Disc-ing, Raining, Pudding, and Barista-ing

Whoops. Once again essays/sickness take priority over blog. I am still alive, relatives. Bonus: More to write about!

Wellcommeeee to rainy season in England! Characterized by the high correlation between me jumping on my bike or going running and me returning completely drenched (EVERY TIME). It has rained undoubtedly every day last week. Forecast tomorrow: Guess. The best way to describe it is no matter what kind of sky you look up at when you set foot outside your door, 10 minutes later it could be raining. Hanging laundry outside (it's sunny! it'll be fineee) has not been going well.

On the bright side, this has given me an excuse to buy a trench coat! I've always wanted one.

The usual seen-and-heard-around-Oxford

Tourist season is coming. TOURIST SEASON IS COMING. [[Star Wars Darth Vader theme music]]
I've never lived in such a small city that is quite such a large tourist attraction. This means that our lovely campus and streets are now increasingly swamped by random people taking pictures of the oddest things.   These awful tour guides lead them around, dressed as British guards (?) or as something else that looks old and British-y.  They try to sell their tours usually by referencing Harry Potter.  Harry Potter beats Newton and countless others in marketability. I'm resisting going on a rant about what this travesty says about mankind.

I do have to say, there is a certain coolness factor of strolling into the Bodleian Library while 3 or 4 tourist groups are snapping pictures of the building. Oxford student cards. They get you places.  Also I seemingly will be in many random family albums.

This also means that I may eventually be indicted for running one of these completely-unaware-of-everything-around-them tourists over with my bike. It's not my fault. I swear. They just stand there in the middle of the bike lane with their camera. If it's either them or a car, guess which one I'm choosing...

Food/Job News (interrelated topics, I swear) 

Black pudding, looking particularly turd-like.

I have now tried black pudding. Which may or may not be made of pig's blood. The worst part: I actually thought it was really, really good.  I'd totally have it again.

Also, I got a job! Part-time at a cafe here which serves amazing food AND above-normal-British-standard coffee (mainly why I chose the place, hah).  It is certainly a rarity among Oxford students.  It's not a 'thing' to have to work part-time here; I'd even border on saying that there's a bit of a social stigma to working a service job purely for cash, or at least an aversion to the idea.  I think I resisted getting a part-time serving job for most of this year for no other reason than it seemed like something you don't do at Oxford.

But, my Dutch-work-ethic psyche won over.  I have worked all my life while going to school.  I've never not earned my own way. I couldn't be more happy about caving and finding an income. I've only worked one shift so far but I've really, really enjoyed  it.  The staff is nice, it's busy and challenging, and I feel like I'm not constantly just putting myself more in the red.  Plus, I make a mean latte.

Frisbee Update (for those who care) (a.k.a. anyone outside of my immediate family... grumble)

Last week I played an Ultimate tournament for Dog Eat Disc (DED), the competitive mixed team I've been playing for. The competitive club scene in Britain Mixed consists of three main tournaments: Mixed Tour 1, 2, and 3. All the teams in the U.K. enter and are power-ranked into 'divisions' of 16; so the top 16 play each other, 16-32 play each other, and so on and so forth.  Around 45-50 teams are at each tournament, and where you place at the previous tournament determines where you're seeded at the next. DED went into this year ranked 4th overall in the U.K. Eek!

Last weekend at Mixed Tour 2, we were playing with 5 women. Traditionally, Mixed is played with 3 or 4 women on at a time. 5 women total = hardly any subs. SO tiring. Played 3 games on Saturday and went 2-1, and then pulled off an upset victory on Sunday with a brilliant win over the higher-ranked (and cow-print sporting) Thundering Herd.  Wooo!  Lost Game number 6 of the weekend for 3rd place by only one point. BUT since we finished 5th in MT1 and 4th in MT2, we've had more consistent finishes than any of the other teams except 1; so we're currently ranked 2nd overall in the U.K.!  Cool points.

It's really the first time I've played for such a high-level mixed team, and I'm really enjoying it.  It makes you focus in on your weaknesses and think about every move you make on the pitch (a.k.a. field in Britspeak). I'm also playing for a new competitive all-women's team in the coming months which we've been training for, and that should be really adrenaline-packed also. Yay.

In other sports news I'm also playing for the Hilda's co-ed rugby team this term! Hahahaha. Whenever I tell this to people, they seem to always remind me not to die, please.  Pshaw. I swear, no confidence.

Coming up: Brussels! (hopefully) Essays! (ongoing) Dissertation! (ditto) and Sun! (maybe..knock on wood.)

LP