Hai(ku) Society

It’s been a few days since I last posted so I have quite a bit to fit in which I’ll briefly mention and then move on to my next library review. On Wednesday evening I went to Exeter college formal. The food was delicious and I met some very nice people. After a mini pool tournament in the bar, where I potted more than one ball(!), we moved on to Park End (Oxford students’ club of choice on a Wednesday night). I was completely justified in going as I was with two other maths students. Unfortunately I lost my purse somewhere on the cheese floor but, lucky for me, some fantastic New College students helped me out. In the morning I found that they had sent me a message on facebook as my name is on my cards. It was very sweet and they even wrote me a haiku:

You were in Park End
You lost cards on the Cheese Floor
Great blokes picked them up

On Friday night I went to see the RSC’s Cardenio in Stratford. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it’s one of Shakespeare’s ‘lost texts’ but my friend and I thought it was brilliant. The acting was great, we enjoyed the story (very Shakespearian) and Cardenio was gorgeous! We looked up the actor when we got back and I was disappointed to find he had also studied at Oxford. I’d planned that in our relationship I would be the academic one who would wow him with my intellect and he would be the dim, gorgeous one who’s amazing at acting. But now the whole dynamic has been confused. I just don’t know what to do.

Yesterday we played our second round croquet match against St Benet’s Hall but we lost so we‘re out of Cuppers. However, the other team did make us tea which we drank on the lawn and it was very enjoyable.

Library review: Rhodes House Library

The entrance to Rhodes House is exceptionally grand. The atrium is circular, with windows below a high ceiling and there are pillars and carvings and a marble floor. As I looked round the rest of the building I though it was all quite showy but still really beautiful. I had a moment when I felt a little warmth for Oxford. Us students spend a lot of time moaning about the amount of work we have and the pressure we’re under, but it’s so nice to come across some hidden gem in Oxford and just think to yourself, ‘I may be suffering, but at least I’m suffering here’. (Saying this does make me cringe a bit. It reminds me of when I sent my best friend a drunken text saying; ‘Oxford is so beautiful. It makes me cry and it makes me smile,’ as I emotionally walked past the Radcliffe Camera on the way home from a night out.) The library itself is more modest and fairly traditional and cosy, with big wooden tables to work at. Out of the windows all you can see is the fluttering of the leaves in the trees in the surrounding garden so when the road is quiet you can only hear your fellow workers and the birds singing.

After a while I noticed that on the other side of the library sat Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter films! (He must be revising for N.E.W.T.S.) Sometimes I get confused and think I go to Oxford University and then I remember I’m actually at Hogwarts.

Architecture and design 7/10

Fitties - boosted by Dean Thomas 7/10

Productivity - distracted by thoughts of how I should have played Hermione (not that Emma Watson) 6/10

Porters - very friendly 9/10 (only my college porters get 10 because they are the best)

F x

PS - I really should get back to revision, so I won’t do an illustration of Rhodes House but I promise I’ll do one for my next library review