Today marks the end of my time in England. Tomorrow I fly to Ireland to spend six days there before returning to the States. I hope to find an internet cafe from which I can post my blog, but I am not sure of the accessibility while I'm in the Land of the Leprechauns. Since today was a very low-key day spent packing, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some random pictures, random facts, and my general thoughts.
This is a random picture from Chawton House (Jane Austen's brother's house). It's a portrait of Kitty Fisher, the writer. There is a nursery rhyme that goes: "Lucy Locket lost her pocket. Kitty Fisher found it." Well, apparently, Lucy Locket was a... um... "woman of the night" and the pocket she lost was one of her clients, Matthew Pocket, who left her services to court Kitty Fisher instead! Quite scandalous the things we have our kids repeat! =)
Now, let's reflect on what it is about me that encourages strangers talk to me. Yesterday, as I was at the stop waiting for my bus back to Bicester, I was approached by three different people within the span of about 10 minutes. The first was a guy in his late teens or early twenties asking for money. He gave me his sob story about trying to get enough money to stay in the backpacker's hostel ,and naive, caring Liz was thinking, "poor guy... he needs help..." while cynical Liz was constantly saying, "He's just going to go get high... look at the kid... you can tell he's on something." Naive, caring Liz won out and handed the kid a few pounds, but Cynical Liz got to say "I told you so" when I saw the kid walk up and down the streets several times talking to people and then pausing on occasion to stuff the money down into his socks to make it look like he didn't have any in his pockets. Whatever he used it for, at least I was trying to be compassionate. Next, I had three semi-drunk German guys ask me for directions. I felt like such a native... and I was able to point them towards the club they were looking for, though I had a fleeting thought that I could point them in the opposite direction and they'd never know. Then I had a random guy ask me what time it was while I was sitting under a giant clock... brilliant. I don't know why these people talked to ME while there are lots of other folks around. After that last one, I sat closer to an older woman on a bench thinking I'd be better off near her! She was the kind of person that no one would mess with! Why don't I have that kind of persona?
Let's leave that subject to think on the name "OXFORD". If you break it into syllables, it is OX FORD. We all know an ox is a large creature in the bovine family (at least I hope it's in the bovine family, otherwise I'll get lots of comments to correct me!). And we know to FORD is a verb that means to cross a river. The story goes that OX-FORD gets its name from the cows crossing the River Thames (or one of the other many rivers in this area). I've attached the Oxford crest for you to view... it's pretty literal. =)
This is a bizarre statue of a horse from the armoury of the Kings in the Tower of London. It is supposedly a replica of a horse belonging to one of the kings. If I had a horse that looked like this, I think I would try to be humane and put it out of its misery!
Now it is time for lists:
I thought I'd begin with a list of why I could easily stay in Oxford:
- For the most part, people here spell things correctly! (I rarely see mistakes like I do in America: "Its You're Lucky Day" / "CDs, DVDs, and Book's for sale" / etc.)
- I have been studying British Literature in the HOME of British Literature!
- I can say words like "smashing", "brilliant", and "daft" without getting strange looks
- I have professors who say phrases like "as it were"
- Guys are automatically better looking when they speak with British accent
- I am a nerd and Oxford is a nerd's paradise!
- Walking everywhere is good exercise and good for the environment
And here's the list of why I am looking forward to coming home:
- Free drink refills
- Chick-fil-A (I am not a big fast food person, but I miss this one)
- My family and friends! See? You all are why I'm coming home! (in addition to a #1 combo... and getting another Coke without coughing up 2 more pounds ($4!)... and a #1 combo... and did I mention free refills?)
In all seriousness, I miss you all and I look forward to seeing many of you in person over the coming weeks! I'll be back 31 July (p.m.) but I don't think I'll really be conscious until sometime in the middle of the day on 1 August. I'll do a final blog on that day to let everyone know how the end of the trip went. Thanks for taking the time to share this experience with me! My love to you all! Cheers for now...
Date: 25 July 2007
Location: Bicester
Highlights:
- pizza with Holly, Chuck, Sarah, and Ryan
- getting my luggage packed
Thought of the Day: I am about ready to come home! I look forward to seeing everyone soon!
