Intellectual Experience Post 1

History of Feminism in Philosophy Lectures

Source: Oxford Philosophy Department

Dr. Pamela Sue Anderson is a brilliant philosopher and I had the honor of attending her lectures on the History of Feminism in Philosophy.  These lectures were the first feminism lectures in the history of Oxford according to Dr. Anderson.

The first lecture in the 8 week series set up the definitions for not only the waves of feminism in philosophy but a few different types of feminism. In this context, we used the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 as the beginning of the first wave of feminism. The publication of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex in 1949 marked the beginning of the second wave. We used a less firm date for the beginning of the third wave of feminism leaving the date at either 1974 with either Luce Irigaray's Speculum of the Other Woman  or bell hooks' Ain't I a Woman in 1981. Along with waves of feminism there are different types of feminism including liberal, radical, Marxist, and Post-structuralist.

To quote bell hooks, "Feminism is for everybody."

This has been the hardest post to write because Dr. Anderson's seminars were incredibly complex and covered a vast amount of material. I was also there sitting in awe of the great minds around me including my tutor and Dr. Anderson.

Feminism is not a dirty word and feminism is only guilty of trying to make the world a better place. 

Intellectual Experience Post 2

       Source: University of Sheffield

While studying feminist theory, my tutor encouraged me to attend an event with Philosopher Miranda Fricker from the University of Sheffield.  Dr. Fricker talked about blame. I was a little out of my league with this discussion, but I think I got the gist of the talk.

One of the points that struck me were aspects of appropriate blame. She outlined several aspects such as  "expectations should be reasonable", and "strength of blame must be proportional to fault". I find these parameters logical, but when I'm upset with someone, there is very little logic involved--I'm wrapped up in emotion. One thing I learned this term is the importance of awareness, but I get frustrated (speaking of emotion) because I like things to move fast and awareness seems like a slow part of the process of change.

I do agree with Fricker that blame can be constructive when asserted properly, but I disagree that appropriate blame is entirely possible because of the emotions involved especially in the heat of the moment. When I'm driving, especially when I'm alone, I yell at the other drivers who do dumb things. I blame them for not using a turn signal, not going any where close the speed limit, and for cutting me off among other sins. Is my blame appropriate? Probably not, but is it still inappropriate if i'm the only one that knows I'm blaming them - I'm not one to use the horn or get out of my car and yell at someone. Is the ultimate goal to get to a point where I'm not yelling at the person in front of me?

Bibliography

Fricker, Miranda "What's the Point of Blame?" February 2013

"Miranda Fricker" University of Sheffield Department of Philosophy.  http://www.shef.ac.uk/philosophy/prospectivepostgraduates/rtm

Intellectual Experience Post 3

The International Gender Studies Centre based at Lady Margaret Hall hosts weekly seminars. Since one of my tutors was associated with the Centre, she encouraged me to attend the seminars. The last lecture I attended was given by Dr. Kirsten McConnachie.

Dr. McConnachie discussed gender in the Thai-Burma border refugee camps among the Karen people. She discussed gender-based violence (GBV) and the mechanisms in place to deal with GBV. One aspect that I took to heart was the courage the survivors of sexual violence must have to pursue a case against their attackers. Part of the process is going to Thai courts and that is no small thing. Along with going to Thai courts the survivor must take the initial step of reporting what happened to someone that can help. Though the support systems exist, there is only so much confidentiality that can exist in such a densely populated area where everyone knows everyone's business. It's hard enough for survivors here in the US to report sexual violence and there is more confidentiality.

Changing rape culture is no small feat. I know too many survivors of sexual violence. Even one is too many. Education and awareness are key parts of any process of change (even if I think that's too slow it's still important). One study Dr. McConnachie cited, included a question to the young people if it was ok for a man to force a woman to have sex with him as long as he loved her. The majority of the young people said yes that was ok.

We still live in a world where there are people that think sexual violence is ok. I do support education and awareness as well as understanding. Survivors should be supported, not judged as if it was their fault. This cycle needs to end--we need to end sexual violence because expecting everyone to know that it isn't ok isn't working.

Bibliography

"Kirsten McConnachie" http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/people/academic-staff/kirsten-mcconnachie

"Protecting Refugee Women: Local/Global Relationships on the Thai-Burma Border" Dr. Kirsten McConnachie, 28 February 2013.

Tutorial Post 2

Tutorial Post 2

In my history course, I had the exhilarating opportunity to explore the history of women's colleges at Oxford. Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) was the first women's college followed by Sommerville and eventually St. Hugh's, St. Anne's, and St. Hilda's. St. Hilda's was a single-sex school until 2008. I started my study with a tour of the women's colleges led by my tutor, which is probably the first reason I found the topic as exciting as I did, but I also attended a single-sex high school making the topic personally relevant. Alumni from the different former women's colleges range from Margaret Thatcher to Vera Brittain of Sommerville to Aung Sun Suu Kyi at St. Hugh's and Benazir Bhutto from LMH. One aspect of the former women's colleges that I found most intriguing were the precautions that each college took to protect their female students.

The street sign for the road LMH is on

According to a book about St. Hugh's, there were chaperones, housing with special rules, and naturally a dress code (Griffin, P., 1986). I cannot imagine having such strict controls over my life as a college woman. I am an adult and should be recognized as such by my academic institution not treated as incapable of making my own decisions. Things have changed drastically since the early days of women's education at Oxford, but even after examining women's history and feminist theory, some of these ideas about "protecting women" just seem utterly ridiculous.

How do we learn from these strict regulations that women had to live with? How did those rules and regulations serve the women during those times? What regulations are in place in our lives and how "ridiculous" will some of them look to someone fifty to one-hundred years from now?

Bibliography

Griffin, P. St. Hugh's: 100 year's of Women's Education at Oxford. London: MacMillan, 1986.

Tutorial Post 1

Tutorial Post 1



All of my tutorials stretched my mind and challenged my way of thinking about the world. There was one theory tutorial that hit closest to home in regards to challenging my worldview. In week 5, we covered Lesbian Feminism. I read Judith Butler's "Critically Queer" her book Bodies that Matter, Monique Wittig's "Straight Mind" in her book The Straight Mind, and Adrienne Rich''s essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence." Butler and Wittig discuss language and how the world is trapped in a hetero-centric language that controls us and prevents us from moving forward. This reminded me of Mary Daly who, in Beyond God the Father, discusses the importance of living on the boundary and challenging everything because even the most basic things further patriarchy like language. I spent my whole day contemplating our discussion, which focused on sexuality as a spectrum. Sexuality is a spectrum, but language is so hetero-centric and focused on binaries that language fails to accurately describe the sexuality's fluidity. 

We are trapped with these labels "heterosexual," "homosexual," "lesbian," "gay," "straight," bisexual" and "asexual." There is so much fluidity in this thing that we are forcing into boxes - as if it is some sort of shirt we can fold and put in a box rather than something more akin to the ocean or the wind. Even that is not an accurate metaphor because sexuality is not predictable or clearly caused by any one thing.

How do we move past this language problem? How do we change something so fundamental? How do we describe the indescribable? What would a new language look like? Is a world where individuals are simply attracted to other individuals enough? I doubt Daly, Butler, Rich or Wittig would accept the idea of one individual attracted to another individual, but I think it's a start for changing the way we function in the world.

Lecture Post 2



The UK's had things mostly right since the 1960s. In 1968, homosexual sex was legal--it took the United States until 2003 when the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas. 

In the 1950s, one member of the House of Lords was arrested and put on trial for violating the law banning homosexual sex. Edward John Barrington, Douglas-Scott-Montagu was in his late-twenties. The public believed that the legal proceedings were not reasonable and along with the Wolfenden committee led directly to the legalization of consensual sex between adults regardless of gender (Standard). Granted the age of consent was 21 for homosexual sexual activity and only allowed in private, which excluded hotels. Oddly enough, more people were prosecuted after 1968 because the police did not like the law. 

It has taken more steps in the UK to "legalize gay" as the catch phrase goes, but the steps started earlier.   Now same-sex marriage is legal in the UK. The United States seems to be moving toward legalizing marriage as the latest polls show that a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage. The ABC news-Washington Post Poll, puts support at 58% in support of same-sex marriage (Same-Sex Marriage Poll). Americans are slow on the up take and are behind the UK, but although it has taken several decades the US is moving slightly faster now. Homosexual sex is legal and same-sex marriage is legal in a few states and is becoming more and more accepted. 

One thought about why Europe is much more accepting of homosexuality and has been is because of continental philosophy, which is much more liberal than American philosophy. Continental philosophy includes Simone de Beauvoir and The Second Sex. The US is dominated in part by religious extremism and conservative thought. 

How do we keep moving forward and broadening our American perspectives? 

Bibliography

"Poll tracks Dramatic Rise in support for Gay Marriage" http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/poll-tracks-dramatic-rise-in-support-for-gay-marriage/

"Lord Montagu on the court case which ended the legal persecution of homosexuals" 
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lord-montagu-on-the-court-case-which-ended-the-legal-persecution-of-homosexuals-6597923.html

Lecture Post 1

Is it better to have a meritocracy or a political system when it comes to executive appointments?

In the US, the best of the best can be appointed to executive leadership where as in the UK members of Parliament are the ones chosen for executive leadership. Are people better served by generalists who know the political system or specialists in the field? 

In the USA, Timothy Geithner was appointed to be Treasury Secretary. Geithner was  He faced many challenges in trying to get his agenda through the political system. Eventually, he was able to chip away and get some of his agenda passed. He had served in various other political positions before becoming Treasury Secretary all relating to economics and finances he just did not have the political muscle that some members of Congress might have had. Geithner has since been replaced by Jacob Lew who is more familiar with the budget as he worked at the Office of Management and Budget along with several other positions after working for Citigroup.  (http://www.treasury.gov/about/Pages/Secretary.aspx)

In the UK, there are the MPs with political influence and experience in Parliament. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is an MP. Cameron has experience at various levels of government and has done some media work according to his biography on number10.gov.uk. Nick Clegg, the deputy PM, has been an academic and done business consulting (number10.gov.uk).  Though they have political experience, they have done more than work in and for Parliament.

Does having political muscle necessarily mean the best for the people? Is knowledge of the area more important? Is there a way to have both?

Bibliography

"Timothy Geithner" http://www.biography.com/people/timothy-geithner-391494?page=1
"Jacob Lew" http://www.treasury.gov/about/Pages/Secretary.aspx
"David Cameron" http://www.number10.gov.uk/the-coalition/prime-minister-david-cameron-biography/
"Nick Clegg" http://www.number10.gov.uk/the-coalition/deputy-prime-minister-nick-clegg-biography/

London Post # 3


The Museum of London's exhibit Doctors Dissection and Resurrection Men brought to light not only the historical and scientific, but wove in the political through the section on the Anatomy Act of 1832.

In 1832, Parliament passed the Anatomy Act, which regulated what cadavers could be used for scientific research and teaching. Parliament needed to pass such legislation because "body-snatchers" were raiding cemeteries for cadavers. The Science Museum of London's page on the legislation states, "Anatomists were given access to 'unclaimed bodies', those who had died without any family coming forward to claim them for burial"(Science Museum). This qualifier caused more people in poverty to become cadavers rather than members of wealthier families.  Though the legislation was difficult to put into practice and not popular, but it did succeed at ending the careers of resurrection men. ("Use of the dead to the living")  The Anatomy Act of 1832 was in effect until the 2004 Human Tissue Act, which reformed and clarified the principle of consent ("Human Tissue Act").

This is an example of politics and science working together, but it was not without a fight. (The exhibit had recorded a re-enactment of the debate). Government has to find the delicate balance between supporting and limiting scientific research and study. The government needs to help fund research but also police the ethical boundaries.

It is difficult to think about people stealing cadavers from graves for medical study, but without proper channels for accessing bodies there was no alternative to grave robbing.

Bibliography

"An Act for regulating Schools of Anatomy, print, England, 1832." Science Museum. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=6870

"Use of dead to the living..." Museum of London  http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Corporate/Press-media/Press-releases/Doctors+Dissection+and+Resurrection+Men.htm

"What is the Human Tissue Act and what does it mean?" University College London. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/research/human-tissue-act/ht-act

London Post #2

The Crown Jewels

The orb that the new king or queen holds during the coronation represents Christ's rule. The Queen is head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of the government, but there is still an outright mingling of religion and politics as the Queen is also head of the Church of England. According to the official website of the British Monarchy the Queen is the "defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England("Queen and Church"). This bond between church and state is completely different from the American experience. In the US, we have the free exercise and establishment clauses which declare a secular government. Though during the oaths of office the new officer places their hand on the Bible, but other than that religion seems to have no place in government. There is also the Prayer Breakfast. 

Is it ever really possible to separate church and religion? Should they be separate? 

Religion or church and politics struggle to co-exist and define their individual as well as mutual spaces. I can see both sides of the story because not only am I a person of faith, but I am part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). I can relate to people who worry about religion controlling politics, but I see the value of religion and see how religion and politics are bound together. They need to be protected from each other. I do not believe that there is a scientific equation or exact place to draw the line, I guess it is trial and error.  

Bibliography

"Queen and the Church of England" Official Website of the British Monarchy. http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandChurch/QueenandtheChurchofEngland.aspx

The Main Event: Sadie and the Hotheads!

Jammin'

 

Having fun!

Isn't she lovely? 

A few weeks ago, I was procrastinating writing an essay, which I happen to be doing right now, and I decided to search 'Sadie and the Hotheads' just to see what came up. Tour dates appeared on their homepage, so out of curiosity I wondered if there was anything near Oxford. On Monday, February 18 they were playing Milton-Keynes, but I have essays due Monday night/ Tuesday morning so I decided against that. After several moments of contemplation and a little sadness, I realized that they were going to play in London the weekend I was there! I was all over that! (We happened to have Sunday night free to do as we pleased)

There was a little announcement below where you purchased tickets saying something along the lines of "Enter for your chance to meet Elizabeth McGovern!" WHY NOT?!? She's one cool and beautiful lady, yes I'll enter! I kind of forgot about the whole thing, ok well not really, I'm far too in love with her to forget such a thing. I did manage to get through my homework then a few days before the concert I got an email saying I was runner up and I'd won free tickets! I didn't believe it so I Facebook messaged the band - crazy right? Well they responded the next day saying "Yes you did win, it's legit - see you Sunday!" (fangirl freakout) I had a little trouble coercing people to come with me but I managed to get one of the boys to come with me. 

I was so excited I got to the venue 90 minutes early, but no one was around so I grabbed a hot chocolate then went back when I saw people were starting to gather. We waited until 7:05 when they finally let us in, luckily it wasn't freezing cold. I got in, got my hand stamped as a "guest." then proceeded in to decide where to sit. I chose middle of the second row. I think the only person more excited than me was the girl next to me - she was a contest winner so she was going to get to meet Ms. Elizabeth. Everyone else I me was very chill, just there to enjoy some good music. 

The first two acts were pretty fantastic. Open Road was the first act followed by Rachel Sage who was accompanied, by a very cute fiddle player that looked kind of like Kate Moening. 

Finally, the band walks on to the stage after a short intermission and starts playing, "Where's Elizabeth???" and she comes dancing on with her back up vocalist. They danced around for a bit, just having fun until they started with their first song, which I'm pretty sure was "All the Time," but it's been a few days and I was just in awe sitting there. My favorites are "How not to lose things" and "Superficial," but all if it is wonderful. 

They wrapped up then came back for an encore to sing "Open Mic Blues Song," which is quite cool. I mean one line is "I'm happy today so shoot me." Then it was all over. There was a little part of me that was disappointed I didn't get to meet her but my new friend's excitement made it ok (I mean the girl flew in from Hungary for the show) and I was just happy to have gotten to go at all. It was so worth it. 

Thanks to Sadie and the Hotheads for a wonderful show and an amazing night! 

Now I'm back to reality filled with French Philosophers and women's history, but I'll always have the memory of that night to take with me along with everything that's happened these past few weeks and what is yet to come! 

LONDON!!!!!!

Alright so big city, one weekend--it was a whirlwind, but a thrilling one.

Friday we get to LDN drop our bags at the hotel and dash off to Westminster Abbey. We had a lovely tour guide show us all around. Unfortunately, we weren't allow to take pictures inside, but it was absolutely spectacular. Our tour guide was lovely and gave us loads of information and fun anecdotes. My favorite part was  the tomb of the unknown warrior because it was quite moving and lovely because the tomb is surrounded by poppies.

I feel like Dr. Myers had some great stories about Westminster Abbey and those buried there, but I'm a bit too giddy about life to remember all of the great anecdotes from Western Civ.

From Westminster Abbey to the Churchill War Rooms. It was astounding to look at how the people there had lived. I cannot imagine the fear they felt. I was a little tense about it all and I was just walking around a museum! I think I'd like to go back one day and do it all again, when I'm less exhausted and can really take in what the museum has to offer.

AND BREAK!

We had a small amount of time between the museum and the show to get some dinner so my friend and I dashed off to Piccadilly Circus, we ate at an American chain, but we were pressed for time and I had no idea about anything. We managed to dash back to the hotel after dinner, only a few minutes late only to go back to Piccadilly Circus for the show! One Man, Two Guvnors was quite the slapstick comedy - the right amount of humor and levity for the time. We trudged back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

The next morning we were up and going early to make it to the Houses of Parliament for our tour. Our guide was quite the story teller. I loved the story about the suffragette chained to the statue too bad we couldn't snap a picture! Oh well! From the Houses of Parliament to the British Museum where we had a scavenger hunt for quite obscure things that you really had to be paying attention to find, but we found them! (Thank you Ryon and Kim) From there we hustled to the theatre to see The 39 Steps, another hilarious British comedy. Once the show was over, we were free for the night. I went to my room and just enjoyed some quiet "me time," which my little introverted self needed. I also went to bed early because Sunday was my big day.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!

We spent the morning at the Tower of London, which was pretty cool. I saw the Crown Jewels, the Armory, and the memorial to those that died there.

That's the memorial that recognizes some of the victims of the Tower. 

From there, I managed to get to Aldgate East to meet a family friend for a jaunt around Brick Lane, which was really cool. There were so many different places within blocks of each other. Bangladeshi stores and restaurants, Hipsters, Jewish Bagel shops. 

I enjoyed my time with him and getting to walk around and just take in Brick Lane, but the main event, well she will just have to get her own post....

Another Lovely Friday!


Today was another amazing Friday, one of the days where I am especially thankful. Fridays are when I have my history tutes. My tutor is more than simply my academic guide, she is a mentor, friend, and sometimes she feels like family. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Today, we talked about Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, which for the life of me, I cannot seem to understand. That is exactly what I said in my essay. Luckily, my honesty went over well.

We get to talking and before we know it, someone is sticking their head in to get the room for a meeting! We are far from finished so Dr. Davies takes me to an adorable little B&B near Lady Margaret Hall (LMH, as Oxsonians say). We sat in a gorgeous sitting room and enjoyed our coffee. I got to talk about my London trip, which is something I owe you all an explanation of as well as photographs. I don't even think I did my joy justice because I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. Coming back to scramble to churn out an essay on lesbian feminism was less than ideal, but oh well.

I did not have any firm plans for my day, I just figured I go to the Bod (the Bodleian Library) and do a little work, possibly do my formal blogs for my Mason credits, nothing set in stone. I ended up riding with her over to Woodstock a Lovely little town north of Oxford. I think I will have to go back and take pictures because "quaint" and "tiny" just do not do it justice. I felt as though I had been plopped in the middle of Stars Hollow, except that this town is much older than that fictional one--it has more character and history. It's just so cool! We stopped in a tiny book shop to pick up a book then headed over for a bite.

I cherish every minute of days like this because I am truly lucky.

Though I did remark, "Whatever will I do when I have to go back to the States!? I'm going to miss you [my tutor] and Oxford so much!" Driving around DC just doesn't hold a candle to English cities and countryside. I will admit I'm kind of looking forward to driving again, but otherwise I'm just having such fun!

London Trip Entry 1

During our time in London, I learned a few stories about the Suffrage Movement here in Britain that did not come up in my research for my history tutorial. My favorite story was about the woman in St. Stephen's Hall in Westminster Palace.

This woman got into St. Stephen's Hall and chained herself to the statue of Lucius Cary- Viscount Falkland.("Your Paintings"). (It is hard to get a good picture of the statue because there was no photography allowed on the tour).  had to break the statue to free her.The statue is still broken, the suffragettes left their militant mark on Parliament. This one woman's actions demonstrate the extreme militancy these women participated in to achieve their goal.

The belligerence that the suffragettes had to resort to in order to make their point is astounding. If the women had been "proper" and passively ask for the right to vote, it is curious to wonder if they would have gotten the right earlier or later. These women were committed to the cause and would not only go to jail for their actions, but would go on hunger strikes in jail, many coming close to death until the 'Cat and Mouse Bill' in 1913 ("Suffragettes: Prison").  This legislation freed the hunger strikers to improve their health then they would go back to jail once they were healthier.

Women over 30 won the vote in 1918, but it took until 1927 for all women over 21 to be allowed to vote (Fraser).

It is disheartening to think about how low voter turnout is because of how hard these women fought for the right to a voice. We now take that right for granted. It has not even been 100 years since women won the vote. Women died. Some of their tactics are questionable such as throwing yourself under the king's horse at the derby, but women died for this right; it is time we took full advantage of that right.

Bibliography

Fraser, Rebecca. "Overview: Britain 1918-1945" BBC. 17 February 2011. Accessed 22 February 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/overview_britain_1918_1945_01.shtml

"Suffragettes: Prison and Hunger Strikes" Museum of London. Accessed 22 February 2013. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Explore-online/Pocket-histories/wc/world_city_5.htm

"Your Paintings: Lucius Cary" BBC. Public Catalogue Foundation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/lucius-cary-16101643-2nd-viscount-falkland-62690

So I wanted to share more about my tutors since they're such wonderful teachers, mentors and people. I am beyond lucky to be working with both of them.

Feminist Theory Tutor - Kate

Women's History of Great Britain and Western Europe - Janette

C'mon they're awesome!

Days like this make me never want to leave.


This morning, well this morning got off to a rough start. I set my alarm for too early and didn't wake up until 15 minutes before my tutorial was supposed to start - it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk to the city centre and probably at least another 15 or so to get to where my tutorial is up in North Oxford - needless to say I was quite late because I didn't know the buses that went up there and I couldn't find a taxi - i swear they were all hiding!

Luckily, I have the best tutor in the world and have never been more than a minute or two late if not quite early... until today. The porter called her and let her know I was there and we met up to go to the room we meet in.

First, you've got to know that Janette, hopefully she doesn't mind me using her first name, is just cool. She is incredibly warm and caring. She's quite fashionable as well always dressed to the nines with a dash of something unique about her - in the coolest sense. She's got her hair quite stylish too - it's kind of got an a-line to it (hopefully I'm using that term properly) where it's longer in the front than it is in the back so sometimes her hair covers her right eye. and then on the left side it's shorter and brushed back. Someday there will be a picture - i completely forgot my camera for the event last night! In time there will be pictures!

So this lovely woman, doesn't make me feel too bad about being late, though she did ask to make sure I hadn't been ill. She's one of those people I don't feel like I could ever lie to even if I wanted to. I nodded yes (with a bit of shame) that I had in fact slept in a bit. (I was out with her until 10:30 last night at a wine and cheese gathering for students and their tutors).

We meet for maybe five minutes then she says "In preparation for your next essay, we're going on a tour of the women's colleges of Oxford." So we cruise around Oxford in the most adorable and tiny little red sports car. I got so many wonderful stories that I'm struggling to remember all of the details! I heard about the women's colleges, a few other points of interest like beautiful gardens and places to go when people come visit me. Oxford is a tiny city when you're not walking. :-) Then again with the driving on the other side of the road and all of the different traffic patterns - I'm quite happy to walk!

We zip around in the sports car stopping here and there. The main places we went were St. Hilda's, St. Hugh's, Somerville, St. Anne's, and Wolfson. I really did see ALL of Oxford today. She told me stories of her life in Oxford and various details that I shall save for when I'm giving my own tours of the city, but man was it cool.

We pass Somerville and turn around on St. Giles to head back up towards Lady Margaret Hall. She pulls over to tell me a story then asks, "Would you like to grab a sandwich at Eagle and Child?" You know Eagle and Child - J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as well as the Inklings - it was their spot. Yeah this is cool.

To paint a picture - it is a quaint little pub and the entry way reeked of beer, but it is a pub so we shan't hold that against them. We sat and talked about this and that - her connection to Mary and David Livingstone - you know that explorers/missionaries in Africa? Yeah them. Then her husband and their friend joined us for a bit. It was lovely -- I felt like I was really experiencing English life. Things have felt so sheltered because other than my tutors I've met maybe a handful of English students. The knowledge they have of everything is just astounding. I feel quite uninformed about the world. I imagine the BBC will become my close friend before long. I just sat and listened to the three of them get on about the most spectacular things from politics to geology (her husband is a geologist and their friend has things to do with geology - didn't quite pick up what exactly) to random stories among them.

We spent from about 10-3:30 talking, well mostly me listening, but wow is she one cool lady (the guys weren't bad themselves, but she still takes the cake).

This week I get to write about Feminist theory and religion as well as the history of the women's colleges at Oxford. Like WHAT IS THIS?? I can't imagine doing any of this as an undergrad at Mason. (Though Dr. Myers is quite awesome).

Well I'd better hop to it - my feminist theory and religion essay is 1000 words due Monday night and the history one (1500 - hopefully I can get it to be that long) is due Wednesday morning. I do wish there were two of me so I could enjoy all this reading as much as I'd like to rather than skimming, but there's only so many hours in a day.

Love to all!

So about that whole updates thing....

Oh dear it's been a while! Hopefully, this is like riding a bike...

I've been writing 2 essays a week. One essay is supposed to be about 1,000 words and the other 1,500 words, but I'm still very brief so I haven't quite hit my word count, but I'm working on it. 

Currently, I'm on my second late night of the week this is also known as an essay crisis, which is basically what it sounds like. 

I have wonderful tutors. One is a doctor of anthropology and the other is a graduate student in I believe philosophy. I'm studying Women's History of GB in the twentieth century and Feminist Theory. I've read too many authors to name, but the reads are all fascinating. That is the joy of loving what you're doing. 

Yesterday, I got probably the best care package ever - thanks to Becca and Tracie (no i didn't send myself a care package - it's a different Becca). 

I honestly spend my days buried in my readings and typing papers. I haven't been on many adventures yet, but I head to London soon and there should be plenty of adventures there. Including a concert that I'm rather excited for (Sadie and the Hotheads - aka Elizabeth McGovern's band (Lady Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey) 

I think that's long enough for now - sending all my best to you back home! 

Today was my big day! I had both of my tutorials.  My first tutor was sweet and very excited about our topic. She was rather chatty, which was wonderful except that I had less than a half hour to get down to Christ Church… I was only about five minutes late… ok maybe closer to ten. My second tutor was equally as excited.  I can tell that this term is going to be a challenge, but I’m totally pumped for it.  I can't wait to get up and go to the library tomorrow, I just have to figure out which one... oh Bodleian! 

Sunday was an adventure. I slept in which was delicious. Then Eliza, my flatmate (my NoVa twin) and I made scrambled eggs and English Bacon. English bacon is different than American Bacon. If anything the closest approximation I can make is that it is kind of a cross between Canadian bacon and American Bacon. Once we cleaned up – we had so many dishes to wash—I headed to town.

I trekked up to Lady Margaret Hall in North Oxford to figure out how much time I need to allow to get there for my tutorial this week. North Oxford is lovely. It’s a residential area with gorgeous homes. I walked past the Ashmolean, which I will somday go explore, as well as the Lamb and Flag Pub.

I made my way back to the City Centre in search of a hot drink and hopefully Internet and landed at Starbucks on High Street where I met a lovely American from Atlanta that is also here for the semester.  We had a lovely chat about Oxford, home, and transferring colleges. 

Then I made my way to Jesus for the Welfare Tea hosted by the JCR (Junior Common Room) Welfare Reps Eva and Niall. There were about twenty or so students in the JCR so it was nearly full. I didn’t really know if I was in the right place then I recognized Niall from the email of all the reps and got in line for tea. While I was trying to figure out exactly where the cue was the Chaplain, Megan, introduced herself. 

“Oh Becca LeyLand! I just emailed you.” Then she said something I totally missed about worship. She was perfectly lovely and introduced me to several students. Once I got my tea, I made my way back to the pool table – I’ve got to get better so I’m ready to challenge Rachel when I get back. I played a boy named Leo, I think…(I couldn’t quite make out what he said) He reminded me of James, which made me happy. I managed to beat him out of pure luck – I set him up perfectly several times to sink the black ball and he missed it.

I just waited in the JCR until worship in the Chapel.  I enjoyed Evensong. It was mostly music and I liked that the sermon was very college oriented. Though I did feel bad when there would be a response or a prayer to recite because I was surrounded by British accents and I tried so hard to keep my American accent, but I wasn’t entirely successful…

Monday was my last day of complete freedom. I just relaxed, but I did go into town for a few things and to find where I had to go at Christ Church. 

Incase the last post wasn't enough here is another to describe the happenings of the rest of naught week.

Luckily, Wednesday was a relaxing day. We had no obligations with our Program - the day was ours! I wandered into town to see the market near Gloucester Green, where the produce stands were swamped with people, I managed to find my way into one area and bought some brussels sprouts, which I will be eating for the next month, good thing I like them! I walked up to the woman to pay.

"A pound fifty"
"I think I've got it"
"Yes you do. Do you need a bag?"
"No ma'am"
"I do like being called ma'am."
"I'm so sorry. I'm an American it just slipped out!" and the kind woman said she knew and continued to tease me about calling her ma'am for several minutes until another customer came up to pay. I was terribly embarrassed, but now it's rather funny.

After my very American slip, I wandered to the grocery store for a few items, now i don't remember what, but they were important at the time!

That night I had my first pub experience. It was quite interesting to people watch. We were relegated to outside for a while until one girl found a table inside. Since we were all popsicles by then, we were more than glad to head inside. Not too much later the group called it quits and headed home. The fog was incredible by then, but we made it home, with the help of a bus - again it was rather cold.

Thursday flew by! We had our introductions to our college libraries followed by a tour by the Junior Common Room President - it's kind of like a student body president of the college. Our tour was rescheduled for today because our poor JCR president was stuck in a meeting for an hour and a half. Ah Thursday was a major grocery shopping adventure because I made dinner last night. My great-aunts' oven fried chicken and brussels sprouts. I was practically jumping up and down when the dinner came out alright! My flatmates even said it was good! Yippee!

Today I spent the middle chunk of my day at the library reading my text for my British women's history of the twentieth century tutorial. I swear I read that thing twice and I'm still not entirely sure what I read so I'll be back there tomorrow because I do not have borrowing rights at that library.

Have a lovely weekend and I will be sure to post about what ever adventures arise!

Happy Friday!

It is only midday back home, but the day is winding down into evening here. I have been remiss in blogging this week. I apologize, especially with so much going on!

First, was our induction into the Bodleian library, which I always want to type Bodelian, but Mr. Bodley would not appreciate that. I won't waste your time with the full story of the Bodleian, but it is a rather interesting tale, if you are so inclined to look it up.

We waited outside until precisely 2:30 when we were led through a small court looking room with beautiful dark wood into a parliament style room with equally beautiful dark panelling. The rooms were designed as a court and a parliament when King Charles made Oxford the capital.

We were seated on the benches of Parliament and told the history of the library along with other pertinent information such as which libraries we do have borrowing rights at.

From our induction we raced off to the Oxford Union in the centre of town. It's a lovely gated area with a debating chamber and a main building. The main building houses the library, where we do have lending rights, a bar, and lovely gathering rooms. We get our Union cards next week. Hopefully, there are some interesting speakers this term.

After our tour, we raced home to get ready for the black tie dinner. I actually wore make up and got my hair curled thanks to my very kind and generous flatmates. Sadly no pictures because we were running late and naturally it was raining on our way there so our looks didn't hold.

The formal dinner was at my college - Jesus College. We managed to follow the program director up to the dining area. We hung our coats and passed through a smaller room where we were offered sherry or orange juice (Orange juice please!) on to the balcony where we waited for the dinner to begin. We were called to attention and informed that dinner was served. We filed back into the smaller room. I should mention that the balcony looked out over the dining hall, a large room, but smaller than the Great Hall in Harry Potter.

Once we found our seats, they were assigned, we were served a very fancy salmon patty with a small salad. There were also rolls that were delicious. Our second course was a chicken breast with mashed potatoes, wilted spinach in a dark sauce. Following dinner was a sherry trifle. The night ended with an hour or so of toasts during which there were biscuits and cheese served with port. I failed to mention that there was white wine with the salmon and red with the chicken.  After three long hours of small talk this introvert was exhausted.

Hope this entry wasn't too long, but Tuesday was action packed!

Why hello there!

Today's been a busy day as was yesterday. I spent Sunday afternoon wandering around the city centre looking for where all of my meetings for today were supposed to be and I found Jesus College!

I had my second grocery store experience well it's more of a Walmart than a Giant or Safeway, just not as gigantic. The place was packed, it was Sunday afternoon, so it was my own fault that I went in, but alas I went inside and wove my way through the crowd.

Today, I met up with another Mason student after her academic advisor meeting because I didn't want to sit in my house all day. She was with two other girls from the program. We went into Blackwell's looking for proper Oxford Diaries. The first Blackwell's did not carry them and the second was out of stock. We wandered down Broad street and the people leading the group realized they didn't know where they were going so I took charge and led us over to the Westgate Centre to find the program office and Primark, which is kind of like Target, a non-grocery Target. I ventured into Primark, just going along for entertainment. We found some rather cute clothes and tights then headed up to find shoes. We have a formal welcome dinner tomorrow night and my friends needed shoes. I looked at the crazy heels then looked for slippers. I just needed some warm and soft houseshoes. After some far too frilly and fluffy ones I found some loafer type slippers that met my needs. I held on to them, not sure if I would get them or not while I walked around with my companions who needed a few other items. I hemmed and hawed about the slippers because they were 4 BPS (can't seem to make the BPS symbol work), which is roughly $6, not bad, but I wasn't sure about them. As my friends went to check out they said, "just get them!" I thought about how I'd been using my ankle socks as slippers and that was rather annoying so slippers would be a good investment. I get to the register thinking that it will be 4 BPS and the cashier says "two pounds" I didn't think I'd heard her right, "two pounds?" she replied "yes" so I happily forked over the two pounds and headed on my way, feeling like I'd just gotten quite the deal and glad that I'd listened to my friend. Once we were through Primark our little group split up and I headed off to my college appointment to see if anyone I knew was waiting there. There were two other students so I talked with them until they went back for their meetings. I was an hour early so I just   hung out. After my academic advisor met with the other students he went out for a lunch break since he'd been in meetings sine 9:45. He saw me waiting and suggested I go out for coffee. I figured, why not i'd just be sitting there listening to the poor woman who was struggling as the Porter on Duty.

I ventured off for hot chocolate then came back to wait for a minute until he returned from lunch.

He was a lovely chap, very welcoming and wanting things to go well this term. I'm taking my top two choices for tutorials - British Women's History of the Twentieth Century and feminist theory.

After our quick meeting, I remembered that I had to "top off" my phone - put more minutes on it or put more money on it. Fun little phrase, isn't it? I had no clue where to go since the director said we could go anywhere, but didn't clarify what anywhere meant. I figured the best plan of action would be to hit the Virgin Media store since I have a Virgin Mobile even though I called it Verizon to the Virgin media guy, it is actually a Virgin Mobile. The store's internet was down so I was sent "across the way" to another store to buy a card to top off my mobile. I get into the store where there are massive magazine racks left and right. The convenience store continues back until I pass some self service check-outs, I think well that's lovely, but I need another human to figure this thing out. At last I happen upon the cashier check outs. There appears to be a woman in line looking at the items on the shelves near the checkout. After a few minutes she snaps "I'm not in line!" As if I was just supposed to know. I step up to the cashier and ask the cashier about the cards to top off a phone. "We don't have those. All I can do is a voucher." I said that was just fine and headed back to the virgin media store because the guy said he would help me "top off." The guy that had said he would help was busy, but the other guy, a very tall fellow offered to help as I must have looked totally perplexed trying to figure it out myself. It worked and I headed home giving up on trying to work out things at Jesus College - I'll save that for tomorrow.

As I was walking down to Botley and I hear my name. I was shocked - who would be calling for me? I know maybe 20 people in all of Oxford so far. It was one of my flatmates, she was trying to find St. Peter's College which is a bit tucked away. She also happens to be a flatmate that I  hadn't had the easiest time with so far, adding to my surprise when she asked me for help. I gladly pointed her in the right direction and headed back home.

Tonight's been relaxing and tomorrow night we have a formal welcome dinner with the program director.

Hello all!

Doing well here in Oxford. I was incredibly homesick, but now that we have Internet, things are much better.

Yesterday, we had an all day orientation. It was very informative, but 8 1/2 hours of information was a bit much though we did get tea and lunch breaks.

Today was a lazy day here we all slept in then had a flatmate meeting and dashed off for groceries. We will probably eat some frozen pizza and watch Downton Abbey. My flatmates are lovely people and our flat is cute.

Grocery shopping here is very different from the States. First off - much smaller and tiny portions, which is good. They have things at a grocery store I hadn't thought would be there. Nothing bad, I just didn't expect hiking boots at a grocery store.

Tomorrow i'm going to adventure into the city centre to find where my college and my Monday meeting are.

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but we took a flat picture as we headed of to the grocery store.

I'm going to check with the Porter at the college to see what they say about mail then I can give my address.

Hope all is well back in the States!
Becca