All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players

Stratford Upon Avon was exquisite. William Shakespeare is legendary. So many people from all over the world visit the five houses related to his life in Stratford. For a small village town they have kept it so nice for tourists, there is lots to see but it also has preserved that quaint, small town feel. It was gorgeous and so interesting. Shakespeare, or the mystery of the man behind some of the greatest writing the world will ever know, fascinates me. So much of his life remains unknown, a timeless, brilliant writer left a mystery to the world, is a good story in itself. The town has done their research well and I learnt some things I didn't know about good ol Bill. I had no idea that the reason he often wrote about twins was because he fathered twins, Hamlet and Judith (although Hamlet died at age eleven). I also didn't no his father made sheep skin gloves! It is amazing what you can learn in a day.

I never realized how much of the world or life I was missing always being so close to home. Going out into the world is more than gratifying for me, it makes me feel, it makes me see. I never realized that I had never really seen hills before. The English countryside has these amazing green, and yellow hills. I understand that it is just grass, and farmland, but to me it's more. It's the world, new, fresh, and I can see it. It is like seeing for the first time, or what i imagine it would be like. And the feeling of going to a completely different place for a day, getting off the train and not knowing what direction to go, it makes you feel; scared, anxious, excited, alive. When I see places I've read about in books, it makes them real, knowing I've walked on the same ground as William Shakespeare, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Daniel Radcliffe; it makes me real.

To think that the majority of people spend most days just going through the motions of everyday life, makes me sad. To realize that I did this the majority of my life, makes me sick. Of course there are good days, bad days, and average days. But I know now that in my life I am meant to see and to learn. I am feeling more like myself than I ever have. I hate to iron, but it is a small price to pay because all the world's a stage and I will do anything to make sure I see the show.

C

So here's what happened in Oxford...

First I went to the Bodleian Library, and Charles Stuart (I) went there to hideout before the civil war. A sat on his throne. The same one, and then I felt skinny, which rocked. However, more importantly the Divinity School which is also part of the Library, was the first of Oxford University's examination rooms but it is also the movie set of Harry freakin Potter. They use two locations in the library (the Divinity School is the Hogwarts Hospital wing, and the actual upstairs part of the library is the Restricted Section). Can I just say that this information made my life! I saw some really old ass books too.

Then I went to the Church of the St. Virgin Mary and climbed 126 stairs to the top tower and looked over all of Oxford..it was epic and the church was so nice. Go Catholics (although it was obviously later reformed by the Protestants). I also went to the Sheldonian Theatre, which is where every Oxford convocation is held (from all 38 colleges, oh yeah Oxford University is made up of all the colleges and they are spread all over the city it is very cool).The way the system works is that in every college there are a small number of students who specialize in a field (like 5 history and 3 physics students or whatever, all the faculties), but all the history students would go to lecture in the history building, but the college is like their identity/residence (but yeah everyone in all the colleges gets a Oxford University degree and I wish i had one haha). So this Sheldonian theatre was built by the famous architect Christopher Wren in the 17th century ( it is called the Sheldonian because it is named after the chancellor of the university of the time, Gilbert Sheldon). Love the history..love it! So again I climbed 90 stairs and looked at Oxford from the top, and it was still awesome!

I also went to the Oxford Museum of the History of Science, which was nice because I just took a history of science course, which sucked because of the prof but the subject is interesting. I saw a piece of Einstein's blackboard, from a lecture he gave in Oxford in 1931, with his original writing from his theory of relativity. They also had one of the first Roman sundials, and so many Islamic ones and other tools. I saw so many collective tools, telescopes, and models of astronomy from the Royal Society. Like crazy models of the Ptolemaic system compared to the Copernicus one (pretty awesome). I am such a nerd.

Oxford Castle was the last thing I had time for but it was wicked. It was constructed originally, historians think by the Saxons, and made of stone as a defense tower (which makes it super unique because the Saxons traditionally made everything out of wood, but they made Churches out of stone. However, no one can find any evidence of it originally being apart of a church, so historians believe it is the only Saxon defense tower made of stone! (sooo cool eh!). I climbed 109 stairs to the top of the tower, and my legs were dying at this point but it was still very worth it. Anyway, around the 1070s a man (officer of some sort who was a close friend of William the freakin Conqueror) added to the tower walls and interior making it a castle. The castle was used for defense up until the 13th century when it became a prison for naughty Oxford students or so they say. But by the 16th century it was actually used as a high security prison in Oxford and some really cool Catholic and Protestant martyrs were imprisoned there. The tour had really neat stories. It was also built beside a hill, which is now called hangman's hill obviously because people were hanged there. It also had a basement where Oxford lectures would be held, which seems really weird but the entire city is so academic so I guess not that out of the ordinary. Anyway, one of the most famous people who spoke there was Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was the first person to write down the stories of Merlin, King Arthur and the Knights Templar. He often spread the stories in the basement which is called St. George's Crypt and it freaked me out a little bit.

The entire day was like history heaven. I love my life. That's all for now folks.

Greetings from Jolly Ol' England

I am finally getting settled into my new place in England, the jet leg took a while to shake off. Long Crendon is gorgeous, you have never seen hills until you've been to the English countryside. I think I am going to like it here, working as an au pair isn't bad. I can handle housework but I am starting to think that I could not iron to save my life. What is with the English and ironing? I think I've seen my mom iron twice in my entire life, here it's a lifestyle. I really can't complain though because Wednesday is my day off and my trip to Oxford. I'm ready for anything different. First Oxford and then London.

Miss you all,

C

I never really gave up on breaking out of this two star town

I have been incredibly busy preparing for England and Spain, so I haven't been updating. However, I am leaving tonight and I am ready for new and exciting things. It feels like my life is really beginning. It is finally my time to see such a different part of the world. I hope it's as good as I have it built up to be..I will let you know.

I've got the green light, I've got a little fight, I'm gonna turn this thing around. Can you read my mind?

Kinda perfect

I feel so content with my life right now and its kind of perfect. Although, I know it is about to change very much. There are so many things I needed to make peace with that I feel like I have. I never thought coming home would feel good, especially to the point where I am actually anxious about leaving again. Right now I just feel happy, and not a fake, put on a fake smile happy, but a genuine happiness that I use to think only came with hard work. Natural happiness probably doesn't occur often throughout one's life, with the stress and craziness of the world. I think my best bet is to relish in my bliss because tomorrow everything could change.
Goodnight (and it is one)
-C