Christmas is upon us...

So I just got this email from someone at College. This place is amazing. Of course, this may be our Christmas bonus. Hey, I'm good with being paid in food! This goes back to the whole thing about dessert being called pudding. I won't get a big bowl of pudding. I shouldn't have posted this and had my parents thing I had slaved away in the kitchen to produce a British Christmas pudding!

"As always, you have the opportunity to receive a Christmas pudding.

There is a list in the Lodge; please tick against your name, by Friday the 16th of November, if you would like one."

Much Ado about Nothing

We had a work event on Saturday for our older donors. It was a really nice day and everyone was really nice. I was corrected for calling one person Reagan (pronounced like the President) instead of REEgan. Said it was very American of me. I wish these people would realize that I am in fact American so am probably going to speak like one. So the event starts with drinks at about noon (they don't play around over here) then moved to a three course meal where they are pouring wine freely. Then we go to a lecture about the creation of the Earth. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you should probably not serve old people wine and a big meal and then sit them in a lecture. I was struggling to stay awake so I was not surprised to hear a couple of loud snores from the crowd. Too funny!

Then on Sunday I went to Bath and it is gorgeous. My friend Guiliana and I went and we took the bus up there. There was this annoying girl on her phone and there is kind of a code that you aren't supposed to talk on the bus. Well Giuliana looks at me and says "no, I am Italian, I must say something" So I think thinking she is going to walk up and gently say, excuse me but do you mind talking quietly since we are all able to hear you. No, she gets pretty close to her face and says in broke English "do you think we like hear your voice? No, we do not" And that was that. I wish I could do that! I would just be passive aggressive about it and cough loudly or give them the evil eye; totally effective methods. I took Monday off and have a lovely 4 day week and then was reminded this morning that it is college coffee day. I love Wednesdays! And, when it is your birthday you have to bring in baked goods. It's genius really because you only have to bake once but you get treats throughout the year. Kind of like Chinese birthdays (or so I am told)

Dinner is served

I was able to eat at the high table again last night. I hadn't eaten at the high table since my interview back in March. It was even crazier than I remembered it. This time it was kind of fun because I now know the kitchen staff and they were making faces at me while I walked by. So, for those of you who don't know the original story, I will walk you through the very posh/traditional evening.

You meet at 7pm for sherry and conversation and wait for the butler to come get you. That's right, the butler, dressed in a tuxedo (mind you it's a Wednesday night) comes to the door and leads you to the dining hall. Well the students all stand up and wait for you to pass through and you go to the front of the room where there is an elegant table set up for you full with candelabras and fine china. I had 7 pieces of cutlery at my place. How does one have 7 pieces of cutlery? Somehow, I used every single piece of cutlery though. First course was a delightful mushroom soup, then came baked fish with a sprig of asparagus. I thought the fish was the main meal until they brought out lamp chops, brocoli and roasted potatoes. Out of control! Then they brought us our apple pie dessert. If that is not enough, they then escort you to another room that is dimly lit and has a bowl of fruit on it along with candelabras of course. So then we pass port and dessert wine around and eat fruit. You know how the commoners do... And, to top it off, each person has a little fingerbowl of water where they can dip their fingers if they've gotten to sticky with the fruit. Just a normal Wednesday in Oxford!

Fall has arrived

Just wanted to share pictures of front quad now that the fall has arrived. I thought the campus was gorgeous in the summer but the fall is amazing! I started to think that maybe the Ivy Leagues got their name from the ivy here and they were up to the standard of Oxford and Cambridge. Just googled it and was nothing of the sort. :) Something about the IV roman numeral. Also, my office is the one on the bottom that has a clock in it. We are the office on the second floor with those three windows. There are four of us in the office and then our boss is the last window on the left.

Smart People...

are funny to me. I am emailing a bloke in Chicago and every time he writes me back he changes the subject line. Sometimes I have to go to dictionary.com because I don't know what the word means. They say that lifetime learning is good for you and makes you age well. I hope this is true because I am definitely lifetime learning here. On another subject, they call most desserts here pudding. It's a funny little world I'm living in. :)

The Butler

I was looking for our butler's email address on the system. Silly me I was looking for his first name. For instance, my email in the system would be Jane Mitchell. Well his is just Butler. Then our chef's is just Chef. No full names just Butler and Chef. Amazing.

Too smart for your own good

I am clearly not referencing myself here. I left Oxford a civilized historic place and returned to a wild college town. I guess kids will be kids regardless of how smart they are. Today i Went to get groceries around 2pm and this kid who looked about 15 to my trained 34 year old eye was leaning against the column of the store and was just spitting. He was in his Oxford robes and everything. So classy! Then tonight a couple of us went out and it just started to get crazy around us. One british guy came up to me and asked me what he should get his girlfriend for her birthday. By girlfriend he meant random girl he had just met at the bar. I told him he should sing her the Top Gun song and that she would be impressed by the gesture. Something must have gone terribly wrong because the next minute they are out in the streets and she is yelling at him and chasing him. He keeps going "woah a woah a woah" but doesn't know any other words to "you've lost that loving feeling" so it is not quite as romantic as I had first thought it may be. Also, this broad is crazy. I'm kind of laughing at them and she comes up to me and tells me I should leave. Don't have to tell me twice!! So I'm heading home and see another kid being taken way in the paddy wagon. I'm not sure what is going on but I hope the new kids on the block get it out of their system soon :)

Home again, home again...

Jiggity jog! I can't believe I am finally back to Oxford after a long passport/visa ordeal in the States. There is nothing like feeling like a foreigner in your own country! There must be an Orthodox Jewish Convention or something in the UK this weekend because there were about 50 Orthodox Jews on my flight. I've never seen so many Kosher meals in my life! :) Is that insulting? I'm sorry if it was. I'm fairly certain no Orthodox Jews are reading my blog though. Oxford feels like home now so that is a really good thing. Today coming to work I didn't mind the tourists taking pictures or the bikers almost taking me out. It kind of adds to the charm of the place. Come next week I will be complaining about the rain again but as of now I am pretty happy! And my coworkers put a fun shiny cowboy hat on my lamp on my desk so that was nice to come back to as well. Thanks again to the McKeevers and Adam for saving me in the City! You kept me sane when I was in a bit of a fragile state of mind. HA! Love to all!

Patience is a virtue...

At least that is what they tell me. I have so little patience this morning. So I'm sitting here waiting for the visa guy (my boy Ravi) to email me to say that everything is tip top shape with my visa. I called him at 10 just to reiterate my dire situation. He was not amused and said he would be in touch. So I am checking my yahoo like a crazy person who has just met a guy and is wondering if he has emailed her. Literally hitting check email every minute. I may go crazy if I don't hear something by noon. Someone told me today that I have a British accent. I don't believe they have ever been to the UK or have ever encountered a British person. Hell, I've been here about 3 weeks now so any start of an accent is long gone. Ravi, pull through for me boy!!!!!

hmmmm, where do I begin?

All was going so well. I was enjoying Vermont, I was having successful donor visits and then it all went downhill. I believe around Sunday (a week ago from this past Sunday) I lost my passport. I did not realize I had lost my passport until I was gathering my belongings on Wednesday when I was getting ready for my flight. As you can imagine panic struck. We aren't sure if I lost it on Sunday when I was lugging bags around Manhattan or if one of the kids got into my bag and hid the passport or threw it away. I don't think Brooke reads the blog so I am going to blame it on her child. :) That also makes me look a little better than just letting it fall out on the streets of NYC. Her really sweet three year old boy came up to me and said "um, Aunt Jane, you missed that flight huh?" Yes, Jack I did. The poor McKeevers ended up having me stay with them for eight days. They had only signed up for three! So last night to give them a break I came into the city and am now staying with my friend Adam. Thank God I have such good and generous friends. Yesterday I had to go into Brooklyn to have my fingerprints taken again. They say they have issued the visa now and hopefully I can get it soon but I am not going to breathe easily until I actually have that thing in my hand.

Nothing like feeling like a foreigner in your own country!