St Cross Founder’s Feast!

Last night was the annual St Cross Founder’s Feast celebration! I was lucky when I first joined the college, that someone warned me to register for a spot at Founder’s Feast early, because slots filled up almost immediately… And it turned out to be well worth it! It was  nice to get dolled up for a night, and see all the guys looking nice in their tuxes… I’m telling you Oxford never ceases to surprise me with the ceremony and regalia… Although I think I’m finally getting used to the Latin prayers before and after meals… :)

We showed up to a great cocktail hour… And then went onto a 6 course meal… I think the entire dinner/drinks/coffee was at least a 4-5 hour event… Haha I was glad that I decided not to request to sit next to anyone I knew previously, because the dinner was a great chance to meet some new faces… I’m always surprised at how amazingly diverse and interesting everyone here is… The dinner conversation is always incredibly lively and interesting… To my left I had a mathematician who in his spare time was an orchestra composer and concert violinist… To my right, an American historian, who in combination with the Byzantine historian across from us, had some rather interesting debates over the Civil War and modern-day politics in the States…. And no, the irony that I had come all the way to England, only to sit at a dinner table and listen to yet another debate about American politics was not lost on me… But at least it was of a more interesting flare than usual… Haha :)

Luckily for all of us, however, our wine/port glasses just magically seemed to refill themselves… So everybody was in rather good humor for the lively debates… At one point in the night my end of the table was in the middle of a rather interesting back-and-forth over the ability of the Queen (versus the President of the US) to declare war on a foreign nation… It had gotten a little heated, when the Master suddenly ordered everybody to rise and toast to the Queen! Haha That definitely seemed to end the conversation and everyone had a good laugh at the reminder (especially for all the Americans) to exactly where we were… :) The Master followed his toast, with a rather hilarious comic-routine/speech, which everyone got a few laughs out of (although that may have just been the wine… Haha

All in all a wonderful night… It was fun to join in the traditions of the College. I feel like I’m trying to soak it all up and experience everything in one year… :) And now I’m off for another Saturday afternoon in the library… Not necessarily an experience unique to Oxford, but definitely a past-time that’s rather common here… Haha One more week of Michaelmas Term!

With Love from Oxford… –Mary Elizabeth <3

Its Always Something…

So I’ve had a rather hectic past week… But it may be that I’m just imagining it’s hectic because I feel like I should be taking Thanksgiving off like all my friends and family back home… But alas… I’m stuck in the land of the English and have yet to spot so much as a Turkey in a grocery store… Haha Although I have to admit the Brits are worse than Americans at decorating early for Christmas! I almost had to pinch myself, when in the middle of my classic “Monday writing-athon at the local cafe” they were playing non-stop Christmas music already! Haha

But anyway… After spending the weekend trying to get back into the “tutorial essay” routine (it’s amazing how two weeks of debates instead of essays makes your brain go a little soft… Haha), I was rather exhausted by Tuesday afternoon (although that may be due to the awful insomnia I can’t seem to shake for some reason)…

Tuesday evening I went to College Hall at St Cross (a once a week formal dinner hosted by the college)…  This week was Thanksgiving theme in honor of all us Americans! So of course I couldn’t miss the chance to actually eat some turkey and mashed potatoes that I didn’t have to cook… While it didn’t in the least bit compare to home (and in some ways almost made even more jealous I would be missing my mom’s amazing cooking), we had a great time!… It turned out to be a lot of fun and it was a relief to finally unwind, eat a good meal, and have a full conversation that didn’t involve essays… But by the time it was all over I was definitely looking forward to my “mid-week” weekend… :)

But wouldn’t you know… I get home late last night to find that I have a ridiculously nasty virus on my computer… I could have hurt someone I was so upset… Apparently McAffe Security (note to self: never use them again!) completely missed it, and it was only detected by the Oxford server which immediately locked my computer out of everything on the internet network… (Did I note that it’s a little busy right now, with it being end of term and all… Really not a good time to be without internet/email/remote access…) I had a host of ugly warnings from Oxford waiting for me, all claiming my gorgeous, wonderful, new laptop was “contaminated”…

So I was up at the crack of dawn this morning in Oxford Computer Services… The poor guy at the Help Centre was so sweet, but I was there for almost 4 hours… They did everything… For the first 2 hours he kept telling me Oxford had made a mistake and there wasn’t even a virus… For the next two the kept telling me there was no way to repair it… Long story short… It probably came through an email and was tricky enough that even my anti-virus software (and theirs for a while) didn’t pick it up… My computer is now healthy again, and no worse for wear… (Although I have to admit I’m now terrified of my email inbox!) They managed to remove it, but I still had to go through the long process of getting everything double checked, and rechecked, and changing ALL of my passwords and IDs (I mean really, it was hard enough memorizing those 101 passwords for Oxford the first time) But it’s finally straightened out thank goodness!

So unfortunately I will be in tutorials and seminars for most of the Thanksgiving Day tomorrow… Although a small band of us Americans have decided to gather for a make-shift Thanksgiving Dinner and hopefully some internet streaming of the Macy’s Day Parade tomorrow afternoon! :) It won’t be at all like home, but I’m rewarding myself tonight with a much needed viewing of “Pride and Prejudice”… It brings back great memories of watching the “ever-so-handsome Mr. Darcy” over Thanksgivings I spent at the farm with Gammie… Goodness how we loved to watch Colin Firth and giggle over it all (Grandmother’s can be wonderful that way)… I have to admit I miss her a little bit more than usual for some reason… <3 It’s hard to believe I was with her this time last year… I guess a lot can change in 12 months…

Anyway, onto some more Darcy and Elizabeth… :)

With Love from Oxford… –Mary Elizabeth

Girl’s Day in London <3

So I’m finally getting around to posting London pictures… Several weeks ago mom and Carolyn made the awful mistake of driving up to Oxford to visit me for a long weekend… We had a great time, but they spent almost 24 hours in the car over 4 days… Fortunately for me, Carolyn’s allegiance is easily bought for about 2 quid (ie. the cost of a cornish steak pie!)… :)

We spent a typical foggy day exploring the highlights of Oxford… Carolyn got her mandatory “Oxford” hoodie to wear around with bragging rights and we made a repeat visit to the now famous “milkshake man” at Moos Milkshakes on High Street… Mom  even got a FREE mystery milkshake! And I swear it was the most delicious milkshake flavor we’d ever tasted… Which of course just sealed my crush… Haha Our day in Oxford was even complete with a great personal tour of the famous Christ Church Hall (More colloquially known as the “Great Hall” in Harry Potter… :) from the very sweet lil-old porter… (Hey, it pays to make friends! Haha)… I’m thankful that, as he put it, I have such a “sweet and innocent” smile… Haha I love it when a smile  pays off!

On Sunday, since we’d seen most the major highlights of Oxford, we decided to drive into London… But not before mom managed to burn her bangs off with a curling iron… Haha I mean really… Which the awful burning smell then managed to set off the fire-alarm in my apartment… I swear this stuff only happens to us Bird women… :) Luckily, we all have pretty good sense of humor after years of playing the “Hinckles” on cross country road trips… Haha

After our slight hair drama we finally headed into London… Because I mean really… It’s less than an hour away! How could we not?! :) We  hit most of the major highlights… Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham, Westminster Abbey… And had a great late lunch of fish n’ chips in a local pub… We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering aimlessly through the royal parks near Buckingham and even managed to watch the Royal Guard ride by on horse-back, which was kind of cool…

The oh-so-classic “Big Ben”… Yay!

Parliament!

 

Westminster Abbey- The burial place of Jane Austen and the Bronte' sisters!!! (Who cares about all those king’s and queens, right? It’s all about my favorite English novelists! Haha)

Fish n’ Chips!

Buckingham Palace in the distance…

The Royal Guard just happened to come by… Unfortunately no sitings of Prince Harry for Carolyn and me… Haha :)

At the gates of Buckingham Palace!

We couldn’t help ourselves… It was London, after all… :)

All in all it was a great day… And a good reprieve for me… We managed to yet again buy Carolyn’s happiness on Sunday night with a meat pie back in Oxford while I grabbed a doner kebab (ie. lamb gyro) at my favorite kebab truck (what can I say, my little sister and I are cheap dates… Haha!) The funny thing is, the owner of the kebab truck, Hussain, (who has quite the social-personality) to this day still remembers my name every single time I stop by and never forgets to ask how my mom in Germany is… How bout that for a good memory! Haha I swear I make friends with people in the oddest places here! :)

I’ve yet to head into London again yet, and given the freezing rainy English weather that has set in full force, I doubt I’ll be making too many excursions out of Oxford until it warms up in the Spring… Haha It’s hard to believe, but I’ve only got 3 weeks left in Michaelmas Term! I get out on the 4th of December and don’t start Hillary Term again until almost February! We pay for the shortened 8-week terms with heavy work-loads, but I actually prefer it that way… I’m amazed at how much my thought process has evolved being here; I absolutely adore my coursework… But having said that, I’m looking forward to going home to Germany for some much need time rolling around on the living room floor with my puppy dog… Haha It’s pathetic how much I miss my dog when it gets lonely and cold here! :)

Anyway… I’ve spent yet another Sunday afternoon in the cafe writing… This time it was a debate summary paper on “the problematic notion of the placebo effect” from last week, and prepping for this next week’s debate showdown (ie. “Malaria versus Tuberculosis treatment in developing nations”)… It’s been a lot of fun having debates instead of tutorial essays!… If nothing else, my fingers have enjoyed the break from all that typing! :)

With Love From Oxford… ~Mary Elizabeth <3

Autumn in Oxford

Just a few pictures… I’m loving watching the seasons change in Oxfordshire… <3

The “4th of July” on the “5th of November”

So little did I know that it would be the 4th of July on the 5th of November… Most Americans are at least semi-familiar with the film “V for Vendetta”… I remember watching it with some of my college friends during my freshman year at VCU’s in West Grace… It wasn’t quite to my taste (I remember it being quite creepy), but there was plenty of greasy Chinese food and laughter to go lighten the mood… Haha It was the story of the “Gunpowder Plot” to blow up Parliament on the 5th of November… I had no idea then, that the anniversary of the 5th of November was actually quite a celebration in modern-day England!

In Oxford, the 5th of November was reigned in by massive bonfires, never-ending random firework shows, and burn 25ft effigies of Guy Fawkes (one of the more infamous “Gunpowder Plot” conspirators… I actually have to admit I feel bad for the poor guy, because more than 400 years after his failed attempt to destroy Parliament and dethrone the King, he is still being ritualistically burned every year in celebration… I mean to the guy’s credit he was put to death after the whole affair 400 years ago; don’t you think he deserves some peace already… Haha :)

But in England it’s quite the affair. The celebrations have continued all weekend… Last night rather than heading to yet another large bonfire, I decided to try out the Asian Food Festival with some friends for a little reprieve from Guy Fawkes and his effigy… It was delicious food and turned out to be a pretty good deal for a yummy meal! As we were leaving we actually stumbled onto an amazing fireworks show… (I swear they were everywhere!)

This afternoon, I am happy to report that after 2 days the burning effigies seem to have finally all been put to rest for another year… Haha It was a gorgeous crisp autumn day this afternoon, so I took another long bike ride… I managed to get myself thoroughly lost in the Jericho district, and then downtown near the train-station, before finally stumbling across the Oxford rowing docks… It actually turned out to be kind of a neat little excursion… I hadn’t seen the infamous “rowing practices” that everyone seems to attend religiously around here… It was a very quintessential Oxford  moment… Haha

 

Well that’s all for now… I’m off to a friends housewarming party and then most likely in for a quiet night at home reading! :)

With Love from Oxford… –Mary Elizabeth

Gaining a Little Perspective…

So I’m back at the beginning of my “mid-week” weekend… One more week and one more tutorial essay behind me… Yay! I’m now half way through with Michaelmas Term! I’ve really come to enjoy the tutorial essays… But this week’s topic, which I only handed in the essay for today, actually got underneath my skin a little more than usual… And I think it was because, for the first time in my graduate studies here at Oxford, it was a medical anthropology topic that I could personally relate to my own experiences abroad…

This week I studied ‘structural violence'… Yeah, I know what your thinking… More academic jargon… Well trust me, I can relate… As of last Friday the term meant nothing more to me than it probably does to you… But after a weekend spent buried in reading, and reflecting while desperately trying to find the words to write (what turned out to be a rather difficult tutorial topic prompt on under-nutrition and infant feeding) it is finally sinking in…

Structural violence (without going into what I assure you are piles of books on the topic) is essentially an academic theory that states that we (you and I and everyone born to a life of economic and political privilege) have an interest in promoting inequality in the world. Your first reaction, like mine was, may be defensiveness… And then I kept reading…

Time and time again I have come back to the same meaningless, “beat your head against a wall” conclusion when I come home from another medical trip abroad… No matter how hard I try, I have never been able to understand why I was born rich. I don’t understand why I was born white, or to well-educated parent’s who loved me and had enough food to feed me. It seems so unfair and pointless to imagine that such random occurrences are left to fate or the Gods. But what has lingered with me this week, is that structural violence says they aren’t random... That’s not “just luck” or “just the way the world is”… Life isn’t “just naturally unfair” because some kids like me get to pursue the education of their dreams while others die before the age of 5 of malnutrition… That is what is so haunting to realize.

The world wasn’t just made this way. We made it this way. Structural violence does point the blame. Not at individuals (so we can all stop trying to dodge the bullet we’re all so defensive about), but as a collective society. As a society that allows and even promotes inequality by buying cheap goods at Walmart that are made off the backs of impoverished people in sweat shops (and yes, I say this in full humility as someone who has greatly missed having a Walmart down the street )… We do it by arguing semantics when people are dying, by turning the TV off when we see something a little too upsetting (but it’s okay to let our children watch rated R movies, listen to racist/sexist music, and see sexy TV ads with half-naked, exploited women on them, right?)… We distance ourselves from “them.” The others… Those primitive, dirty, or “exotic” people… Or perhaps even worse, we romanticize their images as the quintessential “starving kid in Africa” or the “poor Haitian flood-victim”…

The reality of their lives is nothing more than an image, a foreign concept we can’t relate to. And I find myself in the same frustration that I always have when I return home from abroad. How do you describe a lived reality that is so desperate and so different from that of your own? How do you make the people you love (your friends, families, and maybe even strangers) understand how high the stakes really are? How do you explain suffering so extreme that witnessing it changes your life, and causes you to put off medical school and suddenly pursue a degree in Medical Anthropology? (Maybe my own personal life-twists now make a little more sense in context? Haha)

When I read about structural violence this week, it was not merely a distant academic theory. It was reality. It was the lived experience of the men, women, and children whose images I can’t erase from my own memory. And I don’t know how to make other people see that. I don’t know how to change a system of blatant human cruelty and inequality that is so ingrained.

And so I write, even though I’ve been writing all week… And I feel a sudden sympathy for all the human beings who have come before me, and also felt the burden of such realizations… I admire the writers, and activists, and poets, and physicians, and martyrs who have had the courage to do what was right, in the face of overwhelming resistance… People who could have turned off the TV, or stayed in their comfortable homes, but chose not to despite it all. People who understood that ignorance is no excuse for letting such atrocities occur unchecked. But surprisingly enough, perhaps it is youth or naivety, I have hope… I yield to someone much wiser who once said,

"I remain a rationalist and an optimist... If man has been able to create the arts, the sciences and the material civilization we know in America, why should he be judged powerless to create justice, fraternity and peace?" ~Dr. Ladis Kristof

And that sounds like a dream worth living for… <3