When we got back to Oxford (after being snowed in at Birmingham for hours), we were shocked and overjoyed at what we found: SNOW! People had told us that it hardly ever snows in Oxford, and definitely not in large amounts, so when we saw feet of snow on the ground, with more pouring from the sky, we were amazed. It was beautiful. It covered everything, the open fields next to the dorm, all the trees, the sidewalks, the fountain and the lakes, and -- due to the rareness of the occasion and thus oxford's inability to plow anything -- all the streets. The town shut down for the week, basically until the snow melted.
The dorm...
The fountain that everyone had been swimming in a week earlier.
And Broad Street....so beautiful.
The rest of the week was busy. On Monday (Jan 11), I went to a Rotary meeting at the Jordans and District Club to make a presentation. I had a lovely time at dinner with great company -- the Rotarian next to me was telling me how I had to go punting down the river with a Pimm's Cup in hand to truly experience the Spring in Oxford. (It's on the list now!) And several other Rotarians approached me after the meeting to offer help with my research on legal education (as they have sons, daughters, and friends who are barristers or solicitors here). The friendliness and giving spirit of the Rotarians never ceases to amaze me. It makes me so proud to be a Rotary Scholar.
On Wednesday, I woke up at 6am to hit the river to row. It was dark. It was snowing. And there was ice on the boat. But that did not stop the practice (to my horror), oh no. My hands were little frozen stumps, but I molded them around the oar and tried to hear the cox's instructions through the 4 layers I had on my head. It was an experience. The highlight of the trip was biking home on the snow-covered streets and having a bus fly by me throwing a giant wave of dirty snowy-slush onto me and Henry. As the slush slid down my face, I decided to walk the rest of the way.
On Friday, we went over to Will's friend Kevin's house to play some spades, watch some movies, and eat some pizza and popcorn. Good times. On Saturday, I went to the Christ Church artroom to make some artwork for our plain dormroom. (We now have a pretty little oil pastel piece up. Between that and our new flowers that we got at the covered market, our dorm is looking quite cozy!) Then that night, I went to an 80's bop. You can't quite tell from the pictures, but I went as the chick in Flashdance.
You can't see the spandex and legwarmers, but rest assured, they're there.
Good times.
On Sunday, we went to Far From the Madding Crowd to collect our free drinks from our last pub quiz win, and to defend our title (more for the drinks though, as we know lightning doesn't strike twice). We tied for fourth, not too shabby for Team Menudo. (Yes, the Puerto Rican boy band. As you can see, we're struggling for team names.)
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