Devi statues at the Ashmolean Museum

Holiday Wishes

Everywhere i go, everywhere i look, i see hope. People gather to sing carols on the street, just for the benefit of the passerby. Friends send packages, cards, wishes of good tidings. The choir sings songs in the traditional style, wishing us all well. Friends cook together and share stories. People, it seems, care about each other and our common good health. Thank you to all of you, for serving as my inspiration and for envisioning a better world. We make the world we want to live in, and i see a world of random acts of kindness and senseless beauty all around me. Thank you for your part in this. May we continue to advocate, agitate, champion, create, fight, innovate, maverick, make peace, pioneer, provocate, revolutionize, subvert, trailblaze, envision, and make change.

Blessed are Ye - Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit/For theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are they that mourn/For they shall be comforted
Blessed are the meek and lonely/For they shall inherit the earth
Blessed are they who are hungry and thirsty, seekers of the righteousness/They shall be filled
Blessed are the merciful/For they shall obtain mercy
Blessed are the poor in heart/They shall see god
Blessed are the peacemakers/For they shall be called the children of god
Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake/Theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are ye

The first culture of penicillin (developed by medics in Oxford).

Naomi and Emily standing under a chalk board with Einstein's writing. The equations describe the rate of expansion of the universe.

Monkeys from Africa (left) and South America (right) at the Natural History Museum of London.

8th week summary

Last week was the last week of classes. The infamous "eigth week". It was epic - things happening every day. Here is the summary of how it went.

Monday

• Secured a position volunteering for the Natural History Museum of London. I'll be volunteering over the winter break for 20 hours a week in the herbarium, digitizing and georeferencing records to be posted online.
  
• Simon Yates talk (the mountaineer from "Touching the Void" who cut the rope between himself and climbing partner Joe Simpson). The talk was entertaining; Yates was witty and humble, but has climbed all over the world and has incredible photos of the places he's been - Pakistan, Chile, Scotland. My favorite part was as he was telling about his day job he got in the 1990s as a climber for high-rise construction projects in London. His co-workers dubbed him "Slasher" and he wore a sticker on his helmet saying "Mac the Knife". I wonder if Simpson can joke around like this...

Tuesday

• Monaco Ball. Black tie dinner, drinks, dancing. In Oxford Town Hall. The food was lacking (wasn't enough of it) but the drinks were good and there was a gambling game room set up. Got my fill of Blackjack. And the ball gowns were fun to look at. I went with people from the Geography program, so it was fun to see everyone dressed up. Its the sort of thing you have to do when in Oxford.

Wednesday

• Dinner with Norman Myers. Professor Myers - conservation biologist, pioneered the strategy of identifying biological "hotspots" - hosted ten of us at his house for dinner and discussion. After introductions, we practiced what to say if you're put on the spot, and you have 30 seconds to convince an influential politician of the importance of preserving biodiversity. We also did an exercise where everyone was in a hypothetical airplane, and there aren't enough parachutes to go around. You have to choose what animal you'd be, and explain to the group why we should give you one of the parachutes. What i noticed about this was that most of the animals that people chose require another organism to be valuable or important. So - we are all interconnected... I also learned about Norman and Jennie's (his partner) new book, Gaia Atlas of the Planet they've just completed. Its very interesting, outlining modern sustainability and environmental issues.
  

Thursday

• Crawlage! The first annual (weekly?) Oxford University Centre for the Environment pub crawl! We figured, there are about 150 graduate students in the OUCE we never get to see or interact with; why not take a pub tour together? Here was the itinerary: starting at the Head of the River pub. Proceeding to the Old Tom, then to the City Tavern, and on to the Lamb and Flag. Ending at everyone's favorite, late-closing Kings Arms. We had a good turnout, with about 20-30 people in our roving posse.

That's how it went. I then slept most of the weekend. Photos of Monaco Ball and hopefully the pub crawl to follow soon.

5 things we should do to save the biosphere

In response to the question posed by Norman Myers to our class last week, here is my list:

1. Education programs that get (primary school) kids outside and into wild nature
2. Set out regulations and standards for sustainable consumerism, and impose labeling requirements on products
   
   • Organic and sustainable harvest, fair trade
   • Wildlife-friendly meats and animal products, and organics standards for meat
   
   

3. Bring ecosystem service valuation into economics and worldwide budgets
   

   • using the Balmford approach (and allocate the $40 bn required to preserve wild nature)
   • calculate GNP using ecosystem services as a component
   • take negative events out of GNP, and figure in human well-being

   
   

4. Create systems to deal with the protection of wild nature, and organize the practical implications of valuing wild nature in the economy
   
   • biodiversity assessment and monitoring
   • land management practice improvement, law enforcement
   
   
5. Fund, promote, require green planning and design of all our systems
   
   • using biomimicry approaches, McDonough “Cradle to Cradle” thinking
   • change the way we actually consume and engineer systems around that
   
   
6. Do your part.

I've included 6 because the last encompasses and underlies all others. It is the paramount point. Please consider your impact, and how you can live lightly on the earth. Feel free to contact me about this or any of these points to discuss further.

Christ Church regatta photos

The Novice A Crew! I wasn't feeling so great...that's why i look er - like crap.

Queueing for the race

ChCh loss :(

We lost our first race today, against Lincoln. Ah, too bad. At least the weather was a little warmer - and sunny! So, we had a good crew, made it as far as the second round. What more can you ask for? Photos coming soon.

No races today

Ahem. Postponed until tomorrow. Lineup changed. The race is on for tomorrow, 11:25 am. We're up against Lincoln, and its knockout elimination. You know what LL Cool J says, "I'm gonna knock you out. Mama said knock you out!". Word up, dog.

ChCh win!

Here's how it went down. We got out there, late, past our designated time. There was a "kit order" problem, which translates as the Hilda's team that was racing before us were later getting back to the boathouse than our boat time. Then, we discovered that Benets had borrowed our boat, the footplate at #3 had broken, and they didn't say anything. Shit. Benets, you OWE us, you realize. Okay. So, Carrie duct-taped her feet to the footplate (i'm not kidding). Some other minor problems with the lights on the boat and the freezing weather in the queue, but we made it to the start line!

The marshall calls our race to a start, and we're off! We're neck and neck with St Anne's, when the klaxon sounds. This is the signal from the marshals to STOP rowing, so both boats go still. Apparently someone has capsized upriver. After a few minutes, they tell us we will restart from where we are. So we line up again, and this time, when the START goes off, we really hit it. We started all together, we got the first few sharp strokes together. By the time we settle into a pace, we are a half boat-length ahead of Anne's. Then, suddenly, Anne's just stops rowing. Word from our bank coach, Alice, was that they stopped for no apparent reason. So, we just kept on as though nothing happened, and Anne's came in a few minutes later. We're still not sure what went on there.

Photos to be posted after friday's race. 12 noon. Come on down. We're racing Worcester (say this like you would the Massachusetts town, "wooster"). Boathouse island is probably the best place, but you can also come to Longbridges (on the county side of the river) if you want to be at Hilda-beast headquarters. Onward!

Gearing up for the race

Christ Church Regatta, 2005
We're going to be out there! Our boat (Hilda's A) rows at 2:30 weds afternoon. Then, thurs or friday depending on the outcome. See the not-so-user-friendly race lineup at:
http://regatta.chchbc.org/2005/schedule.php

But also be sure to check for race results as they are posted there. And come cheer for us, if you can!

Natalie and Naomi at St Johns bop (matriculation night)

Misty morning

Frost covering everything
Bushes bent over
Sparkling and stiff, frozen in place
Sun rise slowly
Orange and pink drenching the white crystal world
Mist rising
Gathering on the still water of the river
Grateful i had to get up
To see this
Even though the rowing was painful
Hands and toes numb, chilled like skiing
Now coffee and warm room
So divine
Its a good day.

Wednesday blues

Something in the air, maybe. Or perhaps the food? Could be the early mornings - i don't know. But, it just so happens that every week around midweek i feel like i've been hit with a load of gloom and doom blues. I need some John-Alex over here! Blues-man, can you help? I'll put on the CD and that'll do. But, do let me know if you're in my area on a wednesday.

Some ranting:
Why don't people take initiative? Ex: If you need to rearrange the boathouse, arrange a time to do that BEFORE your crew is standing there holding the heavy boat. Why have a chat about it when people might drop the boat get hurt?

Why don't people talk to each other? Ex: If we know each other, and we cross paths, isn't it common courtesy to turn to me and say hello? Or maybe just smile? Nothing wrong with smiling. Maybe its a British "don't-embarass-me-by-acknowledging-my-presence" thing.

Why don't people clean up after themselves? Well, all the time.

Who stole my bike light and leatherman? That was really rude, man. And lame. And it cost me 15 quid.

Good enough for now. I already feel better.

Isis Winter League race!

That's me at bow (last one). Rose is coxing, and Katie's at stroke. Hooray, Novice A! See results: http://www.ourcs.org.uk./pdf/iwl0506aresults.pdf . We are St Hildas W8, novice.

Information Session

It has come to my attention that i have left out a good many details of what i am doing with my time here in Oxford, and my plans for the future. Well, the dark period is over - i'd like to explain some things, and invite you to write to me if there is still confusion. Then we can keep having "banter" posts about British culture and American culture and conservation.

My classes
I have seven classes at the moment. Seven is a lot. I've told my supervisor i think its a lot. That's about all i can do. The list is in order of when they occur during the week. A word to the wise: a "professor" is a level of distinction above "doctor" in oxbridge.

• International Conservation Law - my favorite class. Mostly the UN conventions and especially the Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Taught by Dr. Catherine MacKenzie who is fabulous and knows everything about law. I want to be like her. She stands in front of the class and can deliver two hours worth of well thought out, organized material from memory.
• Conservation Values - do we care about conservation? Why? These are the delightful topics you will address in this fun-filled, action packed module. Led by Dr. Richard Ladle (our course supervisor) who is wildly entertaining and a very good ecologist. A bit outside my range of interest, and i didn't like the guest presentation this week on bushmeat. I'd rather not look at pictures of dead gorillas, thankyouverymuch.
• Statistics - introduction to stats. Second favorite class (i know, i'm demented) but its taught by the charming Dr. James Tilley. Thank god for James Tilley. He actually manages to present this information using examples that we can relate to (buying a car, the voting population, etc) and makes it very entertaining. This week one of the examples was about whether there is a correlation between duration of marriage and the nagging rate, and if it differs for men or women. As it turns out, there is a correlation and men nag more as the marriage duration increases. At first, it seems like women nag more, but actually (assuming the marriage lasts more than 10 years) men nag more. Brilliant.
• Environment and development - instructor is Dr. Diana Liverman who is really good and has really good answers to our hammering questions. Content isthird-world development since post-colonial independence. Some topics covered: Green revolution, structural adjustment programs, debt crisis, NAFTA, trade policies, and development theory.
  
• Research skills - as far as i can gather, the purpose of this class is to frustrate the Master's students to the brink of insanity. Last week: you must publish [your Master's thesis which will probably be impossible since you only have 4 months!]. This week: "sorry, folks: no class! Richard fucked up, and we just don't have a class prepared. Go home, and come back this time next week." So, i'm paying HOW much and i have HOW much other work to do, and this is how you behave? Richard: you owe us an apology. And don't expect to see me attending this class anymore.
• Contemporary issues in biodiversity - led by Dr. Kathy Willis, this is our own exclusive little seminar series. Its hit and miss, but the hits are WORTH it. Dr. Martin Speight, from the Tropical Ecology research group was really excellent. And this week was my new hero and favorite person, Dr(Prof?) Andrew Balmford of Cambridge. Balmford for president. Of the world. Or at least the US. Well, the UK would be ok too. Balmford is working on creating a budget for the earth's wild nature. He's done a cost/benefit analysis of preserving the Earth's wild places, and we WIN if we do this. Thank you for doing something revolutionary, and for giving us some hope, Dr. Balmford!
• Professional skills - taught by Dr. Paul Jepson, with others. Class #2 designed to annoy the Master's students. Redeeming quality: only occurs three times over the whole term. Last week we had a presentation on fundraising, with two guest speakers from NGOs in the UK. I was very impressed with the Development Director from Campaign for Rural England. She was great. But the woman from Elephant Family (Ruth) was -er- objectionable. At one point, she was advocating seduction as a method to solicit large donors. Dear Ruth - i wouldn't give you a dime. I know you are proud of what you've done, but there are other (successful) ways to fundraise for your organization without degrading women in the process.
  

That's the lineup. Statistics is the only optional course - all the others are "required". What this means, is i'll be assessed on the required courses in May when i have exams.

Assessment
There will be questions (usually you get to choose something like three out of ten questions) on anything from the required course content and all the required readings. So its in my best interest to keep up, although i could spend my breaks trying to catch up if i get behind. Well, i am behind, so now you also know how i'll be spending my winter break. For the optional course: we have to take two of these over the course of the year. Then we are assessed on the option by writing an essay (20 pgs) on the course or some piece of content therein. Sometimes the instructor will assign specific essays for the assessment. For statistics, there are a set of word problems we have to work through - its not an essay assessment.

Thesis
Then, after exams, i have to write a 15,000 word dissertation. It can involve field work, if i wish, but i have to pay for any travel and expenses. Many students do a literature review, or a meta-analysis. There are several forms the research can take:
1. First chapter of the PhD (research question and lit review)
2. Publishable paper (shorter than 15K words)
3. Stand-alone project

Q: "Ok, that's great. But what are you going to do next year, after you get the MSc?"
Naomi: "Well, its funny you should ask! I'm planning on applying into the PhD program at Oxford, in the OUCE. The deadline to qualify for funding, though is coming up in December. So, i'm researching a proposal right now. My outline thinking is to do something evaluating nature reserves on Java, Indonesia."
Q: "Wow, that sounds cool! Indonesia? So, the department must help you with travel or research costs then?"
N: "Yeah, its pretty far away, but no, the department sadly does not have any internal or project funding to leverage for students. Its different than the US system in that students acquire all their own grants and secure 100% of their own budget. So you get your PhD in three years, but you might lose that many years off your life from the stress caused by fundraising for a project that no one really cares about."
Q: "Oh! Well, i'm sure its still worth it - so you should go for it."
N: "Thanks blog. I appreciate your vote of confidence."

Questions for me? I'll do my best to answer accurately (sorry about that bitter tinge to the post. i've been a little frustrated lately...)

Getting ready for ChCh

Christ Church regatta is in two weeks. I'm not ready. I'm feeling new, rusty, and tired. I am impatient; i just want to be good enough to do this, already! Simultaneously, my PhD proposal is due in three weeks. So its good timing, since i have many of the same issues around that. Its good practice, all of this. Things are moving along, we are slowly starting to row as a boat better, and i am slowly getting a proposal in place to apply. Its just not quite clear how this will all turn out. So, send good strong vibes my way. Scientific competence, i am certain, comes from good intentions from outside. According to Jurgen Habermas - German critical theorist - truth is external nature. I'm not sure that i agree with Habermas, but i do know that any support you want to send my way in the form of Thinking-Good-Thoughts is appreciated.

From wonderland,
Alice

hyewon and naomi at matriculation in the sheldonian theater.

More fun with words

hokay. so. you've got the earth, its round. the polar ice capes melting...(for ariella)

more British:

fit - hot, sexy. overheard on the bus: "hey did you see that one? she was FIT!". so you wouldn't say, "well you can really tell Joe has been working out; he looks fit this year!"

quid - bucks, cash money. "it costs 50 bucks!" = "it costs 50 quid!". You could just say "50 pounds" but if you need to say bucks, use quid.

could do - sort of shortened, "yes, you could do that" or "we should do that". so,
Q: can we bring our towels into the pool area?
A: well, (you) could do.

pissed - drunk. NOT angry. this happened to someone i know:
brit: "i was so pissed when i got home last night."
yank: "what do you mean? i saw you an hour before you went home. what happened that made you mad?"
sympathetic translating friend: "no, no, no. 'pissed' means drunk."
yank: "oh, (blushing) yeah, you WERE pissed."

Shit isn't what it seems

What i mean is:
shit - here means "sucks".
- usage: "those girls are such shit for not showing up to the rowing date" also "its really shit with this bad ankle, i can't play rugby".

Also (these are terms that i hear often, that students use with each other - not just some unusual utterance)

keen - used instead of "really interested in"
- usage: "read this article only if you're really keen on international negotiations"

loads - lots
mates - friends
- usage: "i've got loads of mates comin in for the weekend. can't make it, sorry" (thanks to Tall James for this example)
puddings - dessert
- usage: "there's a puddings board over there"

Other strange things not seen in the USA

• these things that rise out of the pavement to block cars. they are posts, but they move.
• clouds seem to come out of nowhere. not from the east, south - they just appear.
• rain can come at any time. don't assume that because its sunny now, it'll be sunny later (or even that its not raining).
• these funny half-size bikes: they look like a BMX but with long seat posts and handlebars and adults ride them.
• everyone rides a bike. young people, old people, business men, students, working ladies.
  
• lots of sun dials.
• mini-coopers (well, not really - but they're made here! and they're so cute!)
• three wheeled cars - how is that safe?
  
• smart cars.
  

More photos

Check out my flickr site for more photos. I'll try to update the blog when i post something there, but check both places.

Luggage ready, waiting for taxi to new house.

Stockmore street, my first home in Oxford

This is the new room.

This was the first room, on Stockmore Street.

St Hilda's way of welcoming you to the UK. It was one of the best things i could have imagined at the moment.

Rowing along

I went out at 6 am - in the pouring rain - and i STILL loved the rowing session this week. Go dark blue (that's codename for Oxford team sports. i'm nowhere near good enough to be on the team yet. for now, go Hildas). So i'm out there, and i've never been in a boat and i've never heard the commands and i'm not sure about anything. I'm sitting in this boat, i can't see the caller (cox) and she's saying things with a british accent and i'm totally confused. One of the key items is to memorize your position number. And then know what your position is, in terms of "bow 2, bow 4, stroke 2, stroke 4, all row" in the boat. whew. For now i like it, but we'll see how the workouts are...difficult, i expect.

More on this series, difference between British life/culture and American:
- don't try to figure out which side of the sidewalk to walk down. its a free-for-all.
- people seem to have limited sense of spatial awareness. four people will fan out along the sidewalk, blocking it as they walk along. they don't move or regroup when there are oncoming pedestrians. actually, i've seen two people walk just far enough apart from each other to block the WHOLE sidewalk. why? because they can. fascinating.

More terms and phrases:
"nip off/over" - go there. usage "do you want to nip over to the Lamb and Flag for a pint?"
"bop" - an oxbridge college party. usage "did you go to the Linacre bop? i heard it was wild!"
"oxbridge" - anything that pertains to both Oxford and Cambridge. so no one else in the world calls a party a bop. its just oxbridge (nobody else has this funky system of colleges as social units).
"boat club" - crew team. refer to each boat by the number of people in it: "the eights will be decided on later this week. twos and fours will train at 7 am".

I've decided Zoe's advice on how to negotiate difficult situations here is golden: if you don't get what you need, ask someone else. This was true with the bank account, the cell -oops, mobile- phone, everything. amendment to that advice: ask often.

That's all for now. More thrilling news (and PHOTOS!) to come.

Re-wilding the UK

We went to a bird reserve near Oxford last week on a school field trip. Despite sounding elementary, the place was quite interesting, because of the wildlife there and because of the interesting discussion it precipitated about the meaning of "wild". This was contrasted to my freshly uprooted North American idea of "wild" or wilderness, and i was struck at how different the two sides of the ocean seem to be.

The Otmoor reserve used to be an agricultural wetland, and it occupies an valley in the headwaters of the River Thames. In the 1960s, the broad valley was drained to make way for agriculture. This had been attempted previously, but had not been totally successful. In the 1990s, the area was aquired by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), one of the UK's largest non-governmental organizations. The refuge managers have actively worked to restore this area to pre-1960s wetland, by digging new ditches, diverting flows, and planting reeds. The main goals of the reserve are to provide habitat for threatened bird populations like the bittern.

All well and good. The problem comes when we examine the natural history of the area: 3,000 years ago, soil samples indicate this area would have been forested, not wetlands. So, why are we aiming to restore an ecosystem type from 50 years ago, when that was not the original anyway? What IS pristine? What is a healthy ecosystem, and how far back should we look for restoration goals? How much should we intervene, in order to reach goals, and which goals are worth intervening for?

These questions are especially tricky in western Europe, and in other places where humans have had an impact for hundreds of years. These lands have been significantly altered by humans for such a long period of time, such that we don't even have a record of what the ecosystem might have been like, really, if we were to restore to "pre-human".

So this method of restoring a wetland that was drained recently seems to make sense. It still supports species of local, national, and global concern. It creates another possible "core" area of habitat, which could plug into a regional or national network of connected reserves. But, is it "wild"? Will Europe, or the British Isles specifically, ever be "wild" again? There are parts of the UK that are still pretty untracked, at least in recent history (these areas may have been settled at some time in the past), but the islands still lack most of their native species. In class this week we learned that of all species in Great Britian, only 4% are native. So what good would "restoration" even do, or what target are we working towards? Nicer wetland habitats? Prettier places? Or do we restore systems and manage reserves in the UK for ecological principles?

For some answers, i like this article about the difference of terminologies in central Europe and North America. Diemer et al are saying that the concept of rewilding (returning the landscape to a wilderness state) is well received in Europe. Its just that the scale of implementation is quite different, and the assumptions that we might want to make about a "wild" place, i.e. native species, top predators and ecological processes intact, might not be appropriate here. If it were, then this controversial idea published in Nature, to reintroduce large megafauna to North America as surrogates for wooly mammoth and saber-tooth tiger would be considerably more legitimate.

Most of central Europe is probably past some threshold where it could be considered "untouched wilderness". Given that, it seems that conservation in the UK does well to focus on the local, and to ensure that there are places where rewilding is always occurring. So, even though we're not setting aside "wilderness" or regaining all the species that once were there, we are maintaining areas of untractable, wildlife-priority land. In the case of Otmoor, we're not going to regain the forest that once existed before humans arrived. But we do gain another area where some amount of rewilding can take place.

Thomas

Tom was right. He called it well before i got here. He said, "everyone will be wearing button up sweaters, and drinking tea and living in hovels".

I agreed with him about the sweaters and tea, noting that i like both of those things. What i didn't count on was the hovels. I said, "no, its OXFORD. they'll have nice accomodations, for their scholars." He was right. Its just that Oxford is, well, old. And so sometimes things aren't quite modern. But, i also belong to St Hildas. Patron saint of poetry. And not accomodations. So. I got lucky. Thanks for calling that one, Tomas. You were right!

Summing up the UK entry process

I've been here a week. It feels like a month. But, at least it hasn't BEEN a month; i would be really behind on school work. Here are the gritty details of the week:

Tuesday - arrive at heathrow. Clear customs, immigration and make my way with Vera and bags in tow to Oxford by dusk. We arrive at St Hildas College, and are shipped off to my new, supposedly happy room in Stockmore House. The room was NOT happy when we arrived. The shared kitchen and bathroom were - er - displeasing. Start at bathroom: no shower, no shower curtain. Signs posted with stern warnings against using a shower-attachment. Obvious disregard for this rule - there is a shower-attachment on the taps of the tub that is secured to the towel rack rather permanently, and the linoleum floor is curling upward in response to being flooded all the time from the sprayer. Further evidence: floor has current pools of water. That's the biggest problem. Others include the toilet flush being squirrely and the mold/rust/slime on the walls at the floor.

Next, the kitchen: a stench eminates from there, and upon inspection we discover bags of groceries, the fridge full of outdated food, dirty dishes laying around, and general messiness. Vera - bless you Vera - set to work cleaning the kitchen trying to at least rid us of the stink while i collapse in bed wondering how i'll manage to deal with a roommate who doesn't realize her food is rotting. The room itself is nice and has a nice window.

Wednesday - Make a trip to the college to complain about the state of affairs in my flat in Stockmore house and inquire about a transfer. Discover that no, you're NOT allowed to have any permanent shower-attachments (ha) nor are you allowed a shower curtain. You ARE allowed to have yourself a nice bath, and you can use a sprayer then to wash your hair. I guess maybe i need to start praying to Saint Hilda?

Thursday - Attending the second day of the international student orientation, i learn that each College actually receives a different amount of money from the University. Hmmm. This could have something to do with my - ah - accomodations. Vera leaves to gallavant around the Lake District. I discover that my tidy plan of opening a bank account and purchasing a mobile phone and bike in the first few days is fatally flawed. I do manage to get my computer outfitted so i can connect to the internet in my room instead of paying a pound/20 mins at the cafe.

Friday - Go to look at a room that is available at another house, Jack Straws Lane. Miraculously, there is a woman there who wants to switch; it is too far out of town for her. Sounds lovely to me, and its been recently redone. When i arrive at Jack Straws Lane, i think i might be on another planet. The building is beautiful, an old but nice brick house, bright and cheery inside. Everything looks new, and sparkles. I can't believe these two properties (Stockmore and Jack Straws) are part of the same housing scheme. The room itself is bright, large, high cielings and a bathroom, with a (new) shower and a normal-flushing toilet right next door. It feels like paradise, like when we would come to town after the Colorado Trail and sit down for salad and veggie burgers and beer. Glorious. I accept the room switch back at college, and arrange to move the next day. Celebrate by watching Team America: World Police which is hilarious and really hits the spot.

Saturday - meet the would-be roommates at Stockmore House, and the person who is switching rooms with me. I guess she hasn't seen the room yet at Stockmore, but fortunately the disaster-kitchen woman has moved out so the place seems a little more - er - friendly. I pack my things and get myself over to the new digs.

Sunday - unpack. Figure out how to get myself from my house to school, and find my department. Go to the grocery store, Tesco, so i don't have to keep hemorrhaging money. Spend about two hours shopping for once grocery bag of stuff, since i can't figure out what anything is. Small tip: if you want cream as in half and half or table cream, buy SINGLE CREAM. You can also ask for this at the cafe and they might have it. If you ask for "cream" you'll be presented with whipped cream.

Monday - program orientation. Meet all the classmates, and pile off to a nearby nature preserve. More on this in a later post; good discussion topics and food for thought raised there.

Tuesday - more orientation. This time its the library, so not quite as riveting but instead another look at quirky British rules and Oxfordian library systems. Upon visiting the bank, i discover my application wasn't being processed and so i fix the omission (wrong address) and do not pass go, do not collect $200. Instead, since i am now in the queue with 5,000 other students it will take maybe two weeks to process instead of two days. Ah, well. I've since learned that if you can manage to actually OPEN an account within a month of arriving that you're doing pretty darn good. So, i'm still in the clear.

Wednesday - more orientation - regsiter for my department IT services. Discuss the Lake District and the growing inevitability that i join a walking club.

Thursday - off to London! Deliver Vera to heathrow, meet Zoe and walk around town. Trafalgar Square, pop in for a minute to witness amazing things and test my terrible memory of artists at the National Gallery. Have dinner with Zoe and Moon. Discuss the American/English culture differences ad nauseum. Zoe is reading Watching the English which turns out to be the best explanation of what's going on i can possibly imagine. This book should be handed to every new immigrant upon arrival in the UK. Mandatory reading. Brilliant. Borrow Zoe's extra cell phone! A connection to the world! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Today - do some shopping, walking around London. Eat lunch at Wagamama's - minimalist fresh communal japanese food. What more can you ask for in life? Bus back to Oxford, meet with Lady English - the principal of St Hildas. Get home, write down everything that happened this week just in case i forget, or in case you need to read about it.

That's the story. Roughly. Let me know if you need clarification. There will be more to come, but i promise it won't all be about the craziness of moving into a foreign culture.

Ahem. Correction: a "coach" is a regional bus. It is perfectly appropriate to refer to the local bus as the "bus". Aha.

Look RIGHT, then left

First entry since arrival into the glorious UK. It seems like things take a long time, but i've already got my computer hooked up to the internet. So - things hum along at some kind of pace. There is a different language here, and different behavior. I am already uncoordinated enough on a bicycle; how can i ever be expected to ride one here? I've already ventured into traffic too many times on foot. My new motto: look right, then left. I haven't figured out how to tell if its a one way street or not. Safer just to look both ways, mm-kay?

But, aside from the food and the time change and the driving and the bathtub and the...well, actually nothing is really the same. So - nevermind. But, at least its fun - and its been sunny today. And people are really nice. There are a lot of other Americans here - there were a lot at the international student orientation. One of the presentations at the orientation informed us that there are 700 American graduate students admitted every year (out of about 3,000). Proud to be part of the ranking minority. I do feel better now, though: they also told us that no one here in the UK is allowed to own guns. I was WONDERING why i didn't feel very worried, walking down the street here. Its actually illegal to carry any kind of weapon, including mace or something used for self-defense. Instead, you can carry a "personal alarm" which, when activated, makes everyone within earshot crawl out of their skin from irritation. At least there are options, is the way i look at it...

Some ideas for you, in case you want to brush up on your British:
line = queue
bathroom = loo, toilet
shower = apparently there is no word for this since they don't exist
bike = cycle
cell phone = mobile (say moh-bile as in tile)
laptop = laptop
elevator = lift
escalator = escalator
coffee with cream = white coffee
bus = coach

Ok. That's a start. In other news, Oxford has been the target of some of those lovable ALF activists. See the link. I am not part of the college mentioned in the article; but apparently there was another attack on a boatyard over the summer that flattened my college's rowing boats. So - unless something happened, i probably won't be rowing this year. Besides, if St Hilda's has any money to spare, they should maybe invest it in making repairs at some of the dorms. Ahem. If this is confusing ("you go to Oxford so why aren't you part of such-and-such college") then let me know and i'll give you a little university lesson. Essentially, as was pointed out in orientation, its very complicated.

More to come!

Blanca Peak, southern Colorado

I like this photo - Blanca seems to be anchoring me to the landscape, to the earth surface at the moment. Thanks, lady.

Here i am, packing to go to England. I leave in a week. My apartment is a disaster. I have one chair left, that conveniently works as a surface to sit on, a stepstool, and a platform for packing boxes. Chaos reigns supreme. So i'm making friends with chaos; we're getting along fine. Come by for a nice cup of crazy mess if you're in the area.