What a Ball!

About an hour after we got back from the cruise, I hopped into my party dress to attend the Jesus-Somerville College Paparazzi Ball with my friends. Going to a Ball during your time at Oxford is one of those things that people told me I HAD to experience, and now I see why. There were four different stages of live bands playing at all hours (everything from hip-hop to jazz to classical string quartets), six different food stations with food from various restaurants (as well as a dessert room complete with chocolate fondue and champagne fountains), a casino, laser tag, a 3-D show, a room for dress-mending in case you ripped off your sequins on the dance floor(s), and, of course, tables upon tables filled with glasses full of champagne, mixed liquor fruity drinks, beer, and cider, just waiting for you to sashay by and grab. It was sensory overload at its best. The best part about it though, was getting dressed up with my girlfriends and spending a fancy night out together laughing and enjoying a very Oxfordian tradition.

The girls sipping champagne before the Ball...

The craziness didn't stop there though. The next morning after the Ball, Will and I took off for the Abingdon Rotary Club's Dragon Boat Racing Charity Event! In between cooking-up burgers and bacon to sell to the hundreds of spectators, we raced in the dragon-shaped boats against 30 other crews from around Oxfordshire. With 16 to a boat, needless to say it got a bit hectic. At one point, I was laughing so hard I couldn't row. Between the team costumes (from teams like Blazing Paddles, In Denile, and The Drag Ones - you can imagine what that team wore) to the waves of freezing water that I watched douse everyone in the boat, you couldn't help but laugh. I was wet, frozen, and smelled of ground burger beef, but I had a fantastic time.

Will and Tom on the grill...

After the racing and burger grilling, we walked through the park with our buddies Kev, Anna, and Mark, and played some serious games of Pooh Sticks. If you're thinking Winnie the Pooh, you're right. They actually play Winnie the Pooh's Pooh Sticks here (where everyone drops a stick off the bridge and sees whose stick comes out first on the other side of the bridge) for charity events and just general weekend amusement. I know it may sound silly to the uninformed, but trust me, Pooh Sticks can provide hours of solid entertainment. Since I haven't managed to actually win a game yet (which I attribute solely to highly unpredictable, shifting, English water-currents), I'm working on perfecting my stick selection strategerie. Kev, Anna, Mark, and Will -- consider yourselves warned.

Finally, this week (which is actually Third Week of Trinity Term, since I was on the cruise for the first two weeks of term!), I attended lectures by The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu (the Nobel Peace Prize winner, among other things) as well as Malcolm Gladwell (my favorite author) and went to Formal Hall with my girlfriends (see below).

Even without classes, this term has been busy! I'm really looking forward to just enjoying and soaking up every minute of this final term at Oxford. I'd give anything to be able to slow down time right now. I'm just having such a ball...