Hey Everyone- I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I'm settling in to life at Oxford. Maybe it'd be better to say that Oxford life is settling into me.
I'm someone who is always dreaming...I have a lot of dreams while I'm asleep, but my daydreaming far surpasses the night-time variety. It's been a recent experience of mine to wake up and find that the dreams are sometimes real. That, by some kind of strange and foreign magic, the things I thought I'd invented exist all on their own, totally untouched by my own thoughts.
The funny thing is, when you're dreaming the world looks much as it does when you're watching a film. (sometimes, if you and I are alike, daydreams are even accompanied by dramatic instrumental music provided by a handy dandy MP3 player). But then you wake up in the darkness and maybe you feel the cool of your pillow, or your MP3 player dies and you are a abruptly jerked out of your daydream. Does the world, at that moment, seem strange in comparison to the dream, or does the dream seem stranger? I'm still trying to decide.
I've done a lot of wandering here, but I feel like I could wander forever and not find all the hidden places this city has to offer. I know that I could read all of the books in the Bodleian Library (which would take several determined lifetimes) and still not grasp all the history that this place is drenched in.
Half the time it doesn't feel real, and that frustrates me. There have been a couple of times that it did.
Most memorable: I accidentally happened upon Magdalen College (One of the oldest and most distinguished colleges at Oxford, and the place C.S. Lewis taught for many years). I felt like an intruder (much of the time here, I feel like I'm crashing some masquerade and I'll soon be thrown out). Then, there was this amazing quiet. It was very very cold, the air was quite sharp, and suddenly I found myself walking around an incredible stone courtyard. It was a square of arched, glassless windows looking out at the most amazing sculptures: gryphons, angels, knights and kings. It was like waking up on Christmas day and discovering that Santa Claus DID come! I wish I could describe it to you, I wish I could SHOW you. But then there's this part of me that feels that some things like that can only be real if you experience them alone.
Who knew reality could be more surreal than fantasy?
My tutorials are wonderful. In some ways they seem a lot less assigned work than school in the States, but in other ways they are pushing me unlike anything I've ever known. It's much less about breadth and all about depth here. You don't get points for having read the right books, nor are all the "right books" assigned to you... because it's taken for granted that you have read them or that you'll do it on your own (Americans are really the underdogs too). But it's all about thinking. You need to know your thoughts well, because the next question will always be "why?".
While some people here have it pretty tough, with subject matter like Ancient Norse Poetry or Neuroscience.... I'm taking C.S. Lewis in Context and Creative Writing. :-) The C.S. Lewis tutorial is amazing. In the past three weeks, I've read a couple of books by George MacDonald, Lewis Carrol, G.K.Chesterton, The Chronicles of Narnia and am now doing some Tolkein. Basically, I'm in heaven. I always feel nervous before my tutorial (a one-on-one format where you meet with your "professor" and discuss the book as well as your paper for that week) but I always leave feeling so awesome, inspired and really almost hyper. I lucked out with probably the most amazing tutor EVER for that one. I've only been to one Creative Writing tutorial so far, and I have to admit that my tutor frightens me a little....I have to meet him at his house which is pretty far away. Don't get me wrong, he's awesome, just intimidating. I think I'll grow a lot as a writer though, and that's exciting!
Let's see......I'm needing to go soon..but I'll conclude with a list of things to remember when traveling to Oxford:
1. Never EVER say "I'm all out of pants, but that's okay, I wanted to wear a skirt today anyway!"
2. When at a coffee shop, do not order "in"-always get "take-away" even when you plan on staying there.
3. To fit in as a local on the street, just learn to say"Sorry" in a British accent and mumble it under your breath as you knock into people. (which you will)
4. Explore.
5. Primemark and Blackwells, good thing they don't have those in the States.
6. Go through parks as much as possible. I highly reccommend the "Finding Neverland" soundtrack for when you do this.
7. The Eagle and Child
8. Don't be afraid to ask questions
9. Finally....always ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure you have the right bus before you get on it and end up riding all over Great Britain (all by yourself...all morning...thinking you are going to Blenheim Palace but really just going in a big ole circle). This can still be fun, but mostly I think it would lend itself to disappointment. Not that I did this yesterday..or anything. :-P
Cheers to you, loved ones!
-Katie
