Hear the Sigh of the Trees, Those Who Enter Here Never Leave

Hey there! So does anyone want to explain to me how Christmas is only four days away? I almost completely forgot about the holiday, and I don't know how that's possible since there's actual snow everywhere and fairy lights twinkling between pretty much every building in Oxford.

Anyway, I haven't really been up to much since I've returned from the Lake District. Like I told myself, I got plenty of R and R and eventually banished my cold into the dark oblivion where colds go to die (insert appropriate YES! gesture here). Hopefully, that cold fulfilled my once-a-year-cold quota. So by the time Friday rolled around, I was pretty ready to tackle more adventures. On second thought, "tackle" is probably the wrong word. "Slipping" and "sliding" is probably more accurate. Anyway, that Friday, I (along with a couple other friends from Blackfriars) slipped and slid to the house where my friend's Christmas BBQ was held. Now if you're from SoCal, a Christmas BBQ probably doesn't sound all that crazy, but a Christmas BBQ in Oxford, UK is definitely a little on the insane side. Especially when there's snow on the ground and the barbecue's propane tank is threatening to blow at any minute (it probably wasn't that life threatening, but it was fun to think that it was for a few minutes). Well, as crazy as it may have been, I had a good time...I think. I can say with certainty that I spent some of the evening talking about Harvest Moon and Pikmin with the guy with the gags (by the way, his name's Ralph since I'm tired of typing out "rock'n'roll guy with the gags" over and over) and his friends. And I can again say with certainty that these people are definitely some of the coolest people I've ever met. =)

On Saturday morning I somehow managed to catch a 10:30 train to Cheltenham with Ralph, and I'm sorry to say that since everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, the scenery during this train ride ("Look at Didcot Parkway, pretending to be a nice town!") was prettier than the scenery on the train ride to the Lake District. Anyway, I met up with Jonny, who I was visiting, in Cheltenham, and we spent the day trudging through snow (I love my eyelashes except when they catch gigantic snowflakes and keep me from being able to see), eating delicious pasta in a church converted into a restaurant (it was gorgeous), and throwing snow balls at each other. I also bought an extremely warm snow/water proof jacket with hot pink lining, since my poor SoCal jacket wasn't holding up too well in the snow. Unfortunately, we had been having so much fun that we failed to notice that the roads had become icy, which caused the buses to stop running. After a panicked phone call to Jonny's dad and a stressful, bad joke filled car ride, we made it to Jonny's hometown of Tewkesbury. For those who don't know, Tewkesbury is where the famous Battle of Tewkesbury during the War of Roses took place, and I think it's a gorgeous town. ^_^ Anyway, once we made it to the house, we ate dinner and watched one of Bill Bailey's comedy shows. And I don't know why Jonny was so worried about me meeting his family, because they are wonderful, fantastic, lovely, super-special-awesome people. I really felt like Harry Potter every time he visits the Weasley family, and I've never felt more welcome and at home than, well, with my family at home. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank them enough.


Window at Zizzi's Restaurant

On Sunday, Jonny took me on a quick tour of Tewkesbury before we had to catch a bus to Cheltenham to catch our train. Like I said before, it was a beautiful town. The snow covering everything made it look like something on a Christmas card. We made snow angels in a field Jonny said was called The Ham and walked around Tewkesbury Abbey. After the quick tour and some waiting at the bus stop, we discovered that the buses weren't running again and that trains were getting cancelled left and right. So to Jonny's horror and my delight, I spent another night in his house with his family and had another lovely evening, watching Harry Potter and chatting about all sorts of British-y things.


A Street in Tewkesbury


Tewkesbury Abbey


Running through the Ham


Snow Angel

On Monday, Jonny's parents were kind enough to drive me into Cheltenham to catch a train back to Oxford. And now here I am amongst a hideously messy room, procrastinating on packing for home and wondering how I forgot about Christmas. Hopefully, the snow won't cause any disruptions on my flight out (or back in!), so I'll be able to see everyone for a little.

Until then, Happy Holidays and Cheers!
<3 Nutmeg

Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way. -Jane Austen from "Emma"

*waves cheerily to everyone*

So I blinked and realised that another week has disappeared right out from under my nose. Looking back on it all, I'm surprised that I haven't dropped dead from all the excitement that's been going on. This past week was pretty much "Nutmeg's Travelling Week," and it was most definitely filled with many, many adventures. I'll try and organise this post as best as I can, but I should warn you now, it's going to be a long one.


London
On Tuesday, Maggie and I went to the big and exciting city of London. It was my first time ever setting foot in the actual city, and I loved pretty much every step I took in it. We had a bit of a late start, so we didn't get to do everything that we planned on doing but we still had an absolutely wonderful time. We took the Underground ("Maggie, it's just like BART only with 70 extra stops." "I think it has more than 70 extra stops, Meg...") and ended up going to Camden (I think it's like a district in London?) at the advice of several friends, and I think it's one of the coolest places I've ever been to. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, actually. It was just really, really awesome. ^_^

I think Camden is well-known for its shopping, and shopping is what Maggie and I did. We ventured through Camden's Open Market, and it was a lot bigger than it seemed. We visited all kinds of stores from pretty lacy dress stores and fur shops (Maggie ended up buying a fur scarf thingy, and it looks wonderful on her) to a flashing lights and loud club music raver? store (which we were told we had to go to by Jonny and the "rock'n'roll" guy with the gags). Maggie almost had a panic attack in that store (don't worry, she came out physically unharmed), while I couldn't stop laughing at all the things in it because it reminded me so much of several friends back in SF. Anyway, I did a bit of my Christmas shopping at the Open Market, and I bought a couple dresses from the pretty lacy dress store, which I absolutely love. =D Most of the stores don't allow you to take pictures, so I only have a couple unfortunately...


Camden Lock


A Very Blurry Picture of Cool Designs in Front of a Store Building (These sorts of decorations were all over Camden by the way)


Me Looking Silly in Camden

Anyway, after all of our shopping, Maggie and I went looking for a goth club that the rock 'n' roll guy had told Maggie about. Apparently, this club's bouncers will not allow you to enter if you don't look alternative. (Maggie instructed me on what to wear, since I think my clothing style is more quirky and geeky than alternative) We failed in our search though, so we settled for this pub called At World's End, which looked like an old train station and had metal music blasting from the speakers. And Maggie and I fit right in. One guy had brought his friends up for a visit, and they even wanted to take a picture with me because I looked very Camden-ish, I guess. They said my bowler hat looked very "Mary Poppins," which I can't tell if that's a compliment or not... Well, certainly kudos to Maggie and her awesome styling tips. =D After the pub, we were starving, so we went in search of food and found this burger restaurant called Haiche. And the burgers here were absolutely fantastic. I had a turkey burger with all the trimmings, and it was probably one of the best burgers I've ever had. We agreed that we would definitely go back to that restaurant if we were in the neighbourhood again. By then, most things in Camden had closed (minus the pubs) so we hopped back on the Underground, caught our bus (after wandering around a little lost for a few minutes) back to "sleepy" Oxford. And so ends Nutmeg's first adventure to London.


Port Meadow
Well, Port Meadow isn't actually outside of Oxford, but I'm putting it here because it was an adventure and it happened within last week. So Port Meadow is this meadow just past the Jericho neighbourhood of Oxford. On Wednesday, a group of us decided to take a walk out there and stop at one of the pubs called The Perch. It was a gorgeous walk, and we left during the late afternoon, so the sun was beginning to set. Part of the meadow was also frozen, so of course, we had to run around on it. And since I've never been on a frozen lake or meadow or pond or anything like that, I had an absolute blast slipping and sliding across the ice.


Ice on the Meadow


Ice Skating Love


A "Cool" Photo by K.P.


Sunset on the Ice


On Our Way to The Perch

We eventually made it to The Perch and had a very late lunch/early dinner there. We also had honey mead wine, an incredibly delicious drink. I was able to finish my glass without grimacing once. ^_^ In short, The Perch is an adorable pub with yummy food, and I can't wait to go there again sometime.


The Perch


Delicious Honey Mead Wine


In Which Nutmeg Visits Bath
On Thursday, Maggie, Jonny and I went to Bath for a very fun-filled (somewhat Jane Austen-y) day. And Bath was...amazing. Definitely, amazing. I probably felt a little like Austen's Catherine Morland when she sees Bath for the first time, and I was giddy with excitement the whole time. We packed lunches, because Jonny wanted to have that "school trip feeling," and I mention this because I want to ask, "Can you guess what my packed lunch was?" Answer: Spam musubi, sliced spam and onigiri. Basically, it was what my mom used to pack in my lunch all the time. =D I only ate the spam musubi though. Maggie ate my extra spam.

Anyway, Jonny acted as our excellent and wonderful tour guide. He took us to the Royal Crescent, Roman Baths, and the Pump Room. Basically, all the major Austen-y places. ^_^ We tried water from the Pump, and it didn't taste too bad, but I swear that that water made me use the restroom more times than normal throughout the day. Afterwards, we went through the Christmas Market in Bath and did some more Christmas shopping. After that, we went to a spa and "took the waters." We went into the Minerva Bath (a warm, sulphur-y pool), visited the steam room with MANY scented steams (I liked the frankincense one the best), and soaked in the Rooftop Pool while the sun went down. The last part was absolutely beautiful. Overall, the spa was really nice, but I think I like onsen in Japan better even if the onsen I went to wasn't nearly as luxurious.


Taking the Trains


Regency Houses (I think...)


The Royal Crescent ^_^


The Roman Baths


Entrance to the Pump Room


Thermae Spa

After all that, we headed home via the train incredibly satisfied. And that's how Nutmeg's first Bath adventure ended.


The Lake District
So on Friday, Kate and I departed via train for Blackfriar's Reading Party. Basically, a Reading Party is a trip the students take at the end of term to start on assigned reading for the next term or read for fun. Usually, not a lot of reading gets done on these trips though. I brought only two books (Brideshead Revisted and Vanity Fair) thinking that I would get maybe half-way through one of them. This year's Reading Party was set at Boarbank Hall in the village of Allithwaite, which is on the southern edge of the Lake District. I had been looking forward to this trip, since most (if not all) the Romantic poets and novelists I had been studying this past term spent a lot of time in the Lake District, and I really wanted to see what their fuss was about. Well, I certainly did get to see what the fuss was about.

Boarbank Hall itself was gorgeous. When we arrived at the Hall, Kate and I ventured through the rooms (including an ACTUAL DRAWING ROOM), whispering excitedly to each other "It's just like Austen!" And we certainly felt like we were in an Austen novel throughout the trip. Our room was a little on the small side, but we liked it because it felt very "quaint." We didn't spent much time in it anyway. We spent most of our time curled up on the couches or armchairs in the TV lounge with the fake fireplace (the warmest room in the hall). In fact, we spent so much time curled up in those armchairs and couches that one of the friars who came with us (Father Michael) said, "Whenever I think of this year's Reading Party, I will always remember you two curled up in these armchairs with your books."


Side View of Boarbank Hall


The Drawing Room


Kate in One of the Boy's Armchairs

During the day, our little party would go on hikes or walks through the hills. The first hike we took was to a point called The Hospice, where you could see a full 360 degrees around and could see as far as Liverpool (across the Bay). I was deemed the Navigator, and I got us there in one piece. Except one person ended up slipping and falling into a rather muddy and sheep dungy spot. I don't take responsibility for that though. =P Anyway, it was a gorgeous walk. The scenery was spectacular. Kate and I kept thinking we had been transported to land around Wuthering Heights.


Landscape


More Landscape with Pretty Lighting


Group Photo Halfway to The Hospice

After our morning walk to The Hospice, we came back and another group decided to go out to Halfway Head? to watch the sun set. So we set out again, and again, it was gorgeous. Halfway Head? is a sort of cliff/peninsula that juts out into the bay. We trekked out to the tip of it and watched the sun set. Again, I can't stress how pretty of a walk it was. The walk back though was pretty painful. We had to trek up this steep hill, and it was seriously steeper than any hill I've encountered in San Francisco. And that is definitely saying something.


Group Photo at the Point of Halfway Head?


Sunset on the Bay

Another afternoon, a few of us drove up to Lake Windermere (one of the largest lakes in England). We didn't walk very much around it, because the lake's surrounded by mountains so the sun sets even earlier. But anyway, the lake was very pretty, and I can see why Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley and Byron liked spending time around lakes. There was some snow around the lake, and one of the guys ended up starting a snow ball fight, which was fun to watch. =D


The Lake


Kate by Lake Windermere

In the evenings, after dinner, we would either read alone or get together in the drawing room for discussions (including topics such as "How Women Have Destroyed the Jane Austen Male") or read passages from certain novels or poems out loud to each other. Kate and I only participated in a couple of these evenings though, since we were usually exhausted by the end of the day.

Unfortunately, Kate and I came down with colds halfway through the trip, so we weren't able to do a whole lot after the second day. But we did get a lot of reading done, and we certainly felt pampered with our three delicious meals a day (two of which were usually three courses), along with afternoon tea.

In short, I think all the boys who went on the trip (Kate and I were the only girls there) decided that the word to describe the entire experience was "glorious." I would have to agree for the most part. The scenery was indescribable, and I guess because we were so far north, it seemed like we were in a perpetual sunset. Kate and I thought that time seemed to just halt there, and by the end of the trip, we were pretty confused about what day it was. And I actually finished a book (Brideshead Revisited, which generated a lot of discussion among people there, particularly a retired priest who even read a few pages to us). Even though I was nursing a cold through it, it was still an amazing experience with amazing people, and I would love to go back some day. So ends Nutmeg's Romantic adventure in the Lake District.


Well, that's pretty much where I've been the entire week, and looking back on it all, I am EXHAUSTED. And still nursing a cold. So lots of R'nR (rest and reading) for Nutmeg this week. However, once the weekend hits, I will be hitting the social scene again: the rock'n'roll guy's Christmas BBQ and a trip to visit my wonderful British pal Jonny's in his hometown of Cheltenham/Tewkesbury. Basically, since almost everyone has left for the holidays, this weekend is going to be spent with solely British people, which will certainly be an experience. I had thought Oxford was going to be very lonely during the holidays, but it's turning out not to be so far (thank goodness). However, the city does seem incredibly empty and a little spooky...

Until next time, Cheers!
<3 Nutmeg

P.S. There will be TONS of photos uploaded to flickr very soon! (If not already...)

Send You My Love on a Wire

Oh hai there! Well, eighth week has come and gone, which means I'VE COMPLETED MY FIRST TERM AT OXFORD AND I AM SOMEHOW STILL ALIVE! Three cheers for all of us! Hip hip...

Anyway, so what has little Nutmeg been up to during her final week of term? Quite a lot. This past week was filled with social events, (starting from Tuesday onward, I've essentially "partied" nonstop), and I can sadly admit that I have never been so social in my entire life.

So starting with last Saturday (not this past one but the one before), I went to my first rowing social ever. At this social, girls were supposed to wear only three articles of clothing, while the guys could only wear two. I originally wasn't going to attend since I didn't like the idea of wandering through freezing Oxford in only three articles of clothing and I had a lot of work to do, but Maggie and one of my best British friends here, Jonny, convinced me to take a break from the library that evening. The Captain of SBHBC (St. Benet's Hall Boat Club) even bought me a pair of too-big-for-me pink footie pj's complete with hearts and a white Scotty Dog to wear, which was incredibly sweet of him. The social itself was an interesting experience with lots of drinking games, my least favourite being "One Fat Hen..." I didn't partake in any of the games, but it was definitely fun to watch. Afterwards, almost everyone was relatively drunk, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit. I think a combination of these two factors caused them to start singing very drunkenly at the top of their lungs, which brought a few stares in our direction and caused Jonny to scream "RUN!" at me. And so Jonny and I ran through the freezing streets of Oxford with the feet of my pink footie pj's flopping around everywhere. We must've been quite an interesting sight to see, and unfortunately, since I had come straight from the library, I didn't have my camera to document our ridiculousness. And that was my first rowing social.

A couple of all-nighters and one essay outline later, Tuesday night (as well as ice/slush/snow) finally arrived, which was the evening of our black-tie Boat Club Christmas Dinner. I think our captain had told us earlier that we should "expect carnage in a refined and elegant manner." And that pretty much sums up SBHBC's Christmas Dinner. We dressed up (I wore a flower in my hair! ^_^), ate nice pizza at a nice restaurant, listened to amazing and hilarious speeches by Jonny as well as our captain (his weren't as funny as Jonny's though), and were given very "serious" awards (I got the award for Best Coxswain) and top trump cards (all made by Jonny). And then carnage ensued when our captain began the drinking games...with wine. Thankfully, the sober ones (me, Jonny and a Blackfriars friend Kate; we're three members of the appropriately named Team Awkward) were able to control the carnage to a certain level where we wouldn't be kicked out of the restaurant. After we paid the bill, we walked to a pub down the street. Well, the rowers walked and shouted coxing commands at me, while I was dragged in my rather high heels over icy cobblestones by our now-very-drunk-and-singing-Christmas-carols-at-the-top-of-his-lungs captain. Anyway, I had A LOT of fun that evening with the Boat Club, and I am definitely looking forward to spending time with them for next term's training.


Our Dinner Table


Jonny and Kate of Team Awkward


My Flower and Purple Crown

The next evening, Maggie, Kate and I had dinner with the Blackfriars. We had curry, which I had been craving for a long, long time, and I discovered that many of the friars have never had mochi, which is a sin in my book. By the end of the evening, I ended up promising to bring/make mochi for the friars with the possibility of also organising a Japanese meal for them as well. I think I've said in earlier posts that dining with the friars has been one of my favourite experiences here so far, and this still holds true. After the dinner, Team Awkward (Jonny, Maggie, Kate and I) watched Say Anything (which has been added to my list of favourite movies) and had copious amounts of chocolate and not as copious amounts of champagne. After the movie finished, we realised that it was SNOWING, and of course, we had to go skipping through it.


Catching Snowflakes


A Christmas Story


Oh Hai Snow! (Note: Remember those Owl Earmuffs I mentioned...)

Thursday evening was St. Benet's Hall Christmas Party (black-tie again), which Jonny had been kind enough to invite me and Maggie to. At the party, we had a Christmas dinner complete with ham, salmon, chicken pate?, cranberry sauce, bread, pasta, rice, cake (for pudding) and of course, champagne and wine. Now I'm sure this sort of sounds like a stuffy formal dinner party sort of thing, but it wasn't. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time we ate. After dinner, we had an absolutely amazing live band (I'm not sure whether I should call them a jazz or swing or something else band), and we danced for the rest of the night. Maggie and I agreed that we felt like we had been transported to a party in the 1940's (what with the combination of the dress and the music and the hall itself). Overall, I had a FANTASTIC time even though I couldn't feel my feet by the end of the night.


Dinner in the Library


The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band = AMAZING


Me and Jonny and the Hat that a Few People Tried to Steal

On Friday evening, I went to the Advent Party the Blackfriars were hosting. We had delicious nibblers and of course (again), wine. I drank apple juice though, since I'm not a huge fan of wine. Anyway, it was a really nice party and as I've said probably a million times now, spending time with the friars has always been great. After the party, a group of us went to our common room and watched A Christmas Story, and I got to skype with my best friend from SF named the Fairy, who I hadn't gotten to talk to in a long, long, long time. So in short, Friday evening = amazing.


Chatting with Friars


"A" is for "Awkward"


Thank You Skype for Keeping Friends Together

And finally, last night (Saturday) the Blackfriars's students had an End of the Term/December Birthdays/Ugly Sweater/Christmas party. It was a relatively small party, and I felt like there were only two of us wearing ugly sweaters (I ended up taking mine off after a while). But the later it became, the more fun I had. Apparently, I became very chatty, talked for a really long time about classical music and marching band, got really upset when someone played a Katy Perry song and then became very giggly. At one point, one of the birthday boys even sang a rap about his birthday, which was pretty neat, and a couple other people had "duels" with the party poppers. Well, I know a few people didn't have the most exciting time at this party, but I can say that I most certainly did and that I really enjoyed spending time with people from my college. Basically, I really love the people in my college and can say that I am very happy I chose to study at Blackfriars this year. =D


Fairy Lights, Ugly Sweaters and Santa


Me Being Happy About Being Among Blackfriars Students with Miranda, a Wonderful Blackfriars Visiting Student

So what is little Nutmeg going to do now that she has so much free time on her hands? Well everyone, expect lots of pictures to start appearing of places outside of Oxford, including London, Bath and the Lake District. Speaking of pictures, I've uploaded pictures of Christ Church Regatta to my flickr account, so now everyone can see what I've been devoting quite a bit of my time here to.

To everyone I left back home (or in Japan), I send you my love through the interwebs instead of on a wire. Even though I've been having a lot of fun here, I still miss you all and am looking forward to seeing people over the six days I'm back home for Christmas/New Year's.

Until next time, Cheers!
<3 Nutmeg