International Flavor

It's kind of a weird feeling to be in a super market and find an "American section". The funnier part of it is that "American food" is apparently peanut butter oreos, pop tarts, family size mac and cheese and massive tubs of marshmallow fluff. I have no idea why Americans get a bad reputation as being fatties! There was also a little beef jerky if you happen to be craving it. I got so excited when I saw the Kraft Mac until I saw that it was £5 a box!! They are not playing around with the prices in that section. I resisted all temptations to buy anything in the section but I have a sneaking suspicion that some time in the not too distant future on a cold get dark at 4 pm day I will be willing to pay good money for some mac and cheese with a side of peanut butter oreos!

British Pride

So my friend posted this link on FB: http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/things-the-uk-does-that-the-us-needs-to-start-doing

And it is quite obvious that an English person wrote this. Unless it is a disillusioned American who has forgotten their roots.

1) No, in fact it is not delicious to mix beer with cider. I think it's called a shandy and I think it's kind of lame. And men order them here which an American man would never do. It's like a man ordering white wine or rose wine in a bar. Which, come to think of it, British men also do that. I was at an event earlier this summer and I've never seen so many men drinking rose. Made me chuckle a little. I'm not saying it's bad or good; I actually prefer how British men are secure in their masculinity and hug their guy friends and drink rose, but it is still funny.

2 and 6) Amen!

4) Yes, about the cursing after 9 pm. Their tv can be so much funnier. I was watching a show the other night and a commercial (advert) came on and it was basically a child walking in on his parents making the love. It said something about mommy and daddy wrestling and then eating butter or toast afterwards. I had to rewind the commercial just to make sure I had seen it correctly!

17) GROSSS!!!!!

19) I don't even want to know that the chocolate dark thing is on the top left edge of the plate. That has to be that blood thing they make. Gross!!!

29) I ain't gonna fight you England...

British Dreaming

When I studied abroad in Mexico I thought I had truly become bilingual when I started dreaming in Spanish. Now mind you, the Spanish in my dreams was something like "donde esta la biblioteca" but still I thought I was pretty clever. I now think I'm becoming British with my dream last night. I can't remember much of it but I was at a restaurant and was looking at a menu that had curry. Now, I would never have dreamed about curry in the States. I didn't even know it was called curry-I just heard about Indian food and was a bit scared of it. Now I love it and apparently have sweet dreams about it-the other item on the menu was a chef salad so apparently I am still holding onto my American roots as well. Maybe I should be concerned that my dreams are pretty lame and are just about me eating. :)

Don't call it a comeback...

I've been here for years...

I feel a bit like Michael Jordan or Jay-Z faking a retirement. I'm sorry I've left my fans hanging for the past couple of months. Sadly, I don't think I've had quite as many requests to return as the aforementioned celebs. I think maybe one or two of you said "are you still writing on your blog". So it wasn't really a request I guess but an inquiry. :) So whether you like it or not, I'm going to try to start writing again. Something has to get me through the British winters! And on that note; I wanted to share a tweet from a site my friend follows. It's called British problems and it's some person who talks about "British Problems" and this one kind of made me laugh because even though this country is known for its crap weather people always seem to say " it's really bad out there today or it's grim out there today" We say that almost every day! Honestly, the summer was gorgeous and we've had a proper fall but it now gets dark at 4pm.

British Problems ‏@Brit_Probs 5 Nov

Never quite getting used to British weather

It's a boy!

I just received this email from a local bar. Everyone is taking advantage... I mean celebrating the royal baby. So exciting though. My favourite line is the one that basically says "even if you aren't a fan of babies". Also they have my name as J since I think that will help me avoid identity fraud. I know... I'm super savvy. :)

Dear J

As the world welcomes the Prince of Cambridge, we’d like to congratulate Kate on becoming a new mum too, with our very own royal arrival – the Duchess Deluxe Bellini. Why not raise a glass with us and enjoy 50% off?

Get your halfprice cocktail >

Named in honour of Kate, our specially created cocktail is made from sparkling prosecco, Disaronno, and white peach purée.

Even if bellinis or babies aren’t your thing, there are plenty more drinks – and reasons – to celebrate at All Bar One Oxford.

It's a scorcher

This article makes me laugh. It has been gorgeous here for the past 2 weeks. That is right-just 2 weeks and look at the news.

Sizzling, sweltering or scorching – whichever way you describe it, this summer has already been a memorably hot one.

We are currently enjoying the longest spell of blazing sunshine for seven years after enduring a succession of washouts.

But what other historic heatwaves have stood the test of time to be remembered as truly Great British Summers? Below are our top five of the last century:

Mean Girl

So sadly, that would be me. They call the bikers around here kamikaze cyclers. (well not sure if "they" do but I do). It seems I have become a kamikaze walker. The summer is when the tourists flock to Oxford and it tends to get really annoying. They stand in packs so they take up the entire sidewalk and you can only go out into the street to avoid them. And when they walk they walk 5 across and they see you coming but don't move. It's like playing chicken with these people and I've always lost... until now. I think I've run into 5 people this last week. I had one kid that was seriously talking with his hands and I was running and he made a big gesture and I ran smack into his hand. Buddy-be aware of your surroundings! I know I sound like an old crotchety person but it just gets to you. So basically... don't get in my way. :)

Me again...

I feel like I've been pretty slack lately with the blog. It has been just over a year since I moved to Oxford. It is weird and cool to be able to say, last year at this time I was... and have it be in England. It's nice to feel more at home. And it's even nicer that the weather channel says it is going to be in the 80s and sunny for the next two weeks. I've been tricked before though but am trying to stay positive! Last week my friend Lisa came to visit me and we had a fun time in London, Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon. We were total Americans in Stratford where we got in a taxi at the train station and were quickly dropped off about a block later at our hotel. The taxi fare didn't even move off of the base rate. It was £2.40 for the ride and the taxi driver just laughed at us when he realized which hotel we were going to. It was like the James Bond where he just drives around the circle and gets out (except not quite as sexy) No offense, Lisa. :) The other funny thing was when we went punting in Oxford and had met 3 impressionable young college students the night before and asked them to join us for some punting. They later found out that we were using them for their punting skills. It is not that fun to steer a punt. But the one kid was horrible and each time I said it's ok I will do it or you are way too close to the front he would just ignore me. We ended up just zig zagging down the river when he was at the helm. Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! I have been working to celebrate over here. Retribution from the Brits! :)

Just loungin'

So we have a big event this Friday night and this was the reminder for the dress code:

To remind you that the dress code for this evening is lounge suits.

I'm picturing 70s style disco suits with people leaning back everywhere. I think they mean suits?? Maybe I should check before I show up in leopard purple hot pants. :)

8 letters...starts with an S

So our office has been asked to document a Guiness World Record attempt. The story is below. I will be capturing the madness from 5-7 today.

Oxford University student's Scrabble world record bid

Chris May's (left) attempt is expected to last up to five hours

Continue reading the main story

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An international Scrabble champion will attempt to break the record for playing the greatest number of simultaneous games, in Oxfordshire later.

Chris May, 29, a musicology student at the University of Oxford, will aim to play 28 games, each against a different opponent, at the same time.

The current Guinness World Record stands at 25 games, set in India in 2007 by Ganesh Asirvatham.

Mr May, from Australia, won the Scrabble championship there in 2011.

He is currently ranked ninth in the world and the event is designed to raise money for Assisted Reading for Children (ARCh).
'Fun with words'
He described his attempt, which is expected to last up to five hours, as a "huge challenge".

"I've played tournaments since 1999 and my highest score in a tournament game is 732," he said.

To claim the record Mr May must win at least 75% of the games played.

Games will be played according to British tournament Scrabble rules and his opponents include staff and students at the university.

The event has already raised more than £1,000 for ARCh - a Bicester-based charity which aims to support children in Oxfordshire with reading difficulties.

Jane Rendle, from the charity, said she hoped the event would "help highlight the importance of reading as well as show how much fun can be had with words".

Mr May said his attempt at Oxford University Press would be independently adjudicated and documented.

Ready, set, ......

.......goooooooooooooooo......

So I went to the annual tortoise race at Corpus Christi College yesterday. You know, the usual! It was pretty funny; their was an older "Master of Ceremonies" and as he started to announce this music like Chariots of Fire came on. I guess they were pumping up the tortoises-those poor things didn't really seem to know what was going on. There were about 15 tortoises in the "race" which were accompanied by their "trainers" who went around and said how old their tortoise was and what their fastest time was. The first one was Zoom and his record time was 10 minutes. HA! One of the tortoises was 70 years old! There was also one human participant with a big tortoise head and he had to eat a head of lettuce before he could start racing. So they all started with their backs together and then let the tortoises loose. Zoom lived up to his name and went dashing for the lettuce. But just when he was about to win he turned sharply to the left and was just kind of wandering right next to the lettuce. So some other tortoise took the glory. The "Master of Ceremonies" came over to where I was standing (where Zoom had taken a sharp left turn) and literally said "did Zoom stop short of the lettuce?"  These are words I thought I would never hear! So poor Zoom didn't win and I can't remember the name of the tortoise who did. Enjoy the pictures! I love the one guy who is whispering motivational cheers in his tortoise's ear. :)

Island Living

This weekend I went to the Isle of Wight with Tom and a couple of our friends. It was gorgeous and we got really lucky with the weather. We drove through the New Forrest to get there and there were ponies, donkeys and cows just hanging out by the side of the road. At one point we had a face off with a Shetland cattle (like those cute cows with the furry bangs that I saw in Scotland) I'm trying to get my camera and not really realizing that it is a bull with big horns and Tom is like, um, we should probably go. :) We went on a really long hike on Saturday that was gorgeous. We walked right past a heard of cattle and I got a little nervous and wouldn't look them in the eye. We hiked through gorgeous countryside and then had lunch outside at a pub in this little town that had a jazz festival going on that day. We fed trout during lunch which was awesome. You could buy fish food from the pub for 50 pence. Sunday we had another nice hike and headed back. It's kind of hard being back at work today. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Before and after...

Ascension Day is the only day of the year when people are allowed on the lawn of the front quad. A class from a local school comes to catch the pennies that our students throw from the tower. The kids were so cute. Apparently, they threw £30 worth of pennies off of the tower. (so basically 3,000 pennies) I know you like my math skills! :) Here is a before and after shot of the kids waiting for the pennies to be thrown.

Only in Oxford

I hear myself saying this phrase a lot. I've had two "only in Oxford" situations this week. My first one occurred this morning when I received an email from the porter in the lodge that asked me to kindly remember to park my bike with the staff bikes and not with the fellows' bikes. I forgot I was a lowly staff for a minute. Shame on me! The second is when I was asked to take pictures and witness a Guinness World Record scrabble attempt by one of our students. Apparently, he will simultaneously be playing 75 opponents at the same time. Good times!

Ascension Day...you know the usual

Just your usual Thursday in Oxford...


Thursday 9th May (tomorrow) is Ascension Day and there will be much going on in College to which you are all welcome. Much of what will happen is unique to Lincoln so well worth witnessing:

 

9am Sung Eucharist in St Michael at the Northgate (The College Choir will sing Victoria Missa O Quam Gloriosum and Finzi; God is gone up)

 

9.50am The Beating of the Bounds. The Parish will gather outside the Church to mark the boundaries of the parish, these markers are found in places as varied as the City Hall and Marks and Spencers.

 

12 Noon the Boundary Marker outside Hall is marked.

 

At around 1pm pennies will be thrown from the Tower in Main Quad to children who will have gathered on the lawn.  Ivy Ale will be being served.

 

7pm The Choir will sing Madrigals from the Tower.

Too hot to handle

So I just saw a title for a headline that said "scorching hot weather over the bank holiday weekend" Bless the Brits-it is going to be about 70 degrees out and they consider it scorching!!! Just thankful for the sun! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

May Day

So May Day was a funny thing of beauty and drunkenness. The boys choir sings at 6 am on the top of Magdalen Tower and they sound amazing. They then say grace and welcome in the spring

. It was a beautiful experience-minus the guy beside me who almost peed on me. I think he thought he was being pretty subtle and peeing in the bushes where no one could see him. He basically was on the edge of the street and did a little pivot to the right and peed on the wall which then ran down the sidewalk and almost got me. So many people are drunk because they all stay up the entire night. I on the other hand am now a super responsible person and woke up early to see it. I know you are all impressed. The one picture is of the Magdalen Tower and the other is of the Morris Dancers who have a little parade down the street and dance after the singing.

All turned around

So I thought I was so good with directions until I cycled the wrong way after football/soccer last night. First of all, I don't have bike muscles. There is a huge and really long hill on the way to practice and my legs were seriously feeling the burn. I got off of the bike and the guy was like let's warm up and I was thinking I can barely walk right now. Then after practice I followed one of the girls back to the main road because I'm still not familiar with all of the roads. So she went right and I thought she went right because she was going to the store. Well I went left because I thought that was the way home. So I'm cycling my little heart out and a bus passes that says City Centre. Well typically the buses that say City Centre are going towards City Centre (which is where I wanted to be heading) so I thought hmmm, maybe they always say that. And then a big bus was kind of slowly creeping behind me like a shark and I turned to check the sign and it said Blackbird Leyes which is not a nice part of town so I realized I was in fact cycling away from town. So I had to turn around and cycle back and then realized that if I had taken a right I would have been 5 minutes away from home. Sad times....

Pub lunching

Now that Tom has a car our new thing is to do pub lunches on Sundays. Sunday roasts are a big thing in England and it's cool how the pubs are usually full on Sundays with people out eating their roasts. We went to a gorgeous place on Sunday that had a little house for two ducks (I forget their name now but it said --- and --- house on the oustdie-so cute!). You could also buy eggs from reception. So everything is really fresh and local. Then we explored the town a little and found ruins of an old manor. We didn't really find them, we heard about them at the pub. There was a sign that said "opening hours-any reasonable time" :) I'm including a picture from the ruins. Also, on a side note back to my bike: there are two sections where you can keep your bike during the day at Lincoln. There is a section for the staff in the back and a nice section in the front for the fellows (professors) It is ridiculous how segregated it can be. Oh and they celebrate May Day in Oxford and apparently it is a huge deal and people fill the streets. Negative to May Day equals waking up at 5 am to get a space on the road. Positive to May Day equals talk of champagne breakfasts. I think it is going to be a game time decision.

She's got wheels...

and she sort of knows how to use them! So I got a bike this past weekend. It was actually sunny so I rode home along the river. I feel like an official Oxonian now. Then last night I biked to supper club and felt like a total dork. I had my helmet on (which I think sits higher than other people's helmets) and had my backpack over both shoulders. It was so fun biking (or cycling as they say here) to my friend's house. People are kamikaze bikers here though. I was just going about my business in the bike lane and people were wizzing by me on the outside. One biker almost cut me off on a turn. I almost used my bell on her! :) The bike doesn't come with a kick stand. So when I stopped it I was like how am I supposed to keep this thing up. So not a natural biker/not European. I still need to get lights on the bike so one of my friends gave me a police escort home after supper club. She is German and grew up riding a bike so says she doesn't wear a helmet but is thinking about getting one next winter. Ha! Don't worry mom-I will always wear my helmet no matter how dorky it makes me look. Oh and my other friend gave me a neon badge that a crossing guard would use. I was looking awesome.

Walk in my shoes

I just saw this on Oxford's FB page. It lets you take a little virtual walk around Oxford.

For a quick glimpse of English summer, you can also enjoy a five-minute walk in the sunshine around our historic city centre with this visitor's video (http://youtu.be/h3pXKuO-ydo).

It's pretty shaky and not great and they have clearly found the one sunny day to fool all of these youngsters coming to Oxford.

Let me upgrade ya!

I have been in the US ofA for the past ten days on a work trip. Our Rector and my boss have been traveling with me. Or more I have been traveling with them. The Rector is the college's head of house like a college president. So the two of us are boarding the plane in London and the flight attendant told me to take a left. Now I am not usually told to go left bc I usually sit with the common folk in economy class. I tell you what, having money is where it is! I had champagne in my hand before I'd gotten my pillow out of the plastic. Meanwhile the poor Rector was in the 50th row. A better employee would have offered my seat to him but I wasn't sure when I'd be able to experience it again.  I wasn't smooth about it either and took a picture. One of these things doesn't belong...

The Queen, the Queen!!!!

I saw her! I saw her!!!! I stalked her and it worked. She went to a lunch at Oriel College so I was outside and her car pulled up and she got out in a beautiful blue suit with a blue hat on. She looked so lovely!!! I keep walking around telling people that I saw the Queen. Very exciting!! And I waved at her and I'm pretty sure she waved back. :)

Queen (HMQ) Mission

I found this article about the Queen's visit. Also, after further reading of the initial email from our staff person, I saw the Queen listed like this. "The Queen (HMQ) will be visiting" I love that they put HMQ in parenthesis for Her Majesty the Queen. Here is a status update on her visit. I am going on a Queenie hunt tomorrow!!! Road closings be damned.

The Queen will be in Oxford on 28^th March for the annual tradition of handing out Maundy money to elderly locals.
Christ Church Cathedral will this year host the annual ceremony which sees the monarch give out Maundy coins to pensioners to thank them for their contribution to the community and Church. This will be the first time Christ Church cathedral has hosted the occasion.
Every year the Queen visits a major cathedral or abbey in the UK to hand out the coins, which this year will be given to 174 people.
The Very Reverend Christopher Lewis, Dean of Christ Church, said: “It is great news that Her Majesty is coming to Oxford’s Cathedral at Christ Church for this profound service.  The Queen will distribute Maundy money to 87 men and 87 women – two recipients for each year of the Queen’s life.
“The recipients, who must be over 70 years old, have been nominated from all over the diocese of Oxford in recognition of their service to the church and the local community.”
The name ‘Maundy’ is understood to derive from the mandatum or instruction of Jesus that his followers should love one another. British monarchs or a royal official have honoured this commandment since the first recorded instance of the occasion in 1213 by giving out symbolic coins to elderly people.
According to the Diocese of Oxford, the act of the Queen giving money “derives from Jesus’s commandment at the Last Supper that his followers should love one another”.
The Very Reverend Lewis elaborated on the religious significance of the day: “Maundy Thursday is the day when we remember Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and sharing his last meal with them, so the Queen’s visit will be a central part of the way in which the Cathedral marks the day.”
Queen Elizabeth II has been absent from the ceremony only four times in her reign. In 2012 the Maundy money consisted of two purses – a white purse containing 86p in Maundy coins and a red purse containing a £5 coin and a 50p piece. The coins are legal tender but do not circulate because of their silver content and unique value.
The current Queen is also responsible for the decision to hold the service in a different location every year; prior to her reign it was always held in London.
Many students were enthusiastic that the Queen would be recognising the city in this way. A St John’s fresher commented: “Oxford is an important city and the queen is just beautiful. She’s been a real rock for the country and the fact she’s still visiting important cities and showing people her support is just great.”

Queenie

So we got an email letting us know of road closures. Then in one line it mentions that the Queen will be coming to Oxford tomorrow. So my coworker and I are going to go stalk the area where she is supposed to arrive. Will keep you posted.

Pictures

This was a really powerful memorial. During World War II they lined Jews up along the river and told them to take their shoes off. They then shot them all into the river. There were apparently thousands shot. This was on the Pest side.

W!zz Air

So I can now blog about flying on W!zz air since I am safely back from Budapest. They seriously spell it with an exclamation point and there was an option to buy bancrupcy insurance for your flight. It really instills confidence in an airline if they themselves are not really sure they will be flying in a month. The airplanes are bright pink as well. W!zz air is making a serious statement in the skies! Budapest was a really interesting and different country. I said to my friend with who I was traveling "you don't realize the history in a country like Hungary" and she said, well I do. Sorry, my bad... what I meant to say was "I, Jane do not think of history." I never knew this but Budapest is actually split up by the Danube River and Buda is on one side of the river and Pest is on the other. It's actually really gorgeous along the river. I will try to post some pictures.

Refined palette

There is a beer festival coming up at one of the College's and we just got an email regarding it. I love what they say about over consumption.

The Lamb & Flag Oxford Limited, a subsidiary company of St John’s College, gift aids its profits to the College for the purpose of funding scholarships. Please don’t let your enthusiasm for the cause lead to over consumption of these complex and delicately flavoured real ales. 

Back in the saddle

So I've found a new group of girls who just kind of kick around and practice soccer on Monday nights. I thought today would be a good day to start back. I had the best timing ever as it just started snowing sideways. I also saw that Raleigh had gorgeous weather this weekend. I am not pleased. :) Also, side note, they call Math maths here. It is always plural. Just thought you should know that.

What's that...come again??

So I just had a (as they would say here) boozy lunch with an alum. The guy is a pretty big deal and is a consultant for the uk government among other things so while I was waiting for him I was wondering what the heck we were going to talk about. I was pretty sure we wouldn't talk economics since I dropped accounting for run/jog in college. Oh also the best part is he asked where I received my "first degree" right, my first and only degree...it was really hard to understand him as he had a pretty thick British accent. So between not hearing him and not knowing what the heck he was talking about, there was a lot of me going "excuse me, what was that" good times! He ordered a bottle of wine for lunch. No big deal...gotta love European business lunches! And just in time to sober up, I'm going to a boozy alumni dinner. Happy Monday to me!

A to Zed

So the British say all of the alphabet like we would say the alphabet but they say Zed for Z. So if they are spelling Zebra they would say Zed E B R A. I am a little confused as to where this came from. It's not like Z sounds like any other letter in the alphabet. Anyway, random food for thought. Happy Friday everyone!

College living

I was having a crummy Monday because my computer is doing a weird tilting thing and I'm sure it would be easy for me to fix but I'm computer illiterate so am afraid I will break something if I mess with it. Then my coworker took the day off and she has the weekly menu. So now I have no idea what to expect for lunch today. As you can imagine, I was not pleased. But then I got our monthly pay notice and I find out that we have an annual day out. This year we are going into London for the day and we get free tickets to see Mamma Mia. I love Europe!!

Mum's Day

So it is Mother's Day over here in March. I was told today that the British celebrate a biblical Mother's Day. I think they were trying to say Americans celebrate some satanic Mother's Day or something. I have no idea of the origin of our Mother's Day and why it is different from the British Mother's Day. I may Wikepedia that now though. I then had cheeky thoughts of telling my mom that I was sorry I hadn't sent her a Mother's Day card but that it wasn't my fault b/c they didn't celebrate it then. But then I thought even better that all the Mother's Day cards will go on sale right in time for our devilish Mum's Day. Sadly, my mom reads the blog so she now knows she is getting a picked over half price Mother's Day Card. It's the thought that counts??

Happy Valentine's Day!

So the cards are a little more shall we say R rated over here. I'm guessing Hallmark does not have a card that says "I love you so much you can put it up my bum" There were several others this racy but can't seem to remember any besides the bum one. Ha!!   Hope everyone has a great day!

This just in...

I just found out that tomorrow is National Pancake Day. How excited am I? Apparently, they are more like crepes and aren't fluffy like ours. I will probably be disappointed. Apparently they call the nice fluffy ones American Pancakes. Still, pretty excited to have a pancake day!

Inquiring Minds

My fans (ok one person) have asked me to give some follow up on two of my posts. I still have no idea what Queens Pudding is because they had 3 other dessert choices that day so I went with chocolate cake. The Queens Pudding had some crazy merengue and rasperry thing and someone said it was spongy. I don't actually know what that means here and have been let down by spongy cake once before. So, you will have to wait for the verdict on Queens Pudding! Secondly, I was so good at my task of getting the butler and the chef that they had to wait around for about 10 minutes. Kind of felt bad for them but I had had some wine and did not want to mess that up! Also, I was scolded at the dinner for passing the port the wrong way. Silly me, we always pass it to the right in the Mitchell household. :)

FYI

I will be having Queens Pudding for dessert today. Not sure what it entails but it sounds posh. :)

Are you ready for some football?

So, my friend Kelly taped the Super Bowl and Tom and I went over there last night to watch it (Monday night) with her and Ian and baby Dylan. I did such a good job yesterday not getting on Facebook or personal email so I wouldn't see any of the scores or updates from the game. I mean not that I ever get on Facebook or personal email at work.... just saying. Yesterday morning my coworker told me that she didn't really understand the game and asked why "they got so many tries". Watching the game over here was definitely a second best because the commentators were British and as much as I love a British accent I do not love it when they are talking American football. Also, there are no commercials so each time there was a break it would be the British commentator instead of some cool Doritos ad. Anyway, still glad I got to watch it! Hope everyone enjoyed their Super Bowl Sundays!!!

This can't go wrong...

So I found out today that I am in charge of fetching the butler and chef at the end of our meal. The end of our meal where wine will be flowing and where one of the guys who works here makes it his job to keep my wine glass full. So I think that appointing Jane, who is not at all ADD and would not be distracted by a shiny object, as the one to perfectly time a thank you is a wonderful idea. Yep, definitely can't go wrong.

Dear Chef and Tony,

Sorry not to have a chance to communicate this to you in person, but I wanted to let you know that we’d expect to thank you during the speeches after dinner tonight. The speeches will take place once coffee has been served, and Jane Mitchell will come and find you to alert you just before you need to come in.

New Girl on the River

So my coworker emailed the captain of the rowing team here about us joining the team. Now in the US this would be completely ridiculous and they would laugh at you. Not in England! They will let any ole fool out on the water. She knows I have absolutely no experience except for those couple of times I crushed it on the rowing machine in the gym for about 5 minutes.

I'm ----, the women's captain. It should definitely work for you and Jane to be able to get on the river. This term we have fixed crews so unfortunately I wouldn't be able to put you in a crew half-way through term, but I would be able to sub you into outings if you wanted for this term, so you can see what it is like, and then next term it would then be possible to put you both in crews, and to race in 8s etc. if you wanted.

At the moment the river is very high so no one is on the river at the moment, but when it does go down again I could get in contact with you both again about doing some subbing if that sounds alright to you.

God Save the Queen

I'm back in sunny ole England and am so glad to be back. It was wonderful seeing all of my Raleigh friends though! So, an alum had a question and said she was paying her HMRC and I asked what that meant and they said "Her Majesties Revenue and Customs" Of course it is. Then tomorrow I have a work event and we are toasting to the Queen. It's on the actual agenda. "Toast the Queen".  And the menu for tomorrow night's affair is ridiculous. I don't even know what half the words mean. I know we will be having some beans and carrots but the rest is a mystery! I'm sure the cutlery is going to be out of control... Outside in... work from the outside in.

Home Smoked Goose Breast with Roquette and Lambs lettuce Salad and Quince marmalade

Artichokes with Roquette and Lambs Lettuce Salad (V)

Lobster Tortellini in a Lobster Broth

Tortellini filled with Petit Ratatouilles in Tomato Sauce (V)

           2008 les Pinots d’Alsace ‘Metiss’ (Bott-Geyl)

Roasted Noisette of Local venison with Black Currants and SautÉed Morels, Black Currant and Red Wine Jus and Game Chips

Butternut Squash tart with Chestnuts and SautÉed Morels and a Spinach coulis and Game Chips (V)

Quenelles of Celeriac and Dijon Mustard Puree

Bundles of Fine Beans

Cocktail of Braised Leeks and Glazed Baby carrots

 1999 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ‘Etienne Gonnet’ (Font de Michelle)

White Chocolate and Bitter Orange Pave with Honey Roasted Figs in Rose water

Petit Fours

2010 Muscat de Beaumes de Venise (Dom. De la Pigeade)

Coffee

The Frozen Tundra

Ok, I'm being a little dramatic with that title. But Canada is pretty snowy and is definitely cold as all get out!!! I've been on the train to Ottawa for about 4 hours now. At first, train living is fun but come hour 4 it loses its charm. Now I'm just a little dizzy from seeing all of the trees fly by me and I almost knocked myself out in the bathroom. Hit my head on the mirror on a sharp turn and went flying a bit. Was laughing at myself. It would be really embarrsing to be found passed out cold in a train bathroom. Then I ordered Pringles, a bagel with cream cheese and a coke for my lunch. Then girlfriend next to me broke out her mango smoothie and nut, fruit, and cheese tray so every time I ate some of my bagel I felt her judging me. I'm trying to check out her skin to see if it is youthful and if eating fruit is paying off. Just one more hour to go...

O Canada

So I'm now in Toronto and have been outside of the hotel for about one hour in total. This morning I found this really cute brunch place about 2 miles from the hotel so I thought I would have a lovely little walk and explore the city.  I got about 5 blocks and thought my face was going to freeze off. I decided to go to Fran's Diner instead. Fran did not disappoint. Got me a little hot chocolate with whipped cream. It is -7 here. I haven't mastered celcius yet but I know that is cold as blue blazes! There was some ice on the sidewalk and I'm not sure if it has rained anytime lately. I think the ice just showed up b\c it is so cold. Toronto is a funny little city from what I can tell. It just seems like I am in a random city in the States. I mean I guess I am judging a book by its cover since I've only seen about a 5 block radius but still... not impressed. I have a 5 hour train ride to Ottawa tomorrow. I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I planned that part of the trip!

Ole Chap

So my parents left this morning around 6am. It snowed overnight so everything was gorgeous. I hear that it was 75 and sunny in Raleigh this weekend. This does not amuse me. Please keep your weather to yourself. :)  It was so nice having my parents here and even though I'm sure we all tired of each other at times we had a really good trip. They really took to the British life. My dad said "I was talking to a chap the other day". Really dad? You were just chatting it up with a chap? Then I found this on my mom's facebook page in response to her own comment

Martha Mitchell They have cider here on tap which is far superior to beer, and a half pint is the perfect size

 

I love it!! I am supposed to leave for Canada on Wednesday for work and keep looking in my bedside drawer to make sure my passport is still there. I'm so nervous!!! I think my boss is sending me to Canada to remind me that I could be in colder places. Good times!

Rub a dub dub, the Mitchells are in a pub

So my parents are still here and I feel a little bad because now I have to work and they are hanging out in Oxford during the day without me. They have been super good sports about it and I figure if I leave them alone long enough they will clean my entire flat. I'm the best daughter ever. So mom had the idea of doing a pub crawl last week. That's right, out of the three of us, my mom came up with the idea of the pub crawl. So last Friday night my parents and I went to four different pubs. At one of the pubs my mom picked up a postcard that features the best pubs in Oxford. So our plan now is to check off all of pubs on the postcard. I think we've checked off about 10 of them! Tonight my parents are going to one on their own since my friend Kelly had her baby and I'm going to go visit them. Then tomorrow we are back at it again with two more pubs. It's serious strategery with the locations and hitting all the pubs so we have been very thoughtful about this. There will be three more on Thursday. I'm not thinking we will get through all of them by Saturday when we leave for Bath. We are getting my dad in the car again and testing our luck. I think he secretly likes it and thinks he is James Bond. I'm hoping he hasn't gotten too rusty since Scotland.

One of them

Last night I think I became a bit more British. I was waiting in the cold for the bus back to Oxford from London. The bus was only running every hour since it was New Year's Day. One other guy and I were waiting for about 50 minutes and then a lot of other tourists showed up. Typically, there is an orderly line where people "que". The British are known for their queing ability and take great pride in it. I appreciate this part of their culture. So when the bus showed up it was madness. A large Asian family started running with their bags to the front. It was like Black Friday at Walmart. I was not having it. I said to the British guy "does no one know how to que?? they are all tourists" I'm sure he was totally convinced I was not a tourist with my accent. So I boxed out an old Japanese man and fought my way to the front. I even yelled out that we had been waiting for an hour and that they were all being ridiculous. I'm sure they thought I was crazy. The cold and weather is really getting to me. I was not missing that bus!!!

New Year...New Weather?

I really hope so. Last year was the wettest year on history in England. Way to welcome me Jolly Ole England! Yesterday was sunny and pretty but today it's back to its old antics. So, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will possibly break down my time off into a couple of posts to make it easier for my readers. (yes, I think I write for a newspaper company now and have a column). :) My parents arrived two weeks ago and it's been fun showing them England. My mom reads the blog so can so it has been a joy every second of every day and my flat has not seemed at all small during that time. We went to Scotland for Christmas and it was my dad's first time driving stick shift on the left side of the road. That may have been one of the most stressful things I've done in a while. I had to keep reminding him that he needed to get on the left side of the road. And round a bouts were a hot mess. The GPS girl was recalculating a bit. And he loves to hug the left side of the road so about 5 days into Scotland the left hubcap went flying into the woods. Good times all around. Then when we almost ran out of gas getting back to Oxford because my dad is such a penny pincher that he thought he would get as much gas as possible out of the tank. Idiot! (he doesn't read the blog-I'm not sure he even knows what one is) And after we did get some gas we had to return the car and the road was flooded. So glad to not be driving anymore!