Sometimes, I have to take a moment to take a deep breath....and then remind myself that, at the end of the day, my sole obligation here at Oxford is to show up to class 4 hours a week. It's funny how fast time seems to go by -consider that I've been here for seven weeks already - and I think it's mostly due to the amount of things that are constantly going on here. Now, I'm not complaining a bit; after an undergraduate career that essentially consisted of school and lots and lots and LOTS of volleyball, it's nice to be able to take part in so many new things, but man, do they pile up!
This past week was a study in that phenomenon of Oxford extracurricular time lapse. After I wrote my last blog, I went to dinner with my classmates at a Chinese restaurant in town, and then headed off to hear a talk on China's nuclear development and policy from one of the noted experts in the world, who just happens to be teaching at Oxford (naturally). That led naturally to a pub discussion with some friends, and then a late hour that necessitated bed.
After a workout on Friday morning, I managed to do some work before lunch with Joe and class, and then rushed off to pick up my bike from the shop. This is somewhat of a tangent, but I would just like to point out that I must've perpetrated some serious crimes against a bicycle in a past life, because my cycle here seems to have karmic retribution in mind. Only three days after the second lock I've bought broke completely, the chain snapped off, and I had to walk it almost a mile to a shop to have a new one put on...but I digress. Anyway, I then headed off to meet friends at Rhodes House, where another Rachel has been teaching us American Sign Language. I've always enjoyed studying different languages, and I'm fascinated by the intuitive nature of the visual signs, so I ended up staying afterwards to get some practice in before heading off to dinner with friends and yet again ending up in a random intellectual conversation in a pub.
Saturday morning, I'd signed up for the Trinity Forum. It's an annual event at Rhodes House, in which an outside group comes in and puts together a curriculum of readings around a central theme, and then conducts a day long Aspen Institute-style seminar. Since I spent a semester doing a similar weekly seminar with Wofford's very own celebrity Bernie Dunlap, I've come to appreciate such things, so I was excited when I found out I'd have the opportunity to take part in a similar event here. And believe me, it did not disappoint! Although I was completely exhausted by the end of the day, I was able to take part in some great discussions on what "fighting the world's fight" means to Rhodes Scholars, and that was more than worth it.
The only natural thing for my fried brain to do next was head to the Cold War bop with some friends at Balliol. It's entirely politically incorrect, but every year their Graduate Common Room splits in half, one side for the Americans and one side for the Soviets, and everyone dresses up for their side. Honestly, not going would've just been unpatriotic! I forgot to bring my camera, so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of some of the funnier costumes, like Iron(curtain)Man and the Berlin Wall.
Sunday was another day of frantic studying before I headed off to a group discussion on the Third Plenum with the Rhodes China Forum, and then went to my weekly cooking group, called NOM (an acronym for "Nerds Out Munchin'"). We did a Mexican night, and it was great to eat guacamole, tortilla soup, huevos rancheros, and enchiladas with friends. I even pulled out a recipe for Mexican Chocolate cake with Tequila-Caramel sauce, so we really went all out!
Monday morning I had rowing at 6:30, but getting out of bed early was worth it for once, since I got promoted to rowing stroke for our first race on Saturday. We got to practice high rate rowing and starts, which is something we haven't been doing to this point, so it was super fun. After lecture, I spent most of the day frantically preparing for my meeting with my thesis adviser. It ended up going well, but she still thinks I should narrow my topic further for my final paper, so I have more reading and preparing to do for next week.
Tuesday was all about Rhodes Thanksgiving and the Rhodes Ball. Somehow, I've become Co-Committee Chair for the 220-person Ball happening in May, and my fellow Chair Laura and I had a meeting to get the date for the event, our theme approved, and a bunch of other information so that we can continue moving forward with all of the initial planning stages. I had some experience at Wofford planning parties, but nothing with the budget and scale of this, so I'm quite excited (if more than a little bit nervous). I'd intended to do work after the meeting, but then Laura and I ended up having a massive brainstorming session and looking things up online to our hearts' content. I also checked in on the logistics of our American Thanksgiving we're throwing next week, which will involve getting sufficient food for 150 people cooked and on the table at roughly the same time. I'm co-chair for the food organization, and it's taught me two things. First, the commissaries at military bases are probably the most amazing resources available to Americans abroad! Croughton, which is an Air Force base that is the closest post to Oxford, was able to look at the massive list (read: 100 pounds of turkey) we sent them, tell us that they have all but 2 of the items in stock, and set it up so that everything will be pulled out, set aside, and waiting for us when we go to pick things up next week. Talk about military precision, am I right? The other lesson is not quite as exciting; I have figured out that there are more dietary restrictions among the Rhodes Scholars than any other group in the world. I'm talking vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free/dairy-free/fructose-free/soy-free....putting together a menu was quite an adventure, but we've finally got something that I think will work. And man, do I feel better about being a semi-strict pescetarian!
Last night, I also cooked dinner for Joe's friend and his wife, and had a great dinner party with Evan, Kiley, and the two couples. In case you haven't picked up on the recurring theme here, that also ended up with a pub night...I'd like to point out that I'm really delving into the finer points of British culture while I'm here.
Due to all of the above, I pretty much cloistered myself in my room all day to write a paper that I have due on Friday, read, and catch up on miscellaneous things (like blogging). After all, tomorrow I've got class and all sorts of extracurricular fun, so I've got to make the best of the time I have!
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