"The End of All Our Exploring..."

So it's been a while. I didn't blog about it pre-Christmas because it was a surprise for a bunch of people, but I went home for Christmas! It was lovely, and I could write all about my crazy, amazing family (crazy is an adjective there, just in case you understand the difference of meaning based on whether it's an adjective or an adverb...) but if you're reading this blog it's probably because you ARE my crazy, amazing family or because I spent Christmas with you, so I'll skip the Christmas and New Years reruns. Let's get to the part where I'm back in Oxford, because, let's be honest, that's the only reason why most of you are currently reading this. I live in Oxford and do cool things here. Makes for good reading, right?

So, I'm back in Oxford. I've returned to the city of my dreams. The school of my life long ambition. The country of breathtaking countrysides and SHEEP (already saw a few on the way in from the airport. Why are sheep so cool?!)! I've returned to sleepless nights and endless reading. Long bike rides and incredibly helpful public transportation. I've returned to falling in love with every man who speaks with that unbelievably attractive British accent (though I'm starting to pick up on dialects now, and there are definitely some dialects that are more attractive than others). I'm back to conversing with some of the smartest people in the world and being considered worthy enough to give my opinion whilst in conversation with them. I'm back to living in a fairytale while still being tied down to real life by laundry and grocery shopping. I've done this before. I'm back to Oxford, and yet, I'm arriving where I started and knowing the place for the first time. I thought that T.S. Eliot quote was cool before, but then I returned to Oxford and experienced what it might actually mean and now I think it's even cooler.

                                 T.S. Eliot writes in The Four Quartets,
                                      “We shall not cease from exploration, 

                                               And the end of all our exploring

                                                    Will be to arrive where we started

                                                         And know the place for the first time.”

  

I've arrived where I started last term, but it feels as if I'm just knowing this place for the first time. I'm back to my city, but there is so much that is new and different, it feels like it must be a different city. I've returned, but I'm in a new house. I'm living this term in a mansion. Not like, gold ceilings, twirly staircases mansion, but like large house, lots of rooms and lots of people mansion. This 'mansion' is up a ginormous hill which I have the pleasure of biking up every day...  Ok, so it's not a pleasure, and every time I do it, I swear I'm going to die. But I don't! And I know eventually it will get easier. And eventually I won't mind doing it so much... or at least I won't curse my existence while doing it...

On top of my new residence, I also have two new tutorials. I have a new tutor which, in Oxford language, means an entirely knew learning experience. Every tutor is massively different. They all have their own styles and their own expectations. My work this term is going to look so much different than it did last time, but I'm excited for it. One of my tutorials is going to be especially new because I practically know nothing about the topic. Though for this first week I was just supposed to read dictionaries, so that ended up being awesome. Hopefully it will continue to be awesome. My tutor seems pretty cool, so I have high hopes.

One thing that's most different about this time 'round in Oxford is that I'm here with an entirely new group of people. The people that I grew to know and love as my family last term, excepting just a handful of returners, have gone back to their schools in the States. I'm here in the city that we made our home, but they're not here. It's like coming home only to find that your family's decided to take a vacation without you. Yikes, right? I live in a house with 30 people of whom I only really know 3 or 4.  My incredible, newly-found family, who's picture I see every time I open my computer desktop, are no longer here. And my heart misses them, terribly. I know saying good-bye is part of life, part of growing up and growing on, but even as I'm growing up and finding it easier and easier to accept, it's still just as hard as it ever was. My heart hurts, but I'm so blessed by the memories I have with them. Last term was Beautiful. Things need not last forever to be Beautiful.

Besides that, the news on the street is that my life is basically like that new movie Pitch Perfect (minus the puking and drugs that I heard are in the movie...). I've never actually seen the movie so maybe I shouldn't compare my life with it, but here are the similarities that I know exist: Pitch Perfect is about a collegiate a cappella group which is preparing for a really big voice competition that's a big deal for them. Well, turns out that this term, my a cappella group is also preparing for a huge deal voice competition that's coming up in March. It's kinda the coolest thing ever, and my group really wants to win. Who wouldn't?! On top of the theatrical drama of the whole situation, add into the equation that my group is the underdog of all the groups (I haven't been around long enough to understand why exactly, but I think it has something to do with the other groups winning big things a couple years ago, but they haven't done anything good since. Yet they're still the favorites, or something like that). This here is an Oxford a cappella blog that talks about all the groups in the competition, including my group, In the Pink. If you want, you can vote for us on the bottom, because, let's be real, like all good movies, my group is going to work the hardest and the underdogs are gonna win and it's gonna make for a great blog post.  (Even if we don't win, I'm really excited about this. It's going to be super fun!).

On top of winning the voice festival (hehe), my a cappella group is also going in August up to Edinburgh, Scotland to sing in The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a HUGE amazing music and art festival that happens every year and it's a gigantic amazing opportunity. The only problem is, this happens in August and I unfortunately don't have the money for a plane ticket to come back for a month. I'm kinda super bummed and so is my group since a female beatboxer isn't the easiest to come by, but I'm still super excited for my group and I know they'll do amazing. We're currently looking for sponsors for the trip, which I've never done before and don't really know how to go about doing, but if you're reading this and you're part of a company or organization who would want to sponsor my group, let me know and I'll hook you up with the information. Even if you can't, no worries, I'll still keep you updated on my group. Sometimes things are just really cool, and this, at least to me, is one of those things.

So that's basically the update on my life here in Oxford. I mostly wrote this post to procrastinate from doing work on papers, so I should probably get back to that now. Oxford term is in full swing already so there's no time to mess around. I have 2 papers due this week, 1 due next week, 2 the next week, and so on and so forth for 8 weeks. No breaks. No mercy. Welcome back! Let the games begin....