My China Blog is up and Running!

Hey everyone! I know that I have yet to post my final reflections on my time at Oxford (it’s still difficult to conceive of the entire experience to be honest), but for those of you who want to follow me on my next spot of travelling, please check out my new blog about my travels across China.

My new blog will chronicle my trip in China with some fellow Providence College students over a 4 week period, starting the 25th of July. I hope many of you who have enjoyed this blog will follow me on my newest adventure!

Hope everyone is doing well, and managing to beat the heat!

-Tom-

My Last Week

Hey everyone! So this is a post about my final week in Oxford…sad, true, but also a time for last minute revelry! I spent the weekend after the Ball (see here) preparing for my final tutorial on Monday for my Islam tute. This past week, we focused on inter-religious dialogue by looking at Mariology in Catholicism and Islam. Certainly an eye-opening bit of reading, and (as usual) a wonderful discussion with my tutor. He offered me his best wishes for the future, I promised to write, and then, all of the sudden, I was finished!I had no reading lists to look forward to, apart from my own summer reading, and no essays to be written. Bittersweet once again, but there will be time for pensiveness later!

Monday I took one final (and long!) walk around Oxford with James, where we went down to Bess’s house to say goodbye and to enjoy Coca Cola with lemon, raspberry, and mint (quintessentially Bess), along with a walk over to one of Oxford’s famous sites, “The Headington Shark”.

The sculpture, which is of a shark plunging through a still-lived in house in Headington, Oxford, was constructed and entitled “Untitled, 1986” and is said to be a commentary on the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Chernobyl incident, and the idea of someone feeling so powerless and angry that they just rip a hole in the roof of their home. The sculpture caused some controversy when it was first erected, but is much beloved by the city of Oxford and town residence.

Tuesday was a busy day, with my housemate Miranda and I heading into London for the quintessential ‘dinner and a show’!

We started the evening off at the Rules Restaurant, London’s oldest standing eating establishment. In the past, Rules has hosted a number of famous figures, especially some great literati such as Charles Dickens and Graham Greene, and politicians such as Margaret Thatcher, famous former PM of England noted for her Conservative politics. The walls of Rules are a wonderful mix of decorations reminiscent of a posh hunting lodge and some humorous caricatures of both diners and characters, such as Fr. Brown of G.K. Chesterton fame! We started the dinner with a pair of delicious cocktails, the “Kate Middleton” for Miranda and the “Cider House Rules” for yours truly. I had a delicious roast rabbit on toast for my entree, with garlic mash and creamed spinach on the side, and we both finished with a deliciously heavy apple and rhubarb crumble  drizzled with custard.

The meal left us waddling out the door for the show, which would be the newest production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing at Wyndham theater, featuring famous actress Catherine Tate as Beatrice and the equally famous David Tennant as Benedick, both well-known for their part in ever favorite British series Doctor Who. The rest of the cast was equally talented, featuring a number of thespians making their professional debut. The director had decided to set the Island mid-1980s, which meant that the army men were decked in pristine naval whites, linen suits abounded, and there was plenty of fruity drinks and cigarrettes to keep anyone happy. We were sitting in the Stalls, about 6 rows back from the stage, which meant we got a great look at all the little bits of humor that really make a show, and we also got programs signed by Tate and Tennant!

The show was wonderfully done, with the famous party scenes taking place at a “Fancy Dress Party” (read: Costume Ball), featuring the likes of Darth Vader and Indiana Jones, and with the famous scene of Claudio thinking he sees Hero being unfaithful taking place in a dark and foggy Club setting, making for a dark commentary on our youth culture today. The ‘Prince’s Watch’ were played by two hiliariously elderly gentleman, with Dogberry was a big, blustering buffoon decked out in camoflouge gear. While I felt the show sometimes sacrificed the Bard’s beautiful and hilarious language for more physical humor, it was a beautifully done show, with Tennant covering himself in paint while trying to hide from the knowing Leonado, Claudio, and Don Pedro, while in its parallel scene featuring Beatrice evading Ursula and Hero before getting caught in and brought up by a painter’s rigging and line. Miranda and I were sure to congratulate the actors playing Benedick, Claudio, and Borachio on our way out, along with those actresses playing Beatrice and Hero.

So, though it wasn’t at the Globe, I managed to enjoy some wonderful Shakespeare while here in England–it’s no Shakespeare on the Green at Curtain Call in Stamford, but it was certainly an enjoyable evening! It was a late night back to Oxford though, and with plenty of things left in the week–as Beatrice says, the week continued to be “As merry as the day is long”!

Wednesday we celebrated–my housemates Caitilin and Grant, who are graduate students, finished their exams and gave us all the opportunity to engage in a hallowed (but often controversial) Oxford tradition, called ‘trashing’. Trashing is when you celebrate with finalists who are finished with their exams, most often with confetti and balloons, but often (ranging from bad to worse) with fizzy soda and flower, eggs, fish guts, and tomatoes. We drew the line at confetti and some fizzy water with a bit of flour thrown in for good measure, but it was a great time nonetheless! Grant and Cait obviously enjoyed being done, and I think that is the real point of trashing–to get dirty as a brief reminder not to take life too seriously in the long run.

My friend Selena from Failed Novelists was also finishing her exams, and so I dashed over to trash her a bit (this time just with flowers, balloons, and confetti) before heading over for a drink at the Turf Tavern with her, some of her friends, and a few of my fellow Failed Novelists. It was great, but sad, to say some final goodbyes, though I spoke with the newest president of the Failed Novelists’ Society and was assured that they’d be skyping me in for a few meetings, as well as taking submissions from me for The Failed Novelists’ Anthology 2012, which was a great honor.

It was also my housemate Megan’s 21st birthday, which was very fun! I was quite tired by the end of the day, so I didn’t spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but she appreciated my gift and the time I was able to spare. I think the high point of the day-long celebration was when a few of us decided it would be a good idea to tie balloons to her braids and enact a little puppet show. Even if a foolish idea, it was certainly worth the laugh!

Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning up the house, packing, and saying some sad goodbyes as people packed up and left. Thursday night I said my last goodbyes to the Dominican community, who I was luck enough to share one final dinner with, though it was hard to put into words just how thankful I was for all their help and guidance throughout the year.

With my final day in Oxford on Saturday, myself and a few other people made one last trip to see the History of Science Museum, famous for containing a blackboard featuring notes by Einstein made during a 1931 lecture at Oxford, and the original bedpans used as cultures for penicilin. The Museum was putting on a special exhibit entitled “Eccentricity”, which featured devices and features from the lives and homes of numerous eccentric individuals, including an actual Chinese typewriter, bits and pieces from the home of Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carrol), and some other things mixed in. It was quite nice to see a site around Oxford that I walked by so often but had yet to go in, as well as to take a few final photos around the city center.

Sunday I woke up for one last mass at the Priory Church, to return a last few books to the Friars and the Library, to take a last few pictures, and to truly say goodbye to the Hall–at least until I come to visit! Then, before I knew it, I was lifting off from Heathrow, settling in to watch a few movies, enjoy a surprisingly good meal, and to arrive almost 7 hours later in Newark airport, NJ, and back in the USA. So I suppose that’s it, for my year abroad at least. I’ll be posting a few more things on this blog, including some final reflections on the year, and some tips for people planning to study abroad at Blackfriars Hall. And please do look back for more details on my blogging on my trip to China later this summer!

-Tom-

Blackfriars Hall Midsummer Night’s Ball

Hey everyone! So, as I mentioned in my last post, this past Friday we had the first annual Blackfriars Hall Ball! The Ball came as an initiative from a few folks in charge of planning our end-of-year party/dinner, which is something that the students of the Hall organize for the Friars, the community, and friends, to thank them for a fantastic year and to give everyone a chance to share a few drinks, a few laughs, and a great meal! This year we decided as a JCR that we wanted to step it up a notch and organize a Ball type event, including drinks, a black-tie dinner, and some music afterwards. We arranged it around Midsummer Night (June 24th), which would also coincide with the Blackfriars Hall Garden Party as organized by the Dominican community, which took place earlier that afternoon.

The Garden Party itself was a great success! For many people it was only our second time out in the Priory Garden (our first being the 2010-11 JCR Photo), and it was a beautiful afternoon for the event. The Friars mixed up quite a few pitchers of Pimms (a classic Oxford summer drink), along with wine, water, and juice for everyone to enjoy. We also sampled strawberries a cream to go with it, and many of the Friars were there, along with some tutors, guests, and visitors to the Hall. Suffice it to say it was a great preliminary to the Ball later that night, and while the weather wouldn’t hold for both events, everyone’s good mood certainly did!

The Ball itself began with a drinks reception in the Aula of the Hall, where people who didn’t know each other could get acquainted and enjoy a drink–with more than 80 guests, it meant that everyone had someone new to talk to! I had a great conversation with one of the newest visiting Friars to the Hall, Fr. Irenaeus from Granada, along with catching up with some folks I hadn’t talked to in quite a while. We then headed into the Refectory for our fully catered meal, which was delicious, along with some wines chosen by the Ball Committee and of course, wonderful conversation with everyone at our respect tables!

We finished off the first part of the Ball back in the Aula with some music arranged by the Committee, a few last drinks, and plenty more laughs. Some highlights of the night included everyone trying on a Sable fur belonging to my housemate Maggie, several attempts at taking a Providence College/Blackfriars Hall Student Photo which finally succeeded, and everyone making sure to snap a photos together before people started to leave for the summer! The Ball ended as the Hall closed at 10:30, but continued on for a number of the guests as we made our way to a separate After-Party event organized by some folks on the Ball Committee.

Our After-Party entailed a private room at the House bar here in Oxford (check it out), and a bar open for everyone to get 3 drinks each. The House was a new spot for most of us, and our private room featured a snooker table (which, not knowing the rules, we commandeered to play pool on), a number of more challenging games (if you’ve never played Scrabble after a long night, please do it sometime), and most importantly plenty of space for conversations. It was a great night, with a fantastic menu of drinks, a wonderful atmosphere, and plenty of laughs among friends.

We ended the night back at St. John’s street as the fervor winded down, but your faithful blogger called it a night a bit earlier than most. Still, it was an absolutely wonderful night, and a great send off for the year–but I still knew there would be plenty of stories to tell from my last week here in Oxford before I head home. Still, as Quince says in our Ball’s titular play, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this is “The true beginning of our end”. Still, I can’t let that get me down, so be sure to look for photos and stories from my final week soon!

-Tom-

A Pilgrim on Memory Lane: Canterbury

Hey everyone!

So, a little background for those of you that don’t know why my trip to Canterbury is such a big deal. Not only did I go to the Canterbury School for high school (Class of 2008). It was an amazing place, and I have many fond memories of both friends and faculty there that really made me who I am today. In addition, my first ‘real’ college English Course was ENG 307: Chaucer, with Dr. Stretter at Providence College. It was an amazing course where we studied the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English. Not only did the class really help me realize how much I loved my major (and Chaucer), but it also spawned my PC nickname Chaucer, as I was christened by my friend Kevin. So, this was a big trip for me–and with that, I’ll tell you all about it!

I took the bus from Oxford to London, and then from London on to Canterbury, very early in the morning so that I could get a full day in. I spent my first hour or so just strolling around the main promenade in Canterbury, exploring some of the thrift stores, Oxfams, and other used shops that are scattered around the town. But as soon as it hit 10 am, I headed right over to what I was looking forward to most: The Canterbury Tales Visiting Attraction!

As it had been described to me before, this was Disneyland meets Chaucer, and boy was that right! The tour began with a brief preamble from host Harry Bailey before we headed into the Tabard Inn (another reminder of Canterbury, since our school paper was named The Tabard after the inn!). The tour was populated by wax figures of numerous Chaucerian characters, and using an audio guide, we were invited to hear shortened versions of the Knight’s Tale, the Miller’s Tale, The Wife-of-Bath’s Tale, the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, and the Pardoner’s Tale. I was almost alone on the tour, which was great for me as I laughed along, remembering my class and wishing they had told more of the tales and showed more of the character’s (I would have loved to see the Friar and the Summoner’s classic face-off, though I don’t know if the Prioress’s tale or the Franklin’s Tale would have been exactly kid-friendly!) Still, it was a great tour, and the hokiness of the animatronic/animation style of telling the tales really added to the schmaltzy charm. I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Canterbury, or interested in the Canterbury tales!

Next up was a visit to the famous Canterbury Cathedral, originally established in Canterbury by St. Augustine after he was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great back in 579–you can still see his ‘seat’ there behind the altar! The Church was completely rebuilt by the Normans during the 11th century, and hosted a community/Monastery of Benedictine Monks until the 16th century when it was dissolved by King Henry VIII. The Cathedral is perhaps most famous as the site of the assasination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. The reason for the assastination had been Becket’s change of alleigance from King Henry II to the Pope and the Church upon being made Archbishop. Numerous different clashes followed this, and it is rumored that the King’s exclamation of “Who will rid me of this meddlesome Priest?” motivated 4 knights to make the trip to Canterbury to attack the ‘meddlesome priest’. Becket refused to yield, and was martyred in the Cathedral. Later miracles attributed to him and the sight of his martyring (he was canonized in 1173 by Pope Alexander III). The pilgrims featured in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales are on their way to the shrine at Canterbury to see Becket’s holy site. This site is no longer there, in truth–it was removed by Henry VIII, and a simple candle marks its place today. Another famous sight in the Cathedral is the Crypt of the Black Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, which consists of a bronze effigy of the son of King Edward III, father to King Richard II.

The Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking–those are the only words I can use to describe it. I was lucky enough to be there on a beautiful day, and the sunlight shining through the windows illuminated stained glass representations of miracles attributed to Becket, scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and a number of other beautiful scenes. The grounds of the Cathedral are connected to the King’s School, Canterbury, and strolling around the campus as students jogged past, hearing calls of Third Former, Sixth Former, “We’ve got to get to painting!” or “We’ll be missed at Chapel” was almost like stepping back in time–I felt as if I was back at Canterbury for a moment, though I would have certainly been out of dress code!

Heading out of the Cathedral, I ducked out of the rain under an awning and found myself in The Chaucer Bookshop. It was a great little used-bookstore, with very kind staff interested to hear why I was there and a wide selection of wonderful books. I spent quite a while just browsing and reading before heading out the door down to the Canterbury Museum at the end of the road.

The Museum was a nice little detour out of the rain, featuring history of the town from Pre-Roman time up until more recent history. It also featured a cute little exhibit on British children’s television, including an exhibit of Father Conrad’s favorite television show Bagpuss, which had a short run but was much beloved across London. Also featured was the show Rupert, which I remember from my own childhood.

Next on my walking tour was a walk along the former Roman walls of Canterbury, which are surprisingly intact. The city of Canterbury was established as a Roman town called Durovernum Cantiacorum back during the 1st century A.D. after they conquered it. The Romans actually rebuilt a large part of the city, putting it more in line with what Romans expected for their cities, including public baths, a forum, temple, and theater. The wall itself was built just before the 4th century when the town was under attack by barbarians. The view from the walls are wonderful, and you can just spy the spires of Canterbury Cathedral, along with other bits and pieces of the town. I strolled until I arrived back at the park where I had started, took a walk down, and headed out to look at some of the city walls and gates from the outside. I ended up glancing down the River Stour, or Great Stour as it is sometimes called, which divides the city. I heartily enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my face and the low hustle and bustle of the city before heading back out to catch my bus back home.

And that was it! Certainly a wonderful day, and another snapshot to add to my growing view of England. I really believe that the best looks at England I’ve gotten have been from small towns like Cirencester, Canterbury, Liverpool, and Bath, and I highly recommend them to anyone who is visiting! They have enough to keep anyone entertained, but also provide chances to just enjoy the British way of life. And remember, “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote/The droghte of March hath perced to the roote”

Until next time, hope everyone is doing well!

-Tom-

Time Well Spent

Hey everyone! I’m so sorry to have gone so long without an update–as we come around to the end of my time here at Oxford, the past few weeks have been crazy with work and…well yeah, mostly work. I’ve had time to do some fun things as well though!

A few weeks ago I attended a lecture entitled “Theology and Academic Psychology”, which was partiuclarly interesting. I was one of very few students there, which was a bit intimidating, but after thanking the lecturer, my friend Br. Andrew from Blackfriars called me over to meet a friend of his, Fr. Brendan Callaghan, and I found myself in the midst of a discussion about pscyhology, religion, and therapy! I primarily just listened to what everyone else had to say, but weighed in a couple of times with my own opinions and thoughts. It was definitely intimidating, but also exhilirating–once again here at Oxford I felt like I was really part of the acadmeic dialogue, standing as I was among numerous well known professors, lecturers, Friars, and psychotherapists/analysts.

The next day, I headed over to the Our Lady Catholic Primary School, where I have been volunteering with a couple of students for them to produce something for annual school  magazine, and the copies had finally arrived! After being surprised by the principal of  the school asking me to say a few words, we passed the magazines out to all the students who had written something, and let me just say, it was absolutely amazing. The looks on their faces to see their work, their own words, in real, professional magazines, complete with pictures they had chosen, and everything else, was priceless. They were so proud to show them off to their fellow students, just as quick to praise someone else as to boast about their own. My own students were particularly pleased, as they should be, and I made sure to give them some parting words. I promised to send them post cards from America so we could keep in touch, and was truly sad to see them head back to class. I hadn’t realized just what an impact they had made on me, and I hope that I did the same for them!

That night, my housemate James and I headed into Oxford to see a student production of Amadeus, which was quite good despite being a bit chilly (the show was out on the Trinity College Lawn). The show was moved inside in the last five minutes, but since we both knew that Salieri would kill Mozart and then die himself, we decided to duck out a bit early and enjoy a cup of tea at home.

Other than that, as I said, there has been mostly work to finish up in my last few weeks! It has been particularly British weather the past few weeks, with it raining in the morning, followed by sun, followed by drizzles and thunderstorms, followed by wind, followed by sun, and everything in between! Still we’ve had a few beautiful days here, so I’ve been managing to take a few photos.

Last weekend I got to enjoy a night out on Friday with Michael and Nathan from Providence College, since I hadn’t really made the time to spend with them. It was great to go out for dinner, enjoy a drink, and really just talk about how their Oxford experience had been, how they were feeling about going home, what we were all looking forward to for our senior year at Providence…though I can’t say I needed another reminder that that is coming up soon!

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, this past weekend I finally made it to Canterbury, England, to fulfill a few (almost) life-long dreams..but that will have to wait until my next posting! Until then,

-Tom-

Also, for those of you thinking about doing some study or service abroad, please check out the blogs for the other Providence College students chosen to take Fr. Smith Fellowship’s at PC to travel, studying and doing service.  Kevin Brawley, Katie Tripp, Katie McCann, and Tommy Cody are all in Kisumu, Kenya working with the Dominican Community there, while TJ Mills is working at Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide, Australia!

Launch Party, ‘Tea Time’, and the real Friar Fanatics

Hey everyone!

So as I’ve been mentioning over the past few weeks, I’ve been involved in the publication of The Failed Novelists’ Anthology 2011 this past term, which features poetry and prose chosen from among submissions all by Oxford students. After a tough decision process and time spent by yours truly advertising, we finally had the Launch Party for the Anthology this past Monday at the Duke of Cambridge, a local cocktail bar here in Oxford.

It was a great success! We had a number of the authors show up, along with friends, family, and even a number of people from around Oxford who had seen or heard the advertisements I had been spreading around and decided to check it out. Unfortunately, thanks to a difficulty with the publishers we couldn’t have the actual books with us, but we printed and bound all of the work from the anthology for people to flip through and enjoy, along with the specs for the anthology, and managed to sell almost 75% of the copies we had ordered from the publisher!

Everyone had a great time flipping through the works of the Anthology, and it was great to meet some of my fellow authors friends and family, all of whom were very excited to see people they knew in the book. I had a number of great conversations with different Oxford students who had come along just to check out the anthology, and welcomed some of my friends from Blackfriars as well, who had come to support me. Most exciting of all was the fact that the librarian at Blackfriars had agreed to purchase a copy and add it to the collection here at Blackfriars, which means that it will be shelved alongside the other books in our library, open to anyone to check out an enjoy. First stop Blackfriars, next stop the Bodleian as far as I’m concerned! Still, we were very proud that the Anthology came together, and I was excited that so many people came to support the book and the people who made it happen. If anyone is interested in a copy of the anthology, you can email/Facebook me to ask about it, or you can email failedpublications@gmail.com as well!

Tuesday I headed down to have “Tea Time” at Bess’ house, which has become a Trinity Term tradition here at Blackfriars. I know I’ve mentioned Bess before, but she is the woman at Blackfriars who is ‘Mom’ for all the visiting students, and what a great job she does! For anyone interested in coming to Blackfriars, Bess certainly makes the experience, and is one of the best resources for anything you’re struggling with at the Hall or around Oxford. She is also one of the most kind people I’ve ever met, always willing to stop and help, always saying wonderful things, and in general making all of us feel at home whether we’ve been homesick or not!

Her home was quintessentially British, as was the tea time, complete with homemade iced tea, different flavors of tea, strolls through her wonderful gardens, finger sandwiches (‘eggy’, cucumber and tomato), and homemade scones with jam and clotted cream. It was a wonderful break in the day, and I only wish I had been able to stay longer and enjoy more–unfortunately I had to dash back up to Blackfriars to get some work done, but I promised Bess we would have to get together for tea some time again, and she ended up sending some of my fellow Tea Timers home with a scone for me since they hadn’t been out of the oven when I’d had to leave.

Finally, some exciting news from here at Blackfriars–the past year my Dad and I had been working on getting the Dominicans here some ‘kit’ or ‘stash’ (what they call College or University apparel here in the UK) from Providence College back home, and after it arrived in March (thanks graciously to Kevin Connolly!) they had finally gotten it distributed to everyone this past week!

The Friars who decided to get t-shirts were incredibly excited to have them, and wore them with pride for a photograph, after which Fr. Conrad, the Vice Regent,  and I got together for one as well. It was great to see them so excited, though it did make me pine for home and for PC. Regardless, it was great to see them happy, and to know that here at Blackfriars there will now always be some true ‘Friar Fanatics’!

The end of this past week has been busy, but exciting, so hope I get the chance to tell everyone about it soon.

Hope everyone is doing well!

-Tom-

Going Away Party, Afternoons in London and Cirencester

Hey everyone! It was another exciting week here in Oxford, including some interesting tutorials, one about Shi’ite Muslims and another about the process and importance of ‘Transference’ in the therapeutic relationship. But, in less academic news, it was a week of visiting some very different parts of England!

On Thursday afternoon, fellow PC student and I Michael Wahl (check out his blog here) attended a lecture at the famous Sheldonian Theater, where I had just over a week before seen the Prime Minister of Qatar, his Excellency Harmad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani give a lecture. This time it was something just as interesting, one of the annual Romanez Lectures at Oxford, called “The Bonfire of the Humanities: What is the Case for Supporting the Arts and the Humanities?” by Sir Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate of the UK (1999-2009).

Sir Andrew spoke, drawing from personal experience, from political news, and from the realms of art and literature, about the vital importance of the arts (especially poetry and writing) in the world we live in, and how dangerous it is that so many governments (focusing on the UK) are slashing arts budgets, closing libraries, and questioning the usefulness of the arts. He closed the talk with 4 poems he felt, again drawing on personal and professional experience, exemplified how important the arts are, including “The Self Unseeing” by Thomas Hardy, “Wedding” by Alice Oswald, “Postscript” by Seamus Heaney, and “She Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways” by William Wordsworth. I really enjoyed Sir Andrew’s talk, especially as a wannabe poet/author, and really enjoyed when he discussed how much he enjoys writing that “relishes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary”, writing that is “tangled with the familiar”.

Following the lecture, Michael and I headed back to St. John’s Street for a slightly more somber occassion–a going away party for one of everyone’s favorite Friars, Fr. Michael. Fr. Mike, originally from the States, has been in Oxford for a few years, and will now be dividing his time between being here in Oxford in the Fall and being back in the States in St. Louis during the rest of the year. For now though he is heading home to spend time with his family and get settled, which means that all of the JYA (Junior Year Abroad) students won’t see him again, at least not until we head home. So we organized a going away party so people would have the chance to say goodbye, enjoy another evening of Fr. Michael’s jokes, his warm smiles, and his encouraging words.

We treated him (and ourselves!) to dinner at a local Oxford Restaurant called “Ask Italian”, which despite some very odd wine glasses, and a surprising lack of bolognese sauce, was a delicious meal! I had some delicious seafood raviolis, and tried some of Megan’s spinach raviolis as well, but everyone’s meals looked absolutely delicious. We headed back to St. John’s street for some cheesecake, some Jaffa Cakes (a delicious British treat that I highly recommend!), and a final few glasses of wine. Fr. Michael was on lock-up duty over at Blackfriars, so we said our goodbyes early, and yours truly left to finish my Applied Psychology paper!

Friday morning I had my usual tutorial, followed by a bus ride to London to finally pick up my Chinese Visa. First things first though, was a photo with the Great Detective himself when I got off at Baker Street! That entire area of London is on my visit-list, but I couldn’t make it today, since I had to get over to the Chinese Visa Office. After my debacle with their not taking credit cards, and having to get a money situation figured out so there was enough in my account, I finally picked it up! I now have official permission to travel across China, and have picked up a few books about the country as a whole, so look for more information about my experience preparing, as well as my new blog link as soon as I think of a good name for it!

Following that, I headed into Covent Gardens in London to make a trip to an Apple Store to look into a problem with my iPod, which unfortunately didn’t get resolved. Covent Gardens was a great place though! It’s primarily pedestrian, and has numerous little alleyways filled with all sorts of shops, from Crabtree and Evelyn and the Apple Store, to little obscure food shops and places full of knicknacks from all over the world! I decided to escape from what had been a stiflingly hot ride on the Underground and walk across London to get to the Temple Underground stop.

On the way, I passed by statues commemorating various people, including William Gladstone, before going for a stroll through the famous Temple Gardens, along the Thames to admire the views, and back to the Temple Underground station. A special thank you to the wonderfully ‘posh’ British couple I met on the train, who wanted to hear all about my adventures, talk about the horse-racing that went on Saturday afternoon, and compliment me on showing them how wonderful Americans can be. It was very flattering, and they were such a great representative of one side of the many-faced culture of Britain that I had to ask for a photo. They giggled when I told them I couldn’t give it to them right then, and wished me luck with the rest of my year at Oxford.

Finally, on Saturday, we had another day trip up to Cirencestire to see Katie Richardson, Blackfriars Alumna, who had been kind enough to invite us again. See this blog post about our first visit if you aren’t sure who or what I’m talking about. It was wonderful to see Katie again, and though her husband couldn’t stay the day with us, her and her two sons made us feel more welcome. We lounged in the garden, enjoying drinks and nibbles, before ‘tucking in’ for a delicious BBQ meal of hamburgers, chicken skewers, bacon, and some delicious pasta salad with chickpeas.

The piece de resistance, however, was the ‘pudding’ (British for dessert) that Katie had prepared–homemade lemon icecream with chocolate shavings as a ‘surprise’ inside, some delicious fruit jellies, homemade meringues, clotted coffee cream, and mint chocolates. We were all stuffed silly, and spent a lazy few hours after lunch sipping tea or coffee (water for yours truly!), chit-chatting about our future plans, how Blackfriars was doing, and everything in between.

Katie took us for a walk around Cirencester after we had digested a bit, showing us all the scaffolding and work they had been doing on the medieval Town Hall that is now part of the Parish Church. They had dug up an old medieval print of the Hall, emphasizing the connection there between Church and political/social power during the Medieval period, and played it over a blueprint of what the refurbished building would look like, creating a very cool effect. We walked around to the back of the Church for another view, before taking a stroll around a man-made lake to a beautiful old gate to the city, followed by a tour around some of the still-remaining ruins of the old Roman walls of the town, which was known back then as the garrison town of Corinium. Katie was a great guide, and strolling around a quintessetial British countryside town was great fun.

We finally said our goodbyes, however, and made our way back to Oxford, where I caught up with my housemates Corey, Ian, and Emile, all of whom had gone to Wembley Stadium for a great match between England and Switzerland that ended in a 2-2 tie. They sounded like they had had a great time, and provided me with the chance to remind all my readers just how much amazing stuff there is to do in England itself, and just how accessible so much of it is from Oxford!

That’s it for now–the current week will be a very busy one for me, as will the one after, but since it is one of my last, expect more fun-filled adventures to read about!

Until then, hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather,

-Tom-

A Liverpool Weekend

Hey everyone! So last Friday I made another trip into London to (attempt) to pick up my passport from the Chinese Visa Office, hoping to get in and out fast enough to make a bus to Liverpool–I thought I had given myself enough time, but I ended up running all over London, jumping onto different lines of the Underground (or the Tube, as it’s also known), and then dashing off to different parts of the city. It was exhausting, and in the end, all for naught–despite what I had thought, the Chinese Visa Office did not take credit cards!

Still, thanks to my 2 years training while running track for the Canterbury School, I made it to Victoria Coach Station just in time! The coach ride was more than 5 hours long, but the price was just right at a little more than 10 pounds each way, so I settled in with some reading I needed to get done for my Intro to Islam tutorial, having just finished an intense week on Carl Gustav Jung for my Applied Psychology tute. I made some new friends on the bus, including a travel agent from Ghana who gave me his card and invited me to let him know if I ever wanted to come to Africa, and he would get me a great price on plane travel. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to some day!

My friend Nikki, who I have known since my days at Canterbury, met me at the Liverpool Coach Station for a short walk over to her apartment as we caught up a bit. Despite her having been in England for this entire term, we hadn’t gotten the chance to get together yet, so we were very excited to hear how the other was doing. We spent the night with some of her fellow Liverpool University Students, who had come from all corners of the world! I met people from Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, and obviously the States as well. It was a fun night, making some new friends and enjoying a lot of laughs. Nikki and I ended the night watching our Canterbury Senior Year production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and it certainly brought back some memories for Sir Toby Belch, A.K.A. yours truly! See the picture to the left from the original performance!

The next day we had a bit of a lie in (that’s what they call sleeping in over here!), and made our way down to Liverpool Harbor, taking the long way so that we could see a lot more of the city, and arrived at the Tate Modern Art Museum. The Tate Modern in London is very famous, though I haven’t been yet, but its sister museum in Liverpool certainly whetted my appetite! They had some amazing pieces by Salvador Dali, Henri Mattisse, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, even a few by Andy Warhol, as well as some newer artists I really enjoyed, like Juan Munoz and even a poetry exhibit by Carol Ann Duffy! I was very happy that Nikki had come up with the idea to check out the Tate Modern on our tour of the city.

Then, like any good visitor to Liverpool, I told Nikki we would have to go see some famous music sights, especially sights featuring the ever-famous Beatles. She told me that the actual Beatles ‘tour’ was not very worth it as far as she was concerned, featuring mostly replicas and taking a bit too long. She decided to take me to the actual Cavern Club, where Brian Epstein, the future manager of the Beatles, first saw John, Paul, George and Ringo play! The Club has featured so many amazing musicians over the years, including the Who, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and many others! Their resident band, The Cave Dwellers, are meant to be absolutely amazing, though we didn’t have the chance to see them play at all. The Cavern Club itself was definitely an awesome spot though, and I was pretty jealous that Nikki had gotten to enjoy seeing different bands there over her time in Liverpool–not something you want to miss if you visit the city!

Next on our tour was St. Luke’s Church, a Church which was bombed out during the Blitz in 1940 and ’41. Much of the Church’s outer structure remained semi-intact, so it is not until you get closer that you realize just how much damage was done. One of the most amazing things was that some panes still had bits and pieces of stained glass hanging in them, though you could see the fractures there threatening. The Church featured some really great photos from the Blitz adorning its outer wall, and is now used for a number of events (including historical tours, movie nights, and things like that). It was definitely very cool to see some history from the Blitz, since it is such an important and terrible event in British history that you won’t see much evidence of in Oxford.

This wasn’t our last Church of the day though! Nikki took me up to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, where she goes to Mass and affectionately describes as ‘the Church that looks like a spaceship’. And it did! The Church was very modern, but equally beautiful to many of the others I had seen. It had an absolutely massive interior, with numerous smaller chapels, wall hangings, and beautiful statues. My favorite part was the outcropping from the dome that featured an abstract stained glass that, as you walked around the perimeter of the Church’s interior, bathed you in light from yellow, to red, to purple, to blue, to green, and back to yellow. It was truly beautiful to see, and bathed the Church in colorful, if diffused, light.

Our final stop for the day was the Cathedral Church of Christ, the Anglican Church in Liverpool and the largest in the UK, with the distinction of being the 5th largest in the world. The Church has stood, and been used, since its conception in 1901, and was absolutely massive! There were a number of beautiful stained glass windows, along with a number of smaller chapels, Harry Potter-esque hallways, and lots to see! There was a service beginning in the midst of our slack-jawed admiration, so we took a walk outside around the grounds and cemeteries attached to the Church before heading back to Nikki’s room to get me packed for home. We ended the day skyping with Nikki’s parents, whom I know very well, and her sister Ashley, who also graduated Canterbury with us as the Valedictorian. I hadn’t spoken to them in as long as I hadn’t spoken to Nikki, so it was great to catch up!

I caught my coach back to London, and after a slight train debacle forced me to switch to taking the bus back to Oxford, I finally made it home, tired, but excited to see my housemates again even after a few days.

So that’s it for my Liverpool weekend–one of very few left! Check back in soon for a post about our going-away party for Fr. Michael here at Blackfriars, as well as another trip to London from yesterday! Also, some new and exciting news about my trip to China at the end of the summer–you can see a photo of a Chinese Lantern that I saw in the ‘Blitz’ Church to remind me of what’s coming… Until then,

-Tom-

The Pembroke Ball

Exciting news everyone–my new camera cord finally arrived! Expect photos from now on, along with some backlogged photos and videos for past postings as I get the chance!

As I mentioned, a few weekends ago was the Pembroke Ball here at Oxford, which a number of us attended. Balls here at Oxford are quite a tradition, with any number of colleges hosting a ball each year, primarily during Trinity (Summer) term. The Pembroke Ball, with the theme “The Sands of Time” was just one among many choices for all of us, and we thought it sounded like the most fun out of a number of balls.

Balls are usually massive affairs with hundreds of people, major events and sponsors, and everything you can hope for! The girls looked absolutely stunning in a beautiful array of dresses and accessories, while all of the guys looked “smashing”, as the Brits would say, in our black tie (though it had a decidedly purple spin for yours truly!)

Pemroke College is almost 5 centuries old, having been founded in 1624, and boasts of such impressive alumni as J.R.R. Tolkien and  James Smithson. They, unfortunately, didn’t make an appearance at the Ball, but it was still quite the experience! The committee in charge of the Ball transformed the entire expanse of Pemroke’s ‘campus’ into a setting for the Ball, and transformed many of its rooms into snapshots of different eras of history, ingoing with the theme. These included a Roman gala event, a 1920’s speakeasy featuring jazz music, a WWII recreation War Bunker, and a room blasting 90’s music in your classic club atmosphere. Also included was a tent featuring a live, futuristic pop band, and numerous other impressive arrangements!

Obviously the food and drink was plentiful, including loads of wine, a tent sponsored by Hendrick’s Gin, food from the Mission Burrito Restaurant here in Oxford, a roast pig, classic foods from different eras, and plenty of deserts in a Victorian tea room! However the highlight of the night was definitely the ‘Laser Quest’ inflatable maze, which allowed groups of 6 at a time to compete in a smoke filled, inflatable labyrinth (on a small scale of course) with classic laser-tag rules. They may have intended it to be futuristic, but I think for most of us it was a snapshot of our childhoods!

We ate, drank, and danced the night away, with every one of us running into friends from other colleges, other countries, and everywhere in between–I had a blast from the past when I ran into a fellow Oxford student named Rob who had been a classmate of mine way back in my Middle School days in New Canaan! He and I were amazed to recognize each other, and put it together when we both remembered that our parents had mentioned the others’ name at one point before we came to Oxford. He is actually from the College of the Holy Cross, studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) at Pembroke for the year. We promised to make plans to have a few pints together this term and catch up, though I haven’t been able to follow through on the plan as of yet thanks to a very busy schedule!

The Ball was a great success, with everyone from our group of visiting Americans having a grand old-time, enjoying an Oxford tradition that has gotten something of an update as times have changed. I think everyone had a different favorite room, food, and drink at the event, and the wide variety meant that when we loosened our ties, took off our jackets, and relaxed back at home, no one was disappointed! I highly recommend heading to a Ball during your time at Oxford if you come here to visit or study, and I know it was an experience I won’t soon forget!

Back in Oxford

Hey everyone! Sorry that it’s been a very hectic couple of weeks–as I’m sure everyone knows, it’s always the hardest getting back into work after you come back from vacation! Thanks to my still-missing camera cord, and the fact that my new one has not arrived in the mail yet, this post is without pictures–my apologies, but I’ll be sure to add some when I have them on my computer!

Coming back from Budapest, I had a few days off until the beginning of term, and decided to enjoy my last Saturday in an Oxford tradition–preparing for May Day! Here in Oxford there is a huge celebration for the 1st of May, which includes BBQs and parties across the city. I went to a barbecue hosted at the house of one of my friends from Failed Novelists, along with a number of other people from the group! It’s always fun to hang out with people from FNovs (as it’s affectionately called), and it was great to meet some new people as well! We planned to stay up all night to be able to catch the Oxford University Choir singing at 6 am, and that meant that over the course of the night we migrated, picking up and losing people along the way, to a few other events. Highlight of the night/early morning has to be our 4 am pitstop at a bakery that was just opening for Pain aux chocolat (crossaints filled with chocolate) that were just coming out of the oven! We had wound our way through most of Oxford, but were finally lucky enough to get onto the Quad at Magdalen College, which is normally not open to the public, to hear the choir sing from atop the Magdalen tower. Although we were tired and cold, it was an absolutely amazing experience, especially since the Quad was much quieter than Magdalen Bridge, allowing us to hear the singers that much more clearly.

Still reveling in our ability to stay up all night, we walked a bit to see our fellow Failed Novelist James participate with his fellow Morris Dancers in welcoming May! Morris Dancing is an English folk dance that dates back centuries, and was absolutely hilarious to watch! I finally headed off to bed though, and got just enough sleep to wake up for our usual Sunday Failed Novelists meeting, where our fellow members enjoyed stories from our evening.

Monday brought the start of first week and a dilemna: though I had been in contact with one of my tutors, I was still waiting to hear back from a few options for my other tutorial. So I took quite a few long walks around Oxford, enjoying having the city come into full bloom! Spring is truly a beautiful time in Oxford, where despite the continuing wind and the threat of rain, all the trees and flowers blossom to create so many beautiful colors and arrangements. It’s one more reason I’m thankful that I’ve been here the whole year, as I think that I’m still getting the full gamut of British weather! During first week it was also my housemate James’ 21st birthday, which meant that he had some friends who were studying in London come down, we made dinner, cake, and of course had a few drinks to celebrate. I know it was a nice break for all of us in the middle of first week, and he said how much he appreciated all of us enjoying it with him (despite his claims to not like birthdays, the smile on his face most of the night said otherwise!

The next day James, Miranda, Megan and I went for what is considered a requirement for any student at Oxford: a trip punting down the river. For those of you that know him, Fr. Robb at PC made me promise I would go punting during my time here, and I knew from experience that Fr. Robb isn’t one to steer you in the wrong direction. After a couple of tough starts with yours truly at the helm, I passed the punting pole to James to take over. With myself at the other end of the boat taking care of the rowing, and our resident cox from the St. Benet’s Rowing team, Megan, we finally got off to a good start. We took our time, tethering the boat up along the bank of the river so we could enjoy some chocolate mousse, some Rose wine, and some cranberry and apple salad. The day was absolutely gorgeous, and we were incredibly thankful that our JCR President, Tom Reilly (yet another PC student, though an alumni!) had factored renting a punt into our budget for the term and we’d have the chance to go again. I got the chance to redeem myself, and eventually managed to get the hang of it! Still, it was tough work, and I was glad to see the shoreline coming into view so that I could rest my arms!

Other exciting news this term includes the upcoming publication of the Failed Novelists’ annual anthology, The Failed Novelist’s Anthology 2011, which includes some fantastic work by student writers all over Oxford, including yours truly! I was very lucky to have one of the poems I submitted accepted into the final anthology along so much other great work. The poem, which I have mentioned here before, is called “Giraffe in a Palestinian Zoo”, and was actually earlier this year. It was included in the Providence College newspaper The Cowl, but hopefully I’ll be able to post a copy of it here soon! I was also asked to be the Marketing Director for the anthology, which means I’m in charge of planning, advertising, and executing the Launch Party, as well as selling any other copies of the anthology we have–let me know if you’re interested in buying one, and we can work something out!

Second week rolled around, with me finally finalizing my 2 tutorials: this term I’ll be studying Islam with Dr. Affif al-Akiti at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, and Applied Psychology with Dr. Jessica Osborne here in Oxford. Both are brand new subjects for me, but things I’ve been wanting to study for quite a long time, so it’s very exciting to finally be delving into both! Later during 2nd week I traveled to see the Davis family again, who I had gone to Six Nations Rugby with earlier in the year, as well as to catch up with some old family friends, the Wongs! Andy and Teresa are visiting all the way from Hong Kong, and it has been 3 years since I last saw either of them! It was wonderful to catch up, and they were excited to hear that I would be traveling to China this summer–look for more information on that trip later in this post! I arrived back in Oxford on Saturday afternoon, only to have to say goodbye to some fellow Blackfriars students. Jonathon, his wife Linda, and their son Nathaniel, who you would have seen in my post about last terms end-of-term party,were heading back to the states after Jonathon had finished his studies here. We were all sad to see them go, but we all wished them well and promised we would meet again. Saturday night, Corey, Ian and I headed out to see a new Japanese movie, called 13 Assasins at the local theater, and enjoyed some late night Standard Tandoori afterwards. As for Sunday I managed to squeeze some work in for my newly organized tutorials and enjoyed another afternoon at Failed Novelists.

Monday of this past week I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak about Moderates and Moderation in International Politics. Dr. al-Akiti had asked me if I wouldn’t mind ushering the event, which meant that I got to be in the center of the Sheldonian theater showing various dignitaries and aides to their seats, including the Prime Minister of Thailand! It also meant that I got to wear sub-fusc, which is the traditional Oxford Student dress that they are required to wear for matriculation, graduation, AND for sitting their exams. It consisted, for me, of a dark suit, a white bowtie, and Oxford student robes, which I had to borrow since I don’t own a set. It was quite exciting, although I don’t envy their having to wear them for exams!

In other exciting news, we had 2 new students arriving at Blackfriars Hall this week, both from Providence College! Michael Wahl and Nathan Ricci, two friends of mine from working together in Campus Ministry on the Pastoral Council, are both studying here in Oxford for the next 6 weeks through the Providence College Fr. Smith Fellowship. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces from home, and to hear about how everything was going at Providence College. Nathan and Michael are also a good resource for anyone considering coming to Oxford who isn’t sure if they can commit the full year of study, and if you want to check out their blogs please look to Michael Wahl’s Blog as well as Nathan Ricci’s Blog I’m sure there will be lots of stories and adventures from them, some of which might even include me, so please do look into their blogs! As I said to them, I’ve certainly felt like Virgil in Dante’s Divine Comedy as I try my best to guide them around Oxford and Blackfriars, though they’re both already spreading their wings and I’m sure they’ll continue to do great work!

Their arrival also reminded me that in just a few weeks I’ll be packing up my luggage, saying my goodbyes, and boarding a plane back for the States. I’ll be home on the night of July 3rd, so expect even more nostalgia over the next few weeks posts; with that in mind, I’ll keep it to myself for right now, even as much as I’m realizing how little time I have left.

Still, over the next few weeks I’ll have plenty more going on! Look for a new post about the Pembroke Ball on Friday night and a posting about a visiting lecture from the Prime Minister of Qatar on Monday! As for my trip to China, in case I haven’t mentioned it yet, this summer I’ll be traveling across China with Fr. Nowel and some other Providence College students! We’ll be playing the tourist for 4 weeks, during which we’ll see quite a few different places in China, as well as studying introductory Mandarin. Expect a new blog for stories, photos, and information about that trip, but until then I hope everyone is doing well!

-Tom-