oh my goodness..

I just got done talking to the kids, HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK.

I forgot how crazy they are I think, but honestly, I love every minute of it. Rebekah was telling me about how shes doing hard work in school, and about her friend Tiffany who doesnt want to be her best friend, I said "thats ok, I'll be your best friend". Then I told her about how I went to the Queens house, which of course is exciting. Man I cannot even start to describe how much I love and adore her.

Caleb wasnt too sure if it was me or grandma, oh well. Its cool to hear how his little voice sounds older...even though Ive been gone for only 3 weeks. I think at the end of the summer he was just going crazy with his words, I LOVE IT.

I wish I could fly them here. :)

the sackler library, which may, or may not, have a bathroom

So today I was forced to go beyond my comfortable spot in the Lower Camera reading room, across town to the Sackler Library. Im doing my next paper on the Bloomsbury group, which will hopefully be done on Wednesday night...but it will probably be sometime early Thursday morning though. Since they were involved in the post-impressionism art scene, most of the information on them is in the Sackler, because it is affilliated with the Ashmolean art museum.

Anyway, let me tell you about this.

So I go up to the door, huge marble doorway, and I have to be buzzed in. (press the button, they ask you what youre doing there) Then I have to register at the front desk and lock my bags in a locker (not allowed to take bags in). Next I have to SWIPE my library card to get in, and then swipe it again to get through a revolving door. SUPER high security this one, sheesh.

And it gets better. The building is circular, with two staircases on either side. Of course I got lost like 50 times, and I just know the people sitting in there, trying to read in silence, were super annoyed by me walking by every 30 seconds (about how long it takes to walk around the outside of the circle...while looking for the bathroom). I would go down one staircase to the lower floor, walk around it, then not make it back to the same staircase, and unaware would walk back up to the top floor and come out, look around, and be so lost. (dont judge until you try it)

Coming from a university that doesn't find it important to make their library highly functional or useful I have encountered some crazy new things in the libraries here. But rolling shelves?! I never knew there was such a (Amanda just brought me coffee...she is a sweet angel from heaven!) possibility! There are numbers on the outside of the shelves and if you need a book you pull out the little nobby thing and turn the crank to wheel an ENTIRE BOOKSHELF 4 or 5 feet down the line. You then get your books and put the shelf back..or leave it there..Im actually not sure, now that I think about it what you are supposed to do when youre done. Oh well.

Needless to say it was a very interesting, and by interesting I mean confusing, experience.

just in case

So, heres my phone number. Its the house phone, ask for me when someone answers. If a man answers, and he has a British accent, its Jonathan. Say hi.

00-44-1865-559567

00 is the international code

44 is britain

1865 is oxford

559567 is the phone on the first floor in the stairwell

Please keep in mind that it is 8 hours ahead here... :) Best time to call? in the evening my time. theres no one here during the day. Saturdays are great too.

because there is a lot of stress

This is what my friends are doing right now. From top, Heather, Lizzy, Amanda, Rob, Koleun, Christye and Christy.

Lets be honest, Rob was really hesitant about me taking this picture. :)

new pics

Scroll down, for some reason these came up under the old one.

in which i make up for a lack of posting

This is something I wrote down while I was in the Bodleian today.

"I'm sitting in a window seat in the Bodleian. The table I'm at is huge and my Wordsworth books are spread out all around me. Through this massive window I can see the city spires, the green lawn that wraps around this library and the leaves on the trees down the street are starting to change color. The bells in the church behind me are ringing, echoeing through the city and off the stone walls of the library I'm in. "

Ya, so those bells rang for a good 15 minutes. dong! dong!
dong! dong!
dong! dong!
dong! dong!
Lets see, this week we went to Bath..and it was incredible. I have pictures that I will put up as soon as my camera battery is charged. :) This week I did research on William Wordsworth. The question I am answering in 2000-2250 words is, Is Wordsworth interested more in memories of landscape or in landscape itself? Im convinced that he cares more about the memories. By the way, I fell in love with Wordsworth this week and he comes highly recomended by me.

On Monday night we went out for icecream. That was a riot. 15 people, Americans no less, swarm an icecream shop so the owner comes out with a stuffed cow, beanie baby thing. The game: cowball. The prize: a half pint of icecream. The fun: endless. No one from the house managed to win though.

My sore throat is gone. (Yaay! Jumping for joy) But my nose has started to run. Yuck. Especially since its just the left side...tell me how that works. So its sortof annoying and almost to much information. Anyway, for me and how I normally get sick, Im doing pretty good.

Today it was sunny out. Wonderful. But again, I being used to California weather, am used to it getting cold and staying cold, so of course I chose to wear a longsleeve shirt, jacket, scarf, and pants today. Perfect.

Ok, so pictures are coming, but I need to start writing my essay...because I have another due next thursday. I love you guys!

beautiful bath

We went romping through Bath. These are baths from the first century, Roman originally. This is the grand bath, the water comes from 2 miles underground, and its warm.
These are mine and Christye's feet. She dipped her toes in, I watched :) (definately against the rules)



A reflection my eye saw...yay photography class.
This is me, peeking out from behind a column out front of the Roman Baths. This was after lunch, we ate in one of the town squares, while we were serenaded by a trubador. After he was done we tipped him, he asked me where I was from and I told him I go to school in CM. He said"I love costa mesa! I just got back on friday from Huntington Beach!" After lunch we went and got icecream.

Then Simon, Jonathan, and Dr. Baigent (ppl who work for the program) led us around on a wirlwind tour of Bath.
This is Bath Abbey, beautiful. The ceilings and stained glass are just captivating.


This is a house in the Queen's square, and it was so beautiful. Jane Austen lived on the opposite corner to this building, while she visited Bath. Funny thing about her, she hated it here.

This is the view opposite of the house, so, it was behind me when i took the picture above this one. Jane Austen stayed in the house you can see through the trees, on the corner to the right.

















This is the right half of the Royal Crescent. This is
where the King and his court would have stayed. You can sortof see the crescent shape from my pictures, the most impressive thing is that when you stand here you are unable to see the whole thing, you actually have to turn your body to look at it all. The wall at the bottom of the pictures is there to keep the lower class away from the royalty. It would have been very visable to them, but completely invisable to anyone on the grass on the royal side of it. We of course, climbed it.

Today I am working on my wordsworth paper some more. Right now I have about 1000 words...yaay!

im not, im not, im not, im not...yeah..i am.

Ok, so I was trying to not acknowledge the fact that my throat hurts and i have a slightly runny nose because sometimes if you believe hard enough that you aren't sick it goes away. But lets be honest, I feel warm, I have a sore throat and I've sneezed like 4 times today. Shoot.

Consequently I went to the store and bought orange juice.

There are a few girls in the house that have had colds already, and the fact that this house is ity bity and we all share everything probably caused this onset of headcoldish feelings. So tonight my plan is to go to bed early, to bundle up all week long, and to drink all my orange juice.

Here's hopin.

from wordsworth's prelude

The children now are rich, for the old today
Are generous as the young; and, if content
With looking on, some ancient wedded pair
Sit in the shade together , while they gaze,
"A cheerful smile unbends the wrinkledbrow
The days departed start again to life,
And all the scenes of childhood reappear,
Faint, but more tranquil, like the
changing sun

sufjan stevens and the rain

Amanda told me yesterday, she loves that I never take anything for granted. And now that I think about it, I do try really hard not to...maybe thats why I'm obsessed with describing all my little moments, why my blog is ridden with descriptions of perfect moments and why I'm constantly taking a deep breath as I take in a moment.

So today's moment: Right now, as I write this, I am sitting in our kitchen, remember the huge bay window and the english garden in the back? Its overcast, and I am reading and studying William Wordsworth for the first time. I've read two poems and I'm already in love with him. Its warm in the kitchen and Sufjan is going in the background. Plus, today I got a package..full of paintbrushes and other assorted items. (katie, thanks for the letter, it made me cry. :) )

One thing that is so different here than the U.S. is school. One on one tutorials and educating yourself..its incredible. I just finished a paper on Shakespeare last night and today I am already researching for my next one, which I want done on Friday night. On Friday I have to go get books out of the Faculty library so I can start researching for the third paper over the weekend, because it is due (along with the second one) next Friday. The turnover rate is ridiculous.

so close

So I am in the middle of my first paper..actually, more like 94% done. I'm so close, why am I posting on my blog right now?

:)

my cuties

Ok, so you know the people you meet and just know you can instantly be friends with them? The people who you are comfortable with immediately, have a tun in common with and just love? Well these girls Christye, Christy and Amanda are definately my England besties.

Christye (Left) is from Vancouver Washington. She has a cool BF who writes her letters and she loves to run, play guitar, and eat chocolate. Super encouraging this one.

Christy (second from left) goes to Biola University. She is super cute and so positive. She loovves to cook and is amazing at it. She also is optomistic in ways that you wouldn't believe.

Amanda (right) also goes to Biola. She loves Shakespeare and learning almost as much as life itself. She has great opinions about almost everything and gives the best backrubs ever.

I was sorta afraid in coming here that I would miss sharing a closet with four girls, giggleing and talking about boys, cuddleing with friends and adventures with them. Not anymore.

here comes the sun

Yesterday the sun finally decided to shine on England, probably the first time this century. Ironically enough I woke up and chose to put on a longsleave shirt, jeans and a jacket. Oh well. Anyway, I got home from the library and sat down to write my paper. Maybe it was the sunshine, maybe some procrastination, or perhaps the fact that it was quiet in the house, whatever it was I couldn't just let it go to waste. So, I grabbed my quilt, journal, and book and headed downstairs. You see, we have the most beautiful english garden in our back yard and the grass and sunshine was just to much to pass up. So for an hour I layed in the sun. It was glorious.

Maybe sometime I will make a video and show you guys around the house.

London in Color

I'm pretty proud of this one, from the Millenium Bridge

Me and Amanda, in front of St. Paul's.

This is Saint Paul's Cathedral...you know, the lady who sings "feed the birds.." in Mary Poppins.

This is after we fed the birds some chips...bad idea by the way, we got swarmed by them.

This is my friend Josh, he was singing the "feed the birds" song, a riot this one..

I turned the corner and there he was: Big Ben!

Yup, it actually exists in KingsCross Station...

Me, in front of Buckingham Palace...to bad the queen wasn't home..

This is us in the tube station!

This is Christy and I, outside Buckingham Palace, in the King's park.

Ok, so these pictures are in reverse order. We actually started by the Embassy and Buckingham Palace. This was the most incredible day!!

Really Here: Oxford

Today I walked out of the Radcliff Camera, the library featured above, went through an allyway and turned right onto Cornmarket Street. On the corner there was a man playing the most incredible bagpipes I have ever heard. Now picture this...rockin bagpipes echoing down the whole street, an upbeat, constant rhythm you can walk in step to, tall old buildings lining a european street, people everywhere, the sun on your face, a stack of books in your hand. Purpose in your step. I don't think I will ever get over it.

Painting in the Park

On Sunday a few people found out that I like to be artistic sometimes. Quickly teatime turned into a frantic planning mode and running around to get art supplies. John, a hero by the way, rode his bike all the way back to the other house just to get his paints. We converged in the middle of the park and found a nice place, by a bridge and a beautiful willow tree, to set up.

The next hour and a half consisted of painting while talking about theology, philosophy and life. I gave out a few technique points and they returned the favor with overenthusiastic worship of my knowledge.

Happy.

We decided to make a weekly tradition, painting in the park before we go back to Crick ( the house that I live in, so dubbed because it is located at 8 Crick road) for tea. John came up to me this morning and said "Dude I'm dyin! My painting needs to be finished, I can't wait for next week!!" Yay, the creative inspiration continues to spread.

Bodleian.

So yesterday was my first chance to walk past the crowds and enter into one of the oldest and most dedicated places of academia. There actually weren't any crowds, being that it was a Monday, but the feeling of anticipation was still there. You walk down a circular staircase, open a heavy door and before your eyes opens up an enormous round room and books are lining, filling and covering every square inch of the walls. Have you ever experienced the frustration of going into the library and not being able to find any sources on your current project? Not here friends, they have basically a room dedicated to Shakespeare, and entire libraries dedicated to other various subjects such as History, Theology, Philosophy and English.

There are 8 MILLION volumes in this library, and if what you need isn't on the shelves someone will go fetch it from a different library, (or from an underground book stack) and hand deliver it to you.

My first paper is on the women of Shakespeare's plays and I had stacks of books around me today. It is incredibly silent in this room and everyone in it is pouring over books and frantically taking notes. The longer I sit in there the faster the time goes by. The worst thing about having the privilege to use the Bodleian, is once I leave here I can never go back, and I will leave ruined for any other library in the world.

For Caleb and Rebekah

Hey guys! I made this video for you when I was in London. I love you and I miss you so much.

Hugs and kisses.

Magical Mystery Tour

Today we went to London.

 We hopped on the 830 coach from Oxford to London, and an hour later we arrived. We went through the park, saw the embassy and the statue of Roosevelt outside it, then went through more park and arrived at Buckingham Palace. The Queen was, unfortunately, away today. So we frolicked through more park, some posh areas of London, and then turned the corner to see none other than Big Ben himself. (I gasped in realization). Off to Trifalgar Square, the National Museum and a Peace Festival that was going on this weekend. Then we went to Licester Square, some shopping and lunch. We had a little time to kill before meeting again at 4:30 so we decided to jump on the Tube and ride up to King's Cross Station, following a rumor that platform 9and3/4 actually exists.

We found out....that it does. :)

Next we jumped back on the Tube and headed for St.Pauls Cathedral, the second largest in the world. We went to a service there and sat and listened to the choir sing while gazing up to the beautiful ceiling above us. After this we walked down past the Globe Theatre across the Millenium Bridge as the sun was beginning to set. We walked through the Thames River Street Fair that is going on right now and up to Piccadelli Square, where we got some dinner. Then we really wanted icecream and our hunt led us back to Oxford where we know that the GandD's is open until 12.

I love London. Pictures to follow.

Neolithic Ruins, Salisbury Cathedral, and Stonehenge

So this is our fieldtrip day, academic of course, but we had a lot of fun as well. This is us on the spire of the Salisbury Cathedral, 220 ft up. (We had to climb lots of old rickety wooden stairs to get here). I was scared but Josh, the curly haired kid, pulled me out there and I am so glad he did.

Stonehenge! It was amazing to see this. We all had a tun of fun learning and playing around in the grassy fields surrounding this site.

All in all a full day.

Icecream

Picture 4 girls running around the cutest house ever whispering in people's ears that the icecream shop is open until midnight. That they have to keep it on the DL, but tell everyone....and then they "sneakily" run out of the room, giggling.

I like my new friends. :)

Black and White...and Grey

Today I realized how depressed I am not to have a 35mm camera with me. This afternoon I set out on a walk through the University Parks with my digital, hoping to capture some of its contemplative beauty. But somehow its just not the same, to hold a deck of cards and take a picture. I miss the feeling of holding a heavy tool, switching the aperture and shutter speed to capture just what I want to. The feeling that you have just caught something great and its just waiting inside your camera for you to develop it and pull it out of the dark. It almost makes it worse that this condition I'm currently suffering through...is completely my own fault.

Oxford University..Where Your Best Isn't Good Enough Since 1117.

Today the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Yet a storm is brewing, it hasn't hit yet but it is definately looming.

I have a little graph in front of me, and in it there is some interesting information. One that would frightening to media crit students everywhere.

Case studies (x3) 2000-2250 words
Long essay proposal 1000 words
Long essay 3750-4000 words
Tutorial essays (x8) 2000-2250 words

Due? Case studies...in 3 weeks. The rest..by December 13.



Things we have access to to help us accomplish this incredible amount of
scholarlyness:

107 Libraries, one of which, the Bodleian, has 8 million volumes.

A database, like JSTOR that has thousands of articles and journals that JSTOR doesnt have.

A database that has every book written in English before 1820.

The most beautiful parks to walk in that I have ever seen.

(Ps. Catherine. It looks like, though I havent figured out the loopholes yet, that I may be able to get you access to the Bodleian database...)

Today

It's raining. This morning I woke up to the sound of rain on the window.

I Live Here

It really hit me today, that I am going to be living here for the next 4 months. Maybe it was when we went and bought groceries, and on the way took back streets to avoid the carnival with all the people. Or maybe it was when we walked by the Bodleian Library and saw the crowd of people out front (who are not allowed to go in) and I realized that I could say "excuse me" as I made my way through the crowd, swipe my card and walk in to browse till my hearts content. Or maybe it was coming home to our house, making dinner, and eating in the garden out back, after a game of bocce ball.

My Address.

Ashley Wells
SCIO
2 Frewin Court
Oxford, OX1 3HZ
United Kingdom

SEND ME THINGS!!

High Church

This morning a few girls and I got up and went to an anglican church. I dont really know what that means.. but it was high church. (So, order of service, incence, hyms, responce readings, super traditional). This is something I've never experienced before and coming from Rock Harbor it was rather interesting, but I actually loved it.

Mostly about this stained glass windowed, incence filled church I love being around the wise old men that attend there. There was one, who sat across the isle from me, who helped me with the order of service and showed me what to do during communion. Later I learned that he had been attending the church since 1949. Sheesh. After service the people were so nice, super welcoming and so excited that we were there. It was fun too, to leave from there and go thrift store shopping in Oxford.

Tomorrow we officially start. But for right now I'm sitting in our wonderful kitchen surrounded by a tun of people who love to read and talk about books as much as I do. And there's talk of going to Paris in the air...

Walking to Mesopotamia

This afternoon we, as in our whole house, so 24 of us, journeyed over to the other house. Jonathan, our junior dean lead us there. First we went through the park, and then we went over a bridge into a meadow. The meadow, until about 15 years ago, was a known sunbathing place for Oxford professors. Nude sunbathing as you would have it. It is right next to a river and when men would punt women up the river the ladies, approaching this certain meadow, would have to get out, walk around it, and then rejoin the punt further up the river. Anyway, after the meadow you maneuver through an iron gate and proceed up the path. On each side of you there are two rivers, on is higher than the other but they and both slow and peaceful. Along the path are blackberries and unlike in Tuolumne county right now they are ripe and ready to eat.

On our way home, a smaller group this time, it started to rain a little (big surprise) and we watched the ducks, swim on the calm river, as the rain was making rings on the water. We also walked through a field with narnian lamposts...and I caught this picture of a little girl and her mother.

Breakfast By the Bay Window

This morning I woke up around 6:30 (I blame jetlag for this godforsaken hour) and read for a little bit. Then my stomach insisted that I go down and get something to eat. I tiptoed down the stairs into the most beautiful kitchen ever and started some hot water for tea. I had that and some bread with cream cheese, definately a breakfast that I learned to love in Poland.

After about 20 minutes of me sitting next to the window looking out at the garden one of the guys came in from a run. We started talking and by the time other people started trickling in we were on the topic of racial/class tensions in GB and the US. The differences between the two and then moved on to postcolonial culture and some other good stuff. Its so different, the conversation here. Mostly authors, politics, economics, current events...with some amazingness mixed in.

In Which I Move to Oxford

This is a dream come true...times ten. Right now I am sitting at my window desk. Looking out at the front of number 8 Crick Road, Oxford, England. There are little brick cottages and trees and green grass and raindrops on the window. Its overcast..because when is England not overcast? My shoes (Catherine, this is where you come in) are muddy and wet because a group of us went walking in the Oxford park this afternoon. Its less than a block away. :) I have a stack of Shakespeare on my desk, along with some Browning, Goethe (for when I go to Germany), Lewis and Dickinson. Next to the stack of books is the most wonderful pictureframe I've ever owned. :)

The trip here was fun, yet nerveracking at the same time. The plane was turbulent and bumpy almost the whole way. However the people sitting around me were amazing. We went through costoms and the baggage claim together even. I have to say the border patrol man that stamped my passport was definately a big sour puss.

Then the bus. I was most nervous about this part. Mostly because all my life my biggest pet peeve has been looking like a tourist. There was one point where I had to squeeze my bags through a little hole in a railing while wearing a backpack larger than my body. Lets just say I got one through, then turned around and nocked it over with my backpack, got the other one through, and then it fell over while I was righting the first. All this is happening while I am trying to not fall over myself. (please, stop judging me)

I caught the bus at 8:30, which was fun because there were about 5 other students from the same program traveling on it. We talked and met each other and watched the countryside go by. We got into Oxford and I just about died. My words cant do justice so I will save it for later.

I am the first, and only, one in my room right now. I just got my (or should I say, Catherine and Chris') laptop connected to the internet. I went downstairs earlier to find the most adorable kitchen with bay windows and teapots all around, and everyone in it eating and talking. It has a wonderful view of an english garden in the back.

Then we went on our walk. This is a very long post but sheesh there is a lot to write about (Catherine, start vicariously livin cause this is soooo amazing. Ive been thinking about you all day :) )

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers.

The U.S. Should Switch to Metric

This morning my mom looked online for baggage restrictions for the airline I am flying with. Turns out, I am only allowed 44 lbs..total for checked luggage. For 4 months abroad. Total. So I looked at my two, almost completely packed bags and said "Welp, I have to say goodbye to one of you." Just when I thought I was almost done packing, I had to dump everything out and start all over. Lets just say that my new packing list is much shorter than the last one.

Troublemaking Teeth Lovers

One of my biggest pet peeves? When the girl cleaning your teeth at the dentist office starts telling stories and asking you questions..do they honestly want you to respond? Do they actually think one is physically capable of holding a conversation with pokey things and sucker tubes in ones mouth?

Today I went to the dentist for the third time in about two weeks. (Long story short: Rebekah hit my left front tooth when we were in the ocean. It died, consequently I had to have a root canal..yeeecchh). So the receptionist has gone from a friendly sort of hello to slight giggle and a "hey you're firmiliar" sort of comment. Im to the point where I'm rubbin' elbows with the staff and asking them how their kids are and how their dates went last night (well, almost anyway).

But after my teeth are back to their pearly-whiteness state the dentist comes in, checks for cavities and asks me about school (again, am I supposed to reply?). Of course I tell him about Oxford and he gets excited. I guess a couple of summers ago he went and did a class on C.S. Lewis there. So he starts telling me about all these great pubs and stuff he did...fun guy, cool conversation. Well, we get home and my mom gets a call from him and he starts apologizing for going on about pubs and fun they had drinking (as I'm dying laughing). I guess he felt bad and wanted to apologize. Oh dentists—gotta keep an eye on those ones.

Baby Quilts

Quilting. Its something I just started doing. I didn't take any classes or read a book...just decided to make one one day, and did. They started out super simple, huge squares, no design, that sorta thing. But now I see something I like and adapt the idea into my own. Today I started on my seventh quilt.

I have a friend who is having a baby and when I asked what colors she was painting the baby's room she said that they painted the walls slate grey, and decided to accent with sage green and white. Sounds wonderful huh? Well this is the front of the quilt, not sewn together just cut out, and the back is going to be soft grey flannel. It's a little more than three feet long. I'm so excited.