waffles, and churros. A few stalls were dedicated solely to selling mountains of sweets like candy floss, truffles, fudge, and gummy snacks.

We made a full loop of the park before we decided to head out the Winter Wonderland's main entrance which was actually on the complete opposite side from where we entered. We paused to look at a map of Hyde Park to orient ourselves (the Park covers 350 acres) and take some time taking pictures of the Serpentine River and its many types of waterfowl. Some people were feeding the birds so there were bunches of them ranging from ducks to swans to pigeons waddling around on the sidewalk.

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Exiting Hyde Park, we followed Libby's defective Google maps directions down a bunch of residential streets trying to get to the Victoria & Albert Museum. We found it eventually, though there had to have been a more direct route to get there.

The Victoria & Albert Museum, founded in 1852, is huge, covering 12.5 acres and containing clothing, sculpture, ironwork, furniture, jewelry, paintings, textiles, glass, and other artifacts. I wanted to go to the museum to see its fashion exhibits. The fashion exhibit displayed styles from different eras from the 17th century up to haute couture of modern fashion. It was amazing to see how complex and detailed women's clothing was in the past.

I have done several reports involving women's undergarments, corsets in particular, so I knew what most of them were in the displays. However, there was one undergarment I had never heard of before. This was a piece of fabric stuffed with feathers or something similar, then worn around the upper arm to support large, puffed sleeves.

We spent several hours wandering the museum looking at some paintings, ironwork and jewelry. In those hours we probably only covered a very small portion of the large building. It would be amazing to be able to go on a regular basis and see each of the 145 different galleries.

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Every since Libby learned that there was a Rainforest Cafe in London, she has really wanted to go. I guess there used to be one near her house and she would go there every year for her birthday party. According to my mom, I have been to a Rainforest Cafe in California before, but I do not remember it.

Walking into the building, you are inside of a gift shop with stuffed animals, books, and other trinkets. You have to go to the back of the store and downstairs to get to the restaurant. The eating facility is decorated just like the rainforest. The ceiling is covered in fake foliage extending from fake trees. There are rocks, small ponds, and animatronic animals that move every once in a while. 

We were sat at a table right next to two gorillas. About every ten minutes they would start making gorilla noises and beating their chests. The novelty of the experience wore off after the second round of movements and just became a little irritating.

The food was all really expensive (we were going there for the atmosphere, not the food) so we bought two desserts: Eaton Mess Cheesecake and a Volcano. Yes, we did have dessert for lunch. 

A Volcano is a large bowl of ice cream,  brownie, marshmallows, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. It is served with an actual sparkler, like the ones you get on the Forth of July. I felt it was overpriced, even though it was large, because there was barely any brownie and the strawberry ice cream used tasted like the really cheap kind that is made totally from artificial flavors. 

Photo by Libby

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We ended the day's trip to London with a stop off at Hope and Greenwood Sweet Shop. We all bought a mixture of the shop's homemade hard candies. All four of use got Cherry Bakewell flavor. Amy then got Lemon Meringue, Caitlin and Libby got Birthday Cake, and I got Ginger Beer. 

The young man working there was completely adorable. He had dark hair cut short on the sides and long on the top, and black, thick-framed glasses. We had a good conversation with him about all of the flavors and his personal favorites (He likes Ginger Beer best). He ended up giving us several free samples to take with us to try the flavors (Rose and Lychee, Sunshine Festival, Sugar Plum, and Treacle Tart).

So far I have tried Rose and Lychee, Sunshine Festival, Sugar Plum. Rose and Lychee was pink and tasted like eating pure sugar tinted with rose flavoring. Sunshine Festival was a pale yellow and fizzed a little on the tongue. It was more tropical flavored like mango. Sugar plum was a purplish maroon color and tasted pretty similar to a grape tootsie pop. It had a chocolate center and everything.      

Oxford Fashion

I have to say that I generally prefer the fashion I see here in Oxford over that I would be seeing at my school in America. At my American school, the majority of people dress in a more preppy-greek life style. This would be things like polos, Lily Pulitzer dresses and boat shoes. People do dress nicer there than on most American college campuses, but you will still see people going to class in sweatpants. I rarely see people in sweats in Britain and when I do, it is normally a track suit with matching pants and jacket so it was an obvious fashion choice (this was much more common in Dublin, Ireland than in Oxford).

Fun Fact: In Britain, "pants" means "underwear." The American type of "pants" would be "jeans" or "trousers" in the UK. 

Young people in Britain are overall better dressed than college students in the United States. If you are going out of your house, you wear actual clothing, not sweats, workout clothes or pajamas, unless you are actually working out. I do still see some fashion "don'ts" when I am out and about, though the worse is when girls wear leggings as pants. Girls do it all the time in the States too, and it just really bothers me because leggings are just thick tights, not pants. In order to wear leggings, your top must completely cover your rear end. You wouldn't go running around wearing just a pair of tights and a top, would you?

Some things that would be fashion "don'ts" in America, are actually quite common here, probably since they are several seasons ahead of us trend wise, and the weather is also different. For one, mixing prints is not unusual. Girls can wear a cheetah print scarf with a winter-themed sweater and not look strange. It is also quite common to see girls wearing tights with their shorts. This would be a pretty Hipster in the United States. Short's weather occurs for such a small amount of time here that they need to extend to use of them. Though, I think if it is cold enough that you have to wear leggings with your tights, then you should probably just put on a pants.

Girls wear a variety of shoes from flats to boots to wedges and heels. Actually, a surprising number of girls walk around in short-heeled boots and wedges which is unfathomable to me. It is pretty much guaranteed that you will have to walk a lot if you are going somewhere in Oxford and I definitely would not be able to do such a large amount on walking without my feet flat on the ground.

I was quite surprised how well young men dress here. At home, most of the time they are wearing sports shorts or jeans and a basic shirt, unless they have to dress nicer for a specific event. In Britain, it seems like guys more commonly wear nicer jeans or slacks, button-down shirts, and loafer type shoes.

Now, the shoes are a big deal to me. You can tell a lot about a man from the type of shoes he wears, whether he is a skater, prep, or more athletic type. Last year my friend and I would sit in our student center boy watching, but, you had to look at their feet first and determine how attractive they would be from their shoes. There was definitely an overabundance of tennis shoes, boat shoes and flip-flops. I rarely see men wearing tennis shoes in Oxford. Instead, they wear nicer sneakers in dark, solid colors, loafers, or brogues.

To the right is a picture I attempted to take discretely of a well dressed young man I saw waiting at the bus stop. Since Amy did not know what I was doing, her head kept popping up in the shots. ------------>

Thick knitted scarves and deep plum colored skinny jeans also seem quite popular for men right now. Many of them wear at least some gel in their hair to give it just a bit of spikiness. A pretty popular hairstyle is to have the hair cut shorter on the sides and longer on top. The top layer is then brushed to the side (similar to the man in the photo) or gelled up a bit.

I think that men dress nicer in the UK, and Europe in general, because dressing well is not stigmatized as being unmanly. Oxford just seems full of attractive young men, many more than I ever noticed at my American college. Their skills at dressing nicely probably is playing a large part in making them appear more attractive to me.

Many people are also wearing traditional clothing from their home countries. Muslim women wearing their headscarves (sometimes plain, other times brightly colored or decorated with sparkles) are an everyday sight, though women wearing niqab (a cloth, normally black, which covers the face and head leaving only the eyes visible) are rarely seen outside of major cities like London.

When I am back in the United States, I will miss all of the varieties of clothing I will get to see when I walk to class. People watching is much more interesting and culturally enriching here. It feels like I am learning a bit while wasting time.

Imagine Dragons Concert

I can now say that I have been to three music concerts in my life (not counting those put on my school). The first two were the rapper B.o.B. and the Fray, at my American school. The B.o.B. concert was really not any fun, partially because rap is not my kin of music. We had to wait over an hour and a half before he came on, and then he only sang for about thirty minutes. He did not sound very good, on top of the fact that he was very rude to the crowd.

The Fray was a much better show as they sound great in concert and engaged the audience to clap and sing along. The problem with that concert was the crowd who were shouting at inappropriate times and many of them were drunk.

My third concert was to see Imagine Dragons, an alternative rock band from Utah. It took place at a club called the O2 Academy in Oxford, so I can also say that I have been to a club, though not for the purpose of clubbing. The club was smaller than I expected with black walls, a bar, and a stage. There was even a smoke machine that emitted clouds of white even before the performance started.

As more people piled into the room the air became sweltering. At the beginning the room smelt strangely like sawdust or wood chips but gradually changed to the smell of sweaty people too close together.

The pre-band that performed was called The Escapists. They were more of a typical rock band with a leader singer playing guitar, two more guitarists and a drummer. I thought that the drummer looked a little like Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother but with black, thick-framed glasses. 

Most of their songs were a few shouted lyrics followed by long guitar and drum rifts. The little bits of the lyrics that I could understand sounded descent, but their music was just too loud and angry for me. They played for about twenty minutes and all of the songs sounded basically the same with little variety.

When Imagine Dragons came on stage and performed, they were amazing. The lead singer was very into his music, dancing around and gesturing. You could tell he loved what he was doing and was having a great time. He engaged the audience, encouraging us to sing along and clap.

Photo by Libby

The lead singer was adorable (despite the fact that his haircut featured a rat tail). He told us about how they had dreamed about coming to the UK to perform but they feared that they were going to show up to the club and there only be five people there. I think he was tearing up a little as he said that and I am sure all of the girls were thinking, "Awww. How sweet."

I ended up recognizing a number of the songs played just from hearing Amy, Caitlin and Libby listen to them on their computers. Some of them included "Radioactive," "On Top of the World," and "Demons." They were a good mix of tempos and song subjects. Some of the songs even sounded a bit more folky mixed with rock which kept the performance from being boring. It was a lot of fun singing, dancing, and watching the singer bounce around the stage.

There was even an encore that ended with probably thirty seconds of flashing strobe lights. I had to close my eyes, but it did not block the lights at all. I was relieved when they stopped because the flashing combined with the heat was starting to make me feel lightheaded.

We stand for a little while after the performance so Amy and Libby could buy posters. They did manage to get the autograph of one of the guitarists but none of the other members came out to sign things.

Everything seemed very quite when we got outside. I am sure I was talking quite loudly as my hearing gradually adjusted to not being overloaded with a constant flow of loud noise. It was a great night and it taught me that concerts can be of lots fun when the performers and the crowd are respectful of each other and work towards having a good time.

Cadbury World and More Paintings

If you are an American and you hear the phrase, "The World of Chocolate," you probably think of Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. If you are British you probable think, "Cadbury World."

This attraction dedicated to chocolate is located in Bournville, outside of Birmingham. We took the long scenic route from the train station around a large brick building that turned out to be the factory. Despite being a relatively sunny day, there was barely anyone around. On the ten minute walk we probably saw about four people walking and passed a children's football (soccer) game.

I guess most of the people were just already inside the factory, as the lobby was full of families with young children. Some where buying sugary sweets from the gift shop while others waited for their tour time to be called. The lobby was decorated in shades of purple and grey. The employees wore button-down shirts with stripes of violet, lilac, and lavender which I thought looked very nice.

The first part of the tour took us through decorated rooms showing the history of chocolate and the Cadbury family. The first room was decorated like a jungle with trees, rocks, and even a small pool to resemble South America during the arrival of Cortez. Cacao was an important part of Aztec religion and daily life.

From there we moved throughout the centuries as chocolate was introduced to the Spanish monarchs and eventually became a delicacy of the aristocracy. In the early 1800s, John Cadbury began to sell drinking chocolate along with tea and coffee in his shop in Birmingham, England. His business grew and in 1861 his two sons, Richard and George, decided to establish a factory in a stretch of farmland outside of Birmingham. This land was named Bournville and the Cadbury brothers built a village around the factory to house their employees. There were cottages, bath houses, a church and recreation fields for both men and women.

Next up was a winding path through the actual factory. The factory was not in operation that day which  made looking at all of the equipment a little boring. Though, we did get another candy bar and a small cup of melted chocolate on the walk. The melted chocolate was smooth and very rich. It probably took me ten minutes to finish the little thing, but that is just because I like to savor sweets.

After buying a few treats in the gift shop we headed outside and around the factory building, past a massive playground with swings, twisty slides, and more, to the Essence of Cadbury. A small group crowded into a room and watched a humorous dramatization of how Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate was discovered. It definitely was not historically accurate. The real reason people went to it was to get more melted chocolate afterwards. This time you got about 1/8 of a cup of chocolate and one topping like marshmallows or shortbread crumbles. We sat outside in the sun, but none of us managed to eat that much chocolate even though we wanted to eat it all.

The factory was in a very large building, but it still didn't seem large enough to produce the amount of chocolate I feel like they must have too. I am not positive, but I think the factory in Bournville is the only one to produce Cadbury chocolates for Europe (Hershey's produces Cadbury branded chocolate in the United States).

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At this pointed it was only early afternoon so we took the train back into Birmingham for dinner. Since there was about 45 minutes until closing time, we hurried to the Birmingham Museum since it was not a far walk from the rail station. I knew nothing about what the museum was about. I just wrote down the directions in case we needed something extra to do.

It ended up being a great decision because the new exhibition was titled, "Love and Death: Victorian Paintings from Tate," which turned out to feature mostly Pre-Raphaelite artists. The main attraction was "The Lady of Shalott" by John William Waterhouse. The painting is probably one of England's most famous, and it is by my favorite artist.

"The Lady of Shalott" is a very large painting, five feet tall and six and a half feet wide. I never imagined that it was so large. It is strange to be standing in front of something real after seeing so many picture of it. Seeing famous paintings in person probably would have a greater effect of me than seeing a celebrity in person.

The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse

The gallery also exhibited a John William Waterhouse painting that I had never seen before, titled, "St. Eulalia." It is not one of the paintings that normally come up when you search the internet for Waterhouse's paintings. It is different than most of his other ones in that it depicts a more religious scene as he normally deals with characters from the tales of King Arthurs and Mediterranean mythology.

The painting shows the body Eulalia, a young Christian girl who was tortured and killed by the Roman rulers for her faith. When she died, it is said that a white dove flew from her mouth, often seen as a symbol of her soul, and it began to snow, the whiteness covering her naked body.

St. Eulalia by John William Waterhouse

All of the paintings were beautiful and pleasing to my personal aesthetic. It was really difficult to try to absorb all of the details while still rushing to see everything before the museum closed. It turned out to be a great day full of sunny weather, sweet treats, and beautiful art.

Christmas Markets and a Round Table

Considering the fact that Christmas lights have been up in Oxford since before Halloween, you would think that the holiday season in England would be magical, but so far I have just been a little disappointed and confused.

Friday night was a Christmas parade and festival in Oxford City Centre. We were planning on going to see a male a capella group at 6pm and then watch the parade. With Thanksgiving over, we were all excited to get in the Christmas spirit.

Our bus was supposed to get us into the city centre with just enough time to walk to the stage. Unfortunately, the bus was fifteen minutes late due to traffic and it was nearly 6:30pm by the time we made it even half way down the festival street because of the crowds.

We ended up pausing on a sidewalk to watch the parade. The parade was not very exciting, just grade school children holding paper mache lanterns following a small band that was playing carols. Some of the paper mache creatures were cool including a large polar bear, emperor penguins, and two birds that were rigged up to flap their wings when the person carrying it pulled on a string.

I understand that there were no floats since the streets are so narrow, but no one was even dressed up in silly things like reindeer antlers. There was also a disappointing lack of carol singing. I am wondering if that is they only Christmas parade they have or if there is a bigger one closer to Christmas.

Once the little parade of children passed us we followed behind them looking for the stage, even though the a capella group would have finished a while earlier. We had to avoid a carousel and a ferris wheel that rotated way to fast in my opinion, all while pushing through the tons of people squeezed together between two rows of tents. Some tents sold food like Spanish paella, roasted meat, brautwursts, and olives in bulk. There were also craft booths with jewelry, ornaments, and scarves.

I really dislike large crowds because I feel like I can't move freely. The fact that it was dark outside made it even more difficult to maneuver, forcing Caitlin, Amy and I to hold hands to avoid losing each other. By the time we forced our way to the stage we were ready to go home, but then a rock version of "What a Wonderful World" started playing as a giant paper mache sun attached to window cleaner machine rose up into the air. When the song was finished, flashing sparks shot out from behind the sun, illuminating much of the street.

This made no sense to any of us. Wasn't this supposed to be a Christmas festival? What does rock music and a giant sun have to do with a winter holiday? It was just really strange all around.

I don't feel like this festival and parade could be classified as Christmas themed, maybe just winter themed. Perhaps it is because people are not as religious here, plus there are many more people of different religions here who probably do not celebrate the Christian holiday. The only really exciting part about the night was seeing the lights strung up over the streets finally turned on. Some of them have been hanging up since before Halloween. I like the ones shaped like chandeliers best, but the one in the shape of a tandem bicycle is also pretty cute.

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Then on Saturday we went to the Winchester Christmas Market. Winchester is known as the "Christmas Capital of England," so we had pretty high expectations of it being a Christmas wonderland decked out in lights and garland.

The weather was absolutely miserable. It had been raining almost constantly for several days with flooding causing delays for the transportation systems. This wasn't just a sprinkling like usual. It was a steady rain that would get you soaked without an umbrella or rain jacket.

On our way from the rail station to the Christmas Market we stopped at the Great Hall of Winchester Castle to see King Arthur's Round table. I was surprised to find that the table was mounted on a wall. The 18 foot in diameter, 2,645 pound circle of oak has actually been hanging from the wall for at least 400 years. Around its outer edge are the names of Arthur's twenty-four knights.

I loved the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as a child. Though there is of course a lot of debate on whether or not he actually existed, to see what could have been the actual Round Table was amazing. Seeing places and things from stories makes them seem so much more real and vivid.      

Next we made our way through the rain to Winchester Cathedral where the booths for the Christmas Market were set up. Since the market lasts for over a month, the booths are not in tents, but instead in small wooden buildings about the size of a storage shed. They were decorated in green garland and lights. One stand near the entrance sold garlands made from dried citrus fruit and cinnamon sticks. It smelled delicious, like cookies and other goodies. There were candles, soaps, ornaments, clothing, and other items being sold. One section featured just food stalls selling hot chocolate, roasted peanuts and chestnuts, meat sandwiches and bratwurst.

The market was smaller than we were anticipating with only about thirty little booths arranged in a circle around the small ice skating rink. It was difficult to even see the items for sale because of the need to avoid hitting other people or their umbrellas with our own umbrellas. Our look around yielded nothing tempting enough to buy so we decided to wander down the main road until we found the River Itchen which was rushing swiftly, swollen with rainwater until it almost reached the path.

We took a stroll along the river looking for Wolvesey Castle which is really ruins. The walk was nice and we pause often to take pictures. When we found the entrance to the castle grounds the gate was closed, probably due to the rain. We settled for reading the sign outside the entrance telling use a bit about the castle's history. There is a house on the grounds where someone still lives.

We eat lunch at a small cafe, taking the time for our clothes and umbrellas to dry while sitting on a cozy couch which served as the chairs for a small table. Some more wandering yielded nothing more of interested so we headed to the rail station at about 4pm.

We were all ready to make our way back to Oxford and our warm flat but the train we were planning on taking was canceled due to "a shortage of train crew." We asked the man at the ticket window how we could get back to Oxford, the next train we had written down to take would not come for another hour, and we told use quickly to "take the 4:16pm, get off at Basingstoke and Reading."

Now, this was confusing to us so Amy asked him if he could repeat himself, and when he did, Amy repeated it back to him for clarification. He just said rudely, "That's what I just said," but the way he gave the directions was confusing. We just hoped we were correct in think that he meant take the 4:16 train to Basingstoke, get off and board another train to Reading, and then in Reading switch to a train headed for Oxford.

Our journey which would have been simple and straight to Oxford became one with three trains and two changes. Each of the legs of the trip were just long enough for you to finally relax when you would have to get off again. We ended up having to literally run to catch the train from Basingstoke to Reading and then wait half an hour for the train to Oxford to arrive. Then, of course, because this always seems to happen, the bus that would take to our flat arrived at the same time our train did. That was 30 more minutes of waiting in the Oxford train station for us.

I guess it was bound to happen some time since we have been so lucky with our transportation so far on our trips. The annoyance of it was just magnified by the fact that Winchester was a bit of a disappointment in the Christmas department and the three of use were a bit irritable from being wet and cold.