Message from the Bitter Winter

Hello all --

It's been quite a while since I wrote.  This is probably due to many things -- I'm feeling more and more settled all the time, and so the many things that jumped out at me as being 'different' in England are fewer and fewer now.  Also, school has been keeping me busy, and lately all my spare time has been taken up feeding my furious metabolism (1,259 miles of cycle commuting in a little over 4 months) and entertaining (and cleaning up after) four newly arrived pets that hopped off a plane from LA to join me!  But I think I've got enough material now for a blog as long-winded as ever, so "hang onto them hats and glasses, folks, 'cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness...."  (Okay, I do miss my Disneyland season pass a bit...).

Pets Arrival
Well, as I alluded to in the prologue, Nissa, Nonay, Brulée, and Dribble all successfully made the journey, earning Ariana some additional frequent flyer miles in the process, landing with her just before Christmas.  Perhaps because the house was already full of things that reminded the cats of home (and smelled like me!), they all settled in remarkably quickly.  Within an hour or two, they'd all made themselves at home playing in the empty house.  Dribble (our ageing matriarch cat) and Brulée (one of the brother cats who's part Siamese -- need I say more) are pretty happy romping about the house.  They're not overly interested in venturing outside into the cold and damp weather, but are quite happy lounging near the wall furnaces and gazing out the windows at the birds.  Nonay (the other brother cat) has taken quite a liking to the yard, however.  Though the coldest days, the wettest days, and the snowy days (more on that later) typically move him back inside pretty quickly, if the weather is decent, he loves to wander the yard and check things out.  Getting his paws muddy is not, however, part of the agreement with visitation rights to the yard, and he typically wanders the paved and gravel paths, occasionally venturing deeper into the wild by hopping (literally) from stepping stone to stepping stone.  Finally, it is no surprise that Nissa, our border collie, is loving the country.  When I go into the yard to deal with taking the trash out or other outside chores, Nissa disappears off onto the farmland and comes running back grinning when I return to the house.  She's also become quite familiar with the surrounding footpaths, and our daily jogs and walks, rain or snow, wind or cold, are her favorite.  And the mud she drags back into the house!  What fun for me!

Furniture Arrival
Just after New Years Day, our shipment of furniture and boxes docked in Thamesport after a trip through the Panama Canal (lucky!) and across the Atlantic.  What little free time I have has been spent trying to slowly get through the boxes and get the house organized.  I've gotten the kitchen and living room mostly done, and made a good start on our office/TV area as well as our bedroom.  But once Christmas break was over, the rate of boxes unpacked per week dropped dramatically, so it's going to be a long process.  There's so much stuff!  I'll post more pictures once things are cleaned up and normal looking, but here's the first round of before and after pics....

British Winter
As you may have heard in news headlines, this has been by all accounts the coldest and snowiest winter in southern England anytime in the last 20 to 30 years.  Sounds bad, right?  Well, having survived 4 winters in Wisconsin, and numerous snow camping trips at high altitude, including one where a snowstorm trapped us for 24 hours in a tent sitting between two 12,000 foot passes in the Sierras, I have to say the worst winter in Britain really doesn't have much bite -- but I guess it's what you get used to.  We've had several weeks where the temperature dropped below freezing at night, and we also had two different occasions where snow actually accumulated on the roads and fields, a very rare occurrence in southern England.  To put this in perspective, it's been nearly as cold in Pasadena this winter, and Pasadena has received more precipitation this January than Oxford has.  But that being said --- Oxfordshire is NOT prepared in the least for winter weather.  As I already knew, whenever it rains more than an inch or so at a time, the roads, fields, and rivers all flood, as there's not much drainage infrastructure around.  But this problem pales in comparison to the massive breakdown of normal life when snow actually starts sticking to the ground.

On the first day when the snow started sticking, it started accumulating in the late afternoon.  I took Nissa for her usual evening jog, running through perhaps 2 inches of snow on the ground on the footpaths.  By morning, we had probably 4 inches on the ground.  I hopped on my bike and started the commute into work.  It was slow going, but I had meetings, and figured this was part of the job....  When I had the first mile under my belt, I arrived at the small, 2-lane motorway that leads into town.  Generally I ride along the bike path that runs parallel, but this was going to be a problem today, as biking through 4 inches of snow isn't really possible.  But, to my surprise, I noticed that there were pretty much no cars on the highway itself.  Since there had been enough overnight traffic to keep the snow from piling up quite as much, I just rode down the middle of the highway.  Only had to pull over once or twice to let about 6 cars total pass me.  This is normally a morning commute in which the cars are so backed up I move faster on my bike....  The commute took about twice as long as normal -- if we get any more weather like this, I think it may be faster to throw on my skis and ski the first 5 or 6 miles and then walk the last few.  Arriving at the office, it took me a moment to figure out that I could work my bicycle lock only after breathing some hot air into the keyhole.  I was surprised to see that almost nobody had come into work -- given that most people live within walking distance of our building, with the remaining handful living within about 2 miles, I hadn't been expecting this.  My meetings were off, as it turned out.  We got an email from the physics department telling anybody that had come in that day to leave early, to insure they had extra time to get home before dark (at 4:00 PM).  You see the buses weren't running, except a few lines offering limited service in the downtown area only.  The schools were closed.  The entire county shut down completely!

I spent lunch wandering around the streets taking photos on my phone.  And the ability of Oxford to cope with snow was pretty much summed up for me when, on my walk, the (1 and only) City of Oxford snowplow drove by -- pushing a blade in front of it that had to have been at LEAST 18 inches tall.  As I biked home that day and the next, the local kids from Eynsham had all hiked a mile down to the local hill (wow it's sad that anybody from Eynsham probably knows exactly what I mean by that) and had donned skis, snowboards, and sleds for some playtime in lieu of school.  Arriving at home that night, I don't think I'd ever been so muddy.  Every car and truck that passed (and there were a few on the road in town now that the snow had stopped) sprayed me with a fine mist of dirt and grime from the slush on the roads.  One truck was particularly nice, and chose to pass me in the middle of a flooded intersection, completely drenching me with muddy, ice-cold water.  I was so pleased.

The last surprising snow-story came several days after the snow had stopped, but before the rain had cleared it off the ground.  Life had returned to normal, for the most part, and the traffic on the roads had rendered them passable for most drivers and cars.  I ventured out to the local village market, and was astonished to find life had not returned to normal there.  A skeleton crew working the registers, plus more people than usual since many market runs must have been put off a few days, left the line to check out at least five times normal, stretching fully around two walls of the store.  As I strolled the aisles grabbing the things on my list, it became apparent that shipments hadn't return to normal either.  There was almost no bread left.  There was no dairy whatsoever.  And the frozen food section had been picked through pretty thoroughly.  So that, my friends, is the story of the winter of January 2010....

Friday Pub Runs
As far as work and school go, I'll leave out all the technical details in hopes of retaining a few readers.  Suffice it to say that my classes and lectures are going pretty well, and the worst is behind me.  In addition, more time this term devoted to research has allowed me to start zeroing in on the general area that I'll be working in for my thesis, which is exciting.  No topic yet, but I am finally starting to think about what it might be....  The thing that is most notable and different is the "Planetary Lunch" on Fridays.  Pretty much every week, on Friday, several members from the planetary research groups head to a local pub for lunch.  The size of the group varies from week to week, though there is a core of 3 or 4 die-hards that almost never miss.  Lunch easily lasts two hours, spent eating very mediocre pub food and keeping the local ales flowing (served warm!).  I've been along on these lunches perhaps a third or half of the time -- I can't quite rationalize a lunch of that length every week, though nobody would mind if I did.  And when I leave the pub after a couple hours, I'm generally one of the first to go -- from the sounds of it, that group of 3 or 4 die-hards and anybody who cares to join them just stay through the evening hours, or even occasionally late into the night, with the ales still coming....  Not exactly the culture I experienced during my JPL days....

Vocab Primer
Stag Party / Hen Party - Bachelor and bachelorette party

Tinnie - beer can (though apparently more commonly used in Australia than the UK)

Twitcher - bird watcher (or birder)

Twiddle - tilde (that squiggly key on the computer keyboard -- or perhaps I should say 'twiddly' key)

And an interesting observation about pronunciation of the alphabet.  'H' is pronounced more like 'haich' and of course 'Z' is pronounced 'zed.'  Also, many of the greek letters are pronounced quite differently....

10 Weeks & 1 Term Down

That's right, the first term is over and survived, and Monday marks 10 weeks abroad.  The time has flown by, largely due to how busy I am.  Between school and 15 miles of cycle commuting daily, I barely have enough time for grocery shopping and feeding myself 1,000,000 calories a day to fuel my commute, let alone much time to relax and explore.  But overall, I'm still really enjoying things -- classes are challenging but interesting, my research (what little time for it between course assignments) is also fun, and the people in my department and college are great.

During what little time I do have for exploring and wandering, I'm still enjoying the great access to really picturesque farm and pasture land scenery.  Also an unexpected thrill each time I hear them are the church bells that echo across the countryside.  Downtown Oxford, of course, is full of them Sunday mornings, but I also occasionally hear them from Eynsham and Church Hanbrough as I'm out riding my bike or taking a short walk, seemingly quite a distance from the churches....

Birdlife
I realized after my last post that I've been enjoying watching the birds outside the patio windows of the Lambing Pen, and hadn't yet commented on it.  My identification of US bird species is mediocre at best, and the species are, generally, totally different here, so I can't give as much info as I'd like, but I have spotted and identified a few interesting varieties.  About a month back, riding home unusually early in the day, two or three 'common pheasants' darted across the road and into the hedge surrounding our yard.

I've also seen common quail in the yard (which don't resemble the American variety at all, except for the shape of the beak, and are much smaller).

I also spotted a grey partridge in the yard one day.

In the field across the highway from where we live, for about a week there were several swans hanging out, I presume in the middle of a migration, though I'm not positive about that....  No picture because I didn't get close enough to identify the specific type of white water-bird....

The last species I've identified in the area are magpies, conjuring up not-so-fond memories of the magpies that attacked me during nesting season in Australia a few years ago....

In case you were wondering, none of those photos are mine -- thanks Wikipedia....

Lots of other colorful varieties of birds have been in the yard, but I'm slower at identifying them since there are so many online photos of flying birds to wade through to make IDs....

Kebab Vans
Not many restaurants remain open too late here -- the British evening meal comes significantly earlier than several other European cultures, and after the evening rush, the restaurants all close, especially during the week.  At this time, your only options are the pubs, but many of them have pretty limited selections of (probably microwaved) meat pies and various deep fried snacks.  Enter the kebab van.  Starting at about 6:00 pm and remaining open well past midnight, the city center becomes dotted with Kebab Vans, which are basically the equivalent to the Mexican taco trucks that can be found in Southern California.  I've tried the fare twice now.  On the first occasion, I learned that one should NEVER purchase a burger from a kebab van.  The lettuce / tomato were American fast food quality, and bun was tasteless, and even more concerning was the tasteless, undercooked meat patty that didn't seem much like beef.  I've not thought too much about what it might have been, but hope that none of you will make the same mistake that I made.

My second experience was much better.  This time, my local friends had alerted me to the rule that you only buy kebabs from kebab vans (duh!) and so this was the course I took.  For a mere 6 or 7 dollars, I purchased a lamb kebab that was meal enough for two.  Great naan bread stuffed with peppers, really tasty lamb kebab, and lots of other tasty spices and veggies made for a wonderful and cheap late-night snack.  The degree of difference between the burger and the kebab was shocking.

MCR Dinners
Speaking of food, I've tested out several college-offered options this term.  I eat two or three times a week in the college "Hall" where the college-subsidised food is good quality and very economical compared with pubs and restaurants in town.  The meals are fairly standard and not noteworthy, but as I said, a cheap, quick, and easy option for midday meals (or dinners).

I have treated two friends to lunches at Lincoln in exchange for a day out at their respective colleges.  So I've also sampled fare at lunchtime at Trinity College and Lady Margaret Hall, two other Oxford colleges.  The food, again, was not particularly noteworthy, but it was great to get an insider's view of those two colleges.  I plan to continue this tradition as often as possible, mainly for the opportunity to get a member's only tour of some of the other Oxford colleges.

Once or twice a week the graduate student body (Middle Common Room) offers up a special MCR Lunch or MCR dinner that is open to the first MCR members who reply to the frequent signup emails.
I tried an MCR lunch early in the term, and the food was basically the same as standard lunch food, but served rather than buffet style, and eaten not just in Hall, but at "High Table," the table equivalent to where the teachers sit in the Harry Potter movies and reserved only for college fellows and graduate students.  That was nifty.

I also signed up for one of the terms' "MCR Exchange Dinners" where a small contingent from the MCR head over to dine with another college in Hall one night, and return the favor in our own Hall.  The Exchange I did was with Brasenose college, our friendly rival that shares a back-wall with our college....  Again, not particularly noteworthy food, but fun to experience another college's Hall and dining experience.

But the culinary highlight of my time in England thus far has definitely been the two special MCR Dinners I've signed up for.  I was totally expecting another standard meal in Hall, with the extra money shelled over funding the pre-dinner sherrry, the white and red wines during the meal, and the after-dessert port, all of which I really wouldn't be consuming much of.  To my pleasant surprise, these meals were the best I've had in England, including several quite nice restaurants I've been out to when Ariana has been in town.

At the first meal, which I went to with a college friend, we had a delicious fish appetizer, an amazingly prepared pheasant for the entree, and creme brulee for dessert.  It was at this meal that I discovered that not only do you pay extra for alcohol, tablecloths, and a service staff rather than a rushed buffet, you also are paying for a substantial hike in the quality of the food.  That meal was, at the time, the best I'd had in Oxford.  And pheasant, tasting somewhere between dark meat turkey and duck, was not a type of meat I would have enjoyed particularly had it not been so well-prepared.

On a recent visit into town, the MCR had their annual "Christmas Dinner" which actually occurs during the 8th week of the term before many of the students leave town for the holidays.  As it fell this year, that happened to be the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  Ariana and I had tried to find a Sunday night turkey roast for our makeshift Thanksgiving meal (still don't have the kitchen equipment to have even attempted cooking ourselves, and I had a nasty problem set due the day after Thanksgiving which precluded much celebration Thursday night).  We ended up at a pub in Witney, an Oxford-sized town just west of Eynsham.  The food was good, and the turkey was nice, but certainly not up to the home-cooked standards by which we've both become spoiled.

We were just able to get our names added to the Christmas dinner list at the last minute, and were delighted to see that we'd get a second shot at a good Thanksgiving meal, as the main course was turkey.  Again, the meal was fantastic -- and perhaps the reason that Lincoln seems to have a reputation for some of the best food in Oxford.  As usual, the black-tie meal was accompanied with sherry before hand and wines during the meal.  The appetizer was a really nice potato soup, which was followed by turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts that were all amazing.  Not my favorite, familystuffing recipe, but the rest was just as good, and the turkey was close....  After the meal we had mince pies and Christmas pudding, retreated to another room to sing 30 minutes of carols (all the men actually willingly sing in this country) and then a return to the Hall, where a fire had been lit and mulled wine was served.  All-in-all, a really nice evening, and amazing food.

Vocab Primer
Another couple words for your consideration:

Magdalen - the name of a college both at Oxford and Cambridge.  Pronounced as it looks if you're at Cambridge, but pronounced 'mod-lin' if you're at Oxford.  Make sense?  No, not really.

Duff - a great word meaning broken or defective.  I like this one....

Geordie - slang term for somebody from the northern English region around Newcastle, or alternately for the slang dialect or accent that with which they speak.