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.