Goodbye academia, I bid you adieu!

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Done.
Finis.
Accomplished.

I just sent away my final paper for Oxford. I realized after my roommate, Andrea, had gone to take it in for me that I had forgotten to sign the declaration at the end of the paper, but I will go in later to do that. Not a big deal (I hope! It'd be horrid to find out that it was!).

It was my longest paper yet: 4,241 words (not including footnotes), covering 16 pages (with the bibliography), and the sad part is, that if I had a month to devote to this paper, or even another week I could have doubled, tripled, quadrupled the paper. It was fairly easy to write and it was an interesting topic, at least, in my opinion:

The ‘Other’ History: Of what value to the historian are women’s letters from the eighteenth century, and what does their content reveal about the societal roles of women during this time, the practice of history, and feminist and subaltern histories?

So, if you interested in a paper on that covering Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Jane Austen, let me know ; )

The question I'm sure (or at least hoping) you're asking is 'When do you come home?'

The next few days will be very busy, and any chance for a relaxing end to my Oxford experience will, more than likely, dissipate within the next few hours. I have yet to pack and do the dreaded task of figuring out just what I bought while I was out of the States (yay Customs!). Being a Weller, and specifically my Dad's daughter, I have been blessed with the 'Stress' gene. Therefore, this is what I anticipate today and tomorrow looking like:

• treat myself to a mocha if I happen to make it into town
  
• clean my room, do laundry*
• make my Customs list
• get rid of/donate everything I don't absolutely need to bring home
• start to pack
• realize that my suitcases are way too heavy, thus having to re-organize and re-pack
• buy my bus ticket (which I will probably forget to do) to get back to Heathrow :(
  

*This task will be particularly fun, as my house is literally getting over from a staph epidemic. That, along with the flu and colds, is actually motivation to wash my clothes before I come home!

On Saturday, I leave my house at 6:30 am in order to get to the main bus station at 7:05 am. My good friend Quinn is helping me get my luggage to the bus station, so that part shouldn't be extremely bad. However, the hour before I leave will be, as I scour the house, and my room multiple times for things I may have left behind. I will arrive at Heathrow around 8:40-9:15 am (which mind you is a good four hours before my flight leaves...remember: I suffer from the Keith 'worry syndrome'). I'll have to check in, which will release most of my stress as my heavy luggage will be gone! Then I'll be hanging around the airport (after security, which hopefully won't be as bad as when I went to Rome : / ), taking in everything I can before I leave beautiful,wondrous England. 

BUT THE FUN DOESN'T END THERE!!!!

My flight should arrive in Philly around 4. Another student from my program will be on my flight; in fact, it is the same person, Ross, who was on my initial flight from Philly to London. So at least I won't be completely lost...theoretically.

Once in Philly (which I have heard is the worst-managed airport in the States...joy) I have a 4-5 hour layover. But don't worry, I will have plenty to do! Not only will I be able to go through Customs (lucky me!) and be frazzled to no end, but I will also be able to reintroduce American fast-food to my system! Ha ha ha : )

In all seriousness, though, the next week should be interesting from a food perspective. I've eaten McDonalds, Burger King, and pizza less than a handful of times and Subway twice since September. I'm excited to eat the following foods the days I return:

• mozzerella sticks (with melba sauce!!!)
• real pizza (I had it in Italy, but that was it); East Side and Four Corners
• Chinese food!!! Dragon Garden and Fu Sing better stock up!
• Subway: you would think it's the same in England...but it's not.
• Anything from a diner: The Glenville Queen and even, dare I say, the Duanesburg Diner.
• Cracker Barrel and Boston Market!!!!

The thought of everyone (and the foods) awaiting my return is very exciting!

I'll try to update before I leave!

=)

Cheers!

Prayers Please

Hi Everyone,

Quick note to say everything is winding down here at Oxford! My last paper id due Thursday and it's a whopping 4,000 words. It doesn't sound that bad, but trust me, it's going to be interesting. I still have research to do, so let's hope that goes well.

As some of you may know there have been quite a few problems in Greece lately, with riots and general unrest. Specifically this violence is targeted in Athens, where one of my best friends from Messiah (along with a good number of other Messiah students) are studying for the semester. They're almost ready to come home and it's a shame that their last days are marred by these situations. However, I would really appreciate your prayers going out to these girls as I'm sure it's hard enough being in a city where you don't completely understand the language, but to also have to be on the lookout for dangerous behaviour is a stress these girls just don't need. So please keep them in your prayers in the following weeks!

Also, if you could keep myself and my parents in your prayers, that would be appreciated. I have to perform a miracle of packing everything I've accumulated into two suitcases and my parents, especially my mom, are going to be nervous wrecks from about 6:30 am Saturday, when I leave my house, The Vines, until 10 pm when I land in Albany and have picked up my luggage.

Thanks for your continued support! Hopefully my final essay will rock everyone's socks off and I can end this year with a bang!

For those interested, my paper will be on:
Letters written by women in the 18th century and what they say about feminine social roles, and how the historical analysis of these letters plays into feminist and subaltern histories.
Oh dear Lord. How am I going to finish this in three days?


Prayers please!!!!!
Cheers =)