Freshers' Week

In addition to the eight academic weeks of the term, Oxford's calendar includes an additional pre-term week: 0th week (called noughth week, not zero-eth, as I may or may not have been calling it in my head).

During the Michelmas (fall) term, 0th week is also Freshers' week, which is packed with activities akin to those of Welcome Week at home. Pub crawls at the old stomping grounds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, tea and cakes with the Junior Dean, rowing on the Isis--you know, the usual.

This week was kicked off by our Women's Studies induction on Monday morning. While inductions in the U.S. often carry connotations of secret, candelight ceremonies filled with clandestine rituals, I've gathered that here it's really more of an orientation. We went through the syllabus and then just had snacks and chatted for a while. I left our meeting really excited for the year: interesting material, good faculty and, as could be expected, fab classmates. I love love love Women's Studiers--who tend to be pretty brilliant, passionate, fierce, innovative people--and I am thrilled to be back among them.

The rest of the week was one getting-to-know-you activity after another: a college pub crawl, followed by some time at the St. Cross college bar's Bond night, complete with martinis shaken, not stirred, Bond music and even the odd tuxedo (pictures below); a foray with fellow Kelloggians to G& D's ice cream; and the Freshers' Fair, ohhhhh the Freshers' Fair.

(Me, outside G& D's. Let's be honest, friends, all I do these days is creep around this fabulous city)


(Photos from St. Cross: Nicole and Sam, Women's Studies pals; Bond, his tux and his martini; Women's Studies bud Laura and Roseanne)


For those of you from Michigan, Freshers' Fair is a lot like Festifall, except it happens within several rooms of the very, very old Examination Schools, where you're corralled from room to room in a way that feels a little bit like a funhouse at a carnival. I wove my way through the maze of booths hosted by the various Oxford clubs and societies ranging from Amnesty International to Brazilian Capoeira, from Banking and Finance to the Gilbert and Sullivan society and everything in between. I signed my name on far too many email lists, and will probably be getting information from these clubs well into middle age. I'm excited about several of them, including the Oxford University Women's Campaign; Democrats Abroad; Amnesty International; and Oxford Women in Politics.



(About a quarter of one of the dozen rooms of Freshers' Fair)

Another highlight of the week was my very first, proper British afternoon tea. My classmate Laura and I went to the Queen's Lane Coffee House, which claims to be the oldest coffee house in Europe (somehow I feel this is probably disputed by others). I had the Cream Tea, which included tea with scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, and I think I'm hooked and looking forward to exploring other tea spots that Oxford has to offer.


(Not quite the Queen's tea, but I'll take it.)



I also stumbled upon a store at the Covered Market called Pie Minister, which sells small pies (a la Sweeney Todd, minus the human ingredients) and found some wonderful comfort food: a minty lamb pie over creamy mash, topped with peas and a red wine jus gravy. It was a wonderful moment, and now I'll share it with you:




This weekend I've mostly been lazing about. Last night I had a very romantic date with myself: I treated myself to a sumptuous, homecooked dinner and then took myself to the theatre. I told myself that I looked very nice, I held my hand, and had a meaningful conversation with myself about the highlights and lowlights of the play. I think this relationship is really going somewhere.

Today I went back to the Pitt Rivers museum & museum of natural history with college friends Narayan and Tinya. They hadn't been and I liked it the first time I went so I tagged along. Glad I did because I realized that in fact the Pitt Rivers museum, while sharing facilities with the museum of natural history, is actually its own entity. You step into the museum from the back of the other, and it's just kind of this dark expanse laid out before you. The layout of the collection seems a bit schizophrenic--there doesn't seem to be a particular logic in where everything's placed, so you turn around from the southwestern US hopi pottery to see shrunken heads from Africa; just across from the south american masks is a feather cape from Hawaii, and just around the corner are dolls and puppets from around the world. It's like stepping into the mind of a mad scientist--or at least her basement--and we spent the entire afternoon getting lost in its wonders.
Narayan took some great photos, some of which are posted below.



( I was happy to see my friend the evil bird again, and to introduce him to Tinya and Narayan)



(The frog gives us a rather rude hand gesture)



(I told you there were shrunken heads)


(Tinya and I look on in amazement)


All in all, a good noughth week. Tomorrow is my first day of classes as a graduate student, and I'm two parts excited to one part nervous that I've forgotten how to be a student. After class I'm meeting with my graduate supervisor, and then the first meeting of the women's campaign meets in the evening. Crossing my fingers for a good, full, first day.

xoxoxo
Amanda