a walk from my place to the quads. is there a single place in oxford not perfectly picturesque? i really don't think so.

the hall where we ate all our meals....yeah...i know.
us having one of our first meals, complete with beaucoup de mushrooms, of course. jess on the right
jess and I in the gardens--one of my favorite pics, taken by world renown photographer Jennifer Novotny.

last niht at oxford--Jess, Kortni and I with some of our favorite drinks--Guiness, Pimms and lemonade and a sexy susan
the Camera of the Bodelian--where I went do research for my paper. you order the books online, then they're retrieved from the stacks underground and delivered to the reading room of your choice. the briggs dims a bit, no? :)

the path to my "dorm building" for lack of a better term. More like apartments, jusit without kitchens and such.
My door is there on the right--and this road leads up to the high street

Tutor Steve Kershaw and his jazzband we went to see one night--one guy from Sweden and the other from Russia. That's Dr. Kershaw playing the bass!

Pictures, finally! in no particular order...

formal dinner in the Hall--Gwyn looking ?? , me trying to explain something (fascinating, I'm sure..) and Sam listening attentively to Dr. Brooks, or contemplating how to approach his dessert...)
discussion with prof. kershaw over a pint in the college bar after our last formal dinner
a shot of the crowds at the Tour de France--taken by steve--with me in the right bottom corner looking thrilled about the wait!
a cyclist, obviously--again, taken by steve
One of the recovered roman mosaic floors of a palace--dug up by accident while installing a water main in Fishbourne. One of our "field trips"!!

So it's taken me ages, but now that I'm at Sophia's house, I finally have time to proprely update this thing.

We'll see how many pics I can get up on here...

Nap time...

My filming partners and I decided to take a break (nap, actually) and fortunately, the flat I'm in has wireless! Hallelujah.

First of all, it's freezing in Berlin. I figured it'd be a LITTLE cooler than back home, but I wasn't expecting to shiver my way to the U-Bahns 5 times a day. There's something to get used to---public transport. You don't realize how free a car makes you feel until the only form of transportation you own is a little slip of paper, allowing you to share little train cars with people you don't know or understand. I was quite proud of myself today though, making it all by myself to one of my friend's flats. Most of the time, honestly, I'm content to let other people debate out directions.

Today we spent the morning filming again. Whole new respect for photogs....setting up the tripod, checking white balances, focusing, setting the scene....uhhh...thus it's naptime. The Sudanese falafel we had for lunch was extremely satisfying though.

Last night we found this great Spanish tapas bar though, and enjoyed sangria and calamari. And of course a couple friends knew spanish as well...where do they all find the time to learn 5 different languages??

Yesterday was interesting though, touring an enormous radio station called Multikulti, which broadcasts in 18 different languages, and--I think--is the only one to do so.

Three nights ago, after touring a Jewish Museum, we had a formal dinner that Tereza (from the Czeck Republic) and I had a v. difficult time trying to find. The directions said Torstrasse 18, and the actual location was Torstraße 189...so we walked for almost an hour before getting a call from one of the other students with the corrections... Irritation was quickly erased by the open bar though. And dancing later was helpful too!

Two nights ago, we all went to a concert called popeuropa, featuring a pop singer from Romania and the DJ who did the soundtrack for Borat. I'm developing a taste for Balkan beats, I think. Although after 3-4 hours of it, you're definitely ready for something you don't have to dance to!
The concert had an amazing location--right on the river, with balconeys, beaches, docks and a pool right in the river. I'm going to try and get pictures up as soon as possible...it's just a bit IMPOSSIBLE right now...

days are so busy, and I'm getting a bit rundown, but on Monday, I get to meet up with Sophia and hopefully start sleeping in (!!)

Hope you are all well, happy and warm--I heard about the bridge collapsing and would really appreciate hearing more. Keep me posted on new developments.
Love you, Alison