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| So clearly I haven't posted in a long time, but I've really been getting along well here in Oxford.
For one thing, I've realized that the British kids don't hate us.
They're just taken about by our eagerness to interact with new people.
Nevertheless, I am no longer actively pursuing a bunch of British
friends. Instead I'm focusing on some of the great relationships that
I've been able to forge within the Stanford House.
Since we last spoke, I've been to Dublin and Stonehenge.
Dublin was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. Although there are
statues all throughout the city and nice examples of historic
architecture, I found it to be strikingly similar to most other major
cities that one would encounter in the US. Yet, we made the best of it
and actually got to attend a nice Celtic dancing show where we were
served a traditional Irish dinner. My salmon and mash potatos didn't
seem very Irish to me, but I'm not one to complain.
Since Dublin I really haven't taken any big trips. Instead we've been
focusing on further exploring the city of Oxford and all that it has to
offer. In other words, we've been going to the club all the time! It's
such an expensive habit and I usually feel bad when I think about it
the day after because the music tends to suck, the dancing also sucks
and the drinks are overpriced. However, there really isn't much else to
do at night other than go to the pub or hang out with folks in the
house or in some school's jcr (like the lounges at Stanford).
Stonehenge was....ummm, how do I put this the right way? Stonehenge was
an exhibition of really big and old rocks. The story behind the
formation of the structure and the mysteries behind its use are really
quite entertaining. But, it isn't the most attractive thing when you
actually get close to it. Standing near the structure actually made me
sad considering the fact that so much history has been allowed to
wither away and that one Stonehenge will mere be a replica serving as
an ode to the amazement that stood before.
After hanging out at Stongehenge for about 30 minutes, we then moved on
the a town called Old Sarum. It's located atop a hill and the city only
had two entry points. After getting inside there are remains of an old
cathedral and an amazing castle. No matter how many castles I see, it
never ceases to amaze me how grand these buildings were and how royal
and ruthless the pricks that lived in them were.
This past Friday, we actually went to the city of Bath. Bath is home to
a Roman bath that was unsurprisingly built during the period of Roman
presence in the United Kingdom. We couldn't get into the sulfur water
which is green and looks disgusting, but we were able to taste some of
the spring water that the ancient citizens believed to be a curing
agent. I don't know if it was good for me, but it tasted like I was
drinking really dirty water. Bless my heart.
So much is on the horizon though. Once I can churn out this stupid
paper about Marxism and race I'll be moving on to the Craig David
concert tomorrow night. After Craig and his sexiness leaves me in tears
I'll potentially be gearing up for a trip to Italy at the end of this
month and a trip to Paris at the beginning of next month. I've
literally failed to post for almost a month, but i'll try to make my
postings more frequent. Special shout out to Erin Hsu for encouraging
me to resurrect my blogging. Love you Hsu!
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| So, apparently my last blog didn't post and it is now lost forever - R.I.P. April 13th Entry...
Anyhow, things are picking up out here. But that doesn't include work
just yet. I think work will become an issue next week. Last week flew
by and it feels like I've been here for a month already. Always hustle
and bustle on the streets of Oxford. It's interesting stepping out of a
door and being right in the mix of things that the city has to offer.
Fortunately for me I won't ever have to navigate through the confusion
to get to class - I'll literally be rolling out of bed and taking 10
steps to get to the seminar room.
But as for the activities. On Thursday night I went out with a group to
a few clubs. The first of which was called The Bridge and was like a
big ass cloud of smoke. A few interesting characters were there and
even fewer cute girls, but the DJ was decent. It was there that I
discovered my love for the drink that is Malibu and Coke. Amazing!
After leaving the bridge, we made our way over to a new club that
opened about a month ago called Ocean and Collins. To say that this DJ
was amazing would be an understatement. His selection could stand up to
Mr. Quick and to the DJ that does the CSA parties in my opinion.
Because we got there toward the tail end he let us in for free. That's
definitely wassup...
On Friday I made my first trip to London and got to see some of the
major sights. Buckingham Palace and the random guards who aren't really
guarding anything was quite a sight. Then there was the beautiful
parks, ponds, bridges, Moderately Big Ben, parliament, Westminster
Abbey and scores of other things. It was a nice little walking field
trip that I took with Omar and Stuti prior to departing for Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Edinburgh was cool and it was the first time I've ever stayed in a
hostel. A group of 6 of us were fortunate enough to rent out an entire
room. But another group of 4 girls was forced to stay in a mixed-sex
15-bed room. The hostel room wasn't bad at all, but the bathroom was a
totally different story. After dropping off our luggage at the hostel
when we concluded our all-night bus ride, we headed over to the main
attraction in the city - The Castle! Once there we met up with a french
girl named Salima. Her english wasn't the greatest, but I enjoyed
talking to her - but some suspect that she may have been a criminal of
some sorts because she wouldn't allow us to photograph her.
While in Scotland we hit up a few pubs, I was sexually harrassed by a
drunk Scottish woman, we went on the lamest ghost tour in the history
of ghost tours, we hiked up a few hills that provided amazing views of
the city, attended Easter service in a beautiful cathedral and we ended
our experience in a pub that held the two cutest girls that I saw while
in Scotland. Saturday night the bouncer prevented our group from
entering an upscale club which we would've hated once we got in. But
dammit I was definitely prepared to use the "Yeah, I'm a rapper" gig. I
guess I'll save that for next time.
On Monday we went to check out this ridiculous home. Waddeson Manor.
Y'all should read up on the Rothschild family. They were influential in
banking and were for a long period of time operating like the World
Bank by making loans to governments and corporations. The house is now
maintained by the British National Trust because the owner gave it up
in 1957 due to a lack of children and financial woes. Look it up!
That's all for now. I'll get back at y'all later. Take care everyone - Dublin coming up this weekend!
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| Oh yes, the resurrection of the Xanga account. I think that this form will best suit my British Invasion. I arrived this morning (3 am Farm Time) and ran into an Australian woman moving from Chicago to the UK and I'm quite sure that she was hitting on me. Nevertheless, after rejecting her unrelenting offers for "hot and steamy relations" I regained my composure and headed over to the bus that would take me to Oxford. While waiting I ran into 5 other students in the program and we made the not-so-long haul over to the Stanford House.
Since arriving we've been on a brief tour of the city and got a glimpse of some on the 39 colleges jam packed into this town. The architecture is simply amazing and its hard to believe that I'll actually be studying in some of these historic buildings. Stanford is nice and all, but this shit is priceless.
I'm definitely feeling like an outsider though - and it's not because I'm black. I just feel like a damn American. The British people drive ridiculously fast and only an American would have near brushes with 3 coaches and a taxi. Nevertheless, slowly but surely I'm hoping that I'll get a feel for the place.
Just a few hours after our arrival we hit our first pub and the program even paid for our drinks. But the lesson was learned very quickly, The Food Here is HORRIBLE! I ordered the chicken wings and was presented with some sketchy ass meat with lemon water as a dipping sauce. After leaving the pub a buddy and I decided to hit up MacDonald's for some good old artery clogging American food. Unfortunately, even Mickey D's seemed to have a British twist. They just don't believe in seasoning their food it seems.
Anywho, this is just day one of my journey to become a Black Brit. Holler at your boy! London likely awaits us this weekend. I don't even wanna think about classes just yet although they begin tomorrow. | | |
| Ha, we sit here on the brink of St. Valentine's Day 2005. I'm working on a damn midterm and listening to some Joss Stone. I'm tired, mad and sentimental all at once. Isn't that deep? Anyhow, I'ma be okay though you feel me. Although I wouldn't mind running across someone tomorrow who is without a Valentine. I'll fill that void for someone if need be, ya know? I see people together everyday and it's fine, but the 14th of February magnifies that fact that I am alone and there's something wrong with that. "Even a wise man jumps into misery somewhere down the line, but only a fool jumps twice." Yet and still, this is the nature of love. I have jumped once, I am prepared to jump again.
Happy V-Day Lovers | | |
| Xanga
Hello, I have arrived. Not quite prepared for emotional response. Sorry, it's coming though. | | |
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