World Without End
Well life at Oxford continues on. It honestly has been a few days since the last post and the biggest reason for this is because nothing has really felt noteworthy since. Like with any place I suppose, the more you get settled in there, the more it becomes your home and the less things seem exciting and new. I mean there are still moments on a daily basis where I learn something about this beautiful town, but the initial euphoria has shifted more into a sense of comfort. It's quite nice, actually.I suppose the biggest news to report would be our day trip yesterday. All of us study abroad students (there are like 70 total, 20 from APU) visited Stratford-Upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare. We saw the Shakespeare museum, visited Shakespeare's home, and even saw a production of Dickens' "Great Expectations" by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I found it interesting that The Bard’s home really didn't seem all that different than my apartment here centuries later. And I know, ironic that we saw the Shakespeare Company put on work by Dickens, but apparently it was all that was playing at the time. During our few hours of free time, we found a local fudge shoppe and crepe restaurant, both of which were quite delicious I must say. It really was a great day and I enjoyed the little jaunt to Stratford.
Before I forget, I should mention that there are some new pictures up. The one work of art from the Ashmolean Museum is a particular favorite of mine. Two other things of life-changing significance to mention: after finally succumbing to the pressure of multiple voices of wisdom in my life, I purchased the two episodes of LOST on iTunes that I hadn’t seen and watched them yesterday. Completely worth the investment. And my flatmate Roz, who as days go by we’re all learning is one of the cooler people ever (her father is an American diplomat!) and I’ve received further proof of that once again. She told us this week that her great uncle is Peter Boyle, who some of you may recognize as the grandpa on “Everybody Loves Raymond” or from films such as While You Were Sleeping, Taxi Driver, or Young Frankenstein. And then she went on to tell us how he was close friends with John Lennon and John was the best man in his wedding! I thought that was pretty cool, and I know some of you will too, even if others of you are just thinking that I care way too much about trivial things right now.
Back to, you know, things about Oxford, I can really relate to Chris' story of woe regarding the library. The system of libraries here is quite spectacular, yet they can be the biggest headache sometimes. Like let me just paint you a little picture. This week for my primary tutorial I have a list of 18 books to reference. 10 must be called up from the book stacks, requiring reservations a day ahead and since only 4 can be sent to each reading room, I'll have to make 3 trips to three different reading rooms during my 4 hour window of library access each day. Another 7 are at three other libraries, all of which I have non-lending access to, so I'll have to sit there and read them at various times in that aforementioned window of library opportunity. And the last one was not even in the library, so I made a little expedition across town to the 5-story bookshop and purchased it. This whole studying thing is not for the faint of heart. Also one of my roommates was reading in one of the more centralized libraries and a member of the library "police" came by and instructed her that she needed to be reading her book with two hands. They take books seriously around here.
The only other thing I wanted to be sure and mention, on a very different note than the library anecdote, was that a few nights ago Chris and I and some of our friends had the opportunity to attend an Evensong service at the Christ Church Cathedral. As we ran across town in an effort to make it before the bells finished chiming and the doors slammed shut (I felt like Cinderella), I eagerly anticipated this service but came with little expectations. What I found was simply breathtaking. I don’t know if any of you have ever had the ability to worship God in a cathedral before, but I hope that in some point in your life you have the opportunity to. One of my professors last semester at APU led a discussion with our class about how sometimes the medium is the message, meaning that all the little details of the service indirectly teach us something about God. After this service, just by being able to sit in this beautiful building, complete with painted ceiling, giant candelabras, monstrous pipe organ and stained glass windows, I felt like I was given a whole new picture of God. All the labor and artistic detail that had gone into this building seemed to speak of the majesty and glory of our Lord. And though the nature of a very liturgical and sacramental service can seem foreign to some of us, there is so much beauty and mystery captured in hearing the boys choir sing the Magnificat or praying a prayer together as a body that has been prayed for centuries past.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
And to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
World without end. Amen.
posted by Jen and Chris at Oxford @ 5:15 PM
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