Alice, Harry, & Me

Last Wednesday, our "Oxford Through the Ages" class went on a tour of Christ Church Cathedral/College which is where I'll be completing my service hours as a docent during the semester. In the last 150 years, it was mostly associated with Charles Dodgson ("Lewis Carroll") and his book "Alice in Wonderland;" however, in more recent years, the name "Harry Potter" fills the corridors of the 12th century Cathedral. There are so many stained and painted glass windows, and as our tour guide pointed out, they are full of jokes! For example, the section of the stained glass "St. Frideswide's Window" that I have pictured here depicts the death of the 8th century patron saint of Oxford. The window was created in 1898, about the time when the modern toilet was first invented, so the artist included a flush-able toilet in the background of the image. Can you find it?

Charles Dodgson was a "Student" (professor/"Fellow") of Mathematics at Christ Church College in the 19th century while the Dean was a man named Henry Liddell who had three daughters--the middle, a girl named Alice. Dodgson was a friend of the Liddell's and wrote "Alice in Wonderland"--that crazy day dream--for Alice. Throughout Christ Church can be found all of the inspiration for that fantastical piece of literature.

For example, today when I was beginning my service hours, a jolly old man told me a brief history. He led me to a door which opened to the two back gardens of Christ Church College. "Do you see that building over there?" he asked, in his jolly-British-old-man way, "That is the back of the Library, and Charles Dodgson used to sit and look out one of those windows and look down into these gardens. You see that little green door separating the two?" I nodded yes, "That was where he got the idea for the little green door in Wonderland. And that Chestnut tree? The Cheshire Cat sat grinning from a great Chestnut tree."

He then went on to tell me a very dramatic story. "Well, Alice was a pretty little girl, and pretty girls often grow into beautiful ladies, and beautiful ladies often fall in love. Well, Alice fell in love with Queen Victoria's son Leopold, but of course, a common girl could not marry royalty. So they had to part ways, but their final words to each other were," and here he started sniffling and pretending to cry, "'If I ever marry, and have a son,' said Alice, 'I shall call him Leopold.' And Leopold said, 'If I ever marry and have a daughter, I shall call her Alice.'" He then led me to the entrance of the Cathedral. "Well Alice did marry. A man named Hargreaves. And she did have a son who died in the War," by then we were standing in front of a memorial for the men who served their country and died in World War I. He pointed and, sure enough, "Leopold Reginald Hargreaves." And Leopold had a daughter, Princess Alice, who died in the 1980s. Now isn't that a romantic story?

Anyway, the staircase leading to Hall was filmed in "Harry Potter" and the Hall itself was inspiration for the hall at Hogwarts. I know I'm crazy, but I'm not a fan of the movie, so I don't fully appreciate it, which I should, because as a volunteer, I'm allowed to dine in the Hall. :)

So, I began my service hours today and it was so much fun! I worked with two ladies, Wendy who was in her 60s and Mary who was in her 80s. Both were very kind. Especially Mary who was just precious! My favorite quote of the day came from little old Mary. The cleaning lady was discussing the new 'Alice in Wonderland' which is about to be released and she said, "I'm old enough to be his mum, but I just think Johnny Depp is so handsome!" to which Mary replied, "Well, I'm old enough to be his grandmum and he still gives me the stirrings!" I laughed so hard. It was absolutely hilarious.

I'm so excited to continue my volunteering at the Cathedral. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories and quotes in my coming posts. And I intend to read "Alice in Wonderland" and continue to find Dodgson's inspirations throughout the Cathedral and College.

Cheers!

My Valentine is Across the OCEAN!

For the past few days, Valentines festivities have been in full swing here at #9 & #10 Canterbury Road. Kristi and some others organized a "Secret Valentine"-type event in which girls and guys drew names selecting their Valentine for whom they would make or buy a gift. This evening we are having a dessert party and everyone is giving their gifts then. I, along with a few others, did not participate because I have precious Jason across the sea.

For the past few days, he has been apologizing to me for only mailing me a card for Valentine's Day. I didn't mind because a card is plenty--especially considering the distance. So when I walked out of my room toward the kitchen this morning and saw the huge box downstairs by the front door, I didn't even bother to go check whose it was. I set about making my traditional breakfast of tea and toast with Nutella (I've developed a cold and tea feels SO good on my throat).

I heard Nicolas singing as he walked down the stairs headed to Christ Church, then I heard him come back up the stairs to the kitchen. "Your middle name wouldn't happen to be Lynn would it?" he asked. Now, I get asked this question every time I get something in the mail from Jason because he addresses the envelope "Stephanie Lynn"--it's actually really cute :) Anyway, I responded positively and he said, "You have a packaged downstairs. And it's epic."

I honestly was confused. I'd already gotten my card, and Jason said over and over that he didn't send me anything else for the occasion. So I followed Nicolas downstairs and was standing next to the three-foot-tall box convinced that I was getting something smaller. He indicated that the big one was for me and sure enough the label read: "Stephanie Lynn, 10 Canterbury Road." A huge smile broke out on my face as I grabbed the box and took it back to my room where I opened it to find a balloon, a teddy bear, and a box of chocolates along with a little note. Tears came to my eyes--I really do have the sweetest boyfriend in the world. He is a blessing to me...and I'm not just saying that because he got me a present! For all my single ladies out there, don't settle! Wait until someone blows you away! :) :) :)

Sorry to be mushy, but I just wanted to share. Have a lovely Valentine's Day everyone!

York & Whitby...AKA: "Freezing Times"

Life in England, is a busy, busy time. Between classes, traveling, planning travels, preparing our Sing Song video, Skyping with loved ones, and trying to get enough sleep, there's barely any time left in the day to do the most important thing: update my blog so that everyone at home can now how crazy life here is! But this morning, I forced myself out of bed at the ridiculous hour of 9 AM, made a strong cup of French-press coffee, and sat down in front of my computer, ready to inform the world of my going-ons.

Last Thursday, before the rooster crowed, we were on a bus driven by Fearless Dave the Bus Driver headed to York. We did not know what to expect...I suppose we all thought, "Hm...I suppose it'll be like New York, but older." Ha. Not quite. After a four hour ride to North England, we exited the bus and were immediately greeted by a Mr. Freezing who proceeded to make us miserable for the remainder of the day. We walked into town, past the astounding Cathedral or Abbey, and Malia, Kristi, and I stopped at a precious little deli for lunch. After we ate, we took some time to regain our courage to battle Mr. Freezing again, and we spent the remainder of the day popping in and out of the ridiculously cute and even more ridiculously expensive shops in the town of York, which is vastly different from New York, might I add. By 4:30, we were once again on the warm bus, and Dave led us into the town of Whitby which is right by the North Sea. Claire, Kristi, and I were too cold to venture outside after dinner in our hostel, so we waited until morning to experience the little harbor town.

In the morning, a large group started the day at the Whitby Abbey Museum which was practically connected to our hostel. We walked through the museum and then explored the amazing ruins of Whitby Abbey which is over 1000 years old. This is the Abbey that Bede, the "Father of English History," recorded the Synod of Whitby taking place in the 7th century which was a major turning point in British history because this is when the nation decided to following the Roman Catholic traditions instead of the Orthodox traditions. The ruins were absolutely fascinating and even more mysterious--I'd give anything to hear those walls talk.

We then walked down the 199 steps into the town of Whitby to find some famous fish and chips. We stopped at Magpie Cafe which has the reputation of having the best fish and chips in England. Malia and I were stuffed from lunch at the hostel, so we didn't have any, but everyone in our groups said they were absolutely amazing. We then wandered in and out of some shops. Whitby is known for its Jet. A black semi-precious stone. I have never seen anything that black in my life and it's absolutely beautiful. Malia, Natalie, and I decided that we needed to buy jewelry to remember Whitby by, so we searched the shops in the town until we found the perfect rings. Malia and I ended up getting the same ring with an oval jet stone in the middle. So pretty! Feeling accomplished, we climbed those 199 steep steps again back to our hostel. Whitby was great and the beach was so pretty, but so cold!

The next morning, after breakfast and a brief walk into the town, we left little Whitby at 10 AM. Fearless Dave drove us into Nottingham--that's right! Robin Hood's Nottingham. We were going to experience the center of English middle class culture: football ("soccer" as Americans call it). I don't know much about soccer except what Jason has told me and what I Googled when we first started dating in order to try to impress him (it didn't work); therefore, I was a little skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy sitting in the cold for 2 hours watching Nottingham Forrest take on Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship League (one step below the Premiere League which is what Man U and Chelsea are in). To my surprise, I enjoyed it so much! Dave told us that there were about 35,000 fans in the stands. One thing that stuck out to me about the fans, was the songs. They sang songs together throughout the game--everyone knew them as well as other chants and cheers such as "C'mon you Reds!" and "Worst referee in history" (the latter was my favorite). But when thousands of people began singing "You've lost that lovin' feeling, whoa, whoa that loving feeling..." I couldn't help but laugh. I have no idea why they sang that song, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

Anyway, Nottingham Forrest (the home team--the team we were cheering for) won! Happy and excited, we got on the bus and returned to Oxford where we soon got in bed to try to recover from a busy, but fun-filled, weekend. I may try to return to Whitby when it is a little warmer, and if I get another opportunity to attend a football game, I'll be jumping on that like a kid on a trampoline!