The Lakes District

Hello All,

Sorry, I have not updated in a while but I have not just been sitting on my little loveseat! I have been busy finding my way around the various reading rooms in the Bodleian Library, joining my college's novice Rowing team, and buying a bike. 
Last weekend, I had a Black-Tie formal dinner at my College on Friday night, followed by a Champagne and Chocolate reception. My friends Elise and Jason came down from London that night. The next day we went to the Lakes District, a beautiful region in North-western England. 
Here is a sampling, of the beauty of the area. 

 We saw Windermere and Grasmere lakes...."mere" is an Old English word for "sea, lake" so that was neat to see for me. We also stopped and saw a stone circle at Castlerigg.

It was a long but fun day!! I hope to post more on rowing and my new bike soon!

Off to Rowing!
Cheers!

Matriculation

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, I am official member of the University of Oxford, now. There is a ceremony called Matriculation in which all the students are required to go upon embarking in the studies at the university. The ceremony officially makes us part of Oxford! The ceremony opened with some Latin

"Scitote vos in Matriculam Universitatis hodie relatos esse, et ad observandum omnia Statuta istius Universitatis, quantum ad vos spectent, teneri." (‘Know that you are today added to the Roll of the University and bound to obey all the statutes of this University so far as they apply to you.')

And was followed by a short speech by the Vice-Chancellor. For this ceremony we have to wear our robes and a special code of dress known as "sub-fusc" Here is an example worn by yours truly with and without the robe.

  

I felt somewhat like a waitress. The boys, are luckier and get to wear tuxes, which makes them look like James Bond. :)

 The Streets were full of all us students, going to matriculation. The place they hold it is only so big so they actually do the ceremony over and over again throughout the day.

 Proof that I do have friends and these particular two (Jennifer and Peter) are Mansfield College Medievalists like myself! And yes, Peter is very tall.

 A brief glimpse inside the Sheldonian Theatre where we were matriculated. Unfortunately Mansfield College was the last one in and had to stand on the floor while everyone else sat. Felt slightly like we were on trial!

 Random picture of some boys after the ceremony back at the college (and after the offical pictures were taken). From left to right Karl (N. Irish), Stephen (English), Cameron (Aussie) and Aled (Welsh-also my college parent).

 Relaxing after a hard day of matriculating and waiting for the pizza we ordered to arrive. We were also enjoying the very unusual warm sunny English weather!

 Peter demonstrating the post-matriculation relaxation.

 We went out for drinks and dinner and more drinks after pizza!

 Hope you enjoyed this brief tour of matriculation. For more pictures (and evidence that I have been making friends) please see my Facebook page!

 Cheers!!

Links and Cameras all rolled into One

Hiya,

Just a short little note. I have wandered into the Bodleian (one of the most famous libraries in the world)! As long as I have my student ID with me I can get into these amazing buildings! That's right, the Bodleian is in more than one building, plus they keep the majority of their books in cold storage off-site facilities so you have to request that they be brought to the main buildings. I've also been into the History Faculty Library. Yup, my department has their own decently sized library! There are books all over the place! Which I'm sure makes some of you ill to think about. ;) Especially since I have spotted no couches on which to take a brief break from the books!
Yesterday, I went into the part of the Bodeian called the Gladstone Link, its in the basement and actually linked the two main buildings. I did not take any pictures but I found some images online to give you an idea.

This is the interesting hallway you have to walk through to get to the "Link" rooms where all the books are. The ceilings are very low, so beware if you are claustrophobic!
 
This picture is not from the Gladstone Link but it gives you an idea of what the bookshelves look like. They are moveable! You turn or crank the handles on the ends of the book case in order to move them over (after checking to make sure there is no one in the isle you need to close). Its quite an interesting experience!



Today, I went to the building known as the Radcliffe Camera (also a part of the Bodleian Library). Here is a picture.