Do you ever have those weeks that seem to be engineered to slowly break you down? This past week was absolutely one of those for me. We started our official Oxford classes on Monday, and while I am only taking two classes I have never done this much work. Each class has at least a 1,500 word paper due every week and due to one of the weird intricacies of Oxford, we are unable to check books out. That means all of your reading has to be done in the library. I spent about 7 hours a day in the library this past week, and I am exhausted. I also stressed myself into six migraines over the course of the week, but that is another story. Don't worry, I'm doing my best to resolve this issue.
I don't want it to sound like I am ungrateful to be here, I recognize the privilege I have in being able to complain about the level of coursework in Oxford. I'm sure that as the weeks go by I will develop more of a routine for work. But, it was a baptism by fire this week.
On a much lighter note, I had a truly wonderful weekend. One of my good friends from the summer camp I work at lives in Durham and invited me to visit her. Two of my other friends from camp also came and we had a lovely weekend talking about the coming summer and all of our memories from last year. One of the amazing things about friends from camp, at least in my experience, is that they allow you to be completely comfortable with yourself while also poking fun at you almost all the time. I am so incredibly grateful for the relationships I have with these individuals, they mean a lot to me.
In addition to traveling this weekend it was also Formal Hall at Regent's Park (a fancy three course meal). It was really fun to get dressed up and eat fancy food that I didn't have to make. Emily had a jazz gig after, but because of my early travel to Durham I was unable to attend. I woke up in Oxford at 5:30 am and arrived in Durham around noon. It was a long train ride, but I was able to write a full essay so I found it successful. Jorunn (my friend from Durham) picked me up at the train station and then we went back to her house to pick up the other two (Maeve and Aubrey). We went to Knitsley Farm for a lovely lunch and then ventured into Durham. We just wandered around for a bit before going into the Cathedral. We just happened to be there during Evensong which was absolutely beautiful. On our way back to Jorunn's we picked up a friend of hers who will also be at camp this summer. The majority of our time was spent chatting about camp and encouraging Jess about what a wonderful experience it will be for her. Naturally, we face-timed some of our camp friends in the States before having movie night.
Here is a house group shot from Formal Hall.
Unfortunately I was only in Durham for about 27 hours, so we didn't really do a lot while I was there. On Sunday Aubrey and Jess had to get dropped off at the train station early so I went with Jorunn to say goodbye before we went back to her house before I left. We had a really relaxing morning filled with boardgames. Turns out I am not good at Quirkle, but am pretty good at Ingenious (I highly recommend both games, they are very fun). The weirdest thing that has ever happened to me occurred on my way back to Oxford. I was writing a different essay on the train and I fell asleep (not that weird), the weird bit was that I kept typing and when I woke up the essay made sense. Now, I don't know how deeply I was asleep, or how long I was asleep, but this was one of those moments where I wasn't sure whether to be proud of myself or deeply concerned. I'll let you know if it happens again, but I'm hoping it was a fluke.
I'm sad my time in Durham was so short, but it's alright because I will see the majority of these friends this summer at camp. I am so incredibly thankful that I have friends who persuade me to avoid homework for a bit and allow me to enjoy some downtime. I can't wait to see them all again soon! (Also, we don't have any pictures together because we talked too much and forgot to document our activities).
This is the only picture I took in Durham and I honestly took it just so I could post it in a blog post.
Madeline
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