This weekend, I managed to do far less homework than I ought to have done. However, I avoided my homework by being very cultured. Something like that anyway.
Saturday, Oxford hosted its International Festival. All sorts of different societies for international students set up booths where they have different foods, and arrange different live performances such as music, dance, and even fight choreography. My friends Carl, Kate, and I decided to check it out. For one thing, it was packed. It was hard to even walk around let alone see the booths, but that gave it a very energetic atmosphere. I got a felafel from the Israel society and some mutton kebabs and rice from the Caribbean society. Both were delicious. We also discovered some fascinating honey jasmine tea jelly (keep in mind that when they say "jelly" in England, they are referring to "jell-o"). It sounds bizarre, but it was so good. Once we had eaten our fill and enjoyed some performances we headed out.
We then went to Frewin Court (the central offices for our program which also has a common room for students) and watched the movie Moon. This isn't quite on the cultural breadth of experience that the International Festival, but there is something to be said for embracing one's own culture. Anyway, Moon is a fantastic sci-fi movie which draws no attention to the fact that it is sci-fi. It is more interested in telling a story. The film is about Sam Rockwell's character who is the sole operator of a solar power plant on the moon coming to the end of his three year shift. Of course, things are not quite as they appear (as is usually the case with such movies) and the story dives into some profound questions about identity and the value of life. Definitely wort seeing.
The day ended with dinner at the Tick-Tock Cafe where Kate and I were accompanied by our friend Hannah. There were lots of clocks. Also, there were chicken pesto mozarella paninis. So good.
The next day, I finally managed to get to the Ashmolean Museum (the first museum in the world). Kate had two friends visiting Oxford while on a European tour and the four of us went out to explore history and culture. First off, the museum is astounding. Secondly, it is huge. We spent three hours there and did not even get through the medieval period. That, of course, just means I have an excuse to go back. I did see plenty of Egyption and Greco-Roman artifacts though, including massive statues of Zeus and Apollo.
All in all, a splendid weekend. In the midst of all of this cultural exploration, I also managed to read The Picture of Dorian Gray, so the weekend was not completely unproductive. However, I am now in the position of having two and a half days to write to essays: one of which I have not yet researched...This will be fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment