Speaking of Carols...

...for those of you who are in the area, I just wanted to let you know that the St. Catherine's College Carol Service will be held this Thursday night (1st December...can you believe we're at December already?!?) at 8:30 p.m. at St. Cross Church (on the corner of Manor Road).

I went to Wadham's Carol Service the other day, and it was beautiful. The whole thing started in darkness, and as the service began, people walked in with candles and began lighting candles all around the room. The whole thing was held by candlelight (which caused me to sit very still throughout the service, as I did not want my hair to catch on fire!). It was amazing.

So Catz people: come on down to the carol service, as I am sure it will be lovely. Plus, I could use the moral support, as I will be doing a reading of a poem by William Carlos Williams at the service!

Wish me luck...and for those of you who are around, hope to see you there!!!
Much love,
Me

>>>Edit, 11:45 p.m., 11/30/05: For my fellow blogging Oxonians who are not from Catz, you are welcome to attend as well! You'll recognize me as the one who trips over her own feet as she walks up to do her reading...;)

The weirdest difference I've encountered so far

I know I've been doing a lot of blogging about how things are different here compared to the States. Here's the weirdest difference I've come across so far:

The Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is sung to a different tune!

Here are some links to prove it:

British Version
American Version

Back to work, but I thought I would just share that enlightenment with y'all.
Later!
Me

It will be weird...

• to start paying for things with paper money and not coins again.
• to be able to shop at places after 7 pm.
• to ask, "Is this the line?" instead of, "Are you queuing?"
• not to have the automated voice telling you which cashier to go to at the post office or the supermarket.
• to give out my American cell phone number rather than my British one.
• to call it a "cell phone" and not a "mobile."
• to drive to the supermarket!
• to use the term "Greeks" to refer to people who are not necessarily of Greek origin.
• to have a grade of 68 be a bad thing.
• to use my sunglasses more often than my umbrella.
• to be back on the faculty side of things again.
• to have "pound" refer to this - ### and not this - £££
• to have "here" and "to go" ("eat in" and "take away") cost the same amount.
• to have to leave tips!
• to recount my day-to-day Oxford happenings to everyone I see at home...

I owe you some long posts about the Thanksgiving dinner, Catz Night, and other stuff, but these things crossed my mind recently. I think I've changed a lot in these past two months. It's not that I can't wait to get out of here, or that I don't want to go home, but I think that things will be different. And I think I'm a better person as a result.

Am I boring y'all with these enlightenments? I'll be finishing my paper on Tuesday, which means I'll have a few days of free time. Throw a topic my way, and I'll discuss it on Tuesday when I'm done with my paper.

Much love,
Me

Happy Thanksgiving!

For those of you who celebrate it (and even those of you who don't), I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Although I don't get to be with my family for Thanksgiving this year, I have a lot for which to be thankful, including the amazing experience of being here in Oxford.

Thanksgiving is one of my favoritest holidays because it doesn't have all of the obsessive commercialism attached to it. Even the really big deal holidays, like Christmas and Easter, have gotten to be a bit too much for me. Thanksgiving is really where it's at.

The dean of St. Catz has kindly invited all of the American students to dinner. It should be interesting. What I find really funny about Thanksgiving is that my family (this includes the extended variety, such as aunts and uncles and cousins) tends to prefer the boring, bland types of foods we've had for decades. Yes, we like canned cranberry sauce. Yes, we like plain stuffing. We overcook the yams because we like them like that. If we try something new, like oyster stuffing, we still make the regular stuff because we know everyone will want that. Is this weird? Does anyone else have family food traditions that they can't live without for Thanksgiving?

Well, off to do some work before dinner. Cheers and happy holidays!
Kaitlin

A Dorktacular Wednesday Whine

I'm not even bothering to post this on Phantom Scribbler's Wednesday Whining, because it's so dorky no one will get it, but I needed to whine in writing today.

So I was so excited because I came up with this brilliant topic for my third paper: "Images of Hiddenness and Searching in San Juan de la Cruz's 'Cántico Espiritual.'" (Dorktacular Side Note: I am using the second redaction of the "Cántico," in case you're wondering.) I was all excited because I was going to include all these great examples of hiding and disguise, and was going to write in this brilliant and clever commentary on how the metaphor of the "night" is relevant here.

But then I remembered...

...the "Cántico" is not one of the "night" poems!!!!! :(

Oh boo. I'll just have to find a way to drop it in there without it looking stupid.

Damn, don't you hate it when that happens?????

Much love,
Me

Carnival of Emotions

Sorry for keeping that last post up so long. I don't want you to think that I'm some kind of compliment-grubbing showoff. And now for something completely different...

I've been having a lot of things running through my head lately while I've been here. I promise I'm not going through mood swings, but I just have so much going on that I don't always know what to think. So this post is a smorgasbord of emotions in regards to what has been happening lately.

I've been...

Happy. Yes, after the paper, obviously. And because my former prof and mentor (not former mentor--she's got the post of "mentor" for a lifetime) is proud of me. And because my parents are thrilled, and my dad said that he would help pay if I wanted to take a stopover trip to Europe when my thesis is done. I'm also happy because I am having fun all of the time. Yes, I even have fun at lectures, because I love what I'm doing.

Last night was a champagne reception for my supervisor's birthday, and I got to meet his parents and his brother. It is quite an interesting experience to have a conversation with your supervisor's mother! Afterwards, we had our half of the Balliol guest dinner--they had hosted us on Tuesday, and we hosted them last night. It was fun. While they didn't have a seating arrangement at their college, Mathias did a great job seating people at dinner to mix up Balliol people and Catz people, and also to seat people who had things in common. I was seated with three Mexican scientist/engineer/mathematicians who were lots of fun, and we went back and forth speaking Spanish and English.

I forgot to mention that after the Balliol dinner on Tuesday, we went to the Turf to celebrate Mathias' birthday. That was fun. I think they went out salsa dancing after, but I had come from a lecture before dinner and didn't want to carry a notebook, etc. out to a club--so I just headed home afterwards. (Plus, I don't like walking back to the college by myself very late at night!)

Sick/Tired. The last paper really kicked my butt. But the whole deal of getting to lectures, writing papers, having meetings, etc. is catching up to me. And I think I'm catching what ever is going around. On Tuesday I did nothing but sleep, since I had finished my paper. On Wednesday I was sick with a slight stomach bug (I think too much chocolate the night before at the Balliol dinner) and skipped lecture. Thursday was ok, and Friday was better, but today my neck is killing me and I just wanted to sleep all day. I was out for a while, but really I had been just napping on and off all day. I was supposed to go to a cocktail party and then a bop last night, but when I woke up 15 minutes before they were supposed to start, I just said forget it and stayed home.

Pissed off. Some dumb@$$ ate the pasta with chicken, broccoli and pesto that I had in the refrigerator for dinner last night. I think this person has been stealing my food all term--s/he eats all of it except for like two noodles and a piece of broccoli and puts it back in the refrigerator. But if the dumb@$$ food stealer has been stealing my juice, s/he will regret it--I drink it straight from the carton! muahahahahahaha But don't worry, I had croissants and stuff here so I just had some of those. I don't know how my stomach would have handled pesto anyway.

Hesitant. I'm not really looking forward to teaching this winter. It will be a letdown--physically, emotionally and intellectually. I'll just be thinking about how much I want to get back to Oxford. I knew this year would have a huge impact on solidifying my decision of what to do with my life.

Snacky. Dude, McVities digestives are going to be the end of me. So are Tracker Bars. So are pasties from the Covered Market. And let's not even get started talking about Ben's Cookies.

Surprised (well, more like Shocked). On Tuesday I will have Two Weeks To Go before I go home for the winter break. Where did the time go??? It flew by. The three nights I spent in Cernadilla, Spain during Holy Week of 1998 took longer than the seven-and-a-half weeks I have spent here.

And in smaller "surprised" news, my supervisor thought that my suggestion for my next paper topic was a good idea. For the first two he set the topic, but he asked if I had any ideas for this one, and I did. So for paper 3 I will be writing about the themes of hiddenness and searching in St. John's "Spiritual Canticle." It has a lot of connections to the other poems, so I can draw a lot of conclusions there. He seemed to like it, so I'm happy, and surprised we didn't have to change it or narrow it down more.

Confused. Why, oh why, did Auntie May's Pasty Co. in the Covered Market change its name??? Now it's the Oxford Pasty Cafe. Now it's all sterile and white and has words like "wholesome" and "natural" painted on the windows. Dude, this is not Wild Oats. They used to have a big ol' cutout of a pirate eating a pasty hanging outside. If they start selling organic fruit smoothies I'm outta there.

Stumped. I'm having a hard time thinking of what to get for some of my family members for Christmas. Some people are easy: I've already bought for one of my brothers and I know what to get for the other one. I know what to get for my sister Maggie, my father, both of my grandfathers, and two of my friends. But for my sister Kelly, I am stumped. I am also stumped for my mother and my step-grandmother. And no, I'm not just going to wait until I get home to buy them something. That would be the ultimate cop-out.

Broke. Damn, it is expensive here. When I go home I will take out another loan to cover unforseen expenses. What I most look forward to when I get home is that everything will cost half as much...or will be free when I can eat at home and not have to make expensive phone calls to talk to my family and friends...

Contemplative. What I love the most about this place is that no matter where people are from, which college they belong to or what they study here, we all seem to have something in common--we work hard, we love what we do and we really want to be here. You don't go to Oxford because Mommy and Daddy said, "Go to college and we'll buy you a Mercedes." Nor do you go to Oxford because it's the cheapest option or because you didn't get in anywhere else. People who go to Oxford are creative people who want a challenge, and perhaps want a bit of change from their current lives. I don't know why I was ever doubtful or anxious about coming. This has been worth it, more than I could ever imagine. I am lucky to be here.

That's it for now. Much love,
Me

Yeaaaaahhhhh baby!

So Deb wants to know how Paper 2 went. I just got it back. I got...

...a 72, which is 4 points better than last time.
Which means Distinction.
Which means a First.
Which means an ***A*** in American terms!

So, after two papers, I have an A average at Oxford. I am dancin' as I write this to you! Woohoo!!!!!

Much love,
Me

Ahead of Schedule

Well, it looks like I'm about 7 hours ahead of schedule, if we look at my progress from the last paper. It's only 2:19 p.m. and I have 98 words to go. Go me.

Pero por otro lado, I need to do a lot of purgation before I hand it in. So I may regress a bit before I get to my 3,000 words.

I may actually remember to eat dinner tonight, and I may get to bed at a reasonable hour. Oh yay.

Much love,
Me

>>Edit, 11:22 p.m., 11/14/05: Paper 2 is now done. Woohoo! I love being in the same college as my advisor--it's the only way I can get away with handing in my paper this late in the day ;). It's also 700 words over the requirement, but since the total portfolio limit is 9,000-10,000 words, it should be fine...

Three Posts in One Day

Must be a new record. Or I must have a paper due. (Guess which one it is!)

I don't know how y'all are managing to do NaNoWriMo. I'm having a hard enough time with 3,000 words in 10 days. But maybe it's different with a novel vs. a paper that's getting a grade?

I'm pissed off because I bought an awesome CD yesterday and it was defective, and the &$*%$#$ store won't let me return it because I don't have a **%$($$#)&%) receipt.

I would like y'all to do one of the following right now:
1.) Tell me to finish my damn paper and go to bed at a reasonable hour, as Snidge was kind enough to do last night.
2.) Give me a topic to write about when it's 2:30 a.m. and I'm wide awake.

Cheers!
Kait

Something else to help me procrastinate!

Seen over at Pete's blog: you play 20 questions at this website, and the computer will guess what you are thinking about. It guessed correctly when I thought of the following items:

*laptop computer
*potato
*mp3 player
*tiger
*tutu

It's definitely spooky. Go try it out for yourself!

Ummm, ok?

I was just taking a look at my stats over on Statcounter (oh man, I'm addicted) when I got the following ad in the banner:

You are extremely ugly.
So am I. But I made
$1000 today. Don't be
ugly and poor.

I'm not really sure what to say about that. Hmmm. But it made me giggle, so I thought I would post it here.

2:25 a.m. Must get some sleep. G'night!
Kait

PS: Hello to the person from Windsor, CT (my hometown) who reads my blog! If I know you, drop me a line to say hi! =)

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of...Edinburgh

...hahaha I was thinking of a certain song today when I got to see the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as he came for a visit to unveil some plaques for some new buildings.

They always pick a certain group of students/faculty to meet the guy for stuff like this, and although I wasn't included in that group, I got to stand outside and see him up close, which was pretty cool. And then after the unveiling, when they headed back to the SCR/Hall for lunch, I did the obvious thing: I followed the crowd. I was glad I did, because I got to get really close, and take a few good pictures.

So I've done the two things Americans want to do when they come to England: I've seen the Harry Potter colleges, and I've seen members of the Royal Family. Awesome.

Speaking of stereotypical things, you would expect the guy to arrive in a limo with flags on it, wouldn't you? Surprisingly, he didn't...he came in a big SUV. I didn't get to take pictures when he arrived, because I didn't expect him to be in such a vehicle!

So that was my adventure for the morning. Be sure to check out pics on my Flickr page (search for the tag "royalty" if you can't find them).

Cheerio!
Kait

Teaching Carnival 3 is coming...

For the loyal readers of my teaching blog, I just put up a new post today for round 3 of the Teaching Carnival. So mosey on over to the ol' blog and give it a looky.

If you've never read my teaching blog or have forgotten the link, drop me a line and I will send it to you.

(Just to clarify, it's on my teaching blog, not the Teaching Carnival blog...)

Enjoy!

Dude.

I just found two gray hairs on my head. Two! Two!!!!!!!

Aren't I a little young for this?

Bring in da noise

Gah!

My neighbors on either side of me are blasting bad music.

I'm planning my own counterattack with some real lovelies from my collection:

1.) "If You Wanna Be Happy," Trini Lopez
2.) "Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
3.) "Cielito Lindo," Pedro Infante
4.) "Gangsta's Paradise," Coolio
5.) "Schöner fremder Mann," Connie Francis
6.) "I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General," from "The Pirates of Penzance," D'Oyly Carte Opera Company And Orchestra
7.) "Tiny Dancer," Elton John
8.) "MmmmBop," Hanson
9.) "Amor, Amor, Amor," Julio Iglesias
10.) "Rubber Ducky German Techno Dance Remix" by some German DJ

Anyone have anything else to contribute???

>>Update, 12:49 a.m., 11/8/05: Oh Gah! One of them is playing 98°! I have now launched my counterstrike, beginning with some Julio Iglesias. G'night!

Cervantes Day (a dorky post)

Since I am actually here for academic reasons, and not just visiting Harry Potter colleges and going to parties, I thought I would change gears for a bit with an academic post of sorts.

Yesterday, I went to the Cervantes Day conference in honor of 100 years of Spanish at Oxford and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Don Quixote part I. It was a great event. I love the Quixote. It was the first thing I studied when I started Spanish as an undergraduate, and it was what got me into doing a major in Spanish.

The first part of the day functioned like any conference, with a presentation of papers by four different faculty members. The first two presented papers on other works by Cervantes, and the second two presented on the Quixote. It was amazing to be in the room with all of these Hispanists and Cervantistas, and to have a presenter cite something and have the author of what he just cited sitting in the second row right in front of him. It was also awesome to hear people jump back and forth from Spanish to English throughout a single conversation. (It was a little intimidating as well, considering that 98% of the Hispanists and Cervantistas in the room were older white men.)

The presentations plus the standard coffee and lunch breaks lasted from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. At that time, we moved from Exeter College to the Taylorian Institution to hear Francisco Rico from the Real Academia Española give a presentation. Francisco Rico is one of the really "big guys" in Cervantine studies, and has edited what is called the best edition of the Quixote that is out there today.

Afterward, we headed back to Exeter for drinks at the Rector's Lodge and a fancy dinner. Jenni and I spent a long time chatting with the Spanish cultural attaché (oooh!) who was surprisingly easy to talk to considering that he was so important and we were in the demographic minority.

The dinner was quite nice (now I've been in 7 colleges and have eaten in 4), and someone was smart enough to seat me next to my undergraduate advisor, who I had not seen in a month and was looking forward to catching up with her, so it was nice. Afterward I slid down the table to talk to my current supervisor, who is very nice and very funny. A good time was had by all.

After the dinner I managed to gather the postgrads for a photo with the cultural attaché, Professor Rico and Professor Williamson, who organized the event. The lady who was taking pictures kept taking pictures of all the retired scholars who were present--but managed to neglect the students. You would think we weren't there! So that's why I thought it was important to get our photo. Unfortunately, it didn't come out, but I think the people who posed with us were impressed by the gesture.

After we left the dining hall, we headed over to the Exeter College bar for post-dinner drinks, which was fun. The bar was just about to close, but Professor Williamson made things happen by convincing the bartender that the cultural attaché should have a drink. It was really funny, and we all had a great time. After we were kicked out of the bar (they actually pass out plastic cups so you can take your drink with you), we considered crashing the bop that was taking place nearby, but we were all tired (it was 11:30 p.m. and we had been there since 10 a.m.) and gave up on that pretty quickly. So we all packed up and went home.

I actually enjoy these scholarly events. There's a great camraderie among these people who study Spanish literature. And it was amazing to be with these people who are the "superstars" in the field.

Well, that was a dorktacular post, but I enjoyed writing it. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Muacks,
Me

Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! (a bitchy post)

&*%)*$(&%)*$*)#$*)&%)!!!!!!!

I'm pissed off. (I know that "pissed" means "drunk" in Britspeak, but you know what I mean.)

My &%$*%&(*# cheap-@$$ phone stopped working today. I brought it to the Carphone Warehouse, where I bought it, and they wouldn't replace it. They said it got wet, which wasn't covered under the warranty. They asked me if I had the phone in "a damp environment." Umm, hello, this whole COUNTRY is a damp environment!!!! (Yes, I did get it a teensy bit wet maybe two weeks ago, but should it stop working this long after???)

They said they could send it out to get repaired, but that would take two weeks. WTF did they think I would do...walk around with no phone for two weeks??? So I asked how much it would cost to buy a new one. £49.99. And this is a craptacularly cheap phone, the kind you got free with a phone plan maybe 5 years ago. I grumbled and bitched and complained but eventually gave in, because I couldn't do without a phone, and I sure as hell wasn't going to pay 99 cents a minute for roaming charges on my American phone.

Motorolas suck!!!!! I've had Nokias of far lower quality that lasted far longer than this piece of rubbish.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Much love,
Me

When on earth did I become nocturnal?

It's 2:36 a.m. I'm wide awake.

Tomorrow, I'll want to sleep all day. I should go to sleep now, but what am I doing? Writing cento poems.

For those of you who haven't been reading since my teaching blog, my cento poems are written by taking lines from other people's blogs. This is my third cento poem, and I think it came out pretty good. Since I have this massive blogroll now, I have lots of options!

So here we go:

Today’s bliss is…a box full!

Forging, unifying!
That’s all I really know.
We never found out who they were from.
And it wouldn’t have been fun without him.
Who would have thought I'd miss his Macedonian charm quite so much?

You are not really supposed to hear the birds sing at this time of the morning…
This has never felt quite right to me.
But, hell, I'm gonna whine here.
Tomorrow marks the end of weeks of speculation.
Is it too early to start pining for spring?

Hmmm, I think I'm tired now. Yay! G'night.

Cheers,

Kait

PS: Hey Greg! Did you get my postcard?