The Oxford Chronicles

  Okay, I'm sorry I haven't posted very much. Already, it's 8th week and clearly, eight postings do not exist -things have been super busy around here. (but they have been busy in a very wonderful way. These past few weeks, for example, actually, starting with my second week here, I've been playing with the Oxford Wind Band, which has been phenomenal. I didn't realize how much I missed playing or how wonderful it is to play. I pushed it aside when I got to Drew and found the groups to be lacking and pushed myself into my major. Ah, I sigh.

  Anyway, to highpoint the amazingness (?was that a word?) of the Wind Band, tonight was our concert. I've had better concerts, but it was just wonderful to be playing again. I'll have pictures posted pretty soon of some of the wind band and our location. The conductor was also amazing (alright, yes, that should be edited out, but it's midnight and I am tired, so deal with the redundancy for just a bit longer, I promise I'll try not to ramble). Like Silano, Jonathan (our conductor) felt the music as he conducted, reflecting the core of the mood in his every motion. With the sweeping march section of our Holst piece, he would swing his arms and slash his baton like a saber, cutting through brush, adventuring boldly through eye high grasses. With the tender measures of Shelter Island, his arms would sweep, his shoulders relaxed. And when we did something wrong, or a section was just slightly off, his forehead crinkled, his lips pursed, and you knew he was going to stop or make you repeat that part after the run-through.

  I'm still euphoric off of the concert and especially, last night's rehearsal. In it, I came across old memories, old feelings of what it was like to play with everyone at Wayne Valley, at GW. And in it, I became drunk in sound and had a taste in my mouth and a sensation in my mind that was like receiving the best kiss, intimate and all-encompassing all at once. Wondrous. Just wondrous. Rehearsal put an end to the mopiness I had been feeling earlier in the day.

  Hah, but ironically, mopiness has almost returned, or at least threatens to, since this is the last I will see of many of my band mates. I leave this Saturday for my week-long break, they leave this Saturday for their five week vacation before the start of Trinity term. When they get back, I'll be nearly gone and the band, which had its very first concert and existence this term, will go on, Jonathan will go on and conduct the second term of the band and his second concert (which is the other amazing thing -he revealed over bangers and mash tonight that this had been his debut concert as a conductor, which he had said, he did not feel safe saying before -but that astounded me. He was as good as Silano). As Tamara, the other visiting student in Wind Band said to the other members, "Have a nice life!"

  It seems some of the best things are always bittersweet.

Pictures!








For details, see my ScrapBook gallery.

  Hi, everyone! (Notice I'm going for a less formal approach this week.) Yes, I know, I haven't been updating as often as I promised, but I have been really busy. I've actually started to write creatively again, which makes me really happy. So I've been doing that in between research for class, research for fun, preliminary research for my honors thesis, writing essays, going to rehearsal (I joined a wind band) and to other meetings as well as seeing people and actually being social (yes, I'm not a hermit this term and it's wonderful). Basically, I'm really busy.

  But, among the things I got to do this week was attend Founder's Dinner at St. Anne's, my college. The finalists (seniors, essentially) and first years attended, with the finalists wearing their academic gowns over their tuxes/kilt tuxes or formal dresses, in addition to the professors all wearing their robes. We were seated in the dining hall, which was decked out with tablecloths, flowers and silver candelabras on our tables. Although our dining hall is not as fancy as older colleges' dining halls, it was still pretty nice that night. We had to stand until the head table entered and reached their places, whereupon which a short prayer was said and then we sat down to eat, served by the dining hall's staff. Similarly, on Wednesday night, I went to New College to have dinner with a few friends who are visiting students there. We ate at the "late sitting" in which we were served by New's staff. As with the Founder's Dinner, many students wore their robes over their clothes (although these clothes were normal, everyday stuff), as did the professors at the high table. The dining hall itself looked like a smushed Great Hall, with the same type of paneling and same raised dais set-up at the back for the high table. Four long wooden tables with benches ran from end to end of the hall, covered with little two-pronged lamps. When the head table came in, all arrayed in their gowns and stood at their places, someone up front banged on a table and the students stood. Presumably, that same someone said two Latin words, one of which was "Benedite" as we continued to stand, followed by "amen", whereupon we sat and were served. It was a pretty spiffy meal and was very enjoyable after having spent three hours in the Upper Reading Room of the Radcliffe Camera, researching and writing an essay on the social changes in Britain between 1914 and 1939. (And I saw my lecturer there while I was working. He sat at a computer station diagonally from where I had my laptop plugged in. I and other students seem to see him in the Bodleian whenever we've gone, both together and separately, so we're pretty convinced he lives there, though in some ways, I don't blame him.)

  Among other things, I bought a bicycle today. I've been wanting to rent or buy one for the term since I got here, but didn't until today when, convinced by two of my friends I should go to the university gym with them, I went to the other end of the city and spotted the bike shops. I went in, inquired about renting and found that buying would be cheaper, so I bought the cheapest one and will be selling it back to the shop for half of what I paid for it before I leave in April. So I am pretty excited over that.

  Well, I have to go at this point. I need to get some reading done before rehearsal tonight. Until next time, cheerio!

    There is time to rest, time to dance, time to meander. There is also time for the “taking of toast and tea”, “for you and me”, but also time to sing. I sing of yesterday and today, of the past weeks, in which I did not plunder the hallowed heights of Troy but looted the bank of knowledge and the tide of experience.
    When I last left off this chronicle, I wrote of my not-so-nice beginnings. Luckily, my story grows better at this point. I still struggle to remember all the codes I have to punch in to get into buildings (which is Harry Potter-esque), but I’ve also stopped completely pausing to look right, then left, then right again before crossing the street. The discordant fire and police sirens no longer bother me.
    I also visited the exterior of Christ Church College last week during a very windy day and thought: This is Oxford. I was pushed by the wind as I stepped through pathways to the entrance, through the garden and past the stream, but I felt grounded. There was something exhilarating about that afternoon, walking around with little more than my light jacket, a scarf and a beret on top of my clothing. There was something about the light hitting the buildings, the fences and the trees, as well as watching the tourists look as astounded and as enraptured as I felt. This is Oxford, I thought.
    But Oxford isn’t just Christ Church College or Merton or any of the older schools. Oxford is the life of the city made of the students and the residents (the “town and gown”). Oxford is seriousness and business by day but friendliness and charm by evening. Oxford is new and old coexisting and interacting with one another. Everyone seems to be aware of tradition around here, from the evening partiers in their tuxes, gowns, pin-striped suits or golf attire, to the lively attitude towards academics in which academia is not just a way of life but a tool in the hands of the students. So many of the undergraduates come from different places, from Hong Kong to Greece to Israel, and so many seem to have more directly useful majors than those in the US. I’ve met a few students, for example, who are studying Geography. Yes, that seems odd, but to study Geography is to learn all the details of making maps. It’s also apparently a big thing around here.
    So Oxford has been an astounding place so far. I’m sorry for not writing sooner or more often, but as usual, doing gets in the way of recording. Until next time, cheerio!

  I wish I could say that things are going swimmingly around here, that I have conquered England and its inhabitants within my first week here. Unfortunately, such is not the case. Realistically, it is not possible to know a country and its people within an entire week, nor is it possible to become a part of a country and its people in a week. There are many fine workings of England that I have not been able to detect yet, though I know that they are around me. The language used is easy enough to understand, but once again, I cannot absorb all of the peculiarities of British speech so that I sound as if I am native born. I can’t really adopt an accent either (though there are enough of them that would confuse even Geoff), and so I stand out.
  Despite this, I have had some interesting experiences. My flight over was smooth, and my arrival, although a day late due to a mix-up in communication, was also smooth. I found the BU students and other students on the BU program to be generally likeable. The first thing I did do in Oxford (which is a ridiculous place, by the way, with all the different architecture smattered patch-work style around the city), was go to the Bodleian library and take an oath that I would not set the library on fire. I had to keep myself from laughing as I took the oath, which apparently could have been taken in Modern Greek, too, which I did not dare to do (though I was tempted to). Two days ago, I actually got to go into some of the library itself, but I did not get to see much of it, since I have restricted access. This, among other things, seems to be set to remind us that we are not full members of the university, though we are staying at one of its colleges and have access to the student union (which is another ridiculous building). It is one of the things, I guess, that has made St. Anne’s and Oxford not quite feel like home yet. Also, I do not feel integrated into the community yet, since our classes are not with St. Anne’s students and the university clubs have not started up just yet. It adds to the isolation and, oddly enough, the homesickness that I have been feeling more recently.
  More positively, I got to visit Wales this past weekend on a trip with the BU program. Wales was absolutely gorgeous, and I got to go kayaking and hiking near the sea. I also got to see lots of sheep on the hike, which definitely made my weekend. I would have some pictures to post of said sheep, but I forgot my camera over the weekend, so please insert a picture of a wet and shaggy but adorable sheep right here.
  Well, that’s about it for now. I’m sorry this wasn’t more chipper, but the weather (which is perpetually dreary or rainy except for 2 or so hours of the day when the sun actually comes up), is not contributing to my mood at all. Currently, I can tell it is day time, but it feels as if it is 6 am and not 8:40 am, as it really is. Until next time, cheerio!

Hi all! While I'm not gone yet, I figured I'd post a correction to my return date. I will not be returning in April but on May 17th. After term ends in April I'll be travelling around the UK and will get back in time for graduation.

I hope everyone's term is ending well. Good luck with finals and final papers.

As you can tell, I've changed my layout and re-christened my journal. Starting January 9, I will be in Oxford, England, studying at Oxford University. This journal will reflect on my experiences there to keep in touch with everyone I'm leaving behind in the States. I'll be posting about once a week and I look forward to hearing from all of you on your doings and your comments. -And I'll respond to e-mail too, if you would like to shoot one over to me (meliades@drew.edu). So stay tuned for the beginning of January when I'll post my first entry on my doings abroad.

P.S. I should return home around the end of April.

And I failed, again. I would appreciate any help that alleviates my stupidity.

Okay, so I'm demented and unable to get this to work despite my time working with html, and I need to get back to studying for a final.  The posting will have to wait.

Posted, for your viewing pleasure, is one of two previously unposted Carrot's News and Reviews items. Since our webmaster either caught the plague or became insanely lazy as of late January, this item is not on the site, though it has been complete for some time:
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Odd stuff, is this not? I never thought I'd be on here, but behold me: here I am. Hopefully this won't turn into a time sucker.