'I Wonder Anybody Does Anything at Oxford But Dream and Remember...

... the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking. It is all like an opera.' -WB Yeats

(Picture: My adorable Marius cannot wait to move to Oxford!)

Ah! So good to be back in Jolly Ol' England and Oxford! I arrived last Sunday morning and darling flatmate David met me at the bus stop to lug all 5 gazillion pounds (or kilos!) of my crap to the house. A million thank yous for that as the UK was covered in snow and our streets were definitely not plowed. Oy vey. I understand that England is not used to mass quantities of snow, but goodness, could you splurge for some snow plows, or something? Actually, I take that back because the snow seems to stay prettier when not moved around or trampled upon (as everyone has off work/school as well!). Provides for some great snow ball fights :)

I was in the States for about 2.5 weeks, most of which I passed at mum's house in East Berlin, PA. I know I had only been out of America for a measly four months, but goodness! I really had forgotten how strange it is. Things are bigger, louder, more jesus-centric... It was a strange wake up call. And, yes. I still love England. I'm not leaving ever again. You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming out of this country. Seriously. I'll go into hiding. I'll flee to the Cotswolds or something. Not leaving. EVER. :)

Whilst in the states I was able to see all my loves: Amypoo, the TRIFORCE!, family, etc. Spent one very quick afternoon in WV to gather some things and enjoy spinach dip and frozen margaritas at Cheddars (love) with Amy and her family. Liz and Maria came to the middle of nowhere (aka East Berlin) for New Year's Eve and we had a drunken love fest of a good time. Met my new niece, Sophia, who is a little doll. Yes, I like a child. I voluntarily spent time with a child. I'm either growing old or soft. Time will tell. Also went to karaoke twice and managed to show off my extreme British drinking skills once and my extreme drunken skills (not to mention random chat ups) the second time to family. Epic.

Mumsy and I went to NYC for a quick overnight trip. We saw two shows (Memphis and Mary Poppins), did a lot of walking and sightseeing, and spent a lovely 3 hours in the Cellar at Macy's getting our gab on. I think she may have developed a 'buy Jen a glass of wine and see how much you can get her to spill' agenda. That's ok by me.

Since being back in England, I've managed to do one day of work experience which I'm really starting to enjoy. I'm designing the latest cataloge for the company and also doing some market research. Completely different to what i did at my previous work exp., but definitely putting to use all the skills I learned in term one...Score! Bri and I went to Cambridge on Thursday to see the sights and put this month and a half long break to good use before we're covered in course work again. Cambridge was fun (RAINY), it's pretty...but I still prefer Oxford. I can see why people in England think Cam is more beautiful as compared to Ox, but I have to say I'm in disagreeance. I may be biased...because I'm just so in love with Oxford I can't bare to leave it ever again! :)

I am very much looking forward to courses starting up in a couple of weeks. I have too much free time now and nothing is getting accomplished. Must work on major project. NOW...or tomorrow :)

Laters!