I just checked the lecture list for Hilary Term and have most of my schedule lined up. It looks like everything will be crammed into Tuesday and Thursday, leaving Monday/Wednesday/Friday completely free (except for the semi-regular meetings with my advisor on Fridays). But please tell me if you think this schedule is too ridiculous for words, and if I should cut back - especially if you have relevant knowledge of the content. I'm sticking to Medieval/Golden Age because trying to cram in some Latin American or Modern Spain would just kill me.

Here we go:

Mondays: Free!!!!!

Tuesdays:

• The Romancero Viejo, 10-11, Weeks 1-4
• The romances of Lope, Góngora and Quevedo, 12-1, Weeks 1-6
• Literary Theory, 2-4, Weeks 1-7
• Spanish Research Seminar, 5-7, Weeks 1, 2, 4, 6-8

The romancero lectures are of the "not necessary, but relevant and interesting" variety. The other two are of the "necessary no matter what" variety.

Wednesdays: Free!!!!!

Thursdays:

• El Medico de su Honra, 9-10, Weeks 1-4
• Rinconete y Cortadillo, 9-10, Weeks 5-8
• Literature and Textuality in Golden Age Spain, 10-11, Weeks 1-8
• Literary Theory, 12-1, Weeks 1-8

El Medico is of the "I've read it before and can't remember a damn thing but it's important so I should review" variety. Rinconete is of the "you can't call yourself a cervantista without knowing this stuff" variety. Literature and Textuality is of the "it's for undergrads but I need it" variety. Literary Theory is of the "can't graduate without it" variety.

Fridays:

• Meet with supervisor at either noon or five, depending on availability, not a regularly scheduled event but still important.

So...what do you think? Will I live to tell the tale?

Happy New Year!
Kaitlin

Dear Friends:
Only twice in my life have I been able to buy, sign and send Christmas cards on time. This year is not one of them. So this blog message will have to suffice. (I'm hoping I can squeeze in a few emails and Facebook pokes as well before Sunday!)

Although this message is neither personalized nor hand-written, the sentiment is still sincere. I would like to wish all of you, blogfriends and "amigos en vivo," English-speakers and hispanohablantes, old friends and new, Oxonians and Hawks (you get the picture), a very merry winter solstice holiday of your choice and a happy new year.

2005 was an exciting year for me. I taught my first four classes as an adjunct and was no longer someone's TA, and it was great to be able to make my own decisions for a change. My work in educational technology really gave me a new perspective at the faculty side of things, and I got to work with a lot of really great people. And of course, in September I arrived in Oxford, and I returned home for the winter break a changed and "bettered" person.

Yay to all of you for making this such a great year. Let's make sure that 2006 is an even better one.
Paz, amor y felicidad para todos...
Kaitlin

Hahahahaha this is awesome! Completely random, but I'll be humming that song forever.

Thanks Ianqui!

And no, I don't mean Cambridge. I'm talking about my teaching blog. If you know the link go find me there, if not, email me and I'll send you the link.

I'm going to start leaving a few posts there now that I'm starting to think about my winterterm class. It's hard to cross back over into Facultyworld (sounds like a theme park...and hey, in some ways, it is), but I need to make the transition.

So go visit me o'er there, as my first back-to-work post is a request for advice.

Cheers!
Kaitlin

I'm back. And it's weird. Updates to follow.

But I couldn't go any longer without thanking my secret spoiler from Spoil-a-Blogger 2.0, who I discovered a while back but never managed to thank publicly on my blog. So, a big huge THANK YOU to Lori-Lyn over at The Dream Life for all my excellent gifts! I'm so sorry I didn't thank you on here sooner!!!

I don't know if Gwen is planning another round of Spoil-a-Blogger, but if she is, I'd encourage you to participate. You do need a blog (and it doesn't have to be on Blogger, it can be any kind of blog), but you do not need to be in the United States. It is a lot of fun to get gifts from a secret person, and then when people compliment you on them and ask where you got them, you can say mysterious things like, "A girl in Kentucky gave this to me, but I don't know her," hehehe.

Thanks again, Lori-Lyn!
Much love to all,
Me

About a half-hour ago, I finished my last tutorial of the term. I am d-o-n-e done!!!!!

My final paper was craptacular but I still somehow managed a 70, which means I finish the term with a distinction-level average. Now I have to focus on getting packed up and outta here.

Where will you find Kait when she's not at Catz, you ask? Good question. I'll still leave the occasional post here, probably talking about stuff I miss. I'll also be back at the teaching blog, sharing all my winterterm antics. If you're interested, I'll send you the link if you've never read it before. As for the Xanga, it's pretty much retired, but I will keep it open so I can comment on other Xangas.

Damn! It's pouring out, and it's black tie guest dinner night! What am I supposed to do?!? It's a bit of a hike to the hall from the MCR when it's pouring out...and I'll have to carry a coat and an umbrella.

3 1/2 days to go...

Much love,
Me

Where the hell did November go?

I have been in Oxford now for two months and three days. Tomorrow I will have been in the college for two months. I go home for Christmas in exactly five days. And I will return one month and two weeks after that.

Whoa.

...for those of you who are in the area, I just wanted to let you know that the St. Catherine's College Carol Service will be held this Thursday night (1st December...can you believe we're at December already?!?) at 8:30 p.m. at St. Cross Church (on the corner of Manor Road).

I went to Wadham's Carol Service the other day, and it was beautiful. The whole thing started in darkness, and as the service began, people walked in with candles and began lighting candles all around the room. The whole thing was held by candlelight (which caused me to sit very still throughout the service, as I did not want my hair to catch on fire!). It was amazing.

So Catz people: come on down to the carol service, as I am sure it will be lovely. Plus, I could use the moral support, as I will be doing a reading of a poem by William Carlos Williams at the service!

Wish me luck...and for those of you who are around, hope to see you there!!!
Much love,
Me

>>>Edit, 11:45 p.m., 11/30/05: For my fellow blogging Oxonians who are not from Catz, you are welcome to attend as well! You'll recognize me as the one who trips over her own feet as she walks up to do her reading...;)

I know I've been doing a lot of blogging about how things are different here compared to the States. Here's the weirdest difference I've come across so far:

The Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is sung to a different tune!

Here are some links to prove it:

British Version
American Version

Back to work, but I thought I would just share that enlightenment with y'all.
Later!
Me

• to start paying for things with paper money and not coins again.
• to be able to shop at places after 7 pm.
• to ask, "Is this the line?" instead of, "Are you queuing?"
• not to have the automated voice telling you which cashier to go to at the post office or the supermarket.
• to give out my American cell phone number rather than my British one.
• to call it a "cell phone" and not a "mobile."
• to drive to the supermarket!
• to use the term "Greeks" to refer to people who are not necessarily of Greek origin.
• to have a grade of 68 be a bad thing.
• to use my sunglasses more often than my umbrella.
• to be back on the faculty side of things again.
• to have "pound" refer to this - ### and not this - £££
• to have "here" and "to go" ("eat in" and "take away") cost the same amount.
• to have to leave tips!
• to recount my day-to-day Oxford happenings to everyone I see at home...

I owe you some long posts about the Thanksgiving dinner, Catz Night, and other stuff, but these things crossed my mind recently. I think I've changed a lot in these past two months. It's not that I can't wait to get out of here, or that I don't want to go home, but I think that things will be different. And I think I'm a better person as a result.

Am I boring y'all with these enlightenments? I'll be finishing my paper on Tuesday, which means I'll have a few days of free time. Throw a topic my way, and I'll discuss it on Tuesday when I'm done with my paper.

Much love,
Me

For those of you who celebrate it (and even those of you who don't), I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Although I don't get to be with my family for Thanksgiving this year, I have a lot for which to be thankful, including the amazing experience of being here in Oxford.

Thanksgiving is one of my favoritest holidays because it doesn't have all of the obsessive commercialism attached to it. Even the really big deal holidays, like Christmas and Easter, have gotten to be a bit too much for me. Thanksgiving is really where it's at.

The dean of St. Catz has kindly invited all of the American students to dinner. It should be interesting. What I find really funny about Thanksgiving is that my family (this includes the extended variety, such as aunts and uncles and cousins) tends to prefer the boring, bland types of foods we've had for decades. Yes, we like canned cranberry sauce. Yes, we like plain stuffing. We overcook the yams because we like them like that. If we try something new, like oyster stuffing, we still make the regular stuff because we know everyone will want that. Is this weird? Does anyone else have family food traditions that they can't live without for Thanksgiving?

Well, off to do some work before dinner. Cheers and happy holidays!
Kaitlin

I'm not even bothering to post this on Phantom Scribbler's Wednesday Whining, because it's so dorky no one will get it, but I needed to whine in writing today.

So I was so excited because I came up with this brilliant topic for my third paper: "Images of Hiddenness and Searching in San Juan de la Cruz's 'Cántico Espiritual.'" (Dorktacular Side Note: I am using the second redaction of the "Cántico," in case you're wondering.) I was all excited because I was going to include all these great examples of hiding and disguise, and was going to write in this brilliant and clever commentary on how the metaphor of the "night" is relevant here.

But then I remembered...

...the "Cántico" is not one of the "night" poems!!!!! :(

Oh boo. I'll just have to find a way to drop it in there without it looking stupid.

Damn, don't you hate it when that happens?????

Much love,
Me

Sorry for keeping that last post up so long. I don't want you to think that I'm some kind of compliment-grubbing showoff. And now for something completely different...

I've been having a lot of things running through my head lately while I've been here. I promise I'm not going through mood swings, but I just have so much going on that I don't always know what to think. So this post is a smorgasbord of emotions in regards to what has been happening lately.

I've been...

Happy. Yes, after the paper, obviously. And because my former prof and mentor (not former mentor--she's got the post of "mentor" for a lifetime) is proud of me. And because my parents are thrilled, and my dad said that he would help pay if I wanted to take a stopover trip to Europe when my thesis is done. I'm also happy because I am having fun all of the time. Yes, I even have fun at lectures, because I love what I'm doing.

Last night was a champagne reception for my supervisor's birthday, and I got to meet his parents and his brother. It is quite an interesting experience to have a conversation with your supervisor's mother! Afterwards, we had our half of the Balliol guest dinner--they had hosted us on Tuesday, and we hosted them last night. It was fun. While they didn't have a seating arrangement at their college, Mathias did a great job seating people at dinner to mix up Balliol people and Catz people, and also to seat people who had things in common. I was seated with three Mexican scientist/engineer/mathematicians who were lots of fun, and we went back and forth speaking Spanish and English.

I forgot to mention that after the Balliol dinner on Tuesday, we went to the Turf to celebrate Mathias' birthday. That was fun. I think they went out salsa dancing after, but I had come from a lecture before dinner and didn't want to carry a notebook, etc. out to a club--so I just headed home afterwards. (Plus, I don't like walking back to the college by myself very late at night!)

Sick/Tired. The last paper really kicked my butt. But the whole deal of getting to lectures, writing papers, having meetings, etc. is catching up to me. And I think I'm catching what ever is going around. On Tuesday I did nothing but sleep, since I had finished my paper. On Wednesday I was sick with a slight stomach bug (I think too much chocolate the night before at the Balliol dinner) and skipped lecture. Thursday was ok, and Friday was better, but today my neck is killing me and I just wanted to sleep all day. I was out for a while, but really I had been just napping on and off all day. I was supposed to go to a cocktail party and then a bop last night, but when I woke up 15 minutes before they were supposed to start, I just said forget it and stayed home.

Pissed off. Some dumb@$$ ate the pasta with chicken, broccoli and pesto that I had in the refrigerator for dinner last night. I think this person has been stealing my food all term--s/he eats all of it except for like two noodles and a piece of broccoli and puts it back in the refrigerator. But if the dumb@$$ food stealer has been stealing my juice, s/he will regret it--I drink it straight from the carton! muahahahahahaha But don't worry, I had croissants and stuff here so I just had some of those. I don't know how my stomach would have handled pesto anyway.

Hesitant. I'm not really looking forward to teaching this winter. It will be a letdown--physically, emotionally and intellectually. I'll just be thinking about how much I want to get back to Oxford. I knew this year would have a huge impact on solidifying my decision of what to do with my life.

Snacky. Dude, McVities digestives are going to be the end of me. So are Tracker Bars. So are pasties from the Covered Market. And let's not even get started talking about Ben's Cookies.

Surprised (well, more like Shocked). On Tuesday I will have Two Weeks To Go before I go home for the winter break. Where did the time go??? It flew by. The three nights I spent in Cernadilla, Spain during Holy Week of 1998 took longer than the seven-and-a-half weeks I have spent here.

And in smaller "surprised" news, my supervisor thought that my suggestion for my next paper topic was a good idea. For the first two he set the topic, but he asked if I had any ideas for this one, and I did. So for paper 3 I will be writing about the themes of hiddenness and searching in St. John's "Spiritual Canticle." It has a lot of connections to the other poems, so I can draw a lot of conclusions there. He seemed to like it, so I'm happy, and surprised we didn't have to change it or narrow it down more.

Confused. Why, oh why, did Auntie May's Pasty Co. in the Covered Market change its name??? Now it's the Oxford Pasty Cafe. Now it's all sterile and white and has words like "wholesome" and "natural" painted on the windows. Dude, this is not Wild Oats. They used to have a big ol' cutout of a pirate eating a pasty hanging outside. If they start selling organic fruit smoothies I'm outta there.

Stumped. I'm having a hard time thinking of what to get for some of my family members for Christmas. Some people are easy: I've already bought for one of my brothers and I know what to get for the other one. I know what to get for my sister Maggie, my father, both of my grandfathers, and two of my friends. But for my sister Kelly, I am stumped. I am also stumped for my mother and my step-grandmother. And no, I'm not just going to wait until I get home to buy them something. That would be the ultimate cop-out.

Broke. Damn, it is expensive here. When I go home I will take out another loan to cover unforseen expenses. What I most look forward to when I get home is that everything will cost half as much...or will be free when I can eat at home and not have to make expensive phone calls to talk to my family and friends...

Contemplative. What I love the most about this place is that no matter where people are from, which college they belong to or what they study here, we all seem to have something in common--we work hard, we love what we do and we really want to be here. You don't go to Oxford because Mommy and Daddy said, "Go to college and we'll buy you a Mercedes." Nor do you go to Oxford because it's the cheapest option or because you didn't get in anywhere else. People who go to Oxford are creative people who want a challenge, and perhaps want a bit of change from their current lives. I don't know why I was ever doubtful or anxious about coming. This has been worth it, more than I could ever imagine. I am lucky to be here.

That's it for now. Much love,
Me

So Deb wants to know how Paper 2 went. I just got it back. I got...

...a 72, which is 4 points better than last time.
Which means Distinction.
Which means a First.
Which means an ***A*** in American terms!

So, after two papers, I have an A average at Oxford. I am dancin' as I write this to you! Woohoo!!!!!

Much love,
Me

Well, it looks like I'm about 7 hours ahead of schedule, if we look at my progress from the last paper. It's only 2:19 p.m. and I have 98 words to go. Go me.

Pero por otro lado, I need to do a lot of purgation before I hand it in. So I may regress a bit before I get to my 3,000 words.

I may actually remember to eat dinner tonight, and I may get to bed at a reasonable hour. Oh yay.

Much love,
Me

>>Edit, 11:22 p.m., 11/14/05: Paper 2 is now done. Woohoo! I love being in the same college as my advisor--it's the only way I can get away with handing in my paper this late in the day ;). It's also 700 words over the requirement, but since the total portfolio limit is 9,000-10,000 words, it should be fine...

Must be a new record. Or I must have a paper due. (Guess which one it is!)

I don't know how y'all are managing to do NaNoWriMo. I'm having a hard enough time with 3,000 words in 10 days. But maybe it's different with a novel vs. a paper that's getting a grade?

I'm pissed off because I bought an awesome CD yesterday and it was defective, and the &$*%$#$ store won't let me return it because I don't have a **%$($$#)&%) receipt.

I would like y'all to do one of the following right now:
1.) Tell me to finish my damn paper and go to bed at a reasonable hour, as Snidge was kind enough to do last night.
2.) Give me a topic to write about when it's 2:30 a.m. and I'm wide awake.

Cheers!
Kait

Seen over at Pete's blog: you play 20 questions at this website, and the computer will guess what you are thinking about. It guessed correctly when I thought of the following items:

*laptop computer
*potato
*mp3 player
*tiger
*tutu

It's definitely spooky. Go try it out for yourself!

I was just taking a look at my stats over on Statcounter (oh man, I'm addicted) when I got the following ad in the banner:

You are extremely ugly.
So am I. But I made
$1000 today. Don't be
ugly and poor.

I'm not really sure what to say about that. Hmmm. But it made me giggle, so I thought I would post it here.

2:25 a.m. Must get some sleep. G'night!
Kait

PS: Hello to the person from Windsor, CT (my hometown) who reads my blog! If I know you, drop me a line to say hi! =)

...hahaha I was thinking of a certain song today when I got to see the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as he came for a visit to unveil some plaques for some new buildings.

They always pick a certain group of students/faculty to meet the guy for stuff like this, and although I wasn't included in that group, I got to stand outside and see him up close, which was pretty cool. And then after the unveiling, when they headed back to the SCR/Hall for lunch, I did the obvious thing: I followed the crowd. I was glad I did, because I got to get really close, and take a few good pictures.

So I've done the two things Americans want to do when they come to England: I've seen the Harry Potter colleges, and I've seen members of the Royal Family. Awesome.

Speaking of stereotypical things, you would expect the guy to arrive in a limo with flags on it, wouldn't you? Surprisingly, he didn't...he came in a big SUV. I didn't get to take pictures when he arrived, because I didn't expect him to be in such a vehicle!

So that was my adventure for the morning. Be sure to check out pics on my Flickr page (search for the tag "royalty" if you can't find them).

Cheerio!
Kait

For the loyal readers of my teaching blog, I just put up a new post today for round 3 of the Teaching Carnival. So mosey on over to the ol' blog and give it a looky.

If you've never read my teaching blog or have forgotten the link, drop me a line and I will send it to you.

(Just to clarify, it's on my teaching blog, not the Teaching Carnival blog...)

Enjoy!

I just found two gray hairs on my head. Two! Two!!!!!!!

Aren't I a little young for this?

Gah!

My neighbors on either side of me are blasting bad music.

I'm planning my own counterattack with some real lovelies from my collection:

1.) "If You Wanna Be Happy," Trini Lopez
2.) "Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
3.) "Cielito Lindo," Pedro Infante
4.) "Gangsta's Paradise," Coolio
5.) "Schöner fremder Mann," Connie Francis
6.) "I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General," from "The Pirates of Penzance," D'Oyly Carte Opera Company And Orchestra
7.) "Tiny Dancer," Elton John
8.) "MmmmBop," Hanson
9.) "Amor, Amor, Amor," Julio Iglesias
10.) "Rubber Ducky German Techno Dance Remix" by some German DJ

Anyone have anything else to contribute???

>>Update, 12:49 a.m., 11/8/05: Oh Gah! One of them is playing 98°! I have now launched my counterstrike, beginning with some Julio Iglesias. G'night!

Since I am actually here for academic reasons, and not just visiting Harry Potter colleges and going to parties, I thought I would change gears for a bit with an academic post of sorts.

Yesterday, I went to the Cervantes Day conference in honor of 100 years of Spanish at Oxford and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Don Quixote part I. It was a great event. I love the Quixote. It was the first thing I studied when I started Spanish as an undergraduate, and it was what got me into doing a major in Spanish.

The first part of the day functioned like any conference, with a presentation of papers by four different faculty members. The first two presented papers on other works by Cervantes, and the second two presented on the Quixote. It was amazing to be in the room with all of these Hispanists and Cervantistas, and to have a presenter cite something and have the author of what he just cited sitting in the second row right in front of him. It was also awesome to hear people jump back and forth from Spanish to English throughout a single conversation. (It was a little intimidating as well, considering that 98% of the Hispanists and Cervantistas in the room were older white men.)

The presentations plus the standard coffee and lunch breaks lasted from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. At that time, we moved from Exeter College to the Taylorian Institution to hear Francisco Rico from the Real Academia Española give a presentation. Francisco Rico is one of the really "big guys" in Cervantine studies, and has edited what is called the best edition of the Quixote that is out there today.

Afterward, we headed back to Exeter for drinks at the Rector's Lodge and a fancy dinner. Jenni and I spent a long time chatting with the Spanish cultural attaché (oooh!) who was surprisingly easy to talk to considering that he was so important and we were in the demographic minority.

The dinner was quite nice (now I've been in 7 colleges and have eaten in 4), and someone was smart enough to seat me next to my undergraduate advisor, who I had not seen in a month and was looking forward to catching up with her, so it was nice. Afterward I slid down the table to talk to my current supervisor, who is very nice and very funny. A good time was had by all.

After the dinner I managed to gather the postgrads for a photo with the cultural attaché, Professor Rico and Professor Williamson, who organized the event. The lady who was taking pictures kept taking pictures of all the retired scholars who were present--but managed to neglect the students. You would think we weren't there! So that's why I thought it was important to get our photo. Unfortunately, it didn't come out, but I think the people who posed with us were impressed by the gesture.

After we left the dining hall, we headed over to the Exeter College bar for post-dinner drinks, which was fun. The bar was just about to close, but Professor Williamson made things happen by convincing the bartender that the cultural attaché should have a drink. It was really funny, and we all had a great time. After we were kicked out of the bar (they actually pass out plastic cups so you can take your drink with you), we considered crashing the bop that was taking place nearby, but we were all tired (it was 11:30 p.m. and we had been there since 10 a.m.) and gave up on that pretty quickly. So we all packed up and went home.

I actually enjoy these scholarly events. There's a great camraderie among these people who study Spanish literature. And it was amazing to be with these people who are the "superstars" in the field.

Well, that was a dorktacular post, but I enjoyed writing it. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Muacks,
Me

&*%)*$(&%)*$*)#$*)&%)!!!!!!!

I'm pissed off. (I know that "pissed" means "drunk" in Britspeak, but you know what I mean.)

My &%$*%&(*# cheap-@$$ phone stopped working today. I brought it to the Carphone Warehouse, where I bought it, and they wouldn't replace it. They said it got wet, which wasn't covered under the warranty. They asked me if I had the phone in "a damp environment." Umm, hello, this whole COUNTRY is a damp environment!!!! (Yes, I did get it a teensy bit wet maybe two weeks ago, but should it stop working this long after???)

They said they could send it out to get repaired, but that would take two weeks. WTF did they think I would do...walk around with no phone for two weeks??? So I asked how much it would cost to buy a new one. £49.99. And this is a craptacularly cheap phone, the kind you got free with a phone plan maybe 5 years ago. I grumbled and bitched and complained but eventually gave in, because I couldn't do without a phone, and I sure as hell wasn't going to pay 99 cents a minute for roaming charges on my American phone.

Motorolas suck!!!!! I've had Nokias of far lower quality that lasted far longer than this piece of rubbish.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Much love,
Me

In addition to my usual walking, I did another 2.5 miles or so last night, round trip, for a Halloween Bop (what we folks call a "party") at St. John's College.

Oh wait, there's more.

I did these 2.5 miles barefoot.

Why, you ask?

Because, for the party, I was wearing these shoes:

These are my beautiful ruby slippers. (Well, not exactly slippers. Those are three-inch heels, thankyouverymuch.) Oh, how I love the ruby slippers. And oh, how I curse the ruby slippers. The last time I wore the ruby slippers was two years ago, when Halloween fell on a Friday, and I wore them to teach my class. It wasn't so bad because I got to drive to the Uni and back, and I spent most of the day in my office. But my feet were killing me the rest of the day.

And I thought, for the party, it will be so crowded, we'll all be jammed into one spot anyway, so it won't be too bad, will it? But I forgot one tiny detail: to get to a party in Oxford, you must walk. And these shoes sure as hell are not walking shoes. So I took them off and walked barefoot to the college, wearing holes into the bottom of my tights. (On the way back I put on the socks that I had stuffed into the toes of the shoes to make them fit...but I still had to put the shoes on to walk for a while because we were on some less-than-smooth sidewalks.)

I came home and put the Body Shop footcare gift basket that I had bought last month to good use. And I had to wear slippers for the rest of the night.

But enough complaining. We had an awesome time. It was a fun party, and I was there with fun people.

Oh, and I did get to carve a pumpkin yesterday. It didn't turn out fabulous (my knives were too big), but I'm very happy. If I can find a candle to put in it, I will take a picture.

Happy Halloween!

Cheers,
Kait

So those of you who have known me for a long time know about my eternal struggle with driving directions. I am terrible at giving or receiving driving directions--I don't know street names, route numbers or exit numbers. I don't know where one thing (building/street/town) is in relation to another, I just know them when I see them. And when I get driving directions, I need them to be very specific. Directions that start with "turn left out of your driveway" work best.

It's much better here, for some reason. I know how to get places. I think it's better because when you walk, you go much slower and you pay attention. And if you go too far, or take a wrong turn, it's much easier to stop, look around, and go back. If you miss an exit on the highway, you have to know when to get off next and where to get back on. You can't just stop where you are and turn around. And if you're really lost while walking, it's very easy to just walk inside a building and sit and look at a map, or ask for directions. You can't read a map while you're driving, unless you have one of those funky OnStar things or a passenger who is navegating. But even OnStar makes mistakes, and the passenger may interpret things differently or forget to tell the driver when to turn. (They always say that women shouldn't navegate for men because women read maps differently, and they just get irritated with each other.)

Hang in there, I have a point here.

So now that I have this newfound aptitude for directions, I guess my brain had to make room for this information by kicking something else out.

I can no longer remember people's names.

There are people I've met a month ago, who I see on a regular basis, whose names I cannot remember. I see these people, we have conversations. But God forbid we should run into someone else I know--I don't know how I would handle the introduction.

So that's why you see a lot of photos in my Flickr album that say, "I think?" next to a person's name, or where I've only identified one or two people in the photo. I honestly can't remember the other people's names.

My prof from my undergraduate years used to tell me that I'm not absentminded, I'm just presentminded elsewhere. (I know someone else said that before her, but again, I can't remember the name!)

Truer words have not been said.

G'night y'all,
Kait

As they say on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, all things just keep getting better!

I got my first paper back. I got a 68, which is a 2:1, which is roughly an A- in American terms. Woohoo!!!!!

And then I found out that about 2 1/2 weeks from now, the Duke of Edinburgh (yes, that's right folks, the Queen's husband), will be coming to Catz to open two buildings! Awesome!

As soon as my stuff comes out of the dryer (I didn't finish my laundry yesterday), I will go to the par-tay and celebrate!

Cheers and g'night!
Kait

OK folks, I need your help. I would like to hear from the Americans and the non-Americans, so I can get a good perspective.

I'm going to a party on Wednesday night, and the theme is "National Stereotypes." So everyone is going as a stereotypical person from their home country. I ask you this:

What would you consider to be appropriate attire for a "stereotypical" American?

I know, I know, there are so many different regions that it's hard to pinpoint something. And it's obvious how to act--loud, rude, and ignorant. (Remember that the theme is "stereotypes.")

But what to wear, what to wear?

I was in the MCR tonight and I asked a Brazilian, a German, and two Brits the above question. I got some interesting perspectives:

*sandals, socks, and shorts (Ahh, the American tourist.)
*flipflops, lowrise pants and a hoodie (Typical American college attire. I can do that.)
*the redneck look--I'm thinking jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and a "God Bless the USA" tshirt
*the grunge look (A trip to the Oxfam shop could probably make this work.)

I can also do another country (Mexico...sombrero and tequila...easy!), but I want to take up the challenge of pulling off the American look, especially when I'm in Britain and I left all of my stereotypical American attire at home...

Any suggestions???
Cheers!
Kait

>>Edit, 3:05 p.m., 10/26/05: I bought a cowboy hat (which was amazing because it fit my head and only cost £4.99) and an American flag at a party shop today. I almost bought a red glitter cowboy hat, but it seemed a *bit* much, hehehe...I'm going out now to see if I can find a belt with a big obnoxious buckle. I don't think I can/will buy boots...too expensive and I probably won't wear them again.

Dude.

I'm tired.

I mean, for the past few days, I've done nothing but write this paper. Yesterday, I didn't even leave the college. (I didn't on Friday, either.)

Today I feel like I should do nothing but sleep.

It's stress, I know. My body held me together until I finished the paper, and then it said, "Whoa. Time to relax." So I guess that's what I should do today.

Lecture is cancelled tonight, gracias a Dios. I need to have what my former prof calls "be good to Kaitlin time."

Unfortunately, I also need to do laundry. I am down to nothing but skirts and pajamas. I'm not even sure if I have something to wear to go to the laundry room to do laundry. That's how severe the current laundry situation is. And I guess I need to go to buy washing powder, because I'm down to 3 packs of tablets, and that's not going to be enough.

So I guess my schedule for the day is starting to fall into place.

Anyone else want postcards? The offer still stands. Email me and give me your address!

Peace out!
Kait

144 words to go and I am done with my first Oxford paper.

Will somebody start a wave? Or at least a cheering section? I think I need it.

See you at the finish line...

>>Edit, 10:17 p.m., 10/24/05: Just need to type up the Works Cited, and I'm done!!!! Woohoo!!!!

I had a number of post ideas for today, but I thought it would be fun to do a meme. I got this one from Snidget, who was the person I spoiled for the last round of Spoil-a-Blogger.

Here we go:

7 things I plan to do before I die :

1. See all 50 states
2. Get a PhD
3. Write a book
4. Master the guitar
5. Learn how to decorate cakes
6. Travel Europe
7. Either learn how to sew or own a Porsche

7 things I can do:

1. speak Spanish
2. Lift 250 lbs. with my legs
3. use a microwave ;)
4. pick out pretty good birthday presents
5. make a bed using only flat sheets (former job skill)
6. administer a drug test (also a former job skill)
7. build a webpage in Notepad using HTML

7 things I cannot do:

1. eat olives or grapes because they look like eyes
2. ice skate
3. cook (although I wish I could)
4. paint my own nails
5. stand up on a moving bus or train
6. wear high heels for a long time (they KILL my feet)
7. listen to the sound of someone's feet shuffling on a carpet (gives me the shivers)

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1. SHINY SHOES
2. hair
3. intelligence
4. sense of humor
5. respectful
6. life goals (must have some)
7. lack of neediness

7 things that I say most often:

1. awesome
2. blibbedy blah blah blah
3. social amenity
4. It's not my fault
5. Was ist los contigo?
6. Hold on, let me take a picture!
7. like (unfortunately)

7 celebrity crushes:

1. Alejandro Sanz
2. Ricky Martin
3. The Croatian doctor on ER
4 and 5. The Phelps twins from Harry Potter
6. Zeppo Marx
7. Carlos Ponce

¡Por fin, es sábado!

Tengo que terminar ese ensayo para el lunes, pero tengo como 2/3 escrito entonces no será muy difícil. Siempre tengo dificultades con el primer ensayo del año porque no sé lo que está buscando el instructor. Pero no me puedo quejar, mi supervisor es muy simpatico y sé que me va a ayudar.

Anoche fue la segunda “cena de invitados” del MCR. No fue tan formal como la primera, pero en total una noche muy linda. No me quedé mucho en el MCR después, pues tenía mucho sueño y me dolía el estómago. (Creo que fue por culpa de los nervios, pues me estaba preocupando todo el día sobre el ensayo y la reunión con mi supervisor.) Saqué algunas fotos, y cuando tengo un poquito de espacio en Flickr las voy a postear.

No sé si ya os lo conté, pero la mayoría de los estudiantes postgraduados aquí estudian derechos (law). Me dió cuenta anoche de que será útil conocer a estas personas, pues si tengo problemas en Europa (en Grecia o Alemania en particular) voy a tener contacto con muchos abogados, jejeje…

¡¡¡Hoy voy a ir de compras!!! Será divertido poder ir y comprar cosas que quiero y no solamente porque las necesito (como ropa y zapatos, por ejemplo…jejeje). Quizás debo empezar a pensar en los regalos que voy a comprar para la Navidad, pues no voy a pasar 2 meses en Inglaterra sin comprar regalos aquí para mis amigos y familia…

Y de nuevo tengo que lavar la ropa este finde blahhhhhhh…no me gusta hacerlo porque es muy caro, tarda mucho, y los secadores casi no valen la pena porque tengo que secar la ropa dos veces blahhhhhhh

Pues me voy ahora, a empezar el día.

¡Qué tengáis un buen día!
Kait

So today when I was out trying to "salir sin ser notada," I decided to tote the camera along with me and take a few pictures of the college. I'm pretty happy with how they came out. Some of the trees have lost most of their leaves already, and I regret not having taken photos a bit sooner. But some spots, especially the ones overlooking the river, are still green and quite nice.

I also took photos of my room (again, while it was in a relative state of cleanliness), and of the rugby team playing outside my window. (I'm not even sure if it was our team, though...)

I am 100% out of bandwidth for the month on Flickr. (I used it up posting some of my blurry Christ Church photos--have a looky!) So I can't post the lovely photos for a few weeks. Hang in there, folks!

Srta. Onufrey: I did not go to the club tonight. It was too cold and I did not have suitable attire. I stayed home and worked on the paper. I will go next time, I promise!

Son casi las 2 de la mañana. Me estoy muriendo de cansancio. Quiero hacer algo divertido este finde, quizás irme de compras para encontrar esos ZAPATOS de SALVACIÓN, jejeje…de verdad no necesito nada, pero será divertido poder llevar algo cuando regreso a los EE.UU. en diciembre y poder decir, “yo compré este [nosequé] en Inglaterra.”

Tenía algo más para contaros, pero ahora lo tengo olvidado.

A dormir a dormir a dormirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

¡Besos!

>>Edit, 9:59 a.m., 10/21/05: In case you folks were wondering, this is Lori and here are the cats she shoots.

Edward Monkton cracks me up. I don't get a lot of his stuff, but I still find it very funny.

A lot of shops sell his artwork here. I wonder if he's from nearby, or if he's British? I've never seen his stuff in the US.

Some of my favorites of his include the HANDBAG of GLORY, the BEAUTIFUL FROCK, and the SHOE of SALVATION, which is below:

I wish I could find shoes like that. Beauty! Truth! Salvation! For £19.99 or less!

Time to get ready for lit theory blahhhhhh

Peace out!
Kait

After 16 days at this college and three weeks in this country, I finally found a microwave! Yay! It is located in the lovely and wonderful MCR.

Since my cooking skills are nonexistent, this will increase my ability to eat non-crappy food tremendously. It will also improve my ability to make tea, since my tea-making skills are primarily microwave-based.

I also found out that there is an oven a few staircases down. Maybe I'll buy that cake mix I saw at the Covered Market, and make a cake.

OK, after I cook this delicious "serve hot or cold" quiche lorraine from Sainsbury's, I will get back to work.

Cheers!
Kait

>>Edit, 10:49 p.m., 10/18/05: The quiche was awesome. Mathias showed me how to use the microwave. It is much better to eat something cooked than to eat cold sandwiches all the time!

When I went to the Modern Languages graduate orientation, Professor Parish, who is the director of graduate studies and also happens to have an office in my staircase, offered us this profound thought:

"There is a direct correlation between writing a thesis and a thesis being written."

Truer words have not been said.

I have been pro-cra-sti-na-ting like nobody's business for the past two days. I have accomplished the following productive activities:

*Checking my email and snail mail. The latter involves walking all the way over to the lodge and then back.
*Cleaning out my entire closet, which means taking everything out and putting everything back in. This was actually very rewarding.
*Boxing up stuff to send home.
*Writing 4 postcards.
*Reading every damn blog on my blogroll.
*Commenting on about 10 of the aforementioned blogs.
*Updating my Flickr page.
*Getting a refund from last night's dryer incident, when I paid £1 and the dryer didn't work. Also involved walking all the way to the lodge and then back.
*Calling my parents.

But seriously, I did go check out three useful books in the library today, I finished my laundry last night, and my room has reached a reasonable level of cleanliness. So I guess those are good things.

Hmmm...write the paper, or read Piled High and Deeper?

I'll let you guess how this will end up.

Wow.
If I were home teaching this semester, I would have had to deal with this.

Yep! Floods! I am from the Northeast, which is the region that was hit with all this. Actually, I think this is the lot where I usually park my car. Some people actually got caught in the waters and had to be rescued.

It has been raining there nonstop for days. (I don't know if it stopped yet.) And yet here, the country known for rain, it almost never rains. Weird.

Well, for those of you under water at the U of H, I wish you the best of luck!
Cheers and stay dry!
Kait

...do laundry? (Yesterday's laundry trip sucked, as half the machines were in use and the other half were broken. Oh yeah, and there were the stupid people who leave their stuff in the machine forever and in the way of everyone else. Gotta love it.)
...take a nap? (I'm tired.)
...start the paper? (3,000 words for Friday at 5:00 p.m. on "Images of Darkness and Light in St. John of the Cross' Dark Night.")
...go pay for Friday's guest dinner? (Yep, signed up again, but this time it's not Black Tie.)
...blog about the weekend? (I still owe you some posts about recent happenings.)

Hmmm.

>>Edit, 5:23 p.m., 10/17/05: Paid for Friday's dinner. Took a nap. Now going to do laundry, because I no longer have any white socks.

Today I went to brunch at the famous Christ Church College with some of the other Catz MCR (graduate) folks. This is among the largest and wealthiest and fanciest of the Oxford colleges. You may have heard how scenes from Harry Potter were filmed there.

We didn't have to pay to go in because we were Oxford students (well, this was a sneaky bit of business, but anyway, we didn't have to pay to go in). We had brunch in the amazing hall, and then afterward we did a bit of exploring. We went to their Cathedral, and then took a stroll around their meadows down to the River Thames to watch people who were rowing. The weather was magnificent, considering we are on the late side of October. A perfect Fall day. (I can't post my pics just yet because I'm running out of bandwidth for the month on Flickr. But please enjoy my matriculation pics in the meantime!)

Even though I have to clean my room and do laundry and read now, I still think it was a good day.

I am very lucky to be here.

A question to my fellow academics out there.

Have you ever taken a class with a professor who happened to be a leading scholar in your field, and you end up citing this person in your papers/presentations? Isn't it weird when you have to do that?

I had my tutorial yesterday with my supervisor, who happens to be a leading scholar in the study of Spanish mysticism and St. John of the Cross. So yesterday was a little "let's see how you can do with this stuff" talk, and I had to talk about what I found. And I had to keep saying things like, "As you said in The Poet and the Mystic, blabiddy blah blah blah." It felt kinda surreal.

I guess it must feel even weirder when you write a scholarly article and cite yourself...

Today is Matriculation. Funny outfits and Latin speeches. Details to follow this afternoon!

Cheers,
Kait

Now, you may have read my recent post where I noted that we are served wine at lectures, and I said, "so that's where my tuition is going." Well, let me tell you where I hope my tuition is going - to pay the amazing people known as the scouts.

Scouts are what the Oxford people call housekeepers. And they don't just empty the garbage bins and mop the floors. Sometimes, if you're really nice, your scout will clean your room for you.

I'm serious about this!!!!!

Lately, I've been doing my own thing. I opted out of the linen service and use my own sheets. I change my own garbage bags (I've been recycling my shopping bags this way). And the other day I borrowed the vacuum so I could do my own floor.

Today I asked if I could borrow the vacuum again. She said, "Oh, I can do it." Well, when I returned, not only did she vacuum, she also dusted, cleaned my sink area (I'm very lucky to have a sink--not all first years get one), and MADE MY BED.

That is why, dear friends, Sue RAWKS.

Peace out!
Me

...maybe I should tell you why I *heart* Russian Formalism.

When I looked at the schedule (or "timetable" or "shed-yool" as they say o'er here) for the Literary Theory lecture, it looked scary. Russian Formalism? What on earth was that, and how would it help me understand St. John of the Cross?

Well, I went to the lecture today, and...it was the same stuff I teach my undergraduates on the first days of class!!!!!

Sometimes I forget that these things are all connected. I never thought I would use some of the things I learned in my Master's program in Communication, but I am. Wacky.

Back to work. G'night!
Kait

>>Edit, 12:23 a.m., 10/14/05: How quickly do you think my undergraduates will drop my winterterm class if I refer to it as "Russian Formalism" when I teach it to them??? ;)

I *heart* Russian Formalism.

'Nuff said.

Peace out!
Kait

A lot of stuff happened this evening, so I want to get it all in writing before I forget!

The feminist theory lecture was boring. I'm not going back to many more of those--except for one on Language and Feminism which takes place in November.

We got an email yesterday asking for people to run for positions on the Joint Consultative Committee for the Modern Language Faculty--which means that we would serve as liasons between the students and faculty, and communicate student concerns to the faculty. It turns out that the meeting for this was at the same time as the graduate Spanish seminar. I wrote to the person who sent the email and told her this, and expressed my concern that the Spanish program would not be properly represented on the committee. She said she understood, but that it was the only time they could get for this meeting.

Well get this. I get back to my room tonight, and find out via email that I've been elected to the committee! I am the new Sub-Faculty Graduate Representative for Spanish, so any grad students in Spanish who have issues come to me. I feel pretty damn important--Sub-Faculty Graduate Representative for Spanish on the Modern Languages Joint Consultative Committee at Oxford. Cool.

Anyway, in between was the seminar. It was fun. The speaker tonight talked about costume in Lope de Vega's El Perro del Hortelano, and compared scenes from that with scenes from one of Madonna's concert tours. Awesome. It reminded me of my grad classes in Communication.

But let me tell you how these seminars work. They're about 90 minutes to two hours, and here's the breakdown:

*Someone presents a paper.
*We have cocktail time. I'm not joking! They actually pass out free alcohol for everyone.
*Then we have question and answer time.

So that's where my tuition money is going...

After the seminar tonight, one of the profs invited me and some of the other grad students to join him for dinner. We went out for pizza at a nice pizza place and had a lovely time. (I've been DYING for pizza!) It was great because I found out that there is a Golden Age Spanish reading group, so I signed my sorry butt up for that as fast as I could.

When I came for orientation, someone said that it's a good idea to build up a network of colleagues when you study here. I'm finally starting to do that, and it feels good.

I meant to update this blog with some posts I had on my other blog, but I'm running out of free time. I guess I'll do another Oxford Observations post soon...

Hope all is well with everyone. Cheers!
Kait

PS: I'm doing postcards! Anyone want one? Send me an email and let me know!

...not like I'm an expert or anything, but I thought you would want to know how the classes work around here. It's completely different from the American system.

We don't "register" here, nor do we have to take a certain number of "credits." Also, undergraduates don't have to take gen ed courses like chemistry or things like that. You just do what you need to do and you're done.

My course is a one-year Master's Degree, but it functions pretty much the same way as the other graduate-level humanities degrees (the two-year courses and the DPhils--what we call a PhD--just take more classes). I have a "supervisor," and he assigns me readings and papers and we meet on a semi-regular basis. The amount of times a student meets with a supervisor varies according to the needs of each person, and probably the amount of students "reading" for that degree. (That's what they call it here.) My degree program is very small, and my specialization is very specific (the mystic poetry of St. John of the Cross), so I meet with him one-on-one.

At the end of each term, I submit a portfolio of papers to a committee to be graded. While my supervisor does submit grades, it is up to the committee of examiners to decide how I do. I submit a portfolio of about 3 papers, about 9-10,000 words total.

We are also required to attend lectures (basically very small and very specific courses), but we do not register for the course, and it is up to us to decide how many lectures to attend. They only meet for an hour a week (sometimes two). I've chosen five that I want to attend this term--three graduate lectures and two undergraduate lectures:
*Graduate seminar in Literary Theory
*Graduate Spanish research seminar (basically a forum for students to present works in progress)
*Graduate seminar in Feminist Theory
*Undergraduate seminar on the Quijote.
*Undergraduate seminar on Cervantes' novels other than the Quijote.

I might try to find some Theology lectures too. I don't know if I'll keep up with the feminist theory one, but I think it will be good for my PhD program.

So that's about it for now. Time to start the day.
Cheers!
Kait

Oh, hell yeah.

My room here overlooks a field, which was, until today, empty. But now, there is a delightful new change...

the men's rugby teams are practicing.

Well, there goes my concentration for the afternoon...

Go team go!

I've been waiting to post this story, but I don't know why I keep forgetting to do it.

A few days after I arrived at the college, I was in town over at Cornmarket Street having lunch at McDonald's. I didn't have my Internet connection yet, so I paid £1 to use their Internet there for 30 minutes. So I got my sandwich (some kind of chicken sandwich they don't have in the US--not bad, but too much BBQ sauce), I sat down, and I ate while surfing the Internet.

I had about 12 minutes left, when all of a sudden, this guy sits down next to me. (The Internet seats are all in a row, like at a bar.) He was big and dirty and had horrible teeth. And he smelled awful. I was about to throw up. I wondered if he was homeless. Well anyway, he picks up my USED TISSUE that was on my tray and starts using it himself. I shut down the Internet as fast as I could (I didn't use up all my minutes), and got the hell out of there.

I know that story was gross, but I haven't been able to tell anyone yet. And now I did.
Cheers!
Kait

Thoughts that have passed through my head on my first four days in England:

1.) Why is everyone so quiet here? Not that it’s a bad thing. Everyone is so polite. But it makes me feel like a big loud rude American. I’ve been saying, “I’m sorry?” quite a bit.
2.) What is the deal with foreigners and weird flavors of chips crisps? I’ve seen roast chicken, mature cheddar and onion, prawn cocktail, and honey roasted ham. But sour cream and onion? BBQ flavored? Noooo, sorry.
3.) Frosted Flakes are called “Frosties” o’er here.
4.) Buns are called baps.
5.) The city is much smaller than I expected. I keep running into people I met on the plane. And I ran into a girl who went to school in teeny old Connecticut, like I did. She happened to be on my tour.
6.) There are so many Americans here! 57% of the graduate students are foreigners, and of that number, 690 are Americans. And let’s not forget undergraduates and other expats as well.
7.) Certain British words make me giggle. Like “cheeky” and “saucy minx” and “jolly good” and “ice lollies.”
8.) Am I the only person majoring in literature over here?
9.) It is so weird to be in buildings that existed before the United States even existed.
10.) And it is even weirder to notice that the aforementioned buildings now house a Nokia store and a KFC.
11.) I can’t understand British English as well as I thought. But watching so many episodes of “Changing Rooms” and “Cash in the Attic” did help.
12.) “The Bill” rocks!!!
13.) Speaking of Bills, did you know that Bill Clinton “didn’t inhale” in Oxford?
14.) And the Australian prime minister broke a Guinness world record for drinking 2 ½ pints of beer in like 11 minutes.
15.) I really need to learn to look LEFT first when crossing the street.
16.) It is really weird to buy something that costs about $8 and be able to pay in nothing but coins.
17.) I *heart* the Body Shop. The Body Shop is a British invention, after all, and they do it soooo much better here than in the States.
18.) Speaking of which, why don’t we call it “the States” when we are in the States? Only foreigners call it that. And even though I am American, I never thought to call it anything else but “the States” while I have been here.
19.) Very few people own cars. Right now, I am staying on a street that doesn’t allow cars.
20.) And when people do have cars, they are teeny. Mini Coopers. Smart cars. Even the SUVs are kinda teeny. And no, there are no minivans, Lincoln Towncars, or pickup trucks.
21.) I’m glad I went overboard on packing clothes. I would NOT want to pay $100 for a pair of “on sale” pants here!!!
22.) But don’t be fooled—there are a few cool cheap places here.
23.) Yes, I’ve bought a purse already, for a very low £8. I expect it to fall apart next week.
24.) My umbrella fell apart the day I got here.
25.) Gas is about 93.9 pence a liter. I have no idea what that means. Would someone please do the math and get back to me?
26.) The news right now is all about how Kate Moss does cocaine and someone shouted the word “Bunk” at Tony Blair. Oh yeah, and the Rita floods. I can’t remember much else.
27.) I need to get used to walking an hour to get somewhere!!!

I think that’s it for now. More to come soon!
Cheers,
Kait

I posted this on one of my other blogs first, because I didn't have this set up. On my Xanga, I only had time for a "Hello from McDonald's" and then another "I owe you some posts, I swear."

The title of this post has multiple meanings. I am finally on the other side of the pond, making my first post from the UK. I am also back on the other side of academia, and am now "Grad Student Kait" until December at least, when I go home to teach Winterterm.

So much to tell. So little time. No desire to do it right now, since I'm on a borrowed computer.

Damn, I didn't take any pics in London! :( But now I am officially in Oxford.

The fun begins...

Much love,
Me

PS: Here's the link to the comments I received for this post.