Mitchell goes to Oxford

Fresh pow in October. Cotton in bloom (Taken with Instagram)

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:12:54 +0100

Fresh pow in October. Cotton in bloom (Taken with Instagram)

Cotton blooming in the Delta (Taken with Instagram)

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:06:59 +0100

Cotton blooming in the Delta (Taken with Instagram)

Keely’s 40 mail order chicks came!!

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 05:31:21 +0100

Keely’s 40 mail order chicks came!!

Road trippin to a weekend in the Big Easy aka Nola! (Taken with...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 23:05:24 +0100

Road trippin to a weekend in the Big Easy aka Nola! (Taken with Instagram)

Winter Break. Paris

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:21:59 +0000

Paris Day 1, December 10^th.

Paris has been SO AMAZING. I love this city, I love the art and culture, and I LOVE the food. Paris is on the must-return list. My train left London at 5:25 am from St. Pancras train station, located close to King’s Cross train/metro station. I walked there in the early morning, departing at 4:15 from my friend Erik Roos’ dorm room, about a 25 minute walk away. I had only slept about 1.5 hours that night, and I was exhausted by the time I reached the station. I say exhausted, but I was also exhilarated—Paris awaited my arrival.

Six inches of fresh snow had dumped on Paris the previous day, so the train ride to Paris was breathtaking. A radiating sunrise accompanied the mile-upon-mile of beautiful farmland that separates Paris from the coast. I caught glimpses of several small villages off in the distance, and although some differed widely in size, they shared one commonality—their tallest building was consistently a cobblestone church. The scenery was breathtaking; it was as if God was bending down and kissing the countryside on the forehead.

My friend Abby greeted me at the train station. I had met Abby a couple of months ago at Oxford. She is a visiting student from Haverford studying psychology. She is one of those people with an unrelenting sense of humor, jam-packed full of quick 1-liners and even finds some of my jokes amusing (at least she pretends to!). Furthermore, she’s compassionate, organized, and down-to-earth… exactly what I was looking for in a travel-buddy.

We thought that it would be a lot more fun to travel with a friend rather than alone during the break, and both had extra time to travel before we were supposed to meet up with our families. Originally, we had planned on traveling to Edinburgh, but the Cold nixed that plan. Abby was meeting her mother for just one day in Paris on the 7^th, as her mom was on a business trip. Therefore, we decided that I should just meet her in Paris and we could explore the city until our flights left from London on the 15^th(mine to Barcelona, hers to New York).

From the train station we took the Metropolitan to our hostel, Young and Happy, in the Latin Quarter. After I dropped off my stuff, we set out by foot to the Notre Dame, the Louver, the Eiffel Tower, and finally the Arc De Triumph where we witnessed an AMAZING sunset. It was easily one of the top 5 sunsets of my life, even better than the sunrise that morning. I did my best to soak in the surreal beauty of the reds, pinks, yellows, blues, purples, and oranges streaking across the sky.

Later that night, Abby and I ate crepes made on our street, and then bought a couple bottles of cheap, delicious red wine from a small wine street-vendor on our street. The cost was 4 euros/bottle, which is dirt cheap considering the quality. We also bought cheese—kinds which I had never heard of—from a local cheese vendor, and a fresh baguette from an artisan baker. We then spent the evening walking around our small, 16^th century cobblestone street in the Latin Quarter, which was draped with flickering blue Christmas lights. Several vendors lined the street—crepe-makers, wine-sellers, grocers, fish-stands, kebab, Chinese food, bars, a produce carts, florists, and several small cafes, all of which stayed open until about 9:00. Eventually we strolled down to the Notre Dame, about a 20 minute walk, and sat awestruck at the beauty of Paris at night. It was a hell of a way to start my winter break.

Paris Day 2, December 11^th:

Started at the Opera Gernier and walked to La Colonne plaza, with a massive statue of Napolean rising hundreds of feet into the air. Next we headed to the famous cathedral La St-Marie Madeleine, followed by the Place de la Concorde, with its 1200 BC Egyptian obelisk. Concorde is also famous for the plaza where the revolutionaries guillotined Marie Antionette. We had a late lunch in a posh but decently priced French restaurant. Went on a walking tour from Abby’s book around the Boulevard St Germain, where we stumbled upon the Musee d’Orsay, the 19^th century art museum. Viewed an extensive exhibit on French painter Gerome…the guy is incredible! He is probably my favorite painter now, no joke! Then returned to our hostel to prepare a meal of fresh pasta and tomato sauce, plus organic lettuce/tomato/carrots and local wine to make a delicious meal for about 8 dollars each. We haven’t been going out at night because, well, Paris bars are not as cool as London pubs, and both of us aren’t huge on clubbing.

Paris Day 3, December 12^th:

We did Versailles today for 6 euros, which was the cost of the round-trip train ticket from Paris. Because we are students and long-term residents of the EU (at least according to our VISA’s) we get into any and all museums for free. We also lugged it out the extra mile or so to Marie Antoinette’s play-farm, which was basically straight out of a Disney movie.

Tonight we also went to a real French-dinner with Abby’s friend who is studying n Paris. It cost about 20 euro’s but it was absolutely the best meal I have ever ordered/paid for myself in my entire life. I had this honey-garlic Duck, cheesy-potato slices, and delicious wine and baguette. I wanted to lick my plate like a dog when I was finished. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Paris Day 4, December 13^th:

Abby was not feeling well, so we slept in to 11:00. Find out later in the day that she threw up in the morning… must have picked up some sort of flu. Go out to the glass palace that she had been obsessing over the entire week. Found out that it was the site of the 1900 World Fair. Wander across the street to another palace, which is now the Paris Fine art museum. Spent 2.5 hours in the museum, observing 16^th 17^th, 18^th, 19^th century Art. Perhaps most interesting was a contemporary photo exhibit… a picture of American soldiers in a tank, driving backward to drag down the statue of Sadaam Husain in Iraq. The Iraqis are gripping onto the tow-rope, helping the Americans pull the statues down, but the entire operation is under American control. I think this picture was a perfect metaphor for the Iraq conflict and much of reconstruction.

After a bite at a café, Abby decided that she still wasn’t feeling well and needed a nap. I then went alone to the Musuem of the Army, where I watched a live-drill of soldiers dressed in 18^th century military attire. They marched around the cobblestone square in the middle of the museum, and eventually fired a blank shell which shook the entire museum. It was awesome. I also saw an exibit on Charles de Gaulle, who was the French general during WWII and eventually France’s prime minister until 1969. He is the one credited with starting the process which became known as détente with soviet Russia, and is a national hero among the French. The museum finished before I had even reached Napolean’s exhibit, so I was determined to return.

Paris Day 5, December 14^th:

Army museum for 4 more hours. Now I am familiar with 500 years of French military history. Also saw Napolean’s tomb. Cooked soup, salad, baguette for a cheap dinner. I am not staying at a hostel tonight to save money, instead I will hide out in the common room, hoping to snatch a couple hours of sleep before trekking the 2.5 miles across the city at 5:00 a.m. for a 6:40 train ride.

A note on finances:

By not booking a room for the last night, and by booking an early train trip, I saved about $100. Definitely worth it. At the end of the trip I spent a total of $320 Euros for all expenses—transportation to and from London, housing, food. That means that I spent about $120 euro on food/wine/metro travel/tourist activities for 5 days and five nights. That’s an average of 24 euro/day, which I am happy with, especially considering how expensive this city is and how much I was able to see and do. The only exhibit we ever paid for was the 5.50 euro it cost to climb the Arc D’ Triumph, but considering the beauty of the sunset I would have paid 20 euro, so even that expense felt cheap.

Winter Break. London

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:47:49 +0000

When Lady Margaret kicked us out on Dec. 4^th, the last day of term, my Eurotrip officially began. London (4^th- 8^th)-Paris (9^th-14^th)-London (14^th-15^th)-Barcelona (15^th-19^th)-Geneva(19^th)-Chamonix(19^th-26^th)-Madrid (26^th-30^th)-Amsterdam/Brussels (30^th-9^th).

London: December 4^th- December 8^th

I spent the last four days roaming London, sleeping at a fraternity brother Alex Ronchetti’s dorm in rich south Kensington near Imperial College, and Erik Roos’ LSE-off-campus-dorm on Rosebery St. near Kings Cross train station. My train for Paris leaves tomorrow morning at 5:25 am. The weather has been cold, hovering around freezing level. I met two older women in a PRET A MANGER (sandwich chain owned by McDonalds) who said that this winter has been especially cold. Well, at least it hasn’t rained. The cold weather makes tourist outings significantly less appealing. Instead, I have done a lot of sleeping. I have slept so much, in fact, that I am almost embarrassed to write about it. Today, for example, I slept from about 2:00am until 10:30, and then took a 2 hour nap between 12:30 and 2:30. Although it has been very relaxing, I do not intend to sleep like this in on the rest of my journey. London I have seen before, and I will see again in the subsequent terms. The other cities are most likely 1-time stops for me this year.

On the 5^th, I attempted to attend church at Westminster Abby, but I must have just missed entry (I arrived at 10:03 for a 10:00 service). Instead, I walked around the parliament, and then headed over to Buckingham Palace. As I arrived, a surge of people began cramming around the gate. I walked over curiously, and joined the crowd at the back. Right around this time several police, some even on horseback, emerged and ordered everyone standing in front of the metal railing—the majority of the crowd—to the back. After people began to move, I found myself in the 2^nd row.

This sheer, dumb luck reminded me of the time when I went to see Bill Clinton at the rally in Corvallis during the Oregon primary in ‘08. I arrived 10 minutes before his speech, not even expecting to get a ticket to the event. The organizers underestimated the number of people attending, and at the last minute they moved the event outside to the parking lot with Bill standing on the back of a pickup truck. I ended up in the second row standing about 5 feet from the ex-President. His speech was most impressive political performance I have ever witnessed. But back to Londonà

I thought I was lining up to see the Queen; or maybe I would catch a glimpse of William and his new fiancé? I waited about 30 minutes in the blistering cold as the crowd swelled. The cold made me consider escape to some warm coffee shop, but I dismissed it quickly. I’m in London, for God sakes, I can endure a little cold to see the Queen.

Well, I didn’t see that Queen. Instead, I saw the changing of the guard. So, not as cool as I had hoped, but still pretty neat. I must say, the British changing of the guard is infinitely cooler than the American changing of the Guard at Arlington Cemetery. They have a ‘guard’ of about 15 soldiers, who are accompanied to and from the palace with a marching band. Also, they wear massive feathery black caps which cover their eyes and ears. Many of the soldiers looked around my own age. After the procession marched in to the South-West Gate, they played Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight, Layla, and then the ‘If I only had a Brain’ Alice in Wonderland song before marching out the central gate where I was waiting.

Most entertaining about the entire ordeal was watching pedestrians on the walkway trying to cross the gate and snap pictures as the guard were changing. Three police officers, who I will name Belligerent, Chunky, and Lazy, had the undesirable task of trying to keep the gate clear and the pedestrian walkway open. This gets funny—I promise—so read on.

There were two different ways people would block the passage way. The first was to walk directly in front of the gate and snap pictures, thus causing other people to pause and walk around them, slowing down traffic. The other way would be to hug the sides of the railings, which narrowed and clogged the small gap where pedestrians could walk. The police focused their efforts on the photo-snappers by shouting “No photos,” and “please keep moving, this is a pedestrian walkway.” It worked for most folks, who usually only took one or two photos while walking. But occasionally, people would just stop to take a series of pictures—maybe 4 or 5.

Chunky, a round woman no taller than 5’1’’, would then run up to the person and scream at him or her to move. Her biggest contributions to my entertainment came when she made what must have been a 4^th or 5^th grader start crying, and an old Asian man dash guiltily into the crowd after she started yelling directly in his ear. When this didn’t work, she began yanking his photo-taking elbow every time he went to take a picture (about 5 times before he ran away). The crowd loved it.

Belligerent was on a serious power-trip. He rode his horse with a vengeance, focusing what must have been years of pent-up anger from this shit job on the gap-cloggers. If they wouldn’t give way to his incessant, deep groans to “get off the fence! You’re blocking the walkway.” He would steer his brown horse against the side of the fence, physically pushing them back into the crowd. At one point it looked as if his brown stead might trample an 80-something woman snapping pictures of the guard. Belligerent even had Chunky and Lazy apprehend a young woman because she wasn’t moving fast enough.

Lazy was my fav. He probably yelled about a fourth as much as the other two, and instead of telling folks that no photographs were allowed, he would say “take one and move on.” The result was that his side, the left, would always clog up the middle of the walkway, which put Chunky into a frenzy. Eventually, Chunky took over monitoring both sides, and Lazy sort of slumped back and watched. Although you could tell that Chunky was seriously pissed that Lazy couldn’t do his job, he didn’t seem to give a damn.

People-watching is a skill I acquired from my father. In some restaurants, my father can tell you not only everyone’s names in the restaurant by the end of our meal, but also the substance of their conversations. I will never forget a time in Idaho when he told us that the other party in our restaurant was upset because Becky, who was supposed to have ridden her horse to the restaurant to meet her friends, was 2 hours late. Having grown up in Idaho, my father found this story particularly amusing and we still tease him about it when we talk about his childhood in Idaho.

In any case, people watching helped me get through the 40 minutes of cold, and find humor in the ridiculous interaction between the tourists and police officers.

—————-

After the changing of the guard, I headed to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is pretty cool because it is dedicated to Lord Nelson’s epic naval battle against Napoleon’s fleet in 1805. Even though the Nelson died during the battle, it was enough to save Britain from Napoleon. Nelson stands at the South of the square, elevated some 70 feet on a marble pillar, gazing out at the French. At the base of the square is the National Gallery.

Although I am by no means an art aficionado, the Gallery is heated, and more importantly—it’s FREE! I fell asleep in one of the viewing rooms, while ‘resting’ on a black couch. I was most impressed by Galdstone, his beautiful depictions of the British countryside made me think about the fields and streams of Oregon in the summertime.

I also spent about 4 hours finishing my first book of the break—Never let me go. The book won numerous literary awards, but I must say I found it a bit slow. Although the writing style was modern and captivating (as opposed to most of what I read at Oxford), the plot developed very slowly. It’s the story of three children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, and how they come of age in a boarding house. As the book progresses, you learn they are clones, and that they have been raised so as to donate organs for medical research. I was expecting some sort of rebellion, or an escape attempt, or something dramatic along those lines. Instead, the trio grows old together and eventually ‘complete.’ It was sad, but also seemed fitting. I think the lesson that I am going to take away from it is that we are all products of our environment. For the vast majority of us, our lives are almost decided, or at a minimum significantly shaped, by circumstance beyond our control.

————————————-

Aside from these two days, I spent a couple days sleeping, catching up with London friends, and eating cheap, greasy Kebab food. I am going to devote another blog post to food in the UK—but all I’m going to say is that my waistline is taking a savage beating. I look forward to the wine, crepes, and baguettes of Paris!

I am heading to Paris in about 4 hours. I better grab a couple of hours of sleep before I lug it out the mile or so to the station.

London + British Museum 2

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:13:44 +0100

London + British Museum 2

London + British Museum

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:08:54 +0100

London + British Museum

Photos from the London

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Runners! These blokes jog home from work

Modern meets historic

St. Paul's

More St. Paul's

Roos

View east from the Millennial Bridge

Photos from the London

London Trip

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 14:45:00 +0100

Brief Recap: On the train back to Oxford after a 3-day stunt in London. Wow. What a city. Bustling. Young. Beautiful. BIG. Expensive. Wanting to save money, I went to free museums during the day and ate at grocery stores for most meals. I went to the Imperial War Museum and the British Museum. Both were smashing. I stayed with my fraternity brother Eric Roos, who studies at London school of Economics (LSE), and met up with another SigEp, Alex Ranchetti, who studies at Imperial College. We walked around parliament, the millennial eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Soho, and eventually went to Camden to meet up with some other LSE Americans at a pub. It rained lightly for most of the last night, but aside from that the weather was overcast and mild.

Imperial war museum I went to a film about the Battle of Britain, and went to an exhibit on Genocide. The Genocide exhibit was particularly interesting, as it described the consistent series of events which are necessary for a genocide. Also, it was great to learn about the histories of the Armenian genocide during WWI, the Indonesian genocide, the Cambodian genocide, the Kurd genocide and ongoing genocides like the one in Darfur. It’s frightening how much I did not know about most of these conflicts… millions of people butchered and I didn’t learn even the slightest thing about it in public school. The statistic that stuck out to me the most was: During WWI, 90% of casualties were soldiers. By the end of the 20^th century, 90% of casualties from the combined conflicts of the century were civilians. Pretty fucked up.

The British museum was admittedly more cool than I thought it would be. I saw the Rosetta stone and parts of the Parthenon, which are its major attraction. My favorite exhibit was about Assyria though. Assyrians carved massive pictures onto stone depicting particular scenes, either battles or lion hunts. One of the scenes stretched on for about 100 feet, describing the different events of the battle.

I also spent about 10 hours of the trip reading books for my next week’s essay. My tutor is having me read a bunch of heavy theory for International Relations., and I am supposed to decide which school of thought is most appropriate to analyze the beginning part of the 20^th century. I am just finishing Edward Carr’s staunch critique of the League of Nations through a realism paradigm, but even he admits that Realism in itself is not a solution to International Relations, and therefore international policy should be created with a balance and understanding of both utopianism and the realism. It’s good stuff. Now I need to read 4 more books and write a 2500 word essay by Monday. Strangely, I’m actually looking forward to it.

Tube. Ah, before I put this thing away, I just have to take a minute to rant about the Tube. I left Eric’s dorm today about an hour and 15minutes before my train was scheduled to leave, intending to walk to a nearby tube stop that was different than the one, Angel, which I had taken to get Eric’s dorm. The stop, Faringdon, was a bit farther from Eric’s dorm but it was on the same line as Paddington Station and therefore would save me time, or so I thought. Instead, I ended up walking the ½ mile to the tube station but found that it was closed for the day. At this point, I had about 45 minutes so I was beginning to get a bit nervous. I had to walk another mile to get to the next stop, which was on a different line, meaning I had to transfer to transfer anyway. Fortunately, the tube moved along at a decent pace. I checked my watch compulsively, and had to run when I eventually arrived at the station. I made the train by a about a minute. This is the second time I have had trouble with the Tube.

Moral to the story: the Tube is unreliable, so plan accordingly.

UPDATE! London.Debate.Soccer.School.

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 14:39:00 +0100

(note, this post was written on the 27th, just couldn’t be posted because I didn’t have internet in London)

It has been a while, and I apologize for that. Much has happened since I last updated this blog.

London: I am on my way to London right now. I haven’t decided quite what I will do… I know I am going to go to the British Museum on Thursday, and maybe I will check out the Tower on Friday. I am staying with my good friend and fraternity brother Eric Roos the first two nights, and then Kelly Wells, a Montessori and high school friend, Friday night. I will take plenty of pictures and get them on the blog as soon as I can. In the meantime, however, here are some things I have been up to:

Soccer: erm, football, I mean. When I first came to LMH I put myself on the email list for the football team. Unfortunately, I left my football boots back in the US, so I had an excuse to avoid playing. Another reason, probably more accurately why I waited so long to get involved, was that I wanted to wait on the football until I tested out the school situation. Now that I have the routine down, I think I can start playing more.

Last week the team desperately needed players for the thirds game (there are 3 teams, firsts being the top squad, thirds being the more recreational squad, although players can play on multiple teams), and emailed me asking if I could play. I told them I didn’t have boots. They found me a pair to borrow. It was great to play, although I will admit that I am certainly out of shape. I played Center Mid and came close to scoring from about half-field (a foot over the left corner bar), which one of the players remarked “would have been one of the best goals in LMH history.” I seriously doubt that, but it was flattering to hear nonetheless. Evidently I impressed the captain, Oliver, who has now invited me to play with the firsts. I think they want me to play right defender or perhaps center mid, we will see. In any case, it was fun to play again and now I am just waiting on my boots in the post before I start practicing and playing 3-4 times per week.

School: School here is hard, and the tutors demand a lot. This week, for instance, I am to read 5 entire books for just one of my classes and then write about 2500 words on my thoughts. That said, I absolutely love the 1-on-1 tutorial style. Both my tutors, Dr. Panten (Political theory) and Mr. Kai Hebel (International Relations from WWI-Cold War) are brilliant. It’s so different from the American style of education. Whereas in the United States I find myself striving to learn the bare minimum amount of material in order to attain the A, here I find myself thirsting just to learn. If I don’t do at least 4-5 hour of reading a day, I feel like it’s a day lost. I know that sounds odd, I can’t really pin it down yet why Oxford is different. Maybe the environment? I will write more about this later. In any case, I would love the opportunity to return to Oxford to pursue a post-graduate degree.

Debate: So I joined the debating society. It cost 107 pounds to join for the year (It would have been 180 for life), but I think it is a valuable investment if I take advantage of it like I intend to. Every Sunday is a debating workshop, followed by a breakout and practice debates. I have participated both Sundays, and I am not as awful at debate as I thought I would be. My first experience, however, was fairly nerve racking. I wrote about it in an email to a friend. Here is the message:

After that experience, I came back the next week and was assigned to debate why I thought using torture on terrorist subjects was a bad idea. I was the third speaker of our team of four. The third is called extension, because they are supposed to offer a significantly different angle/frame on the debate. I offered at first a philosophical justification for why judges are necessary, citing locke and rousseau, and then made the case for why torture on terrorist subjects would be a slippery slope. The judge told me later that he thought my performance was “quite good.” Although I still have much to learn, I really enjoy the rush of debating. I think often when I am considering my stance on a policy issue, I spend so much time looking for the right answer-trying to see all points of view before I make up my mind-that I am often unconvinced that one side is significantly better than the other in the end. Debate is so much different. They assign you a position, and you must just throw yourself at it like a rabid dog.

Photo

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:35:58 +0100

More pictures of downtown Oxford & a walk through Oxford...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:33:00 +0100

Oldest structure in Oxford. Build 1000ad

More pictures of downtown Oxford & a walk through Oxford Park, which leads to the Social Science Library. The library is incredible; a little bit smaller than the American University Library, but dedicated only to the social sciences. It’s where I do the majority of my studying

Some photos from around downtown Oxford. It’s about a 15...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:24:00 +0100

Some photos from around downtown Oxford. It’s about a 15 minute walk from Lady Margaret Hall. This city is stunning.

This is my room. Pretty awesome. I have a pantry next door that...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:20:28 +0100

coffee maker!

This is my room. Pretty awesome. I have a pantry next door that about 5 of us share.

Yes, I have a cellphone. It cost 10 pounds, and is without a...

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:27:00 +0100

Yes, I have a cellphone. It cost 10 pounds, and is without a phone-camera, but it does have an alarm, calendar, and Super Jewel Quest (shittiest phone game I think I have ever seen.) I also bought a vodafone sim-card. My number is: 07919440828. I have 20 pounds on it right now, which I am hoping to draw-out as long as possible. It costs nothing to receive a text message, but 10p to send one. If contacting me internationally, I would prefer if you use skype (add me by searching Mitchell Duncombe) or google-chat/video. Cheers!

First paper in 5 months...

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:21:00 +0100

Well, playtime is over. Or, what should have been playtime, is over. Unfortunately, I developed a pretty nasty sore throat so I have stayed in almost every night since arriving.

I met with both of my tutors on Friday, and my schedule is set for the term. Oxford runs on 8-week trimesters, the first being Michaelmas, the second being Hilary, and the third being Trinity. Every term students take a major (primary) and minor (secondary) tutorial. Tutorials are administered by tutors (less-impressive name for professor) and students meet one-on-one with faculty. Primary tutorials meet every week, secondary tutorials every other.

I am ‘reading’ (studying) PPE (politics, philosophy, and economics). My primary tutorial is International Relations from WWI through the Cold War era; my secondary is Political Theory. A typical week includes reading (for my primary, I am expected to read about 3 books a weeks, and anywhere from 4-5 articles) and writing a 2,000-3,000ish word essay. The essay prompts always ask for an argumentative/persuasive response. This week, I need to read about 9 books and respond to the prompts: “What are the possible levels of analysis in understanding the outbreak of World War I, and which do you find the most convincing?” and “How seriously should we take the claim that Rousseau’s main concern was individual freedom?” Exciting stuff.

Both of my tutorials are set to meet on Tuesday, which means I will have a full week to prepare for both. At the tutorial, my understanding is that we discuss the subject material and my paper for about an hour.

Non-school related:

I attended a University-wide club fair. Because I know that my studies will eat up most of my time, I was hoping to find a couple clubs that might help alleviate stress. I was most excited by the caving club, the mountaineering club, and the Oxford Union. The mountaineering club costs 20 pounds and provides unlimited access to a climbing wall, as well as fundraising for trips to different mountains all over Europe. The caving club looks fantastic. It costs about 30 pounds per weekend trip, but I am determined to go. I am going to work ahead next week and see if I can free up next weekend to go explore caves in Wales. The Oxford Union is perhaps Oxford’s most prestigious club. It is the debating society; and has won the world-championship three years running. More appealing, they have weekly debating workshops every Sunday. Because I have no formal debate experience, and because I am considering a career in law, I am certainly interested. What better place to learn than Oxford? The promotional video, although undeniably pretentious, highlights many of its strengths. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZZllpH0Ne8&feature=player_embedded.

Hellow from Ohxfud!

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:05:00 +0100

I got into London yesterday morning around 5:30am. On the flight I talked with the man sitting next to me, a professor from southern England, who said that college in the UK is quite similar to college in the US—“Booze and Women!” the predominant focus of each.
When I arrived, I tried to take the Tube (underground) to Paddington train station, but found my way blocked because of “industrial action.” Evidently, two labor unions were on strike so about half the stations were closed off. Determined to save money and to avoid a taxi, I eventually found another Tube route to Paddington which took significantly longer (it took about 4 hours total). At Paddington, I hopped on the 10:50 train for 20 pounds to Oxford, and grabbed a cab to LMH for about 8 pounds. (Later, I learned that there was a bus that takes one directly from the airport to Oxford for about half the price)
Lady Margaret Hall is a beautiful place. The entryway to the college is underneath a large stone arc, with a grand wooden door blocking a magnificent courtyard. As I entered, I was told to check my pigeon hole at the porter’s lodge, and then was promptly shown to my room. The courtyard is surrounded by majestic, red-brick buildings (library and dormitories) lined with white symmetrical windowsills and dotted with statues and decorations. The buildings connect to one another in such a way as to remind one of a British manner. A pristine, perfectly maintained lawn centers the courtyard.
My dorm is no less impressive. I am in the ‘old, old hall,’ (there is also an old, new hall haha) the oldest dormitories on campus, but they are heaven compared to my dorms at AU. For one thing, I have the room to my self. For another, it is about 50% larger than my AU dorm, and it contains a sink and plenty of closet space (with hangers already provided!). Better yet (or, perhaps, more ridiculously), we have a ‘scout service’ that cleans our rooms every morning free of charge if we desire (although my room is such a mess that I have only moved my trash bin outside so that they don’t have to come in). My window looks out into the gardens, another treat of lady margaret hall.
The gardens seem straight from a movie. Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice bbc series, or the Secret Garden, have similar gardens. The LMH hedge gardens are precisely maintained and meander along a slow creek where students can go ‘punting.’ When students ‘punt,’ they push themselves down the river on a boat by using a long stick to push against the bottom of the stream. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will be sure to blog about it when I do (someone said that it might be too late in the year for punting? whatever the hell that means).
Also surrounding the school are numerous sports fields, with the most field space dedicated to football, rugby, and tennis. LMH is lucky in the sense that it is about a mile outside of downtown oxford, so they have the luxory of much of this open space. The majority of the other University of Oxford Schools (there are 36 in total, including LMH) are located closer into the city and therefore have limited grounds, if any.
After I arrived and emptied my suitcases, I walked to downtown oxford, determined to explore and stay active so as to avoid jet-lag induced sleep. I visited several different grocery stores and shops, but purchased only a drip-coffee maker, filters, and organic coffee. My coffee-addicted father would be proud.
Later that night, I attended dinner at a Harry Potter-esque dining hall, and made friends with some of the newer LMH students. We bonded over conversation regarding American Politics (quite popular in the UK), as well as music and European Football. In the evening, I attended a PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) get-together and met many of the British students my own age.
It’s worth mentioning that the Hall (as well as the entire school, for that matter), is surrounded by pictures of old, dead folks who have served in some capacity at the college, or studied at the school and have gone on to become famous. A picture of Benazir Bhutto, a former LMH alum, stood out. Also, professors and tutors eat up on a raised platform on one side of the hall, whereas students sit on a lower floor on the other.

I have been impressed with the sincerity, kindheartedness, and respect that the British students have shown towards myself and the other visiting students. I can proudly (and rather unexpectedly) say that I have yet to meet a rude person in the UK.