Coffee Culture

As I poured my morning brew today, I realized I haven't written anything about the state of coffee in the UK. I could have been terribly shocked when I arrived here and shopped for coffee, but I had been sort of prepared on our honeymoon. When we stayed with Paul's grandparents in Poland we probably had coffee every day, however it was never made in a coffee pot. Everyone seemed to be using instant coffee, which I thought was really strange, but I thought maybe they weren't big coffee drinkers and just kept the instant stuff around for a picky guest.

Well, a couple of months later, we're in England and shopping for coffee. While in the US, there are maybe 2 brands of instant coffee, in the Sainsbury grocery store the instant coffee section is as big, if not bigger than the ground coffee section. We decided that rather than buy a coffee maker, we'd just get one of those french presses (cafetiere) and an electric teakettle since Paul loves tea. But, cleaning out those cafetiere things is a real pain! So after 2 months here, we've made the change to instant coffee, for the most part. It's actually quite tasty! I read somewhere that the world's largest freeze-dried coffee manufacturer is located just outside of Oxford, which made me think, when coffee is freeze-dried, it's probably done when the coffee is at its peak flavor. Where ground beans may be sitting in your fridge for weeks at a time, freeze-dried is kept at its most robust, almost creamy state. It's kind of like how canned vegetables are better for you and tastier than fresh; they've been preserved at their peak.

But, I know that as soon as Paul & I have a more permanent residence, we'll get a legitimate coffee maker. The freeze-dried stuff is good, but it's still not the same.

Sad news

I wouldn't feel right posting my next blog entry without writing something about what happened last week - my grandfather passed away. He was 80 years old, and had survived several heart attacks and strokes over the past 40 years (though you'd never know it to look at him). It happened while my parents were flying back from New Zealand, so my brother was the only family member around (besides my grandmother). We're all thankful Grandma had someone there to help out, and I know his girlfriend was also helpful, as she works in nursing. But, of course, we all wish we could have been there for Grandma when it happened, even though it wouldn't have changed the outcome. Last year Grandpa had a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted, so while we knew he wasn't in peak condition we all wanted to think that this was his "safety net" and that everything would be ok. None of us was really prepared, but I think in some ways this is easier than watching someone slowly get sicker in a hospital. We are thankful that God took him without causing him to suffer.

I know this will be a difficult adjustment for Grandma, as they just celebrated their 59th anniversary. I can't imagine what it feels like to know someone that closely and for that long. They had a wonderful marriage, and I often have told Paul that I hope we have a marriage like theirs. There were well over 250 people at the memorial service, which attests to the great impact he had on so many people. It was really touching to see how many people cared about him. His obituary is listed here.

I am so thankful he was able to attend our wedding this summer. The wedding pictures were the last ones taken of him, and I know he really was thrilled to be there. I couldn't believe it when, that night, he drove me and Paul back to the hotel after the gondola ride at 1AM. He didn't usually stay up that late, but he made an exception for his only granddaughter. These past few years as I was moving around and going back to school, he made sure to let me know I could come to him for anything if I ever needed help. When he gave me gifts that I thought were too expensive, he'd tell me he'd rather give it to me now and get a hug and a kiss than wait until after he was gone. Maybe I was a spoiled granddaughter, but I know that as his only granddaughter and he as my only living grandfather, he didn't try to buy my affection, he was just being genuinely loving and giving.

We will miss him dearly.

Sov i ro, Morfar. Jag älska dig.

Bodleian Library Tour

On Thursday I went on a tour of the Bodleian Library with Danalisa & Jodi as part of the Newcomer's Club. I've heard several accounts as to the exact status of the library. It may be the world's oldest English language library. It also may be one of the oldest libraries in the world, or one of the oldest in Europe. Regardless, it was first built in the 1400s as Duke Humfrey's Library. The first floor took over 50 years to build, as the master craftsman who built it was very particular and took his time building the first 3 walls of the building - so much so that he died before finishing the job. Today, you can see where he left off - the side where you walk in near the information desk is much less ornate than the rest. However, after the original builder died, there was no money left to continue construction of the building and so Thomas Kemp, Bishop of London acted as a fundraiser for the building, ensuring that its construction would be completed. Thus, the impressive vaulted ceiling is not only beautiful, but also acts as a record of donors - the family crests of donors adorn the peaks of the ceiling (Kemp's wheat sheaf theme is all over the place). The building was used as the examination room for centuries. Two students were examined orally at the same time, in latin, and the public was invited to watch - talk about pressure!

You can see a really neat virtual tour of the room here:
http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/panoofweek/divinityschool2-360.html

So why is the library called Bodleian? The original library established by Duke Humfrey went into great decline, but was later expanded by Sir Thomas Bodley around 1600. Bodley was a collector of books, and collected over 3,000 books from around the world with which to stock the library. So Duke Humfrey still gets credit for one room (no photography allowed), and Bodley gets credit for the whole shebang. The Humfrey library is really interesting to see. As the library was built well before electricity, and open flames were not permitted in the building, the bookshelves are arranged so that each is next to a window. So why wouldn't students just go take the books to a sunny corner to read? Well, the wood-covered books were chained to the shelf! And I thought that having the Business school library close at 11pm was bad! Many of the original books are there - I saw one from 1532!


Another interesting room we saw was the Convocation House, where traditionally convocation has taken place. The room has a really beautiful fan ceiling (see picture on left). Parliament at Westminster was modeled after this room, just scaled up to fit more people. The two sides of seats are separated by "one arm, one sword and six inches" to the center of the room. This is because the men who would meet here brought swords with them, and should any attempt to take a jab at the opposing side, a safe distance was kept. I made sure before I left to get a picture of me sitting in the chair where the king would have sat long ago. The podium in front of the chair swivels forward on a spring so that a fat king would be able to get in and out of the fancy chair easily.

The rest of the tour was in the Radcliffe Camera (a round library) and through underground shelf/storage areas for the Bodleian. The camera building used to be open on the first floor. Students would enter from the bottom of the building, then climb up the stairs to the actual library - the books were kept upstairs to avoid the damp found on the ground floor. I highly recommend taking a guided tour of the Bodleian library if you find yourself in Oxford. While the buildings are beautiful, the history is fascinating - I've only recalled a small portion of what I was told on my tour!

Banbury Cross

Today I went to an interview with a recruiter in Banbury. Yes, the same Banbury as in the Banbury Cross you remember from the nursery rhyme. I had initially thought that Banbury Cross was something like an intersection of two roads, but it turns out that while it is an intersection, it's also actually got a real 54-foot high cross in the middle of the roundabout! However, the original cross was destroyed in anti-Catholic rampages in the 1600s, so it was rebuilt in the late 19th century. Just a few years ago, they added the statue of the "fine lady on a white horse, with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes". (she's to the left of the cross - click on the picture to enlarge if you're curious).


The town itself is really cute, with many small shops, restaurants and windy pedestrian-only roads. I plan to go back to explore the shopping some more, as it seemed to be much less expensive than in Oxford. And it's just 15 minutes away by train!




And one funny sighting in Banbury - the Blues Brothers outside of this record store!






The interview went much better than the last. Perhaps the last recruiter was just having a rough day. But, we'll see if anything comes of it. In the meantime, I've got plans to go to London with the girls on Thursday (we got those 1 pound fares on Megabus). I think I'm going to be checking out the aquarium, which is great since I can stare at fish all day!

The smell of a currency in decline?

Overheard in a restaurant on Sunday:

(college aged guy) "Have you ever even seen American money? It all bloody looks the same! I mean, you can't tell any of them apart. You get your ones mixed up with your twenties! And it smells terrible!"

Just had to share that one!

Millet's Farm

On Thursday I went out with Danalisa, Owen, Amanda, Millie and a new friend, Alisha and her two girls to Millet's Farm, near Abingdon. We had to take 2 buses, and it took an hour each way, but it was totally worth it! Not only did we get to see the beautiful English countryside on the way there, but the farm itself was really nice! They had all kinds of animals to see, like alpacas, goats, cows and miniature horses, as well as several country shops.

The food shop was really special. Their fresh produce looked great, and prices were even better! What really impressed me was the freezer section - they had the kind of freezers where you slide the top back and look in to get food, only the freezers were divided into sections where you could just scoop out loose frozen veggies. It was kind of like a candy store! They also had all kinds of neat kitchen gadgets (it was so hard not to buy a bunch!), nice meats, fresh fish and a bakery. If it wasn't so far away, I would definitely go there instead of the grocery store! I wound up with some fresh veggies, meringues and a pumpkin to grace our table!

They also had a huge garden center, and a clothing shop. We all got some great bargains at the shop - most notably the 5 pound fleece jackets me, Amanda & Danalisa got. They only had them in green, but we all like green, and for that price, who cares if we're triplets?

I forgot to take my camera with me, so a special thanks goes to Danalisa for letting me use hers for some great pictures, like this one with the animatronic polar bear!

Churches

We've been here for 4 Sundays already, and we've been to 4 different churches. Each has been a Church of England (there's not much else around here), but they've all been incredibly different. Two were super traditional (very formal service, organ music, clouds of incense swung around in a procession), and the other two were reminiscent of a Midwestern megachurch (full band with drums, lots of singing about Jesus and no gospel readings). Both have their draws, but neither is what we're looking for. We've sort of liked the traditional ones better, but they seem to have about a dozen members in attendance each week, whereas the megachurch types have a couple hundred people each week. It will be interesting to see where we'll end up