Uffington on a Friday

My Friday began on a bad note. A couple weeks ago Collier organized a trip up to Uffington to see the white horse and asked Cassie and me to accompany her. The white horse is this crater that mysteriously appeared on the mountainside that highly resembles the shape of a horse. Nobody knows how it appeared or why. They do know when it appeared but you can do anything with science these days so that bit of knowledge isn’t very impressive on their part.

Due to Collier’s magical connections with Dr. Forsyth she was able to get him to drive us up and take us around the country. Since Collier was the on who was excited about this and the most eager to go out of the three of us we just let her plan the whole thing out. Cassie and I were essentially just along for the ride and we figured, on the road up there, a combination of her and Dr. Forsyth would give us all of the cool information and little facts about what we were doing.

The night before Collier came over and told us the final details about when we would be leaving the next more. Basically, she told us to be at her flat at one so we could catch the U1 to Harcourt Hill to meet Dr. Forsyth and leave for Uffington by two. Well, that didn’t really happen and that would partly my fault but also the fact that Cassie and I our both girls. The night before I forgot to set my alarm for when I over slept by and hour and a half, only waking up after Cassie came into my room and 11:30 my morning did not progress so nicely. I am one of those people who require a lot of time in the morning, not only to get ready but also to just wake up for the day. Yeah, I need at least two and a half hours. High maintenance I know. To save time I opted to not take a shower despite the fact that I was going on day three without one, threw on some mascara, jeans and my High Point University shirt (which I never wear other than bed just so you are aware), layered up with sweaters and my rain coat, threw some my camera and water in my backpack and still made it out the door late. I should really work on getting ready at the pace of a normal human being.

We finally made it to Harcourt to meet up with Dr. Forsyth and Dr. Schweitzer, climbed in the car and immediately set off. While in the car Collier started to ask questions about the history of the White Horse and Dr. Forsyth responded by equating it to Stonehenge. Meaning, nobody really knows how or why it got there but they have continued to preserve it. Before he went on Dr. Forsyth interjected with a legal statement for all of us. “Now, just so we are clear on the legal side of things, this outing, I am taking you as my friends, not as students of Oxford Brookes.” With a smile Collier then said, “So you consider us your friends!”

The weather wasn’t too bad, but it was very cold, windy, and a little bit rainy. It was at the point were if it was even just a tiny bit worse no one would have wanted to deal with it. But since it was teetering on that edge it really wasn’t bad enough to really complain about. The walk wasn’t bad at all, it was only about a mile and it was a steady incline. Dr. Schweitzer and I were far back from the Collier, Cassie and Dr. Forsyth for a little because we were just standing, trying to get good pictures of the White Horse and the overlooking view.

Once we got up to the top we could see the horse, but not in it’s entirety, and a good photo was almost entirely out of the question. Despite it’s similarities to Stonehenge it was nowhere near as photogenic. The most interesting part of standing there next to it had to be looking at how well taken care of it was. The grass was cut nicely around it and the stone had a white chalk covering the help it stand out better against the green grass.

Sheep. There were sheep everywhere. So, being girls all there of us just had this intense desire to go up and hug a sheep. Wouldn’t you? They just look so fluffy and cuddly; you really just can’t help but want to give them a huge hug. Unfortunately, no matter how slowly you walked up to one, they would get spooked and run away. So after about our third attempt to walk up to the sheep we just gave up on that venture and came up with a new plan. As a funny comment Collier just turns to me and says, “Sarah, you should just go chase after one.” Before I could even respond with any sort of retort Cassie just takes off after the sheep, which in turn caused the sheep to take off running. That was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in along time, Cassie acting as a herding dog.

As the day went on the weather was getting worse instead of better so we decided to head back, Dr. Forsyth went to go get the car and the rest of us went to the mound were St. George apparently killed the dragon. Walking there was kind of slippery and at one point we had to play the “Don’t get hit by a car” game, we just stepped to the side. What I found most rewarding was the view. You could see so much and so far of this green countryside, it was beautiful.

Instead of going straight back to campus Dr. Forsyth was incredibly kind and took us back to his home for tea. It was lovely, and once we found out that Collier had never had tea before we all looked at her in awe and just told her to drink up. It was very nice, we mostly just sat and talked and after a day of being wet and cold it was nice to just sit and drink something hot and eat a little something sweet.

Dr. Forsyth took us back to Harcourt and in perfect time too because that bus was there right when we arrived, so we didn’t have to wait for it. We did get stuck in a little traffic on the way back which I wasn’t too happy about because at that point all I wanted to do was go back to the flat and just take the longest shower imaginable. Walking back down Pullen’s Lane, all three of us were practically running.

After my long hot shower I got some of my work done and then preceded to devour a pizza. Later, Collier came over and we planned out more of our trip to Venice, which translate to me trying to find the cheapest flights out there.

Unfortunately, my camera is being a little temperamental, so I can’t upload the photos onto this post but hopefully later on I will get it working and then be able to amend this post to include some pictures.

A Recount of Thursday

A Recount of Thursday

Thursday morning I woke up with a long list of things to do and a short time frame to get them all done. The first item on my agenda for Thursday was to attend a small musical concert on the Headington Campus. Who was singing you might ask? Well, none other than John and Mel. A couple of weeks ago John started to heavily immerse himself into the music department. I’m not quite sure how exactly he got this entire concert to himself; I think someone might have dropped out. Regardless, he got to sing about six songs accompanied by a piano.

Even though Mel isn’t on the poster she had a few solos, and let me just say she was absolutely fantastic. John walks around the flat singing everything and anything so I had heard him sing before but Mel, I had never heard her sing. I was absolutely blown away when she chimed into to John singing “Suddenly Seymour” 

Back tracking slightly to the beginning of the morning, I was getting ready for my lecture and John and Mel’s performance when I heard a knock my door and John began to peak his head in my door. I was sitting on my bed at the time, he walks into my room, puts his hand by his side and says, “Does this look good or like I’m trying to hard or something?” With a big smile on my face I say, “No, it looks really good!” and then I look down, notice is lack of footwear and state, “What shoes are you going to wear?” “Brown.” I looked him up and down, saw that he was wearing a brown belt, and gave him a smile and said, “Yes, you look really nice.” He did look really nice, he was wearing brown slacks, a brown belt, and eggshell colored button up, and a green and brown stripped tie.

Before John left he came into my room again and asked if I would bring my camera and snap some pictures. I agreed and after having a quick discussion about how we believe the flash is the work of the devil he went off to practice before the performance.

The concert was on the upper floor foyer and it was just a piano backed by a big open window with folding chairs placed in front of it. Cassie and I attended together, looking slightly like lost sheep, Cassie leans over to me and says,  “Should we be super obnoxious and sit in the front?” So we pushed our way through these two guys who I am pretty sure were saving the two seats for their friends but hey, they didn’t say anything so we just sat down.

Cassie and I were making small talk waiting for John and Mel to come out and start singing when up from behind us John and Mel tap on our shoulders lean down and say, “This is going to be awful. We are both sick and can’t stop coughing.” Cassie and I just replied with no, you guys are going to do great, you both look so nice, and etcetera. Despite our reassurance they did not look any less nervous.

Now, the performance wasn’t painful, but it was sad. The very first song sounded amazing, neither John nor Mel coughed. When the second song came along, one that John had to sing all by himself his voice cracked and he was forced to stop due to a cough. The one good thing and the statement that I think comforted him the most when he was done singing was that it was very clear how sick he was and he did make it through two of the songs without any coughs.

Even though there was another girl singing after John I had to be rude and leave due to the fact that I had my art lecture starting in twenty minutes. The entire lecture art wasn’t mentioned once. It was more a tutorial on how to use the library databases and what we are expected to do for our final paper. More on the boring side, but hey, at least it wasn’t a test or something.

After my lecture I came back to my room and just feel asleep.  I was really surprised at myself for doing that actually; I have never been a person prone to naps. The funny part of this story is when I woke up I was very confused about what time it was and had a brief panic about whether or not I missed my Art lecture before I remembered that I had already attended it.

When I woke up I went down to Collier’s flat to knock on the door. I had to go physically get her because earlier in the day my phone told me that I needed a top-up. We were meeting up to start our plan to Venice, Italy. After looking at all the prices I realized how expensive it was going to be. I told her at the end of our little discussion that I would have to play around with my money and we will make the final plans for the trip on Sunday.

The rest of my night revolved around me trying to figure out how to post on discussion topics on moodle, which ended with no luck by the way. Finally I just gave up, typed my answers to the film questions in a word document and procrastinated getting my answers submitted till later.

My night ended the way they pretty much have been ending every night, which is everyone in my flat sitting in the kitchen laughing with good conversation. 

Lazy Monday

I have been sitting in front of my computer for a good hour trying to figure out what to write without luck.  Lately my life hasn’t been very interesting.  This weekend was mostly spent with me in bed, feeling sick. Today, Monday, has been the first day that I have woken up and been able to function properly. Still accompanied by a slight cough I, for the first time in days, woke up at a reasonable time, not on my own to be perfectly honest. At eleven in the morning I was awoken by the flat supervisor knocking on my door. She was asking me if there was any

mold growing in my room. Thankfully there wasn’t any in my room, although the same cannot be said for two of my flat mates. John’s room was so damp and wet we have all started to call in the aquarium. He had to leave his door open last night because his room smelled so gross and felt like you were breathing underwater.

            Going back to the supervisor, I was still asleep when she came in and I am a deep sleeper so even though she was one of those people who just naturally projects their voice she did not wake me up until she was banging on my door. I here them talking in the hallway so I know that it’s not one of my flat mates trying to wake me and also if it were one of them they would knock once and then just invite themselves in.  I wrap myself in a blanket, stumble to the door and open it. I am greeted with a bright light and a loud “Good Morning!” and with both of those combined my reaction probably made me resemble something close to caveman. She walks in and looks around and goes “So where is the mold in your room?” I don’t even have enough time to answer before Justin goes “No, the other room with mold in it is Johns.” To conclude the story I was woken up for no reason. So I did what I always do when I have nothing to do during the day and I’m still sleepy, I crawled back under my blankets and feel asleep.

            I woke up at about one later in the afternoon and not because I was done sleeping but because I halfway woke up, looked at the clock, noticed it was one, grumbled to myself, and then forced myself out of bed. No one was in the flat so I did not even bother making myself look even mildly presentable, walked into the kitchen and made some coffee. It was a relaxing morning, well afternoon.

            I did not end up getting dressed till about four and the only reason I did put on clothes and make up was because I really wanted ice cream and going to the corner shop in my floral pajamas is probably not the best idea. Accompanied by my giant winter coat I left for the corner shop. On my way there I ran into a guy named Aijalon. Aijalon also lives in K block and is studying abroad from Detroit. We conversed briefly about our class together and then I asked him if he would like to come to the shop with me, up for the ride he said yes and we started thee five-minute walk. When we got back I invited him to come over and just chat with all the flat mates, so he put his groceries away and then came right on over. Well all just sat in the kitchen and talked for a while until he had to leave due to the cold he has been fighting for the past couple of days.

            I went back in my room and skyped some of my friends form back home. One who lives in California and the other who is at school at High Point University. It was really good to talk to them, especially my friend in California. It is a lot harder to talk to her because the time difference form here to there is eight hours. So finding a time that works for both of us that isn’t some odd hour is almost impossible. The one downfall to talking to her is that afterwards I did feel a little homesick and held myself my very own pity party for a couple minutes.

            Later that night I’m sitting in my room when someone knocks on my door, now as I said before my flat mates usually knock while proceeding to enter my room, so when I said “Come in” and I saw the door handle hesitate slightly I was a little confused and said “Come in” again. Timidly, in walks one of the British friends we have made since being here. Walking in he says, “The front door was open so I just let myself in”. I’ve found the Brits don’t really knock much.

            The night ended with all of us sitting in the kitchen chatting away about pretty much everything. Nights like these are what remind me how much I love England and how sad I am going to be when I have to say goodbye.  

Lectures and Modules

I did it. I have completed my first week of lectures at Oxford Brookes University and the days that I spent worrying about how hard the classes would be turned out to be time wasted.  Now I know these classes are going to be no cake walk but after listening to the briefings by both of my professors I now know that, yes, these classes are going to require work, but not much more than any other college.

            When choosing my modules I was less concerned about what classes I would take and more about concerned about ensuring my four-day weekend.  Oh, and the fact that I would not have to get up before eleven. Sleep and I have a friendship that should never be tampered with.

            Although it is on the unusual side for a sophomore to attend a study abroad trip I think that I am doing it at the perfect time. Why, you might ask, am I endorsing such a big trip at such an early stage in ones college career. The answer is simple. General Education Courses. When you get into your junior and senior year most likely already completed all of your gen eds. and are probably starting to get into the higher level courses for your major, you know the ones that are more specified and almost impossible to substitute for something else? So what classes should you leave for study abroad? Your gen. eds.

            Which classes am I talking here you might ask? Well I am not following my own advice to the letter but I have come very close. The classes, or modules as they call them here, that I am talking are, The Film Industry which is taught on Tuesday from one to three which is counting for one of my electives to fulfill my communications minor, the class that I am writing these blog post for which is fulfilling my three thousand level course outside my major, Dr. Forsyth’s British Heritage and Culture module which is fulfilling my history general education requirement and I have on Wednesday, and last but not least, Theory 1: Modernism and Avant-gardes which is fulfilling one of my electives for my graphic design major and I have on Thursday from one to three. I also lucked out because none of my classes were off campus, so no forty-minute coach rides for me!

            I guess now a minute-by-minute account of how my lectures went is in order. So since I had no lectures on Monday I really just spent the day sleeping and putting on the finishing touches of the decorations in my room. Nothing to exciting, but the nice day of relaxation before going back into the school routine was nice and I would not have spent the day any other way. The next morning I woke up a ten. My lecture wasn’t until one but I knew I should leave at about twelve thirty just in case I had a little trouble finding it. So I woke up, showered, fused over what I would wear because you always have to look you best for your first day of school. Twelve thirty rolled around and I met up with two other girls who are talking the class with me and we began the walk up to Gipsy Lane Campus. The lecture ended up being in the main lecture hall so we had no problems finding it.  The minute that the professor started talking I knew I would love this class, he was funny and engaging and it was so clear how intelligent he really was. I think his opinions are going to be strong and he might not like it when you challenge them but if you have a good reason and enough evidence to back up your point of view earning his respect will not be hard at all.

            A hour after my film class let out it was time to head over to the class that I am writing these journal entries for. My conclusion for that class is as long as I stay on top of the writing assignments I should not have any problems at all.

            On Wednesday’s my first and only class is Dr. Forsyth’s and it starts at six pm. Was I happy about that too. That morning I woke up feeling awful. I mean it too, I can honestly say I haven’t felt that sick in a long time. I was sore, I could not breathe out of my nose and just the idea of moving was enough to make me feel light headed. I had the cold that everyone from High Point University seems to passing around. Right after we got let out I just booked it back to my flat, pulled on my pajamas and curled up in my bed.

            I woke up the next morning feeling a little bit better but not a whole lot. I honestly had to drag myself out of bed for my Art lecture. The entire time I felt light headed and sleepy and the professor did nothing for my attention. She seems like a nice person but not that interactive of a teacher. The whole two hours was just spent sitting in the dark while she showed a PowerPoint and read directly from a piece of paper. Oh, did I mention that she has been using the same PowerPoint and speech for three years? Yeah. This isn’t going to be the class that changes the way that I view art. On the bright side I will probably learn a whole bunch of facts.

            All in all I am excited for all of my lectures here and I think that they will be work but as long as I stay diligent I do not think I will have any problems.