Cream Tea and Henry Fielding

Just finished the second week of my Primary Tutorial. I was extremely nervous about this one, because I felt like my essay was crap. Perhaps it was the subject I was writing on. For those of you who aren't familiar with Samuel Richardson's Pamela, don't get familiar. Over 500 pages of a girl trying to stay virtuous. I don't buy it. Which was what my essay was on. I am completely anti Pamela, and (I can't believe I'm saying this) would love to read Fielding's Shamela just to see this excellent "example" of an innocent woman put down. Anyways, I did all right. It is incredibly unnerving to have your essay read aloud by an Oxford tutor, waiting for him to pause and correct you or point out flaws in your prose. Extremely nerve-wracking. I told him I had a much more difficult time in writing about Pamela than I did Moll Flanders. Perhaps because Moll was just one step above being a prostitute and actually had a somewhat interesting life...unlike Pamela. My tutor said that I listened to his suggestions, tightened my prose, and improved my essay this week. Interesting. Didn't realize that, but thanks!

The second greatest discovery of my time at Oxford is Cream Tea. Basically, after my tutorial I was hungry so I went to Combibo's for a snack. With Cream Tea you get a cup of tea, a warm scone, with butter, jam, and clotted cream (the greatest invention in the history of the universe). I sat and read Tom Jones in Combibo's for about an hour and felt very intellectual. Which is what I should actually be doing now if I want to continue being able to go out during the week in the Oxford tradition.

Eucatastrophic Moments

I had every intention of continuing where I had left off. However, what they don't tell you about the Oxford system is that you will appear to have so much free time, while actually having none. Two tutorials a week doesn't sound so bad...but when you wake up at 9 and don't stop working until 11 at night, things like blogging and phoning home tend to get pushed aside for the time being (sorry fam).

Anyways, my first tutorial was today. It was exciting, terrifying, and thrilling all at once. I have already decided that being an Oxford tutor might in fact be my dream job. How exactly does one accomplish this? This tutorial was on Oxford Fantasists. And yes...I spent my first tutorial discussing Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. But it didn't end there. Through the course of an hour we also discussed The Hobbit as a traveler's tale (There and Back Again), Tolkien's eucatastrophic moments: including when the Elves come during the Battle of Helm's Deep, when Gandalf comes at dawn, and when the eagles come. Excellent. We also discussed Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland as well as the Disney version. The fact that I am at Oxford discussing fantasies and children's stories kind of makes my life.

On a fascinating note, I discovered (in truth, as I have heard rumors) that the gardens in the Alice stories were based on the Worcester gardens. My life basically rocks. On the other hand, I still have 70 pages of Moll Flanders to read as well as write an essay on by Friday...so perhaps things aren't perfect, but I'm not complaining.

Tonight there is a "Booze and Bangers" party for English people at the Big Bang Restaurant. I don't really know what this involves other than I was told to bring a bottle of wine and that sometimes things get a bit rowdy and we are forced to leave the restaurant. Interesting. These Oxford kids really know how to have fun I guess. I am not overly thrilled by the Bangers portion of the night, as everyone who knows me should know...I don't eat sketchy meat. But, hopefully its nothing to worry about. After all, so far the food has been absolutely divine. Particularly when compared to Stonehill's selection. Ironically, you typically only get one choice for dinners and lunches...but it is always bangin'. My first formal hall was on Saturday night and it was a delicious three course meal: risotto, quail, and pudding. Yum. Speaking of Yum, if anyone is every in Oxford get a Yum Yum. They are the most amazing real donuts I have ever had. No idea what the name of the bakery is...but its super close and delicious. Another prized food recommendation are the food trucks. Always a great late night snack, always get chips (don't embarrass yourself and order fries) with salt and vinegar. It seems my blog has turned into a food review of Oxford, but I have one final recommendation. Tesco's. Most amazing store ever. You can buy a million things for just 20p, and they have super cool reusable burlap bags that say I "heart" Oxford.

It's Moll Flanders time. Bring on the Defoe.

How to Cover an Epic Week in 20 Minutes

I promised myself before I left that I would update my blog as often as possible. Of course, as anyone could have predicted...I haven't even thought about it since I left. And now...with only twenty minutes before I have to hop on a bus to meet with my tutor (at his house) for the first time, I've decided to attempt to cover on of the most epic weeks in a 20 minute time slot.

Sept. 30

Began as a frustrating day. Ash and I went out exploring, got incredibly lost, and ended up stumbling upon Soho...kind of. We were told the area of Soho we were in was the closest the UK comes to a red light district. Great. We ended up finding the cool Soho later on though and it was amazing. We then stumbled upon Piccadilly Circus, St. James's Park and Palace, Buckingham Palace, and finally made it back to the hotel. We had dinner at Porters with IFSA kids and I was introduced for the first time to Spotted Dick (amazing).

The night ended with a drink at the Crown and Anchor with Ashley in Covent Gardens, which is amazing. It was our snooty pub night where everyone was drinking wine and looking intellectual.

Oct. 1

Began with meetings and presentations. Apparently I was meant to live in England because conservative politics (as we think of conservative politics) does not exist there. Even the Tories are semi Liberal. Love it. They don't understand how issues like gay rights, abortion, and the death penalty exist in the US because they don't mix religion with politics at all.

We were also advised to dress in black and try to tone down the noise (as British people tend to be much more reserved and quiet than us Americans). Apparently British people also have the idea that all Americans are gun toting. We were told to expect questions about whether we have ever fired guns before. We were also given a safety talk by an ex-London police officer. He told us about his trip through Europe as a kid our age when he was mugged three times, had his passport stolen, and wound up in an Italian jail because he was sleeping in the subways. He was able to escape because the Italian police had to go out for pasta and left the door to his cell open.

Oct. 2 Highlights:

-Lunch at Tas (Turkish Restaurant)

-Walking tour of Soho, Chinatown, and the city of Westminster

-Coach and Horses pub in Soho

-Walked by the Hare Krishna dancing and chanting down the streets in Soho

-Dinner in Neal's Corner in Covent Garden at Piazetta (coolest area ever).

Oct. 3 Highlights:

-Tower of London

-Globe Theater

-Millenium Bridge (of HP6 fame)

-Walk by St. Paul's, London Eye, House of Parliament and Big Ben

-Westminster Abbey is closed on Sundays....ugh. Just another excuse to go back to London

-Harrod's

-Walk by Royal Albert Hall, Prince Albert Memorial, and Kensington Gardens

-Always get to an attraction an hour before closing or they won't let you in...even if they sell you tickets.

-Kensington Palace is being transformed

-Peter Pan Statue

-Speaker's Corner where we thought we were about to witness a riot...but didn't

-Animals in War memorial (no idea where this is or how we ended up there)

-Dinner at il Castelletto (yummy yummy yummy)

Oct. 4 Highlights:

-Someone in the hotel decides to use the fire exit door so the fire alarms go off for 10 minutes and the elevators won't work for over a half hour. Thus, we had to lug our luggage down four flights of stairs. Great.

-Met the visiting student tutor Dr. Elisabeth Dutton.

-Found out our tutorials, mine are: The Rise of the Novel and Oxford Fantasists

-Drinks/Dinner/Student Bar/Clubbing with the JCR reps

Hmm...caught up almost. We are in Fresher's Week at the moment so things are incredibly crazy. There are club nights every night as well as millions of activities during the day with the Fresher's and JYA students too. All in all....Worcester College in Oxford is amazing. You know it is when everyone starts chanting the name at a club while making the "whatever" sign.