Monday, January 28, 2013

Snow and marathon training

These first two weeks back have been madness, and I apologize for not posting sooner! I promise this entry will have lots of news and pictures.

It snowed for the entire first week. Oxford looked even more magical than usual! It didn't snow more than 4 inches but the town of Oxford did not know how do deal with the snow. Not at all like Boston, or Eastern Washington! The sidewalks remained treacherous for most of the week.




Roses outside the Radcliffe Camera



The side of the Sheldonian.

Front of the Sheldonian.


Hertford bridge.

Mansfield in the snow!


New College. The streets were quite treacherous!

I began official marathon training right at the start of the new year. Fortunately I have a training partner, my friend Adrea, to suffer along next to me. It is actually going pretty well and we are sticking to the schedule my college coach John gave me. The only tough thing has been the weather. Our 8 mile run two weekends ago was essentially slipping and sliding over ice and snow. The snow has now melted, but the trail we used yesterday was pure mud. So we were again slipping and sliding. Neither of us fell though, so that was good.



The final exciting thing I've done since being back is going to the very formal Burns Supper. A Burns Supper celebrates the Scottish poet Burns, and has some specific requirements, like serving haggis and whiskey, reading some of Burns' poetry, and listening to bagpipes. Our Burns Supper was a black tie event held in the chapel. It was magnificent! The food was great, even the haggis, which I actually enjoyed. Afterward, we had Mansfield's twice termly champagne and chocolates, which was held in the Junior Common Room.

My friend Sarah and me at the Burns Supper.

Haggis and parsnips.

Very formal place setting--good thing my mom believes table etiquette is important, or else I wouldn't have known what to do!

Dan and Tom at Champagne and Chocolates afterward.

Sarah and me at C&Cs, I've still got my formal dinner gown on.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Returning to Oxford tomorrow!

My 6-week vacation is over, and time absolutely flew by. Tomorrow I commence a 24-hour journey, with three flights and one bus ride. I will arrive in Oxford sometime in the afternoon of January 12.

It is impossible to fully describe my vacation in its entirety without writing a novel, but I will give a few highlights (and a lowlight). 

Highlight #1: Spending time with my family and dogs. Christmas is a very special time for my family and we take it pretty seriously, so it was wonderful to be together. Last night we all saw Lincoln together, which was brilliant. I hope Daniel Day-Lewis wins an Oscar for his performance. Although I do find it funny that a Brit & Irishman portrayed one of the greatest American presidents so effectively.

Family & dogs, photo courtesy Steve Lenz.

Lowlight: We had to say goodbye to our dog Holly, the Rottweiler in the picture above. She had been struggling with bone cancer for several months. She was 10 years old--she had been a part of the family for half of my life! I am glad, though, that she is no longer suffering.




Highlight #2: We got a new puppy. We were so devastated at the idea of being Holly-less on Christmas that we got an adorable English Cream Golden Retriever puppy. His name is Argos, after Odysseus' dog in The Odyssey (can you tell my mom is a literature professor?).





Highlight #3: Spending time with my boyfriend of 1.5 years, Mark. We mostly just relaxed, watched movies, played bananagrams, and went out for dinner. It was wonderful. 

Mark's parents gave us matching sweatshirts for Christmas.

Highlight #4: A ski trip to Mount Baker with Mark and several friends over New Years. The snow was incredible (deep powder), and unlike the same trip last year, there weren't any injuries. Woo! Afterward, we all saw the Hobbit, which was excellent.

Mount Baker ski area.


Sleeping arrangements.

Hanging out with Mark and Sam (and Hallie's feet).

This just about hits all of the major events of my vacation. I will post again once I am back in the great UK!