Break time

I’d like to take this opportunity to answer some of the questions that have been posed to me and to reply to some of the comments and to tell the stories I’ve promised.

Okay, let’s be honest. I’d really like to take this opportunity to not do homework.

Important things first: I mailed in my absentee ballot today, and Trent Skaggs, I voted for you.

Several people have asked me about the weather here, and have expressed wishes that I won’t get too depressed by all the rain. Well, lucky me, there hasn’t been much rain! So far, the weather here has been beautiful. It’s in the 50s or 60s or sometimes even 70s during the day. The nights are pretty dang chilly, but I just turn up my radiator and pile on socks. It is raining today, though. So far, the rain here hasn’t been like the big, cleansing thunderstorming Missouri rains. Here, it rains just heavily enough to wrap you in condensation until beads of water drip off your nose and chin and umbrella.

I’ve also been warned about the food, and, again, I can report glad tidings of peace and good food for all Oxfordians. The ketchup does taste a little weird, but not really like vinegar. However, there are very few times we have ketchup. Regent’s apparently just hired a new caterer named Mark, and he is quite excellent. We have potatoes a lot, which make me happy and carbohydrated, and Mark firmly believes in delicious desserts, often accompanied by custard. If I didn’t walk a billion miles a day, I would be ballooning like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka (although I would not be turning blue).

Let’s return to different words that British people say. Specifically, let’s talk about about “bloody.” Oddly enough, I haven’t heard one person say “bloody.” I am surprised, because they say “bloody” all the time in Harry Potter movies! Clearly, the Harry Potter movies are not to be trusted as indicative of modern British life (this is also because the Harry Potter movies are about magic. I have yet to see an elf or a flying broom, and no matter how many times I say “Reducto!” while pointing my pencil-wand at my stack of books, the amount of work I have to do stays the same). Anyway, rather than saying “bloody,” the British use all sorts of other four-letter words that may sound familiar to you. Not that I’m going to repeat them here.

My former roommate and future Oxford-mate Madison asked me if she should pack hangers. This made me laugh, because it took me five days—five days!—to find hangers in Oxford. Since we didn’t know what any of the stores were (is WDSmith a clothing shop? A hardware store?), we continually passed the one shop in the city that carries hangers. It got to the point where we thought the Oxfordians were fashioning their own primitive hangers out of tree branches and twist-ties. Dear Madison: don’t pack hangers, but do pack Newsies please. I miss Christian Bale. Which is ironic, since he’s British.

I have now been to three churches: a non-denominational one; a Methodist one; and an Anglican one. Someone spoke in tongues at the non-denominational one, the body of Christ tasted like Styrofoam at the Anglican one, and I liked the Methodist one best because they gave me a free lunch.

It’s been great to hear stories from people who have been to Oxford or England or Europe. I like knowing that others I know have been here before me—it makes a sort of connection from home to here. E-mails and comments and even postcards are also great connections from home to here…