I made it to Cambridge, although I'm knackered.
Friday night in Oxford was fun but tiring. We had a formal style dinner where the RAs had to serve the students and dress up all nice. They recognized each of the individual staff members and I think I pretty much got the loudest cheers when they called my name (not to mention the standing ovation from my floor and a bunch of others). That made me happy, of course. At least the kids thought I was a good RA. I had to set up all the equipment for the final dance and then make sure it all went down smoothly which was fine, except I needed to pack. After everything was over we got upstairs and I spent the night just hanging out with my floor since it was my last night. After chilling for a long while, I finally started packing and then after finshing, only managed to get an hour or so of sleep since I needed to be up at the ass crack of dawn so I could go to the airport and pickup up the Cambridge group flight on my way to Cambridge. So I had to leave Oxford early, not being able to properly say goodbye to anybody, and then had to rush over to a city I know nothing about and try to answer lots of questions I didn't know the answer to since I missed orientation.
On a side note, I'm gonna miss the kids on my floor. They were really decent people and gave me very little trouble. I'm hoping to keep in touch with all of them to some extent. It sucked to say goodbye to them, but you always gotta move onward, so...
Cambridge is great. It's a gorgeous, albeit small, city. I think I like it better than Oxford (minus that it's noticeably more expensive), and the college they put us in, Corpus Christi, is much nicer than the one we were in in Oxford (Lady Margaret Hall). I think Corpus Christi is one of the 3 most well known colleges in Cambridge instead of being one of the little podunk ones we were in before (yeah, I just called an Oxford college "podunk." hahaha). As a result we're housed on the main tourist drag (I do have a great view of King's College at least), and everything in the immediate area is ridiculously expensive. It's really loud outside my window at night, but it's sorta nice to be back where there is city din to fall asleep too. I started getting used to absolute silence during bedtime which I don't like as much.
Being the first time this program has ever run, things are pretty much figure-it-out-as-you-go. We are really just making things up all the time and there is so little organization to what we're doing I'm praying the kids don't figure out how much we don't have it all together. The program director has started other ASA programs before from scratch but I'm having trouble figuring out how. In any case, there still seems to be plenty of money to go around so we're not sparing many expenses making sure things get off the ground. There's only 30 kids so we're keeping things flexible and all of the rules are much more lenient. Also hoping this doesn't bite us in the ass. The few kids we took with us from the Oxford program are happy that they can go into hookah bars without fear of being hunted down. I'm also happy that I'm going to have 3 to 4 days off (!!!). I have better access to the internet here so I might even get all my pictures up eventually when I have some free time.
So that's first impressions. I'm still exhausted despite a solid night's sleep. Hopefully after today I will be feeling recharged. I'm sorta sad staff is so small since there are less people to hang out with and bitch to, but the ones we have are good people, so I'm not too worried. Plus, I'm only here for 3 weeks, so even if something sucks, it'll all be over soon. I don't think it will suck though. While I'm exhausted at the idea of staffing another ASA program, the leniency in the rules definitely extends to the staff. I should be able to get off the floor and out of the building after the kids are checked in at night, and grabbing a beer here and there when it isn't my day off won't be so taboo.
OK, sorry if this and my last post have been a little on the dry side, but honestly all of my life and creativity gets used in trying to hold the students' attention while I'm "working." It seems like I always have some excuse why my blog isn't too interesting to read. Too bad.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Shorty
Not a whole lot to report on. I could get into details about specific things that happen here on the job, but they'd probably be a bore since I'm too tired to make them seem as funny as they were when they occured (does that make sense?). It's hot (mid 80s) and humid (50%) as hell here right now, and is sapping my will to do anything productive, which sucks since the Oxford program ends on Saturday and I ship off to start in Cambridge, meaning there is plenty to do. I've been talking with the program director for Cambridge and he seems pretty psyched about the facilities and everything we have lined up, so I have all that to look forward to I suppose. Basically though, things are going well here.
I spent my day off here in Oxford with Diane doing not much. Her friend from high school was in town for the day, so we went to Christchurch (where a bunch of Harry Potter was filmed) and payed too much to get in and look around. Beautiful campus, but also kind of unremarkable. As I've mentioned this to my friends here, I'm sort of beautiful-European-architechtured out at this point. I know I probably (or definitely) sound like an arrogant jackass, but I've seen so many world famous this and jaw droppingly beautiful that for the last 7 months that a couple of nice looking English university buildings don't inspire much inside me at this point. It's totally a shame since Oxford is filled with assloads of good historical crap, especially related to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, both of whom spent a bunch of time here and wrote some of their most famous stuff while living in town. I really wish I could space my experiences here out more so I could appreciate all of this more, but everything happens so fast, and I have so much other crap to do while I'm here working.
To all my friends and loved ones who are reading this. I'm sorry I haven't been corresponding with you personally more. I've been missing everyone from home and even people I met in Spain already. I'm going to make a big effort to see as many as I can when I get home (now slightly under a month!). If you do drop me an email (drosen84@gmail.com) I will probably be able to get in a reply, so do it! For now, I must nap, eat, and get ready to go to a string concert that I know nobody will show up for. I'm kinda hoping they don't show up, anyway, so I can sit on my ass and laze around all night in front of a fan.
Unsaltily,
Daniel
I spent my day off here in Oxford with Diane doing not much. Her friend from high school was in town for the day, so we went to Christchurch (where a bunch of Harry Potter was filmed) and payed too much to get in and look around. Beautiful campus, but also kind of unremarkable. As I've mentioned this to my friends here, I'm sort of beautiful-European-architechtured out at this point. I know I probably (or definitely) sound like an arrogant jackass, but I've seen so many world famous this and jaw droppingly beautiful that for the last 7 months that a couple of nice looking English university buildings don't inspire much inside me at this point. It's totally a shame since Oxford is filled with assloads of good historical crap, especially related to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, both of whom spent a bunch of time here and wrote some of their most famous stuff while living in town. I really wish I could space my experiences here out more so I could appreciate all of this more, but everything happens so fast, and I have so much other crap to do while I'm here working.
To all my friends and loved ones who are reading this. I'm sorry I haven't been corresponding with you personally more. I've been missing everyone from home and even people I met in Spain already. I'm going to make a big effort to see as many as I can when I get home (now slightly under a month!). If you do drop me an email (drosen84@gmail.com) I will probably be able to get in a reply, so do it! For now, I must nap, eat, and get ready to go to a string concert that I know nobody will show up for. I'm kinda hoping they don't show up, anyway, so I can sit on my ass and laze around all night in front of a fan.
Unsaltily,
Daniel
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Bloody Brilliant
Things have been going rather well here. I'm really having waaaay more fun than I thought I would.
My floor has been really great as they don't cause [too much] trouble and have been ridiculously enthusiastic about most things in general. I haven't had to write anybody up yet, which is nice and will hopefully remain the norm.
Last night I planned and ran (with the help of Diane and a few of the residents on my floor) a dance that went really well. I had the guys make up the playlist, and more or less let them take care of DJing just cause I know nothing about that sorta crap (I'm sure most of you are aware of my "eccentric" tastes in music). There was a suggestion for another dance with an 80s theme which I think is a very good idea. I just need to figure out where I can get 3 hours worth of 80s pop and dance music.
The first London trip we took was definitely on the stressful side. We had to take the kids to 3 different locations (loading them on to a bus between each one). The first stop was the Tate Modern which was amazing but we didn't have nearly enough time at (one hour, tops). After another hour of loading onto the bus and travelling to the next stop -Camden Market- we had one hour to shmooze around. Camden Market is really incredible. it's a gigantic (this can't be overstated) labyrinth of street vendors that sell everything from the cheapest crap to the most expensive crap. It is a very cool place, but once again, our time was far too short there. I was very impressed that the kids didn't get lost in the maze, and we managed to be mostly on time for Covent Garden. This is where things got especially sticky since Diane and I thought it would be a good idea not to give the kids the maps we were supposed to since the pickup point had changed slightly from the original plan. This was a dumb idea, to say the least, and ended up making life much more confusing, and ultimately delayed us getting out of London longer than we wanted. In the end, the kids never got more than 1 hour in each individual location, and had to spend the better part of the day sitting on a bus. I guess that's inevitable when you try to take 200+ kids to London. Oh, and I forgot to mention all this was during the day of London's quarter-final World Cup match with Portugal, as well as the Gay Pride March. weeee.
The next trip (on Tuesday) will be much more low key for me, since I will only have 30 kids to look after. I will be taking a walking tour of the East End which I'm told is extremely cool. Some old guy who has lived there his whole life is going to walk us around and show us all its interesting bits then sit us down in a pub and tell us stories. Apparantly, it's supposed to be the best of all the London trips we do and, unlike the others, involves no shopping. Paul (the program director) assigned me to it because I advised him on what Orthodox Jews can and can't eat. Lemme explain: Since the other two London trips fall on Saturday, the more devout of the Jewish crowd can't go since they can't ride on a bus during Sabbath, so they only get to go on the one Tuesday trip. Paul wanted to make sure they get the most special experience possible so he signed them all up for the East End tour. Since part of the tour involves us eating in a pub, he was unsure about what to do with meal options and I explained to him about keeping kosher and what the kids will or won't want to eat. Apprantly, he took this to mean that the Orthodox Jews here at ASA identify with me especially (they don't, as I'm a non-practicing Conservative Jew who never even mentions his religion) so he's having me tag along for whatever reason. I can't really complain. Less stress, more interestingness.
My first day off was a few days ago. Melissa, Diane, Christina and myself all headed into London for the day. We went to the Tate Modern (sans 90 students) to actually take a good look around. I really love that museum as there is a ton of awesome stuff to look at. After a good chunk of time we left and went to South Kensington to find a pub and relax. We found a nice little place and enjoyed a few pints before getting some curry for dinner. We then proceeded to dick around for a couple more hours before it was late enough to find a club. We ran into a good one at Convent Garden and danced our asses off all night. We then walked to the Oxford Tube (a bus that runs between London and Oxford 24 hrs. a day, so sweet) and passed out on the way home. We got in around 4AM or so, and after not nearly enough sleep, were up again for the daily staff meeting. While it definitely wasn't a restful (nor inexpensive) day off, it was a welcomed one nonetheless.
Basically, then, so far so good. A couple kids have already been kicked out for general dumbassery (read: getting too drunk to keep it together). One of the two incidents happened two nights ago and was an total and absolute train-wreck disaster. I have plenty of gritty details, but I won't bother sharing them on the blog since they are far too ridiculous to believe, and I'm still working here and everything so I don't wanna give away tooooo much off the juicy stuff (who knows who might be reading this?). Let's just say I'm very happy that my residents have been intelligent enough not to get detectably drunk before coming to check in at night. I got really lucky in not getting a floor of idiots.
I met the program director for Cambridge and I'm now really excited. Not only was he a very nice guy, but he informed me that there are only 29 kids attended the 3-week program (as opposed to the 230 we have here in Oxford). It will be ASA's first ever program in Cambridge and I get to be there for it (what an honor). It should be extremely laid back compared to what I'm doing now, and I think it will be a lot of fun helping it get off the ground. There will be only 3 RAs instead of 22, so I'm sure we'll all be getting nice and close. Cambridge is supposed to have a much more "small town feel" to it, as opposed to the relatively busy city bustle of Oxford. I'm excited to be able to see even more of England as well.
I'm getting hungry now, so I'm gonna take off. I have some small junk I need to do today while everything is quiet. There are 3 or 4 excursions today, none of which I luckily had to go on, so things are pretty low key around here and I wanna try to get some stuff done while I can. I need to start putting together my Presentation of English Slang that I'm supposed to have ready for Tuesday. Should be sweet. I'll tell you how it goes.
I love you all.
My floor has been really great as they don't cause [too much] trouble and have been ridiculously enthusiastic about most things in general. I haven't had to write anybody up yet, which is nice and will hopefully remain the norm.
Last night I planned and ran (with the help of Diane and a few of the residents on my floor) a dance that went really well. I had the guys make up the playlist, and more or less let them take care of DJing just cause I know nothing about that sorta crap (I'm sure most of you are aware of my "eccentric" tastes in music). There was a suggestion for another dance with an 80s theme which I think is a very good idea. I just need to figure out where I can get 3 hours worth of 80s pop and dance music.
The first London trip we took was definitely on the stressful side. We had to take the kids to 3 different locations (loading them on to a bus between each one). The first stop was the Tate Modern which was amazing but we didn't have nearly enough time at (one hour, tops). After another hour of loading onto the bus and travelling to the next stop -Camden Market- we had one hour to shmooze around. Camden Market is really incredible. it's a gigantic (this can't be overstated) labyrinth of street vendors that sell everything from the cheapest crap to the most expensive crap. It is a very cool place, but once again, our time was far too short there. I was very impressed that the kids didn't get lost in the maze, and we managed to be mostly on time for Covent Garden. This is where things got especially sticky since Diane and I thought it would be a good idea not to give the kids the maps we were supposed to since the pickup point had changed slightly from the original plan. This was a dumb idea, to say the least, and ended up making life much more confusing, and ultimately delayed us getting out of London longer than we wanted. In the end, the kids never got more than 1 hour in each individual location, and had to spend the better part of the day sitting on a bus. I guess that's inevitable when you try to take 200+ kids to London. Oh, and I forgot to mention all this was during the day of London's quarter-final World Cup match with Portugal, as well as the Gay Pride March. weeee.
The next trip (on Tuesday) will be much more low key for me, since I will only have 30 kids to look after. I will be taking a walking tour of the East End which I'm told is extremely cool. Some old guy who has lived there his whole life is going to walk us around and show us all its interesting bits then sit us down in a pub and tell us stories. Apparantly, it's supposed to be the best of all the London trips we do and, unlike the others, involves no shopping. Paul (the program director) assigned me to it because I advised him on what Orthodox Jews can and can't eat. Lemme explain: Since the other two London trips fall on Saturday, the more devout of the Jewish crowd can't go since they can't ride on a bus during Sabbath, so they only get to go on the one Tuesday trip. Paul wanted to make sure they get the most special experience possible so he signed them all up for the East End tour. Since part of the tour involves us eating in a pub, he was unsure about what to do with meal options and I explained to him about keeping kosher and what the kids will or won't want to eat. Apprantly, he took this to mean that the Orthodox Jews here at ASA identify with me especially (they don't, as I'm a non-practicing Conservative Jew who never even mentions his religion) so he's having me tag along for whatever reason. I can't really complain. Less stress, more interestingness.
My first day off was a few days ago. Melissa, Diane, Christina and myself all headed into London for the day. We went to the Tate Modern (sans 90 students) to actually take a good look around. I really love that museum as there is a ton of awesome stuff to look at. After a good chunk of time we left and went to South Kensington to find a pub and relax. We found a nice little place and enjoyed a few pints before getting some curry for dinner. We then proceeded to dick around for a couple more hours before it was late enough to find a club. We ran into a good one at Convent Garden and danced our asses off all night. We then walked to the Oxford Tube (a bus that runs between London and Oxford 24 hrs. a day, so sweet) and passed out on the way home. We got in around 4AM or so, and after not nearly enough sleep, were up again for the daily staff meeting. While it definitely wasn't a restful (nor inexpensive) day off, it was a welcomed one nonetheless.
Basically, then, so far so good. A couple kids have already been kicked out for general dumbassery (read: getting too drunk to keep it together). One of the two incidents happened two nights ago and was an total and absolute train-wreck disaster. I have plenty of gritty details, but I won't bother sharing them on the blog since they are far too ridiculous to believe, and I'm still working here and everything so I don't wanna give away tooooo much off the juicy stuff (who knows who might be reading this?). Let's just say I'm very happy that my residents have been intelligent enough not to get detectably drunk before coming to check in at night. I got really lucky in not getting a floor of idiots.
I met the program director for Cambridge and I'm now really excited. Not only was he a very nice guy, but he informed me that there are only 29 kids attended the 3-week program (as opposed to the 230 we have here in Oxford). It will be ASA's first ever program in Cambridge and I get to be there for it (what an honor). It should be extremely laid back compared to what I'm doing now, and I think it will be a lot of fun helping it get off the ground. There will be only 3 RAs instead of 22, so I'm sure we'll all be getting nice and close. Cambridge is supposed to have a much more "small town feel" to it, as opposed to the relatively busy city bustle of Oxford. I'm excited to be able to see even more of England as well.
I'm getting hungry now, so I'm gonna take off. I have some small junk I need to do today while everything is quiet. There are 3 or 4 excursions today, none of which I luckily had to go on, so things are pretty low key around here and I wanna try to get some stuff done while I can. I need to start putting together my Presentation of English Slang that I'm supposed to have ready for Tuesday. Should be sweet. I'll tell you how it goes.
I love you all.
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