Okay, so, some stuff happened.
Firstly, and this will come as an ENORMOUS shock to you if you were friends with me during my peak basketball playing years of about age 2.6-age 17. I sprained my ankle during my basketball game on Wednesday. It was about the middle of the second quarter, against the London Mets, who are presumed better than us simply because they are from London. It was your typical I went one way, my right foot went the other kind of scenario. However, due to the tranquilizing amount of ibuprofen I regularly take before any athletic competition that requires me to be doing anything besides sitting on a bicycle or in a boat, I had successful masked (any) pain (or feeling) in my entire body and returned to play for the entire second half. We lost by 8. I iced my ankle not once but TWICE after the game (and before the girls basketball team met the boys basketball team at Vinnie's, the illustrious members only men only varsity club that made me want to burn my bra upon entry), and assumed I was in the clear. And it is important to be stated that ice is nearing delicacy status in this country it is so hard to come by. Well, I wasn't in the clear. By the time I got home I literally couldn't walk, and I thought my lovely normal ankle had been switched with Kate Gosselin's 9 months pregnant with 6 kids gross CANKLE. The next morning, after half crawling/half hopping to the bathroom, I decided go to the doctor.
Ah, the National Healthcare Service (NHS), how I have long awaited our first date. To be honest, it wasn't all that is was cracked up to be. Try this on for size, I had to go to the doctors office first to see my "GP" because apparently there's been some national announcement to do that. But it was 10am, I was on crutches that stop at your elbows and in pain, and the first available appointment was at 1pm. So, partially unwilling to wait and partially wanting to go to an Emergency Room visit that I (or my parents) will not have to pay for, decided to take a cab to the A&E (Accidents and Emergency) at the Hospital. I was dropped off at "minor injuries" where I gave my name (no identification needed) my address at the university, and my phone number. Then I sat for about a half an hour until a nurse called my name to give me some ibuprofen and ask what had happened. Then about an hour after that I was taken to get an XRay. Then about 45minutes after that I was seen by a nurse practitioner who told me my ankle wasn't broken (which I knew) I had a very bad sprain, and that I should "take it easy" for a couple days and stay on the couch or in my bed until the weekend. The experiences ended up being about 2.75 hours in total. The last time I was a Newton Wellesley hospital for a sports related injury I believe was a dislocated finger, I'm pretty sure we got out of there in about 2.85 hours. I'm not going to use this venue to make some bold healthcare and political statements, but .10 of an hour is 6 minutes, I won't even make you do the math.
Anyhow, I spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday in bed, and was delivered food and movies by many friends here. I was visited by my scout (the person who comes and vacuums my room once a week and takes out my trash every day) who changed my sheets, the accommodations manager, who asked if I wanted to be moved to another floor, the nurse (twice) with ankle wraps and more pain medication, and my lovely Australian tutor Terry, who told me that he had broken his leg one week before his big move from Cambridge to Oxford (typical), and that I should not worry about anything until I am mobile again. It is now Sunday and I am up and walking and pretty much recovered, although I do get to go see an NHS physiotherapist (physical therapist) this week.
That's all for now because I need to get back to all of this reading, but I will provide some more updates soon.
TRICK OR TREAT (I'm in the library writing an essay, but lots of people on my floor are heading to a club in some very standard Halloween costumes (cat, mouse, ghost, witch) for a night of spooky fun.)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A tourist took my picture today on my way to a lecture
I have two (main) goals for this week: 1) To visit a museum (almost definitely the natural history museum that is 2 blocks from my college) and 2) to provide some more bloggage for all of you listeners at home.
I figured now would be as good of time as any to give you all the low-down about what my life is actually like here.
So here goes:
I am a Philosophy and Economics major at IU, and have been put into the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program here. We are primarily with the second years academically (although I am with some third years for Economics), which works out perfectly for me because in the second year of study at Oxford almost all PPEists drop a subject and focus on two. (Almost) everyone takes two courses per 8 week term, which is what I am doing, and for this term they are Public Economics and Logic. For Public Economics I have a tutor, Terry, who is one of the fellows in Economics at St. Anne's (read: kind of a big deal) and is a very kind and very brilliant Australian man. St. Anne's is a self-described "casual" college in that we refer to our tutors by their first names. This made me very uncomfortable at first given that most of these people have written more books that I have read, however I've warmed up to the idea. For Public Econ we have one class a week, on Mondays, 3 lectures a week, taught by various economics professors at the University, and 4 one-on-one (sometimes one-on-two) tutorials a term with Terry to defend an essay we write about the weeks topic. We got to pick the four topics that we wanted to write essays about. Out of the ten students in my Public Economics class, one is from Brookline, MA and is a third year (he went to BU Academy), and another is from Acton-Boxboro, and then there's me. Talk about random right? Anyway. The class is conceptually challenging but also very interesting because I am in the UK and the UK loves to tax and redistribute and provide welfare and do all the things that the course is about.
My other course is Logic. It is a mix of visiting students and "real" Oxford students and taught by a young professor from Nova Scotia named Brian. The class is pretty interesting but much more basic so far, and we have 4 hours of class a week and 1 hour of lecture. The lecture is taught by Volker Halbach, whose name is also on the front of the "logic manual" that we are using for the class, which he just you know, had published at the OUP (oxford university press), over the summer. There is a visiting student in that class from Marlborough, MA and another from Newton. I know, random.
I met with a Professor who works at the Ethox Center (one of the ethics centers at oxford) during the first week, and he essentially gave me an open invitation to all of the lectures and seminars he was involved in (and some he isn't) at Oxford that relate to biomedical ethics (my current career field of interest). This morning I rode my bike 3.5 miles (in the rain, ugh) to one of the Oxford hospitals to attend his class on medical ethics for some graduate medical students. It was very fun and interesting, and I also got to met the director of Ethox, just another day in the life.
Consequently, Mark, my main Ethox man (not the director) is also Australian and a basketball fanatic, and during our first meeting we got to talking about basketball. I had mentioned that I played years ago and his eyes lit up. He is friends with the women's blues (varsity) coach here and literally up and called him right as we were sitting at the restaurant, after a few minutes of "I've got this American girl here, she says she can play," he hung up and told me "Practice tomorrow at 4:30." So, I thought why the hell not and showed up for practice the next day, almost apologizing to the girls on the team beforehand about how terrible I would be (let's just say it had been a while). Well, practice ended with the coach walking up to me with a simple "You're in, see you tomorrow at 12." And there it was, I became a Blue, which is a pretty big deal at Oxford, and more importantly, accidentally achieved my childhood dream of playing basketball in college. Whoever said Disneyland(world?) is where dreams come true has obviously never been to Oxford. And we definitely have the monopoly on magic. Anyhow, the team is GREAT. The girls are all fantastic, 3 from the UK, 4 from the US (including a former all-american and rhodes scholar from Drake University), 1 from Finland, Australia, Austria, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, and Russia. Most are graduate students or Ph.D. students (anyone from the University can play), and everyone is just a whole lot of fun. We had "initiations" with the boys teams on Saturday night, think basketball-esque games with lots of 'punch' and some (very) competitive drinking, all of which was a blast, most of which was memorable. We also get a bunch of varsity "perks" like getting these little blue cards that let us jump the line (que) at all of the clubs, and getting invited to the elusive all mens varsity restaurant and bar, which would normally infuriate every feminist ounce in my body but I have decided to overlook this fact and go with it.
In other news the food is, decent, but obviously not stellar. Luckily we have kitchens and I managed to con my way into a fridge in my room. Unluckily I have no pots and pans (or actual plates and bowls) as of yet, and as some of you may know, I'm not exactly susie homemaker in the kitchen anyhow.
It really rained today for the second time since I have been here (a little over 3 weeks), which isn't bad at ALL. But so I've heard, it's just going to get worse. Eh, less tourism and more studying I guess.
Okay, this is getting a little long winded I am sorry. I realize for those of you that aren't friends with me on facebook you haven't gotten much in the form of pictures so far, so I'll try to figure how to get some of those up here soon, maybe even a video!
Later gaters,
oh,
and
GOOOO CELTICS. (I'm illegally streaming the game live here tonight at 12:30am).
I figured now would be as good of time as any to give you all the low-down about what my life is actually like here.
So here goes:
I am a Philosophy and Economics major at IU, and have been put into the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program here. We are primarily with the second years academically (although I am with some third years for Economics), which works out perfectly for me because in the second year of study at Oxford almost all PPEists drop a subject and focus on two. (Almost) everyone takes two courses per 8 week term, which is what I am doing, and for this term they are Public Economics and Logic. For Public Economics I have a tutor, Terry, who is one of the fellows in Economics at St. Anne's (read: kind of a big deal) and is a very kind and very brilliant Australian man. St. Anne's is a self-described "casual" college in that we refer to our tutors by their first names. This made me very uncomfortable at first given that most of these people have written more books that I have read, however I've warmed up to the idea. For Public Econ we have one class a week, on Mondays, 3 lectures a week, taught by various economics professors at the University, and 4 one-on-one (sometimes one-on-two) tutorials a term with Terry to defend an essay we write about the weeks topic. We got to pick the four topics that we wanted to write essays about. Out of the ten students in my Public Economics class, one is from Brookline, MA and is a third year (he went to BU Academy), and another is from Acton-Boxboro, and then there's me. Talk about random right? Anyway. The class is conceptually challenging but also very interesting because I am in the UK and the UK loves to tax and redistribute and provide welfare and do all the things that the course is about.
My other course is Logic. It is a mix of visiting students and "real" Oxford students and taught by a young professor from Nova Scotia named Brian. The class is pretty interesting but much more basic so far, and we have 4 hours of class a week and 1 hour of lecture. The lecture is taught by Volker Halbach, whose name is also on the front of the "logic manual" that we are using for the class, which he just you know, had published at the OUP (oxford university press), over the summer. There is a visiting student in that class from Marlborough, MA and another from Newton. I know, random.
I met with a Professor who works at the Ethox Center (one of the ethics centers at oxford) during the first week, and he essentially gave me an open invitation to all of the lectures and seminars he was involved in (and some he isn't) at Oxford that relate to biomedical ethics (my current career field of interest). This morning I rode my bike 3.5 miles (in the rain, ugh) to one of the Oxford hospitals to attend his class on medical ethics for some graduate medical students. It was very fun and interesting, and I also got to met the director of Ethox, just another day in the life.
Consequently, Mark, my main Ethox man (not the director) is also Australian and a basketball fanatic, and during our first meeting we got to talking about basketball. I had mentioned that I played years ago and his eyes lit up. He is friends with the women's blues (varsity) coach here and literally up and called him right as we were sitting at the restaurant, after a few minutes of "I've got this American girl here, she says she can play," he hung up and told me "Practice tomorrow at 4:30." So, I thought why the hell not and showed up for practice the next day, almost apologizing to the girls on the team beforehand about how terrible I would be (let's just say it had been a while). Well, practice ended with the coach walking up to me with a simple "You're in, see you tomorrow at 12." And there it was, I became a Blue, which is a pretty big deal at Oxford, and more importantly, accidentally achieved my childhood dream of playing basketball in college. Whoever said Disneyland(world?) is where dreams come true has obviously never been to Oxford. And we definitely have the monopoly on magic. Anyhow, the team is GREAT. The girls are all fantastic, 3 from the UK, 4 from the US (including a former all-american and rhodes scholar from Drake University), 1 from Finland, Australia, Austria, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, and Russia. Most are graduate students or Ph.D. students (anyone from the University can play), and everyone is just a whole lot of fun. We had "initiations" with the boys teams on Saturday night, think basketball-esque games with lots of 'punch' and some (very) competitive drinking, all of which was a blast, most of which was memorable. We also get a bunch of varsity "perks" like getting these little blue cards that let us jump the line (que) at all of the clubs, and getting invited to the elusive all mens varsity restaurant and bar, which would normally infuriate every feminist ounce in my body but I have decided to overlook this fact and go with it.
In other news the food is, decent, but obviously not stellar. Luckily we have kitchens and I managed to con my way into a fridge in my room. Unluckily I have no pots and pans (or actual plates and bowls) as of yet, and as some of you may know, I'm not exactly susie homemaker in the kitchen anyhow.
It really rained today for the second time since I have been here (a little over 3 weeks), which isn't bad at ALL. But so I've heard, it's just going to get worse. Eh, less tourism and more studying I guess.
Okay, this is getting a little long winded I am sorry. I realize for those of you that aren't friends with me on facebook you haven't gotten much in the form of pictures so far, so I'll try to figure how to get some of those up here soon, maybe even a video!
Later gaters,
oh,
and
GOOOO CELTICS. (I'm illegally streaming the game live here tonight at 12:30am).
Thursday, October 14, 2010
ALSO:
can all of you people follow this thing (I'm not actually sure how that works, but if my mom figured it out I'm sure you can, or comment, or post something so that I know that I'm not talking (typing?) to myself. And let me know what you want to know! I aim to please, really.
I've been wearing a helmet, and might invest in some knee pads.
One of the most amazing things about physically living in Oxford is the "road traffic." There are essentially three ways to get around Oxford. They are: walking, cycling, and bus. Some people drive, but cars are in the vast minority and parking is almost impossible to come by.
With walkers obviously walking on the pavement (UK for sidewalk), that leaves the cyclists and the buses to fight it out for road space, a concept that should make you cringe if you are from Boston or the like. However, the WEIRDEST thing happens. Cyclists actually have the right of way, there are bike lanes on each road at least 2 yards wide, and the buses literally stop and wait until the road is clear of people on bikes. There are bikes everywhere you look, locked on to almost any pole or railing in sight, or just free standing against a wall. Within the first few days of being here (after my first big walk to the social sciences building/economics library), I bought a second hand bicycle to get around town. A little nervous (primarily because of the whole left side of the road situation), I rode it home from the used bike shop. On my way home, a bus literally came to a COMPLETE stop to let me and 3 other people on bikes go ahead. I literally turned around to make sure it hadn't hit someone, because surely it couldn't have been stopping simply to let us silly people on bikes go. But it was. And for all you lovely smart-asses out there, no, it wasn't a bus stop.
Now the thing is, very few people on bikes are actually wearing helmets, primarily because it is so safe to ride, but also because no one else is, and there is the issue of the dreaded helmet hair. Lately, I have been. Which gets us to the purpose of this post. (And then I have to go back to reading about optimal tax theory). I haven't been wearing a helmet because Mr. Rasico told me to on 5th grade bike safety day, or because my mom told me she would kill me if I didn't, or even because I just got this new white and silver bell helmet that makes me look "so pro." (quick shoutout to my teter cycling biker chicks, miss you).
The answer is: D. None of the Above. I have been wearing my helmet because the past 4 days of my Oxford academic life have been so incredible, and enriching, and just all around mind-BLOWING, that something bad has to happen. Life cannot just be this good. These opportunities, these brilliant people that spend their mornings teaching little old me about economic and philosophical theories when they could be writing brilliant shit to publish at the Oxford University Press, for other brilliant people to read, cannot just be at my academic "disposal" without the universe throwing something back in my face. So I am wearing my helmet, and might invest in some knee pads. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep on having the time of my life.
Miss you all
Stay tuned for: "All British people do is stand in line."
With walkers obviously walking on the pavement (UK for sidewalk), that leaves the cyclists and the buses to fight it out for road space, a concept that should make you cringe if you are from Boston or the like. However, the WEIRDEST thing happens. Cyclists actually have the right of way, there are bike lanes on each road at least 2 yards wide, and the buses literally stop and wait until the road is clear of people on bikes. There are bikes everywhere you look, locked on to almost any pole or railing in sight, or just free standing against a wall. Within the first few days of being here (after my first big walk to the social sciences building/economics library), I bought a second hand bicycle to get around town. A little nervous (primarily because of the whole left side of the road situation), I rode it home from the used bike shop. On my way home, a bus literally came to a COMPLETE stop to let me and 3 other people on bikes go ahead. I literally turned around to make sure it hadn't hit someone, because surely it couldn't have been stopping simply to let us silly people on bikes go. But it was. And for all you lovely smart-asses out there, no, it wasn't a bus stop.
Now the thing is, very few people on bikes are actually wearing helmets, primarily because it is so safe to ride, but also because no one else is, and there is the issue of the dreaded helmet hair. Lately, I have been. Which gets us to the purpose of this post. (And then I have to go back to reading about optimal tax theory). I haven't been wearing a helmet because Mr. Rasico told me to on 5th grade bike safety day, or because my mom told me she would kill me if I didn't, or even because I just got this new white and silver bell helmet that makes me look "so pro." (quick shoutout to my teter cycling biker chicks, miss you).
The answer is: D. None of the Above. I have been wearing my helmet because the past 4 days of my Oxford academic life have been so incredible, and enriching, and just all around mind-BLOWING, that something bad has to happen. Life cannot just be this good. These opportunities, these brilliant people that spend their mornings teaching little old me about economic and philosophical theories when they could be writing brilliant shit to publish at the Oxford University Press, for other brilliant people to read, cannot just be at my academic "disposal" without the universe throwing something back in my face. So I am wearing my helmet, and might invest in some knee pads. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep on having the time of my life.
Miss you all
Stay tuned for: "All British people do is stand in line."
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Your mom goes to Oxford
HELLO FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND RANDOM PEOPLE WHO I HAVE NEVER MET AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL!
Welcome to my travel blog! I'm sorry there has been a bit of a delay getting this going, I've been busy, you know, living in the UK, but I promise (hopefully) to keep this up more consistantly from here on out.
Anyway so here goes....
Oxford is amazing. I am at St. Anne's College, which is just north of the center of town, and is one of the bigger (and more international) colleges at Oxford. For those of you are confused and think that I've been lying all along about going to the Oxford University, allow me to clarify. Oxford is made up approximately 30 colleges. Think Federal and State governments. Oxford is the federal government, responsibile for the curriculum, examinations, and general overview of academic affairs. The colleges act as the state governments, collecting tuition, providing accomodations, personal tutors (academic advisors), welfare programs, individual libraries, etc. etc. You cannot live in a country without living in a state (except D.C. ignore that), just like you cannot go to Oxford without also going to a college.
St. Anne's is one of the newer colleges at Oxford, and was the first college to accept women in the University, originally called the Assocation for the Education of Women. St. Anne's became co-ed in 1979. There is a strong focus on equal opportunities for education here, which is why it is one of the most international colleges to this day. Obviously, all of this makes me very happy.
Upon arriving at St. Anne's last Saturday, I was both exausted and giggly with excitment about what was to come. For those of you who know me (hopefully all of you, creepy), giggly is an extraordinarily high level of excitement that rarely comes to life and usually results in post-giggle denial. This blog will now explode in 15 seconds. But in any case, I was also exausted so napping took priority after exploring the college, throwing my suitcases on the ground, and attempting to (E.T) phone home. Fun fact, Oxford is not technologically savy (read: technologically challenged). They don't have to be. They are not competiting with other universities to be the best and needing to brag about their vast technological resources to prospective students. They are the best, they have always been the best, and they don't care that logging onto the internet is a huge pain in the behind, WIFI is hard to come by, and there is one printer for the entire college. That being said, I have an ethernet connection in my room, and I am happy.
I have met some really great people. Some American, and many from all over the world. St. Anne's did a great job getting us all "oriented," assigning Fresher's Helpers to arrive to college early and be nice to us and tell us stuff like where to do your laundry and how to check your pidgeon hole (you guessed it, mailbox!). We had to go to a bunch of Fresher's (Freshman) lectures, many of which were quite repetitive due to the fact that I have already been in a university for two years, but some were helpful and watching the extrodinarily hungover Freshers was entertainment enough. The first or second question anyone here asks you (usually after your name), is what you are "reading" or studying. It is how you are categorized and a large part of your identity. "Oh that's Sara she reads PPE." Finding someone who reads the same subject is like sinking a battleship, and excitement and chatter about fellow tutors and courses always ensues. More on the tutorial system later, but it's a school night!
Tomorrow is the first day of school. Tomorrow is October 11th. I repeat, tomorrow is the first day of school.
That's all for now. I have a ton of profound observant shit to write about the US vs. UK cultures, smart people, English Breakfast Tea, etc. But right now I need to sleep. I have been fighting (unsuccessfully) the "Freshers Flu" all week, an inevitable sickness almost everyone (especially silly Americans) contracts soon after arriving at Oxford, and I need to wake up brilliant for my first day of school, and I have nothing to wear!
So party people, just remember: look both ways before crossing the street. Now look the other way, because they drive on the wrong side of the road.
CHEERS
Welcome to my travel blog! I'm sorry there has been a bit of a delay getting this going, I've been busy, you know, living in the UK, but I promise (hopefully) to keep this up more consistantly from here on out.
Anyway so here goes....
Oxford is amazing. I am at St. Anne's College, which is just north of the center of town, and is one of the bigger (and more international) colleges at Oxford. For those of you are confused and think that I've been lying all along about going to the Oxford University, allow me to clarify. Oxford is made up approximately 30 colleges. Think Federal and State governments. Oxford is the federal government, responsibile for the curriculum, examinations, and general overview of academic affairs. The colleges act as the state governments, collecting tuition, providing accomodations, personal tutors (academic advisors), welfare programs, individual libraries, etc. etc. You cannot live in a country without living in a state (except D.C. ignore that), just like you cannot go to Oxford without also going to a college.
St. Anne's is one of the newer colleges at Oxford, and was the first college to accept women in the University, originally called the Assocation for the Education of Women. St. Anne's became co-ed in 1979. There is a strong focus on equal opportunities for education here, which is why it is one of the most international colleges to this day. Obviously, all of this makes me very happy.
Upon arriving at St. Anne's last Saturday, I was both exausted and giggly with excitment about what was to come. For those of you who know me (hopefully all of you, creepy), giggly is an extraordinarily high level of excitement that rarely comes to life and usually results in post-giggle denial. This blog will now explode in 15 seconds. But in any case, I was also exausted so napping took priority after exploring the college, throwing my suitcases on the ground, and attempting to (E.T) phone home. Fun fact, Oxford is not technologically savy (read: technologically challenged). They don't have to be. They are not competiting with other universities to be the best and needing to brag about their vast technological resources to prospective students. They are the best, they have always been the best, and they don't care that logging onto the internet is a huge pain in the behind, WIFI is hard to come by, and there is one printer for the entire college. That being said, I have an ethernet connection in my room, and I am happy.
I have met some really great people. Some American, and many from all over the world. St. Anne's did a great job getting us all "oriented," assigning Fresher's Helpers to arrive to college early and be nice to us and tell us stuff like where to do your laundry and how to check your pidgeon hole (you guessed it, mailbox!). We had to go to a bunch of Fresher's (Freshman) lectures, many of which were quite repetitive due to the fact that I have already been in a university for two years, but some were helpful and watching the extrodinarily hungover Freshers was entertainment enough. The first or second question anyone here asks you (usually after your name), is what you are "reading" or studying. It is how you are categorized and a large part of your identity. "Oh that's Sara she reads PPE." Finding someone who reads the same subject is like sinking a battleship, and excitement and chatter about fellow tutors and courses always ensues. More on the tutorial system later, but it's a school night!
Tomorrow is the first day of school. Tomorrow is October 11th. I repeat, tomorrow is the first day of school.
That's all for now. I have a ton of profound observant shit to write about the US vs. UK cultures, smart people, English Breakfast Tea, etc. But right now I need to sleep. I have been fighting (unsuccessfully) the "Freshers Flu" all week, an inevitable sickness almost everyone (especially silly Americans) contracts soon after arriving at Oxford, and I need to wake up brilliant for my first day of school, and I have nothing to wear!
So party people, just remember: look both ways before crossing the street. Now look the other way, because they drive on the wrong side of the road.
CHEERS
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