March 14, 2007

The First Adventure Well, my first adventure of the break was absolutely amazing, although nothing was as we had planned. The goal was for one of my classmates, Emily, and me to hike to where the Thames starts from here in Oxford. We set out as planned and everything went perfectly for the first half hour, then we came to a few spots on the trail where it was washed out and flooded. This was no problem though, we were still energetic about it and didn't mind taking off our boots and socks and holding our pants up above our ankles. We set off on that first day at about 1 pm and made it 6 miles up stream and camped out at a lock which was manned by a cute little fellow. It was a beautiful camp and we made it in plenty of time to set up, cook dinner, watch a beautiful sunset and then walk into the village pub to get hot chocolate and read the newspaper. At the pub in Swinford the bartender told us that the trail ahead of us was probably even more flooded and boggy than what we had already encountered so he recomended walking the roads. The next morning we discussed his advice, looked at the trail ahead of us and decided that the roads might be a little nicer. I was extremely relieved that, while the roads we were on did not have sidewalks, they were not of the classic UK countryside style with huge hedges lining either side of the 1 1/2 car-wide 2 lane road. We eventually arrived at a town called Stanton Harcourt where we found a beautiful little church where "Christian souls have been worshipping for the last 700 years and still meet here every Sunday." We did learn a few vluable tidbits about life in the English coutry-side. First off, they live in Vilages, not towns. Towns are larger. Also, if you live in a village you do not count the number of 'people' who live there but rather 'souls.' So, for example, in the Village of Hinton Waldrist there reside 127 Souls. Every village has a Church and evey Church has an old old graveyard around it. We spent the afternoon of the second day mucking along next to the Thames again, continually hoping that around the next turn it would get better. It never did. In fact, it tended towards getting worse. At one point we were wading through water which almost came up to our bums. It is safe to say that our hike was going swimmingly. We finished out the day as best we could and then headed in to a village and found a campground to stay at. Due to the adversity we had facaed that day we decided we deserved a warm pub meal and so ate at the Black Horse. Emily's tummy had an adverse reaction to her fish and chips so that was a pretty tough night. In the morning we disussed our options over a bowl of porridge and decided that, in order to fairly say we had given it the 'good 'ol college try' we needed to at least get out there one more time, so off we went. That morning lead us through a lot of farm land and after 2 hours, 3 bunny rabbit sightings, a discussion revolving aound Watership Down, Jane Eyre, boys and mystery novels, we came into more fields of standing water and determined that enough was certainly enough. So we looked at the map and compass and determined to head off uphill in hopes of finding a road. 4 fields later, when we did find a road, we celebrated by sitting down and eating our lunches next to a pleasant little stream which had the courtesy to stay within its banks and enjoyed the sun a country side. From there we headed up in to a small village hoping to catch a bus upstream to a place wehre we thought the trail would be dryer, however, all the buses only headed in to Oxford and the next one was four hours away. At the advice of a lovely woman out working in her quaint garden we took a beautiful footpath over to the next village where we walked across teh grounds of an AMAZING estate which Emily informed me wouls be occupied by the sort of company around whom the Bronte sisters' books revolved. We wandered into the Bule Boar pub and took our mid-afternoon tea and listened as three old chaps who sat at the bar with their stool legs holding the leashes of their sleeping dogs. It was probably the most fun I have ever had eaves dropping. It brought me to the realization that in Cities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and London, the English have learned to tone themsleves down. They hold their conversations in whispers until they get drunk enough to start yelling but at that point a person like me has no hope of understanding a word they are saying. But when one gets out into the coutryside, into villages that are out of the way, where the English are openly English, you learn a lot. These three men sat there in their well made clothes, with their well behaved dogs, sipping on their wel drawn drafts, speaking about their wives, lands, holidays, and of course, Hitler. It was really a pleasant experience. From there we caught a 'bus' (it was actually a van) back in to Oxford where I am now sitting and wondering why my heels hurt so badly. The main thing which has stuck with me was an inscription on a plaque in one of the Churches we visited. It said "Even in the midst of Life, there is Death." I am not quite sure how to take that, but I am proud that I am learning to be able to bend my perception in the English direction enough to understand that it is not meant as any sort of a negative thing but rather, a fact. And to understand that it should be taken as such and nothing more.

February 3, 2007

HOLY COW!! I cannot believe I have not written on here in 2 whole months. THat really leaves me in a difficult situation b/c I can't decide whether to restart it as if nothing went missing (except 2 months of my life) or to try to recount it all. Here, I will compromise. I will list the last major events and give you one word descriptors. Then, when I get closer to this date my explanations will be more elaborate.
Christmas Break
Andy came
Holland
France
bought a Christmas Tree
Family Came
France
Rome
England
Scotland
School Starts
Political Philosophy Major- fun and interesting
Ethics minor- hard
Work
ermm...is work.

hmm, that summed up depressingly quickly. Anyway, I have 9 minutes before I have to leave for work and then I go to my second ethics tutorial for the term. I am pretty scared of this guy b/c he is really smart and also pretty young so he is still so immersed in his own studies that he forgets I am a bewildered undergrad. My other tutor is named Magus Moar...yeah, and it just gets better from there.
Other than that. I have a friend from Philmont coming to visit me for a little over a week during my spring break and I plan on spending the rest of my time hiking around. I am looking at several trails here on the island and if I have the money for a plane ticket I am going to try to get to some trails in some other countries as well.
As of now I really want to do:
The West Highland Way- in Scotland
The Coast to Coast trail- goes through the lake district which is apparently quite amazing
and others.
We shall see.
Okay, well, I have to put on my shoes and skeedadle.
I love you all SOOOOOO much,

Bethany

December 1, 2006

Alright folks, get ready for the low down on the last long while. I will start with right now and work backwards. Currently I am sitting in my dining room listening to the Amelie soundtrack watching Diana take a picture of Jennilee on her bike with these little paper people so that she can send the pics back to a 4th grade class in the US so they can track the progress of their little people around the world. I am in the middle of my working straight for the week and today I used some of my Christmas money to buy myself a winter coat. I am actually pretty excited about it. It is a beige North Face "Heavenly triclimate" which is a fancy way of saying "hey guys, look at me, I have a zip out liner." The week before that I was in Madrid with my friend from school, Phil, to visit another of our friends, Cole, who is living there. We went to the bull fighting place and to the Prado art museum. In between that we went to all the other sights of the city. One day we rented a paddle boat and after 30 minutes of Phil not being able to get us out of the docks, we finally set out on our expedition. We were true pirates. We even paddled to shore to steal some booty (a balloon animal from some guy dressed like Mickey mouse [which we paid for]). Cole made sure we tried certain sumptuous selections of Spanish foods: churros and chocolate, and jamon iberico. Phil and I would spend the mornings studying in the Starbucks right by our hostel and spend the days exploring. Unfortunately, on our first day there some little urchin woman stole my wallet with all my travel money and cards and EVERYTHING. FOrtunately Phil is one of the nicest people ever and he let me use his skype account to call and cancel the cards and then covered me on the money front the whole time. So, all in all, the whole little mess was a pain but more of a learning experience than a catastrophe. PHEW! Now I have one more essay to turn in and 1 more tutorial and I am done for the term! I have little to no idea what my grades will be like b/c the teachers don't give us grades on anything but I did my best and that is that. I will be done on Sunday and the on Monday Diana and I leave for Venice for a few days then we are coming back here. i am going to start to pull up sources for my thesis and hang around here for a few weeks and work. I am hoping to get the chance to hike to London (50 mile walk) but I might put that off until Andy gets here on the 14th. So that is what is going on around these parts. No wait, actually, I have one more story. So there is this park I ride trough to get in to town. the only other way to the city center is a 2 mile detour. Well, it just so happens that the trail is right in the middle of a flood plain...which decided to flood. For a few days it was a good foot of water over the trail so I would ride to work every day barefoot with my pants rolled up (very cold but very fun). The first time I encountered it it was the middle of a sunny day and it was awesome. Then, one night, on my bike ride home from work my pedal started acting funny. It was dark and cold and I was in my work clothes and half way through the lake my pedal fell off!!! I couldn't stop to get it and, somehow, rode home using only 1 foot. Later that night a group of us from the program were watching a movie and decided to go in to town to get some food. Most people wanted to go the long way but with some clever and subtle peer pressure the more adventurous folks convinced the rest to wade through the park. It was really fun and the perk was...I found my pedal AND got a Mars bar. I will post some new pictures soon. Love you all, B

November 15, 2006

Today Bethany learned why we don't wash blacks and whites in the same load. She also learned that British train stations don't have trash cans because of bombs.

October 29, 2006

Hey folks. It has been a while since I have been able to update this thing. Between work and school I haven't really had much time and for some strange reason the time that I do have I spend stressing about one of those two things. I have written 5 papers (6-8 pages long) in the last two weeks!!! Aside from that work has been pretty taxing. We only get paid once a month and somehow they did not get my paperwork in on time for me to get paid this month so that means there is a whole other month before I get any return. That was really upsetting. However, I love the customers and the fact that I get to hang out fussing with backpacking gear all day. I guess Philmont has just spoiled me...a lot. I have been making time each week to go for walks or bike rides out into the country and that has really been helping me cope. Everything over here is still green and every now and then we get a sunny day. Those are my favorite. I love that public fields over here have cows and horses in them who just let you walk right past them, I mean literally, within inches of them. There are always people out with their families and their dogs (people over here don't use leashes b/c their animals are just that well trained). Also, today I spent my daytime studies sitting out in our backyard just enjoying feeling the sunlight on me. It was great. The evening has been spent having an essay writing party with one of my classmates Cameron. He is in the same John Rawls tutorial as I am and we like to stress out over it together. Although he deals with his stress by bouncing his leg and stomping his sandals about and I deal with mine by glowering at an empty screen and drinking at least 8 glasses of water (at least I am hydrated eh?)But then, by the time I am ready to write I am running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. But somehow we make it through. Other than that I have not been up to much b/c I am trying to save money for my Thanksgiving trip. If any of you feel up to it you should download a program off the internet called skype. It is free and easy to do and then we can talk for free. I have also bought a web cam so you can see me! All you have to do is get a microphone. You should think about it. Okay, well, I am heading off to bed now. UPDATE: I just made some delicious tuna casserole. Thanks mom!!!!

October 12, 2006

It is Thursday night. I came home from work and Diana was making steak and baked potatoes for dinner. Not the typical college kids meal eh? Tomorrow night I am making twice-baked potatoes...and by "make" I mean "make up" b/c I am just kind of assuming and guessing the whole process. I finally got brave and have booked a couple trips for my future. As I said, this weekend I am going to Blenheim Palace with the class and then next week we are going to a presentation of the Canterburry Tales. Then, a few weeks later we are headed to watch The Alchemist. THe next week we go to see a production of "Winter Tales." Then on the 21st of November I am going to the Modest Mouse Concert in London. On December 4th Diana and I are going to Venice until the 6th. The girl knows how to travel cheap and so I am excited to be going with her. Andy comes to England on the 13th and is staying through till the 26th so that means he will be spending Christmas with the International Hughes' Inc!!!! Then we have family trip which sounds like it is chalking up to be pretty awesome altogether. The trip which I am most proud of though is my B-day visit to Carcassonne France. I fly in there and then will train out to Ax-les-Thermes. There are hot springs there and I plan to spend a day skiing in the ALPS!! All in all I think I am pulling this all off pretty cheaply and I figure it will make me live cheaper here which means more time for homework which makes for a better situation all around. I love you all, and I love getting letters and cards too. Bethany

October 11, 2006

And today is a rainy Wednesday. I just finished my first essay for my major tutorial. I meet with my tutor today at 5 and I am a little nervous b/c this guy is pretty intense. He expects us to read 4 newspapers each day AND write papers. What I have been discovering lately is how much work actually goes into living in a house that YOU have to keep clean. Also, we cook our dinners each night and while I have no doubt that the return on that both financially and socially is worth it; it does take time. This fact fascinates me. I had my first bout of working last week. Somehow it turned into 4 days straight but I am okay with that b/c it means less work this weekend and since I will have two essays due this time, it will be easier to work less. Also, on Saturday we are going on another excursion, this time to Blenheim Palace. As for my personal excursions, next month I'm going in to London for a concert by one of my favorite bands, Modest Mouse. Also, I have decided that for my birthday I am going to go skiing. I can get a cheap flight on the internet and my housemate Diana has been helping me figure out how to work out details for getting around and booking things online. THis leads me into answering Aunt J's question about my housemates. Diana is another politics major and this chick is I-n-t-e-n-s-e!! I try to not even get her going on politics b/c it takes some time. She is from Arkansas and knows how to get all sorts of wound up! She is the backbone of our family dynamic. She does a lot of the cooking (and she is good at it) and has a lot to do with us having clean floors. Jennilee is another girl from William Jewell. She is a music major and I love listening to classical music with her b/c of all the tidbits she imparts. She and I have a lot in common. Mainly on matters such as our passion for corduroy pants and chacos. Our bikes are also the same. And our morning alarms are set to the same radio station. She works in the music area of Blackwell's Book Store. We have fun when we go out together but I think she too is just starting to get the hang of this whole "household maintenance" bit so that causes some tension in the house. Bryan, our housemate in absentia, is our one guy. He has the room on the downstairs floor whilst the rest of us live upstairs. He is an English major and has a job as a security guy at the Union (a student association with a library and everything). He plays the guitar and is really chill. When he is here he sits in the living room strumming away and we all find various excuses to be on the main floor, either in the living room or kitchen, so we can listen. He has not been here much for the last few weeks though because he is talking to one of the other girls in the program and he is over at her house most of the time. Last night it was our friend Emily's birthday and so I took my harmonica and the guitar over to another friend, Lisa's, house and we practiced a serenade for her. Then we went to Emily's house and stood outside the kitchen window and played for her. It was good fun. Other than that I ride my bike a lot and try to be outside when it is not raining. Let me know how you guys are doing. I think of you all and pray for you daily. Bethany