Harry Potter & other sightings

Things in Oxford have been quite eventful since my last posting. I won't attempt to relate all the goings on.... long story short is that I'm now an official member of the university (more on Matriculation in another post), I've had a great birthday in the UK (thanks for all the messages from home!) and I've now completed my first two weeks of classes. Considering that there are only 8 weeks in the official term that means I'm 1/4 of the way to Christmas! Time flies at Oxford.

As mentioned previously, last week was 'Climate Change Boot Camp' a series of lectures on the topic presented by experts from a wide variety of disciplines. We learned about a) how serious the problem is, b) what changes we've committed to regardless of how much we cut back now, and c) how much further we're going to be in trouble if global negotiations don't work out. Heavy stuff but it was a thrill to learn from some really excellent thinkers on the subject.



The best lecture of the week was from the right-hand man of economist Sir Nicholas Stern whom some of you may be familiar with. The most outrageous talk of the week was from music composer Burt Bacharach of Austin Powers fame, "Raindrops/GHGs keep falling on my head...."....and "What the world needs now, is Carbon Offsets/Love sweet love......"....... so I may have embellished that story a little bit. His talk wasn't about climate change and wasn't an official part of the course - but I did see him at the famous "Oxford Union" debating society last Friday night and he did play a song on the piano.


One of the best parts of last week was attending lectures in Christchurch College. That's the site on campus where the Harry Potter films were made. See the photos - no Quidditch games were going on unfortunately. Although, my friend Simon did invite me out to dinner in the famous dinning hall. Aside from hosting Hermione, Harry, and Ron for 200,000 British pounds a day (the fee Oxford University charged the film production co.), this dinning hall was also briefly used to convene the British Parliament during the 17th century civil war. There is a massive portrait of Henry VIII at the far end above the high table where the important people eat and speak Latin still to this day. 13 British Prime Ministers, Albert Einstein, and Lewis Carol (who penned Alice in Wonderland) have at some point studied here......don't expect my name to be added to the list, perhaps it may be written in graffiti somewhere on the walls built in 1546.


Above is a photo of some of my classmates from the course at Christchurch, they are from Australia, Italy, UK, Mexico, Canada, and UK from left to right. The pond behind them is a tempting swim - except for the fact that your degree from Oxford will be withheld if you jump in - there are some very expensive fish in there donated by some Japanese emperor or something.....

In other news....rowing is going well. I had my first 7am practice on the Thames earlier this week and successfully managed to stay in the boat. Also, I think I saw Richard Dawkins, author of 'The Selfish Gene' and 'God Delusion', on a bicycle the other day.......lots to see in Oxford!

Punting on the Isis

To go punting is a very Oxford-esque thing to do. It's a must really. At some point everybody punts, and to be declared a punter is most noble.

For those unfamiliar with the meaning of this pursuit, I give you two definitions from the internet:

from Wikipedia:

"The word punter may refer to: A man with great prestige, humble but yet beloved by fellow colleagues; aka ; the man"

from dictionary.com:

punt (noun); a small, shallow boat having a flat bottom and square ends, usually used for short outings on rivers or lakes

to punt (verb); to propel (a small boat) by thrusting against the bottom of a lake or stream, esp. with a pole.

While the latter definition more accurately describes the activity I participated in this weekend, I find the former more compelling.

Anyways........as you can see by the photos I'm continuing to have a great time here in Oxford. Last weekend a friend from Guelph came through town for a short visit which was fantastic. David and I had a great time exploring the university and seeing the sights, including this adventure in the punt on the Isis River (a branch of the Thames). I think the charms of the city and my wonderful classmates may have convinced him to apply for the course next year!

Classes have now started - this week is infamously called "Climate Change Boot Camp". Basically it's about 35-40 hrs. of lectures on the science of climate change interspersed with talks on ecological responses to environmental change, climate change economics, etc.... It's a rapid pace, but most discussions are interesting and generating plenty of dialogue amongst our group.

One other note. I've decided to join the rowing club for Linacre College. We'll see how that goes, rowing is a very big thing here. I believe this final photo is of David successfully navigating our punt out of the tree that we were stuck in on the bank of the river.

Dressing up and getting ID'd

Here's a funny anecdote about life in the UK......

One of my classmates who was previously studying in London before coming up to Oxford was once asked for identification for attempting to purchase scissors.....you need to be 18 years old in England to cut paper apparently. I've yet to be ID'd at the pub, but buying scissors...that's another story all together!


The other night was the first time I got to dress up in formal attire for dinner at Linacre College. Here is a photo of the action in our dining hall. That's right - at Oxford you sometimes wear gowns to meals....one of the traditions still kept up by my otherwise more progressive college (we have FairTrade and Carbon Neutral status, rare among the colleges of Oxford). This was one (of many) welcome events that have been going on for the past week. I met my college advisor (mostly a 'if you need me' kind of relationship with an established member of the institution), the food was good, and the wine was free as always at these types of events.




Also around town for the next couple of months is an art exhibit called 'Earth from the Air'. It's an environmental themed aerial photography collection that features hundreds of images from around the world. The display is currently set up in the area around the 'Oxford Castle' - a surreal location for these portraits which depict the massive impact of human activity on the natural landscape. I visited this site earlier in the week, but I figure I'll likely return again this weekend when a friend of mine from Guelph is popping through town for a brief visit. It will be nice to see a friendly face from home!

Speaking of a face from home....the other day I was sitting in a 'fire and safety' lecture at my department. Sitting in front of me was a girl from High School in Toronto. We haven't seen each other in over 6 years! I suppose it's not all that surprising really that we ran into each other here, we are both really keen on environmental issues (it was a geography class we shared together years ago) and Oxford seems to have a high proportion of Canadians. Last night I met another Canadian with whom I share a mutual friend from Guelph....small world indeed!

Shingle beech and English rain - A field trip to Slapton, Devon

Just returned from my first field trip with my fellow MSc students from Environmental Change & Management (about 40 of us in total).....

The field trip was great! It went like this .... Friday we drove for 4 hours to the south coast of Britain to stay for the weekend at an environmental research and educational centre.

Saturday we went on nature walks and had mini-lectures outdoors about environmental mangement issues in a local nature reserve. We got rained on repeatedly, got our feet wet (repeatedly, despite our wellington boots), and then went to the pub in town - repeat the same for Sunday (except this time we stopped at a pub for lunch and it didn't rain as much) and then back to Oxford.

Probably the best part of the trip was spending time getting to know the other students on the trip.... We are a very diverse group, the average age in the course is about 27, many already have multiple degrees from backgrounds as diverse as Engineering, Enviromental Science, Business, and Law. As is generally the case with graduate students at Oxford, we are a very international and well travelled bunch....many are from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada (4 Canuks in total)....others are from parts of Europe, China, India, Ghana, Israel, Brazil, Peru, and so on.....

Saturday night we decided to jump into the Atlantic together.....it was fun, but very cold - no pictures provided.

This coming week are more orientation programs and welcoming events (for my department and for Linacre College) ........ so when does school actually start around here? I think it might be a bit of a shock when it does.

Sights about town...

It really can't be repeated enough - things here are old.

Many buildings have signs that read something like but not necessarily;

"This site was renovated for the third time..........in 1406"

For example, a friend of mine and I escaped from a particularly dull orientation session this week and climbed up the tallest church spire in town (from the 13th century).....some of these photos are from the tower.

I've attended many Orientation sessions for international students this past week. I must admit to finding it strange to be considered an 'international' student. Aside from being divided by a common language (I'm still trying to catch on to the Brit slang and accent), I feel quite at home in the UK. I hope some of my colleages from more culturally foreign locations are coping as easily. Apparently Oxford has students from over 130 countries - I've only met about 5 students actually from the UK so far.

Some folks have been asking about more photos from about town, hope you enjoy these ones....they may be the last you see of sunshine for awhile, summer is fleeing the UK now and I hear that the rains are coming....

More dispatches from Oxford shortly - all the best to those at home and to those reading from abroad!

Arrived safe and sound

I've arrived safe and sound here in Oxford thanks in no small part to those who helped me immensely in my final weeks and days in Canada - thanks so much for all of the packing, shopping, and moral support! It was a bit of a scramble and the suitcases hardly closed (no wonder they were quite overweight!) but all is well now that I've got my feet firmly planted on the otherside of the Atlantic.

Since my arrival on the weekend I have been doing my best to take walks and runs through the city. What a beautiful place this is! There is a large park in my backyard and a branch of the Thames River runs through the city....really neat. That red brick building is where I'm staying, it's called Linacre College. Oxford University is actually composed of about 40 colleges where undergrads and graduate students study, live, and socialize. My college was founded in the 20th century....other colleges on campus were founded in the 13th century - no big deal. Stunningly beautiful old architecture abounds in Oxford.

More comments and photos soon - miss you all at home!

I can't wait to meet all the students in my program....so far so good.