A Visit From Katie and Turkey Day!!

(at Georgina's)

So last weekend, I had the pleasure of entertaining my dear friend Katie here in Oxford! She has been studying abroad in Spain (Madrid) for the past few months, and made the trek to cold cold England last Thursday.

When she got in Thursday night, we had ordered some yummy Thai food take-away (not "Take Out" becuase they don't say that here in England) and so once Katie got a little settled in the room we sat on cushions on the floor, eating dinner and catching up on life. It was such a trip to have a friend from home here with me in Oxford, as the things we were discussing ranged from mutual friends to customs in Spain!

(Katie requested a "phone booth" shot)

On Friday, we got up sort of early and I had breakfast with Katie at one of my favorite spots: Queen's Lane Coffee, and then I had to run over to Magdalen for a while and meet with an archivist there to talk about things for my final tutorial paper. [ The Archivist, Robin Smith, was the guy who had written the book that I was reading for my tutorial...it was very cool to talk to him in person.....only in oxford....] In the afternoon, we wanted to take Katie to a traditional "cream tea" at The Rose across the street, but they were too busy for us, so we headed to Georgina's, another awesome place to eat, and had salads and wraps and general food-things. After Georgina's we went shopping for a little while, at Primark and other places, picking up bags and headbands and other cheap things. That store was preeetty amazing, I think. Then we went to see JAMES BOND, which all three of us really liked. Yay for movies at Oxford!! Around 6 we headed to dinner at Magdalen, so Katie could witness the splendors of slop dining (not to mention the fabulous architecture). Finally (this day was long, as you can tell) we took Katie out for drinks at the famous "Turf" pub. We met up with some other Stanford kids which was great fun, and then came home, happy and full of cider.

Saturday morning started with some yummy coffee and studying at Starbucks (I know, I know...but it's the biggest coffee house in Oxford) and a really lovely walk around Christ Church Meadows. Then we got Juliana from home and climbed to the top of Saint Mary's Church to get some great views of Oxford! It was so fun to see the city from another point of view. Katie and I then dropped Jules at home and went shoppping for a cake and birthday stuff, as we were celebrating Juliana's birthday that evening. It was quite the grocery shopping experience. Finally, we were back home, eating Harvey's sandwiches and waiting for the festivities to begin.

(Christ Church Meadow Walk)

About 15 people from the house showed up downstairs for Jules birthday, and we did the cake and candles bit and everything. It was really fun, especially since everyone was dressed up in garbage bags for a Magdalen "Bin Bag Bop" party that we went to post-birthday. It was a good time and Katie got to catch up with the kids she knew in the house.

Sunday morning, it was an early goodbye to Katie, followed by a very loud fire alarm in the house (no fire, of course) and then intense paper-writing. Having her here made me feel like I had been on vacation too!



Fast Forward 4 days: I wrote a 17 page paper on the History of Magdalen, a short response paper to the film "My Beautiful Laundrette" and finished a series of drawings for my Portfolio. It is Thursday evening, and I am ready, oh so ready, for a lively dinner and lots of pie.

Thanksgiving in the Oxford house is a collaborative effort that worked out really really well. I personally was in charge of pecan pie, and I baked two of those Thursday Morning (they turned out so well! mmmm tasty). Other housemates made turkey, ham, green beans, carrots, a mountain of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, yams and apples...you name it! We all crammed into our "seminar room" at the house aroun 7:30 and had a great Thanksgiving dinner! Some people's parents were there, other people's friends showed up and our house staff (who are all English) came too. It was a funky bunch of people, but it worked out really well.

(Juliana and Jocelyn cooking the turkey "breast"...our ovens weren't big enough for a whole turkey...)

(The Veggie Spread)


(Leigh making some pie crust)


(The Dining Room)(Bustle in the Kitchen)

After dinner, when we were all eating pie, we headed to the JCR room and watched the most recent Harry Potter movie. There were lots of "oh I've BEEN there" comments as well as "When does Hermione turn 18?" and various other moments of sarcasm. It was fun, we were full, and by the end, it felt like a real holiday. Cheers.