Author: hcwebdev

Who else used to watch “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” I was addicted to that show and my parents bought me all of the computer games associated with it. Anyway, back to the actual reason for this post…

When I landed in London on Wednesday, I wasn’t sure if I was in Boston or London. I’m not sure if you all have heard, but Europe is experiencing a nasty cold spell this winter. I was lucky enough to get out of London when I did (a majority of flights from Heathrow were canceled in the following days after I left), but I was even luckier to arrive in London  when I did. I flew out of Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon when it was a balmy 29 degrees Fahrenheit. I arrived in Paris, and I had about thirty minutes originally until my connecting flight to London Heathrow. Well, there was so much snow in London that that flight was delayed for about an hour and a half. I finally arrived in London about three hours later than scheduled. Retrieving my bags and getting to the Oxford Airline bus went much more smoothly than the last time. When the bus started driving to Oxford, though, the amount of snow seemed more typical of Boston or Worcester than Oxford. Here’s where the fun begins: the bus dropped me off right outside my apartment building. It just so happened that the sidewalks weren’t shoveled and there was about a foot of snow on the ground. I was wearing my cowboy boots, which have very little traction, and I had to drag two filled suitcases behind me. Luckily, I received some help doing that, and now I’m all settled in. The snow does make Oxford look even more gorgeous, though.

The only bad thing about snow, however, is that it tends to shut down an entire city. On Wednesday, I pretty much had just enough time to run to the grocery store to find something to eat. Luckily, on Thursday, the snow wasn’t as bad and the city was functioning. I promptly bought a pair of boots, as I left my beautiful pair of Timberlands at home, unfortunately. I had heard that there was snow but I didn’t expect this much!). But, now I’m all set for the next snow onslaught that is scheduled to hit us all this weekend. Holy Cross has prepared me in many ways for Oxford, but I had no idea that snow was one of the categories!

After three relaxing weeks filled with delicious food, sleeping in, anddriving my car, I’m headed back to England (in about four hours!). I’m all packed and ready to take on at least six more months (it might be longer; details to follow) at Oxford. Now that I’ve experienced one term, I know what to expect with regards to academics and scheduling my time (aka how many ballroom dance classes I can fit into one week). So, I must bid adieu because I’m about to head out the door to the airport.
Until my next post (which will be from England!)!

-Colleen

Firstly, let me wish you all a belated Merry Christmas. I hope that you all had a fantastic day with family and friends. My Christmas was…well, crazy. I flew in on Wednesday and my sister flew in on Friday. On Saturday, the two of us finished some much overdue Christmas shopping and also started to prepare our house for our incoming guests. Oh, yes, we also did manage to see “The Princess and the Frog” with our parents. Disney Princess movies know no age! Anyway, my aunts, uncles, grandmother, and cousins arrived on Wednesday, and that’s where the craziness just took off. My mom’s side of the family is French, which means that any family gathering focuses upon one item: food. My mother was cooking nonstop, and her creations were just delightful (especially considering the fact that I’ve been cooking for myself for the past three months). Christmas Day was filled with Mass, food, presents, and, of course, Wii Tournaments. I am the official master of the 3-Point Contest. Now if I could only play sports like that in real life… This year, I added something new to our traditions. My English friends introduced me to mince pies, and I brought some back with me. So, in addition to having about every dessert imaginable, my English friends will be happy to know that mince pies were also served at the Curran Christmas.

Now, I cannot believe that it’s already December 31st, 2009. A year ago, I was filling out the last forms of my Oxford application and hoping that I would be accepted into the Visiting Student Programme at Mansfield College. Now, I’m preparing for my two tutorials next term and also staring at my empty duffle bag that has to be packed by next Tuesday morning. It truly feels like it was only yesterday that I packed up all of my stuff in Wheeler 331, said goodbye to my friends and professors, and took one more walk around Holy Cross. Now I have one term under my belt, and I’m gearing myself up for the next two. Before I go on about how excited I am to board that plane to England and start another term at Oxford (I am so excited! Did I mention that?), I guess I should first reflect upon this previous term at Oxford (it is New Year’s Eve, after all). Over Christmas, my family asked me repeatedly how Oxford compared to Holy Cross. Obviously, the most striking difference between the two is the tutorial system. Instead of regularly meeting in a class situation with a professor, I only met with my primary tutor once a week and my secondary tutor every other week. The tutorial system also required me to prepare differently than I would for a class at Holy Cross. At Holy Cross, for everyday class, I read the assigned readings and prepared any assigned translations (You can tell you’re a Classics student when…). At Oxford, however, the work was up to me. My primary tutor gave me a list of articles to include in my weekly paper, but she expected me to go beyond her research and contribute my own findings. My secondary tutor gave me a preliminary syllabus, but then expected me to find my own way through the maze that is scholarship on the Anglo-Saxon period. And, of course, whenever I did meet with my tutors, they ripped apart an essay that I had written. I’m not really into physical fitness (well, ballroom dance does count, right?), but an analogy that a physical education teacher told me in high school really stuck with me throughout this past term. In order to build up muscle, you have to tear it down first. That’s what Michelmas term was like. Holy Cross provided an excellent foundation for me, but my tutors tore down the student that I was to create a more refined student. When I explained this to my family and friends, they all asked if I was insane for spending my year abroad doing such a demanding course. Honestly, this is the perfect year for me. Not only will I be able to apply what I’ve learned at Oxford in my final year at Holy Cross, but I’ll also be able to use what I’ve learned to help me along in graduate school (cross your fingers and say a couple more rosaries that it’ll be at Oxford!). This past term has been difficult, but it’s also been enjoyable. So, to any students thinking about participating in the Oxford program, I’d highly recommend it. It is a change from Holy Cross, but, at the same time, it’s well worth it.

I hope that you all have a safe and happy New Year’s. I’m off to sleep over at a high school friend’s house and watch Disney Princess movies (some things never change…). Until next…well, year!

Wow; I can’t believe that I haven’t updated in quite some time! I know that you’ve all been sitting on the edges of your seats because you just can’t wait to hear about my exciting life. Since my last post (which was, erm, a while ago…), life has been extremely hectic. Where on earth do I begin with my adventures in Oxford? I guess that I should start with academics; after all, that’s what brought me here in the first place! Firstly, I cannot believe how quickly Michelmas term went. In my last four meetings with my primary tutorial, I explored linguistic changes as evident in texts from various periods. It was fascinating. The first week, I focused on English’s switch from a synthetic language to an analytic language, and I had to analyze the differences between Old English and Middle English sentence constructions. For instance, Old English sentences are Subject Object Verb (typically…as we all know with grammar, there are always exceptions!), whilst Middle English sentences are Subject Verb Object. For the next week, I focused on code-switching in Medieval texts, particularly from Latin to English in The Vision of Piers Plowman. Now that was awesome. Basically, I was analyzing the rise of English as a formal language in both academic and literary circles. After that, I encountered the most significant and sweeping linguistic change in the English language – the Great Vowel Shift. During this tutorial, Charlotte asked me why I thought that this happened. Here’s what I’ve learned about linguistics, specifically when we’re dealing with the evolution of English: We just don’t know, so people can propose a lot of theories that might be ludicrous, but they hold merit nonetheless. Anyway, my final essay was the perfect assignment and it was what I was anticipating the entire term. Charlotte gave me three texts – a selection from The Canterbury Tales, Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus, and Fanny Burney’s Evangelina. She told me to study them and write an essay on the one linguistic change that I saw throughout the three of them. She was talking about the rise of the periphrastic do in the English language. I really don’t have enough room to even begin talking about this subject, but it was absolutely fascinating to see it before my eyes in texts. Basically, we use the word do in a multitude of linguistic functions that the word simply didn’t employ during the Medieval period. I’ll leave it at that because I just find it such a fascinating topic that I could talk about it for hours. As you can tell, I really enjoyed my tutorial in the History of the English language, and I’m really going to miss learning about the linguistics of my major.

As for Bede, my last essay for Hugh was about why Bede included miracle stories in the Ecclesiastical History and not in his The Lives of the Abbots. Talk about fascinating! That was definitely a fun paper to write, even if my computer crashed literally fifteen minutes before the paper was due. Ever heard of Murphy’s Law? Well, I’m renaming it Colleen Curran’s law. Yes, my computer malfunctioned fifteen minutes before my paper was due and then I couldn’t find an internet connection to e-mail my paper to Hugh. Thank goodness my ballroom dance partner, Sam, was with me when it all happened because he a) made sure that I remained calm and b) found me an internet connection. That was quite the way to end the term. Anyway, I’m taking another class with Hugh in Trinity term, but this time it’s going to be more of a general history class covering the British Isles from c. 300 until 1066.

Okay, now let’s step back from academics for a bit, shall we? I swear that I’m not just studying at Oxford. The other major component of my schedule is ballroom dance. We had two competitions; one was at Warwick and the other was at Nottingham. No, those names yield no geographical insight for me either. Sam and I did rather well in both styles of dance at both competitions. We made it to the semi-finals in all the Latin dances at both competitions, and we made it to the quarter finals in the Ballroom dances at both competitions as well. The ballroom competitions are much different in England than they are in America. Here, you only dance one style – International. In America, however, competitions offer both American and International styles, which means it’s typically a longer day. Also, English competitions have what’s called a team match – every school enters a certain amount of teams. Each team is composed of a quickstep couple, a jive couple, a cha cha couple, and a waltz couple. It’s actually a lot of fun, and I’m thinking about incorporating that in the Holy Cross competition next year.

So, what about traveling, which is supposed to be a major component of any study abroad experience? Well, I’m going to be quite honest – I simply haven’t had the time to travel as much as I’ve wanted to. Since classes let out on December 6th, I’ve been running around in Oxford. Generally, my days included Christmas shopping (excellent), reading, and practicing ballroom. Yes, my life is fantastic. However, Carrie and I did manage to make it to Sutton Hoo, which is an Anglo-Saxon burial site. There’s really not much to the site other than the original barrow mounds, as all of the artifacts are housed in the British Museum for safe-keeping. However, just to see the mounds was fantastic. I always delight in seeing a medieval site because it just brings everything to life for me. I can study the period as much as I want through manuscripts, texts, historical analysis, and languages, but just visiting sites makes me realize that these were human beings who experienced the same world in which we now live. Okay, I’m finished with that nerd rant. Don’t worry, though – we’re all planning to travel a lot more during the next two terms now that we’ve tackled Oxford.

Unfortunately, I’m sitting in my room in Alpharetta, GA as I write this. Yes, I did leave Oxford yesterday morning. Yes, I left willingly. Don’t worry; I’m going to be back there in three weeks! Until then, though, check back here for updates, specifically tomorrow as I post my general thoughts about how my first term at Oxford went. Of course, you can also check back to read about my incredibly exciting life in Georgia…or you could also just look through the photos below. Whatever floats your boat.

Until next time!

-Colleen

Update: Okay, so the photo uploader isn’t working for me at the moment. Never fear; I shall sort this out!

Here’s a little bit of a back story: At the beginning of term, I bought a small bag for my ballroom stuff (yes, it consumes my life, both in America and England). The front displays the following quote from Erasmus: When I get a little money, I buy books, and, if any is left over, I buy food and clothes.

Now, as much as I like that quote, I never thought that I would do anything of the sort. Then yesterday came. After I turned in my paper for my History of the English Language tutorial, I had to get some stuff in city center (or centre, I suppose). Well, Blackwell’s (which is the best toy store!) just happened to be on my way after studying in the History Faculty Library, so I thought, “Why not? I’ll just pop in and see what new items they’ve stocked since yesterday.” To my wallet’s relief, they didn’t have the book that I really wanted (which the Bodleian also doesn’t have. WHAT? I thought that that was impossible.). However, right as I turned around, I found another book that I wanted to read. So, I whipped out my wallet (and now I’m writing in alliterative verse. Guess who’s been studying Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood a bit too much?) and found that I literally had one £10 note left. Guess how much my book was? I sat there and thought about it for a second. Do I want lunch, or do I want a book? Guess which one I ended up purchasing? Yup. I bought the book instead of food.

This is just one example of why I am not an Economics/Accounting major. My budget for my year abroad three major categories, which are the following: ballroom, food, and ballroom. Random books somehow figure in that magnificent equation.

P.S. Don’t worry; I went to the ATM after that transaction and eventually found food at 8:00 p.m. I couldn’t put the book down!

Before I left for England, my friend, Kelsey, who studied at Oxford last year, gave me the best piece of advice. She told me, “You’re not going to know what to do for your first couple of weeks.” You know what? She was correct! At Holy Cross, I have such a structured life (as any of my friends will tell you). I have classes Monday through Friday from about ten to 3:00. I then stay in the library until about midnight (sometimes, I do eat and sleep). Professors give structured syllabi and reading lists. Oxford is completely different. I meet with my primary tutor once a week, and my secondary tutor once every other week. Every meeting is just a demolition of a paper. For instance, my first tutorial this past Tuesday involved my tutor telling me, “You’re completely wrong here” about five times. Granted, it was not the best paper that I have ever written in my life, and a professor at Holy Cross would’ve told me the same exact thing. But I absorbed her criticism because it was delivered verbally. I’m writing my second paper for her right now, and after every sentence that I write, I’ll stop and think, “What is Charlotte going to say to this?” Even if it’s something as minute as “The sky is blue,” I still ask myself that question. I’ve only been in classes for two weeks, and I already think that I’m becoming a much more structured writer.

Even though that’s fantastic, I still have no idea how to structure my time. I’m trying to find my routine, but it’s rather difficult. I mean, I have two papers due within the week and they both have to be brilliant. When do I stop writing one, and when do I start writing the other? When do I factor in a social life (hah!)? I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I don’t like having all this free time. It’s frightening! Ah, Professor Manoussakis would be proud because he’d see this as an analogy to free will. But that’s another story for another day.

In other news, my History of the English Language course has somewhat directed my future. As much as I love Old English, Latin, Sanskrit, and various other dead languages, I’ve come to the conclusion that I could never be a linguist. Again, I’m enjoying this tutorial – I truly am. But there’s nothing to really analyze. Instead of writing about a text, I’m writing how the text came to be written in English. It’s fascinating, but I do miss analyzation. I also am not liking the obvious barrier to the study of Old English (and all other dead languages, for that matter)- “no one speaks it anymore, so we can’t be sure.” Then again, it’s kind of a nice contrast to my Age of Bede essay prompt, which is “Did Bede unreservedly select “good” models for Christianity in The Ecclesiastical History of the English People?” (My tutor stated it much more intelligently than that.) Sounds easy, right? It would be easy enough to just write a paper laden with examples about how Bede did compliment virtuous people unreservedly and be done with it. However, I know that this tutor knows that the answer is yes, and he wants me to find out why Bede did it. I know that it sounds like I’m complaining, but, honestly, this is so much fun! I do like the standard to which the tutors hold you. Professors at Holy Cross do the same, but, then again, I’m not writing an essay a week for them.

P.S. I have officially maxed out my Oxford University Library card. Every faculty library permits borrowing (you did read my last entry, right?) up to a certain amount. Well, out of all the libraries for which I’m registered (six or seven), I think that I can check out only one more book from each. That’s a problem. See, my library card is like a credit card for some people. Except, I do have an excuse – I don’t have to buy any books for my classes; I just have to rent them. Yes, yes, that’s it! It’s all for my classes…that happen to be exactly what I want to study so I end up getting way too into them. It’s only a problem when the libraries send out collection officers after your hoard. Which they haven’t…yet.

P.P.S. I received my camera charger and card reader in the mail (THANK YOU, PARENTALS!), so expect to see some photos up here!

If you have read this blog for a while, you know the affinity that I have for Dinand Library. Dinand is readily easy to navigate (when you spend as much time in there as I do, you know it better than your dorm room) and one building houses all of the volumes. Spill-proof mugs of tea are allowed (to any prospective freshmen – this is a must!); the library stays open until 1 o’clock (not that I’ve ever procrastinated that much. Um. Well, there was this one time…), and you can claim a carrel for a day (even though it’s kind of bad form and will annoy other students).

Well, as much as I adore Oxford, I’m beginning to think that the libraries are a bit out of control. Don’t misunderstand me; I love books and I think that a well-stocked library is the most beautiful place in the world. However, when you have to go halfway across the city just to find one book only to find out that this one library is closed for the day, it can be kind of annoying. Let me explain with an example that might have happened to me.

Firstly, let me explain the library situation at Oxford. Oxford University has many libraries dispersed throughout the campus. The most recognizable ones are the Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera. Borrowing is not allowed from those two institutions (why, you ask? Tradition.). Then there are faculty libraries that are divided by sections. There’s the English Faculty Library, the History Faculty Library, etc. Borrowing is allowed from these. Then you have the specialized libraries, like the Rothermere (American Studies), Taylorian (Linguistics and Languages), and the Sackler (Classics). Again, borrowing is allowed from the specialized ones. Then you have the individual college libraries. The plus side to having all of these libraries is that your book is most certainly somewhere in the city. The problem is just finding exactly where that is.

So here’s my story: I suppose that I could’ve gone to the Bodleian and just read my books there, but I wanted to borrow them because I’m going to use them for the rest of the term. One of my books was only available in the Taylorian. All right – that’s not a big deal. So I found out where the Taylorian is located, and I walked there this morning. Well, there are several Taylorian libraries. There’s the Linguistics one, the Modern Languages one, the one with Modern Languages and Linguistics, and then there’s the main Taylorian. Are you with me? I registered my library card, and then I asked the librarian where this particular book would be. She replied, “Up the stairs.” So I went up the stairs. And up the stairs. And up some more stairs. Guess what I found? A locked door. I went back to the librarian and said, “The door is locked.” “Oh! You’re an undergraduate?” “Erm. Yes?” “I thought you were a graduate student. Okay, then you can’t access that floor; I’ll have to go get the books for you.” Pros: 1) Delivery to your desk. 2) Apparently, I look like I’m 25 and can pass for a graduate student. Cons: I’ve been waiting a while for my book. Hmmmm..

On the other hand, I did find the Taylorian, which is a beautiful library. I think that I’m going to make this my study library. It’s along the lines of the library in “Beauty and the Beast.” And, best of all, I’m surrounded by Anglo-Saxon texts!

In other news, I can charge my camera battery and download my pictures now. YAY! I’ll be posting lots of photos soon. And, I will soon be riding my bike around Oxford; it’s almost ready. YAY!