It is an incredibly strange feeling to come back to my home country, yet feel out of place. After not seeing America for 6 months and living in Oxford for about 9 months, my perspective has completely shifted. I now think of America as one country among many, with its respective strengths and problems. I compare a lot of my experiences here with those that I had abroad. I compare the professors I work with and the friends that I hang out with to those I had in the UK.
I did not feel this way at all when I came home for Christmas, but now I am more used to the Oxford way of life than the Northwestern way. I wonder how people get along without tutorials, formal halls, and bops. I question whether people are analyzing carefully enough before they speak and am always thinking about other points they could consider. Also, I am a little bit worried about being able to relate with all my friends now that I've been gone so long.
On the plane ride home, I watched an episode of 30 Rock (a comedy TV show) where Tracy Morgan struggles to relate with his former peers now that he is a TV star. I started to wonder whether something similar would happen to me - I've had so many different experiences this year that my friends haven't had. Fortunately, I have gotten to spend time with a good number of friends since getting back, and they are all really excited to hear about my year abroad. It is a little awkward because they don't always have a lot to say when I share stories (and maybe I talk about Oxford too much), but we can talk about this summer/the future if the conversation gets too one-sided.
My final worry is that the elitism that surrounds Oxford will make people treat me differently. Some people think that by attending an elite university you reach some level that other humans don't. Well, I agree that Oxford does a good job at facilitating the learning process, but that's the extent of it. I believe it is wrong in any case to say that one person is better than another, and this is no exception. I simply feel very fortunate to have learned/lived in such a cool place for a year. Life is a journey and a gradual process of discovery - going to a certain school does not make you exempt from that process.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Sunday 5 June 2011
Punting and Rowing
This term at Oxford is called "Summer Term", and with summertime comes lots of fun. The first Oxford tradition I'm going to talk about is called punting, and it only exists in Cambridge, Oxford, and a few other cities around England. Punts are large boats that fit up to six people. Each punt is equipped with a large metal pole (16ft long), which one person uses to push the boat along from the bottom of the river. To steer, you can use the pole as a rudder, or you can get someone in your boat to paddle, since they also give you a canoe paddle. Here are some punting boats:
To see more pictures from this term, click here!
Punting is a lot of fun, as long as your punter knows what to do. When pushing off the bottom of the river, it is really easy to push your boat into the bank, which is often covered with brush and sometimes thorns. You can see how people might start getting stressed/angry if the punter can't keep the boat straight. Otherwise, punting is really relaxing and a lot of fun, especially on a warm sunny day (which are very rare even in June). Here are some pictures of my friends and me on the water:
The best part is that punting is absolutely free because St. Anne's pays the boathouse to reserve four punts for us all term!
Another big tradition at Oxford is the rowing culture. This past week was "Summer Eights," which is the culmination of the year for all the college rowing teams. It is pretty incredible - there are over 1000 rowers involved when you include the preliminary races, and on the fourth and final day of racing, thousands come out to watch the competition. At Oxford there are 39 colleges, and they each have (at least) 2 mens and 2 womens teams that compete against the other colleges. The race is different than what you expect - it is not a side-by-side race since they can't fit all of the boats next to each other on the river. Instead, the boats all start in a line, and the goal is to bump the boat in front of you. Once you bump them, the race is over. If you successfully bump the boat in front of you each of the four days of competition, you earn 'blades', which is a big honor. This year, St. Anne's Mens 1 and 2 teams both earned blades for the first time in St. Anne's history!
This is right as our Mens 1 team bumped Jesus College, earning blades
Here the crowd at the St. Anne's boathouse congratulates the Mens 1 team with lots of champagne!
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Stockholm, Paris, Barcelona, Seville, Venice, Prague
It has now been a month since I got back from my incredible Eurotrip, and since this term is incredibly busy I am going to just combine all these cities into one blog post. Here's the best and worst parts about every city!
The Best: We went to the Nobel museum and learned about all the different prize winners and how they came to success.
The Worst: The highest temperature the entire time was 35°F, so we had to buy winter gear.
Eiffel Tower at sunset, when we saw the sun for the first time in 4 days
Stockholm
The Best: We went to the Nobel museum and learned about all the different prize winners and how they came to success.
The Worst: The highest temperature the entire time was 35°F, so we had to buy winter gear.
Here is a Nobel Peace Prize
Here is the view of the Stockholm waterfront (maybe you should say icefront...)
Paris
The best: I would call Paris the best city in general - the best architecture, the best museums, the best palace, the best food
The worst: It was gloomy out for most of the time we were there. Fortunately the weather was incredible the last day we were there.
Our hostel was a block away from the Moulin Rouge
Notre Dame from the side with the cherry blossoms
Barcelona:
The best: Climbing to the top of the mountain, where we could see the city below us in every direction
The worst: Finally going to the beach on the last day and realizing we could only stay for 30mins because we had to get to the airport
Here's the view from the top of the mountain overlooking the city and the Mediterranean
Seville
The best: Having good friends to show us around the city (they even took us out on a boat!)
The worst: I didn't get to see the inside of the palace because it closed earlier than we thought it did on our last day
This was just outside our hostel, in front of Seville's cathedral
The River Guadalquivir by night
Venice
The best: It is incredibly beautiful - unlike anywhere else in the world.
The worst: There are way too many tourists in this city. It felt really fake because there is almost no authentic Italian culture - 90% of the population is tourists and the other 10% all make money off the tourists.
The Grand Canal
Here is the view from the window of our hostel
Prague
The best: We heard members of the Prague Symphony perform Dvorak's Czech Suite - it was really cool to hear them play music by their most well-known composer.
The worst: Our hostel was pretty sketchy (aka dodgy for all the Brits reading this). Someone came into our room at 4am yelling about things like drugs, etc.
Here is the view from the faux-Eiffel Tower that they built at the top of the mountain
Part of the Royal Gardens
I hope this was interesting - let me know if you want to hear more about any of my travels. T-minus 38 days until I return to the states!
Friday 22 April 2011
My Thoughts on Berlin
As you guys probably know, I just returned from an incredible trip around Europe thanks to my really long Easter vacation at Oxford. Even though I believe that the best way to form opinions about places is to visit them yourself, I am going to share my opinions with you since I know you might not have the opportunity to go to these places, and if you do have a chance to go to Europe this might give you an idea of which places you would like to see.
First, we went to Berlin, which is the capital of Germany. The history of Berlin is a dark, sad story, but you can tell that the city is trying to reinvent itself. There is lots of post-modern architecture, especially in the fancy shopping districts. There is also a youth sub-culture which decorates the city with graffiti. However, there is plenty of architecture left from pre-20th century times such as:
The thing is that for each of these impressive sights, there is a sad story to accompany it. For example, the Berliner Dom is a result of Emperor Wilhelm II's desire to "compete" with other European countries. Specifically, he wanted to show up St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, so he destroyed the church on this sight and built the Dom to be as ornate as possible. He viewed the Dom as a way to show off and increase his own power.
The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Europe, and it serves as a symbol of Berlin. However, during the Cold War it stood directly next to the Berlin Wall and the Soviets even covered it with red banners when JFK delivered a speech there in 1963, which prevented anyone from looking into the East. It is hard to imagine what it was like to live in a city which would not even permit you to visit relatives 5 minutes away from your house, but that was the reality in Berlin up until the end of 1989.
Other sad stories of Berlin are commemorated by memorials around the city. For example, there is a monument at the famous Humboldt University which reminds visitors that the Nazi burnt thousands of books on their campus in 1933. Also, there is a memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe and a memorial for "the victims of war and tyranny." While Berlin has moved on from days of war, there are still things that sadden me, like the fact that 80% of the population has lost or never had faith in God. Also, there are gypsy women all throughout the city at the major tourist sites asking for money for food, etc - our tour guide informed us that it is part of an organized crime operation and that they must turn over all the money they receive to a group of powerful men who essentially own these women.
For these reasons, I can't say I love Berlin. However, I think that it is an incredibly interesting place to visit and that there are a lot of impressive historical sites, so I would recommend going if you have a chance. Also, I would wait until mid-April because in the end of March the weather was getting warmer, but the trees and flowers had not yet blossomed.
First, we went to Berlin, which is the capital of Germany. The history of Berlin is a dark, sad story, but you can tell that the city is trying to reinvent itself. There is lots of post-modern architecture, especially in the fancy shopping districts. There is also a youth sub-culture which decorates the city with graffiti. However, there is plenty of architecture left from pre-20th century times such as:
the Berliner Dom
the Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Europe, and it serves as a symbol of Berlin. However, during the Cold War it stood directly next to the Berlin Wall and the Soviets even covered it with red banners when JFK delivered a speech there in 1963, which prevented anyone from looking into the East. It is hard to imagine what it was like to live in a city which would not even permit you to visit relatives 5 minutes away from your house, but that was the reality in Berlin up until the end of 1989.
Other sad stories of Berlin are commemorated by memorials around the city. For example, there is a monument at the famous Humboldt University which reminds visitors that the Nazi burnt thousands of books on their campus in 1933. Also, there is a memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe and a memorial for "the victims of war and tyranny." While Berlin has moved on from days of war, there are still things that sadden me, like the fact that 80% of the population has lost or never had faith in God. Also, there are gypsy women all throughout the city at the major tourist sites asking for money for food, etc - our tour guide informed us that it is part of an organized crime operation and that they must turn over all the money they receive to a group of powerful men who essentially own these women.
For these reasons, I can't say I love Berlin. However, I think that it is an incredibly interesting place to visit and that there are a lot of impressive historical sites, so I would recommend going if you have a chance. Also, I would wait until mid-April because in the end of March the weather was getting warmer, but the trees and flowers had not yet blossomed.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
On Tuition Fees
Back in December, there were crazy protests here in Britain about tuition fee increases after the government voted to raise tuition to £9000 per year. I think that most people in the states really didn't know why it was such a big deal, so I thought I would try to explain it. £9000 seems really low when compared with tuition fees at American universities, but that's because American parents pay for some, if not all, of their kids' education. In Britain the student is generally expected to pay the entire cost of their education, which means that the average student will graduate with more than $40,000 worth of debt under the new system. When you compare this with the debt they currently accept, which is less than $20,000 for their entire degree, you can understand why they are upset. This extra debt will especially affect students from low-income backgrounds, because their parents won't be able to take up some of the slack. There are tuition fee waivers and bursaries (which help pay for your daily living costs) for low-income students, but it remains to be seen whether they will be sufficient to make up for the huge increase in cost to students.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
6 weeks in 6 sentences + pictures
1. Winter here is perpetually 40 degrees and rainy with no end in sight (still debating whether this is better than the sub-zero Chicago winter).
2. I have gotten to watch a lot of debate in the student government over tuition fee increases, and I believe this, combined with my more personal conversations with Brits, has given me a better understanding of the cultural differences here.
3. One of the reasons I wanted to come to Oxford was that I thought I would have more opportunities to play music, and I was definitely right - it is amazing the stuff I have gotten to do here, from playing in different orchestras to forming my own chamber group to performing with NU alums.
4. I went to a tea party today, so there is proof that the stereotypical afternoon tea is not dead even if Brits don't do it everyday.
5. This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Founder's Dinner at my college, which is the fanciest event of the year complete with pre-dinner champagne and desert mints marked with the St. Anne's crest!
6. It was a lot of fun until the guest speaker from the Royal Opera spoke for over 30 minutes about Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera (he called it a masterpiece).
2. I have gotten to watch a lot of debate in the student government over tuition fee increases, and I believe this, combined with my more personal conversations with Brits, has given me a better understanding of the cultural differences here.
3. One of the reasons I wanted to come to Oxford was that I thought I would have more opportunities to play music, and I was definitely right - it is amazing the stuff I have gotten to do here, from playing in different orchestras to forming my own chamber group to performing with NU alums.
4. I went to a tea party today, so there is proof that the stereotypical afternoon tea is not dead even if Brits don't do it everyday.
5. This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Founder's Dinner at my college, which is the fanciest event of the year complete with pre-dinner champagne and desert mints marked with the St. Anne's crest!
6. It was a lot of fun until the guest speaker from the Royal Opera spoke for over 30 minutes about Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera (he called it a masterpiece).
I got to eat at formal hall in Christ Church (Harry Potter fans, be jealous)
This is me competing at the St. Anne's Music Competition.
I got a scholarship for music lessons because of this!
This is Stephen Isserlis, one of the best cellists in the world, before he performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with OUO (the orchestra I was in last term) - definitely in the top 5 concerts I've ever attended.
Sunday 12 December 2010
Scotland and Ireland
This past week I was fortunate enough to spend traveling around to Scotland and Ireland. First I took a bus to Edinburgh to see Liz, Noah, Ariel, and Katie from Shepard, which was a lot of fun. Ariel was hosting a Hannukuh party so I got to meet a bunch of Edinburgh students. Also, I played my first ever game of dreidel, which I almost won!
The next day I met up with my two Oxford friends Kaitlin and Max, and we went on a day trip to the Highlands. We went by bus across the country into Scotland's snow-capped mountains. We were lucky to go on a really clear day, so you could see for miles. Our tour guide did a great job telling us the stories of the Scots and all their violence. However, the best part was taking a boat across Loch Ness. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. On the boat, they showed us the sonar machine that detects the massive creatures swimming around underneath us. They showed us a picture of the sonar of the largest creature they have detected - it is 38 feet long and swims at 40km/hr. You might think that it was just a glitch in the machine, but he has detected the same creature 19 times in the past year alone. I will leave it to you to decide whether the Loch Ness monster is real!
The next day we went into Edinbugh to see the city. We saw the cathedral, statues of David Hume and Adam Smith, and the Edinburgh Castle (though the inside of the castle was closed due to the snow). The city was especially cool at night time, because they have a German-style Christmas market and tons of Christmas decorations. The only bad part about Edinburgh was the inordinate amount of snow there - the worst snow in 47 years according to the newspaper. They had gotten about a foot of snow the week before we arrived, and they got a few more inches after we got there. Our hostel was outside of the city, so it was a nightmare trying to get into town - none of the city buses were running and the taxis were in really high demand. Also, our bus to Glasgow was cancelled due to the snow, so when we finally left Edinburgh we had to catch a train.
We were only in Glasgow for a little over a day, but it was still really nice. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground, and it made the city look pretty. We saw the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Park the first day. The next day we took a tour bus around the city because it was so cold (around 20 degrees) that walking everywhere was almost unbearable. The architecture in Glasgow was really interesting - very modern. My favourite part was the Winter Garden, which was a huge tropical garden inside a glass room. Overall, it was a cool city, even if we were only there for a short time.
The worst experience we had on the trip was getting to the airport in Glasgow. We asked someone in the train station which bus to take, and he actually directed us to the wrong airport. Once we got there, we couldn't find our airline, and when asking someone at British Airlines where we could find RyanAir she said, "You're in the wrong airport. The one you need to go to is over an hour and a half away!" I stared blankly at her for a couple seconds with my mouth wide open and then I started to walk away and she yelled after me "You're welcome!!" while laughing. It was horrible. As it turned out, the airport was closer than she said and our flight was delayed 20 minutes, so we got to the airport in just enough time to make the flight. It was awesome.
The last leg of our trip was Dublin, Ireland. We went on a free tour which was given by a native Dubliner who is studying history at University, and it was incredible! It lasted three hours but he kept our attention so well the entire time. It climaxed in his speech about the fight for Irish independence which was really passionate. He also explained to us that Dublin is the pub capital of the world, and that the Temple Bar district is the pub capital of Dublin. That night, we went to the Temple Bar to experience the culture, and the live music was great, even though there was no traditional Irish music. Instead, they were playing CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd covers, which made me a little homesick and excited to go home this week. Here are some pictures from the trip.
The next day I met up with my two Oxford friends Kaitlin and Max, and we went on a day trip to the Highlands. We went by bus across the country into Scotland's snow-capped mountains. We were lucky to go on a really clear day, so you could see for miles. Our tour guide did a great job telling us the stories of the Scots and all their violence. However, the best part was taking a boat across Loch Ness. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. On the boat, they showed us the sonar machine that detects the massive creatures swimming around underneath us. They showed us a picture of the sonar of the largest creature they have detected - it is 38 feet long and swims at 40km/hr. You might think that it was just a glitch in the machine, but he has detected the same creature 19 times in the past year alone. I will leave it to you to decide whether the Loch Ness monster is real!
The next day we went into Edinbugh to see the city. We saw the cathedral, statues of David Hume and Adam Smith, and the Edinburgh Castle (though the inside of the castle was closed due to the snow). The city was especially cool at night time, because they have a German-style Christmas market and tons of Christmas decorations. The only bad part about Edinburgh was the inordinate amount of snow there - the worst snow in 47 years according to the newspaper. They had gotten about a foot of snow the week before we arrived, and they got a few more inches after we got there. Our hostel was outside of the city, so it was a nightmare trying to get into town - none of the city buses were running and the taxis were in really high demand. Also, our bus to Glasgow was cancelled due to the snow, so when we finally left Edinburgh we had to catch a train.
We were only in Glasgow for a little over a day, but it was still really nice. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground, and it made the city look pretty. We saw the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Park the first day. The next day we took a tour bus around the city because it was so cold (around 20 degrees) that walking everywhere was almost unbearable. The architecture in Glasgow was really interesting - very modern. My favourite part was the Winter Garden, which was a huge tropical garden inside a glass room. Overall, it was a cool city, even if we were only there for a short time.
The worst experience we had on the trip was getting to the airport in Glasgow. We asked someone in the train station which bus to take, and he actually directed us to the wrong airport. Once we got there, we couldn't find our airline, and when asking someone at British Airlines where we could find RyanAir she said, "You're in the wrong airport. The one you need to go to is over an hour and a half away!" I stared blankly at her for a couple seconds with my mouth wide open and then I started to walk away and she yelled after me "You're welcome!!" while laughing. It was horrible. As it turned out, the airport was closer than she said and our flight was delayed 20 minutes, so we got to the airport in just enough time to make the flight. It was awesome.
The last leg of our trip was Dublin, Ireland. We went on a free tour which was given by a native Dubliner who is studying history at University, and it was incredible! It lasted three hours but he kept our attention so well the entire time. It climaxed in his speech about the fight for Irish independence which was really passionate. He also explained to us that Dublin is the pub capital of the world, and that the Temple Bar district is the pub capital of Dublin. That night, we went to the Temple Bar to experience the culture, and the live music was great, even though there was no traditional Irish music. Instead, they were playing CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd covers, which made me a little homesick and excited to go home this week. Here are some pictures from the trip.
Loch Ness
The Highlands
Edinburgh
Trying to find a bus into Edinburgh
Glasgow University
Live music in Dublin
Now I am back in Oxford for a couple days before I go to Baltimore for Christmas. Can't wait to see everyone!
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