So I'm really, really sorry about disappearing from my blog again. I think I might have mentioned before how I would be incredibly busy due to a combination of factors this term, which meant I wouldn't be able to blog as much as last term. Well, it's all over now. I'm into ninth week, meaning that I've completed my tutorials and rowing for Hilary Term, meaning that I'm able to blog about my adventures in England. Wooooo!
So what new cultural adventures has Nutmeg experienced since, what was it, fourth/fifth week? Well, quite a few, actually. I had to pull out my diary just to remember what I've been up to. I might divide my "adventures" up into a couple of posts, just to keep things a bit more organised and easier to read.
So as promised last time, I'll start with my second trip to Bath.
On Thursday of fourth week, I went to Bath again, but this time with my friends James and Tom from Blackfriars. We had lunch at a cute "retro" cafe downtown and then explored Bath Abbey, which I hadn't been able to visit the last time I visited Bath. The Abbey is quite large and sits right across from the Pump Room and Roman Baths. Supposedly, this is the Abbey that Jane Austen based her Northanger Abbey after, and I can see why she would want to. Beautiful stained glass windows lined the walls of the Abbey, and along the walls and floor were plaques for the deceased. I have a bit of a soft spot for stained glass (inherited from my mom, probably ^_^), but my favourite part of the Abbey was the ceiling. I absolutely loved the design and the way it worked with the two largest stained glass windows. I think the picture below probably does it better justice than my poor description.
After exploring the Abbey, I took James and Tom to see the regency houses just past Gay Street and the Royal Crescent. After that, we had a brief walk in the parks surrounding the Crescent then did some quick shopping (I bought nerdy owl socks!) before heading home.
At the end of fifth week, Kate (my friend from Team Awkward) choreographed and performed her own modern dance piece in Oxford University's student-run dance show called Platform. I think most (if not, all) of the pieces were modern dance pieces and were really interesting to watch. Kate's piece, which was about tension we find in objects and in ourselves (I think?), was amazing and beautiful, and someone filmed it so I can share its amazingness with all of you. =)
On the Thursday of sixth week, James and I paid a visit to SOAS (University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies) for their postgraduate information evening. (Can you believe it's already time to start looking at graduate schools? x_x) The evening was like any other information day with lectures about the different programs offered and booths passing out application requirements for each area of study. I went to a lecture about Global Relations and one of James's friends, who is a visiting student at SOAS, gave us a quick tour of the campus. In many ways, SOAS reminded me a lot of USF, but that might be because I've grown used to Oxford, which is quite different from the two. The buildings were old but not "ancient" like some of the buildings around Oxford, and their library was certainly more modern than the Bodlean, Radcliffe or Blackfriars libraries. The cafe where the students hang out reminded me a lot of USF's Crossroads with its somewhat "funky" seating and decorations and the student made posters everywhere. I have to admit, being in SOAS student cafe made me miss USF just a little bit.
Anyway, I don't have any pictures of the school, but I do have pictures that I took from the top of one of the double decker buses of some tourist-y sites in London.
That was basically my second trip to London, and as to my opinion of SOAS, it seems like a nice university, but I'm not entirely sure if it's the place for me. We'll see what my future looks like in terms of grad schools later though, I suppose. ^_^
The day after my SOAS adventure with James, Blackfriars hosted our Start of Hilary Term Dinner, which should actually be more like the End of Term Dinner, since we had it at the end of sixth week. The dress code was again "smart," but I didn't look very much like a librarian this time. Although Maggie did my hair in an awesome bun that somehow remained that way through the ENTIRE evening. Kudos to Maggie. =)
I'm sure I've said this a thousand and one times, but I love going to events hosted by the friars. All of them are incredibly nice, friendly and above all, fun, and this time was certainly no exception. They served us sherry before dinner and kept checking on us to make sure we were having a good time. At dinner, I was seated at a table with our Vice Regent, Father Conrad, who somehow had discovered that I like puns, so we chatted about that for a while, while we ate a wonderful meal of...I can't remember what it was exactly but I remember it was hearty and delicious. I also remember chatting with Brother Laurence and Brother Mark about all sorts of subjects, some of which were funny and others more on the serious but interesting side. After dinner, we had port, which I'm sorry to report I'm not a huge fan of, and coffee, and we all continued chatting and laughing. At one point, I think one of my housemates and fellow Blackfriars student, Dr. Peter Power, challenged one of the friars to a tie tying contest. And the friar won. =)
All in all, it was a great evening, and I was certainly very happy that I was able to spend time with the friars and my fellow Blackfriars students.
I think I'll leave it here for this post. In the next one, expect more rowing trials and tribulations during Torpids, an East Asian cooking extravaganza, an unexpected visit from a friend from home and this...
Cheers,
Nutmeg
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