Time for Reflection

The last week in Oxford was definitely the most stressful but at the same time, the most rewarding. I spent all of Wednesday writing my final paper for Dr. Archer (literally ten hours in the Trinity library basement) and then cramming for my International Mass Communications final. Both assignments went well, as I received an A on my final and felt like I ended on a strong note in my final tutorial session. After arguing about the outbreak of witch-hunting for a good hour, I was relieved that my academic work in Oxford had come to a close. It was amazing how my mood suddenly changed once I walked out of the tutorial, as a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was finally back to my stress-free, laid back self. Steph and I had a celebratory lunch at Edamame, an authentic Japanese restaurant and walked around town for one last time. We returned our bicycles (finally), and packed up all our belongings. I managed to make it back with much more than I had come with and had to purchase an additional duffle bag to carry it all. We all went out for one last night in Oxford, and of course, made it to the Purple Turtle. Friday morning, the group flight left much earlier than Steph and I. I woke up around 4 a.m. and could hear the rest of the house leaving. I was sad that it all was really over. Around noon, Steph, Kyle, and I crammed into a cab with all of our luggage and made our way down to the bus station. Once getting to the airport, we were in serious need of carts to transport all of our luggage. We looked ridiculous with the amount we were travelling with. We checked our bags, had lunch, and got to the terminal. The flight back was not that bad, despite the small child that kept poking his head through our seats. We both were anxious to get home and in two days, be back in Athens. I was relieved once getting off the plane, getting through customs, finding all of my luggage, and finally meeting my parents, to know that everything had gone okay. My body was still in tact and I hadn’t even lost anything on the trip! There were so many things that could have gone wrong studying abroad and I was so lucky that none of those things happened to me.
Some time has passed now that I have made my way back to not only the U.S., but to my stomping grounds in Athens. It has taken me a while now to get back into a normal routine and on some sort of schedule. The time difference also messed me up for awhile. It seems like so long ago that I was saying goodbye and packing up my bags. I know now why my mom placed so much value on study abroad programs. I really do believe they change you. I’ve already noticed such a difference in my attitude and beliefs between last year and this year. It made me realize why I am in college and what I should be valuing in my last two years. It also made me eager to learn and excited about my major. I like being able to participate in class and stand my ground. I know now that if I really put my mind to something and apply myself, I can be very successful. I have also felt such a close bond with the people I became close with on the trip since being back in Athens. I get so happy every time I run into one of them on campus or see them out. Its only these people that truly understand what we experienced over there.
The trip was completely comprised of highs and lows, but the highs really did make up for my low points. The low points made me realize things about myself I never knew before. And the highs were what got me through the day. In complete honesty, the trip was not exactly what I had imagined it to be. But what it was ended up being so much better. I did something and studied somewhere that I never would have the chance to ever again in my life. Through reading countless Reformation history books, building friendships with people I thought I never would have, travelling by myself all over the U.K. and Europe, and figuring out a foreign country on my own for the first time, I stretched my mind beyond belief. And above all, I can honestly say I feel smarter and know so much more about myself after studying at Oxford.

Last Formal Dinner

This week’s Formal Dinner was by far my favorite. After congregating on the quad outside for group photos and having a glass of champagne, we made our way into the dining hall for one last Formal Dinner. It was different this week because I really felt like I had made friends with a lot of these people—and people that I didn’t necessarily think I would have made friends with. Dr. Trivedi gave a toast, we sang the fight song, and our wine glasses were continuously refilled. The experience of these Monday night dinners is one truly unique to itself. Afterwards, we went downstairs to the Trinity Pub for a beer. Steph and I talked with her Terry professor for awhile about our career paths. It really is something else to be able to talk to our professors like normal people outside of the classroom. I have really enjoy talking to them. We made our way over to the Kings Arms where Dr. Archer got “iced,” among other things. We came back to the UGA house and I stayed up for a little while hanging out with people. My only regret is that I have not allowed myself to go out every Monday night. . If I had less work or wasn’t travelling every weekend, I would have loved going out more in Oxford with these people. I can hardly believe we leave on Friday. I have no idea where six weeks have gone, nor am I prepared to leave one bit. I do think a sense of relief will strike me once I get on that airplane. I still have a paper and a final Thursday before I can tackle packing. I hope to make the most out of these last few days here!

The Boonies

Saturday morning, I woke up at 7 a.m. and headed down to Trinity to meet the rest of my Reformation History class for our weekend excursion to Shropshire. I slept on the coach and woke up in literally the boonies of England. We toured Harvington Hall, a house that Catholics lived in during the English Reformation. Dr. Archer wanted us to see all the intricate hiding spots priests would hide in, for they would be killed for treason if found by the Church. We made our way to Ludlow where we checked into the well-known Feathers hotel. We went on a rather boring/pointless walking tour of the city and went to The Parish Church of St. Laurence. I think I’ve been in more churches on this trip than I have in my entire life. After, we went around Ludlow Castle which I actually enjoyed. It was a great place to take pictures. We had a three-course dinner at The Feathers with Dr. Archer and Dr. Trivedi, our program leader. This ended up being a ton of fun and we all got pretty drunk with Dr. A. The man loves to drink. The twelve of us managed to find the two bars open in Ludlow and certainly made our mark on Ludlow. Apparently, we even made the front page of their newspaper…oops. A group of us all shared an adjoining balcony and continued hanging out in our rooms when the bars closed.
Sunday, we all felt like death. I sucked it up and we went to Stokesay Castle and yet another church. We had lunch and by this time I was ready to leave. I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the people in my class and my professor. I forgot what it was like to have actual relationships with my teachers and it made me miss it. I’ve also never been able to get to know my professors so well. I love how even though Dr. A is one of the brightest people I will probably ever meet, I can hold long and meaningful conversations with him. Although he tries to be intimidating, he can be nicest and funniest old man you can’t help but love. These kinds of settings are so unique in that aspect. Not only am I taking a weekend trip with my Oxford don, but I’m living in a house with my Grady professor. It has made me excited for my smaller classes this semester and to actually form relationships with my professors in the future.

Paris in a Day

Thursday was possibly one of the longest days possible. At about 2 a.m., I realized I was answering the question to my history essay completely wrong. I had to pretty much start from square one and get it done. By about 4 a.m., I took a break and skyped with Claire. I watched the sunrise and finished my essay. I went to class, packed my bags, and headed to my tutorial session, which went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Dr. Archer was impressed with my answers and said that obviously I had understood what he was asking. I laughed and told him it took awhile. Afterwards, I bolted to the train station to meet Steph and Adriana where we made our way to London Paddington. At Paddington, we took the tube to Kings Cross station to catch our chunnel ride to Paris. About two hours later we arrived at the Gare du Nord around 9 p.m. The three of us were initially a little overwhelmed. Steph’s attempt to speak English to the currency exchange woman did not go over so well, so we found a different kiosk where I tried my French. Luckily, more of the language came back to me than I thought would. We then bought our metro tickets and I asked the woman at the information desk how to get to our hotel. She circled about five different stations we needed to change at to get there. This obviously did not seem right. We asked someone else, who told us a much easier and direct route. I think the lady at the desk just wanted to see us suffer. After figuring out what turns out to be a very easy metro system (in my opinion), we checked into our hotel. The man at the desk was so sweet but only spoke French, so once again I tried as hard as I could to make sense of the language. After successfully breaking the language barrier, we put our bags down and made the 15-minute walk over to the Eiffel Tower. We went up and reality sank in that I was finally in Paris. The view was amazing and the lights were spectacular. By this time it was pretty late and we were starving. We found a café that served until 12 and I had a croque monsieur, something I have wanted to try in Paris since learning what it was in French class. Going off of no sleep, I hit the sheets within seconds.
Friday, not under the influence of any boys, we all woke up around 8:30 to make the most out of our day. Its funny that even though I only had one day, I saw more than I have in probably any other place knowing that I was on a very strict schedule. Not having to wait around for a huge group of boys didn’t hurt either. We took the metro over to the Notre Dame. We had breakfast at unfortunately one of the more touristy cafes. We tried not to fall into the trap, but were so hungry and didn’t want to waste any more time looking for a place to eat. After, we spent a good amount of time inside the Notre Dame. The architecture was amazing and the stained glass phenomenal. I was able to appreciate the Church more after taking my Reformation History class and learning about the decadence of the Roman Catholic Churches. Afterwards, we headed over to the Musee du Louvre. Unintentionally, we found ourselves at the Jardin du Luxembourg, a beautiful garden. Steph went to meet the guys at the hotel and Adriana and I headed to the Louvre. I’m glad we got to spend such a long time there and really see what the museum had to offer. As our feet were starting to drag at the museum, Steph and the boys finally made it. We met them at the Mona Lisa and walked around a little more. The boys stayed while we made our way up les Champs-Elysees. The walk was a bit deceiving; just because you can see the Arc du Triomphe does not mean its close. We reached the avenue and had dinner at an amazing café where I finally got my French onion soup. I loved being able to utilize my French when ordering my meal and I think the waiters/Parisians in general appreciate it when you try and at least attempt to speak their language. We unwinded with a glass of wine and I was completely content that I had seen all I had in the day. With about an hour or so left until I had to leave for the train station, we hopped on the metro and got off at the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower one last time. I couldn’t leave Paris without some pictures in front of it. I parted ways with Steph and Adriana and went to the train station around 8 p.m. The area was a little bit sketch and the stop to get off at for the Gare du Nord was unclear. I asked a French girl how to get there and she was nice enough to pull me on the right train with her. All I can say is thank goodness I spoke French. I got to the train station at the perfect time. I witnessed two guys get handcuffed when going through customs and was relieved once getting to the Eurostar since it had a much better crowd than the rest of the station. I didn’t mind being by myself, especially since travelling alone is much more efficient, but I was ready to get back. A huge sense of relief came over me when I got into London. I bought my tube ticket and went from Kings Cross (the Harry Potter Platform 9 station) to Paddington. I actually was getting frustrated with the people in front of me who clearly did not understand the tube ticket machine. I felt as though I lived here and they were the foreigners. They had closed the Circle line so I had to switch trains. A few weeks prior and I probably would have freaked out. However, I knew exactly which train I needed to switch to and felt a sense of accomplishment when I did so on my own. Being much more prepared for this trip than any other, I had looked up train times back from London to Oxford since I knew I would be by myself. Getting to Paddington at about 11:15, I ran to the platform to hop on the 11:20 train back into Oxford. I ran into the UGA Law class coming back from their day trip so I was no longer alone. I fell asleep with the reassurance that I was not by myself and woke up in Oxford around 12:30 a.m. I got to the house, still in disbelief of what I had done that day, showered, and packed my bag for my class trip the next morning. I was proud of myself for not only seeing all the places I wanted to see in Paris that day, but for making it all the way back to Oxford by myself. I came to the conclusion that I love travelling with the guys, especially at night when safety is a main concern, but it was nice being able to do the sight-seeing I wanted to do on my schedule. That being said, Paris is a little scary at night to be in without any boys. Also, if I was on some program with a million of my friends, I never would have had to do things, such as find my way home alone or map out how to get to the places I want to visit, which in turn are making me grow. I was only able to rely on myself to get back safely and I did.

Reaching the Finish Line

Last night, I ended up staying up until 4:30 a.m. to finish my Communications paper. I think I have gone to bed more when it is light out then when it is still dark. Anyways, I chose to write about new media technologies and how they are influencing the world of journalism and naturally, enjoyed researching the topic. It felt really good to cross it off my list once I had finished. This morning, we watched the HBO documentary film, ‘To Die in Jerusalem’. It featured the mother of a 16-year-old Israeli girl who was the victim of a Palestinian suicide bombing. The bomber was just a teenager herself. I’ll be honest and say that I do not know nearly as much as I should about Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We’ve discussed it some in class but it was not until we watched this documentary that I really got a better picture of what is going on. The film brought tears to my eyes and I could not get over the fact that this is going on in our world today. I could actually empathize with both mothers of the girls, but can see that it will be a long time before Israel and Palestine will make peace. The film ended with no sign of hope or resolution between the two. It made me feel so fortunate for where I live. I have read articles in the news about continued riots in Israel and Palestine and it makes me sad. This afternoon, I came to the Radcliffe Camera to work on my history paper due tomorrow. I just keep telling myself that I will be in Paris tomorrow night.

BBC, Among Other Things

Let me just start off by saying that I cannot believe I have been here for a month now. I feel like (well I haven’t, lets be honest), had a moment in a day where I have not been doing something. I can’t imagine studying abroad for a shorter amount of time than this. When would you see anything? I already feel like I have failed to see all that I wanted to. Sunday night, I had what could potentially have been my first sort of anxiety attack. I’ve never had such an elevated stress level as I have on this trip. Whether it be writing one of my 10-page papers until 5 in the morning or trying to make a flight to Amsterdam, I’ve never been under this kind of stress. Even my weekends are not any less stressful because I’m constantly trying to figure out where I am or what we are going to do. That said, it is making me so much stronger, and smarter, for it. I’m learning so much, not just in my classes, but travelling to foreign places. So come Sunday night, I began to freak out a bit about how little time I had left here and how much more work I still have to do, things I want to accomplish, and places I want to see. I tossed and turned all night long, not sleeping more than an hour total. I opted out of the what would have been a five hour event of our speaker, drinks on the lawn, and formal dinner, to stay in and get work done. I felt somewhat better about things when I went to bed. I had gotten a head start on my paper and booked the hotel for Paris. Today, we went back into London for a tour of the BBC. We got there early and were right across from the Westfield mall so I looked around a few stores but refrained myself from buying anything. The tour was pretty interesting and the question mark shaped building was huge (seven floors). Afterwards, my Grady class went to a Syrian restaurant and I sat next to Dr. Rhodes. She is such a sweet lady and reassured me on my work here and gave me advice on one of my Broadcast professors for this semester. I fell asleep on the bus back into Oxford.

London Round Two

Friday, we ended up waking up later than we wanted to. I made the decision to book my chunnel ticket to Paris for next weekend. I’m still not sure whether or not this was a smart idea since I can only go for one night, but I am determined to make it worth it. We got the afternoon train into London with the boys and checked into our hotel, Twenty Nevern Square, in Kensington. After making the decision (not mine exactly) not to buy DJ Tiesto tickets, we took the tube to Covent Garden. We walked around a little, went inside the market, and then up to a balcony bar to watch a street performance. Jack and his friend met us for a drink. I asked a few girls where we should get dinner locally and they told us Zizzi was inexpensive and had great Italian food. Dinner was a lot of fun and afterwards, we stopped by the Jack’s LSE dorm to have a quick drink. Of course, it got to be later than we had planned on and by the time we reached Victoria Park, Tiesto had finished performing. We ended up running into Andrew and some guys from our program. They joined us and we all went to a London School of Economics party sponsored at some club. It turned out to be a late night and we made our way back to the hotel, escorted by the guys. I loved hanging out with some of the other guys on our program that I honestly probably never would have gotten the chance to otherwise. They were so sweet to make sure we got back okay.
Saturday, we woke up and quickly checked out. We took our bags to the Paddington train station and headed to a local Lebanese place for lunch in Knightsbridge. Next, we stopped at Harrods and Topshop. After some retail therapy, we took the tube over to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. The weather was perfect, so we sat on a bench and enjoyed the views along the water. We called it a day and headed back to Oxford to go out for Ryan’s 21st birthday. We started out at the Kings Arms and met up with a bunch of people on our program. This was my first Saturday night actually out in Oxford. Afterwards we walked over to The Bridge, one of the big nightclubs in town. I’d say Ryan had a successful birthday night.
Sunday, Steph and I had a lunch-date at The Living Room, a more upscale restaurant. We sat outside and had amazing iced coffees and eggs benedict. I’ve really been enjoying her company and figuring out what we have been learning about ourselves. We walked around town some more, checked out the store Primark, and came back to the house. Once again, the weekend and going out took a pretty big toll on me. Although I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t quite seen everything on my original agenda, I’ve accepted the fact that I can’t see it all. London is just so huge that it is nearly impossible to. I am glad that I have figured out the tube system and the layout of the city much better. I’m also learning how important it is to make set plans. It is always so much more difficult to stick to them when trying to accommodate a group of people. That’s why I wouldn’t mind travelling with just one other person...who knows, maybe someday I'll have a husband to with.