As Mr. Vedder Always Says, I'm Still Alive
Though this blog will no longer live up to its title, as I am not in Oxford and my life right now is anything but an overture, I still feel it overdue to write a blog entry. (Not that many people are reading it these days...Mom, you already know where I am.) As should be expected, I feel at once refreshed to be back home, and homesick for the city of Oxford and the people I lived with while there. It still has not sunk in that I lived in Oxford, England for three months. Oxford is an alternate universe to me now. I especially began aching for it when I watched "Shadowlands" a couple weeks ago (the story about C.S. Lewis' late-in-life marriage to Christo-Jewish Communist Joy Gresham). The familiar spires against the ever-misty skyline and the faint hum of a boys' choir singing in one of the college chapels...gosh, I feel so poetic.
Looking back, I would describe the three months in Oxford as a time of healing and rest. The reading and essay-writing was rigorous, of course, but not so much so that I could not enjoy the work. Because this was a tacked-on semester, I didn't feel quite so much pressure to come out with a perfect GPA. I especially enjoyed the research I did on Lewis' and Tolkien's fantasy books and the appeal of Myth as a genre and a human activity. The opportunity I had to tour English cathedrals was unforgettable. Nights spent with the MayBe community were warming and enligthening, and secured my new-found desire for liturgical worship. Plus, I built some killer thigh muscles by riding my bike, the Green Phantom, everywhere. (Which are now long gone due to residual Christmas-season fluff.)
Spring Lake, Michigan does not have the same tug on my emotions, of course, but still, it's been a nice home for the last month. I am currently living with my grandmother, whom I get along with very well. I am her first grandchild (and granddaughter at that), and so sometimes I get special attention, I'll admit. (Tyler, you have Boompa on the other side, so stop your whining.) Nonnie and I usually cook dinner together, watch Jeopardy and the evening news, go to church together on Sunday mornings, play card games, and enjoy the occasional after-dinner liqueur. I realize it's painfully parochial on the outside, but it's a great set-up for a recent graduate who is looking for a job and needs to save money, and tends to be a bit on the parochial side anyway.
As per the job search...moving to Chicago is the ultimate goal. Right now, I have a resume in for an Editorial Administrator position at a Christian publication in Chicago (whose name is yet to be disclosed because of possible preconceptions that might arise in your (or my) mind). I have a handful of friends from Calvin living in or right outside the city, which is always nice. One of these friends is also working for a Christian publication, which is the last thing I thought she would be doing, but I'm so happy she is. Plus, it's Chicago. And Chicago is not West Michigan. In the meantime, I have been applying for several Administrative Assistant positions here, a couple of which I am actually excited to work for the particular company, but I won't be staying in Michigan for too long.
The reason that I am not staying in Michigan for too long is because the only reason that I came back to Michigan in the first place is no longer a reason at all. Most people who read this probably already know what I am referring to, so I don't need to go into detail here. For those who don't know, let's just say that I've looked into Chicago nunneries and I found out I don't necessarily have to convert to Catholicism to join one. (Foreseen issue with the nun career track though: you have to be pretty quiet in abbeys, and do you really see any opportunity to incorporate Cher impressions into outreach ministry?)
Anyway, well if you're here for pictures, here are the final ones from when my family came over to visit England the second week of December:
Looking back, I would describe the three months in Oxford as a time of healing and rest. The reading and essay-writing was rigorous, of course, but not so much so that I could not enjoy the work. Because this was a tacked-on semester, I didn't feel quite so much pressure to come out with a perfect GPA. I especially enjoyed the research I did on Lewis' and Tolkien's fantasy books and the appeal of Myth as a genre and a human activity. The opportunity I had to tour English cathedrals was unforgettable. Nights spent with the MayBe community were warming and enligthening, and secured my new-found desire for liturgical worship. Plus, I built some killer thigh muscles by riding my bike, the Green Phantom, everywhere. (Which are now long gone due to residual Christmas-season fluff.)
Spring Lake, Michigan does not have the same tug on my emotions, of course, but still, it's been a nice home for the last month. I am currently living with my grandmother, whom I get along with very well. I am her first grandchild (and granddaughter at that), and so sometimes I get special attention, I'll admit. (Tyler, you have Boompa on the other side, so stop your whining.) Nonnie and I usually cook dinner together, watch Jeopardy and the evening news, go to church together on Sunday mornings, play card games, and enjoy the occasional after-dinner liqueur. I realize it's painfully parochial on the outside, but it's a great set-up for a recent graduate who is looking for a job and needs to save money, and tends to be a bit on the parochial side anyway.
As per the job search...moving to Chicago is the ultimate goal. Right now, I have a resume in for an Editorial Administrator position at a Christian publication in Chicago (whose name is yet to be disclosed because of possible preconceptions that might arise in your (or my) mind). I have a handful of friends from Calvin living in or right outside the city, which is always nice. One of these friends is also working for a Christian publication, which is the last thing I thought she would be doing, but I'm so happy she is. Plus, it's Chicago. And Chicago is not West Michigan. In the meantime, I have been applying for several Administrative Assistant positions here, a couple of which I am actually excited to work for the particular company, but I won't be staying in Michigan for too long.
The reason that I am not staying in Michigan for too long is because the only reason that I came back to Michigan in the first place is no longer a reason at all. Most people who read this probably already know what I am referring to, so I don't need to go into detail here. For those who don't know, let's just say that I've looked into Chicago nunneries and I found out I don't necessarily have to convert to Catholicism to join one. (Foreseen issue with the nun career track though: you have to be pretty quiet in abbeys, and do you really see any opportunity to incorporate Cher impressions into outreach ministry?)
Anyway, well if you're here for pictures, here are the final ones from when my family came over to visit England the second week of December:
view of Magdalen College, Oxford Botanical Gardens.
4:30 p.m. Sunset at Oxford Botanical Gardens.
Male Green Finch at Botanical Gardens...a real lifer.
The Tower of London, where people were killed and stuff.
London Bridge, not falling down.
The highlight of the trip was eating here, according to my brother.
Dad & Mom, outside of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.
Subway Art.
.
At the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Winter outdoor installation at the Victoria & Albert.
posted by Katelyn | 5:43 PM
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