Welcome Back

The title is more a reminder for me. I have been less than faithful to this blog in the past months. My excuse--school. Its been pretty challenging the last month or so especially but I got my paper handed in and I am currently on break. All that means is that I get to read all week without going to lectures or class. Which will be fun.

So this last week my cousin came up to visit me in England and oh wow was it fun. We drove up to Chatsworth House, where Pride and Prejudice was filmed. It is also the house of Bess of Hardwick who was one of the jailers of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary was actually kept in the upstairs rooms of the house. The house has seen several infamous characters over the years and its personality is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. That includes everything I've seen in Oxford so far. The house is in the middle of Devonshire and it has rolling hills and rocky outcroppings above the house. A cascades starts several hundred yards above the house, disappears underground for a moment to reappear as if its flowing from a small temple-like structure. There are mazes and boulders, stairs and streams, trees and gardens all over the grounds. Outside the house sheep graze over the very green grass, the fields spread to the hills where they disappear into the forest undergrowth. You approach the house through a series of twisting, winding roads that gently bring you into view of the yellow-gold of the front of the house. To the side there is a long pool with a fountain spraying high into the air. I could keep describing it and continue to bore you all but suffice it to say, it was beautiful and I am in love.

We also visited the white cliffs of Dover, and officially I have gone from the red hills of Kansas to the white cliffs of Dover. Then we went back to London and had several days of adventuring there. Now I am back in my own little room where I have spent several hours catching up with some friends and family through Skype and email and also trying to make sure I am caught up on reading. Tomorrow I shall spend some time going through a bibliography of secondary sources that would apply to my dissertation topic and then begin reading those. The work of a grad student, particularly (at least in my opinion) that of a history grad student, is never done. There is always another book, always another philosophy that needs to be read or understood. Its a great time though.

Beauty and Philosophy

One of the Earls of Warwick and his wife

Warwick Church

First, let me apologize, it has been almost a month since I have updated you on my adventures. School has got to me, the books are piling up and I feel like I'm trying to outrun an avalanche as I skim through one and check the index of another, write a few notes on that one there, and then return them all before I get charged for overdue fees. However, that said, I am learning so much, every day I make a new connection as far as my papers go, and in understanding what it means to be a historian and even, more philosophically, what it means to be part of humanity as it appears in history. The problems sixteenth century England faced were, at face value, very different. But the root problems, struggles between families, with politics, religion, finding meaning and the individual's place ins society, these things have not really changed very much. Its very interesting to see how we have changed and yet our core struggles have remained very similar.

The trebuchet that threw balls of fire

Ok, on to more fun things. In between books, I've made friends with some visiting students from the states. They are taking part in a worldview course with me as well, and we've had some really interesting discussions ranging from conservative politics to the meaning of truth and marriage and family. This last weekend we went to visit Warwick Castle, (pronounced War-ick) this castle is incredible, it dates back to the days of King Alfred the Great, who was before the Norman Conquest. It was the prison for Edward IV during the last years of the War of the Roses, hosted Elizabeth I, Charles I and several other kings and queens of England through the years. The views from the top of the towers are beautiful to the point of tears. Then, and this was amazing, the church in the town of Warwick is the final burial place of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and his second wife, Lettice Knowles. I've read about him for years and now I have stood before the final resting place of his mortal remains. A little ghoulish yes, but I think it is more interesting to see the grave of a person than the birth place because the birth place, usually a house or even the town, has changed so much, but the burial place has been kept as it was. It is a tangible link with that person, however long ago they died, that was the place where they were last seen on this earth.

The pictures in the blog are due to the work of Sam Frieden,
a friend who allowed me to borrow his work.

Now, leaving both the philosophical and slightly morbid, this weekend I have the opportunity with Rotary to visit Blenheim Palace and have tea with Lady Spencer-Churchill, the daughter of the current Duke of Marlborough. Next weekend is the Rotary district conference, and then the week after that is the last week of the term! Hilary has gone by like a flash, I've visited Stratford again to consult a thesis written in the 1960s, seen Shakespeare's grave, gone to Warwick Castle, seen Oxford under snow, had several snowball fights, made snow angels, played timpani for a Saint-Saen's piece and a Schubert piece, and read what feels like half the History Faculty Library. It has been a fantastic time and again, I apologize for not updating you better. I will try over the next weeks to write more, at least a line or two or some pictures. Thank you all, see you later.

Snow and Spires

Ok, so I hope this works out. I'm just putting up several pictures of Oxford under snow. The spires of the Sheldonian and Christ Church tower are visible over the towers. Then is the snow covered quad of Keble. The Bodleian makes an appearance and then (oddly enough) the sight of snow in Kansas peeps in. 

The Lantern (think Narnia and the faun
walking by in the snow. ) 

And here are the fauns. 

This goose was not pleased. Sasha is attempted to face him down.
 The goose won, we went a different way.

I don't have it in right perspective but this guy is tiny. 

Rowing, in the snow, on the Thames. Very English.

FOOTBALL! American football, that is, in the snow.

Some pictures from University Parks. I went running in the snow and saw kids and students throwing snowballs, making snowmen, and just having fun. Oh it was magical and so beautiful. I hope you enjoy.

There and Back Again

Today I sit once more at my desk in my room in Oxford. I am wrapped in a blanket and sipping on tea while waiting for my small heater to gain ground in its fight against the January damp cold. My eyes are trapped in their own battle, to stay awake and fight against jet lag. I took a fifteen minute nap already and I'm hoping to stay up for at least a couple more hours. We'll see how I do.

I got to go home for about two weeks, so I apologize for the long delay. When I walked off the plane in Kansas I got to meet my favorite baby in the whole world. My niece Joanna is three months old now and absolutely the cutest child I know, she holds my heart back in Kansas. My whole family, all five kids and the baby and the brother-in-law and parents got to be together. It was such a refreshing time to see friends and family and go to my home church and to see the prairie. England is beautiful, the rolling hills, the hedges and trees, the mist and green grass but my heart belongs to the grasslands of the USA. They stretch to the horizon, endless and vast, dotted with patches of cottonwood trees marking the site of dry creek beds. It had snowed over New Years and my little brother and I explored our newly white pasture, throwing snowballs and making a fort. I also got to go on a date with him, I promised that we would watch The Hobbit together.

Home was fantastic, it was like taking a deep breath during half time of a game before plunging back into the fray once more. So here I sit once again at the desks of the Bodleian Library. I have a couple of books open next to me and the sounds of other keyboards clicking greets me among the gentle swish of turning pages. Outside the sun is just beginning to set, I have officially about 45 more minutes of sun than when I left. I go to meet some friends for tea in about an hour and my body hasn't quite gotten over jet lag. In many ways I am glad to be back, its very much due to getting to be with my family for a few days. I was not completely prepared for such a different school experience but I am ready for what I face in the next six months this time. I see the dome of the Radcliffe Camera out one window and the towers of All Soul's College from another. Monday I turn in my first major paper of my experience at Oxford University, I begin once more language training and classes, books that I need to read, want to read, and should have read will begin to pile up. Ok, the jet lag is still affecting me, I keep getting sentimental. I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas and have had a great New Year so far. Greetings from this Kansas girl in Oxford and I will talk to you again once I've had more sleep.

Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense

Shamed be he who thinks evil of it. This is the motto of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in England. It was founded in the mid-fourteenth century by Edward III of England. Today it includes the sovereign and the Prince of Wales, no more than twenty-four other knights and other certain members of the British Royal family and foreign monarchs. The ruling monarch alone has the power to bestow the order upon a person, it remains a very personally royal order. Last weekend I visited, along with the other scholars and several Rotarians, Windsor Palace and Eton College. Windsor Palace is the weekend home of the queen and the royal family, we were supposed to see the Mews, but...the queen was in residence and she took precedence, so we just got to see the public rooms. The chapel, St. George's Chapel, is the hereditary home of the Order, it holds the emblems of the current members and memorabilia of past members and sovereigns. The chapel is also the resting place of twelve English monarchs including Henry VIII and his wife, Jane Seymour. I just stood and stared for a few moments. How the mighty have fallen.

The term is done here, this week I have a few more classes just to finish up some things that were missed during the last two months. I don't know if I can tell you really what I've been thinking or feeling. Its been so intense at times and then at others so much time for reflection and wondering. I wonder where I will be in a year from now, I wonder again how I made it here, I reflect on the events that brought me here and I thank God for His provision. I have had so much fun with the Rotary clubs here and enjoyed talking with them and telling them about Kansas. Its so fun to tell them about some of our history, the Indians, the cowboys, Dodge City, and the Old West.

Tonight I have a book I need to finish and a few more Latin exercises to practice. I can't believe that I can look at some Latin phrases and I can tell you what they mean and why. Tomorrow, for the last Latin class of the course we read Winnie the Pooh in Latin. Oh, and someone has translated The Hobbit into Latin--Hobbitus Ille. My goal--to read J.R.R. Tolkien's work in Latin. I cannot wait to get home and to give my little brother a huge bear hug, to hold my niece, to see the starts and sunrise. I'm looking forward to my mom's cooking and the distance I can see when I drive. But this place is unimaginable. Oxford is a place that can be like any other, just another town, a place to live and work, full of humans and buildings. Then you turn a corner and face a building finished centuries earlier, walk through a doorway and the sight takes your breath away, step outside and feel the mist on your face and its magic. Thank you, :)

Thanksgiving

I give full credit to my mom, I only know how to make
them because of her. They came out pretty decent thankfully.

Thanksgiving is almost here, although here in England the only people aware of it are usually the Americans who begin to crave turkey and pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes. Last night some friends invited me to partake in the Regent's College Thanksgiving dinner, created by several amazing women who can cook incredibly well. I contributed only some rolls but there was a turkey that was delicious and all the fixings, there were several apple pies and pumpkin, stuffing and cranberry jelly for the rolls.

This is the treacle well of St. Frideswide, the first
person to have been at Oxford, and the well that
inspired the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland.

As the time here has gone on, I miss my family and my home but there are some things I am learning to be thankful for about Oxford and England. So in honor of Thanksgiving here are a few things that I am thankful for here,
1. The libraries--the Bodleian, Duke Humphrey's, Keble library, all of the books that are kept so carefully and enjoyed as the treasures of the university.
2. The rain--it rains a lot, and while it can be annoying to get to class with an umbrella and the ends of your jeans getting soaked up to your knee, I'll never be ungrateful for rain. (Result of growing up in Kansas farm country)
3. University park--a park of about 70 acres just across the street from where I live. It is a spot of wildness and nature, there are ducks and birds in the ponds, a river with a high bridge that goes into what must be fairyland, trees that are losing their leaves. The leaves are blanketing the paths and rustle gently in the breezes. I once saw two swans in the pond, did you know that swans are royal property, all swans in Great Britain belong to the queen and it is a federal offense to kill one?

This is what Oxford students do. We made the
White House out of Legos. 

4. Friends here--coming to a new place making new friends can be difficult but there are several people that have welcomed me and I have truly enjoyed getting to know them and spend time with them. One of the most interesting things is to get an entirely new perspective on life and how the world looks from a different point of view.
5. The hidden and unexpected moments of history, every now and then I walk upon something that feels like it hasn't changed in the last five hundred years.

So, like Dorothy I say that there is no place like home, but still, England is amazing. I'm still finding my feet, finding my place here but slowly I am learning to treasure and savor (savour) each moment in the day. I stop and soak in the sights and take walks through meadows, and enjoy where I am today.

Duke Humphrey's Library

I wish I could take a picture. I wish I could show you where I am right now, I wish you were here with me to see it. I am looking at 17th and 18th century books in front of me, the desk is scarred and pitted from years of use, it is connected to the bookshelves themselves. I am looking at titles like "Owen on the Epistle to the Hebrews" written in the mid-1600s, two books down is Irenaei Opera, the Work of Irenaeus, this book was written in 1675 but Irenaeus was a saint from the second century. There are Latin Bibles, Hebrew Bibles, tomes that look like they have stood guard for centuries. (Which they probably have.) I sit by a window with the blinds half closed. I look into a lawn, I think for Exeter College. The leaves have mostly fallen, but some hang on, the green grass is blanketed with yellow and red leaves. There is a reading lamp above me that provides just enough but not too much light. The ceiling is painted with the Oxford motto and crest, "Dominus illuminatio mea." The Lord is my light. I need to study, I'm looking at two books written in the seventeenth century about two of the Archbishops of Canterbury under Elizabeth I. Its just so amazing to me that these are my research books, that I am able and allowed to look at these books.

I will be here for a few hours and then go eat something and then probably come back here a while longer. You can only have pencils, no pens, and no food or drink, even water in here. Other than that, it is the perfect place and I will probably show up here more and more. As much as I love Hale Library back at Kansas State, it has nothing on this place.

I'll write more soon, but I am half over with the term and work is never done. See ya'll later.