Yes, I spent my Senior year Spring break in the lovely little town of Oxford (have you heard of it?). As one of my friends asked me, “Wait. Spring break. Isn’t that where all you Americans go to Florida or something?” Well, I decided to go back to Oxford since the national collegiate dancesport competition was last Saturday (seriously? It’s already been a week?) and I wanted to support my friends. I was so supportive that I was watching them dance instead of taking photos of them. Whoops. But, Oxford did win the trophy again (take that, Cambridge)! It was hilarious, though, because some of my friends didn’t recognize me with my new hairstyle (the last time they saw me, I had short red hair) or without my dance shoes on (haha).
Look at all of that shiny hardware! I stole this photo from one of my friends, David. Thanks, David!
No, I didn’t dance – shocker, right? It was great to see all of my friends dance to another victory, but it was a weird experience as well. I didn’t have to get up at 5:00 a.m. or apply loads of make-up – I just sat and watched. It was kind of relaxing, actually.
I spent the rest of my time in Oxford, which probably doesn’t surprise any of you.
Love.
Me at Mansfield College.
I stayed with my good friend, Yszi, and I introduced her to the marvels of American cooking, like Funfetti cake and American-style pancakes.
This is Yszi cooking for me and trying to convince me that Brits can cook. Well, she can, but she doesn’t count.
Just a note: Nutella on pancakes is wonderful.
I was able to catch up with a lot of my very good friends from last year, including:
Lorna, who was my adopted little sister. Mansfield College provides every new student with a “family,” and Lorna was Carrie’s “little sister.” Well, all of the JYAs eventually adopted Lorna, and we’re fairly sure that she’ll jump across the pond to join us permanently some day.
Jess and Jo, who are two of my friends from Neil’s dance school.
Melissa, who is actually a Holy Cross student and my mini-me. Seriously. She is me…but with brown curly hair. I brought her some American delicacies, such as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and…
Funfetti cake mix. The Brits do not understand our cult-like obsession with this cake mix, by the way.
I was also able to see Emily P., who is a Holy Cross student currently studying at Mansfield. She joined the Oxford Ballroom team and continued the tradition of a Holy Cross girl always being on the team (well, since 2008). We actually never knew each other at Holy Cross, but we’ve bonded through our similar experience on Oxford’s dance team.
Me with Neil and Emily. Yes, Neil always has that evil smirk on his face, and it usually means that he’s going to torture an innocent American girl by making her do cha-cha lock steps up and down the hall for thirty minutes. I am, unfortunately, not speaking from Emily’s experience, but from my own. Seriously, when Neil picked me up from the airport last Friday morning, the first question he asked me after the typical niceties was, “So, how’s the dancing going? How much do I need to fix this time?” Ah, dance coaches.
