The title should be read as Italian.
Anyway, its been awhile ere I updated; the main reason for that is that the last two weeks the essays have been harder and the reading lists longer. Now, however, I can finally see the light of spring break at the end of the tunnel; I finished off my secondary tutorial today, and now only have one essay left in my primary - the second to last meeting is tomorrow.
Term winding down does not mean the end of my stay here is in sight, but it does mean things get a little less frenetic. We have another class with the SCIO staff after term, and also a seminar with a long essay (the draft proposal for which was due this morning).
Other than tutorials (hah - do we do anything other than tutorials here?), I've been to church at Magdalan College and at Christ Church Cathedral the last two weeks. Both were excellent, and the architecture only made things better. I've come to rather enjoy the liturgical Anglican services, and of course the choral music can't hurt.
I've also attended some really good lectures over the last couple weeks - today one on Halley's Comet and the Fall of Jerusalem was particularly good.
Anyway, that more or less summarizes whats been going on the last few weeks.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Low and High Church
This week was a bit more eventful than the previous; yes, most of the time was consumed by the reading of books and the writing of essays (and the doing of logic exercises); however, I managed to go out and do some other things as well.
On Tuesday, I attended a Shrove Tuesday meeting at the home of the vicar of St. Mary Mags (the really high church of last week); there, we had English pancakes, after which a group of us headed over to Hertfordd College and attended Complins sdervice there.
Wednesday was an Oxford Amnesty Lecture on Islam and Human Rights, which also turned out to be really interesting (and worth the £4 it cost to get in).
Earlier today, I went to a church on the low church side of things, an Evangelical Free Church, that was very similar to home; since it was a family service, it was quite reminiscent of Caring during the summer. After that, I went to Christ Church College for lunch, as they open their dining hall to University members on Sunday afternoon. Finally, this Sunday evening, I went to Evensong at Wadham's, where they had a good service followed by a nice meal.
And now I am back to essay-writing.
However, to give one humorous quote:
"There are two things in life you should never try: Scottish dancing, and incest." ~ The Bishop of Lincoln.
On Tuesday, I attended a Shrove Tuesday meeting at the home of the vicar of St. Mary Mags (the really high church of last week); there, we had English pancakes, after which a group of us headed over to Hertfordd College and attended Complins sdervice there.
Wednesday was an Oxford Amnesty Lecture on Islam and Human Rights, which also turned out to be really interesting (and worth the £4 it cost to get in).
Earlier today, I went to a church on the low church side of things, an Evangelical Free Church, that was very similar to home; since it was a family service, it was quite reminiscent of Caring during the summer. After that, I went to Christ Church College for lunch, as they open their dining hall to University members on Sunday afternoon. Finally, this Sunday evening, I went to Evensong at Wadham's, where they had a good service followed by a nice meal.
And now I am back to essay-writing.
However, to give one humorous quote:
"There are two things in life you should never try: Scottish dancing, and incest." ~ The Bishop of Lincoln.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Essays and A Really High Church
This weekend was consumed by a long (4800 word) essay. I read multiple biographies and wrote a brief account of the career of Pitt the Elder.
In all of this, however, I did manage to make it over to a new church; this week: St. Mary Mag, ostensibly the highest church in Oxford (incense, holy water, &c.); the music there is of particular comment - the choir was one of the best I've heard here. The congregation also seemed quite personable - I think it counts as my favourite of all the churches I've been too thus far.
Thats about it for the weekend, however, to give you a sense of some of the amusing things that happen here, I've decided to sporadically give lists of quotes & anecdotes; frequency will depend on the wit of those here.
Quotes:
Academics
"If you're psycho, you're not right," ~ Dr. Leftow, Existence of God lecture
"I sometimes have oak-hallucinations," ~ Dr. Leftow, Existence of God lecture
"This is my translation, so it may be confusing." ~ Dr. Tunstall, History and Modern Language lecture
Dr. Kilburn: Did you do anything exciting this week?
Me: Mainly just working on this essay
Dr. Kilburn: I thought so when I saw you'd sent me a file with 22 sides [pages]
SCIO Students
"Certainly anything less than sub-atomic weapons should be legal" ~ Me, comments on Gun Control
"Why do people always say 'be a man' and then tell me to do something stupid?" ~ Paul Ferrell
"Only a philosopher would understand that diagram." ` Nevin Climenhaga, comments on Existence of God lecture
"No one told me it was the big beautiful Georgian building," ~ Faith Dever, after failing to find the Examination Schools
In all of this, however, I did manage to make it over to a new church; this week: St. Mary Mag, ostensibly the highest church in Oxford (incense, holy water, &c.); the music there is of particular comment - the choir was one of the best I've heard here. The congregation also seemed quite personable - I think it counts as my favourite of all the churches I've been too thus far.
Thats about it for the weekend, however, to give you a sense of some of the amusing things that happen here, I've decided to sporadically give lists of quotes & anecdotes; frequency will depend on the wit of those here.
Quotes:
Academics
"If you're psycho, you're not right," ~ Dr. Leftow, Existence of God lecture
"I sometimes have oak-hallucinations," ~ Dr. Leftow, Existence of God lecture
"This is my translation, so it may be confusing." ~ Dr. Tunstall, History and Modern Language lecture
Dr. Kilburn: Did you do anything exciting this week?
Me: Mainly just working on this essay
Dr. Kilburn: I thought so when I saw you'd sent me a file with 22 sides [pages]
SCIO Students
"Certainly anything less than sub-atomic weapons should be legal" ~ Me, comments on Gun Control
"Why do people always say 'be a man' and then tell me to do something stupid?" ~ Paul Ferrell
"Only a philosopher would understand that diagram." ` Nevin Climenhaga, comments on Existence of God lecture
"No one told me it was the big beautiful Georgian building," ~ Faith Dever, after failing to find the Examination Schools
Friday, February 1, 2008
Reading and Long Evening Walks
Yeah, running theme for Fridays: I've spent the last few days reading. This time its Pitt the Elder, a rather interesting chracter. Anyway, I suppose the only other thing of real interest to happen of late is that I am developing a predilection for long evening walks into the city to clear my mind before studying - it seems to work fairly well, and we certainly need times to just do something other thanr eading and writing here.
I suppose to give a little more commentary on churches, I'll probably be attending a charismatic Anglican church in the near future; I enjoy the high church services, although the mood is different - its not dry, but there is definitely more of a sense of awe to them than one of excitement. Its different, and I rather enjoyed the ones I've been to.
I suppose to give a little more commentary on churches, I'll probably be attending a charismatic Anglican church in the near future; I enjoy the high church services, although the mood is different - its not dry, but there is definitely more of a sense of awe to them than one of excitement. Its different, and I rather enjoyed the ones I've been to.
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