Tuesday, November 5th and Wednesday, November 6th, I stayed busy with class, reading, and yoga. I was trying hard to work ahead so that I could be pretty much done with work for the following week and have the weekend free. I did a decent job of getting ahead and decided that Thursday night I would reward myself and go to an Oxford Union debate on whether or not religion causes harm to society. Unfortunately, my friends and I didn't get in b/c it was so crowded so we decided to hang out in the union bar and wait on some other friends to meet up.
After a bunch of us were there, we decided to migrate to Raul's- a cocktail bar in Jericho, not far from where I live. There was a huge crowd of NSEPers out and it was a really fun night. After Raul's, a few more of us went to check out Freud's, a bigger place with a piano and more room, but we didn't stay long. Unfortunately, I was out too late, so getting up the next morning for Andie's arrival was a bit hard, but I was up and showered by 8AM and off to pick her up at the bus station.
Friday morning Andie was supposed to email me when she got on a bus from Heathrow to Oxford so I had an idea of when to pick her up (the buses have wi-fi). For whatever reason, the wi-fi on her bus wasn't working, so I had no idea what time to be there. I hung out at the bus station for what seemed like forever just so I didn't miss her and finally she arrived. We headed back to my apartment to drop off bags and so Andie could shower, and then we headed to Bill's, a cafe/brunch spot, for brunch. We both had the vegetarian breakfast which was delicious. While in Bill's it started to drizzle and by the time we left, it was really raining.
We headed across the street to the Oxford Union, the debating society on campus. I'm a member, which really just means I get to go to debates, speaking events, use the library, the bar, etc. The library is quite pretty with big, cushy armchairs, so I showed that off and then we headed to Christ Church College. Oxford is divided into colleges which are somewhat similar to the "houses" in Harry Potter. Colleges are where you live, who you play sports with (against other colleges), and the hub of your social life on campus (unless your weird like me and hang out more with kids in your department). Your department is different than your college. Colleges are different ages and have different campuses, and Christ Church is one of the oldest (founded in 1546), the largest, and the most beautiful colleges at Oxford. It has produced 13 British Prime Ministers, and can be seen in films like Harry Potter and The Golden Compass. We wandered around there a bit, and then headed to the Sheldonian and the Bodleian Library. Unfortunately, it was graduation weekend so everything was booked or closed off and we didn't get to see either of those things except from the outside.
From there, we headed to my department so I could show off where I have class and we could warm up a bit. Then, it was a walk through the park and back to my apartment to dry off and warm up before heading to Turf Tavern where Bill Clinton "did not inhale"... sure. At Turf Tavern we ordered beers (I hate British beer... note my tiny 1/2 pint... take me back to the Czech Republic, please!) and some appetizers and hung out. I was hoping friends would stop by but only Brittany made it out, though Andreas tried but somehow we missed him. After snacks and 1 beer, I thought Andie was going to fall asleep on the table so we headed back to my apartment and I let her go to sleep while I finished up a response paper that I had due on Monday.
Oxford: Education in Intoxication. I promise there is more to it than this!
The next morning Andie and I headed off to London. We took a bus from Oxford to Victoria Station in London and then headed to our hotel to drop our things off. I never really think about just how BIG London is but it's enormous. It took us about an hour to get to our hotel, which was still in a pretty central area of London. It's nuts... and a bit hard to navigate... Andie and I are a great example of the blind leading the blind. We headed from our hotel to the British Museum which is such a cool place. We saw the Rosetta Stone, all sorts of cool things from Egypt (mummies and the likes), artifacts from China, Korea, the America's... the list goes on and on. I'm a museum lover and since it was cold and rainy it made for a really fantastic afternoon.
After an afternoon in the museum, we took the tube over to see the London Eye. We got off the tube across the river and walked across one of the bridges so that we could see Big Ben and the London Eye from the same view. It was gorgeous. We then got tickets to ride the London Eye and as we got to the top of the Eye, fireworks started going off. It might have been my favorite moment of the trip as I love fireworks and the view was gorgeous. I took about 50 pictures but it's really hard to see on film... I'll post 1 anyway.
After fireworks and a trip around the Eye, we headed to a pub where I finally found a Czech beer(!) and Andie drank something else terrible and British (ha!). We warmed up and lingered over our drinks and then decided to go hunt down some Indian food (London is known for having some of the best in the world). We scoured reviews and settled on a place not too far from the pub we were in. With Andie leading the way, and me protesting that we were headed in the wrong direction, it only took us a little over an hour of wandering and some nice British boys to find a destination that should have been a ten minute walk. That said, Andie bought me a fantastic meal and she enjoyed chicken korma while I had some sort of tangine veggies and we split garlic naan. After stuffing ourselves, it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
The next morning we got breakfast at the hotel (included in our room rate and not bad for hotel breakfast) and then we headed into the city to drop our bags off at the baggage storage at Victoria Station (just to save ourselves a trip back out to the hotel). After getting our bags secured, we walked to Buckingham Palace. I had forgotten that November 11 is Remembrance/Armistice Day, which is a memorial day observed since WWI honoring members of the commonwealth who have died in the line of duty. The symbol for the day is the poppy (because of the poem, In Flanders Fields) and there was a huge ceremony going on for the day that the queen attended... which meant the palace was packed as people hoped to see her motorcade return. It was Andie's dream come true to watch the parade and the Queen's motorcade, but I could have done without that part of the morning... plus, we accidentally were standing in the wrong place for the actual parade of soldiers and kind of missed that main event. Despite being less impressed with the royals/standing in packed crowds outside Buckingham Palace, being in the city for Remembrance Day was really cool, though more on that later.
After Buckingham Palace, we went to see Tower Bridge and Tower of London. The area is different than I expected the the Tower of London charges about $30 to see inside, so we decided to save our money and instead settled for a smoked salmon salad and jacket potatoes for lunch.
From there, we wandered to see Big Ben and Westminster up close, and then to Westminster Abby where there was a huge display for Remembrance Day. Pictures don't do the scene justice.
After this, we wandered back towards Victoria where we drank peppermint tea and then met up with a friend of Andie's. Once we had located Ben (her friend), I got my bag and headed back to Oxford so do more reading/work and get ready for the week ahead.
Monday I was in class from 9am until 5pm with a short break for lunch. After class, I was feeling exhausted, but I'd noticed that some black skinny pants I've been really wanting at Gap were on sale, so I swung by and picked up a pair and then headed home to do some much needed laundry. Tuesday I only had one class, normally my favorite, but we had a guest lecturer who I felt didn't really answer questions/make things very clear. I also had a headache that morning and by about 2PM it was a full blown migraine. When those hit, there is not much I can do, so by 3PM I was in bed napping. I slept several hours hoping to kick it, but no such luck. That meant that I was feeling too bad to attend the lecture on the African bushmeat trade, which I had really been looking forward to so I was really disappointed.
Wednesday I had class (Decision Making Processes) and for the second 1/2 we had a guest speaker from Macquerie, who works on high risk, alternative energy investments. I didn't expect for it to be so interesting, but I can't deny that there ARE parts of finance I find interesting, and alternative energy investing is one of those areas. I spoke with the guy about recruitment after class and while I don't think I'll suddenly ditch academia for investing or consulting, I'm also open to wherever life takes me and whatever interests me. I also had economics Wednesday afternoon, but I only stayed for the first hour and then I slipped out to run home and change clothes and grab a bus to London for UPenn's "Time to Shine" event (an alum event to show the University's achievements and fundraise).
Greg was also going so we met at Victoria Station and then headed over together. Once there, we met up with some other friend/acquaintances and hung out until the presentation. Amy Guttman, the president of UPenn, and someone I really admire gave the presentation. She is a political theorist and I particularly like her work on deliberative democracy. She has written 16 books, spearheaded need based financial aid at Penn, headed up the expansion of green space at Penn/in West Philly, and serves both as the chair of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and with select other presidents of research universities to advise the UN Sec-Gen on things like academic freedom, mass migration, international development and the social responsibility of universities. Needless to say, she is pretty impressive. The presentation she gave was a little cheesy, but I love Penn and admire A-Gut so much that I was grinning the whole time anyway. After the presentation we all stayed pretty late networking, hanging out, and enjoying the free nibbles and drinks.
Needless to say, I was exhausted yesterday (Thursday) but there was no time to rest! I had class, grabbed lunch, and then headed to a talk and performance by one of my all time favorite musicians, Ludovico Einaudi. He is an Italian pianist and one of the most prominent contemporary/avant garde composers in the world. I first got hooked on him when I was a senior in college and his music became the soundtrack for my writing. To this day, when I need to write a paper, and I am sure as I start my dissertation, his music will be played over and over and over as I type to it. For those of you interested, here are links to 2 of my favorite pieces:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcihcYEOeic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfz-XDWPt-M
After his performance, I headed back to my apartment to warm up and was planning to get work done... I cleaned my room instead... ooops. Then I headed to our unofficial weekly NSEP dinner where Kanako, the only Japanese girl in our program, was heading up a Japanese themed dinner. She made miso soup and we had all sorts of amazing sushi rolls: smoked salmon with cream cheese, avocado with egg and cucumber, salmon and avocado, tuna and cucumber, etc. etc. There is a picture of some of the goodness below.
Today I slept in and then ran some errands to buy things like a roasting pan and a bigger skillet that I've been really needing/wanting for the apartment. Then I made lunch (sauteed peppers and onions on a roll with hummus, a small salad and a clementine). Since then I've been alternating doing reading for next week (my migraine and the Penn event in London meant I got behind last week so I want to go into this week feeling really focused and prepared) and tonight my friend Brittany is cutting my hair (never fear, she is a hairdresser!). I think I'm in the mood for a big change so expect before and after photos of my waist length hair disappearing!
Hope things are just as busy and fun for everyone back home!
"I finally found a Czech beer(!)" Now that's why everyone goes to London...
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