So everyone who actually wanted to know what I was doing in Oxford, well, I'm sure you're disappointed from my lack of updates.  You might have to IM me (imagine that)!

There's about 1 1/2 weeks left at Oxford, and things are winding down fast.  I still have 2 more papers and a project but after that I'm free.

To recap, I went to Barcelona the weekend of Carnival.  That's the weekend right before Mardi Gras and Lent.  It wasn't as crazy as we thought, but we still had lots of fun.  We did the whole sightseeing thing, exactly what a good tourist group should do.  There was a lot of Gaudi architecture, and it amazing.  Unlike anything you've seen before.  There were part of town where you definitely got the Spanish feel, and it was awesome.  I had Spanish tapas and seafood paella.  There's lots of seafood in Barcelona (duh...it's a coastal city).  Dogs are rampant on the streets, which then makes you an expert of looking ahead and down at the same time to avoid any "surprises."  But is it really too hard for the owners to take care of their dogs?  Most of them I see are scraggly, dirty with stringy hair, and probably flea infested.  It's not like they're homeless; their owner is always around.  If there was one piece of advice I could give to those owners it's to not kiss your dogs!  You're going to get something...without a doubt.

My next trip is to Berlin.  Even before I get there, the stereotypes of Germans being efficient, neat, and clean are showing.  All the hostels, despite being cheap, are rated as being spotless.  This a direct contrast to the hostels in Barcelona, where it was not so cheap and not that clean.  I'm definitely excited to go.  But wait...I don't think any of us going speak German....

I've been to London of course.  There's so much to do there.  Sightseeing places I saw included Westminster Palace (Houses of Parliament), Big Ben (which is just a tower of Westminster Palace), and Westminster Abbey.  I haven't been to Buckingham Palace or London Bridge, something I know I'll regret but I don't have the time.  Besides, Buckingham Palace is just where the Queen lives, and no one can go inside anyway.  I've also visited some museums.  The British really were imperialistic bastards and stole things from everyone.  The British Museum has the Rosetta Stone, Greek statues, the famous statues from Easter Island, and also African, Southasian, and Latin American things.  In short, they tried to take everything good and cool from every culture and country.  The National Gallery has impressive paintings from all eras and artists.  Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Raphael, Rembrandt, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Seurat, Cezanne...you name it, they got it.  The Somerset House has the biggest and arguably the most important collections of Old Master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist paintings in all of Britain.  And all the museums are free!  Perhaps the only benefit of a socialist democracy (kidding...no political talk here).  As part of Mrs. Bing's cultural enlightenment trips, I also got to see Romeo and Juliet performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company!  After seeing the play, you do realize that Mercutio is so flaming gay and Romeo is really just a pussy.  I never thought it was that apparently in the play, but on stage, oh it is.

My last trip to date has been to Bath, site of Roman bath ruins.  And to clear up any confusions, coughJimcough, they're not bathtubs.  By baths, I meant therapeutic baths complete with a temple to Minvera.  These baths were renowned for their healing powers.  The water was really nice and warm, and I totally was willing to take a dip in there.  Bath is also known because Jane Austen spent some time there.  So we saw some clothing from the era of Jane Austen as well as some first editions of her books.  In the Museum of Costumes (where we saw Jane Austen era clothing), there was a section on the best dress of each year.  Guess what 2000 was?  That's right...J Lo's dress for the Grammys.  Apparently, it was the tropical pattern that made it so special...yeah right....

Next goal is Stonhenge.  It was the one thing I thought Britian had (besides London), so I just have to fulfill that stereotype.

I know people wanted to see my pictures.  Just go to www.clubphoto.com and put in nq548@yahoo.com.  You should see the pictures.  Keep in mind, it's winter and results in Britain being very gray.

One last thing, a quiz!  I haven't done one in a while, so I thought I'd put one in.

"Which Playing Card Are You?"

Having been in Oxford for 3 weeks now, I feel compelled to update.

First of all, I'd like to say the exchange rate makes everything incredibly expensive.  I swear the only thing I can afford is soup and even that costs $4.

Oxford is an amazing place.  All the buildings look straight out of the Victorian era, and cobblestone roads still exist.  Of course, Oxford would be a lot better if it didn't rain so much.  Yes, everything they say about rain in England is true.  But you learn to live with it just like everyone else....

Everything they say about English food is also true.  Blood sausages and cold pork pies are classics (can't say I've had either though).  But I've definitely had toast that was soaked in butter and then deep fried.  It was so greasy I felt nauseated.  You'd think all English people would be big, but no, Americans are still fatter.  Amazing how that happened.

Apparently libraries will also be a big part of my life, having gone to 5 library orientations.  I even had to solemnly swear to "never to bring fire into the library or kindle any flame therein," etc etc.  I have yet to experience the lovely Bodelian, a library in which you can't check books out.  Yes, I'll actually have to read in the library and take notes.  Every night.  Scary thought.

I have to say, without trying to sounding ethnocentric and nationalistic (ok, a bit maybe), the UK is not all it's cracked up to be.  The food sucks, the castles are ugly, the people are not hot, and the people are mean.  Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a great place.  It has a lot of history and culture that only comes with a country that's been in existence for thousands of years.  And I'm sure the castles were really defensive back in their time, but right now, they're just pieces of stones falling apart.  It's not nearly as impressive as French castles, granted most French castles are much newer relatively speaking.  The British guys, contrary to what everyone else says, are not that great.  Australian accents are much sexier.    Customer service here is not that good; no one ever smiles or greets you, and you're giving them business!  The smoking here also gets to me and gives me headaches.  I think I've been living in California too long.  The real world is not the same (surprise, surprise).  And there are a lot of pigeons.  I hate pigeons, and I'm afraid of feathers.  Enough said.

That being said, the UK is a great place!  I'm having lots of fun! 

One weekend trip we took as part of the Bing Grant was Wales.  It was beautiful.  Everything was so green, but that's because there's even more rain in Wales than England, if that's possible.  It was also very pastoral (figures, it's Wales after all).  I even saw sheep (they smell but taste quite yummy).

I also went to London three times already and did the whole tourist thing.  London is awesome!  It's everything you could want in a city: beautiful buildings, great shopping, excellent theater, busy night life, etc etc.  And for all you people who shop FCUK in the states, haha, sucks to be you.  The prices here are less than half of the prices in the US (after the exchange rate).  That's what you get for trying to be trendy.

By the way I have taken pictures since I've been here, but it's such a pain to load them on Xanga.  It's on Club Photo, just go search for it.  Yes, I know a lot of the pictures are my roommate and I.  Yes, we do hang out a lot.  No, I'm not being Asianized.

Today is my last day at home before I flee the country.  But before I leave, here are some comics to summarize 2004.

And a quiz too.

Take the 'Which Nintendo Character are you most like?' quiz by nidoprincess!

So right now I'm home in Minnesota.  I haven't seen this many white people in, well, a very long time.  I also haven't seen this many hick people in...wait, I've never seen this many hick people.  Don't believe me?  Think Painted Post was already pretty hickish?  First thing I hear as I get off the airplane:

Lady: That's a great wolf sweatshirt!

Man: Thanks, I have tons of them!

Lady: I just bought my friend one.  She lives on Timber Creek Road and loves wolves.  (Notice that she bought a GIRL a wolf sweatshirt).

Man: That's cool.  I bust out all this stuff every winter.  I even have the raccoon hat with the tails to match!

For those of you who are fortunate enough to not know what a wolf sweatshirt is, let ChoiceShirts enlighten you.  Apparently it's part of the "North America Wildlife" category.  Who knew it was so popular?  It's just flying off the market, don't you know?

Anyway, it's -4 degrees right now, and it's suppose to get down to -10 degrees soon.  But apparently when it gets down this low, you can't even feel the 6 degrees difference.  By the way, your boogers freeze when it's -4.  Along with everything else.

On another note, I guess you really do have to kill yourself for fashion.  I'm at Mall of America, and I see girls in miniskirts.  Obviously they don't understand the meaning of winter.  But hey, you gotta make sacrifices to look good.  Because, after all, shivering is really attractive.  You're going to get all the guys this way.

Last thing I want to mention is Mall of America.  It's huge!  The first 3 levels are stores, and the 4th level has a movie theater.  There are also some attractions and clubs underground.  And to top it all off, there's a theme park right in the middle of the mall.  Definitely lives up to its name.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06brooks.html?oref=login&hp

I think it's interesting.  Please don't get mad at me.

Happy Birthday to me.  I'm no longer a teen and still can't drink legally.  What a rut.  But I got a Game Cube with 4 games and 4 controllers (2 of which are wireless).  And it's the platinum Game Cube.  Very sexy.