Surprised by Joy

For the last three mornings, I have waked to the sound of English rain on my window. It was saying something to the snow.

"Come now, you know you don't belong here! You've got to leave. Yes, that's right, out the door."


The snow is gone! *happy dance*

Before I get mobbed, I loved the snow while it was here! But not only did my feet turn into prunes, but also, it is extremely hard to walk in snow! I'm not just talking a few hundred yards. MILES. Every day. Which I do enjoy, by the way. But when combined with snow, I get a little whiney. Not good for first impressions.

Luckily, Oxford and I have made friends. Three days in the beautiful Radcliffe Camera have reminded me that I do actually like researching enough to be annoyed that all the libraries close on Sundays. Also, I loved living in Philadelphia. But Oxford is so much better! The green, the history, and the community all combine into a beautiful, enchanting place. Even the fact that England ran out of road salt just adds to the charm.

No adventure too grand as of yet, although I am beginning to think that I can't stay away from the Kilns for too much longer. It calls to me. I'm also looking into doing some horseback riding while I'm here, but unfortunately, it seems that the university club is defunct, which means many more pounds must be parted with. My mid-term break comes along in a few months, and I am planning on going to Wales with the SCIO group. I will root out some old Arthurian castles and take pictures. Maybe I'll write my own "Idylls of the King"! *nerd joke*

I have had some awkward moments figuring out the coinage here though. Most cash transactions take place with coins, and it's really awful when you're rooting through the fifty coins, knowing that everyone else knows you don't know what you're doing. I think I've got it down, but bus fares need to happen quickly, and I'm not quite up to that speed yet. I was thinking about purchasing a bus pass, but the walking is definitely good for me. I'd like to follow in C. S. Lewis and Tolkien's tradition of walking everywhere, provided the weather cooperates. I don't mind the rain at all, and as long as the snow stays on the western side of the Atlantic, the poor plow and salt-less Oxford roads and I will get on just fine.

Tomorrow I'll go to St. Ebbe's Anglican in Headington, which is about a 15 minute walk from my house The Vines. I went last week with some SCIO friends and I really enjoyed both the English company and the tiny service. It reminded me quite a lot of Liberti, the church I attended off and on in Philadelphia, and the people are very welcoming (my accent makes me more interesting, I think). After church, it's back to the house to write up my first Oxford paper, which is due Monday morning.

My primary tutorial is C. S. Lewis in Context, and, as much as I love him, I don't want it to turn into a biography. Instead, my first paper is about the power of myth and story, how the Scottish writer George MacDonald connected that with the Christian faith, and how his book (fairy story for adults, really) Phantastes "baptised [Lewis'] imagination." Story is a powerful thing, the extent of which I haven't yet grasped, and to be studying writers who devoted their lives to it is a privilege.