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Virtual Coffee Talk, 0.3

view from Queen's Lane Coffee Shop of St. Mary's

Workload-wise, this weekend has got to be the most stressful one of all. Essentially, I have about 5,000 words to turn in by Wednesday afternoon. But factor in the fact that all day Monday will be taken up by a trip to West End (to see Matthew Macfadyan aka Keira Knightley's Mr. Darcy!), and a million pages of reading to do before I can even get started on the writing, and... we're officially arriving in can't-function-junction.

Breathe in, breathe out. It's terrible because it's also been one of those days where, no matter what, I just can't crank the words out. Words, I NEED YOU.

Still, though, I'm proud of myself for not overly stressing. Yes, I'm stressing and jittery and want this done. But at the same time, I've been doing a good job of reminding myself that at the end of the day, having to do a couple of essays isn't the end of the world, because I'm in friggin' Europe and I'm allowed to enjoy it and I'm allowed to not force myself to work all day long.
our evening out this week involved an extremely politically correct Boston Tea Party house party... in our own house.

The balance between academics and socializing has been pretty difficult nonexistent. In the sense that... the balance right now is academics = 95%, socializing = 5%. To be fair, we've been going into London and doing fun things and spent a decent amount of money and time getting extra buttery popcorn and British chocolates (Cadbury and KinderBueno, gimme gimme all the chocolates) and curling up with some girls in the house to watch Rachel McAdams's About Time. But we've done a sucky job of putting on sparkles and cutesy outfits and hitting up pubs and bars and clubs.

We have met some very friendly locals, but we want to meet even more. And the essays and the traveling make that a tough job to get done.
The entire Stanford House is flying to Scotland next weekend. It'll be the most romantic Valentine's Day in history, I'm sure. But actually, I'm really excited because we're having a big dinner and celeidh that night and we might be able to go into the Highlands and I'm being forced on a ghost tour and really, it all sounds like a blast. 

Next month, we are spending St. Patrick's Day in the motherland itself, Ireland. Hopefully, we'll be cramming a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher in there because gosh dang, that looks outrageously beautiful. Then, we're flying back to Oxford for our program's farewell dinner and then jetting off to Barcelona for a few days. And if possible, we'll slip in a day or two in Paris right after that before returning to London and going back to the USA.

It's weird that I'm going home next month. It hasn't felt very long at all. It's been an incredible privilege getting to study here at Oxford, and here's the thing... I love it here. It's charming, it's rigorous, it's redefined my perspective on academics in a really, really positive way. I could see myself spending many more months here. But at the same time, there's something missing and I miss Stanford like crazy and I'm so, so, so thankful to have gotten to spend a quarter here because it proves to me that Stanford was indeed the institution in which I was meant to spend my undergraduate career. That's a question that's always lingered in my mind, and spending time at Oxford has given me the answer that I needed. The same undergraduate career would've been wholly incomplete without this quarter at Oxford, however. 

Never before have I so wished that I could be in two places at once - I feel a deep sense of needing to be right here, right now. But I also feel a longing to be back at home in Stanford, with the sunshine and the fountains and the palm trees and the familiar faces. For now, I'll take Oxford with everything foreign and new and breathtaking, because I can feel the sand slipping away quickly and I want to savor every grain of it, because I know that in no time, no time at all... I'll be back at Stanford, yearning to be back here in Oxford.
Moral of the story: if we were having coffee today, it'd be a lot of me dramatically ruminating over big questions and then trying to sneak in a few minutes of reading for class.


16 comments

  1. Ahh it sounds like you've got so much ahead of you even if it's only a month! One of my friends came to the UK for the year and is now back again for post grad so there's always that to consider :) don't leave without trying chocolate from Hotel Chocolat! And if you have any spare time, Canterbury is a lovely city in the south (Tiny Tim's tearoom does the best scones I've ever tried!)
    Lucy x
    La Lingua : Food & Lifestyle in Italy

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  2. how can you possibly focus when you have so many fun things coming up!? so jealous. but crossing my fingers you do get everything done!

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  3. Ohh I know those days. Hang in there! It sounds like an amazing experience either way. :)

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  4. This is exactly how my roommate feels right now! She's in India doing a field study for anthropology and it's always been her dream to live there for awhile, but at the same time she is always wanting to be home. Funny how you can want to be in two different places at the same time, huh?

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  5. as weird as it sounds, some of the sweetest times happen when your soul is longing to be in two places. that longing...it isn't a bad thing.
    xo

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  6. Make sure you make it out to the cliffs - it's just a day trip and my friend and I made the mistake of not scheduling it. Can't wait to see all of your travels!

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  7. Oh gosh, I'm sure it doesn't seem like you've been social but all this traveling is taking care of that! I can't imagine spending St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! How fun!!! Keep the pictures coming :)
    xo TJ

    http://www.hislittlelady.com

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  8. So cool that you will be in Ireland on St. Pattys day :)

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  9. This is a once in a lifetime experience!! ENJOY every single second....I know you are there for studies, but you have to make time for the memories too! Try not to stress to much! Hang in there!

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  10. enjoy and make the most of every second..

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  11. Darn those essays! Ahhh!!! But Scotland over Valentine's Day will be amazing. How was Keira K's Mister Darcy?? I do love him.

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  12. OH my goodness I'm so jealous of you! What an amazing experience. Plus I'm really jealous that you also still get to go to themed parties and get to dress up. I wish real life did that.

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  13. Oh my goodness I don't know how you're surviving right now! My brain would be in cant-do-this-time-to-shut-down-and-eat-candy mode. I wish you all the best on your writing! I'm sure you'll get it done :) Also, super jealous that you get to spend St. Patricks day in Ireland! That would be a dream! Have fun in Scotland as well! I have a friend from there, so watch out for any good looking people ;)

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  14. AWW what a cute post :) and Im so happy to follow you

    Check out my new post..HOT travel inspiration….Yucatan :)

    Have a lovely day dear

    LOVE Maria at inredningsvis - inredning it's, Swedish for decor :)

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your comments truly make my day! :)
thank you!

xx Caroline