Oxford!

Yesterday I was accepted to the MPhil program in Geography and the Environment at Oxford.  The description from the website says:

The MPhil in Geography and the Environment is a two-year course designed for high-flying master's candidates who wish to include a substantial research component in their masters level studies. In the first year, candidates take the coursework associated with either the MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy or the MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management.

I'm still waiting on funding decisions before I make any decisions, but if I attend, my coursework during year 1 will be from the MSc in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy.  The description of that is below:

The MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy equips students with a theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded understanding of the dynamic relations between environment, society and policy. It recognizes that responding to profound political and environmental challenges requires a new generation of researchers and policy professionals who are able to think in innovative, rigorous and flexible ways across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries.

If you want to know more, check out the website: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/graduate/index.html?rn=4#strapline-box

Trip to Philadelphia and Life Since Then

It's been FOREVER since my last update... sorry about that.  It seems impossible that a whole month has passed since my trip to Philly but apparently it has.  I left Prague for Philadelphia on January 24 early that morning.  I had a short layover in London Heathrow before getting my flight to Philadelphia. Greg was flying in to Philadelphia on the same day (for the same interview) and our flights landed pretty much at the same time, so we met up in baggage claim and grabbed a cab to our hotel.  After checking in and dealing with some beeping noise coming from the heating unit, we headed off to dinner with my youth director from middle school and good family friend, Shelli.

We met at a place called Salento, and it was restaurant week so there was a price fix menu of 4 courses.  We all had different courses... I had a roasted artichoke starter, followed by a a pasta with pesto and white beans, then salmon as my main course, and finally homemade sorbet for dessert.  We also split a bottle of wine.  The food was delicious but the company was even better- and I was so happy that Shelli got to meet Greg.  After dinner, Shelli was meeting a friend for a wine tasting class so Greg and I headed back to the hotel to email/skype friends to make plans for later that evening (we both have Euro phones so we were phoneless at the time).  We made plans to meet up with my friend Brittany a bit later and then Greg started sewing a button back onto his coat.  Sometime during the sewing, we both fell asleep (jetlag) and woke up 30 minutes after we were supposed to have met Brittany.  We jumped up and ran down to catch a cab, and apparently just missed Brittany who figured something of the sort had happened and had left.  I HATE lateness and felt awful about making Brittany come out in the cold and wait alone for us at the bar.  Pretty much felt like the worst friend ever.  Thankfully Brittany is way more laid back than I am and was pretty chill about it.

Greg and I figured since we were already at the bar we'd have a beer each since even if we'd missed Brittany.  We tried one really good beer and then something that the waitress recommended that was seasonal and pretty terrible.  After that we walked back to the hotel and it was FRIGID out.  In Prague I dress for it but I hadnt packed my very warmest things and I think I almost got frostbite on my way back to the hotel.  When we got back the beeping noise had returned so we changed rooms and then collapsed into bed.

The next morning we slept in a bit and then got up and re-packed our things to change hotels (originally we'd only booked a place for Friday and Saturday night... and then later decided to get a hotel for Thursday night as well rather than crash on friends' couches but we couldnt get a room at the same place).  Anyone, once we checked in to the new hotel, we headed separate directions- Greg to see about getting a prepaid U.S. phone and me to pick up things my Dad had left in Philadelphia for me (left them at my friend Ashley's) and then to have lunch with my two favorite professors (who happen to be married to each other!)

I got to Ashley's and picked up all my goodies- shoes for the interview that Andie helped me afford, a Rick Steves book on Prague, some c.d.'s and a book that Nikola (my co-teacher) wanted from the states, a neck pillow for the plane ride back to prague, some chocolates from Moonstruck- a favorite place of mine (and Greg's) in Portland, some re-hydrate powder, a jar of pepper jelly, and a card a visa gift card with instructions for me and Greg to treat ourselves to a nice dinner that night and relax before our interview.  I had no idea that the gift card would be there and it was an amazing surprise.  It was restaurant week which meant we were a bit worried about getting a reservation, but Greg snagged us one at one of my favorite restaurants in Philly- a place called Fork.

From Ashley's, I ran to meet my professors for lunch at Han Dynasty.  I had a bowl of soup that could hace fed the entire table.. just a tiny bit spicy with pieces of perfectly cooked cod and lots of veggies.  Perfect on a cold, cold day.  It was really good to catch up with Professors Smith and Summers and it also made me feel like it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didnt get funding for grad school or didnt get in to grad school.  They are both so supportive and encouraging and make me feel like my goals are attainable and reasonable, which is always nice.

From lunch, I headed to starbucks where I settled in with vanilla rooibos tea to see a few people.  Greg was done taking care of his phone and seeing one of his past professors so he stopped by to see me and hang out as well.  Then, Vacek came by.  Vacek is a guy who moved to Philly when I moved to Prague.  We met through a friend of mine in Philly that he had become friends with and now we deliver things back and forth from Prague or from America.  In this case, I brought him some allergy medicine.  We hung out and talked for a bit and then my friend James came by to say hello.  After catching up with him, Ashley came to meet up and James drove us to get manicures so my hands were soft and pretty for the interview the next day.  When we walked out of starbucks it was lightly snowing... why couldn't there have been a warm fron while I was there?

Anyway, James dropped us off at a manicure place and Ashley and I waited FOREVER listening to very vapid conversations among sorority girls who were hilariously discussing people Ashley and I know from our time at Penn.  Anyway, we had lots of good girl time and got our hands all pretty.  When we finished, we realized that the light snow from earlier had gotten quite heavy and was already several inches deep outside.  Ashley headed home and I headed to the subway station to meet up with Greg and head to dinner at Fork.  I fell twice getting to the station (ouch) but thankfully didn't seriously hurt myself.

Greg and I arrived at Fork and were seated and then we waited... and waited... and waited... and waited.  It seemed like FOREVER before anyone came to bring us menus or anything... and when they finally did they were embarrassed about the service so we were offered our glasses of wine we were ordering on the house.  Both of our wine was fantastic (Greg had a french red and I had a spanish white) and then we got down to ordering food.  For appetizers we had fresh bread and then a warm root vegetable salad with sunchoke truffle oil dressing that was PHENOMENAL.  For our main courses, I had guinea hen (always hated the ones at the barn... sadistically it was kind of nice to try one) with a mustard dressing and roasted cabbage and Greg had a pasta with pistachios and rabbit.  Both of our main courses were fantastic and Fork remains one of my favorite places in Philly.

After dinner I headed back to the hotel and Greg went to buy us notebooks for the next day.  When he got back we practiced a few things for the following day, showered, and hit the hay.  Both of us were feeling kind of feverish and jet-lagged so we wanted to get a good night's sleep.  I woke up feeling mostly better, but Greg still felt pretty bad, still, we got dressed and headed a block over to the Omni hotel where the interview was being held.

After checking our coats in the hotel lobby, Greg and I went to go mingle and meet people (and see some old friends/acquaintances who were also interviewing).  Pretty soon, the interviewees were divided in to 2 groups- Greg and I were in the same group.  The first group had their traditional interviews first, but Greg and I were in the second group so we headed to the round table discussion first.  There were 7 kids and roughly 7 members of the selection committee.  The committee members didn't talk much, and the 7 kids each gave a 5 minute speech on a prepared topic of their choice.  Following the 5 minutes, there were 10 minutes of discussion/debate.  I volunteered to go first and gave my talk on perceptions of body art, particularly how we feel about people with body art in politics.  I felt like I did fine, but as other people gave their talks (media, competitive yoga, vegetarianism, bribery, the institutionalization of english in America, etc), I felt like I really nailed it.  Greg also did well, but he left the morning session feeling less confident than I did.

After the morning session came lunch.  We'd been told that the selection committee would request people to sit with that they wanted to talk with further, so I was happy to be seated by one of the committee members from the morning session.  That said, lunch was a bit forced and awkward and I felt like I didn't do a very good job during this part of the day.  Following lunch, the 2 groups swapped and my group headed downstairs to await our more traditional interviews.  Since these interviews happened individually, we waited in a lobby like area and talked with current Thouron scholars.  This part of the day was actually a lot of fun- everyone was incredibly smart and funny so it made for a good time.

Finally, I was called up for my first interview, which would be with the benefactor, Rupert Thouron.  Before I went in, I had to write down a question for him to ask the next person.  Greg was immediately before me so he wrote a question for Rupert to ask me, which was nice because he made it something he knew I could answer (what food would I miss most if I was moving abroad.... clearly I said popcorn because that's apparently a super American thing and it's impossible to find in the Czech Republic.)  Anyway, my interview was okay- they pushed me hard on why Oxford and asked me a bit about what I wanted to study more specifically,  why I'd transferred to Penn, etc.  I'd heard that Rupert might joke or tease and to just be laid back and enjoy talking to him but my interview was pretty serious.  I left feeling a bit nervous b/c he didn't seem to act like I'd expected him to.

After that interview it was more waiting (aka talking and meeting more people), and then finally upstairs to my second traditional interview with a whole panel of committee members.  I feel like this interview is where it all just fell apart.  They kept asking very specific questions about the farm bill, methane ("gas") taxes, and about what "innovative" things I would change to have a positive impact on the economy if I could change the way our agricultural system works.  I kept trying to explain that my focus was NOT ont he farm bill or economics and that I was more interested in sustainable agriculture, school food, farmers' rights, etc., but I feel like when I left they thought I didn't know anything about my proposed topic.  It was frustrating but I should have pushed back slightly harder I think.

Finally, after my second interview, there was a bit more mingling and then we headed upstairs for hors d'oeuvres and wine.  We'd all been told that Rupert is a bit of a wine connoisseur and while we would certainly stay sober-ish, we should also enjoy his excellent taste in wine and food and not be afraid to enjoy the rest of the evening.  I tried the a glass of the white, which was excellent and quickly turned into a second glass of the white.  While I was still sipping glass #2, we all headed upstairs for dinner.  To my surprise, I was seated right beside Rupert.  I figured that this meant that he was on the fence about me and wanted to get to know me better.  As soon as I sat down he told me to finish my wine so he could get me a glass of the superb red... I was feeling a bit tipsy, but I complied.

Dinner was actually tons of fun.  There was more wine involved, the food was excellent, and Rupert was hilarious.  I felt like the evening went really well and our entire table seemed to have a really great time.  There were lots of hilarious stories told and I left feeling like at least I ended on a really positive note.  As most of you know, neither Greg nor I won the scholarship, but I actually really enjoyed the interview process and the trip back to Philly and while I might do a FEW things differently, overall, I really felt I did well and just wasn't what or who they were looking for.  Anyway, after dinner the selection committee left to go discuss their decision and the candidates started to drift out.  Greg and I left together and headed straight back to the hotel to skype our parents.  I apparently kind of dozed off while talking to mom and then was just completely passed out by the time poor Greg skyped his parents.

The next morning Greg and I went to le pain quotidien for breakfast (it's a belgian bakery chain that does delicious breakfast).  After enjoying ourselves, we headed to Liberty Place Mall to pick up some things that Tamela (my roommate) had asked me to get for her while I was stateside.  Unfortunately it was a Sunday and the mall didn't open until noon, so we headed back to the hotel to pack and check out.  After checkout it was BACK to the mall and then to campus where we hit up a few of my favorite places.  After walking Locust Walk (oh UPenn how I love and miss you) we had lunch at Jimmy Johns and then went to Tap House for an afternoon beer.  Finally it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and for me to get a cab to the airport (lucky Greg was hanging out in Philadelphia, NYC, and DC for awhile and enjoying seeing friends).

My flight back was uneventful.  I seriously missed my first class perks that I get flying Delta, but I had an entire row to myself, so it really wasn't bad.  My layover in Heathrow was pretty bad, but only because I was pretty exhausted and the flight got in around 6AM which is either midnight if I'd made the time adjustment to Philly or 7AM if I was still on Prague time... not the best after an all night flight either way.  Anyway, after something like 4 or 5 hours sitting in Heathrow, I finally got my flight back to Prague, claimed my luggage, went through immigration, caught the bus, and made it home around 4PM local time on Monday.  I ate, relaxed, and hit the hay because it was back to work the next day (Tuesday) for me.

Over the next few days at work we had student led conferences (as dumb as it sounds considering I teach 2 and 3 year olds... they are not going to talk about what they've learned or give their parents a tour... at best we were hoping some might sing along and ask their parents to join in playing with their favorite toys and a field trip to the aquarium, which I really enjoyed.  By Thursday I was starting to feel like I was getting a sore throat... and by Thursday night I was running a legit fever.  I called in sick to work the next morning and headed straight to the doctor, who informed me I had tonsillitis.  He prescribed antibiotics but told me if my tonsils got bigger over the weekend I should take myself to the ER.

Thankfully, I got a bit better over the weekend, but the antibiotic didnt seem to fully be shaking whatever was wrong AND was making me quite sick to my stomach, so a few days into the next week I headed back to the doctor for different drugs.  Thankfully, he fixed me up and I started feeling much better.  I dont remember much about that week, but at the end of it, I ended up interviewing 3 kids for UPenn.  Penn tries to interview EVERY applicant for undergrad by pairing applicants with local alumni and then having the alumni write up reports/impressions.  There aren't very many penn alum in Prague, and there were only 8 applicants from the entire Czech Republic so I got to interview 4 of them (3 on Feb 9th and one a few weeks later).  I was impressed by how together these kids are... I certainly don't think I was that polished and self-assured as a senior in high school... maybe I'm still not :)

The following week was Valentines Day and Greg was supposed to be flying to Prague on Feb. 13th to spend a few days and then head back to Munich on that Saturday for his roommates' birthdays.  He was bumped off his flight on the 13th though and while I was talking to him about him getting bumped off, my mom ended up going hospital with what was suspected gallbladder pain.  I was worried about mom and sad that Greg didn't make it so it was a crappy night.  As for Greg, after a miserable night at a hotel where the fire alarm went off and he spent most of the night barefoot in cold rain, he finally made it to Prague the morning of the 14th.  I worried about my mom all that day since she was going to have some tests run.  Mom is almost never sick (or almost never complains) so she had me pretty worried.  After some tests we were told she'd need her gallbladder out and had an appointment to see the surgeon the next day.  By the time I was home from work to see greg, I was tired and we are both really low on funds so we didnt go out for Valentines Day, opting to cook chicken in a honey-beer sauce with cous cous and some sauteed green beans and a salad.

I had to work the next day but after work we met at Tescos to go shopping.  We bought some fresh salmon, potatoes, peppers and onions, salad fixings, and mushrooms and cooked a feast that was meant to be our actual Valentines Day dinner.  We pan seared the salmon, cooked the mushrooms in white wine, roasted the potatoes, peppers and onions and had a fresh salad.  It was all delicious.  We were both still pretty tired so we just hung out that evening and I got to talk to Mom who had gone for pre-op that day and was scheduled for surgery on Monday morning to have the gallbladder out.  Saturday I woke up under the weather again (it's the story of my life in Prague working with toddlers... I don't think I'm ever truly healthy) so we just lounged around until it was time to take Greg to his bus.  I was supposed to go from dropping him off and saying goodbye to pick up groceries for Tamela's birthday party that night.  When we got to the station Greg and I talked and decided it would be good if he could stay through Monday when Mom had her surgery just to be here for me and help keep my mind off things.  I am so, so glad he was willing to do that because even though it was a routine surgery, it really sucked being so, so far away with stuff going on back home and it was amazing to have my best friend and support system here.

From the bus station, Greg and I made a giant Tesco run for supplies for Tamela's birthday (chicken breasts, burger meat, toppings, buns, chips, rum, beer, hummus, cake, etc.)  By the time we got back to the apartment, guests were arriving for Tamela's party so we set to work cooking.  It seems I always end up hostessing more than getting to really join in the parties, but in a way, it really suits me and I enjoy the cooking and keeping glasses full (much more fun with Greg's help!)  After herding everyone out (took me 45 minutes.... our downstairs neighbor is a nightmare if we make ANY noise after 10PM, even on weekends) we headed to Lucerna- a cheesy but amazingly fun 80s and 90s disco.  It was so nice to just cut loose and dance to cheesy music (both dancing with the girls and getting swung around and dipped by Greg.)  Greg and I left early (around 2:30AM... early in Europe) but our friends stayed until 5AM to close the place down.

Even having left early, Greg and I slept in until early afternoon and then lounged around and made a big breakfast and did some hardcore cleaning from the party.  That evening, we decided to head out to explore Prague.  We took the tram over to Old Town and then walked up to the Castle.  The castle gardens (one of my favorite spots in the city) are closed at night, but we wandered through and got to see the gorgeous cathedral at night.  From there, we stopped by a lookout out over Prague and then wandered back down and across the river to Cafe Louvre, one of my favorite place for tea and sweets.  We each got a slice of cake and tea/coffee, but shortly after my gallbladder decided the cake was too much and started acting up, so we headed home.

I had to work the next day and I was nervous about Mom's surgery but thankfully Greg had an afternoon planned to help keep me occupied.  He picked me up from work (almost an hour commute so super nice to have him ride out there just to turn around and commute home) and told me that we were going out to our favorite italian place and before that, going to be tourist.  Knowing just how much of a budget we're both on lately, I tried to say that we should stay in, but Greg insisted and I couldn't argue TOO much... it is an amazing place and a bit of "our" spot.  From school, we headed straight for Petrin Hill.  Despite having lived here since August, climbing Petrin Hill is one of those things that I just never got around to, despite the supposedly gorgeous views overlooking Prague.  I'd told Greg that it was the one thing I REALLY wanted to do this visit, so we went and took a nice walk up the hill.  It's quite pretty, even on a cloudy, gray, winter day... there are parks and orchards along the way so in the spring I can imagine the climb is spectacular.  Even so, seeing snow dusted buildings from the top of the hill was well worth it.  We didn't climb the tower at the top of the hill since it's pretty pricey and we decided that we'd rather save our money for dinner than climb to the top.

After a leisurely stroll back down the hill, we started getting updates from Dad about Mom's surgery, which was getting pushed back, so we headed back to my apartment to change and get ready for dinner.  After dressing up a bit, we walked over to Da Clara and settled in for dinner.  We started with our favorite salad- arugula, cabbage, apples, walnuts and gorgonzola topped with balsamic vinegar and then I stuck with what I got last time... pasta with seared tuna, while Greg went for gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnuts.  We each had a glass of our respective favorite wines there and we decided to splurge and get dessert for our first time there.  We had chocolate cake that had pears baked into it and a side of homemade vanilla ice cream.  I was a bit preoccupied through dinner, checking my phone obsessively while waiting to hear from Dad, but thankfully Greg was understanding and the waitress didnt judge too harshly.

Right around the time we finished dinner I got word that Mom was out of surgery and everything had gone well.  Greg and I stayed up watching movies until Mom was home from the hospital and settled.  The next morning Greg left (Tuesday) and then Tamela left on Friday for a week long cruise (she works for the elementary school, which gets spring break... I work for the kindergarten which doesn't get a break... stinks!)  Anyway, that Friday I'd been given tickets to the circus from a parent of one of my students.  I invited Larry, Celieta and Will and we all went.  In typical fashion, I got mixed up and ended up on the wrong side of Prague so I showed up about half an hour late, but the circus was definitely unlike any circus I'd been to in the states.  Beforehand, I'd been told it was an "acrobatic" circus, so I was expecting lower level cirque du soleil, but it turned out to just be a circus, and a tiny one at that.  It was held in one tiny little ring, but there were tons of acts, ranging from impressive to bizarre.  There were camels, long horn cows, deer, llama, antelope, dancers, acrobats, a clown (who was actually really funny), some crazy stunts too hard to explain, dancers, and my personal favorite: a man dressed as a matador who juggled ping pong balls.... from his MOUTH.

Since then things have been pretty quiet until yesterday so I'll write a separate entry for that!

Hope things are well back home!