pretty much sums it up right there

it is 2:19 in the morning, and i can't fall asleep, because i can't figure out if traditional realists (or neo-realists, for that matter) take progress into account, and if they don't, whose responsibility it is.


i'm guessing that's a good thing, that my readings are keeping me up thinking.  but i think that's a better theory than practice.  (ironic, no?)

i hab a cold

i'm not amused.  i have a cold, and today is the first day of classes.  PLUS, apparently the british don't believe in serving hot apple cider at any coffee places.  i've gone through an entire full box of kleenex, plus a little mini purse pack of kleenex, since about midnight.  (it's currently just after 3 pm.)


so yeah.  feel free to send sympathy cards, care packages, and/or money.  i'll just wait here, ailing from a potential plague.  assuming i survive, the gesture would be appreciated.  and if i don't survive, i'll try to put in a good word for anyone who sends love my way during my time of suffering.

no worries, mom--no one is breaking into THIS house!

wow.  wow.  so an interesting couple of days.

so, to start out with, for all of those concerned about my safety, no worries.  it is impossible to break into my house without actually breaking a window or breaking down the door that is locked.  my poor housemate, ben, learned that the hard way.  we spent about two hours trying to break into his window, but it has these wooden blocks nailed to the wall that prevent it from opening more than a couple inches.  we had multiple kinds of tools, a midwest farmgirl (obviously not me) with her crazy upper arm strength, and the manager from the restaurant next door trying to help, but to no avail.  but at least we now know how ridiculously difficult it is to break into our house!

anyway, yesterday, we went out a sightseeing tour of oxford (called the "topless tour" because there is no top on the bus.  i was entertained).  i took a bunch of pictures, but most didn't turn out, because it would take it at the moment that we passed a pole, or just after we lost sight of whatever i was trying to take a picture of.  go figure. i'll put the pictures on facebook.  but it was really interesting, especially seeing where different people went to school.  i also LOVE the history here, which is just crazy.  i can't get over how old everything is!  it's fantastic!

other than that, it has just been a lot of getting to know the city and wandering around.  i live about a 15 minute walk from the city center, so we walk down there everyday and just kind of wander.  i love all the random little roads that go off in different directions.  unfortunately, i seem to have an excellent sense of direction here, and despite my best attempts to get lost, i always seem to be able to quickly figure out exactly where i am.  i'm going to have to try a bit harder and really wander down more streets, because wouldn't it be fun to be completely lost in a random part of oxford?!

anyway, that's about all that's going on here.  tonight, my housemates and i are having dinner together, which will be nice.  that's one thing that i've quickly realized--there really isn't much ope in losing weight over here.  despite the fact that i walk everywhere, the food over here for the most part is really heavy, and i'm eating a lot of sandwiches, since they're affordable, and i don't think sandwiches are the best way to go to lose weight.  but we'll see.  :)

i hope everyone is having a lovely time at home.  talk to you soon!

diane

well, at least i learned how to fix a blown fuse

yeah...so it turns out that none of the outlets in my room worked, so the guys were there this morning and fixed it.  so what did i do the second they had left?  well, i blew a fuse, of course!


no worries.  i now know how to fix that.


anyway, so today i had my first day of orientation.  i think i'm really going to like my classes.  the head of the department seems really cool, and the people in my class seem really nice.  i'm also SUPER excited for next semester, when i get to start taking more specialized classes, INCLUDING international security in the global era AND international development.  it's really weird, though.  i only take three classes per semester, and only have class three days per week.  i'm kind of concerned, just in that it means that a lot of it is going to be up to me just sitting down and doing the work on my own, and i'm not exactly the most disciplined person out there.  i guess i'll have to figure that out!


anyway, we just had a little social thing where we got to talk with different people in our departments, which is cool, and we have another one on thursday where we'll get to talk with the professors as well.  other than that, though, i have nothing to do this week.  so my plan is to go on a sightseeing tour of oxford on wednesday.  and, um, yeah.  that's about all i've got planned.


i think that's about it.  not a whole lot is going on right now.  again, sorry about the constant updates, but i figure i might as well do them now while i have nothing to do so i won't feel so bad not doing it as often down the road.


i will talk to you all again soon!


diane

I'm here!

hi everyone!

okay, so i'm officially in oxford!  it took a little longer, but it's all good now!

so to start out with, can i just say that i already love this city?  i know i've been here before, but it's just as beautiful as you would imagine it to be, with all these little side streets that i'm just dying to wander down.  but i guess first things first:

so i got off the plane, and of course, my luggage was the second to last to come out.  (i was secretly hoping that they would lose it so they would have to deliver it to me and i wouldn't have to lug all 200 or so pounds of it around, but no such luck!)  so i get to the bus station, which turns out was the wrong one, then got to the correct one, got on a bus, and was off.  then i got to campus, and had to wander all over the place with my stupid luggage, trying to find the accommodation office (which, of course, wasn't on the ground floor).  i finally find it, get my keys, and then had to walk to my house!  i was not happy, since my shoulders were killing me from the 50 pound backpack i had, and the two stupid suitcases kept hitting me in the back of the knees.  but i got there, and nearly collapsed.  so i finally get in, and i see my room.  yeah...  well, yeah.  i don't have anything.  it's about the size of a postage stamp, and is in SERIOUS need of decorating.  also, the house i'm staying in isn't so much of a house as an apartment building where there's a kitchen/bathroom/shower on each floor.  so yeah.  we'll see about that.  i wandered a bit yesterday, found an internet cafe where i could call my parents, and went back.  i met a couple of my housemates (so far, two americans, one person from holland, and a french guy named martin who i thought he said his name was mutton, so that's what i kept calling him).  they all seem really nice.  then i went back, unpacked a few things, and passed out.

then, at about 4 o'clock this morning, i woke up, ready to face the world.  unfortunately, the world wasn't ready to face me.  so i had to take some sleeping medicine to fall back asleep.

so then i woke up at about 1 o'clock this afternoon.  MUCH more usual for me!  i talked to a couple of my housemates for a bit, found out how to get to the city center so i could buy a blanket and a couple other things (yeah, last night i slept in four layers of clothes, my one sheet that i had, and my towel).  i wandered down, since i'm only about a 10 minute walk from the center of oxford, and have just been wandering around since.

oh yeah.  a not so happy side note.  apparently, for some reason, there is no internet in my house at the moment, and they aren't expecting to get someone out to fix that for a couple weeks.  i'm less than amused.  so i'm seeing what can be done about that, but in the meantime, i can't promise the most regular updates.  i do have my computer, and there are lots of places with wifi, but i have to bring around the converter, and the surge protecter, and all that other stuff, so i'm just not sure how that's going to work.

anyway, i'm going to head back to my house now and try to finish unpacking.  tomorrow i have an orientation thing with other people in my class, which will be nice.  the other people in my house so far are in environmental conservation and IT, so CLEARLY we will have lots to discuss...

anyway, i think that's it.  i will talk to you all soon!  miss you!

me

Adventure...delayed

So yeah...it's currently 10:38 pm, and I'm sitting at my parents' house.  We had just gotten into the car to head to the airport when I got an email saying my flight had been cancelled. 


SO...we went back in, called the airport, and I am now set to leave tomorrow night (Friday), and get to Oxford on Saturday.  So there we go.


Not exactly the start I had imagined to this adventure, but I guess it'll all just be a good story for the grandkids someday...


:)