So, I'm back from Barcelona, and have been for a couple of weeks. What is life like now?
Well, as I mentioned in previous blogs, in the first month I was here, the time before my break, I completed one of the four 'classes' I will complete this semester. We went every day for about a month (lectures, documentaries, field trips) and wrote three case studies. That was called 'British Landscapes' and was completed before I left on my break. Now, British Landscapes is the only part of the semester in which I had no choice - we all did it together. Now, the other three 'classes' I was able to choose. Here's the breakdown:
British Landscapes: everyone does it, only first month of program, lectures, documentaries, field trips, case studies, sort of a 'history of England' crash-course.
'Classics' Seminar: I chose this seminar out of a list of five. It goes on throughout the semester. We had a few meetings during the British Landscapes period where we discussed assigned reading, mostly ancient Greek and Roman texts. We also discussed 'long essay' topics. This 'long essay' is something that will be due at the very end of the program, so we're supposed to be
working on it throughout the semester. The topic I chose was the influence of Platonic thought and language on the language used by Paul in the New Testament, particularly in reference to the 'flesh and the spirit' and the reception of these ideas. Also, I must attend two hours of lectures each week that fall under this category. I attend one two-hour lecture on Tuesdays entitled "texts and contexts", discussing ancient Greek and Roman literature, mostly plays.
Primary Tutorial, Victorian Literature: I chose this, also from a much longer list. I meet with my tutor every week where we discuss the reading I was assigned and the 6-8 page paper I wrote. The reading assignments can be anywhere from 10 poems to 2 novels. So far, I've read Jane Eyre, Aurora Leigh and various poetry from Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson. I have to attend one hour of lectures for this tutorial. I attend Gothic Decadence: Sex, Science and Aestheticism on Thursdays.
Secondary Tutorial, Early Church Doctrine: I chose this also, and it works the same way as my primary tutorial, except I only meet with this tutor every other week and, obviously, the assignments are much different. I have read some of the writing of Justin Martyr, imperial letters regarding the first Christians, Gnostic texts and will soon start reading a work by Origen. I have to attend one hour of lectures per week for this tutorial also, and I chose 'Theology before Nicaea'.
I hope that this gives you a better idea of what I'm doing here, as I've had a lot of questions about this particular topic.
(Funny anecdote from before break: There's this group called the JCR, which is sort of like a mini-social affairs type thing, except you have to be elected. I thought it would be fun to plan fun things, so I decided to 'run'. This running was really only the delivering of one speech after our last lecture of British Landscapes. A whole bunch of people ran, but only 6ish could be on the JCR. When it was my turn to speak, I stepped in front of the group and opened with 'my name is Katie and I like to have a good time, all the time'. That was the bulk of my speech, and it didn't get me elected, but it did get a lot of laughs and I haven't been able to live it down since. On a side note, the first speech given was by my good friend Trent who delivered as much as he could of Dwight's (or Mussolini's) speech in 60 seconds. That did get him elected and was priceless, especially since he is a committed Mennonite pacifist.)
I returned from Spain on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we picked up our tutorial information. By Thursday I had been assigned two novels, a collection of poetry and many other smaller theological pieces to read as well as three essays to be write. This was all to be compl
etely by the next Friday at 5pm. That's right, a whole lot of work in 8 days. You see, my first primary tutorial was on Monday, and my tutor wanted an essay completed for that, and then she wanted my essay for the next Monday e-mailed to her by Friday so she could read it over the weekend. This would have been okay except for the fact that I chose to begin my secondary tutorial that first week also, which was on Thursdays. Needless to say, it was a rough week, but I quickly learned that, though it is tough here, I can do it. I had to do twice as much work in that first week as the average amount and I survived. My essays may not have been my best work, but they showed potential, and that's all I asked of them.
(if that just confused you, welcome to my life)
One little situation that made this first week worse was the fact that I had carried bed mites with me from the hostel in Barcelona. On the second night of my time there, red itchy dots began to appear on my skin. I didn't think much of it, but when I got back, they kept appearing until I had them all over my arms, legs, hands, feet and side. I couldn't sleep. It was terrible. I finally thought to wash my sheets and go to the pharmacy. The lady behind the counter gave me some antihistamine and that, combined with my clean sheets, began the healing process. That was definitely one of the worst things that has
happened to me since being here. I though I had the chicken pox or something.
So, what else do I do . . . well, I eat a lot of oatmeal. I usually wake up in the late morning, eat some oatmeal or a banana and then definitely oatmeal for lunch. It's easy and it's a comfort food. I can justify it because I'm part of a glorious food group. There are seven of us and we cook six days a week, each week someone gets the week off. So, every night I get to eat a real dinner, and once a week I get to cook for my food group family. It's a great thing. We sit around the table, complimenting the cook and talking about our days. It forces me to take a break, although I usually don't need help with that. On
Sundays there's a separate group - every Sunday someone makes soup. That's really nice too, though not as community oriented as the week-group.
Other than that I read, and write, watch bootlegged the Office episodes, and Arrested Development DVDs that we found here. There is a lot of community in this 
house. Sure, we work a lot, but we also find plenty of time to hang out, play music and talk about important, or not so important things. I have three roommates, and we are all pretty laid back and like to have a good time (all the time).
Well, as I mentioned in previous blogs, in the first month I was here, the time before my break, I completed one of the four 'classes' I will complete this semester. We went every day for about a month (lectures, documentaries, field trips) and wrote three case studies. That was called 'British Landscapes' and was completed before I left on my break. Now, British Landscapes is the only part of the semester in which I had no choice - we all did it together. Now, the other three 'classes' I was able to choose. Here's the breakdown:
British Landscapes: everyone does it, only first month of program, lectures, documentaries, field trips, case studies, sort of a 'history of England' crash-course.'Classics' Seminar: I chose this seminar out of a list of five. It goes on throughout the semester. We had a few meetings during the British Landscapes period where we discussed assigned reading, mostly ancient Greek and Roman texts. We also discussed 'long essay' topics. This 'long essay' is something that will be due at the very end of the program, so we're supposed to be
working on it throughout the semester. The topic I chose was the influence of Platonic thought and language on the language used by Paul in the New Testament, particularly in reference to the 'flesh and the spirit' and the reception of these ideas. Also, I must attend two hours of lectures each week that fall under this category. I attend one two-hour lecture on Tuesdays entitled "texts and contexts", discussing ancient Greek and Roman literature, mostly plays.
Primary Tutorial, Victorian Literature: I chose this, also from a much longer list. I meet with my tutor every week where we discuss the reading I was assigned and the 6-8 page paper I wrote. The reading assignments can be anywhere from 10 poems to 2 novels. So far, I've read Jane Eyre, Aurora Leigh and various poetry from Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson. I have to attend one hour of lectures for this tutorial. I attend Gothic Decadence: Sex, Science and Aestheticism on Thursdays.
Secondary Tutorial, Early Church Doctrine: I chose this also, and it works the same way as my primary tutorial, except I only meet with this tutor every other week and, obviously, the assignments are much different. I have read some of the writing of Justin Martyr, imperial letters regarding the first Christians, Gnostic texts and will soon start reading a work by Origen. I have to attend one hour of lectures per week for this tutorial also, and I chose 'Theology before Nicaea'.I hope that this gives you a better idea of what I'm doing here, as I've had a lot of questions about this particular topic.
(Funny anecdote from before break: There's this group called the JCR, which is sort of like a mini-social affairs type thing, except you have to be elected. I thought it would be fun to plan fun things, so I decided to 'run'. This running was really only the delivering of one speech after our last lecture of British Landscapes. A whole bunch of people ran, but only 6ish could be on the JCR. When it was my turn to speak, I stepped in front of the group and opened with 'my name is Katie and I like to have a good time, all the time'. That was the bulk of my speech, and it didn't get me elected, but it did get a lot of laughs and I haven't been able to live it down since. On a side note, the first speech given was by my good friend Trent who delivered as much as he could of Dwight's (or Mussolini's) speech in 60 seconds. That did get him elected and was priceless, especially since he is a committed Mennonite pacifist.)
I returned from Spain on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we picked up our tutorial information. By Thursday I had been assigned two novels, a collection of poetry and many other smaller theological pieces to read as well as three essays to be write. This was all to be compl
etely by the next Friday at 5pm. That's right, a whole lot of work in 8 days. You see, my first primary tutorial was on Monday, and my tutor wanted an essay completed for that, and then she wanted my essay for the next Monday e-mailed to her by Friday so she could read it over the weekend. This would have been okay except for the fact that I chose to begin my secondary tutorial that first week also, which was on Thursdays. Needless to say, it was a rough week, but I quickly learned that, though it is tough here, I can do it. I had to do twice as much work in that first week as the average amount and I survived. My essays may not have been my best work, but they showed potential, and that's all I asked of them.(if that just confused you, welcome to my life)
One little situation that made this first week worse was the fact that I had carried bed mites with me from the hostel in Barcelona. On the second night of my time there, red itchy dots began to appear on my skin. I didn't think much of it, but when I got back, they kept appearing until I had them all over my arms, legs, hands, feet and side. I couldn't sleep. It was terrible. I finally thought to wash my sheets and go to the pharmacy. The lady behind the counter gave me some antihistamine and that, combined with my clean sheets, began the healing process. That was definitely one of the worst things that has
happened to me since being here. I though I had the chicken pox or something.So, what else do I do . . . well, I eat a lot of oatmeal. I usually wake up in the late morning, eat some oatmeal or a banana and then definitely oatmeal for lunch. It's easy and it's a comfort food. I can justify it because I'm part of a glorious food group. There are seven of us and we cook six days a week, each week someone gets the week off. So, every night I get to eat a real dinner, and once a week I get to cook for my food group family. It's a great thing. We sit around the table, complimenting the cook and talking about our days. It forces me to take a break, although I usually don't need help with that. On
Sundays there's a separate group - every Sunday someone makes soup. That's really nice too, though not as community oriented as the week-group.
Other than that I read, and write, watch bootlegged the Office episodes, and Arrested Development DVDs that we found here. There is a lot of community in this 
house. Sure, we work a lot, but we also find plenty of time to hang out, play music and talk about important, or not so important things. I have three roommates, and we are all pretty laid back and like to have a good time (all the time). One of my roommates is Johannah Swank. She is a musician, and a 
wonderful one. She sings and plays the guitar and piano and her voice and melodies break my heart. We have another friend Ben, who is a musician also. He is from(is
h) Tennessee and reminds me of there, one of my homes. He is a wonderful musician too. The three of us spend much time together, playing 
music (well, they play music) and talking in places with dim lighting. Besides these two, this house is full of other interesting a lovely characters with whom I share much of my days and conversation.
I sleep on a bottom bunk and have turned it into a cave. I tucked a blanked under the mattress of my upper bunk-mate and voila, my own private fort. Sometime
s it's a napping cave, other times it's an office, sometimes it's a movie theater. It can really be anything as my laptop and desk lamp are oh-so portable. In short, this fort has improved my quality of life and I would recommend the construction of one wherever possible.
I have a church - St. Andrews. It's a funny place. The sanctuary has vaulted ceilings and pillars, but the services are anything but stoic. The 9:30 service is a 'family service' and is pretty much a blast. The whole service is geared towards families with small children and once a month they let the kids stay through the whole thing. The worship songs at that service have lots of motions, talk about shopping fairtrade and walking instead of driving. It never fails to make me smile. The 11:00 service is cool too, but is mostly full of old people, so I don't go to that one much. There is a service at 6pm that I think is the best one for me - it's a regular church service, but most of the people who go are undergrads and so I feel more comfortable. I actually just signed up to work with the 11-14 year-olds on Sunday nights, so we'll see how that goes.
I have a plan for after graduation and I'm pretty excited about it. It's called Teach for America. It's a branch of Americorps. It's a two or three year commitment and I would teach in a low income (city or rural) area of my choice while being paid regular teachers salary, getting certified to teach and maybe even earning a Masters Degree in Education. The only problem is that it's a quite competitive program, so I'm not sure I'll be accepted. Hopefully this whole Oxford thing will work in my favor.
I still drink a lot of tea. There's Tuesday tea at Frewin Court (our headquarters), Wednesday tea at Wycliffe (our 'college') after our lecture and then Sunday tea at Crick (the other house that SCIO (Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford) kids live in). And then there's the cup or two I drink besides that - peppermint with honey is my favorite, especially with a piece or two of dark chocolate.
Well, I think that might be all I have to say right now. I still ride my bike everywhere and love it and I've developed strange sleeping habits. Instead of sleeping 12-8 like a normal person, I sleep from 4am - noon. I'm going to try to change that this weekend, as it can't really be healthy.
I'm going to Canterbury (as in archbishop of Canterbury or the Canterbury Tales) tomorrow for the weekend. A few of us are renting a car and spending the night, so that should be a good time. Hopefully when I get back I'll have lots of stories and pictures for you.
wonderful one. She sings and plays the guitar and piano and her voice and melodies break my heart. We have another friend Ben, who is a musician also. He is from(is
h) Tennessee and reminds me of there, one of my homes. He is a wonderful musician too. The three of us spend much time together, playing 
music (well, they play music) and talking in places with dim lighting. Besides these two, this house is full of other interesting a lovely characters with whom I share much of my days and conversation.I sleep on a bottom bunk and have turned it into a cave. I tucked a blanked under the mattress of my upper bunk-mate and voila, my own private fort. Sometime
s it's a napping cave, other times it's an office, sometimes it's a movie theater. It can really be anything as my laptop and desk lamp are oh-so portable. In short, this fort has improved my quality of life and I would recommend the construction of one wherever possible.I have a church - St. Andrews. It's a funny place. The sanctuary has vaulted ceilings and pillars, but the services are anything but stoic. The 9:30 service is a 'family service' and is pretty much a blast. The whole service is geared towards families with small children and once a month they let the kids stay through the whole thing. The worship songs at that service have lots of motions, talk about shopping fairtrade and walking instead of driving. It never fails to make me smile. The 11:00 service is cool too, but is mostly full of old people, so I don't go to that one much. There is a service at 6pm that I think is the best one for me - it's a regular church service, but most of the people who go are undergrads and so I feel more comfortable. I actually just signed up to work with the 11-14 year-olds on Sunday nights, so we'll see how that goes.
I have a plan for after graduation and I'm pretty excited about it. It's called Teach for America. It's a branch of Americorps. It's a two or three year commitment and I would teach in a low income (city or rural) area of my choice while being paid regular teachers salary, getting certified to teach and maybe even earning a Masters Degree in Education. The only problem is that it's a quite competitive program, so I'm not sure I'll be accepted. Hopefully this whole Oxford thing will work in my favor.I still drink a lot of tea. There's Tuesday tea at Frewin Court (our headquarters), Wednesday tea at Wycliffe (our 'college') after our lecture and then Sunday tea at Crick (the other house that SCIO (Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford) kids live in). And then there's the cup or two I drink besides that - peppermint with honey is my favorite, especially with a piece or two of dark chocolate.
Well, I think that might be all I have to say right now. I still ride my bike everywhere and love it and I've developed strange sleeping habits. Instead of sleeping 12-8 like a normal person, I sleep from 4am - noon. I'm going to try to change that this weekend, as it can't really be healthy.
I'm going to Canterbury (as in archbishop of Canterbury or the Canterbury Tales) tomorrow for the weekend. A few of us are renting a car and spending the night, so that should be a good time. Hopefully when I get back I'll have lots of stories and pictures for you.
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