Week 8: Final classes, lots of presentations and SPRING!

It's hard to believe I am done with all but 1 class at oxford (an elective to be taken January-March of 2015!).  I am not going to miss all the classes, but I am going to miss some of them, and definitely going to miss the camaraderie that came from having so much class and so much together time with the other NSEPers.  Still, this week was a great end to what has been a busy but wonderful term.

Monday I woke up still feeling miserably under the weather.  No matter... I had a full day ahead.  I got dressed up as the CEO of BlackRock and headed off to meet my group.  The morning of presentations was really actually really fun and entertaining.  Groups got really into their roles and it made for a really interesting morning.  Right after our group went, Alex, one of the TAs, told us that our presentation was one of the best he'd ever seen and while he was complimentary to all the groups, it was still high praise.  Gordon Clark, the professor, and the BP exec who was there, both seemed impressed and happy with the presentations as well.  I think pictures will show the fun better than talking about each group's presentation (thanks, Brittany for all the photos!)

BP exec, Gordon Clark, and the "Community"- including Ben as a priest

A worker (Louis) meets with a federal employee from the Department of the Interior (Rob)

The contractors (Halliburton and Transocean) James, Kanako, Dennis and Tom, who was reporting live from the Gulf

BlackRock- Representing the investment community: Juliana, Cody, me, Daniel, and Lea

BP Executives: Andreas, Brittany, Alex, Cato and Anna

A worker and a BP exec make peace... with another BP exec going crazy.... (Katherine and Cato being photo bombed by Andreas)

A worker (Louis) with another DoI employee (Lisa)

After the presentations I just hung out in the department and ate the lunch I had packed.  We had an hour and then the next round of presentations for our research methods class.  Each group had picked a random research topic and had to design a dissertation like project around it... this included a brief literature review, background info, a timeline, what research methods we would actually use (focus groups, interviews, archival work, participant observation, etc).  I think everyone was tired from the morning and quite honestly a bit under prepared but the presentations went fine.  My group did the non-human charisma of wine and how the feelings of nostalgia and culture that certain wines evoke led to the revival of the nearly extinct viognier grape.  We brought in a bottle of viognier for everyone to sample and gave the presentation.  Part way through I started feeling a bit weak and by the end, thought I might pass out just from being feverish and exhausted.  Cato noticed me looking pale and swaying and propped me up and got me a chair and water.  If nothing else, this sickness has shown me just what caring and awesome friends I have.  

After class we had a class meeting and were finished around 4:30 or so.  After that I headed home and was exhausted... way too exhausted to even think about a trip to the grocery store and then cooking dinner... just wasn't going to happen.  Instead, I went for food at the Rose and Crown with Dennis and Louis and enjoyed a good meal and then headed home to rest up for more presentations the following day.  

The next day we gave our mapping controversies presentations... we were all a bit burnt out and since the presentations were not really about the controversies but just about mapping them, none of us were super excited and most of us had our lap tops out and facebook up.  About 5 minutes into the start of class, Rob posted the following to our NSEP facebook group:  "Presentations are boring.  Let's face it.  I will buy a pint for anyone who can get 'bananas in pyjamas' or 'cheesecake' into their mapping controversy presentation this lecture.  #NSEPbingo. Good luck"  

Needless to say, the game grew and we spent the entire lecture working the following words and phrases into our presentations: bananas in pyjamas, cheesecake, cyclops, "crucible or fulcrum, if you will", pull a schwartz, hobbit, bald man, peanut butter, excessively phallic, and insufficiently phallic (so mature, I know).  Amazingly, we got all those in throughout the class and the guy leading it never had any idea anything was amiss... even when we all got a case of the giggles when Rob said "bald man" and the guy even opened the door to let some fresh air in because we were all in hysterics. In fact, the only thing he ever questioned was when someone said "swamp" (legitimately using the word) and he thought they said "swan"..... that's the only thing he raised an eye brow at... really? 

Anyway, it was the most fun class I've been to in a long time and it left me in a great mood.  Afterwards most of NSEP and the guy who led the class all went for a pint at the Lamb and Flag.  He STILL had no idea and we were all so giggly and ridiculous.  After the pub I went home for a bit before heading to dinner.  This is Ted's last week here  on his research project before he heads back to Philly and so I wanted to spend time with him and he wanted to celebrate that we were all free again so me, Ted, Andreas, and Louis went to Jamie's (Jamie Oliver's restaurant) which has a student deal of 5 pound pasta dishes during the week.  We had a wonderful meal and then Andreas and Ted headed to Raul's for cocktails while Louis and I headed to meet Dennis, Ben and Cody for drinks at House Bar.  I wasn't actually drinking since I was still recovering but it was nice to hang out with them for a bit.  When we left house bar we headed to Worcester College and walked around the grounds (they have a gorgeous lake and we could hear the swans hissing and clicking at us!) and then hung out and played pool and foosball and just talked.  From there, I headed home.  

Dinner with 3 of my favorite boys: Andreas, Ted and Louis

Wednesday was the Teddy Hall Relays.  I'd agreed to run a long time ago and even though I was still not nearly 100%, I really wanted to run.  NSEP had two teams entered (iNSEPtion and the iNSEPerables) and I wanted to participate even if it was going to be miserable.  Each runner ran a 6k (3.8 mile) loop.  I was the last runner on our all girls team (Juliana, Katherine, and me) and to be honest, I should have let someone else take my spot.  I knew as soon as I headed off that it was going to be hard, by the time I was a mile in I was coughing up gross gunk and by mile 2 I was coughing so hard that I kept setting off my gag reflex and throwing up.  I ended up walking mile 2 to 3 and then ran the last .8 mile.  It took me an embarrassing 42 minutes to finish, but I DID finish, which I suppose is something.  I coughed pretty much the rest of the afternoon, including getting sick from the coughing once more after I stopped running.  Thankfully, once again, my friends took good care of me. We went to the Mitre for food and drinks after we finished, and while my team didnt do great, the mixed team of Brittany, Anna, Rob and Dennis did amazing.... Brittany ran something like a 7:09 mile pace and Rob a 6:50 mile pace, with Anna and Dennis around a 7:30 or 7:40 pace.  Great for amateur runners or Brittany as a cross country runner coming back from an injury.

Anna, off to a great start!

Haha! Dennis getting his potassium!

Lovely ladies- Anna and Katherine

5 of the 7 of us: Anna, me, Dennis, Rob and Juliana

Rob and Juliana

Juliana, Anna and Brittany

  

I had a snack at the Mitre but I was still hungry for dinner.  Louis and I were going to go to Jamie's again for pasta but he decided he couldn't be bothered to wait for a table, so instead we ordered take out chinese food and took it back to my place to eat and watch the 5 five episodes (ever) of Modern Family.  Louis had never seen it and I think he may be hooked now.  Mission accomplished.  Louis left after Modern Family and I headed to bed. 

Thursday morning Brittany and I went to look at another house we found.  It's not in the cool area the other one is... in fact, it's in a tiny village about 2 miles outside of Oxford.  The cycle is mostly along cycle paths through gorgeous fields/parks/countryside and even though it's a bit remote, it's so pretty that even in the freezing, foggy, mist, Brittany and I both fell in love with the location.  It's also right across from a restaurant/pub that is on the River Cherwell surrounded by a meadow, so that's excellent.  We also both fell in love with the house.  It's much nicer than the other place we looked at and we agreed it just feels like "home" in a weird way.  It's 5 bedrooms, 4 have double beds and one is tiny with a twin bed.  There are two bathrooms, a living room, a nice big kitchen, and a fully fenced in backyard where Brittany's dogs could hang out with us.  It's pretty perfect and we all decided we prefer it, not just because of the house, but also because the agency seems much better to deal with than the other one.  We submitted our applications today, along with a deposit to hold the property so fingers crossed everything gets approved.  You can see the place here: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-28602051.html

From there, Brittany and I cycled back into town for class but I was feeling like I'd really overdone it the past feel days and struggled to even stay awake for my last class with all of NSEP.  After class Brittany and I grabbed lunch and then I went home for a nap and intended to work on my dissertation proposal that was due the next day (Friday).  My short nap turned into nearly 3.5 hours and even when I woke up I was just a groggy mess.  I kept trying to work but just didnt have any luck.  I thought the proposal was due at 5pm the next day so I finally gave up and crawled into bed thinking I would finish later.... I woke up at 8:30 feeling much better and rechecked my calendar... only to notice that I'd recorded it wrong and the proposal needed to be in by noon.... cue a crazy few hours working- but I got it done and handed in at 11:58am.  

As soon as I handed it in I got busy doing other little things (tax stuff, copies of my passport, etc) and then headed into town to meet Lisa, Louis and Andreas for lunch.  It was a gorgeous day, sunny and around 61 so we got sushi take out and a box of ice cream bars and headed to the park.  We ate, chatted, lounged, tag was played, headstands and cartwheels were done... all in all a perfect afternoon.  

Louis doing a headstand

Andreas enjoying the day

Louis spotting Lisa's headstand

Lounging

From the park, Lisa and I headed to do some shopping since the St. Antony's washing machine has decided to shred lots of my things... particularly my undergarments.  I spent entirely too much money while shopping, but got what I needed (and a few things I didn't... including another floor length formal dress that was only 35 pounds.... Oxford has tons of formals/black tie events and you can't beat 35 pounds for a formal dress...)  

After shopping I headed home briefly and then met Louis, Ted and Andreas for dinner at the Rose and Crown.  We then went for a drink at a place in Jericho (I can't remember the name which is a shame b/c I loved the place... had a book theme and a jazzy/classy feel).  From there we met a bunch of NSEPers at a different place.  I think it was: Lizzie, Lisa F., Cato, Daniel, Dennis, Katherine, Brittany, me, Louis, Andres, Ted, Ole, and Juliana, but I may have missed a few.  After awhile there, we decided to head to a congolese roots music night at cellar.  When we got there, the vibe was a bit weird and the people were a bit different, but I was there to dance and enjoy the music... until some guy (accidentally) kicked me in the ankle HARD.  I could feel my ankle bruising so I went to sit until I felt I could walk home.  I iced it, but today it is still bruised and swollen- an epsom salt soak and arnica cream have helped... only I would get injured at a congolese music dance night... 

Today has been quiet... I leave for Amsterdam at 7:30 tomorrow morning for the NSEP fieldtrip so today was laundry and packing and saying a final goodbye to Ted.  Ted, Andreas, Brittany and I went to the Head of the River restaurant for lunch which has really beautiful views over the river.  We then went for sorbet (I had elderflower which might be the best sorbet I've ever had!) and then for a walk in Christ Church Meadow.  My ankle started to hurt with all the walking though (fingers crossed this isnt an issue in Amsterdam!) so I headed home to finish packing and make dinner.  

I need to be up in about 6 hours so that's all for now.... another post after Amsterdam!  

Week 7: Too much fun leads to the plague

I last wrote last Monday afternoon- I was feeling tired just thinking about the 2 weeks that laid ahead, and I made the very wise and sad decision to not go hear my friends' band play that Monday night... that is, I thought I made that decision until Louis called and said he'd be walking by my place on his way into town and I needed to get myself up and go support my friends... and he was right.  The show was absolutely amazing- I certainly have some talented friends and hearing folk/bluegrassy music was enough to make things feel a bit like home... or even like back in Philly at Fiume on a Thursday night with the live banjo.  Anyway, the Infamous Flapjack Affair was awesome and I look forward to hearing a bit more of their awesome music while in Oxford. 

After the show all of NSEP hung around chatting and enjoying the pub.  Eventually we decided to go dance.... what happened to my quiet night in?  I could have not gone... I know, I know, but whenever faced with that dilemma, I always tell myself that this is likely my "last hoorah" as a student... when staying out all night and dancing until my feet hurt will be acceptable on a regular basis.  We headed to Thirst... we being me, Louis, Dennis, Rob, Rob's friend from rugby- Sam, Daniel, and Astrid.  Somehow, we ended up staying until they closed at 3AM.  My night SHOULD have ended there.... but did it?  No.  That would be way too sensible.  Instead, Rob, Sam and I headed to get chips with cheese (aka cheese fries) and we ate them in Rob and Sam's kitchen while listening to music and debating financial responsibility and education, social welfare programs, and other nerdy things that it clearly makes tons of sense to have intense conversations about in the middle of the night.  I got in about 5:30AM Tuesday morning, and had to be up by 9 for a 10AM meeting with a professor.  

I made my meeting- a bit sleepy but well dressed and prepared and no worse for the wear.  The meeting was about my "extended essay" for my elective, which is on Global Environmental Change and Food Security.  I came prepared with 2 topics to propose, 1. If dual purpose cattle breeds are a way forward to consolidate the production of meat and milk/can they meet demand and 2. How in the American food system excess supply is simply used to create demand... not at all a "typical" capitalist system... in particular examining how the dairy industry makes deals for things like "cheese stuffed pizza crust" or the pork industry is behind the return of the "McRib".  The professor, John Ingram, was very complimentary of my short essays and told me that I should write on whatever I wanted and just keep doing what I was doing (a good feeling!) but he seemed more excited about the second topic so I think that's the direction I'll go.  To be honest, I was more excited about that topic as well, mostly because I came across it when writing my senior thesis but never had a chance to explore it beyond a brief sentence that it was possibly happening in my final paper. 

From my meeting, I headed to science and politics where we worked more on our controversy maps and tried (unsuccessfully) to learn to use GEPHI.  To be honest, I just paused to google what gephi even is, and supposedly it's an open source network analysis and visualization software.  Basically, it makes really confusing looking maps of things that don't really need to be confusing.  We opted to not use gephi and to map things ourselves and we've come up with some pretty cool data.  Cato did a particularly comprehensive (and pretty!) map and I've included a picture of it so maybe this whole "mapping" thing makes more sense... we also have maps of which users are editing relevant wikipedia pages the most, what websites pop up the most with various search terms, etc. 

After class I walked to grab a sandwich with Cody and then we headed to Linacre to meet Juliana, Daniel and Lea for our upcoming presentation for Corporate Environmental Management.  The presentation is on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and examining 3 questions from multiple perspectives.  The questions are:  Why did it happen?  Who is to blame?  What should companies do in the future (to prevent things like this/to better manage risk)?  The class got divided into groups and each group was assigned one of the following roles: BP Management, Contractors (Halliburton and Transocean), BP workers, the Feds, Gulf coast community members, and investors.  I'm an investor.  

We were given total control over our angle and how we choose to address these issues which in a way was quite nice but in another way left us a bit lost.  A retired BP executive will be in the room and will be allowed to ask questions and give feedback which is incredibly intimidating... I feel like BP employees lived and breathed this disaster for years and we've had about 2 weeks to prepare.  The only rules are that we are presenting in the present day, we aren't pretending that this is back right after the spill and that each group presents for ten minutes and then opens the floor to questions for 10 minutes.  

Our group decided that we didn't want to take the expected route and be run of the mill investors.  Instead, we decided that we'd be BlackRock, the largest asset management firm in the world.  BlackRock was (and still is) one of BP's largest investors and at the time of the spill owned over 5% of the company.  I think it's a fun angle to take and we've gone all out, adopting the names of actual executives (and editing them to be gender appropriate).  We've even had a bit of fun with that at the end of our very serious presentation with the following slide: 

After ironing out some details I headed home with very good intentions of doing laundry.  Louis called to see what I was doing and see if I wanted to hang out and when I said I couldn't because of laundry he made the point that one's day should never, ever be scheduled around or dictated by something like laundry.  And he had a point.  I ditched my laundry and instead headed to meet him at the Pitt Rivers Museum.  It holds the anthropological and archeological finds of the University and is attached to the Museum of Natural History.  This means that I got to see dinosaurs, diamonds/gems, shrunken heads, totem poles, and everything inbetween.  It was actually a really nice way to spend the afternoon.  Afterwards, we decided we wanted tea, but we also wanted to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine, so we just wandered Oxford following any street that would keep us in or lead us to sunshine.  It was nice to amble and chat with no real destination.  We ended up outside the Ashmolean where we lounged in the sun talking until it started to get chilly and we decided we actually did want tea.  We grabbed tea at Turl Street Kitchen and then headed back to mine to make curry for dinner.  We finally parted ways after dinner to get some work done.... but I never did get around to laundry :) 

Wednesday I slept in (much needed) and then met back up with my BP/BlackRock group to prepare for our "rehearsal" of the presentation to the two class TAs.  We finished the powerpoint, ran through the script and then went in to give the practice run.  It went well, they were complimentary of how polished we were, but they had some things that they wanted to see tweaked.  After the meeting we headed back to another room in the department to refocus the presentation and make some changes.  It was a productive meeting and afterwards, I headed to eat a very late (4pm) lunch at Greens with Brittany.  We had a long chat about housing and life and then Brittany headed off and I stayed to do a bit of work.  I ran into Rob briefly before I left and then cycled home to finally do that laundry.  

I put my laundry in knowing that it would mean I was late for dance, but I decided I really wanted clean sheets.  I pulled my laundry out about 8:40, got it back to my room, put away and my sheets on my bed and was at dance by 9:05... only the gate into GTC was already locked for the night so I had to wait around for a member of the college to happen by and let me in.  By that time, I'd missed the dance lesson, but it was nice to hang out and talk and GTC had a formal dinner that night so there were a few familiar faces there for the special occasion, including Cato and her boyfriend Michael.  

Katherine, Brittany and I decided that we wanted to go dance so we decided to meet up with Louis and his housemates for electro-house night at the Cellar.  Dennis decided to join us and then Brittany realized she'd forgotten her key card to get back in her building and decided not to join us so she'd get back in time to have a housemate let her in.  I hate that Brittany didn't join us but the night was really fun.  For once, we didnt stay until a place closed, we just enjoyed some good music and a bit of dancing- I ran into a few friends from my college and it was just nice to have a low key but really fun night out.  Katherine and Dennis and I left around 2 and Dennis was nice enough to give me a backie home on his bike.  I had a sore throat when i went to bed but I had no idea what was awaiting me.  

I woke up Thursday feeling miserable.  My head was pounding, my throat felt raw and swollen, I was congested in my head/nose/chest, I was coughing and I had an earache.  To be clear, I had a single beer the night before so this was not a pounding head from that.  I knew I didn't really have a choice, I'd agreed to go look at a house for next year that Brittany is really excited about that was going to get rented quickly and we knew we needed to move fast.  I couldn't back out and I did want to see it so I gathered my strength for the 2.3 mile cycle to Brittany's (the place is close to where she lives now but across Oxford from where I am).  Oxford is quite flat, but I've noticed that cycling with a head wind takes substantially more effort and, of course, there was a head wind.  I knew I was sick because at one point during a slight incline I felt my legs turn to jello and had to stop.... and I've cycled this route before with no issues.  Still, I made it to Brittany's on time and we headed to look at the place- which Brittany had already seen but I had not.  

It's a nice place but it's kind of gross right now.  What I mean by that is that the house itself has a perfect set up for us (us being me, Brittany, Brittany's boyfriend Todd, and another girl, Merry).  It's 5 bedrooms and 2.5 baths- Brittany and Tom would use both downstairs bedrooms because those rooms are so small that there is no space for two people and a desk and clothes and they would have their own bathroom.  There is also a 1/2 bath on that floor for guests or just if someone needs the bathroom while others are showering, etc. Also on the downstairs in a nice sized kitchen (also where the washing machine is), a family/living room, and a huge garden/backyard area.  Upstairs there are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom- we'd use the 2 bigger rooms and then have a guest room/yoga space/office area.  BUT the people that live there now clearly don't really take care of the place.... it smelled like stale beer and when we opened one bedroom door I was about knocked over by the smell of weed.  But those are things that a deep cleaning will fix.  The house is also further out than I'd hoped, but it's in the direction I was hoping to live, down Cowley Road, which is more affordable with tons of international restaurants and cool bars with live music.  It's not "perfect" per se, but it is a great price, it allows pets (Brittany is trying to bring over her 2 dogs and I will live ANYWHERE to live with pets again), it's the side of town I wanted, and the layout and space is really ideal.  In other words, it's "as good as it gets" when looking for affordable student housing.  

After checking out the place Brittany let me drink water and gather my strength at her place.  We chatted for awhile and then I cycled into town (so much easier with the wind at my back), grabbed a sandwich, and then headed to a meeting for our upcoming Research Methods class on the non-human charisma of wine.  We didn't need long to polish up the presentation and so quickly headed back to my room to crash.  I took a long nap in hopes that I would wake up feeling better but no such luck.  And so that's pretty much where my week ends... since thursday afternoon I have been out of my room (read: bed) a total of 2 times:  I went to the doctor on Friday because Thursday night I started running a high fever and experiencing pretty severe earaches (the doctor did nothing... I have to say England has had the most frustrating health care system of anywhere I've been.... but before you hate on socialized health care... the Czech Republic, even with the language barrier, had the best!).  I also left my room today to go to the market/shop across the street to buy a few groceries and enjoy the beautiful 65 degree spring weather for all of 10 minutes (though I did have my window open all day!)    

This weekend has been pretty rough.  I've run a fever for a large part of it, coughed, and thought my ear drum would rupture like it did when I was a freshman in high school.  At one point, I debated going to the ER on Saturday afternoon because my ear hurt so bad.... I really just wanted to take something sharp and pop my eardrum myself so the pressure would just stop.  Clearly I would never actually do that, but I really was considering anything and everything.  I think I would have paid big bucks for some pain meds (real ones, not just tylenol and such) had someone had some.  Today has been less painful but I'm still feeling so gross at all my congestion is finally starting to drain.  Yuck. 

Today my BP group had a meeting since we present tomorrow, but I am still pretty ill so I attended via skype.  I plan to present tomorrow... let's hope I can make it through two 2-hour classes and both presentations (BP and the non human charisma of wine) before I crash tomorrow night.... no time to "build" back up.... have to just jump back in. 

I also have a presentation Tuesday and I was supposed to run a 6k on Wednesday as part of a relay (NSEP has 2 teams entered.... Brittany, Anna, Rob and Dennis are running as a 4 person mixed team and me, Katherine and Juliana were supposed to be a 3 person all girls team.... our team names?  iNSEPtion and iNSEPerable... clever, no?)  I really don't think I'll be well enough to run, but if my team is okay with losing I am happy to walk the whole thing.  Friday my dissertation proposal is due and then a week from today I fly to Amsterdam with the rest of NSEP for a field trip followed by an extended stay for free time in the city.  

Hopefully by then I'll be back up to my normal speed.  I think I'm going a bit stir-crazy!

Week 6: Trying to rest

This past Monday (when I last posted) was a busy day class wise... we had an extra lecture so I have 6 hours of class- since the classes are 2 hours each and on some complex things- it's pretty mentally draining.  After class I walked into town with Lisa and picked up food and then I went home and did more reading (after taking an hour to watch bad reality t.v. and unwind.... my brain needed a break!).

Tuesday all I had was science and politics.  We had some time to work on our mapping controversies project and I actually think our group has a pretty great one.  Me, Cato, Katherine, Brittany, Lisa F., and Tom are working on mapping out the controversy involving the safety of atrazine and how Syngynta has tried to discredit Tyrone Hayes.  If anyone is interested in the situation, you can read about it here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/10/140210fa_fact_aviv?currentPage=all 

After class I headed to eat with Lizzie, Andreas, Louis, Anna, and Fran.  Part way to the Buttery it started raining/pouring and there was really nothing we could do.  It was freezing, but in a way, a little exhilarating.  So often here it just drizzles and mists, but to be caught in a downpour, even a cold one, reminded me of the way storms pop up and then vanish at home.  I had a great lunch and then headed home to work for the rest of the afternoon.  I was supposed to have a meeting that afternoon, but my cough returned with a vengeance (maybe being out in cold rain wasn't such a good idea...) and I decided not to contaminate everyone else.  I just did work for the rest of the evening and enjoyed a quiet evening. 

Wednesday I woke up early to do more work before meeting Katherine and Andreas for a run.  It was the first time I've run since I've had this hacking cough and it was not pretty.  It was a painful run and I made it less than a mile before having a coughing fit and needing to walk.  I finished the run but my chest was really hurting and I could not stop coughing.  I'm hoping to run more this week and I'm hoping it goes better than that.  

After our run, Katherine and I went for lunch at Will's Deli (delicious!) and then back to my place so she could try on a few dresses and maybe borrow one for a dinner she had in London later in the week. From there, I went straight to class (a reading discussion group for corporate environmental management on industry self regulation in the New Zealand dairy industry).  Then it was more work until I headed to dance at 8:30.  I was a bit late leaving my flat and so I ran down the stairs and into the little lobby area- I went to open the door to the outside.... locked.  It's never supposed to be locked (residents don't have a key to that door- it's like an electronic release....) and so I turned around to go back in the building.... only to realize the my bod card, which is supposed to open that door wasn't working.  I was locked IN my building.  Thank god I had my phone... I called the porter and he came and let me out... I fussed a bit (what a fire hazard!!!) but was mostly glad to get out of there.  I'm such an awkward person.... I think I'm the only person I know who gets locking in rather than out of their building.  At dance, we were doing a Brazilian samba and it was hilarious.... lots of body rolling against your partner and shimmying- I just don't think my body moves that way.  Still, it was a really fun time and everyone was a good sport about it.  We stayed for the free dancing for a bit and then me, Louis, Andreas, Ted, and Brittany all headed to the St. Antony's late bar to hang around and chat.  

We finally split a little after midnight and I headed to bed to rest up for Thursday.  I woke up for my elective and we had a really interesting lecture on using scenarios and the process of planning for an unknown future in terms of food system development and planning.  I really, really liked the lecturer for the day, Dr. Joost Vervoort.  I don't really have a reason to work with him further, but I'd enjoy finding a way/reason to because I think the work is interesting and I really enjoyed his energy and approach.  Despite really enjoying the lecture, I was still just feeling under the weather (more like still exhausted and run down) and also really stressed about these coming 2 weeks of term.  I worked all afternoon and then napped, which I never do (normally when I lay down for a nap I don't want to get back up and am left feeling groggy and disoriented) but on Thursday, I really, really needed it.  

Thursday night I had a formal dinner.  It was an exchange at St. Antony's with Keble kids so Lisa was there along with some of the Keble kids in her mcr (mixed common room).  It was good to see them again after meeting them a few weeks ago at the Keble formal dinner.  The food was okay, not amazing but not terrible (better than the normal fare, anyway), the company was good, and we even had a college blessing which we've never had before that was read in latin.  In typical Oxford humor, once translated it actually roughly said that St. Antony's is richer than Magdalen, more glorious than Christ Church, and better than all the colleges- not so much a blessing as bragging translated into latin... if nothing else we are a fun college. 

"stuffed" after dinner!

There were drinks after dinner and Lisa and I hung out with a few people from my college and her college and then Lisa decided to call it a night.  I'd spent all day working and being an introvert and I wanted to be around friends, so after Lisa left Louis came over to keep me company and drink lots of tea since he hasn't been feeling well.  We watched a few episodes of Summer Heights High, a hilarious Australia show that is done like a documentary following caricatures in a public high school- the over the top drama teacher, the girl who transferred from private school who is a huge brat, and the trouble maker that you can't help but have a soft spot for no matter how ridiculous and disrespectful he is.  I'd never seen it and I definitely got hooked. 

Friday morning I slept in and then spent the day working.  I think I ran some errands or something, I don't really remember much to be honest.  That afternoon Brittany and I were talking about getting dinner and then realized it was our friend Kanako's birthday.  We asked if she had dinner plans and when she didn't, we organized a few people to go eat at Bamboo which is a Korean place with delicious bi bim bap.  A lot of people already had plans, but me, Alex, Lisa, Brittany, Ted and Louis all came out and we had dinner, including the standard free dessert and singing :) 

Me and the birthday girl!  

After dinner we decided to head to Dennis'.  He had friends visiting from the Netherlands and they were all hanging out before going to parties/clubs for the night.  We all hung out along with some of his house mates as well and then we decided to head to the Carnival/latin BOP at GTC.  When we arrived around 11 the BOP was already PACKED.  It was so crowded that it was hard to stay together and not really that much fun because it was too crowded to move, much less dance.  Thankfully, after not too long NSEP had claimed some space on the dance floor and more and more of us showed up.... me, Kanako, Louis, Rob, Mhairi, Dennis and his visiting friends, Daniel, Sophie, Lisa, Gabrielle, Andreas.... maybe others (?).  We stayed until the BOP ended and since we weren't done dancing (when are we ever?) a group of us (Dennis and his friends, Louis, me and Andreas) headed to the Purple Turtle, which was packed with undergrads and might be my new least favorite club in Oxford.

We stayed until the club closed at 3 and then headed home, stopping at our favorite kebab van on the way home and chatting with the owners, Ali and Ameen, which is a pretty standard weekend night.  I slept in Saturday and then had a lazy morning.  Then I headed over around lunch to meet Andreas and go watch our friend/classmate, Ben, play in the varsity match against Cambridge.  I've never watched lacrosse before but it was quite exciting and a close game.  Thankfully, Oxford pulled it out in the end. It was a beautiful afternoon, really sunny and quite warm for England this time of year.  When clouds moved in they were dark and still highlighted by the sun... not just dreary gray like we often get.  

Such a pretty day!

On the way home from the boy's lacrosse game Andreas and I walked past the girls' game.... just in time to see a streaker!  We thought about stealing his clothes which were draped over the bench we were walking past, but we couldnt bring ourselves to do it.  That afternoon I did a bit more work and then cycled out to the sports complex on Iffly Road to the basketball court to see Cato play.  Brittany met me there (and later Katherine and Daniel) and we cheered the girls' team on.  Unfortunately, Cambridge won the game, but it was still really fun to watch and cheer on Cato and Oxford.  

Go #15!

As a side note about Oxford sports, Oxford plays other universities throughout the season of the sport, and then for each sport there is a "varsity" match (often against Cambridge but I'm not sure always... I think the riding varsity match involves multiple teams competing).  If Oxford wins, everyone on the team wins a "blue" or a "half-blue" depending on the sport (competitive sports get full blues, less popular ones get half blues).  There is a saying that everyone should leave Oxford with a distinction, a blue, or a spouse.  A distinction is the highest grade/mark you can earn here, a blue is an athletic accomplishment, and the spouse one is obvious- some of my classmates now have blues!   We have more people competing in varsity matches in the coming weeks so I'll keep y'all posted. 

After Cato's game we were having fun and part of me wanted to stay and watch the boys' game since I know 3 of the players on that team as well, but hunger won out so Brittany, Katherine and I headed to Andreas' to make curry and hang out.  We ate and sat around and talked until around midnight- later than I had planned to be out.  Sunday I had planned to get up and be really productive with paper writing, laundry, cleaning, etc.  Instead, I slept in and then wrote part of my paper that was due today.  Then I needed a break so I decided to go grocery shopping for the week.  When I went out and hopped on my bike to go to the store I just had this moment where I felt so British... it was terribly gray and a light mist just hard enough to get in my eyes while cycling.  I was wearing a big, thick "jumper" with a "rain slicker" over it and "wellies" as I cycled through the gray mist... I am not sure it gets more British.  

Yesterday evening (Sunday) I spent making a noodle stir fry, reading for my elective, and finishing my elective essay (entitled: "Is the future cost of meat more than we can afford?"... and basically... yes, yes it is.)  I finished my essay around midnight and Louis was hanging out with Joe, a friend of his also in St Antony's down in the St. Antony's Late bar.  I decided to unwind before bed so I headed down to meet them and watched the boys play a few games of foosball.  Joe got tired and headed out so Louis and I went for a cup of tea before he headed home and I headed to bed.  

Today I started my day with my elective... the lecture was by Anthony Kleanthous on the role of business in the food system.  It was a good lecture, but I think with everything else on my plate right now I just had a hard time focusing.  From there, I had a CEM lecture on change management with a case study on the voluntary environmental accord in the New Zealand dairy industry (basically the lecture over the readings we discussed last week).  

I grabbed lunch at Greens with Brittany to talk about housing options for next year and then I had another class on research methods, mostly just time to work on our presentations for next monday (my group is doing the non-human charisma of wine) and the extra time was much appreciated.  Then we had a class meeting about our upcoming field trip to Amsterdam and now I'm home for a bit before meeting Tom to work on our mapping controversies project.  Tonight I think I'm going to go see Ben and James play at a pub called the White Rabbit.  

This week is going to be crazy busy but also lots of fun. 

Hope everything is going well wherever in the world you are reading this from!

Week 5: Class, a girls' night, a silent disco, and a mexican dinner

Week 5 is over... just 3 weeks and I'll be done with all but 1 class at Oxford (other than taking the exams for all of them).  How time flies.  It was another jam packed week and I'm still having so much fun and learning an incredible amount.  Sometimes it's hard to believe that this is real life.

Monday was crazy busy.  I went to Corporate Environmental Management, then rushed home to meet the mobile bike repairman to pick up my bike, and then rushed back to the department for Research Methods.  Brittany had gotten me lunch since I wouldnt have time (amazing) and so I quickly inhaled it before class.  Following research methods, which was a lecture on conducting interviews and focus groups, we had a class meeting where Ole and Andreas presented their dissertation proposals for feedback. After class I came home and did work for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday I had more class.  Science and Politics was first and was an introduction to our mapping controversies class where we reviewed what we will be doing and formed groups.  From there, I grabbed lunch and then had Economy and Development- a lecture on the financial crash and austerity.  It was interesting, but half way through the professor had to leave sooner than expected for a funeral and just kind of ran out... so that lecture will be finished this week (week 6).

After she left my group for the economy and development class presentation the following day met to go over our presentation.  By this point I was feeling really overwhelmed by how much I have coming up and even though I had a bit of a cough, I thought a run would do me good- and it did.  I only ran just under 2 miles, and it was a slow, sticky, painful run- one of those where joints ache and your body doesn't want to cooperate, but the endorphins are worth it afterwards.  When I got home from my run I was planning to do some reading and then head to the Richard Dawkins lecture... but Brittany called and said the line to get in the lecture was already down the block and there was no way we would get in, so I didn't bother even trying.  At this point, I had planned to eat out after the lecture and hadn't planned on cooking, so I called Andreas and Katherine and met them at the Rose and Crown for dinner.

I met a few people at the Rose and Crown for dinner and it was nice to catch up with Katherine and Andreas over some food.  The food there is surprisingly good for pub food and reasonably priced, so I was happy with it.  Dennis and Louis met us later and ordered but I not so nicely bailed while they were still eating because I was back to feeling totally swamped.

Wednesday morning I had my elective (it's normally on Thursday but was moved this week) and I really, really enjoyed the lecture.  The lecture was entitled "Food, Climate Change and Eating" but it covered lots of interesting topics from sustainable intensification to shifting consumption patterns.  It was a well balanced lecture and I really enjoyed it.  From there, I went straight to economy and development where we had an hour of lecture on forests in India followed by my group's presentation on the Forest Rights Act of 2006.  I think the presentation went okay, but parts were kind of rocky.  Still, I think it was passable. When that class finished I grabbed lunch and then came back to the department for the CEM reading group to discuss the coming week's reading.

Following the CEM reading group I was supposed to hang around the department and then go to a risk assessment lecture for field work but I had another meeting that was supposed to start right in the middle of that lecture about a 15 minute walk away.  I skipped the lecture because we won't be tested over it and my field work will not be particularly risky (other than perhaps involving horses which is risky but something I'm familiar with) which gave me a few minutes to skype with Mom and get to my meeting with a forestry professor for the Billion Trees venture.  I've been so swamped since the meeting that I still have a lot to do between that meeting and then upcoming meeting (tomorrow) but I'll get it all done (I hope).

After the meeting I went back home and did a bit of work and cooked and ate dinner before heading to latin dance lessons.  There was a new teacher this week and I think some confusion on whether or not there would be lessons, so it was a smaller group and amazingly, there were more guys than girls (nuts!)  The samba is probably the dance with the hardest footwork out of the ones we've done but I also really enjoyed it.  After the dancing most people (Ted, Brittany, Andreas, Alex, Katherine) headed home, but Louis and I decided we'd go back to my college bar for a drink and to catch up.  A friend of Louis' joined us, and then another guy and we decided to play a game of pool (which it turns out I am am terrible at :( ).  After the game of pool, we were planning to walk to the kebab van for food but 1/2 way there Louis hailed a cab and we decided to go dancing.  We went to Thirst for a bit to dance before walking home.

Thankfully after the late night out, I didn't have anything until 2 on Thursday, but unfortunately I woke up with a cough that sounded (and still sounds) like the black lung.  I spent the morning napping and doing work for the following week (now this week) and then decided to run a few errands and grab lunch before class.  After class I needed another nap and then I got changed headed to a Lebanese restaurant, Pomegranate, for an NSEP girls' dinner.  Out of 16 of us, I think 12 made it, which was a pretty good turn out.  We ordered tons of mezze/small plates and the food was really amazing.  The boys had made a big deal about how we were reinforcing the gender binary and being exclusive so after dinner we went to join a few of them at Freud for a bit.  I headed home from there relatively early hoping to get some sleep.

 At Freud, post girls' dinner. Lisa, Fran, Kanako, me

  At Freud, post girls' dinner. Lisa, Fran, Andreas, and Kanako

 Kanako wanted to feel "posh," so she was drinking her Staropramen from a martini glass...

Friday was very productive.  I finished almost all of my reading for the coming week (I didn't get through my elective reading but did everything else, which was incredible feeling!) It took pretty much all day and I was still coughing a lot so it was nice to have a quiet and productive day reading about everything from masculine identities in the financial crisis to Hydro One's risk assessment for their business to mapping controversies.

That evening I headed over to Katherine's to meet up with some people for pizza before going out to parties.  I wasn't planning to going out afterwards, but I got talked into checking out the "silent disco bop" that Kellogg College was hosting.  The way it works is when you go in you get a set of wireless headphones.  There are several "channels" (like radio stations) playing different types of music and you can select what you want to listen to.  This means that people are dancing to the music they are listening to, but people may be listening to a range of music.  It makes it hard to dance with people and it's hilarious to take your headphones off and watch people flail around in relative silence.  I expected it to be way awkward but it turned out to be tons of fun and somehow what was supposed to be a quiet night in turned into a very late night of dancing.

Brittany and me!

 Katherine, Sophie, Gabrielle, and Lisa

 Sophie, Gabrielle, and Lisa 

Ted and me!

Saturday I slept in and did a bit of cleaning and did the reading I needed to do for a paper I had due Monday (today) entitled ("To what degree can the analysis of climate change's impact on food production underpin food security assessments?").  Midday I got my bike back (yay!).  It's all fixed up with new wheel bearings, my basket secured so that it doesn't rock around and throw my bike off balance, chain fixed so it doesn't jam, gears fixed, brakes tightened and new brake pads put on.  It feels like a new bike!  That afternoon, I met Brittany at Tesco to buy food for our Mexican dinner/margarita night we were doing for a few friends.  Grocery stores here are the worst so after Tesco, Sainsbury, 2 shops in the covered market, AND a trip to east/west provisions we finally had everything we needed.  We headed back to my place where we did handmade corn tortillas from masa harina and then packed everything else and headed to Lisa's since she has a large kitchen to accommodate cooking for so many and places for everyone to sit.

The kitchen turned out to be stocked with almost nothing in terms of cookware and one of the ovens started belching huge plumes of black smoke b/c it was so dirty inside (gross) so cooking took way, WAY longer than planned.  We had told everyone 7:30 and thought we'd do chips with guacamole and drinks and have dinner around 8, but it was 9:15 before dinner was ready.... oops?  Still, the spread of food was impressive- we had handmade corn tortillas, fajita style carrots, peppers, onions and mushrooms in a homemade fajita spice mix, a mix of corn and black beans with jalepenos, onion, lime and cilantro, homemade salsa, homemade guacamole, fish (baked and then finished in a skillet for fish tacos) and a homemade slaw made with cabbage, vinegar, oranges, and red onion.  Personally I thought everything was great (including the homemade margaritas!) and I think everyone else thought so too.

After dinner we sat around and Rob brought some of his friends by to hang out.  We had a dance party and the dishes magically did themselves (ha! Just kidding- Lisa did them all though which was really amazing!) Around midnight the group decided to head out to check out a Dutch themed bop and go to a few clubs, but I knew that I had that paper due Monday so as much as I really wanted to go out with everyone, I decided to be responsible and head to bed.

Yesterday (Sunday) I spent the entire day writing my paper and trying not to cough up a lung.  My roommate I think was really worried about my cough, which was nice- he came to check on me several times and kept offering to bring me tea or medicine.

Today has been just as busy- I had a CEM lecture this morning on risks, a research methods lecture on digital methods and large data sets, and an economy and development lecture on masculine identities in the financial crisis.

I have another paper due next Monday, I need to get busy on my formal dissertation proposal, I have 3 upcoming group projects, and tons of reading to do in the coming weeks... still, it will somehow all get done and I'll manage to continue to have fun... seems to be how things work around here.

I'll try to keep y'all posted!

Week 4 of Hilary: Stress Fest and B2E

This week has been stressful- not my best at Oxford, but I think that is pretty typical of 4th week of term. The reality that we are 1/2 way through the term hits, along with the realization that there is still way more than 1/2 the amount of work for the term left. In fact, it fully hit that in the next 4 weeks I have:

• A presentation in Economy and Development on the Forest Rights Act in India (non-graded but TONS of work since everyone has done such a great job and we want it to be informative and interesting) 
• A presentation of what my dissertation will be on and field questions on this from students and advisors  
• A presentation in research methods on the non-human charisma of wine (granted, this one is more on how we got the research and framed it and is pretty short/low-key) 
• A presentation in Corporate Environmental Management (CEM) on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and risk management... which one of the "higher ups" from BP at the time will sit in on (exciting and terrifying) 
• An application for a grant for a start up I am helping with (more on this one later) 
• 2 essays for my elective on food security 
• A group mapping controversies project in Science and Politics (I think my group will be doing ours on the herbicide atrozine) 
• Regular reading and class 
• Run a 6k (and get in way better shape to do so!) 

Besides feeling overwhelmed, here's how my week went down:

Monday I woke up really not feeling well. There is all sorts of crud going around Oxford and while I haven't truly gotten sick (knock on wood), I've been slugging/coughing/congested for well over a week now. Monday was the worst day but since CEM meets on Mondays and is my favorite class, I drug myself out of bed and went to class. After 2 hours of class, I was drained. I was supposed to have another class, an NSEP meeting, and a group project meeting for our Economy and Development presentation (see bullet 1 of things to do!), but I just wanted to curl into a ball and sip tea and sleep- so that's what I did. I have missed VERY little class at Oxford and I honestly feel it was the best decision I could have made. That evening I don't think I even did any work- I just napped, drank tea, and did some reading for pleasure (a rare, rare luxury as a grad student).

Tuesday I went to Science and Politics. I really enjoyed the readings for class, largely about mapping the arctic sea floor and native peoples' rights in the arctic, but I felt like the lecture fell a bit flat so that was disappointing. From class, Brittany and I went to Itsu to satisfy my sushi craving and then headed to the Oxford Union to hear General Michael Hayden speak (Katherine and Cody came too!) Gen. Hayden was director of the NSA and head of the CIA and the talk was: "Beyond Snowden: An NSA Reality Check." Super interesting stuff and we stayed afterwards to ask some questions and to take a picture with him.

Katherine, General Michael Hayden, Brittany, me 

After the talk I headed home and did some work because I knew Wednesday was going to be a busy day.

Wednesday morning I had a meeting with the Warden of St. Antony's (my college at Oxford). She meets with all the students just to check in and see how things are going, and while I expected it to be a bit lame/awkward, I actually had a nice chat with her and really appreciated that she was so engaging/easy to talk to. I left the meeting feeling really happy/energized, which was perfect since I was meeting Katherine for a run. A group of NSEPers signed up for a relay. We are teams of 3-4 (there are different types of entries) but each leg of the race is 6k. I'm really out of shape and having signed up for a race, especially one where other people are depending on me is great motivation to get me off my lazy bum and go run. Brittany and some of the others (but especially Brittany) are already runners/sporty, but a few of us are not. Katherine and I have decided to train together and hold each other accountable and the first run went really well.

After our run I went home to shower and change and then to class. From there, I had a meeting with my CEM professor, Gordon Clark, to talk about my dissertation. As I've been leaning possibly away from academia, I've been thinking that maybe I want to redirect my dissertation topic. I still want to write on horse importations, but I've been thinking about making it less theoretical and more geared towards the economics/business models/contracts/trust issues surrounding the importation process. I felt like Gordon might be a better supervisor to explore those themes with, and thankfully, he was excited about the project. I need to email Jamie and explain to him that I think I am changing direction and that Gordon may be a better fit, but I've already spoken with Kersty and she assures me it should not be a big deal/an issue- so that's on the list for tomorrow (Monday as I write this).

After my meeting with Gordon, I headed to Greens for food (it was around 3:30 and I hadn't had lunch) and Louis met me there. It was nice to catch up and have a bit of time together. From there, we headed to GTC to work, work, work and read, read, read for several hours. I normally have latin dance lessons on Wednesday night, but I was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I needed to do and by life/my future/directions/decisions so I stayed and did work and some journaling.

Thursday was another crazy day. I had my elective that morning from 9-11 and we had a guest lecturer, James Jones from the University of Florida's department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. The lecture was largely on crop modeling and was super interesting. It was so, so weird to hear a southern accent in the classroom here at Oxford and it actually made me quite homesick. When I asked a question in class my friend Tom turned and asked, "Woah! Where did that strong southern accent come from, Sarah?" I apparently don't use it much, but talking to a "fellow southerner" it just sort of slipped out :) After my elective I had the first Economy and Development lecture of the week from 11-1 on water issues (access to and flooding) in India. From 1-2 I grabbed lunch (a sandwich from a great little take away sandwich shop, the Alternative Tuck Shop) and then back to class from 2-3. Unfortunately, I chose not to do the reading for that class since we normally don't draw from them much and I've been so overwhelmed with work. I thought it was a strategic decision... unfortunately, so did everyone else and the PhD leading the class decided to discuss the article this time... it was note pretty and we got fussed at quite a lot.

From class I went home to do some cleaning, and then to the store to pick up a few things so that Andreas and I could cook dinner together. On my way home a homeless man I see all the time asked me for money and while I make it a point to never hand out cash, I offered to buy him a coffee. He gladly accepted... and then requested a latte instead, which I found a little amusing. On the one hand, I felt like asking me to buy a 3 pound ($5) latte is a bit presumptuous... on the other, just b/c he's homeless doesn't mean he doesn't have preferences/things he craves (who hasn't craved a latte or a brownie or any other of life's little indulgences?!) so I didn't really mind. Besides, it's a good feeling to bring a smile to someone's face and to genuinely tell them that you hope they have a good evening.

When I got home, I cleaned a bit more, and then Andreas arrived for our dinner adventure. We decided to make homemade gnocchi, homemade tomato sauce, and salad. It took much longer than I anticipated, but the end result was AMAZING if I do say so myself and while it was a bit time consuming, the end result is worth it. I highly recommend giving it a try. It was so nice to have an evening to catch up with Andreas and also to just cooking. Cooking is a huge stress reliever for me, but I find at Oxford that I haven't made time to really cook... sure, I make some yummy food from time to time, but it's normally minimal prep time... like I roast veggies and toss them over rice with a bit of balsamic glaze, or I'll make a soup where I can just toss everything in a pot. While that is often great, it's just not the same as really putting time and effort into a dish or meal just to savor it later.

I don't normally have class on Fridays but this week we had an extra Economy and Development lecture, this one on Economic Geography. It was a great lecture, but I think we were all a bit spent from the week so we didn't engage in as much discussion as we normally do as a class. After class, Katherine and I were schedule to go for another run so I hurried home to change and meet her back at the park. When I went in my building, it was misting but not bad weather for a run. I literally just threw down my bag and swapped into running gear but by the time I got back outside it was POURING and the wind was blowing so hard that it felt like sleet pelting my face. Katherine called and said she was not up for running in that weather and asked if I wanted to meet her and Cato for lunch instead. I felt a bit guilty, but I was also feeling like a drowned rat, so I agreed- to make myself feel better, I sprinted the .3 miles to the cafe.

We ate at a place I have passed everyday but never been in and I'm SO glad Katherine suggested it. My lunch was 4.50 pounds ($7.50) but that is quite reasonable for Oxford and for the amount and quality of food (I got a bit plate of stew/curry, 2 different giant salads- lentil/beet and a tomato/arugula/parsley one and a slice of cake!) and the food was amazing. I definitely felt guilty for eating all that (and I do me ALL that) rather than taking a run buuuut... oh well.

The rest of Friday I spent doing work for the coming week since I knew the rest of the weekend was going to be nuts. Saturday I got up and spent the morning doing work before heading to meet a Penn alum who is a friend of a friend (Ted) who just arrived to Oxford for a few weeks for do some research for his MD/PhD. I took him to walk through Christ Church, including "hall" which is the dining hall that they used as the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies. For some reason there was a group there dressed up as lego men. I can't explain it, but it was pretty great.

From Christ Church we headed to get Ted a phone, and then to get him shampoo/body wash/essentials and then to get tea before I had to run to session one of the B2E conference. I'm really glad Patrick put me in touch with Ted because if our outing on Saturday is any indication, we're going to have a blast while he's here for the next 5-6 weeks.

From tea, I headed to Business 2 the Environment, B2E, an entrepreneurial/start-up weekend hosted by the Said Business School MBA kids. The first session was Saturday from 5-7 and basically people just pitched start-up ideas that were environmentally geared. I didn't pitch anything, but Cato, one of the other NSEPers there, did! Brittany and Katherine were also there and they, like me, were too shy to make pitches. That said, the energy in the room was so interesting/dynamic. People were willing to pitch anything and everything- huge ideas, small ones, ones well thought out and spur of the moment things that popped into their head. It was a great pitching session and once we have around 25 ideas from roughly 40-45 people, we voted on the top 8 ideas (each person got 3 stickers to place under their 3 favorite ideas which were written/posted around the) and then we formed teams.

When I signed up with the other 3 NSEPers, I kind of assumed I would end up on a team with at least one of them, but amazingly enough, we all ended up on totally different teams. I joined a team with the tag line "1 Billion Trees" (the business plan is to plant 1bn trees!) and we had such an interesting mix- a NASA scientist at Oxford for a PhD, 2 MBA students (with very different backgrounds/interest), a DPhil Geography student (and NSEP alumna!) who has from forestry experience, an environmental policy/intl development guy, and me, with the interesting mix of policy/finance/somewhat ag background. Shortly after forming teams, we all (the entire conference, not just my team) headed to the Jam Factory for drinks/mingling. I mingled a bit, but mostly hung out with Brittany and Katherine and we were all way more interested in eating dinner than mingling/wine so we grabbed Cato and the 4 of us headed to a Korean place around the corner. None of us had ever been there but the food was really, really good and we were all able to find something we could eat/liked. The price also wasn't bad (about $10) and I got an appetizer, soup, and entree.

After dinner we decided to head to Jesus College to meet up with Lizzie, Andreas, Louis, and Cody who were playing bananagrams and having a quiet night. I am bikeless at the moment (my brakes are shot and something funky is going on with my chain- I'm having it fixed by a mobile bike guy tomorrow) but since everyone else has bikes, Brittany (who is tiny- albeit, strong and in great shape) offered to give me a backie on her bike so we could all get there faster. After a bit of convincing, I agreed. A backie is when a person sits on the bike seat and holds their feet up/out while the other person pedals/stands the whole time. It's pretty hard work and we had to go up hill for a lot of the way. We were semi blocking traffic and the whole scenario just seemed absurd so we could NOT stop laughing. It was a silly memory, but one of those things that is just happy/fun/feel good that makes you smile when you think back on it.

Anyway, once at Jesus we ensured the Porter hates us (we had to sweet talk him into letting us in since we couldn't reach Lizzie and technically we aren't supposed to enter Jesus College grounds without a resident and once he let us in we saw Lizzie coming and decide to hide and scare her... he was not amused by our antics). Once we apologized, we headed to the common room to play bananagrams and a bit of steal scrabble. We were all exhausted so after a few rounds of each we called it a night, though we briefly met up with Juliana as were were leaving to say hello. Andreas and I walked back together (we live very close to each other) and I called it a night.

Today has perhaps been the busiest day yet. The second day of the B2E conference kicked off at 9:15 with a workshop on how to pitch our ideas to the judges. From there, we got tea and split into our teams and headed off to work on our ideas. I'm not really sure how much I should post about our team idea on an open blog (not y'all but literally anyone is the world could technically see this), but the general idea is to create a quad-copter that would fire seed projectiles into land to reforest it more efficiently. The target markets would be lumber companies, surface mining companies trying to meet regulations, and NGOS/Governments after natural disasters. It is such a fun and innovative idea and we had a great time developing it. There was a break for lunch (we chatted as a team while we ate) and then we kept on working. Throughout the day there were guest mentors floating in and out to give advice and ask questions to help us think through things. At 4pm we all presented to the judges to compete for a 1,000 pound prize to help invest in R&D to see if it might be a viable business.

We didn't win, unfortunately, a smart-water meter/app group did, but we were complimented for having a really original idea (I wish I could take credit for it, but alas, not mine) and our group is actually going to pursue some other grants/start-up competitions to see if we can make this happen. I didn't really expect to leave the weekend having joined a start up team, but I'm excited about the potential and these are those moments which could fall flat or could be incredible turning points, so I'm going to continue down the path and see where it leads.

We finished the conference around 5:45 and I was a solid 20 minute walk from home and had to rush to get home, drop off my things, throw on a nicer outfit and heels (the conference was super casual) and then head to a formal dinner exchange that St. Antony's was having with Keble. My roommate, Adam, was also there, and my friend Lisa from NSEP (who is in Keble and was able to show me around!) so it was nice to have familiar faces. The evening opened in their common room with champagne or apple juice and then we all migrated to their hall, which is gorgeous... I should have remembered to snap a photo. The dinner opened with a small Keble Choir singing from a balcony in the giant hall and it was just one of those moments where I looked around and saw people in academic robes, and the singing (I think in latin), and the gorgeous, huge old hall, and it really hits that I'm here, in Oxford, a place with traditions and history dating back 1,000 years at a University so rich in knowledge in history. I am blown away by how lucky I am to have this experience.




Dinner was okay- I find food at formal dinners is good, but never exceptional. I had the vegetarian menu which was a salad of arugula/tomatoes/mozzarella with a basil/olive oil dressing for the appetizer, a vegetarian chili stuffed tomato with roasted potatoes and steamed root veggies as the main, and a very weird meringue/white chocolate mouse/berry jelly thing that was kind of terrible. Dinner was followed by port and cheese but I only grabbed a cheese straw and then I was off again to a group meeting for the forest presentation. We talked about all the reading we've done on the topic (over 20 articles among the group) and decided on the main areas we wanted our presentation to cover and who is coving what. Thankfully, I got the history of the act, which is pretty straight forward and one of my readings covered really well.

Now, I am home in bed. Once I post this I need to do some more reading for tomorrow (never mind that it is 1AM already and I have 5 hours of class, another meeting about our presentation, and an appointment to get my bike fixed tomorrow... who needs sleep?).

Despite being super busy and a bit stressed, I don't want anyone to think I'm not loving my Oxford experience... I'm just trying to make the most of the time I have here- it's a truly special place and a dream come true to be here.

I know those of you back home have had ice, snow, earthquakes, and now some beautiful weather on the way this week. It's terrible flooding here and there were some terrifying gusts of wind late last week- let's hope everything settles out soon (and if you're not reading this from the SE U.S., I hope the weather is as wonderful as possible for mid-February.)

Miss y'all! (and apologies if this post is even more full than usual of typos and mistake... I'm really exhausted and wrote this as quickly as possible!)