Second part

So let me finish catching everyone up with what I've been up to. There is one topic that I've been thinking a lot about. The differences between last time and now. We are branching out more and meeting more people. Last time, Amaya, Kathleen, and I hung out with Jenna, Nye, and the boys we lived with. We really didn't hang out with a lot of British kids. Now every Thursday, we hang out at Spring Grove after class with other MA Creative Writing students. We have a few American friends- Julie and Lindsay, but also Jenny from Malta, and of course the boys. Spring Grove is great though; my teacher goes and there are a few familiar faces. We have a lot of fun. Now some of the similarities- Kingston is the same, Pizza Experts is still good, the British need to pick a side when walking down the street or down stairs, and classes are about the same. I think I eat the same things I did before, though I don't make it to the market as much. I went today, but they were already closing down and it wasn't even 3pm. We still shop at Sainsbury's, but now it's the big one by the car park. And once again, I don't mind walking 25 minutes to class. In Maine, I wouldn't walk down the street, and yet I walked 45 minutes for Pizza Experts once.

I have also been back to Oxford. Julie, Jenny, Kathleen, MT, and I went a few weeks ago for the day. We went to Christ Church, New College, and walked everywhere. They loved colleges, Radcliffe Camera, and the Sheldonian Theatre. We ate and had a drink at The Eagle and Child and had a snack at the Cow Place. I had my first cup of tea at the Cow Place. Kathleen and I were the only ones who had ever been to Oxford, but only I remembered it enough to be the tour guide. Not that I didn't get us lost once or twice but hey. I missed Oxford. I love the history and of course it's where Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings. Jenny and Julie are big Harry Potter fans so we had a good time at New College and Christ Church. I thought Jenny was going to have a heart attack being where they filmed parts of the movies. We had so much fun that Kathleen and Jenny dueled at New College. Yeah, dueled with sticks. Got evidence of this event too.




Two pictures from Oxford. The one of the group has me in the middle, Kathleen to my left, and MT on my right. Behind me is Julie and next to MT is Jenny. The other picture is Jenny and Kathleen dueling.

So other than going to Oxford and hanging out in London...I've been going to school. I have two classes...one on Tuesday night and the other on Thursday. I like my Thursday class since its seminar. My group is pretty cool and has Lindsay and Julie in it. Nicky Brown is the teacher and she's a children's writer. Very down to earth and cool. I do have to get on my papers and figuring out my thesis but I have time. I think the theory part of it will have to do with the history of travel writing since if you think about it The Odyssey is an example of travel writing. YES! My creative thesis will, of course, be about our time in England three years ago and it will focus on Amaya.

So I think that is it for now. I should clean my room and waste a few more hours before the Avalanche play tonight. Game just starts at 1:30am...no biggie.