Equinox at Stonehenge

After cooking dinner with some friends Friday, we settled down for a quiet night of watching Planet Earth. By midnight, we split, and I was thinking of heading to bed. But, next thing I knew, a friend had convinced me to stay up all night and head to Stonehenge at 3am in order to make the sunrise on the equinox! So, Chris, Matt and I popped in a movie at 1am, then left at 3am for Stonehenge. We arrived at about 4:30am, and we were allowed into Stonehenge around 5:30am (you are only allowed to enter stonehenge 4 days per year: on the two equinoxes and the two solstices). The crowd of around 200 people was mostly comprised of Druids, who were there to beat drums, chant, and pray for world peace. I could attempt to describe the druids further, but to be honest, I was rather confused by them, so I'll leave it to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid.

I took some photos of Stonehenge and the entire experience, but Chris made a movie of it, so I think I'll just post that. It's quite weird, but so was the experience.

After Stonehenge, we drove to Portsmouth, a city on the sea. We explored the town, enjoyed the sea, ate a traditional English breakfast, then left for home. We were exhausted!

End of Term Fun

Oxford opporates in trimesters (although D.Phil. students work year-round). The second term, Hilary Term, just ended last week. So, the undergrad students go home or on vacation for six weeks now, and Oxford empties out a bit, which I enjoy. Below is a very candid shot from our last bop, which was themed 'Over the Top'. Yes, my hair is frosted pink, and I have a black lightening bolt across my face. And a shot from this past weekend: some friends got together at a Russian restaurant to celebrate a friend's birthday.

King Lear

Last Thursday I went to Statford-upon-Avon with a group of students from Oxford. We had tickets to see King Lear, performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Statford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and we drove past his home. I had not previously read King Lear, so I decided to read the synopsis on the bus ride up- I think this greatly aided my comprehension of the play, because I easily get lost in old English and Shakespearian prose. The production was impressive; I knew going into the play that 'King Lear' was a tragedy, but wow, what a tragedy! The entire play revolves around dishonesty. I liked Shad's synopsis of the lesson he learned from 'King Lear': "If anything I guess we learn that those who twist the facts to their own personal gain will die, and those who are victims to those actions... well, they'll probably die too."

Track Photos

Our athletics (track) team faced Cambridge a couple weekends ago, and I went to coach and help out. Unfortunately, Cambridge beat Oxford. But, while the Cambridge team is all currently healthy, we have a lot of girls out with minor injuries. So, we're hoping to have a shot at winning the Varsity match (the big, final, all-important match against Cambridge) in 11 weeks. I'm hoping to be back vaulting by then, but it might be cutting it close. Below, a picture of our girls team, and our combined team.