Big Update: All the Stuff Up to Now!

I've been quite busy since school has started! There's a lot of reading, writing and thinking. I end each day exhausted and most nights I just crash and could sleep for 12 hours. But there's no time for that! Here are the highlights since I last made a real post.

My first week of school wasn't to terribly busy. I went to the pub two times with people. Once was the Turf Tavern, a really old pub, and the other was Checkers which I was told used to be owned by a money lender. During the first week I went to the Oxford University History Society Cocktail night. I definitely like cocktails less then beer because they taste not as bad, but make me feel worse! I don't think I'll ever be an alcohol person, but I still have rest of the school year for that to change. On that Saturday I had to attend matriculation. That is a ceremony where we officially become part of the University of Oxford. We all dressed up in sub fusc, which is black and white clothing with our gowns, and got our picture taken. Those of you at home who I know will want one I'll be buying you an official photo of me looking all nice and spiffy! The ceremony was only about ten minutes long and was partially in Latin. It took longer to get everyone in the building then the ceremony took. In someways it felt very satisfying to be apart of something so full of tradition, but it also felt a little odd.

The second week of school involved me working a lot on my papers. On Monday I took a bit of a break and went to see the Oxford improve team, the Oxford Imps. They were funny and it was nice not to have to worry about trying to be smart for two hours. I finished my papers by Thursday, so that night I went to the History Society's pub quiz night. I learned that I'm absolutely useless when it comes to remembering trivia on the spot. My contribution to my team was bringing a guy from my college who knew a fair amount of the answers. I don't know if my friends will be asking me again to join them. It was very exciting though because it was announced that we had tied for first! They were getting ready to make us have a sudden death match when another team yelled that they were pretty sure that they got more points then our team. The other team had forgotten to add up all their points. That meant we had tied for second which was still awesome! We were getting ready for a death match for second place when another team spoke up and we sadly fell to a tied third. It was depressing. My team had gone from being on such a high because we, or should I say they, did so good to being third. There's always next time! After I handed in my papers on Friday a bunch of us History of Science, Technology and Medicine students went to the Turf Tavern to celebrate. I then proceeded to sleep for four hours after only waking up in time for supper. On Saturday I went back to the Ashmolean Museum and wandered around a bit more.

So far this week, third week, has been pretty uneventful. I have done a lot of reading and have started on my next two papers. Tomorrow I'm going to the Ashmolean at night with my friends David and Sihong because there's an Egyptian themes party. I'll try to take lots of photos!

My First Term Schedule!

Have I two main classes this term and each class has a class, lecture and seminar each week.

On of my classes is Methods and Themes in the History of Science. In this we do a general overview of important topics in the History of Science such as is it relevant, why and how scientists change their minds, how to use instruments to do research, and more along that those lines. For our class every week we have a reading list we have to read and then we discuss it. During the lecture our main professor talks about topics in such as Galileo and the Scientific Revolution and he describes how they used to be seen and studied and how they are now. That professor's name is Professor Corsi and he's quite funny! He's from Italy, so he talks a lot about how great his home country is and how great he is. It is all said in a joking way to keep us interested. For the seminar each week a different historian is brought in to give us a lecture on their research. So far the two we have heard have been interesting. Although, one was better then the other. It's teaching me how to presented and what kind of presenting style I like.

The other class I have is Methods and Themes in the History of Medicine. Generally the ideas are the same except they are related to the History of Medicine, so we talk about things like epidemics, Foucault, the body, and more. Unlike History of Science, our History of Medicine lectures link up directly to what we talk about and had to read for class. This is nice because it gives another dimension, but also a little tedious because you have to both read the material and listen to it.

This semester for both classes I have to write three essays and do a presentation. My first two essays were do Friday and I had my History of Medicine presentation in the first week of class. It's nice to have the medicine presentation done because it is definitely NOT my strong point. Since both classes are linked they have our essays due for both at the same time which is a learning experience for me. Usually I work on one essay at a time, but this time I did both at once. I would work on one for two hours before changing to the other. Will see how it all turns out. It will be something I have to work on more.

On top of that every second week I have a Graduate Research Forum. In that class we learn about doing research and the basics of getting ready to write our dissertations. I need to do more research into mine. I have a general idea of what I want to do, but now I need to find something specific that interests me and I have to find sources!

I try to go to a Medieval Latin class on Wednesdays because it would be helpful for my research since I'm focusing on the Medieval/Middle Ages. It conflicts with a seminar series on Material Culture, which also has to do with my research. So I picked the lectures for the Material Culture seminar which looked the most interesting to me and I'll go to a couple of those and go to Latin the other times.

I think that's all of my classes/courses. I'll try to say how they all go in my regular blog posts. Since I don't have any photos related to my classes here are some other pictures I've taken!

Pigeons like to sit in the tree outside my window and sometimes on my window sill. I would like to open my window up all the way, but I'm scared one will fly in. So I only open my window a tiny bit.

This is a picture of the library at the college. It's really pretty. Both sides of the library are lines with those shelves. There are spiral staircases that lead up to the top floor where there are desks for students. The second floor is what you can see with the railings.

First day of real classes done!

Today I had my first day of the semester! In the morning I went to a class about reading Medieval documents. We jumped right into it and began reading documents. It was quite hard, but seems like a lot of fun. I'm just going to the class because I want to. I can't go to that many because I have compulsory classes for my program which happens at the same time most days. I know I promised a post about my classes and I'm getting there! It's just when I work on it I realize how much I have to do and I go do that instead!

In the afternoon I had my first History of Medicine Seminar. The presenter, Dr. Mark Honigsbaum, talked about Karl Friedrich Meyer and his ideas on disease ecology. I found it interesting but a little hard to follow because not being a mainly medical historian or a doctor I didn't understand all of the medical talk and words. It will probably be something I pick up as this course goes on. At least I'm hoping I do!

This sign is on the road opposite the Natural History Museum. I just really like it and I don't have any other pictures to show you right now.












Today is the first semi-formal dinner at my college. We wear normal clothes under our gowns. I'll try to take some pictures of myself in my gown and post them in one of the following posts. There'll be pictures of me in full sub-fusc (formal dress) after Saturday because we have matriculation that day.

Last week was quite busy. I finished my pre-term Latin on friday which was nice and a little horrifying. Horrifying because it meant that the rest of my classes were about to begin. Last week I also met other people in my program. There are 16 of us! Most of them are doing medical history and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person doing the History of Science in the Medieval period. I also got to meet my supervisors. They seem really awesome and like they'll be a lot of fun to work with! They were really interested in my application letter. They wondered why I took Norwegian and why the Bog Mummy exhibit when I was young effected me so much and how I got to be interested in Medieval Science. They made me feel for the first time like I'm actually going to do well here and that I belong. Since I've gotten here I've had that feeling that I ended up here by accident. I don't think that feeling will go away anytime soon, but it's nice to have people who are interested in me and are excited to work with me.

That's it for now! I have to get to writing two papers and preparing an oral presentation for Thursday!

Week Two

Sunday I decided just to go for a picnic because I needed to save money so I could eat throughout the week. I got myself a falafel pita wrap and an apple cinnamon flapjack and headed over to the University Parks. It was so pretty there! There are a couple of big green fields and some rock walking paths which have trees on either side. I walked down to the river where I sat on a bench to eat my lunch. It was fun to sit and watch people walk by and to watch people use rowboats and do punting on the river. I would like to try punting sometime if possible. Hopefully I can find a couple of people who would be willing to do it with me! After eating my lunch I walked a little bit more further down the river and I sat on my sweater on the grass and I read for about an hour. I was such a nice and sunny day, but it wasn't to hot or to cold!

I forgot how to put images side by side! Oops! 

The rest of the week was mostly devoted to Latin and trying to understand it. Although, on Wednesday I went to the Lamb and Flag pub to meet the Byzantium society mostly to get out of my room. I talked with a couple of people, but I only spent an hour there before I headed off. Everyone here seems really nice. 

Thursday I went for an induction to volunteering at the Oxford University Museums. It's a very different volunteering system then what I'm used to. How it works is that they send out mass emails when new opportunities appear and it's first come first serve when it comes to getting the position. I signed up to do coin handling once a month on Saturdays at the Ashmolean Museum. It's something I've never done, so we'll have to see how it all goes. I think at first it might be hard for me to let people touch the objects, but it will be fun to be able to tell people about the different coins and maybe I'll be able to make some people enjoy coming to the Museum! 

Friday after Latin class a bunch of us again went to the pub. We all sat at one big table which made for a lot of loud conversation. I pretty much sat there quietly because I just found it hard being in a group that large and I wasn't really sitting next to anyone I really know. I'm really going to have to get over my social awkwardness or it's going to be a hard year! 

That's all for now! Today, Saturday will be a relaxing day. I think I'm going to go for brunch and then do some Latin. I just got to tell myself that I can do it! Also, this week I started learning what my schedule for the rest of my classes will be like. Most of my classes/lectures/seminars are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a class every second Monday.  There is a lot of work to do for all of it and stuff is do at the same time. If I'm organized I know I can do it! I'll write another blogpost talking specifically about my courses and what they will entail!