London

Last Thursday, I began a three day tour of London. The trip started with the Oxford-Cambridge varsity rugby match at Twickenham Stadium. Twickenham is the largest rugby stadium in the world at about 82,000 and was very impressive (Wembley is London's other big stadium and has a 90,000 person capacity). Since I had not used the trains before the game, I was a little nervous about figuring out which train to get on when I transferred at Reading Station and how to get to the stadium once I got off the train. Luckily, when we got to Reading, it turned out that everyone on the Oxford train was going to Twickenham too so I just had to follow about a thousand other people. The under-21 teams played in the morning before the varsity match and Oxford won decisively, 53-17. One of my friends from our college rugby team plays on the under-21 side, so we had a big Hertford contingent to support him.

I tried to find some hot dogs or hamburgers between matches, but could only find fish and chips (not a bad trade off though). The varsity match in the afternoon started off well and Oxford was leading at the half. Unfortunately, Cambridge stepped it up after halftime and prevailed, 31-27. I noticed two major differences between the rugby match and American competitions I have been to. The first is that the crowd seemed to be about 80% men instead of fairly even. The second is that there was no music, announcing, bands, etc. Obviously I still enjoyed watching the game, but I just felt a completely different atmosphere.

A friend of mine lives in London, so I met up with her after the game. On Friday, we took a walking tour of London working our way east to west. I am so grateful that I had Celia with me because she knew how to get navigate the buses and the tube (subway) smoothly. She also knew some off-the-beaten path sites, like the the market below, and had stories about every place we went.

We went to the Tate Modern Art Museum (inside the structure of a behemoth Victorian-era power plant), the Globe Theater, St. Paul's and Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Parliament and Big Ben, the Foreign Office, 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister's house), and several other places. We broke up the walking with a few cafe breaks and an excellent lunch near King's College. In the evening, we went to National Gallery and followed it up with a play, The Priory.

This is a picture of me on the Millennium Bridge in front of St. Paul's Cathedral (not the Capitol Building). I knew about the bridge from a class on oscillations because, when it was first built, the bridge was unstable and swayed with the wind and pedestrian traffic. The bridge doesn't sway anymore, but I still really enjoyed finally seeing it in person.

During one of our breaks, we stopped to watch a Charlie Chaplin-esque street performer. Celia and I made the mistake of sitting in the front row and it wasn't long before I was called out to help with the show. At first I had had to hold ten wooden bricks. The first few minutes were fine, but I began to wonder how long I would have to hold them and whether I would lose my grip. Fortunately the performer came over and took them from me before my arms became too tired. After a few more stunts, he had me come out to the middle, where he proceeded to stack a woman on my back. Although he was doing the whole show without talking, he kept whispering for me to keep my arms wrapped tightly around her legs. I had to find the right balance though because I don't think she appreciated me squeezing to hard. Once he had her situated, he did a handstand on her back. I guess it was pretty cool because everyone was applauding, but I could only see the bricks in front of me and the woman's very concerned boyfriend not too far away. This picture might give you a better idea what was going on.

Celia and I were exhausted by the time we finally started heading back to her house. When we were in the station walking to the final train we needed to catch, we ran into one of our Hertford friends who also lives in London. It was one of those epic small world moments as he had just arrived from Oxford and we had no idea he'd be in the city. We got up late Saturday morning and went to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone and a mummy from 3000 B.C. (that still has skin and hair!). Then we met Ollie, the guy from Hertford, for lunch nearby.

Earlier in the week, I had received an invitation to watch the Army-Navy game in a pub with several West Point and Naval Academy graduates (who had any idea there were 50+ graduates in the London area??). Before I went to the game, I took the tube to the Tower of London. This picture is of St. Thomas Tower on the southern side of the castle. Before the wharf was expanded the length of the castle (while Chaucer was in charge of finances), the Thames came right up to the walls. The gate in the middle of the tower is Traitor's Gate, where Anne Boleyn entered prior to having her head lopped off by Henry VIII. Another cool note about the castle is that it was home to the royalty's exotic animals before the London Zoo was constructed. They kept the lions under the drawbridge in the Western Gate to intimidate visitors. After the Tower of London, I went to watch the game. I was excited because I have not watched American football for three months and was even more excited when Army was winning at the half for the first time since 2001. My excitement was short lived however because Navy had a big second half and ended up winning. Despite the loss, it was great to share the game with a lot of fellow members of the American military watching the game there in London and at bases all over the world.

A lot of my friends have asked what part of London I enjoyed the most. While it is hard to pick one aspect out of such an amazing city that really stands out, the biggest disappointment was certainly the London Bridge. It's a normal bridge! A lot of Americans (me) get it confused with the Tower Bridge, below. The one with all of the houses was demolished in 1758 and they replaced it with what looks like a highway overpass.

On Sunday, I took an early train back to Oxford to meet up with James and two other college friends to head down to Bath for another rugby match. Bath is named after the Roman baths build around 43 A.D. James did his undergrad in Bath, so we met up with one of his uni friends and they showed us around the town. We had some great pies (meat, not fruit) in a pub before the game. Bath beat Edinburgh (to the disappointment of our friend Steve from Scotland) 13-9. The game was exciting with the exception of a 20 minute period in the second half where wingers from each team just kept kicking the ball back and forth. The first picture is of my Oxford friends in front of Bath Abbey. The second is a view of the city from the river after the game.

All in all, it was an incredible weekend. Now it's time to get back to my dissertation and coursework...

End of Michaelmas!

This Saturday marks the end of the first term, Michaelmas. The celebration has been a mixture of parties, dinners, and essays.

The essay I turned in last week was on Scientific Concepts. The details are a little humdrum, but I'll write a quick blurb in case you might be interested. My writing focused on Weber's work with ideal types; James Davis' thoughts on prototypes, graded membership, and fuzzy borders; and the contributions of David Collier and James Mahon on family resemblance and radial categories (expansions on Satori's work with classical categories and conceptual stretching). While expanding the extension of existing concepts to address new ideas, conceptual traveling also leads to heated debates about whether borderline cases fit one category or another. When I realized I needed to do something to breathe a little more life into the essay, I proposed a search for the best American athlete of the 20th century and then applied each author's arguments to help find a suitable competitor. I finished by revising the original question, concluding that since Michael Jordan (does anyone remember the 95-96 Bulls??) is the undisputed best athlete of the 20th century, we ought to be looking for the second best athlete. Ironically, this also contradicted Weber's belief that ideal-types (essentially perfect examples of an idea, in this case an athlete) do not exist in real life--a point I also noted in the essay. My next essay is for International Diplomacy, but I still have quite a bit more work to do on it.

Despite being away from home for Thanksgiving, I managed to share a true American feast (at least as close as I could come with British ingredients) with about a dozen other American and British students. On Tuesday, I went shopping with a good friend of mine, Becca, to gather up everything we would need. She also volunteered to cook the sweet potatoes and did a fantastic job. After rowing Wednesday afternoon, I alternated between baking a couple of pumpkin pies and working on my Research Methods essay. The pumpkin was one of the most difficult ingredients to find, but I didn't have much luck with Cool Whip either. It turns out actual whipped cream works tastes just as good. Thursday morning, one of the post-doc students in my house drove me down to the grad center with all of the food. I appreciated the lift because riding my bike with a turkey and two pies was bound to turn into a disaster. I shoved the turkey in the oven, then ran off to my rugby match.

I feel much more comfortable with the game and our team has put together a few nice victories in the last two weeks. In the Thanksgiving game (Turkey bowl?) several of the forwards scored, including Greg, a Rhodes scholar from VMI and good buddy of mine.

As soon as the match finished, I ran back to take a shower, then hurried down to the grad center to take out the turkey. We ended up commandeering three different kitchens to cook everything since the ovens are pretty small. It all came together nicely though and I think everyone was able to stuff themselves satisfactorily. I was a little heart-broken that the only left-overs I could take back to my room were a few slices of turkey and a quarter of a pie:( When everyone began asking how I became such a great cook, I conceded that I had been on Skype with my mom every day throughout the week getting recipes, tips, and other essential advice.

Last night at KEEN, we had a Christmas party with dancing, karaoke, and presents. I think it's the first time that I've ever celebrated Christmas in November, but without Thanksgiving, the Christmas season gets underway a lot sooner here than in the States. James was well-behaved with no surprise kisses and I think everyone had a really good time. The karaoke video was particularly interesting because of the random cartoon videos assigned to each song (YMCA, Bohemian Rhapsody, etc.)...I'll let your imagination do the work.

The races on Wednesday of last week were pretty miserable. The Christ Church Regatta, a race only for novice rowers, has been cancelled due to weather the past few years. As a result, the marshals were inexperienced and compounded the problems stemming from 70+ teams racing on a narrow stretch of river. Even though we were on the water for more than an hour before our first race, we defeated the team we rowed against. The women's A-team was less fortunate because they sat in the cold wind for more than an hour without their opposition ever showing up. Unfortunately, the high water level from recent rain (even worse in the North, especially Cumbria) and resulting swift current caused the ensuing races for the rest of the weekend to be cancelled. Our college was especially disappointed because our women's and men's A-teams were so strong.

Another Rotary talk tonight, Christmas service in the chapel tomorrow, Christmas dinner Thursday, and a formal guest dinner Friday!

Until next time, God bless and take care!

6th Week

As I mentioned in my last post, my host Rotary club, Banbury-Cherwell, invited me to participate in Banbury's local Remembrance Sunday service (similar to Veteran's Day in the U.S.). Each year, my host Rotary club helps direct traffic so that the parade runs smoothly.

The day began with a parade from the village hall to a local church, St. Mary's (apparently the 800 church attendees nearly set a record!). Nearly 500 people ranging from veterans and active duty soldiers to the fire brigade and young Beaver Scouts represented their various organizations in the parade. The British soldiers and community warmly included me and two other Americans, an Air Force LTC and his wife, in this special event.

The British commemorate Remembrance Day by wearing poppies on their clothes (the money raised from selling the poppies funds the British Royal Legion to support soldiers and veterans) . In local ceremonies around the UK, they gather to place wreaths of these poppies on war memorials. These pictures are at the People's Park where we met to present the wreaths after the church service. While I think Americans have a great respect for the many soldiers we have lost in war, I felt an even stronger sentiment here. The reason is that many more families were directly affected by the two World Wars. Unlike the U.S., which has been fortunate to have few wars fought on its soil or in close proximity, Britain was in the thick of both World Wars. In World War I alone, seventeen times more British soldiers and civilians died per capita than Americans.

After the ceremony, the parade followed the original route back to the town hall where everyone was invited to a lunch buffet. There was a strong sense of community throughout the whole morning, so it was fitting one of the prominent beverages was a locally brewed beer. Though Banbury is quite a bit larger than Schoolcraft (45000 to 1500), the small-town feel reminded me of home.

Yes, in case you were wondering, this particular Banbury has a cross and a fine lady upon a white horse.  However, I visited via automobile and left my cock horse back in Oxford. According to the gentleman I walked next to in the parade, Banbury was a major printing town and one of the printers took advantage of his occupation to insert 'Banbury' into the poem before it was printed. Perhaps its just a local myth, but it's entertaining all the same.

One of my most loyal readers (from LA!) has asked more British lingo, so here are a few more that I get a laugh out of: parts of a car, such as bonnet instead of hood (both types of headwear, I guess) or windscreen instead of windshield (kind of makes sense, but then what do you make of a screen door?); bullock instead of bulls (ok, this one makes sense too, but you have to admit the 'Chicago Bullocks' doesn't have the same ring.

When I did my exchange at the Naval Academy, one of the officers giving the welcome had a good nugget of wisdom that is helpful whenever you are thinking about another culture. He told us that we will realize the Navy does many things differently than the Army and uses a different vocabulary for the same ideas. Instead of trying to decide which approach is better, we should just look at these differences as two acceptable ways of accomplishing the same goal. I try to keep this in mind as I experience the UK and I hope that you are able to while reading my blog.

In other news, I visited two local Rotary clubs to talk about life in Michigan, my experiences at West Point, how I am finding Oxford, and my goals for the future. The enthusiasm the Rotarians show for learning about me and the community I come from makes the presentations a lot fun. It's impossible to predict which aspects of the presentation they will be most interested in, but I had a lot of questions about the military as well as what I found to be most different from the U.S.

On Saturday, I went to see Airborne Toxic Event in concert. It was the last performance of a two-year world tour that started and ended in Oxford. No, I hadn't heard of the group either, but they're from California and put on a terrific show. We also had our first crew race on Sunday to help us prepare for the Christ Church Regatta next week. We still need to clean up our technique quite a bit, but at least we didn't crash like one of the other novice boats that managed to put their boat halfway up the bank:)

Alright, take care! Off to our rugby match...

Chugging Along

Before I get to the weekend events, I wanted to briefly conclude my last post. The debate was held at the Oxford Union, a large open room with a small open area speakers at one end and rows of seating for the audience at the other. The debate was so popular that after the seats on the floor were filled and the wrap-around balcony was packed to standing room only, ticketholders had to be turned away at the door. In addition to the crowd, the spectacle was completed by the formal dress of the speakers and the strict adherence to an eccentric set of rules governing the debate. For example, someone objecting to a statement must stand, place their hand on their head (although people get away without this one), and say "point of information." It is then at the discretion of the speaker in command of the floor to acknowledge the objection and allow for elaboration. The proposal for the evening was (more or less) that western democracies have a moral obligation to spread liberal democracy to the rest of the world, by force if necessary. Prominent members of the community (a Member of Parliament or MP, a newspaper editor, a professor, etc.) representing each side took turns making their arguments. My initial response to the proposal was no, primarily because I was fixated on the clause 'by force if necessary,' and I felt it was a clear-cut decision. The general argument against the proposal was that democracy is inherently not a form of government that can be forced onto a people and that some societies cannot support democracy. Although the speakers against the proposal made a good argument,  I felt that the proponents of the proposal presented a more convincing case. Their argument hinged on supporting basic individual rights and using force only in certain situations. After six speakers had made their statements, a few members form the audience were invited to make short statements. Finally, one additional speaker from either side gave the concluding remarks, restating earlier arguments and making one last appeal. When everyone had finished, the votes were collected according to whether attendees departed through the 'yea' or 'nay' door. Thus, the bad news: I never found out which side won. And the good news: I'm going to another one this Thursday on bringing Christian values back into British culture.

In my Diplomatic Practice course yesterday, we divided into four groups to discuss the political response to a deadly collision of two fishing boats from the hypothetical countries of Savona and Matapan and to propose statements for a news release. The groups had nine people with each member representing a different part of the organization (the Political Under-Secretary, Press Spokesperson, Fisheries Ministry Representative, etc.). When the groups came back together to discuss their results, Mr. Hunt had one member from each group comment on the effectiveness of the group in completing the task. When each group received mostly positive comments, Mr. Hunt humorously noted that it was unreasonable to expect anything more critical from diplomacy students who realize they still have an entire year with their classmates. The interesting part of the discussion however was that we only discussed the content of our news releases for a few minutes. Instead, we focused on details of the meeting overall such as how each group arranged the seating (who sat at the right hand of the Under-Secretary?), whether nametags were used, how the number of actors affects discussion, and the effect of using a cramped space or a comfortable one (meetings are typically faster in uncomfortable spaces, but if participants tend not to get along, more space is better).

Yesterday evening, I went bowling with KEEN. The volunteers did not have a chance to put too many balls down the lanes, but we had a lot of fun helping the athletes. This morning, I went down to the boathouse to row at 6:30, only to find that another Hertford boat had a morning outing. Since only one boat from a college can be on the water at once (in the mornings), we had to get creative. We considered just taking the fine, 'borrowing' another colleges oars to hide our identity (good idea until their crew showed up), and rowing on the ergs for a while (unfortunately also occupied by another crew). In the end, we had to leave with out a workout.

Finally, this weekend was Remembrance Sunday, so my next post will hopefully have some pictures and stories about it. Take care!

Knackered!

The American phrases that invade British English are referred to as Americanisms (and I get the impression often in a negative light). Knackered--meaning tired--is definitely a Britishism though. So are bloke (a guy), cheeky (?), trolley (shopping cart), lorry (bus), and a whole bunch of other words...I'll get back to that point in a little bit.

The the beginning of this week was a whirlwind, but I had a lot of fun and I've been able to recover the last few days. On Monday, I had one of my lectures, then a tutorial in the afternoon. My tutorial has an Australian, another American, and a Brazilian, making for a good diversity of perspectives. The speeches were on regional organizations and were supposed to address their origins and current roles. I presented on the Gulf Cooperation Council (most of the states in the Arabian peninsula) and it went really well. Monday evening, I went to Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN) with a good friend of mine, James. The organization provides social and physical activities for mentally handicapped members of the community and Monday was a ghost walk around Oxford. I was paired up with one of the people I had met last week, another James, who is an extremely fun, caring, and smart guy. While James was only somewhat interested in the tour guide's storytelling, the highlight of the night was definitely him sneaking up on my buddy and kissing him. I think it's going to be a while before he forgives me...

Over the next few days, I had a few more lectures (fuzzy sets, instrumentalism, ways to build categories, etc.), attended an afternoon piano and cello recital, sat in on an American history lecture (on the long women's suffrage movement in the U.S.), went to a play, had a rugby game (20-15, or something close to that), had a few rowing practices, and went to a debate!

The history was great. Teachers encourage students to take advantage of the academic community at Oxford by attending lectures in courses not directly related to your own subject. The author presenting at this one had found a lot of interesting connections between the suffrage movement and other movements (race rights, antislavery, the Civil War, and others). The play that I went to was Days of Significance and was about a group of British soldiers and their deployment to Iraq. Basically, there is a lot of tension about the war before they leave and even more when they come back (a few of them abused prisoners during the deployment); so much so that it drives a close group of friends apart. The performance was pretty vulgar, but the acting was terrific and one of the themes--that no one wins in war-- were powerful. Now back to the Britishisms real quick. One of the best parts about the play was that while I could tell the actors were anger by their tone, many of their swear words were different from American ones and at times, it sounded more akin to a playground fight than a serious argument between adults. Ok, I have a ton more to write, but I'll leave it for my next post. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

End of Week Two

Last Saturday, we had the matriculation ceremony. Everyone gets dressed up and wears a black gown, the length determined by whether you are studying at the undergraduate or graduate level. I can't seem to get the picture uploader working on my computer, but as soon as I do, I'll post a photo. We went to the Sheldonian Theatre, five or six colleges at a time, to hear a welcome speech from the Vice Chancellor. The ceremony was very short, about fifteen minutes, and consisted mostly of a traditional invitation to study (in Latin), the English translation, and a few thoughts on the upcoming academic year. The raging fresher's flu--credited to the diverse student body uniting the world's germs--meant that the speech was delivered over a persistant coughing rumble. Needless to say, the chancellor has been making a joke about it for years and it always draw a loud laughter.

We had another rugby game on Thursday. The score was very lopsided, such that I can't remember the numbers (although one was a zero), but it was still fun. The major discovery of the day however was that I can throw the ball like an American football. Since the Brits normally throw with two hands, their passes usually only make it about 15 yards at the farthest. My ability to throw the ball thirty or forty yards quickly earned me celebrity status (some of the players still think I'm using magic) and the spot of hooker on line outs. Now we have a play called 'Yankee ball' where instead of throwing the ball to one of the two towers (you may have seen pictures of rugby matches where one player is lifted four or five feet into the air) near the out-of-bounds line, I throw the ball to a waiting player in the middle of the pitch. The first time we ran it, the other team immediately started complaining that it wasn't legal.

My courses are off to a good start too. I have a nice balance between the theoretical side of my master's degree and the more practical side. This means that on some days, I am involved in discussions about why we study diplomacy, what the future of diplomacy is, or even more general questions about what knowledge is and how we inquire about it. Other days, we talk about the structure of the U.N., how embassies operate, or how game theory can be applied to negotiations. No matter the topic of discussion, there is always a large amount of reading! It is all interesting though and I see time and again where it will be valuable in the Army.

Ahh! It's been a week already since my last post? Lectures just started, so I've head my head in the books. It's not a good excuse, but I'm planning on taking some pictures around Oxford tomorrow though and I'll make sure I keep the blog up to date in the future.

We had our first rugby match on Saturday. I had a big hit right at the start of the game, but was penalized for not wrapping up. I think once I get away from the football mindset and start to get a better feel for the game, I'll be alright. We beat the 'Old Boys' (Hertford College alumni) for the first time in the last eight years or so and the team looked pretty good. The best part about playing against grads is that they take you out to dinner afterward; in this case, we went to a great Indian restaurant called Bombay. I also participated in the rowing tasters Sunday to informally try out for the team. Luckily rowing practice is usually early in the morning and rugby is just Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, so I should be able to do both. The rowing taster slots were first come, first serve, so I ended up rowing the number six seat with several other inexperienced women. When we were just using our arms, there weren't any issues. As soon as we started to use the full stroke though, our boat made a hard right turn. We got to the point where I was the only one rowing on the stroke side and three people were rowing on the bow side. It was pretty funny, but I'm sure the more experienced rowers will put me in my place (one of Hertford's rowers competed in the Olympics a few years back). The Christ Church regatta is a huge intercollege competition for novice rowers at the end of the Michaelmas term and I hope to make Hertford's crew. We'll see how that goes... We have our second rugby game of the year tomorrow against Mansfield College, but a lot of our team is out with the swine flu, so the game might get interesting.

The lectures I described in my last post meet Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and every other Saturday. I also have a tutorial Monday afternoon. I also signed up for a French class that meets on Thursdays, but I won't know if I was selected for the course until next week. The first lectures all went smoothly and I think my professors are going to be terrific. In my tutorial (four students and a professor), we react to different scenarios that people working in the foreign service might encounter. However, we are supposed to take the British perspective, so as my teacher pointed out, I'll need to tone down the 'lone superpower' response in my essays. I like taking this perspective because it is a great way to think critically about the United States' role in a variety of contexts. When I was on exchange at the Naval Academy, I realized the value of being removed from the USMA. It was easier to understand criticisms of West Point, but also to recognize the features that make the Academy so unique. I expect my time away from the U.S., particularly in this academic setting, to similarly force me to reconceptualize my understanding of America.

This Saturday is matriculation. The graduate students all get dressed up in sub fusc (a black suit, white shirt, white bow tie, and gown) and attend a ceremony that officially inducts us as members of the university. Some of my friends were joking about getting dressed up in an antiquated outfit and participating in almost purely symbolic ceremony, but I just laugh. This is certainly one thing West Point prepared me extremely well for. Full dress, anyone? My biggest concern is that I bought the wrong gown; what would people think of me if they saw me in a 'commoners' gown?

If you have any questions I can answer, please let me know!

The Start of my MSc

Monday and yesterday, I spent much of the day in the Queen Elizabeth House (the building for the Department of International Development) for induction. I am studying for an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy, so the induction was a chance to meet the other 24 students in my course and get a brief introduction from the faculty on the available subjects. While almost a third of the students are from the U.S., there are also students from Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan, France, South Korea, and several other countries. Their educational backgrounds are just as diverse, representing a variety of undergraduate majors including Development Studies, International Relations, Commerce, Political Science, and Law. While I have obviously been excited about the opportunity to study this program at Oxford, I have also been slightly concerned that my engineering background would put me at a disadvantage. Fortunately, the backgrounds of the other students and the typical absence of a course in diplomacy and global governance at the undergraduate level have put me more at ease.

The educational system in the U.K., expecially at Oxford, is very unique. The year is divided into three terms (Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity), which are each eight weeks long. There is a five week break between terms, but I have heard that these breaks are more of a chance to catch up on coursework than actual vacations. Unlike most American schools that test and record grades at regular intervals, the entire mark or grade for the program is based on a three hour test in Trinity term and the dissertation. As such, most of the lectures are in Michaelmas and Hilary, leaving the majority of Trinity for paper revision and exam preparation.

My course is composed of a foundation course, either in Diplomatic Practice or Global Governance; a choice of two option courses; a research methods course; and a dissertation. I elected to study Diplomatic Practice as my foundation course, as it is geared slightly more toward the practicioner. While the available option course topics ranged widely from Global Financial Governance to the History and Politics of South Asia, I chose Multilateral Governance and Regional Integration as one option and International Diplomacy (taught by a professor who also teaches at the British Military Academy, Sandhurst) as the other. The research methods course is the same for everyone and I will not decide on my dissertation title for several more weeks.

On a completely different note, Oxford is a huge bicycle town and I just got a new bike! Walking around the city for the last week, I've been able to avoid the cars and buses because they are big and loud. I avoided the bikers too, but they are much more dangerous because you don't expect them and they typically operate in stealth mode. I guess I need to figure out the left hand side of the road deal now, too. Well, I'll write more later, but I have my first lecture on Saturday and I need to do some reading before my college's quiz night this evening.

Leicester!

Last weekend, most of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars studying in the U.K. met up for a weekend conference in Leicester (pronounced 'Lester'...yes, I butchered it until I heard the British say it). There were about 87 students there, representing countries from every corner of the globe. The U.S. and Japan had the most students, but I met people from New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Malta, and many others. Each scholar paired up with one or two others and spent Friday night with a local Rotarian. In the picture below are Nora, Tomoya, and Keith.

I had a great time with my hosts. After we put away our bags, they showed us their house and took us for a walk along the canal behind their property. Nora and Keith live in a small village close to Leicester so they are a short drive from restaurants and entertainment, but are also removed from the hustle and bustle of what was once the second richest city in the world. The canal and open fields were terrific. A few railroad tracks ran parallel to the canal in a shallow depression, but the commuter trains taking people to and from London were so fast and quiet they were barely perceptable. After the walk, we went outside to wait for the fish and chips van, a 34-year-old family business that visits five or six towns each night. It was about 45 minutes late, but I had such a good time talking with everyone else in the queue, that it was worth it. The fish and chips (battered fish and French fries) were great. I had not brought my camera when we went out in the evening, so I went out the next morning to snap a few pictures of the countryside.

On Saturday, we went to the space museum to meet all the other scholars. It was a lot of fun getting to know the other scholars, but I also enjoyed seeing a few other guys I knew from the States. Andrew Hill and I (below) were engineers together at West Point, so we had to take a picture with the giant fly wheels in the Abbey pumping station.

This is my room! It's pretty big and very comfortable. The rest of the house has a lot of Hertford grad students in their second or third years. Most of the other 'freshers' live in the graduate center on the other side of town.

Downtown Northampton

I went to my first actual club meeting a few days ago. I had already met many of the Rotarians Sunday afternoon, but it was great to see them again, meet some new ones, and hear what the club has been up to. One of the points they covered at the meeting was the results of a recent beer festival. In all, the Banbury-Cherwell Club raised close to 11,000 pounds. They gave 8,000 of their earnings directly back to local organizations and charities, such as Katharine House Hospice, the Red Cross, Air Cadets, and Anjali Dance Group (look it up...it's a great group for handicapped dancers). The club also discussed other projects, like the possibility of hosting a high school student from Brazil, and other fund-raisers. I'm excited at the opportunity to participate in some of these events during the year.

I also had some more time to take a look around Northampton and decided to head downtown. As I approached the town center, I came across a large cross erected in 1291 for the wife of Edward I, Queen Eleanor. He built 12 at the stopping places of the funeral caravan, though only three remain today. Twelve crosses= true love.

The Eleanor Cross is on the outer edge of the Delapre Abbey. The abbey was founded as a nunnery in 1145 and played host to the Battle of Northampton in 1460. At the battle, the Yorkists beat the Lancastrians in the only defeat of a defended position during the War of the Roses. Since then, the abbey and the surrounding 586 acres have served as a residence to several nobles and the Record Office. This is a picture of the inner garden. The stables are off to the right and the hunting shed is just to the left of the small tree in the center. The chimneys attached to the nave are visible above the tree. Outside the walls, there is a buckeye tree imported from America in 1760 and a Tulip tree from 1750.

The outer garden was extensively landscaped, with stone walkways and the remnants of several beautiful water gardens. In some nearby bushes, I found a few gravestones from a 200-year-old pet cemetary. Rest in peace Patch the Hero, Tessy, Joe, and Dusky...you will be remembered. The unfortunate part about the entire abbey was the amount of litter and vandalism. I talked to an older couple for a while and they were quick to blame the city's youth. I'm going to try to work with the Boy Scouts in Oxford; maybe doing a few park clean-ups would be some good service work.

The outer edge of the Delapre property has a ditch which was installed to prevent deer and cattle from getting onto the estate's manicured lawns. With one side sloped and the opposite a stone wall, ha ha's were nearly invisible if not in the immediate vicinity and allowed uninterrupted views of the landscape. The structure is humerously referred to as a "ha ha" (and sounds dangerous for a game of frisbee). The property also butts up against a large lake and a horse pasture. Before heading back to the abbey, I lured one over to take a picture by offering him grass from outside the pasture. Yes, I'm not above bribing farm animals.

Northampton began as an early Norman settlement in the 11th century (the Normans are largely responsible for the small fields enclosed by walls and hedges still present today; law required land to be broken up among the males in the family when the patriarch passed away). Northampton received its charter to hold a market from the lion-hearted Sean Connery a.k.a. King Richard I (Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves); the right to hold a market was a critical step for a village and offered huge opportunities for growth. Although the city's center has been devastated by fires in 1516 and 1675, the market is still a focal point of the city today (the red and white tents above). I had a fun time trying to buy grapes at the market.

Market trader: "May I help you?"

Me: "Yes, I'd like these grapes."

Market trader: "Right, I'll need to weigh them first. [weighs the grapes] Two pounds."

Me: [doing the mental math...at 1.20 per lb of grapes] "So I owe you 2.40?"

Market trader: "No, just two pounds."

Me: "But the sign says 1.20 per lb..."

I was sorting out a handful of change and he just pointed to two pieces. Problem solved. I'm thinking we could do something similar in the U.S., start calling dollars minutes or something like that. Oh, the possibilities.

The building on the left is guildhall built in 1861 (no, it's not a church). Much of the Northampton Castle was dismantled by order of King Phillip II as punishment for the town siding with the Parliamentarians in 1861 during the English Civil War. I don't think it could have looked much cooler than this. Northampton grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution as a hub for shoe manufacturing and leather working, spurred by demand resulting from the Napoleonic Wars. The church on the right is in Collingtree. I was running yesterday morning and took a slightly different route than the day prior. I came around a turn and stumbled upon it, completely in awe. I finished my run and came back out half an hour later with my camera. The design seems identical to many other churches in the area and for good reason; medieval builders would travel from one town to the next, using the same plans and similar local materials.

This last picture is my hosts' dog, Frosty. She looks similar to a fluffy raccoon (REALLY fluffy), but is a lot of fun and a dutiful protector of the castle while we're away. I asked my hosts if they had considered using her to sweep the floor, but they said she left too much hair behind when they tried.

Around Northampton

I spent most of the day wandering around Northampton where my sponsors live. These pictures give a pretty good picture of the immediate area where I am staying for the week.

This is a picture of a 'bridleway' or public bike path. Numerous walking and bike paths cut through the backs of neighborhoods, run along pastures and fields, or meander through open parks. The term bridleway refers to the paths' ability to support horse traffic, though I have not seen anyone on horseback yet.

Another picture of the neighborhood. Many wildflowers are in bloom, particularly many types of shrubs that constitute hedgerows and an assortment of roses. The houses are small and close together, restricted by inability to develop in the 'green belts' mentioned earlier. Despite close proximity, ample green space prevents feeling cramped.

My house! Rather my sponsors' house. Home sweet home...for the time being anyway. My room is in the back, overlooking the garden and neighbors' back yards.

I have more pictures for tomorrow and some notes from my first local Rotary club meeting.

Day 1: First Day in England

After finishing a great double quarter pounder with cheese meal, I boarded the plane and left New York last night at about 9:15. The flight went well and we touched down in London this morning at 9:25 local time (4:25 New York time!) After making my way through customs, I met up with my sponsor family and headed out to a Rotary Club meeting about an hour away. I had the opportunity to meet many of the club members, including the new President and future District Governor. The house--like so many of the towns we drove through-- is more than 200 years old and absolutely beautiful. The Rotarians were great too and I had a wonderful time talking to them. Surprisingly, the weather could not have been better today. When I asked one of the gentlemen why everyone had been telling me how foggy the U.K. always is, he replied that the English were just trying to keep the island for themselves.

One of the first things I noticed was how short all the buildings are. One reason is simply that so many are extremely old and were built before the means of building tall buildings were available. Another reason has to do with the geologic structure of the island. While New York and other famous American cities have a solid igneous rock base, much of England has a sedimentary rock base that cannot support large structures. Driving on the left hand side of the road through me for a little bit of a loop too, as well as the abrupt transition between fields and urban areas. Apparently England strictly enforces building codes that prohibit the development of rural areas around towns (called the green belt).

Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable first day. This should be a great year. Unfortunately, jet lag is setting in, so I'm going to call it a night. I'll see if I can't get some pictures posted tomorrow.

First Post!

I'm just days away from leaving for England and I couldn't be more excited! The nerves are starting to set in a little bit, but they have been tempered by the constant support of my friends and family. I think I have all the details worked out for the first few days, so now I just need to out-process from West Point and get on the plane (assuming my suitcases will fit). I'll write again as soon as I can once I am over in the U.K.