Thank Goodness for Oxford, Steve, and Protesters!

Well, on Friday I spent a glorious day in Oxford. I cannot tell you how incredible this town is! It was super cute and had such a great atmosphere. Once I got there, I immediately saw the building for the university history faculty. There are really great bookstores that I could probably spend all day in, but I knew that I had to see the actual colleges. 39 colleges make up Oxford University and they are spread out over the town. Christ Church is probably the most well known college, and it did not disappoint. The cathedral was gorgeous. I wanted to go into the library, but I didn't have the time for it because you can only see it by going on a tour. I sought out Lincoln College, which is the college that I would love to go to if I went to graduate school at Oxford. I met with the woman in charge of graduate admissions that I had been corresponding with all semester to find out more information on the college. I was so excited to walk through the college where I could be in just a few years if everything actually works out. I'm not even sure that I could get in, but it is really exciting to have it as an option. Oxford is a fantastic place and I definitely didn't have enough time there, so I know that I would love to go back one day, even if it isn't for school.

On Saturday, Natalie, Sam, and I went to explore in Camden Market. It was such a great place to wander around. Camden is known for being a bit outrageous and bizarre. There were a ton of shops and booths set up with clothes, jewelry, and crafts. A lot of the things being sold were organic and natural, so it kind of reminded me a bit of the stores you could find in Boone. There was a lot of booths with all kinds of food, and we eventually got Chinese food from one of them. I ended up making a purchase for myself, which was a pretty cute summer dress. We spent a few hours just walking through the markets. It was a gorgeous day, so I really enjoyed spending it walking around outside with all types of people.

Sunday was a fantastic day because it was the day of the London Marathon. I was so overjoyed to see so many (about 36,000) people running the 26 miles for such great causes. Natalie and I tended to cheer for a lot of the runners by name and I can't believe how many were named either Steve, Neil, and Dan. I loved the Steves because I cheered for every one that I saw. There were so many people dressed in costumes such as Santa, Rhinos, and Tigger. I saw 2 men dressed as Pam Anderson and David Hassalhoff with a Baywatch theme. There were even a few of the runners who were on their cell phones! We saw so many great causes being represented by the runners, everything from breast cancer to seeing eye dog care. A few of the runners would acknowledge you when you cheered for them and that was really exciting! There were so many people that came out yesterday to see the runners and cheer them on as they supported such great causes! It was so cool to see something so wonderful bring a city as large as London together.

We went to see Parliament in Action today! Sam, Natalie, Chelsey, Jordan, Megan, Amanda, and I went to see the House of Commons debating. After spending about an hour in lines, we finally got to the last part right before going into the House. Unfortuately, right as we were getting ready to go in, there was a small group of protesters across from us that started chanting. We were like what!? All of a sudden there were policemen that were surrounding the people and we found out that they actually were super glued together around a statue! So we were disappointed to have our line diverted when we were so close to going in, but little did we know the people were going to take us up to the viewing gallery behind the scenes! We got to go up to the gallery and see things that the public normally doesn't see, which was awesome! The House of Commons was more empty than I expected, but it was definitely entertaining. I never thought that debating over the budget could be so funny until I saw a bunch of British men cutting each other down about it. I also learned a lot about the Swine Flu during the session because the English government is trying to create a plan of action for what may happen in the near future. I was so excited to see the room that so much history occured in and so many great men and women have been in. I learned so much about the House of Commons in AP Government in high school, so it was so interesting to actually see it in action live. Afterwards, I came home and got a ton of work done. I can't believe that this is the last week of classes!!