More Stuff That Happened and Stuff

I guess it works better to let a few days worth of events happen, and then write about the best stuff, rather than expect noteworthy (or blogworthy) things to happen every day.

I met one of my tutors, one Professor Clarke, who will work with me on my secondary tutorial, Tragedy. It was officially a choice between that and Shakespeare, so we decided to cut it both ways and start with Hamlet, basically the most famous tragedy ever written. This way, too, it’s not waiting for us. I’ve never properly studied Hamlet, so I’m REALLY excited. I started reading it today, and I think I’ll hit the play (or, I’ll play) when I’m through with this. The campus library is open till midnight. That’s a half-hour later than the campus bar.

The bar really is the center of things here. Last night was the first Entz (the Catz short form of ‘entertainment’), and we had to dress up as something that started with the first letter of our name. I really hate costume parties, and they’re particularly hard when one is in a new town in a foreign country with a bad exchange rate. All that may still not excuse my costume, which was a paper cut-out of a target. I was dressed as “aim.” Initially, this was an Aristotelian costume concept (I liked it a lot when I thought of it), but that certainly was not conveyed by my piece of paper and pin. Still, I was better served by that than going as “absent” (i.e. not going), because the party was nuts. The English went all-out with their costumes. One guy was dressed as a sandwich, with real pieces of bread, lettuce, and lunchmeat taped to him. Actually, that was gross.

The bar is also the stepping stone to Oxfordtown nightlife. They have clubs here in addition to pubs. I resisted going to clubs for a few days, since I have never found them to be my kind of scene. Boy was I right. I went a few days ago to Escape, and it was, as I said, not my scene. One major problem is that the beat of dance music (so far as I can tell, there is only one beat—thunk thunk thunk thunk) does not compel me to dance. I’ve been spoiled by mixmasters who are jazz and funk drummers by profession, like Madlib and The Apple Juice Kid.

It’s not all parties here, even though my reports may make it seem that way. I went to an introduction to crew yesterday as well. Oxford is traditionally as serious about this as about costumes. They have a room, the “tank,” in which a concrete imitation-boat is mounted in what would otherwise be a swimming pool. Real oars (with holes in their blades) in real oarlocks, mounted next to real sliding seats, allow novices to get the feel for live rowing without the danger of capsizing a real boat. From my experience with my high school crew, I know how to execute a full stroke, but it was good to learn their lingo, which is of course different from ours (I should have seen that coming). I don’t know what the next step is towards the water of the Isis (Oxford’s piece of the Thames), but I’ll probably find out this week.

I also signed up for the St. Catz pool (billiards) club at Friday’s Clubs and Societies gathering, but I have not heard from them. I joined mostly in order to find the real pool tables around here. There are two tables in the JCR bar, but they are the smallest size of table, and the balls and cues are smaller. I played one game there, and it felt like playing with toys. Completely different physics than full-size pool.

I might stumble upon a real table before they direct me, as I’ve done as much stumbling as I can this week. Tonight, I set out to find Noodlebar, listed in the Oxford handbook as a cheap Asian restaurant in a place I had not been before. I consulted a map prior to departure, but despite this, couldn’t find it for an hour. All the better, since I found places I wasn’t looking for. One convenience store, selling fresh fruit and vegetables outside, sold me a carrot for 7p (pence). I passed a number of restaurants that were more interesting (I discovered) than my destination, but I soldiered on through their crooked streets.

The neighborhoods here are actually—I never thought I’d catch myself saying this—charming. I have yet to see anything garish. The houses are all fairly small, with small cars parked all around, and many properties really have hedges. It’s an amazing tapestry of ancient and just-kinda-old, and it’s all very close-built. I’d like to find a real architectural tour of the place, I’m sure they offer that here.

I eventually found the square I was searching for, and Noodlebar. I guess it’s a chain in this country. But it was cheap Asian food, and excellent noodles.

All this wandering might be cut short if the beautiful weather ever breaks here. We’ve had five divine days, during which the nights haven’t even been as frigid as they were initially. I’m not betting on much more of it.

Tomorrow I meet my primary tutor. Then the work really starts.