fancy pants and very old rocks

WELL. it's monday! it's funny that i have yet to dread a monday in england. it seems so much better over here. that and we don't have anything til noon. woowoo.

so this weekend was a very exciting one! friday after class all day was formal hall at regent's park college. heather, sharon, jodi and i got all dressed up and took the train to oxford, where we walked all prettily to the college, heather lamenting the fact that she didn't bring sensible shoes for the walk (which i did, trying to make my mom proud). the student body of regents were all dressed up wearing this strange black thing over top which goes with their formal dress, and we all went in and stood behind our chairs in the long dining hall until the faculty and lecturers filed in to the head table. i felt like i was in hogwarts actually. dinner was a seafood salad (oysters, prawns and scallops in lettuce), prawn crackers (chinese food staple over here), beef stir fry with rice and bean sprouts, and sorbet for dessert (which i did not eat because of lent). afterwards we went up to the junior common room, a place for undergrads to hang out and have cheap drinks at the bar there. after a pint heather and jodi got a ride back with peter and sharon and i took the train. later on we had a pajama party with some more girls and tim and watched notorious on lee's tv. apparently not many people are as cultured as i have been privileged to be growing up, but we all enjoyed it nonetheless.

saturday was a planned day trip into stratford, home of shakespeare and his wife, anne hathaway. we went to see her cottage, his birthplace, his large home "new place", his daughter's home and the place where he and his family were buried at holy trinity church. it was very interesting to see all of this in person, and to think that one of the greatest playwright's walked where i was walking.. too bad my camera battery died before this point. photo credit goes to sharon.
afterwards we went to see a stone circle, kind of like stonehenge but a lot smaller, and not a major tourist attraction. it was really neat though. apparently you can try all you want but never get the same number of stones. the legend is that the stones are actually a king and his army who were turned into stone by a witch. there's a lot more too it, obviously, but i have a terrible memory.
yesterday, sunday, i went to the baptist church's morning service where i was commissioned to read a verse, psalm 19:1-4, as the sermon was on the lord's prayer and heaven. very interesting. i spent the day cleaning my room and doing laundry and getting lots of homework done. so overall, it was a well spent weekend. oh wait! last night i went to evensong at christ church catherdral in oxford. i've never been to a service that was so beautiful before. it was definetly a great experience.

and there are many more to come.... it's less than 2 weeks until i go to rome!

now it's time to finish volpone and then use sparknotes to figure out what happened.

see you anon!