A Week in the Life . . .

So, I'm not sure how much information people actually want about my life, but I'm going to give it to you regardless. =)

My week schedule (approximately) is as follows:

Sunday:

* Either high mass at St. Mary Magdalen's or unprogramed worship at the Oxford Friends meeting (which is right next to the Eagle and Child, where Lewis, Tolkien, and Williams used to hang out).
* Tea at Crick (where I live) from 4:30-5:30. Jonathan (our Jr. Dean -- basically, an RA/RD) serves, and we have lots of biscuits. There's even a tea faerie who takes our orders, which involve secret codes such as "Dracula's Dream" and "Fat Cow."

Monday:

* Every other week I have a paper due at 9:00pm.
* Some weeks there's a Young Friends meeting, which involves 30min of silence, and free dinner.
* I was going to WomCam (Women's Campaign) meetings, but I've been busy.

Tuesday:

* 10:00am lecture on Virginia Woolf ("Contextualizing Woolf") with Dr. Whitworth, author of Virginia Woolf: Authors in Context.
* Every other week, my secondary tutorial (Classical Literature) at 11:30. It's with Jonathan, and involves coffee, and sometimes biscuits. They've tended to run about two hours (rather than the designated one), and have been a lot of fun. Which is great, because Classics is, frankly, terrifying. I have absolutely no background in the discipline and it's so HUGE. But Jonathan asks great questions, gives me time to process and gather my thoughts, and has very enlightening opinions (and an amazing store of knowledge). I've learned a ton.
* Tea at Frewin Court (where the program's offices are) from 2:00-4:00. This involves a ridiculous amount of chocolate, and lots of cheese puffs. Simon, our Tutor for Student Affairs (dean of student life) serves, and most of the 60-some students pass through his office during the two hour period. Kind of crazy.

Wednesday:

* Seminar lecture at Wycliffe Hall (the actual college we're members of) from 2:30-3:30, followed by tea. The subject is "Faith and Scholarship," which they are very quick to emphasize is different than "Faith and Learning." Unsurprisingly, it's about pursuing Christ, and academic excellence, at a research university (such as Oxford) -- especially long term.
* Movie night at the Vines (the other house), which I go to if I can. They're usually playing something that has something to do with England (e.g. Fawlty Towers, A Man for all Seasons, etc.).
It's about a 40min hike, out into the sort-of-country, through fields lit by old-style lanterns, under an Oxford sky. Really beautiful and silent. Reminds me, for some odd reason, of Narnia.

Thursday:

* A Virgil lecture at 11:00, with Dr. R.W. Cowan. He's in his mid-twenties (I would guess) and loves to jump around a lot, have goofy pictures on his slide shows, and read ancient texts in different voices. He was very disappointed last week, 'cause we ran out of time before he could impersonate Venus. =)
It's held in the Examination Schools, a gorgeous, huge, old building where Tolkien used to lecture.
* "Contesting Texts" lecture at 3:00, with Dr. Methven. It's a small lecture (held in a big room, but not many students go), but really interesting. Basically, the point is to demonstrate literary criticism in action, and the professor analyzes two texts every week, looking at them through various lenses.
* Then, at 6:00, I have my primary tutorial on Virginia Woolf. It's been a challenge. I love Woolf's writing, so have really enjoyed the primary texts and getting familiar with criticism and secondary sources. However, I feel a complete lack of connection with my tutor. I don't think I approach the texts the way she wants me to, but I'm never sure what she does want, and she's given me barely any feedback on any of my work so far. It's a bit frustrating, but I'm hoping I will get better at understanding her expectations and communicating my ideas as the term progresses (though, freakily, I'm already half-way done).

Friday:

* 9:00am lecture on sexuality and gender in ancient Greece and Rome, with Dr. T. J. Morgan. This is for my "long essay" due the week after term finishes. My subject is something along the lines of interpreting Medea as a feminist text within its historical context, and whether that's even possible.
* 11:00am lecture on Homer, with Dr. R. B. Rutherford. If truth be known, I tend to fall asleep slightly in this one. It's fascinating, but the week is long, and it comes at the end. Need I say more?
* Best part of the whole week: Taruithorn, the Oxford Tolkien Society! So fun. Depending on the week, we might be doing dramatic readings, mock trials, or hobbit dancing. =)
Next week is Gandalf's fireworks. But, sadly, I'm going to miss them.

Saturday:

* Totally depends on the week. If I'm going into a two-tutorial week (like this one is), Saturday is spent trying to crystallize the ideas for my Monday classics paper. If not, exploration is in order.
And even though last Saturday should have been spent studying, I went to an open-air French market and bought Turkish delight.
(I went with a friend I met at the Tolkien Society -- she happens to be Egyptian, and we recently discovered that we have HCC and CCS connections, amazingly enough). =)

Overall, this may not seem like that much, but our handbook is infamous for saying that most tutors will assign more weekly reading than U.S. students are used to reading in a semester. Since I'm a lit. major, that's not exactly true, but the load is definitely not light. I read most of my primary sources this summer, so that's been very helpful, but I'm still getting used to the process of spitting out research papers. I'll let you know if I ever manage mastery . . .

But overall, a fun challenge. Such a different way of doing education -- completely research based, and dependent on the student's own quest for knowledge. Reminds me of home schooling, just a bit. =)