7/11/2010- Oxford

7/11

After a breakfast of a bagel, sausages, bacon, and a croissant with jam, my friends and I hung out at campus. For psychology, we had to do a psychology essay and questioning session- we wrote and performed an experiment about self-esteem and test grades and went around asking students a series of five test questions and then asking for what their level of self-esteem and confidence was after the test. This provided information that would correspond together and my lab partners and I analyzed the results and wrote an essay about the result.

Free Time: At 12:30, we had free-time. We had lunch at Delicatessen, we bought laundry detergent at Sainsbury's, etc. Then, we went to Alice's Shop, and though we had troubles finding it, we eventually made our way there and I bought a postcard there about England. Then, we continued to shop around until we had to be back at campus, around 5pm. I quickly did my laundry brights, and then I finished writing the essay and graph for my psychology homework.

Evening: Dinner was at 6pm, and following that was the FIFA final- Spain vs. Holland. My best friend and I were rooting for HollSpa, since we couldn't choose which team was our favorite. People there got very involved, and people brought in flags and noise-makers and bought face-paint for the occasion. My friend and I had our faces painted with the Dutch flag on one cheek, the Spanish flag on the other, And a huge HOLLSPA on our foreheads. It was really fun supporting both teams- and we even made up a chanting song! xD




Before I went to bed, I quickly did my writing homework- writing a longer piece with just dialogue between two people. What I did is I just used the previous The Alibi story (which I posted here in an earlier diary entry) and gave it a special twist. Here's how it went:


One Officer, Two Suspects, Fifteen Minutes

"I was hanging out with my friends, relaxed, walking-"
"You were NOT relaxed!"
"Don't interrupt!"
"Just because YOU have an alibi, Sophie-"
"It's the truth, I swear!"
"Those who say they swear tend to be the liars in criminal investigations."
"What makes this a crime?"
"Fine. Tell YOUR story, then. Enlighten us with your stupid lies."
"I was walking down the streets of Oxford and-"
"Being vague won't help, either."
"We were lost! I think we went off a side street near the Covered Market- somewhere around Cornmarket street; could that be right?- but my friend Jessica got us completely lost by trying, and failing, to follow her iPhone's GPS instructions. Confused, we turned around and tried to retrace our steps. My other friend, Sam, wanted to go to a tourist shop. We stumbled upon a stationary store-"
"Oh sure, completely unplanned."
"I bought a notebook- yes, I have proof, both of you- at Ryman's- yes, including the reciept- and I found a jewelry store- what was it called?- and I purchased a green locket- I think I saw it in my dorm room last night...- and headed back to campus, arriving around 5:15."
"Now may I speak? Thank you, officer; finally. They- well, as you say, Mr. Blackwell, she is the only important one-"
"What do you mean, important? What did I do?"
"Defensive tone, just as I expected. I've told you, all of the evidence points to her."
"You're talking to Mr. Blackwell like I don't even exist!"
"She was running-"
"What!?"
"-hurriedly down Cornmarket Street- yes, I admit that that one part of her story is correct.- It was like they- sorry, she - had to do something important. She was telling them to run, and then to sprint as fast as they could. They entered Ryman's at precisely 4:30, as if on a tight schedule, and I waited outside as innocently as I could."
"Innocently?! You were spying on us!"
"They came out with a few heavy bags- far heavier than if they had just bought notebooks- and ran to Past Times, entering the store at 4:45. The locket was around her neck when they left, though I assume there's something different about it-"
"What the heck? I got that thing for fifteen pounds! It was on sale!"
"Again, officer, defensive. Don't you find it peculiar that it took her exactly fifteen minutes to leave one shop and enter the next? And then she just happened to purchase a locket for fifteen pounds?"
"That was just a coincidence, Mr. Blackwell! Don't listen to David!"
"Anyway, as I was saying, she arrived at St. Peter's College at 5 o'clock, another fifteen minutes later! It was as if there was something she couldn't miss. I waited, hidden behind the metal gate, and watched as they rounded a corner around the building. She told them- her friends- to 'Stay there.' I could hear her voice, even though she was attempting to whisper, and a few minutes later, we all heard a scream. Her friends were confused, and she came back soon after. It was a loud, abrupt, piercing scream. The people walking by thought nothing of it, but I knew something was wrong. They checked in at the college at 5:15, after Sophie had gone back to 'see if everything was alright.' Exactly fifteen minutes."
"But what is the significance that I happen to be fast at shopping?"
"You are the only person who can answer that, Sophie Calaway."
"Am I?"
"Sorry?"
"How long did this interview take?"
"Excuse me?"
"I think you know the answer, David Baker."
"What do you mean?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"Not anymore."



That's it! I really like that piece. :)

7/10/2010- Oxford

7/10

Since I knew that we'd have a horrible packed lunch again on the bus, I had a really big breakfast- a croissant, 2 slices of bacon, a bagel, and some jam. :)

Madame Tussaud's: This museum started when Madame Tussaud, who worked in the French Revolution, made wax figures of deceased people. There were lots of exhibits of wax figures of famous people- movies, presidents and influential people. singers, etc. and at the end, there was an amusement park-like ride that explained the history of Madame Tussaud and what had been happening in that era. There was also a gift shop, and though we had limited time, I bought a panini with tomato, basil, and mozzarella so I'd have something nice to eat for lunch.

Regent's Park: We took a bus to a park nearby and stayed there for a few minutes.

Bus ride: Here's what I wrote when I was in the bus:

"It's burning hot here in London; the temperature is over 100 degrees. Our water bottles are nearly empty, with only a few drops remaining. We just left Madame Tussaud's and Regent's Park, and we're on the way to a new museum, but our bus's engine overheated and started smoking. The glass of the windows was fogged, and the whole bus reeked of disgusting gas. We evacuated, and now here we stand, annoyed, waiting for a new bus."

I think that basically sums that part up. We eventually did get a new bus, though.

The Natural History Museum: We had limited time here, which was really sad. I also lost part of my locket here since it broke off.  I went around with my friends in the human anatomy section before we had to run back to the exit. :(

< Here's a picture of the entrance hall.












Parks: The other groups just went home from this point on, but our group's bus from before had to drive back to its shop and get fixed and we waited for a really long time. We went to another park and had ice cream while we waited. I met a new awesome friend there and we talked for hours, waiting. The bus company called us often to delay the time they'd come pick us up at, from "thirty more minutes" to "another hour," etc. Then they told us it would be a lot longer, so....

Subway: We went to go eat at Subway, where I had a ham, turkey, and tomato sandwich and ate our food at a Chinese place nearby.

We got another call from the bus agency that the old bus didn't work and wouldn't be fixed, so they'd send a new one in one and a half hours. By this time we were completely exhausted, so...

Hyde Park: We went to another park. On the way there we saw a man wearing a ladybug dress.
At last there was something that brightened up our moods!

< Hyde Park.

We played Mafia for a while, and then we walked to a different bus from the same company when it arrived.







And guess what?

We were in the middle of London when our. bus. broke. down.
Again.
It wouldn't move.
We parked at the side of the road and exited the bus and waited.

To pass the time, a few of my friends and I sang Mamma Mia songs. Good times. :)

Then, we took a public transportation bus and squeezed in, taking it all the way back to our campus at St. Peter's. We were screaming by the time we got back, and singing like crazy. I remember thinking that one thing I love about Oxford is that you can be as crazy as you want to and no one will look at you twice. xD

Today was a hectic day, but you know what? It was worth it. Our group became so much closer, and I met a lot of people I wouldn't have if we hadn't gone through this madness.

~Cora

7/9/2010- Oxford

7/9

Creative Writing: Today we wrote a piece about getting sick :|, talked about similes, metaphors, and oxymorons, and went outside for a few minutes. We found a leaf from the ground and had to write something about it. This is what I wrote:

Golden like a desert
Fragile as a mother's child
When it's old enough, it
leaves its tree, and
it surrenders to the
wind's strong grasp.
A maze
paths between paths
roads between roads
walking like there's no
endless
walking like you've star
ted to could fall
off
you try to travel a
way, you jump
left and right,
but as any maze,
every leaf
has its beginning,
the birth, the growing,
and its end,
whether torn,
or lost,
or dead,
when use is at its own
ending,
the en
ding of a life,
the un
known world,
not sure what will hap
pen next.


and


They rip, they tear.
What would you think?
If they took you apart?
They rip, they tear.



We also wrote a science fiction piece about aliens coming to the class for the first time. :)


Experimental Psychology: Today we started projects about our own experiment and had skits about the brain, acting out a disease and the rest of the class would guess what part of the brain that disease would come from.

Afternoon: Later on, we went punting. One of our assistant counselors punted most of the way, though I tried at the end and I crashed into brambles. There were two groups of people on the boats as well and they were really drunk and we had to squeeze our boat between theirs.... an interesting experience.


< Punting in a beautiful lake





Evening: We had a balloon debate, which is where we got in groups of two and chose an occupation to support. The aim of the game was to keep your occupation inside the balloon. My friend and I supported teachers, and other groups chose students, the Pope, the US president, and medical examiners. It became a debate about the importance of religion, however, and after the medical examiners won, one of my best friends, whom we affectionately refer to as “Teddy,” read some of his awesome poems the rest of the time. Afterwards, we had the evening shout again, this time talking about our time at London the next day, and we all went to bed, excited for what was to come.

7/8/2010- Oxford

7/8

At breakfast this morning, I spilled my milk and made my whole breakfast soggy.
Figures.

Creative Writing: In small groups, our class looked at a picture and wrote a dialogue (no description, just dialogue) between two people, a girl and a guy, that was awkward and showed what they were doing without writing it outside of the quotes. We also worked on editing our eavesdropping dialogue from the night before and changed it so that they sounded different- unique or quirky- with new evocative adjectives. Hilarious result!

Experimental Psychology: We went over a powerpoint about the brain- its parts, memory loss, etc. and learned about a girl who had epilepsy and had to remove half of her brain and survived the experience. We also learned about a man in history, Phineas Gage, who had a huge brain injury after an iron pipe sliced through his skull. He survived, though, even though it was a while ago and there was a huge gaping hole in his chin and brain. *shivers* We also talked about the controversy regarding Animal Testing.

Bus ride: We had a bus ride since we were going to Windsor Castle. We had a packed lunch with a disgusting sandwich and an amazing-tasting clementine. xD

Windsor Castle Excursion: At Windsor castle, we went inside the palace and explored in small groups. We took lots of pictures as well and saw the guards marching in their uniforms.

Pizza Express: Cheese pizza. xD

Bus ride: I talked to one of my best friends, Aubrey, in the bus about comparing the schools we went to.

Evening: I ran outside in drizzling rain when we got back and became very hyper. :) My friends and I also stood in the queue for evening activities for the next day and went to the evening shout before bedtime.

7/7/2010- Oxford

7/7

I got up a bit later than usual today, but I still was early for breakfast. My friends and I found a great time to meet when there is barely a line and you'll have plenty of time to eat.

Creative Writing: Today we worked on writing from different perspectives. Our first in-class assignment was to write a story from two points of view and then compare them. Here's what I came up with:

An Alibi

I was walking, relaxed, down the streets of Oxford with my friends when we got lost. Confused, we turned around and started walking back, searching for a tourist shop. I bought a notebook with a leaf engraved on it- yes, I have proof- at Ryman's- yes, including the receipt- and I found a jewelry store- what was it called?- and I bought a green locket there as a memory. And we headed back to campus at 5:15.

~~~~

They- well, as you say, she is the only important one- were running hurriedly down Cornmarket Street, like they had to do something important. She was telling them to sprint; run, as fast as they could. They entered Ryman's, and I waited innocently outside. They came out with a heavy bag and ran to Past Times and went back to St. Peter's College at 5:00, like there was something she couldn't miss. I waited, hidden behind the gate, and they checked in at 5:15, exhausted to get there on time.


It's pretty good for the short amount of time we had. It is a short story. After that, we had to write in a certain point of view and then choose one of three narrators: omniscient, unreliable, and stream of consciousness and write about a child being kidnapped. I chose stream of consciousness, and second person, and here is my story:


You are at the park.

You are with your friends, and you're having fun, and you hop on the slide, and you wait for your turn on the swing, and after you get on, you're already bored of waiting, and you get on the slide again, and then you take your best friend's hand, and you bring her to the seesaw, and then you figure out that you weigh the same, so you get off, and run around in circles, and Michaela wants to play tag, but Trisha wants to play hide-and-go-seek, and you like Trisha, everybody does, so you start counting, and when you reach 20, you hear a twig snap, but you know the rules, and you count further, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25... more twigs snapping, and you're almost at 30: 28, 29, and then, you're ready to turn around and tell the person behind you that you found them, but you see his towering figure, and you gasp, and he picks you up, and you punch him with your little fists, and he laughs, and he ties them together, and he runs off with you and covers your eyes.

You are at the covered market.

And you kick your attacker, hard, as hard as you can, and he sets you down if you promise to stay, and you struggle, but you agree, and you run. As fast as you can.

And you are running.


That's one of my favorite pieces of writing so far- not the plot, but just the style of writing. I love second person. :)

Experimental Psychology: We took a trip to Pitt River's Museum. This choice confused me because its exhibit was about biology.... but nevertheless, a very fun experience. :) On the trip there on foot, I did my writing homework, which was to eavesdrop on some people and copy down their conversation. Mine was extremely gossipy. ;)

< Here's a model of a Himalayan Monal, one of the many beautiful things in the museum.





Leadership & Teambuilding: We had a session about public speaking in which we read famous speeches by MLK Jr, Obama, Churchhill, etc. and played games.

Free Time: My friends and I went out to Oxford again. It took us a while, but we found the covered market (the one I refer to in my story above ^) and I went to MooMoo's milkshakes and got an Oreo milkshake. Heavenly. I was in love. I would do a lot to get one right now. I also bought pants, but that's not as interesting.

Evening: After a mediocre dinner, I watched the FIFA match between Spain and Germany, which made me really upset because Germany lost :((. Though I ended up supporting Spain in the finals, which I'll talk about later. In the evening shout, it was announced that we'd get wifi access that night- so naturally I spent the time before I went to bed emailing all of my friends. :)

7/6/2010- Oxford

7/6

At 7:20, we had a planned fire drill. Why we had to do it early instead of sleep in, I had no idea. Anyway, the director told us that from that day on we would be having breakfast at 7:45, much to the annoyance of my peers and I.

Creative Writing: We discussed introducing characters indirectly in our writing- describing their personalities through dialogue, actions, etc. We also described a person we saw in a picture and write about their personality.

My group's character was a girl, probably in her early twenties, at a desk looking frustrated with a heap of money. Here's what we came up with:

-Jessica

-New York University

-20 years old

-stressed, financial trouble, unorganized, irresponsible, yet confident, trying hard

-possibly not good at job, unreliable

-likes shopping

-lives in the city

-active, social, friendly

-worried

-parents wanted to teach her lessons- she was spoiled but now is trying to be independent

-lives in a dorm at university

-dreamer, party person?

-wants to please everyone

-smart, but has too much to do and has a heavy weight/burden

-financial troubles for her have never been so bad- piling up, but didn't find out until now

We brainstormed as a class other questions to develop characters:

Un/Married
Location
Parents
Job
Name/Nickname
College + Education
Debt?
Age
Kids
Relaxed vs. Stressed?
Spoiled?
Outgoing and social?
Friendly?
Irresponsible?
Sleep Habits?
Workaholic?
Relationships?
Dress?
Fight vs. Flight?

Our teacher also gave us a list of questions about what our character would do in certain situations. Below are the questions and our answers:

-How does your character calm down? Coffee ;)

-What does your character do when waiting for a bus? Clicks pen, ruffles through money, reads, shops, daydreams

-How often does your character change his/her clothes? 3 times a day

-What is your character's word for "cool" (wicked, amazing, spectacular, etc.)? Awesome!

-If your character received $1000, what would they do with it? Shop, but she might have problems later in life looking back at her debt...

Now that I think about it, our character was very random and very controversial. We weren't exactly sure about her.... haha ;)

Experimental Psychology: After a short break, we had psychology, where we watched a powerpoint and talked about a project we'd have to do later on.

Afternoon: After lunch, we had a tour of Christ Church- ONE OF THE FILMING LOCATIONS OF HARRY POTTER! It was an amazing place with beautiful architecture and scenery. A few of the hallways were filmed there and the great hall, where the characters eat in HP, was on campus as well. My favorite place there was the Grand Staircase, though. I couldn't believe I was walking in the sensational Harry Potter staircase! It was an extremely exciting experience.

< That's the Grand Staircase! Sorry, it's not that great of a picture. But that's exactly where they filmed it!

Free Time: Next, we had our first "free time" period, in which we could choose to go around in Oxford with a small group of friends or stay on campus. Everyone almost always chose shopping, though. On that particular day, I bought an Oxford shirt, a necklace (I think...), and a locket.

Evening: Following a small dinner, I watched the FIFA world cup semifinals, Uruguay vs. Holland. I ended up doing my writing homework in the meantime, which was to make up a character. Here's what I came up with:

Autumn Dawn Summers

Born on the crack of Dawn on September 22, 1995, the Fall Equinox.

Mother: Faith Louise Summers, African American

Father: Ryan Carter, Caucasian

Sister: Willow Ivy Summers, 18 years old

Other:

-14 years old

-shy, clumsy, unsure; not teased, but shy by nature

-private school, new kid moving from Palo Alto, CA

-rich parents, nice life

-clever, not pushed by parents

-long brown hair she hides behind

-plays tennis

-violin prodigy

-works hard

-has a cat named Veranika

-wears earrings

-favorite color: lilac