Gadabout

Week Four/Five: Balliol College, The University of Oxford

September 19^th – 29^th, 2011

Gadabout: One who roams about in search of amusement or social activity

Our last week at Oxford :( We had a bit more free time than usual, but most of that was spent sleeping or catching up on the readings, which was more like sleeping while trying to read. I went through three highlighters alone this week because I bought one of my professor’s books!

In International Political Economy we discussed the two books The Politics of Global Regulation and The New Global Rulers. Tutorial #3 was a lot of me sitting in a daze with so much information going over my head because I had focused my essay on the international regulation of human rights, and much of the discussion was of the business and financial aspects of regulation. I particularly wanted to discuss the role of the Arab Spring in IPE and global integration, but oh well. The tutorials have been running 2-2 ½ hours as it was. Tutorial #4 behaved much better for me haha, because Maryalice and I co-presented Professor Mattli’s third book. Because of my embarrassment the week prior, I focused this time on the privatization of financial regulation and forced myself to familiarize with the new perspective rather than applying it to the Middle East. I did not feel like I was able to contribute that particular tutorial to my greater research aspirations, but it certainly helped me understand the financial meltdown of 2008 and some of the politics behind it. Professor Mattli was nice enough to meet with me independently to explain some of the financial crisis in more detail as well.

We discussed International Libertarianism and Restitution in Tutorial #4 of Rectifying International Injustice and Collective Responsibility in the Middle East for Tutorial #5. Much to my tutor’s dismay, I continued my obsession with analyzing the situation in Israel and Middle Eastern politics haha. After weeks of avoiding in-depth discussion, we finally pursued it in the last tutorial. The basic consensus was that Israel is too unconventional for theoretical hypothetical situations to apply smoothly, and it must be considered on a unique basis. Ultimately, prospects of resolution lie in the arrangement of diplomacy and the timeliness of negotiations, not so much in a politically scientific manner.

Our group-wide Politics and the Arts tutorial was held at the infamous Eagle and Child, affectionately known as the Bird and Baby by the locals, to imitate a discussion by the Inklings. My group presented on C.S. Lewis’s “The Abolition of Man” (mind=blown), while the other groups presented on J.R.R. Tolkien and Gilbert Chesterton. The Inklings were a literary/philosophical club that met every week at the Bird and Baby, which made me wonder who those crazy old men at Caffe Nero’s are haha and if they are really these incredible authors and professors. I always seem to be sitting in their vicinity when they have ridiculous conversations name-dropping all these profound philosophers and life questions. (Today is Thursday…I’m going to have to go back to Nero’s and meet these guys!)

Wednesday, September 21^st, was the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, so to commemorate it, a group of us began volunteering at the Fair Trade store behind St. Michael’s on Cornmarket Street. Maryalice and I were always volunteer buddies, and so between the three different days that we worked we merchandised jewelry from the Philippines and Kenya, assembled welcome packets for students, and advertised in the middle of Cornmarket Street. The manager and regular volunteers are incredible people, and their stories about each item imported was even better. Fair Trade is one of my new favorite stores :) They even offered to host next year’s CLU-Oxford students whenever they would like to volunteer!

I have officially gone about a month without playing viola, so the stress of final tutorials and walking past the Holywell Music Room every day was not helping my withdrawal syndrome. On the evening of the 22^nd I attended the Adderbury Ensemble’s performance at the Sheldonian Theatre of the Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, the Brandenburg 5, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It was so difficult to not tap my toes or nod my head at entrances! I had performed the latter two selections at least 5 times each over the past four years. The next morning I waltzed over to the Oxford Violin Shop about a mile from the dorms for a viola fix. They just handed me a £12,000 viola and bow to match, which totaled approximately $20,000, to have fun with! No credit card or contract needed! Those of you who know me in the musical realm know I have the worst memory known to musicians, and of course, I did not have any music with me here haha. Poor shop owner, I was playing random scales and “fiddling around” with various themes for about an hour. Luckily various little themes found themselves in my fingers, so I could throw that into the mix. The shop owner and luthier, Bruno Guastalla, had even called the luthier who made the viola – Michael Kearns – while I was playing it! How embarrassing lol. I had my parents e-mail me some music from home the next day so I do not have to experience that again. I now have a new activity for each city I travel to – find a luthier and pretend to be a prospective buyer! Maybe in 5-10 years lol that one viola was twice the cost of my car. In fact, I could sell my car, current viola, and both bikes for the price of that one Michael Kearns viola.

The Lutheran Society met at The Rose in search of the best tea and scones in Oxford for Friday afternoon tea. The scones were incredibly delicious, a fluffy biscuit with cream and jam, accompanied by hot vanilla black tea. I know this seems a bit out of place, but it is totally worth mentioning. Unfortunately The Rose is closing this week for good :(

Now the title of this blog post – GADABOUT – pertains to what happened after all my tutorials were finished, from the afternoon of September 27^th onward. Here are some blurbs about a few of the incredible and random people I had met while wandering around Oxford! The trick is to walk slow and look up…it’s more inviting, so people will naturally strike up conversations.

1.       Shabibi: shop owner in Oxford’s Covered Market from Kashmir, India; he knows 7 different languages and has shops all over the world selling (at a ridiculous price, mind you) crafts and colored fabrics from Kashmir; I stumbled upon his store because I recognized much of the fabrics from Turkey and was feeling nostalgic. Before I could escape after seeing all the prices, Shabibi stopped me and struck up a conversation that lasted over an hour. He talked non-stop about the beauty of traveling and meeting people, and how much he loves his job. His store is filled with the most rich and vibrant colors that the eye can experience, and he loves how it always makes the customers leave with a smile on their face, whether they buy something or not. After our conversation, I went to purchase a little camera bag. He said: “Are you sure? Do you really, really, want this? Just because we talked for so long does not mean you have to buy something. I just enjoyed talking with you. Let’s stay in touch, would you like to get coffee?” Unfortunately I was leaving in a couple days, so I kindly declined. But I did end up purchasing the camera bag (which he gave to me at a discount without me asking), because I sincerely wanted to. Very rarely can I walk into a bazaar and not feel obligated to purchase anything with the vendor being so pushy. I sincerely thanked him for his time and for being a friend, not a salesman.

2.       Café 360: I had met some Oxford students in front of the Fair Trade store because it shares a building with their Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. They invited me to an International Student Welcome coffee that evening to meet everyone, so I brought a few friends along. We met people from Scotland, southern England, India, China, Indonesia, and Turkey, and that was only the small handful at my table. We all played Jenga and drank “squash” while exchanging Oxford stories. I actually ran into one of the girls, Alicia, the day after on Cornmarket Street! Small town.

3.       Gilli: Store manager of Fair Trade at St. Michael’s; we did not talk much about personal things, but she is incredibly sweet and really opened up her shop to us. She explained all the stories behind the Fair Trade items and the villages they came from, and even gave us some FT chocolate for our volunteering efforts. As a manager of a non-profit store run by volunteers, she has an extremely difficult job. If no one volunteers, they have to close the shop for the day :(

4.       French guy while I was buying lunch – don’t remember his name, but we’re both going to be in Paris this weekend haha

5.       Two Persians from Iran: I met these guys while I was eating the crepes I had bought from the French guy and trying to video-type a violinist/trapeze artist. They are studying Middle Eastern Studies in Oxford working on their doctorates. We discussed everything from Middle Eastern politics to the stereotypes of Americans (they thought I was a “redneck” when they found out I was from Texas). We then exchanged e-mails for future help with research. Unfortunately I had run out of business cards, so I embarrassingly had to write my e-mail on a napkin. I immediately went to the print shop to get a few more cut.

6.       Two economists from Milan: they made fun of me because I couldn’t remember whether I went to Milan with TYO over five years ago. Remember that terrible memory of mine? lol

I have a new goal to meet someone new every day and get rid of these business cards haha. You meet the most interesting people abroad because nobody has their cars to be antisocial and efficiency is overrated, so everyone is just there to enjoy life and absorb new cultures. Everyone has a story.

Last night, September 28^th, was the final banquet for the Oxford portion of our program. It was hardly even bittersweet, it is Turkish Coffee Bitter. I am going to miss it here so much, and I am dreading packing for France. I know the next half of our tour is going to be incredible, but I am finally in the groove of Oxford tutorials and I feel like I have barely seen the tip of the iceberg in these topics. I have so much more to learn! I hope my professors don’t mind, but I’m going to be e-mailing them quite a bit to continue our conversations.

And last and perhaps least, my last day at Oxford :( I spent some time taking Paddington Bear around some of Oxford for some glamour shots,  eating the last bit of my favorite foods here (the English breakfast with poached eggs, hash browns, boiled tomato, mushrooms, and fresh fruit; tomato soup and ciabatta from Caffe Nero’s; a dessert from The Alternative Tuck Shop; and a Balliol College/Hogwarts-style dinner). I LOVE OXFORD!

I wonder anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking. It is all like an opera.

~William Butler Yeats

Sweet Serendipity

Week Three: Balliol College, University of Oxford

September 12^th – 18^th, 2011

This whole week is in a blur, especially because it is book-ended with tutorials, so my weekend consists of Thursday-Friday rather than Saturday-Sunday. Hence the delay in posting about last week until now.

Reflection of the sky in the river from our walk to the Trout

As far as the tutorials are concerned, homework was in full force. We discussed the concepts of compensation, counterfactual obligations, and non-identity in Rectifying International Injustice. My essay focused on non-identity, which is a counterfactual of who could have existed, but does not exist, because of certain historical injustices. Dr. Dan loves throwing us into hypothetical situations that have no correct answer. You have to have quite an imagination to be a philosopher – it is so much fun yet so mind-boggling. Maryalice and I discussed Professor Mattli’s book The Logic of Regional Integration in our second International Political Economy class. I had to present a summary of the theoretical argument and then critique/analyze its weaknesses and limitations, and reflect on its relevance in today’s society. He stopped me halfway through my summary for discussion, which lasted another hour and a half. This class went so much smoother than last week’s because we never ran out of things to say. It was still beyond intimidating though! The tutorial had started off on a really high note, too, because we ran into Professor Mattli in the Canterbury Quad of St. John’s College on our way to class. He gave us an exclusive tour of the college including the “rockery” and some “secret” gardens. It was absolutely breath-taking. We even walked on the grass! Shhhh!

The next round of tutorials was on Sunday the 18^th with Dr. Brint. Nikki and I attended Social Ethics in Tower 4 of the Jowett Walk Annex, right next door to our dormitories (Tower 2). This was our final tutorial :( unfortunately, since this was only a single-unit independent study. Dr. Brint allowed us to write about how Sir Isaiah Berlin affected our lives academically, which for me was more how he applies to my research on how religion influences the Israeli democracy. I could talk for hours about this, so I will save you the time. Message me if you’re interested. Dr. Brint and I walked to our next tutorial immediately afterwards for Cityscapes, and in the meantime we were able to discuss some logistics for my Political Science Departmental Honors research project. Dr. Shaw had helped me sort through some ideas beforehand, which included setting a new goal of having my thesis project “in review” for publication before spring 2013 rather than finishing it by the time I graduate. This means the paper is only 32 pages long, which is about half the length of my original proposal. Good that it is shorter, bad that I need to be more concise and articulate, good that this will make me do just that, and bad that it is a semester earlier haha. I’m excited though, because this makes perfection a plan, not just a dream. Dr. Brint and I will continue the conversation while we’re abroad by taking a walk in each city we visit to narrow down my ideas into a workable thesis by the time we reach Barcelona. Anyways! The Cityscapes tutorial was held at the Mitre on High Street for tea and scones. We discussed more about Mexican identity, particularly the concepts of solitude and love. Our next meeting will be in France!!!

In between these two whirlwind sets of tutorials was quite a bit of team-bonding with the Lutheran Society’s University of Thirteen (fourteen for the week, if you count Dr. Shaw). Monday night Dr. Brint so graciously hosted everyone at his apartment for some incredible home-cooked Indian food, which I had never had before. Dr. Shaw brought from CLU a pencil for everyone, which turned out to be the life of the party. Who knew an inanimate object could provide hours of entertainment? I guess that’s what happens when you put 14 G/T people in the same room.  Other social events included a couple more stops at the Turf Tavern to unwind, Girls’ Night Out, and Girls’ Night In. The latter was more of a mending mechanism to keep the drama count as low as possible haha. We had a blast though. I had also finally mustered up the courage to go for a run in one of the most formal cities I’ve ever been. University Park is gorgeous and about a half-mile away. It’s perfect for a 30-45 minute run followed by some core training back at the dorms. The first run wasn’t so bad, but I was “smart” enough to go again the day after with Austin, which wasn't such a good idea haha. Oh well. It is beautiful, though. At one point on the complete opposite side of the park from our entrance is a bridge about 20 feet above the river. It’s the perfect spot for a stretch break.  :)

Jordan and Sam were some of the people who started this maddness

The boys were jealous of our Girls' Night Out, so they
tried to join in on the fun... 

The girls at the White Horse pub!

Other adventures during the week led me to meet two incredible people, although neither from the UK. One is from Dubai, so of course I couldn’t resist asking all kinds of pressing questions about religion and politics in the Middle East from his perspective. That’s the beauty of Oxford – every small conversation of small talk can shift in an instant, and everyone has the mental capacity to handle a big question on a pub night. Haven’t tried the “night clubs” yet, but that’s not really my scene. At least in pubs you can hear what each other is saying! Nikki, Mira, Beth, and I met another wonderful person on an ice cream run on Friday. (The first ice cream shop we tried closed at 6:30, which makes no sense for after-dinner dessert, so meeting this lady was meant-to-be.) This lady had come by herself for a quick dinner, and asked if she could join us after she finished eating. We ended up talking for over an hour about out studies, student life in Oxford, politics, and her life in China. She works as a managing editor for the Society of China University Journals in Natural Science and as a senior editor professor at Zhejiang University, one of the top schools in China. Everything she said was fascinating. The one thing she told us to remember, though, was to teach our kids mathematic logic when they are babies rather than reading poetry haha. Music, of course, helps with that too.

Other festivities of the week included a walk to the Trout County Pub, which took about four hours round trip. So worth it though! We started at Dr. Brint’s apartment with Dr. Shaw and the rest of the Californian Lutherans, and hiked beyond Jericho to some pastures alongside the river for a couple miles. We stumbled across some blackberries, ponies, a swan-chasing Labrador (adorable!), livestock with their cow patties, and massive spiders, all accompanied by great friends and even better conversations. Then Saturday was filled with having tea with Dr. Shaw and friends to discuss the remaining time at CLU and life after college, hunting for a pair of flip-flops, and picnic-ing at Dr. Brint’s apartment for Mira’s birthday. So apparently, rubber flip-flops (only a couple dollars at Old Navy) cost £22!!! That’s nearly $35! We ended up finding some fancier sandals for only £3 at a department store, since Mira’s fancy flip-flops are now un-fixable. Our picnic right afterwards was absolutely delicious – best sandwiches I have ever had! It was all fresh food from the festival at the castle adjacent to Dr. Brint’s apartment. Later that evening we all met at the pub called “Far from the Meddling Crowd” (how fitting) to say adieu to Dr. Shaw before he leaves for the real world. Unfortunately, I had already tried to get some research done between dinner and the pub, so my mind was completely absorbed swimming in ideas and wasn’t able to be productively social that evening.

So you see the group picture above? Luckily we didn't see this
little "friend" until after the photo was taken

A fat cow trying to play peek-a-boo with Mira and I 

Well, I think that covers everything! I have officially written approximately 5,400 words and read nearly 350 pages in the past four days. This is why I do NOTHING productive when I go home. 

That's Cute

Week Two: Oxford, Oxfordshire

 September 5th - September 11th

C.S. Lewis's Cottage

We arrived in Oxford right around noon, just in time for one of Dr. Brint’s “pragmatic” tours of the city. My first impression was nothing short of petrifying – I have never been more scared and nervous before the start of a semester in my life. The more we wandered the city, the more uneasy I felt. Everyone was dressed in their Ivy-league-best business attire. It didn’t help that the world rankings were released that day as well with 1. Cambridge 2. Harvard 3. MIT 4. Yale, and 5. Oxford. What is the average IQ in such an oasis of ridiculous amounts of knowledge?! In addition, Balliol College, the subset of Oxford that we are visiting students of, argues back and for with Christ Church College of the University of Oxford who educates more prime ministers. I bet the public schools in Oxford are uniformly “GT,” and only arrange special education for “normal” kids rather than the other way around. This is the most intimidating place I have ever step foot. Take me back to Palestine.

Street artist holding the painting I bought
from her of the Bodleian Library

The next day, Tuesday, September 6^th, we were matriculated into the Bodleian Library by signing and reciting this oath:

I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.

We were then given official library cards, picture and all, for access to over 9 million different volumes of written word. Only 10% of all Bodleian library card holders reside outside of the UK, and we are now among them. We explored only a few buildings, including music composition books 400+ years old and an underground tunnel system. Dr. Brint then took us on an abbreviated Bodleian Library tour and Balliol College tour, which unfortunately(?) did not include all the creepy paintings of former Masters of Balliol in the dining hall. PS – the dining hall at Hogwarts was based off of ours :) We eat hearty breakfasts and dinners with some of the best staff at Oxford. Jane, who helps serve us our meals, is referred to as “mum,” and we are quickly learning the names of the other staff members. They seriously give us more food than we could ever imagine, with at least three courses per dinner. Lunch is on our own typically, so if we’re not out in the streets trying local cuisine, we’re PBJ-ing it back at the Jowett Annex, our “B&B” dorms for the month.

Today for lunch we met at the infamous Turf Tavern a block from our dorms with Dr. Brint, fully intending to have a Politics and the Arts tutorial while we eat. Seating arrangements didn’t work out too well, so we took it back to the entertainment room of the dorms instead. However, our beverage of choice was a tad bit stronger than any of us had anticipated…which just made the tutorial THAT much better haha. MacBeth will never be the same. Immediately afterwards was our first official Oxford University tutorial called Rectifying International Injustice with Dr. Daniel Butt, whom we refer to as Dr. Dan. He was absolutely hilarious. Just like any philosopher, he talked his way around every point of interest for the hour. We were quite entertained and excited for the next meeting.

It was so difficult trying to soak in all that Oxford has to offer, both the city and the university. In a classic attempt to procrastinate and distract myself from worrying about my tutorials, I bought a map and picked out things to wander towards. When I saw the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and the local Synagogue, I remembered that the UN International Day of Peace is September 21^st. So I decided to go for a walk around town Wednesday morning. I spoke with the receptionist at the Islamic Center, got some information and learned a little bit about what they do during term (which unfortunately does not start until we leave Oxford). Then at the synagogue a gentlemen gave me the contact information for their main community development person. Now all I have to do is find a service project…hopefully the Red Cross or Salvation Army will have something going on that day. I would absolutely love to make it an interfaith service project as ambassadors of California Lutheran University. Ironically, the synagogue is located in Jericho, Oxfordshire, which is on the outskirts of Oxford and also shares a name with Jericho, West Bank/Palestine. Upon entering the city I saw a mural of the little town with a quote (pictured below). I couldn’t help but wonder to which city of Jericho the quote is referring. Just FYI Jericho, West Bank, is also where I found the Peace Pole of which CLU is a proud advocate. That afternoon we took a tour of Oxford from the perspective of C.S. Lewis, J.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings guided by a professor of C.S. Lewis and an Inklings specialist. In addition to my cross-city adventure earlier in the morning, this tour itself was over two hours. Needless to say we were very familiar with the area by the end of it.

One of the beauties of Oxford is the immense amount of networking within walking distance. The Six Degrees of Separation theory does not apply here – there are only two or three degrees. Thursday a few of us (including the former news producer for Iranian World TV) met with Victoria Nash, Director of Graduate Programs and of the Oxford Internet Institute to discuss social media in global social movements, particularly the Middle East. She helped us formulate quantitative research methods utilizing Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other 21^st century phenomena for gathering data. She is also well aware of the different research projects the Oxford students are working on, and could help network us to the right people for collaboration.  

Later that afternoon Maryalice Marston and I had our first tutorial with Professor Walter Mattli in International Political Economy. As if I wasn’t scared enough, we walk into his office in the Canterbury Quad of St. John’s College of Oxford, and everything was white. Of course we were wearing black boots because of the misty nature of the weather. We sit down on a huge couch in the office of his office, and begin discussing the weather haha. He then began having us regurgitate information that we had read from his three books prior to arriving in the UK – and we had no idea what we were doing. It seems very simple now, but he had us recollect the integration hierarchy from the city-state to supranational schemes. One in particular that stumped us was the “kingdom” haha – us non-cultured Americans have no recollection of a history of kingdoms, it’s always been counties/districts lol. We forget that there was a world beyond America. We then racked our brains with Game Theory and the Prisoner’s Dilemma. We had read all of this beforehand, but we have stuffed so much information into our brains that it pushed everything else out it seems. As I re-read Professor Mattli’s first book for an essay and presentation next week, I can see from where his tutorial questions stemmed.  I just hope next week is not a repeat of dumbfounded Americans staring blankly into space. It is beyond embarrassing to be at one of the top five greatest intellectual institutions in the world, and perform so terribly. We need to be completely focused and work not only three times harder this month than a typical school month (because one semester is condensed into one month), but also we need to perform at the Ivy level. Work hard now, play hard later. I really shouldn’t even be working on this blog, but I know if I wait like I did for Israel it will never be finished, assuming I remember everything we do.

Friday, September 9^th, we turned in our first essays for Dr. Dan’s Rectifying International Injustice class. I answered the question “Should distributive justice be forward-looking or backward-looking?” with an analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. He basically responded to my essay by agreeing with my opinions, then saying that the region is too messed up to spend time debating it, in a very nice and humorous way. He added that not only is it an extremely unique situation given its unique history of injustices, but also that in the case of property ownership, there is no original possession – it belonged to the earth, not mankind, initially. In which case the theories of legitimate ownership does not apply, so there is no agreed upon theory for distributional justice. Anyways, our brains were too fried by the end of that conversation that we ended up getting sandwiches at the “Alternative Tuck Shop” a block from our dorms and walking around to find a park to eat. We became too hungry and impatient, so we settled into a cemetery a couple blocks away haha. Which brings me to the question – is it immoral to eat blackberries that grow in a cemetery? Certainly none of us did, but it’s an interesting concept :)

Later Friday afternoon we went “punting” from the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse near the Thames River. Punting is basically a combination of a canoe, kayak, paddle board, and Italian gondola. Dr. Brint made us a drink called “Pimms,” which is a particular brand that he combined with 7-up, strawberries, oranges, lemons, apples, cucumbers, and mint leaves. Needless to say, all the Englishmen who saw us were quite jealous. Lastly, that evening we all ventured to Dr. Brint’s home to celebrate his birthday. It was the least we could do for someone who gives so selflessly and does so much for his students, way beyond the call of duty. He is the reason this program exists and why CalLu has become mini-oasis of Oxford out in California.

Saturday we welcomed Dr. Mike Shaw’s arrival in Oxford. He is a physics professor at CalLu and is coming to explore “the dark side” (he attended Cambridge) and teach us some photography. We all met up at the Turf Tavern for some “communion.” Then, finally, Sunday was the last day of our first round of tutorials. I finished my readings that morning bouncing between the Turf Tavern (closed still, but there was outdoor seating hidden in an alley), the Holywell Music Room, and Café Nero’s. The Holywell Music Room had a coffee concert that morning, so I brought my iPad up to the back corner of the concert hall to read while pianist Chiao Ying Chang performed Liszt’s “Two Legends” and Schubert’s “Sonata in A D959.” This particular venue was built in 1748 and is the oldest of its kind in Europe. Today is September 11^th, and I had run into an imam yesterday along one of the market streets, who invited me to a 10-minute moment of silence for the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. So at 2:00 PM (equivalent to 9:00 AM in New York) I joined the Oxford Council of Faiths in commemorating the day and issuing a declaration of peace in front of a plaque that said peace in four different languages, including Hebrew and Arabic. You can find youtube videos of the Imam’s speech and a portion of the introduction to the moment of silence.



http://youtu.be/1Hskv_lT1t0

http://youtu.be/WucOy25oTu8

Nikki Mills and I then had our Social Ethics – Sir Isaiah Berlin tutorial with Dr. Brint at the Queen’s Place, a little Turkish café that also had Gluten Free bread. We discussed his work “The Two Concepts of Liberty,” and debated about whether society should have “positive” or “negative” liberty. To simplify some of the arguments, “positive” liberty pertains to having the wisest determine what is best for society in a rational manner, assuming that rationality leads to the one and only truth. “Negative” liberty is very much pluralistic, allowing everyone to determine their (non)rationality for themselves, deeming each person so unique as to have differing outcomes in their rational choices. The latter is what Berlin encouraged, and we tended to agree. [Like I said, this is extremely simplified.] The beauty of philosophy is that there is never a right answer, but there are plenty of wrong answers, leading to such perpetual discussions. Immediately following this tutorial, we headed to the Quod for the Cityscapes tutorial with some more students. Here we discussed Mexican identity according to our particular readings and the movie “Like Water for Chocolate.” Dr. Shaw joined us afterwards to enjoy some jazz music before we headed off to dinner in the Balliol College dining hall.

Until next week...Cheers!





Somewhere Near Piccadilly

I gave up trying to finish my Israel post before uploading this one – it’s just too darn long and complicated. Still a work in progress.

Week One: London: August 30^th – September 5^th, 2011

I stumbled into Aaron Eaton, a fellow Oxonian from CLU, at the Bush Intercontinental Airport because we just happened to be in the same row and were among the last to board! It was quite the pleasant surprise. We then survived customs, which was speedy and efficient (absolutely nothing like El Al or LAX; this was probably the easiest flight I’ve ever had including security and passport control). Dr. Michael Brint, my CLU professor, faculty advisor, and mentor also leading the Oxford Program, met us after we took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, just a few blocks away from our hotel. Another pleasant surprise – very rarely do memories hit you like a train, but the Paddington Bear was one of them. I ended up going back to the station the morning before we left for Oxford to pick up a pal for the rest of the trip. You will see his pictures all over Europe J

Rather than reproduce an itinerary of my trip on this blog, just check out my Facebook album instead haha there’s at least one picture of everything we did. I am going to try to discuss broader issues here instead. First and foremost – food! In addition to breakfast-in-bed room service every morning, we received an allotment of Sterling Pounds (pre-paid via the CLU Meal Plan) to visit fancy restaurants all week on the condition that we critique them for the next batch of students. We ate everything from Italian to Lebanese, French, and English Pub food. We didn’t get to make it to the Texas Embassy for some Tex-Mex, unfortunately. Needless to say I felt like I was in Turkey again eating massive meals and wobbling around town though. We certainly did not starve. I was almost to the point of thinking the “pounds” was how much weight I would gain, not how much the entrée would cost. But it was all delicious, and the only criticism I have is of the Pub food – a bit dry, but the company made up for it. One thing that is quite different than the States is that the waiters and waitresses never rush you to pay or leave – they will let you sit and talk for hours, even into the late evenings after the theatre. This is perhaps why most pubs close the kitchens before the theatres let out.

The theatre is a lovely experience – if you can find tickets at an affordable price. Dr. Brint took us to Leicester Square for discounted rates, but unfortunately some plays were sold out and others cost nearly £85. Nikki Mills and I, whom I travelled to Turkey with as well, ended up purchasing for the play entitled, “Yes, Prime Minister” to catch some witty British humor. We absolutely loved it – it was perfect for us political science nerds. The next night, rather than fight the crowds for a musical or drama, we went the opposite direction and saw the Budapest Festival Orchestra perform selections from Liszt and Mahler at Royal Albert Hall for only £5. Best experience yet. We had a wonderful time those two days being “cultured” in performance and food alike – so much that we popped into a piano bar before heading back to the hotel to celebrate, where we met some people absolutely obsessed with our teeth. It was quite entertaining.

Luckily with a small group of only 12 students and 1 professor, we are close-friends-enough to be able to split up with whomever and have a blast. On Friday we went to Buckingham Palace to bear the crowds and see the changing of the guards, visit with Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. Kirsten Larsen and I bought a manuscript of Parliament debates from August 11th (unfortunately, they were in recess until the following Monday, so there were no debates that day to listen in on). What I had not realized in approaching Parliament was that it is an absolutely stunning building architecturally and historically! Big Ben is attached to one end of it right alongside the Thames River. I was completely dumbfounded. We will hopefully take a day trip back from Oxford to sit in on Parliament if possibly. Across the street was a series of tents and protesters concerning all kinds of issues literally camped out in front of Parliament. Kirsten and I walked the block speaking with a few of them and reading their signs. Many of which are in the Facebook album as well. We then scheduled another trip for Westminster Abbey to come for an Evensong Service the following Sunday, which included an organ prelude, hymns, scripture, and a theological sermon. We slept through most of the hymns and scripture readings (sorry, exhausted college kids), but the sermon was pleasantly attractive. The speaker discussed the month’s riots and how we should combat the insurgency with community outreach and mentorship. Her closing line was “we are our brothers’ brothers and our sisters’ sisters.”

One of my favorite events was having a drink with a former news producer of an Iranian World TV network, while discussing the Middle East and the role of new media in the Arab Spring. One of his main points is that the conflict is “not about faith, it’s about power.” I won’t bore you with the details on the blog, but contact me if you would like mynotes from his conversation with our group. You will read in my upcoming Israel blog more on this subject from my experiences and observational research, along with detailed explanations and analyses.

Of course London was not all fun and games – we did have some thought and plays, though, with the Politics and the Arts seminars. This included attending the British Museum’s Parthenon exhibit and taking a day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon to analyze the difference between the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre’s MacBeth performance and the film to witness post-modernism at its finest. Real vs. the Unreal. How technology abridges and accentuates our experiences.

With that, I take my Paddington Bear, ram my suitcase through Platform 9 ¾, and venture to Oxford. Cheers!