I know I promised a story of my daring adventure in Christ Church college, but I'm hungry and it's still (relatively) fresh after Thanksgiving, and the exciting tale really deserves its own post, so I thought I'd do a Thanksgiving post instead.
For turkey day, the American visiting students all arranged a meal held at the house of the students from Columbus State University in Georgia. There are 14 of us visiting students from the US, from Macalester (okay, I'm the only one), Columbus State, Georgetown College Kentucky, and William Jewell College in Missouri. They're a fun bunch and we get together every weekend for exclusive, American-style pizza, complete with lots of guns and gross American beer.
We decided it was necessary to really go all out and have a proper meal, which was helped by the fact that the Columbus students have a retired professor from their college living with them who was experienced in Turkey-making. Being a vegetarian, I didn't have any of that, but there were great mashed potatoes, cornmeal, stuffing (made without chicken stock; it was great), and - most importantly - lots and lots of wine.
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It was a fun time, and even if I didn't get to eat any turkey, the house still smelled like delicious bird in the hours before it was ready, so it was a true Thanksgiving experience! The full set can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davish/sets/72157622809607553/
The term is, today, officially over, and it's gone well. I had 8 weeks of learning the ins and outs of the Crusades, and it was very intense, to the point where I really do feel like I could talk at length and relatively authoritatively about them, which is often something I can't say about certain history topics. This is probably helped along by the fact that it was for the most part a political history class, which means what I really learned was a series of good stories with vivid characters and lots of political intrigue. Studying cultural history as I often do, this is a bit of a commodity, and it's certainly nice!
I also took 4 weeks of Latin, reading and discussing Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, "History of the Kings of Britain". Geoffrey was a 12th century English cleric who was the first to write down the Welsh legend of King Arthur, and it's Geoffrey's Arthur that most later literature (like Thomas Malory) is based on. I certainly got some rigorous practice with my Latin, and I am a lot better at scanning and understanding sentences' meaning fairly quickly. And to appease Dave Oosterhuis, I also have to say that I am not turning into a typical Medievalist with regard to my Latin - I learned to recognize certain constructions very quickly and (most importantly) accurately.
While Oxford tutorials certainly do take up a ton of time and energy, I have had time to get about and have fun, read for pleasure from time to time, and hang out with people. I've also had time to go around and take some pictures of Oxford, go to the pub, catch a movie, and generally have a good time.
Right around the corner from Regent's Park lies the Eagle and Child, a pub which is famous for being the place where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to get together and discuss literature. It's a pretty quiet pub, but it's a nice place to sit and enjoy a cider and maybe read a book, as it's small and doesn't get too loud.
I was also able to walk around the Oxford University Parks and take some photos back when I first arrived and the weather was still rather warm. The conclusion we all reached was that Oxford is essentially the Shire.
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For the full set (including photos of the official Regent's death couch!) click here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davish/sets/72157622934177994/
Now that winter is just about here, the weather in Oxford is turning chilly and the days short. The temperature is a bit warmer than Minnesota, and not as painful when windy, but the biggest difference is the number of hours of sunlight. England is quiet a ways north - far further than Minnesota is, so the sun starts going down here around 3:45 or 4:00 here each day. It's a bit disorienting, since it's further north than the temperature would suggest.
Winter being nearly here also means that I'm done with my term, though. Expect more proper blog updates - I hope to do one detailed entry for each college/church I've visited - so stay posted. Tentative plans include maybe going to Ireland and then Scotland for a few days, since England all but shuts down around Christmas while Edinburgh stays alive.
More to come!
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