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Chris’s friend Clay is currently on day 18 of his NFL Pudding Strike. So far he’s eaten 137 puddings, and nothing else. Clay, who is currently living in the Virgin Islands, has this to say:
“Watching your favorite NFL team play on Sunday is essentially a fundamental right of Americans, which is a right the United States Virgin Islands do not have. Until the Tennessee Titans (and every other NFL team) are available each weekend, I will eat pudding and pudding alone.”
I’d love to get a copy of this poster I saw on Flickr today… apparently taken during an anti-war protest in London last year. At the same time I saw this, I was drinking a cup of Dilmah tea, the best tea in the world! Cheers!
Yesterday, Tim and I decided to take a day off from job hunting. So we hopped on a train and went to the medieval university town of Oxford. (Jump to my photos here.)
I love old buildings, and I love university towns, so naturally I came to adore Oxford.
If you’re planning on visiting Oxford, don’t pay for an all day ticket for their double-decker open-top tour bus. While the bus experience might be cool, the town is actually very small and quite walkable.
We, however, made that mistake and, after a very short bus ride, we thought we’d sit down in a pub for some snacks and to plan our day. We found a place called The Bear, founded in 1242. As you’d expect from a pub that old, the ceilings were very low and the rooms tiny. It was cozy, but the food was crap. I did get to try my first Quorn sausage, which seemed ok, but was almost cold when it arrived. Final thought on the matter: I don’t think we’ll be returning to The Bear.
We walked off “lunch” with a stroll to the University of Oxford’s very impressive Botanical Gardens. It started raining as we arrived, so we sought shelter in their row of greenhouses. Forget row after row of ferns and cacti, Oxford knows how to build a greenhouse. Their glass enclosures were filled from floor to ceiling with exotic trees, flowers, and shrubs from all over the world. The floors were lined with intricate pathways through the narrow divides of green. Outside, we braved the rain and found a Yew tree that was planted in 1645 during the English Civil War.
We were sad to leave the gardens, but the rain was, well, wet.
We walked out, past the Magdalen bridge and down the road passing about 5 universities along the way. We were only able to see the grounds of All Souls College (the rest of the universities were closed to the public). According to our guidebook, the grass on the university quads may only be stood upon by the high masters. Sure enough, All Souls’ quad was impeccable, and even had a sign that read “Keep Off Grass”.
University life in Oxford is fascinating to me. To live and study in a little room at a place with so much history has a certain charm. The universities certainly have a “vibe” - perhaps it comes from the collective waves of all the brains hard at work behind the school’s walls. If memory serves, students don’t attend classes. Rather, they have individual tutors they meet with once per week to discuss their studies. Then they take exams once per year. I like this idea - school should be focussed on the individual’s own pursuits. A person must be very devoted to their work to succeed in that kind of environment. I had a hard enough time getting things done when I was forced to go to classes. But maybe I would be more motivated if left to my own intellectual devices. So I wonder: are the people at Oxford really as intelligent as one would imagine? What percentage come from rich families? And what percentage are just plain wankers?
Throughout all of this it was raining. Luckily we found a nice place for tea in St. Mary’s Church. They had a cafe called “Vault & Garden”. If it weren’t raining, it would have been a lovely place to have tea outdoors. But the inside was charming enough.
The rain stopped and we took another wander around town before returning to St. Mary’s to climb its bell tower. This was one of the coolest parts of the trip. We had to climb up a tiny spiral staircase to get to the top - I’d never seen anything like it! Along the way we could see some of Oxford’s famous gargoyles lining the buildings. The tower afforded such a beautiful view of the city, that I couldn’t resist taking a few panoramas:
It seemed appropriate to spend the end of our day in a pub. We found a place called the Lamb and Flag on St. Giles St. It was everything I could have wanted. When you find a pub or a bar to fall in love with, it’s hard to explain what’s so damn special about that particular place. It’s just comfort I guess. The Lamb and Flag did it for me. I was so happy that it only took a pint to get me drunk!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of my pictures!
What a wonderfully long London day. After getting the boring stuff out of the way (breakfast and the gym), I met Tim, Zoe, and James at Trafalgar Square to check out “Art on the Square”, a day long art fest where a huge group of artists worked with Rolf Harris to recreate Constable’s “The Hay Wain” on a massive scale. All the while they had booths set up where onlookers could participate in a variety of art projects, like portrait painting and postcard design. There were loads of kids around, which didn’t annoy me, oddly enough. It just made me want to draw.
It also made me regret not having my camera with me!
Amazingly cool as it was, the crowd became over-bearing after a short while and we escaped for a nice quiet stroll through Hyde Park. We ended up at Buckingham Palace, where we felt sorry for the guard who looked particularly uncomfortable (as in twitchy) standing still and protecting the palace. “It’s like watching a polar bear at the zoo”, I think someone said.
We then made our way into Soho, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite London areas to hang out in. We had drinks and a tasty snack at Carlucchi’s Cafe before heading back to Rory’s for a night in (at last, at last). UK TV sucks as much as it does in the US, but Gladiator was on, and it was more relaxing than drinking loads of wine at a smokey pub. Which I LOVE, don’t get me wrong. But after weeks of traveling and sightseeing, a quiet night in is a rare delight.
Much happiness today; I will sleep well.
Hmm. While deleting comment spam from my blog, I seem to have deleted all of my comments. This is really sad, because there were some good ones in there.
Some of the older comments are backed up, but comments made in recent months are probably gone for good. Tear. It’s not horrible news. The world will go on.
As a result of this, I did lose Stacey’s e-mail address, probably the only address I don’t have saved in Mail.app. So Stacey, if you’re reading this, you know what to do!
Still jobless in London but things are moving along in the right direction.
Tim’s phone has been ringing off the hook, and we’re both pretty confident he’ll have work soon. It’s all just a matter of time. But good news indeed that his skills are needed!
I wish I could say as much for myself; the world just isn’t ready for the mathdiva. My largest obstacle is the visa situation. My 6 month work permit means I’m limited to temp and contract work. But most positions suitable for someone of my scientific background are typically longer term. So far I haven’t had any bites from the permanent job positions I’ve applied to.
I do have an interview next week for a contract job in insurance where I’d be analyzing market statistics (eeeevil?). Although the financial world isn’t really my bag, I’m very excited about the job. I’d be working in the City of London just like a proper English person. But more importantly, I’d have a job that would open a lot of doors for me in the statistical world.
Anyone out there with some interview tips for someone with zero background in finance going into an interview for an insurance job?
More good news…
I found a gym!
Most gyms in london cost in the £60-100 per month range, but I learned that the International Student House has a gym for £20 per month. It’s tiny (like everything in london), the music is crap (like most music in london), and it’s certainly not flash (unlike most eurotrash things in london). But it’s got freeweights, a couple weight benches, a squat rack, exercise bikes, treadmills, stairclimbers, and rowing machines, all in fairly good shape. I was so missing the gym. Literally, I was depressed over it. And I do miss the amazing facilities at UT. But I’m looking forward to being sore again and pushing the iron envelope further than ever!
Oh, and in case you doubted that I actually did move to London, here’s a picture of me by Big Ben…
why do i ever thing i’m capable of getting up early to work out when i’ve been drinking the night before?
this morning i started out by missing a run with the Serpentine Running Club. tim invited me, and i’m surprised by how motivated i am to join. running’s never been my thing, but i really enjoyed the 5k and i think i could get into running with a club. to top things off: what a great way to meet people in london. and they won’t contribute to my “Heathrow Injection” (a term used to describe the extra pounds one usually acquires after moving to pub-happy London).
but it’s been a pretty great day all the same. i made an egg white torte type thing for breakfast which everyone enjoyed (i do not want to become known for the girl who makes “average breakfasts”). later we had lunch and drinks with people at a place called Kick. once again, i was impressed with the quality of food i could get in a pub. but it sure ain’t cheap. my salad + goat cheese salad cost £7 ( = $12.54 !!!).
damn, i really need to get a job…
we caught the tourist bug and headed south for a quick run through St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, and the Tate art museum. I will definitely have to revisit both the Cathedral and the Tate. both were very impressive.
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