'Bob's Your Uncle!' (no dad, not you)

Nothing could quite match the madness of Summer Eights (and the numerous celebration dinners, happy hours, and parties afterwards), so 6th and 7th weeks were just a tad quieter. We still managed to fill them with tons of Oxfordy activities. Let's see... I went to a BBQ at Kellogg college where they had a -- drum roll please -- bouncehouse! (Which, they call a Bouncey Castle - hilarious, right?) It was fantastic. Embarrassing picture to follow.

Yes, it was me and the children in the 'bouncey castle'. Not that I cared. There was no way I was missing that - children or floral dress notwithstanding.

I also went punting this week with some friends from Linacre. Punting is basically pushing a boat through the water with a big, long stick. Sounds simple? Au contraire. I don't know whether it was the weight of the stick or the Pimm's that we were drinking (a punting tradition and absolute necessity for any real punt outing - it consists of Pimm's, sprite which they call 'lemonade', mint, fruit and even vegetables like cucumber), but I basically spun the boat in circles, as my friends laughed. We traveled approximately 20 feet in the hour of punting. Quite the journey. I so can't wait to do it again!!!

We also had a few BBQ's with our friends in this gorgeous weather. We played a little 'Things' again, where this time the funniest category "Things Americans can't say" prompted responses like Bicester, aluminum, oregano (yes, all of these words have either silent letters or accents on different syllables making them sound like words in a foreign language), and the best (albeit saddest) response: 'goodbye.'

After the debate over correct pronunciation of words, we also learned some new vocabulary: Big Girl's Blouse (wimp), Billy no-mates (friendless person), and Bob's Your Uncle! (you've got it!) As you can see, we only made it to the B's. I have tried to assimilate these words into my everyday speak, but it's tough to yell out 'Bob's Your Uncle!' everytime Team Quiztiano Renaldo gets a question right at quiz night. (The fact that Bob's my DAD doesn't help either.) I feared sounding like the bizarre girl in the pub and ending up a Billy-no-mates. (See how I slipped that in? Didn't see that one comin', did ya?! skillz.)

Also interestingly, I came to the realization that calling someone a Benedict Arnold over here doesn't quite mean the same thing. When I called one of our British buds that, I thought I was calling them a traitor -- they thanked me for calling them a hero. Interesting how two quite similar people can interpret something in two quite opposite ways -- makes you think. Benedict Arnold, the hero -- I didn't see that one comin'.

Let's see - other cool things these weeks. Saw Sex and The City II with ten girlfriends from Linacre -- sooo fun to have ladies night! (even for a horrendous movie) Went to Linacre's final bop - the Carnival Bop! (It was a fantastic night with my friends. People are starting to move out of the dorms already, so I'm trying to cherish every last minute with my closest friends before they go.) Attended more rowing dinners, lunches at different colleges like Green Templeton, pub nights at the Turf, card playing at the Vic, bops at Green, cricket matches in the parks, and, of course, football (aka soccer) watching for the World Cup. Watching England v USA in England with a bunch of Brits was an absolute blast. (especially since we didn't lose!) How are we ever going to leave this place?! I got a memo this week with details about 'going down', which means, leaving Linacre. I think they're going to have to drag me outta here, up or down or sideways, kicking and screaming. This shouldn't be tough though, as I'm a total Big Girl's Blouse. (zing!)

boaties and rotary's

Week 5 was again, craziness! It started off with a trip to the Rotary Club of Windsor, where I met some lovely Rotarians and gave a presentation about Miami and my future plans. (see pic below) It was a great afternoon.

This week was dominated, however, by Summer Eights -- THE biggest intercollegiate rowing competition in Oxford. (AND, the only time it is acceptable to leave the house wearing nothing but spandex.) Four days of racing, 13 boats on the water at a time, 1.5 boat lengths apart from each other, attempting to 'bump' (let's be honest, RAM) the boat in front of them to move their boat up a position in the rankings. Despite the rain, soreness, and law-related jokes (as law firms like Morrison Foerster and Jones Day sponsored this regatta - so picture things like 'MoFo' and 'every day is a jones day' blasting from the announcers on loud speakers), the event was an absolute BLAST for rowers and spectators alike.

My boat (with two of my dearest friends, Kine and Jeanne) started off as the second boat in Division 4. On the first day of racing, we bumped Hertford's boat (which was just plain AWESOME!) So, we moved up a notch to the first boat in Division 4. This also made us the 'sandwich' boat, which meant we would row in TWO divisions that day. We were in the highest boat in Division 4 (since we bumped Hertford from that spot), and the lowest in Division 3. So, to move up to Division 3, we HAD to bump the boat in front of us during that second race. We couldn't catch them though, so that meant we rowed in TWO races, 2,000 meters each, for the next two race days.... the first race trying to make sure the boat behind us didn't bump us (since there was no one for us to catch and relieve us of the pain of rowing all 2,000 meters at full race pace), and the second race desperately trying (after rowing a full 2,000 meters already, mind you) to catch the boat in front of us in Division 3, so that we could move up and leave Division 4 (and sandwich boat status) behind. Well, after three days of this, on that fourth day, we were so worn out that we got bumped, back to Division 4, right where we started! It was wildly fun, and we held Linacre's position in the race for next year (your position is determined by years and years of past racing!) What a wonderful memory. I will truly miss rowing when we head back to the States. I'm a total 'boatie' at heart.

Check out the Gator hat! Gotta represent!

My girls: Human Metronome, Lieutenant, and Engine Room.

Our boat - I'm in Seat 7.

Stern Pair : me and Kine.

(A Beer Boat - where they were more concerned with costume and beer than actual rowing...)

Our boat with our cox, Ken.

Post-Race Pic.

A champagne shower to celebrate the last race!

To see part of our first race, check out the video footage, courtesy of Will...

Only in Oxford - Battle in the Park!

We've been hitting the park almost on a daily basis as the weather has just been unbelievably perfect! We're talking sunny, 70 degrees, cool breeze -- total heaven! (We're going to DIE when we return to the sweltering heat of August in Miami.)

So, we jog, play frisbee (and survivor-triple-frisbee), tennis (we got a tennis membership for the Oxford parks - awesome!), watch cricket, hang out, aaaaaaaaaand, wait for it, watch students dressed in full body armor and metal hats engaging in battle via swords and shields. No, I am not joking. See videographic evidence below. Only in Oxford. It was too priceless not to share.

Just your average day of croquet

Woah have we been busy! Term-time (we're in the last of three 8-week terms during which you have classes, which is deceptive since we don't actually have classes this term, yet, alas, it is still called Trinity 'Term' -- typical confusing Oxford terminology) is always jam-packed full of events. So let's see, during third week, we did a little, what I like to call, Extreme Bowling.

Yes, Will is blindfolded. Each frame involved a different challenging twist on how you had to bowl -- backwards, with ball in the other hand, and, the piece de resistance, blindfolded. And yes, there were balls thrown into lanes other than our own. Good times.

I also danced at my first Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish social gathering where you do coordinated dances almost like line-dancing. My personal favorite was the one where I got spun in circles, and was airborne, until I started to feel a little nauseous. Again, good times.

I went to an exchange dinner at Lincoln College, where the buildings are ancient and the libraries look like this:

Unreal, right? The Lincoln college kids study in a Harry Potter film set. I also played my first game of croquet, where I was a natural, of course. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but there is no video footage, so I feel like I can take some liberty with this one. The only evidence to the contrary is a picture where I'm swinging the stick like a golf club. However, I maintain that would be a much more efficient way of croqueting. You just can't get a big power hit by swinging it between your legs. Especially when in heels.)

Also Harry-Potter-ish, my friends and I had brunch at Christ Church College, in the dining hall where they actually did film Harry Potter. Very cool.

In addition to pub quizzing at the Royal Oak, juggling lessons, a Graduate College Bar Crawl (and late night visit to the Purple Turtle), and multiple BBQ's (because the weather is SO amazing right now - sunny and 70's in England - who knew?!), we also fit in a trip to Blenheim Palace with the Rotary Club. It is a stunning monumental country house (interestingly, where Winston Churchill was born) and the current home of the Duke of Marlborough. We toured the interior and beautiful garden grounds and met the Duke's daughter, Lady Henrietta Spencer Churchill, who told us a little bit about the history of the place. What a great day.

Will and the Palace.

Snyders do Blenheim.

Me at the entrance.

Also this week, we celebrated our second anniversary! We went to the neatest restaurant in Oxford, the Old Parsonage, saw a movie, went for ice cream, and walked all around this beautiful city. Oxford was a great place to spend our special day -- it made it very memorable. I hope this won't be our only anniversary in Oxford...