Boys will be boys...

I couldn't resist posting this purely for entertainment value. After the Winter Wonderland party at Linacre, some of the boys decided to have some fun in the quad fountain (keep in mind, the weather is, oh, about 35 degrees outside). This is the view from our dorm...

PS) The girls have sworn that they will compete by doing some equally insane fountain antics next term. Video to come...

Week Ten - What's that white stuff, part deux.

Even though term time is officially over, the essay-writing drags on. My final one was due this week, so I was looking forward to turning that one in. (Turning in graded work is a big deal here too, fyi. You have to bike yourself down to the examination schools to hand it to a designated lady who gives you a receipt -- literally -- for your work, and it all has to be packaged in a very Oxfordy way, with special envelopes and signatures and numbers and blood. Ok, not blood, but it might as well have been with the amount of hoops I jumped through to get it to the right person, in the right envelope, on the right extra-long British paper, in the right building, on time. Talk about stress? There's nothing like having a week's worth of essay in your backpack and biking through the bus and car-loaded oxford streets, in the rain, with an hour left to get your masterpiece, dry and in-tact, to the proctor lady. I've already had one rain/food-in-backpack-related disaster this term -- involving my banana smashing and exploding on my schoolwork like a water balloon (and iphone sadly, which btw, can cause permanent water stains; even after shooting my hairdrier at it for 24 hours to dry it out, I still see banana in my now fruity-smelling iphone) and then rain seeping in, causing the ink to run on my essay and the paper to get crunchy -- so I was aware of the danger that biking with essay and breakfast in backpack, in the rain, can pose. Despite all these obstacles, and my propensity to sleep-in like a rebellious teenager, my essay made it to the proctor lady that morning, dry, uncrunchy, unfruity, and on-time. Success!)

Almost forgot, the night before it was due, of course, I was frantically editing and running back and forth from my dorm-room to the building next door which houses our college library and computers. I must have printed that sucker seven times before I was sure there were no typo's. So picture me, in the dark of the mid-night hours, in pj's, slippers, and huge winter jacket thrown over me, running in the freeeeeezing cold back and forth from dorm to printers, repeatedly; it was like my own personal relay-race. The reason I mention this -- or even remember this painful procedure -- is because, on oh, the third or so time I made my journey, I ran out of the dorm, and had to stop because I couldn't see anything. There was a weird haze. I blinked a few times, thinking I got something in my eye. That didn't help. Then I thought maybe a group of students had come out for a smoke, or that the building was just emanating fumes from the pipes, or, even, for a brief second, I thought the building was on fire, and thus causing the smokiness (we did have a false fire alarm earlier that week, so it wasn't that far-fetched -- and btw, that was fun running out of the dorm in my long-underwear half-asleep into the freezing cold in the middle of the night, for the false alarm. anyways...) After a few minutes of stumbling around in the smoke to get to the printers, I realized what I was dealing with: fog! I've never seen such thick fog in my life, aside from when I'd been in a plane and coasting through a group of ridiculously thick clouds. It was so cool! When I realized it was fog, I actually ran around in it for a bit (away from the obstacles like tress and bike racks that I knew were nearby, because let's face it, my clumsiness would have ensured I ended up plastered on a bike rack, stuck in the spokes of some other student's peuogot) since I've always wanted to know what it would be like to fall through the clouds. It was cold, damp, and harder to breathe, but I loved it.

Let's see...also this week, on Tuesday, Will turned 30!!!!! Oh my gosh, he's soooo old! (Just kidding, of course, since I too suffered this fate approximately 3 months ago.) We celebrated, as the birthday boy requested, by having a fabulous dinner at Jamie's Italian, seeing a cool boy-movie (Law Abiding Citizen), and hitting the pub (Turf Tavern) with his buddies. Oh, and then of course, opening presents (fuzzy slippers - sorry to out you Will, but it is what you wanted!) and blowing out candles on cookie cake.

On Wednesday, we had a great dinner with Jola and Lars to say Merry Christmas and catch-up before they left for the holidays. (Seriously, we are like the last people left in Oxford right now! The town is empty!) They got us an amazing tray for afternoon tea!! It has three tiers, just like the one at the Randolph had (I can fill it with 1) sandwiches, 2) scones, and 3) desserts!) so I'll think of Jola and our afternoon at the Randolph every time we use it. It is just the most beautiful, and appropriate, gift! As I have no scones or desserts to put on it right now, it has a bunch of bananas and apples and nuts all over it. Totally not British, but I just couldn't resist trying it out!

On Thursday, I had a meeting with my supervisor David about my dissertation. Right now, I'm thinking about doing something on legal education, specifically related to studying the impact of practical work-experience on a student's readiness for practice. As I got ready to tell him (and my other 2 classmates who were there for our meeting) about my progress on this, he got out a tuperware full of mince pies that his wife had baked. OMG. Does he not know my love of desserts? With a mouth full of delicious mince pie (because, of course, I wasted no time in nabbing one of those little pies of fruity goodness), there was no way I could concentrate on dissertation stuff. I think he saw this, and was like, "why don't you guys tell me how your essays are going so that we give Vanessa a second to chew." Ah, David, you're the best.

Aside from the great guidance and help I got from my supervisor and classmates during this meeting (and cool discussion we had about how people mythologize the Oxford experience), the BEST part was that, as I was mince pie munching and gazing out of David's office window, I noticed: it started to SNOW!!!! They said it might not happen this year, but since it has been freaking freezing in the last week or two, I thought it might be likely, and I thought I deserved it for dealing with frozen fingers and a numb face. It was SO beautiful. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't run out of the meeting to play in it, and it stopped by the time our meeting was over, so I didn't get to be outside when it was falling. I think it had melted upon impact with the ground, so there wasn't even any white stuff left to look at when I finally made it outside, but I'm hoping that I'll get to run around in it at least once this winter.

On Friday, I went slightly insane. I shopped. Oh yes, I shopped. I can fairly confidently say that I single-handedly boosted the share price for all Jack Will's stockholders. I adore that store! Now, I can officially say I have some British clothes (they even have tags in them that say "Fabulously British" -- it doesn't get more Brit than that!) The girl in the shop kept bringing me cute dresses and shorts and showed me how to wear them with colorful tights and layers of bright shirts and cardigans. As soon as I complete the outfits (still need some shoes; she drew me a map to the store that she recommended, no joke), I will take pics and post. You will totally die. I have fully assimilated. If I wore this stuff on Lincoln Road (in Miami), they'd totally think I was a foreigner. I can't wait to do just that.

Also on Friday, we had dinner at Will's friend Kevin's house in Jericho. Kevin made an amazing thai curry dish and we spent the evening eating, drinking wine, and laughing with his roommates. We hit the Duke of Cambridge pub later that night with all of Will's buddies, which I looooved. Maybe because it reminded me a little bit of home -- it was a little like a Miami bar, with pretty lights, loungey music, young professionals, and no funky beer-soaked floor smell. We sipped on white russians, mojitos, and margaritas, and just had a blast with all of our new British friends. Then, after bottles (plural) of wine, and the aforementioned drinks, we attempted to bike home. I'll leave it at that. It was the most interesting bike-ride I've had, and I'm about to go check that Henry is (1) somewhere downstairs, (2) locked to something, and (3) in one piece. Love this biking town.

Week Nine: Grudgby, Christmas Dinner, and Jonga.

So term ended, but schoolwork continued... it was during this time that I was writing some of those 7,000 words. Also this week though:

Monday and Tuesday were spent dining at Linacre and hanging in the CR for chatting/cider.

Wednesday was spent at Angels bar in Jericho for some post-essay writing socializing.

And Thursday, we went to the Varsity Game - Oxford v. Cambridge Rugby (a.k.a. Grudgby) Match. It was fantastic! I'd never seen a rugby game and had no idea what any of the rules were, but it was still fun to cheer on my school and watch the huge "students" (6'4'', 250 pounds, thighs like tree-trunks, and about 33 years old) wrestle over the ball while surrounded by a bunch of jolly rugby fans. Even though there were some inappropriate, sexually suggestive rugby songs sung in the stands (e.g. they turned Willy Wonka's Candyman song into a bizarre diddy called the 'S-n-M man' - Mr. Wonka would have shuddered), it didn't make the match any less awesome. (even though Oxford lost.) Here is a video of when Cambridge scored. Pretty cool.

Friday I went to Linacre's Christmas Dinner in the dining hall. I had Christmas pudding (a fruity-like warm cake, sorta like the fruitcake that Americans tend to re-gift) and mince pie (warning: it does not have meat in it; that was a fun surprise when I took my first bite) for the first time.

Saturday we went to The Blue, a cool bar down on Iffley Road where we played some darts and boardgames.

Sunday, we hit the Quiz-n-Curry night again, where team 'Coming From the Rear' made a nice comeback (thanks to the Brits again, and Will's ridiculous knowledge of American history, and, I suppose, the random luck that made us the only Americans in the place when a bunch of Lincoln/Gettysburg Address questions came up). We also played some boardgames to warm-up for the quizzing. In the picture, we're playing Jonga -- you'd know it as Jenga, but it was the cheap version that didn't actually stack up evenly (either that, or the pieces were warped from beer-soakage), so it earned itself a new generic name.

The Day (or hour, I should say) the Sun Came Out...

You can take the girl outta Miami, but you can't take Miami outta the girl...

That's right, in DECEMBER, in the 40 degree weather, my Vitamin-D craving got the best of me, and I took my bath towel (because, no one owns a beach towel or chair here) and laid out, in the quad of my dorm, when everyone had left for class. It was sunny, it was bright, it wasn't raining, or snowing, or weird-misting, it was a beautiful thing. (a thing that won't happen again, for, oh, say 3 months.)

Oh, and yet another reason I love the UK: the night before this sun-bathing incident, I, Vanessa, actually had a discussion in the CR with someone about who was "tanner" (or as they insisted, "more tan.") Ok, seriously, where else in the world could I (see pale skin in pic) ever have a real debate over how "tan" I am. "Tan" and "Vanessa" are never even found in the same sentence, unless it includes a "not" somewhere in it. The desire to win this debate may have been one of the factors influencing my decision to lay out in the middle of winter.

Week Eight: Michaelmas Term, you're over already??

Unbelievable. Our first 8-week term (Michaelmas) came to an end. I am still trying to put my head around all the things that happened in these last 8 weeks -- so much schoolwork, adjusting to life in the UK (and in the dorms) to the point that this is starting to feel like home, and making friends with whom I have rowed, sculpted, studied, CR-gossiped, clubbed, dined, danced, bopped, and bonded. It was quite a term. SO can't wait for Hilary term (the next one) to start. In the meantime, here's what happened week ocho...

Monday night we had the Boat Club Dinner, so both the boys and girls rowing teams got together for a very nice Christmas dinner at the University Club. We all had these little present-looking boxes on our plates -- when you pulled them on both ends (you and a friend each pulling a side, like a wish-bone), a prize popped out, most of which involved a tissue-paper crown, hence the corny photos. The dinner was lovely - good company and good food (turkey, stuffing, gravy -- I finally had my Thanksgiving dinner). We gave our coaches presents and talked about the next term of rowing (and the BIG decision we have as to whether we're going to try to row for the senior girl's rowing team -- as this term was just for the novices. It'll be intense, and a LOT more training -- in the snow, and ice. After a week of contemplation though, I decided to go for it. Even if I don't make the A-boat -- unlikely given my twig-like arms; they're looking for sequoias -- the exercise, social outlet, and girl-bonding will be worth it.) (Oh, second big decision, whether we're willing to pose for the Rowing Girls Calendar. You think I'm joking? Just wait for next term...)

All of us at dinner..

.

Me and Kine in aforementioned head decor...

The Linacre Ladies boat club...

So after the dinner, we all headed to the Linacre Common Room where we had a few pints and participated in the traditional Rowing Club "Boat Race". (see pic above) This is a boys v. girls competition where all the girls line-up on one side with half-pints, and all the boys line-up on the other with pints, and then -- you guessed it -- we see, relay-race style, who can finish their booze first. What a blast!

PS) The girls totally kicked butt. Duh.

The rest of the week involved a TON of remaining classes, lectures, and essay writing. I wrote over 7,000 words in a two-week span (about 22 pages for those of you out of school and far from the concepts of word-counting...I now have a unique ability to gauge, within 10 words, how many words are on a page...I hope this skill will prove useful in my future endeavors, although, other than using it in some strange street-performance act, I'm struggling to come up with how). I also had a few Myron Rolle sightings in the park, again. I was a half-second away from just saying "hey", but thought better of it and realized if a mutual friend introduces me, it would be better than me looking like the park stalker.

On Thursday, Will and I had date night where we had a fabulous dinner at Branca, and then headed to famous G&D's for the best ice cream (Bailey's flavored) I've ever had. And yes, the 30 degree weather is not going to stop me from getting my ice cream fix. I'll fight through the pain for dessert any day.

On Friday, I got my first British haircut at Mahogany (super fancy salon) and made my stylist, Paul, tear up from laughter when I was describing how I wanted my "bangs" cut. They call it "fringe" here apparently, and since "bangs" has a sexual connotation, it was a confusing (and comical) description for him. How do you say "awkward" in British?

Then, with my new do, I headed to Linacre's Winter Wonderland party. All I have to say is: they had an ice luge. How do you say "freaking awesome" in British? Best. Night. Ever.

On Saturday, yet another bop at St. Anthony's. And on Sunday, quiz -n-curry night at Far From the Madding Crowd! It was awesome. Why? Because this time, we brought Will's new British friends along (can you say "ringers"?) They knew all the quirky British trivia (including knowledge of Brit 90's boy bands -- yes, shocking since they are all boys, rugby stats, and Churchill's middle name). Despite this wealth of English knowledge, we still ended up middle of the pack. It was so much fun though, that we think this might become a weekly thing... now I just have to recruit more students of various nationalities and areas of study. Sisti-Snyders don't lose!!

Oh, and one more thing to add to the "you know you're in college when" list...

1. At 4am on a few random Tuesdays, you literally roll off your tiny twin-sized bed and hit the floor. I was eating carpet before I even knew what had happened.

Dressing the part, and "what's that white stuff?"

This month, I am making a concerted effort to dress "less yank" as my Brit friends say. I really would love to look a little less American and a lot more British. So, I'm experimenting with colors, layers, and tights. After getting a lot of advice on what I need to wear (I'm starting with suggestion #1: cardigan, skirt, tights, Uggs -- apparently a staple of any English girl's wardrobe, along with belted dresses and jeggings, which I have yet to experience), I tried it out (and attempted not to fidget in my new get-up so as not to appear totally yankish). Honestly though, when I looked in the mirror wearing my jean skirt and tights, I didn't look British. I just looked like Debbie Gibson. No joke. I googled her. Back to the drawing board...

And then, December 1 (my Debbie Gibson day), like clockwork, Mother Nature kicked winter into high gear. It's as if she decided that she had spoiled us with the abnormally warm and dry November, so to balance things out, she threw down the gauntlet. I walked outside and the wall of chill that hit me was brutal -- I actually couldn't feel my face (so basically, I think my nose was unknowingly running during my entire walk to the department -- classy!) When I got to the park, the grassy fields were covered in white stuff. I was puzzled at what appeared to be a neat new fertilizer that the groundskeepers had dusted the park with -- but when I picked up a blade of grass to investigate this further, it practically cracked in two and was so cold that I lost whatever remaining feeling I had in my fingers. So, at that point, I realized I was seeing frost for the first time. So pretty! I stomped around in it for a while, watching how my Uggs made cool footprints in this frost, until I noticed the groundskeepers staring at me, the weirdo. Busted. Also at that point, I discovered that Uggs are not waterproof.

Newspaper article about the ridiculous overnight temperature drop.

Hilarious, Mother Nature, hilarious.

Rotary Trip to Windsor and Eton!

The Rotary Club organized a fabulous trip to Windsor and Eton for all of us visiting scholars. Peter Jones escorted us on a group bus ride over to the city, where we toured the magnificent Windsor castle (the Queen's vacation home) and then had a private tour of Eton College (an old prep school for boys aged 13 to 18, where Princes William and Harry went) by a Rotarian. The castle was enormous and filled with exquisite artwork, chandeliers, gold trim and centuries-old furniture. I love imagining life in a palace when I visit places like that -- very surreal. And I thoroughly enjoyed touring Eton College -- they have so many fabulous traditions. For example, in the old days, all the students were allowed to carve their names in one of the walls or desks at the College. Due to lack of space these days, the only students who can carve their name are (1) the top scholars of the year, and (2) anyone who has a family member that previously graduated from the College (i.e. if the student can find their ancestor's name carved somewhere, they may carve their own name next to it.) There were thousands of names carved in those walls from the 1400's.

Will and me at Windsor.

Windsor Castle guards. Love the head gear.

Me and fellow scholar Steph.

Eton College quad.

The Princes got to carve their names.

Thanksgiving? Bob Saget?

Thursday night I attended formal hall with my advisor and her other advisees. It was Thanksgiving (shockingly, the British don't celebrate Thanksgiving) , so it was a little strange not to be with my family and not to have turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie that day; instead, I ate an interesting chicken and pudding meal (good, but not quite the same as Mom Sisti's fixin's). I learned more about English cuisine as I tried the pudding, expecting a dessert-ish dish. Oh my no. Pudding apparently means anything that is steamed. So, that meat was less than sweet, to put it mildly. I did throughly enjoy the cheese tray and dessert though (of course) and discovered a new vegetable that I absolutely love: parsnip. I pretty much (discreetly, hopefully) devoured the whole veggie tray when I learned it had parsnips.

So, all in all, it was a nice evening... I think the first Thanksgiving away was inevitably going to feel a little weird -- it is almost as if the holiday never happened. At least Mom Snyder sent an absolutely fabulous care package that week, so I felt like I was connected to home in some regard.

On Friday night, Linacre had a pantomime performance of Puss In Boots. It was basically a play put on by students in the college, where (interestingly) most of the guys played girl roles (very Shakespearean I suppose). I find it amazing that the guys here are so completely comfortable with dressing in dresses -- this phenomena happens at least once a week, whether its a panto or a bop. There is always an excuse to dress in drag. Oxford boys are quite comfortable with their manliness. I still think there will be giggles when, 10 years from now, these people are running countries, and the pictures of them stylin' in stiletto's surface...

After an another amazing Thai dinner, we stumbled on to a cool Christmas parade through town. Hundreds of kids with paper mache lanterns flooded the streets, and they lit Chrismas lights all throughout town and lit up the big Christmas tree on Broad Street. They even had a light show on Bailiol College's ancient walls. It was beautiful. The classical music they played was charming and haunting and suited the mood (they even played one lovely song that I remember from my mom's musical jewelry box -- it made me think of home). This came to a screeching halt, however, when somehow, into the music play list, slipped Eye of the Tiger. Oh yeah, also strange, Will swears he saw Bob Saget.

On Saturday night, we attended yet another bop, this time at Green Templeton College, a newer graduate college. The theme was vampires, so the costumes were interesting. I wish I had known to bring my whole Halloween costume stash with me to Oxford!

Christ Church Regatta!

So the big race finally arrived -- the Christ Church Regatta! We arrived to the boathouse Wednesday (day 1 of the 4 day competition) pumped and ready to row (literally, the girls were singing the Rocky theme song as we placed the boat in the water). We were racing Pembroke B, a good team, so we had to bring our A-Game. After ramming into a few boats (the water levels were starting to rise, and it started to rain!) we got to the starting line, and waited for the GO! And then, we were off! We were calm (unlike the last regatta) and strong...and quickly passed Pembroke. Unfortunately, Pembroke, half way through the race, rammed into another boat, so the race stopped. But even once we restarted, (and they managed to keep their boat from colliding), we totally kicked their butts! Race one - total victory. This of course, got us totally pumped for the next round on Thursday...

Ready to race!

Looks closer than it was...

After the big win!

The college came to cheer us on...

Extremely sadly, however, the rest of the regatta was cancelled due to rising water levels. I was incredibly disappointed, but it was out of our control, so I had to move on. I'm so grateful I at least got to row in a few races before it was called off -- I'm lucky in that regard. And it's only making me want to row even more next term...

Next term, bumps races are on the agenda. That's when you literally try to ram into the boat in front of you to win. Of course, I think this sounds absolutely awesome. Count me in!

Week Seven - Harrod's, Regattas, Panto, and yet more bops...

Before I start on Week Siete (that's "seven" for all you gringos), there is something I must show you. After much anticipation -- drumroll please -- I'd like to unveil my little naked lady sculpture. Check her out!

I have to say, I'm very pleased with the result. Not only is her head still attached, but she also looks quite comfortable to me as she just lays and chills on my desk. What do you think?

Ok, so on to Week Seven... I better do this in parts, because I have a lot of pictures...

On Tuesday, my class travelled to London for a lecture at the Institute of Education. The lecture was interesting, but (I hate to admit), the highlight of the trip was hitting Harrod's Chocolate Bar with my friend Jennifer.

We had ice cream and cookies...and just stared at the mountains of chocolate -- a feast for the eyes. If you could imagine it in chocolate form, they had it ... chocolate fondue, chocolate brownies, chocolate milkshakes, chocolate cookies, chocolate truffles, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate coffee, chocolate bread -- you get the idea. What a beautiful place.

We also did a little browsing. This was the most expensive set of lingerie I've ever seen (1,000 pounds, I believe). We took this picture right before the guards approached to stop our shenanigans.

OMG. The shoes. They were displayed on little pedestals like works of art -- it was my kind of museum. I might have squeezed my fat foot into an 800-quid stiletto or two.

And this is the gingerbread cookie that Jennifer got me for our train ride. Does she know me or what?! J - you rock.

Harrod's was just amazing. The food halls were enormous -- each room was dedicated to a different food group: fruits and vegetables, breads, meats, sushi (ok, not a food group, but still fab), and then of course the dessert room (a food group in vanessa-land). I spent a half hour in there salivating over the glass at the pies, cakes, and candy. The four or so floors of clothing were just unreal. If you want it, it's at Harrod's (for an insane price, of course). The elevator system made me feel like I was in Disneyland with the music playing and Eqyptian theme with columns and statues. Seriously - it was an experience.

After shopping, eating, and lecture listening, we went to a pub with our class (and cool teacher). The only less than stellar part of the day was rushing out of the pub, and running at least a mile or two (with stomachs full of bangers, mash, and chips) to catch the train, only to be literally two minutes late and find out that the train was --for the first time in English history--on time. Freaking trains.