Oxford 10: Autumn

The temperature is getting progressively cooler; the leaves are slowly beginning to turn; rain showers are becoming increasingly frequent; and the wind has picked up considerably. Fortunately, I absolutely adore the brisk weather. The entire skyscape can change completely within a matter of twenty minutes because the winds are so fierce at times. 'Tis the season of coats and scarves and sweaters and jackets.

On 16 October, the OSAP (Oxford Study Abroad Program) group took a trip to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The property includes 105 acres of gardens and parks, and the house appears in the recent film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as the exterior of Pemberley, the home of Mr. Darcy. I have not seen the film, but I did very much enjoy the book when I read it in high school.

Earlier in the term, we visited Blenheim Palace, residence of the Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of the former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. Both properties were absolutely gorgeous.

On 20 October, I saw Howl's Moving Castle (in Japanese with English subtitles) at the local Picture House. I continue to enjoy Hayao Miyazaki's films for their compelling and 'realistic' portrayal of the magical, the fantastical, and the absurd (each of these being quite distinct, by the way).

And speaking of films, I saw a poster for the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and was appalled to see, smack-dab in the middle, front and center, the white witch in her sleigh being pulled by POLAR BEARS. There are NO polar bears in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The witch's sleigh is supposed to be pulled by REINDEER. My father will, of course, scoff at my nitpickiness (and, admittedly, there are more important things in this life to get riled up about)--but POLAR BEARS!?!

And by the way, if you have not read the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, or if you have not read them in a very long time, do pick them up again and refresh yourself. I'm rereading them as part of my seminar in C.S. Lewis here at Oxford and am thoroughly enjoying it. For all ages, they are excellent books.

Most of my time continues to be occupied in reading and research (which I am enjoying) and in this past week a great deal of time was spent in the lower reading room of the Radcliffe Camera, part of the central Bodleian complex. I do continue to stress a little over my work; probably the most difficult aspect has to do with judging how much time I have available to accomplish each task and pacing myself properly so as to balance all my projects.

Such is the state of affairs at present. God is still faithful and good. Until next time, blessings,

Oxford 09: APU - Italy Campus

This is just a random posting for all those acquainted with APU. I was going through the photos from my trip to Italy. The similarity to West Campus was striking and uncanny.



The second image is from the ruins of the Roman Forum. A portion of the colosseum is visible in the background.

Cheers!

Reflection 04, Philosophy: The Nature of Philosophy

"A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, But depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."
- Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Oxford 08: A Short Break

Yesterday, I was getting really frustrated. I was trying to read Aristotle's Physics and was getting nowhere because I was tired and having trouble concentrating. So Joannie said I ought to take a break and try and tackle the work the next day. I was loath to accept the advice at first, but another hour of relative unproductivity finally convinced me that I wasn't going to get anywhere in my then-current state.

So I went back to my flat and took a two-hour nap. I got up, made dinner, and then BJ and Nate came over and announced that they were going to see the new Wallace and Gromit picture (The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) at the cinema. That was an enjoyable and pleasant experience (though, for those looking for movie appraisals, I will say that I think Dreamworks definitely left its mark on W&G).

I then returned to my flat and watched episodes from the sixth season of the Simpsons on DVD, compliments of the good man, BJ.

I first came to appreciate the Simpsons when I saw the episode where Lisa Simpson poses as a college student. One night, she and her intellectual college friends go to the Cafe Kafka for a poetry reading; on the walls of the cafe are posters of cartoon cockroachs. One would only recognize the literary reference if he or she had ever read Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. The short story is about a man who wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed into a cockroach. So, I realized, there was something of subtlelty and culture to be found in the Simpsons, apart from the more overt, blatant, and occasionally crude humor.

I now have another reason to appreciate the Simpsons: a little thing I call "a random reference to pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." I learned many, many years ago that this was the longest word in the English language (according to the Guinness Book of World Records and the Oxford English Dictionary). It is an obscure fact that I have retained up to the present. One would have no idea what Grandpa Simpson was saying if one were not acquainted with that word and that particular useless fact. Charming.

As an homage to Wallace and Gromit, I also ate crackers and Wensleydale cheese, which is a very good cheese, in fact. I drank tea and relaxed and it was an altogether thoroughly enjoyable evening.

It's good to take a break every now and then. I'll get cracking on that paper now.

Oxford 07: Tutorials and stuff

And how am I doing now?

On the academic side of things: Yesterday and today I had my first meetings for my tutorials. Yesterday I met with Dr. Harriet Harris of Wadham college for my primary tutorial on "Integrating Philosophy and Theology." Oxford tutorials consist in a series of hour-long one-on-one meetings with a tutor who has training in the field of study. I will have eight meetings with Dr. Harris (one for each week of term). Each meeting centers around a paper that the student has written over the course of that week. My first paper was on Plato's natural theology. My first tutorial went well, for the most part, and I'm very much liking the direction that the course is taking.

Today I had my first meeting with Dr. Kurt Ballstadt of Lincoln college for my secondary tutorial (only four meetings over eight weeks) on "Leibnizian Philosophy." I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed that session; Dr. Ballstadt is positively charming and conducted the session splendidly. Tomorrow is the first meeting of the C.S. Lewis seminar (several APU students are taking that together); we'll see how that goes.

In addition to the tutorial and seminar, there are many, many philosophy lectures going on. Oxford students take these lecture courses as part of their program at the university. There are so many lecture series going on, it's incredible. I could listen to philosophy lectures continuously each day from dawn to dusk, if I wanted to (but then I would never get my research and papers done). But I think I'm going to go through the series on Locke and Berkeley, probably take a series on logic, and maybe one on Nietzsche. So many choices.


Other miscellaneous and fun, random points: Since I lost my big umbrella in Italy, I've had to purchase a new one. I can now say that I am the proud owner of an authentic, British umbrella--so I'm very happy about that.

I find that I'm drinking more and more tea. Electric water kettles are marvelous devices--so much faster than boiling water on the stove; I'm going to have to get one when I return to the states. At any rate, tea is wonderful--sweet nectar.

I've spent some more time around New College--the college with which I am affiliated during my stay here. It's quite a lovely place.

I've been attending services at Christ Church College these past several weeks. I've very much enjoyed my experience, thus far, with the Anglican church. The evensong services are incredible and the chapel choir is amazing. I'm falling more and more in love with sacred music.

I've joined one of the college choirs for the term--the Wykeham Singers of New College (after William of Wykeham who founded New College). Rehearsals will be about an hour long, once a week, for the next eight weeks (and at this point, we don't have our own copies of the music with which to practice) with our concert on 01 December. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I found at that the room where my secondary tutorial meets is the same room that John Wesley used during his time as a fellow at Lincoln College. How cool is that? I'll get pictures at my next meeting.

I'm not terribly impressed with BBC Radio. Usually when I get back from the library in the evenings, BBC Five Live (693 MW) is broadcasting sports commentary (when it's the news I'm interested in), and last time I turned to BBC Intelligent Talk (93.9 FM) they were doing this really long segment on the toothbrush. They talked about the history of the toothbrush, the composition of the first toothbrushes, of what and how modern toothbrushes are made, whether standard or electric toothbrushes are more effective, what the state of dental hygiene is in Britain today, the current state of the toothbrush industry, whether sale of toothbrushes is rising or falling, new innovations in toothbrush design, developing campaigns for teaching people how to brush effectively... on and on and on. So I'm not terribly impressed with BBC Radio. (Ha ha!)

Doing laundry continues to be an interesting experience. I'm glad that the OSAP has furnished our flat with a working washer and drier (so I don't have to use a laundromat), but the wash cycle takes over an hour. And the drying cycle takes over four. That's right--over four hours--that's two 130-minute cycles (and the clothes are still a little damp). And rarely, if ever, is anyone home for four continuous hours, except when sleeping (and nobody's going to get up at midnight to start the second drying cycle). I'm sure I'll laugh about it someday. Actually, I laugh about it now.

Alright, that's enough miscellaneous points for now. Things are altogether going very well. Do, please, continue to uphold me in your prayers. And to all friends and family who read this, feel free to write an e-mail or post a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Cheers!

Oxford 06: Three Pearls of Italy

Things are moving apace and, at times it seems, even accelerating. More and more is happening and I have less and less time to even think about documenting it all in my blog. But, of course, the biggest news of the past two-and-a-half weeks is that I got to travel to Italy. Christy, Stephanie, Brooke, and I visited Rome, Florence, and Venice over six days.

We spent three days in Rome; on our first day, we visited the St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum in the Vatican City. The Vatican Museum was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. The Museum is massive--gallery after gallery full of marble sculptures, mosaics, frescos, tapestries, paintings, maps, modern art pieces, and so many artifacts. I actually saw Raphael's School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel--incredible!

On day two, we took the train down to Nettuno, a city on the coast of Italy. I swam in the Mediterranean. The only downside of the trip was that I left my umbrella on the return train ride. (I brought my umbrella because Italy is given to sudden and extemporaneous rain showers.) I was very disappointed to have lost that (as I'm sure you can imagine). That day we also visited the colosseum and the ruins of the Roman Forum.

On day three, we went to the Church of St. Peter in Chains where we saw Michaelangelo's Moses, along with (what are purported to be) St. Peter's chains. We did other miscellaneous sight-seeing and took the train to Florence.

Our time in Florence (days four and five) centered around the Duomo, a beautiful Gothic church and the Gallerie dell'Accademia where Michaelangelo's David is housed. We, unfortunately, didn't get a chance to visit the Gallerie degli Uffizi (another massive art museum). Dante Alghieri is a big deal in Florence (which is very cool) and in Italy generally. His picture is even on the 2€ coin. We came across many statues, paintings, and memorials for him, including a painting by Baldassarre Calamai that I liked very much.

In Venice we visited St. Mark's Basilica (where St. Mark is supposedly buried) and St. Mark's Museum. Gondola rides cost about 100€ (about $120), so we didn't do that. But there was still plenty to see and it made a great conclusion to our trip.

Of course, there's much more to be said--staying in hostels was an interesting experience--and many more pictures. I'll share more, in person, when I get back to the states.