Hilary Term is just flying by before my eyes. I wish I could just freeze this moment in time. Alas, as I cannot, at least I will document every awesome moment that makes me pinch myself.
This week I found out that my boat - the B Boat (that's right, it's the boat with the smaller chicks -- what we lack in thigh size though, we make up for in spirit, usually expressed via face paint) - had to "row-on" on Friday to qualify to race in Torpids. SO, that meant a ton of practicing. Even one at 5:30 am. Ok, seriously, that's early. The gates to the river entrance don't even open until 6am, so I was literally told to "jump the fence" to get in. I figured, "oh, no biggie, I'm sure it's like waist height." Nope. I spent 15 minutes trying to get over that fence -- it was a 12-foot fence at the end of a bridge, so I had to hop over the bridge, clasping the sides like the last piece of cake before a diet, just so that I wouldn't plunge into the river below; I then shimmied along the bank fence, suspending myself over the water, until 20 feet later, I could climb a tree to get over. I need to take a picture of this bridge/fence/tree scene, because you just wouldn't believe it. Anyways, long story short, I was late to practice, and had a rip in my pants (as I caught the fence on my leap over the top). The fence had managed to avoid piercing the ten handwarmer packets that I had strategically placed around my body to keep warm, so at least I luckily avoided exposure to chemicals.
All the practice was worth it, though, as on Friday, we kicked butt and came in 6th out of 30 crews. We qualified!!! Next week, we race in Torpids (a race where you literally try to ram into, or "bump", the boat in front of you) .... stay tuned.
The Crew...
The gear...
After the race... (see that team spirit I was talkin' bout?!)
Celebrating the big win at the Turf...
Also this week, we had a little curry dinner, card playing, and trip planning on our fancy new metal fold-up table that is covered with a sheet. (see pic below) You'd never guess that it could fold up to paper size, would ya?! Ah, dorm living.
On Friday night, we had a little game night where we played "Things." I described this game in an earlier post -- we had so much fun that night that we decided we had to play again. It's the game where people write down categories like "Things you do when no one is looking", "Things you say to your mother-in-law" etc. and then everyone writes down their responses and you have to guess who wrote what. I bring this up because reading a certain one of our friend Kevin's categories and response classifies as one of those memorable moments I mentioned earlier. See for yourself in the pics below.
Category:
Response:
On Saturday, Will and I volunteered to help out at Rotary's fundraising drive for polio eradication. So for a few hours in Bicester, we collected donations from people walking around the Bicester Tesco and helped raise awareness about polio and Rotary. The event was a success as Rotary raised 545 pounds!
Then on Saturday night, I went to a beer tasting (where I taught my British friends to play Flip Cup!) and dancing with the ladies at The Bridge. So, all in all, Week Six was a fantastic time, and I wish I could redo it, and the whole of Hilary Term actually, like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day.
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