Oxford Adventures: Day Two.

Alright. Tuesdays in Oxford are... probably as splendid as every other day of the week.

This morning I awoke early (and very unwillingly) to the oh so dulcet tones of our alarm clock...


I promptly fell back asleep.

Eventually Mom and I made it to the great hall for breakfast, then we went to St. Aldates church (about a 15 minute walk from Keble) for the opening presentations and sessions.

The first speaker was an American pastor named Todd Lake. He meditated on the conference's topic (I now know the official title): Imago Dei? The Self & the Search for Meaning. He had a good sense of humour and was very passionate. He spoke enthusiastically about how we have to find our meaning in God. Unfortunately his time slot was far too brief, but here's a quote from his conclusion: "Our selfish little hearts are restless until they find rest in Him." Aaaaamen.

Next, the president of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, Stan Mattson, gave his words of introduction. He spoke about God's goodness even in the darkest of days, which led to him sharing his testimony which I imagine was very good, but I could hardly hear the man - he lacked volume, and to makes matters worse, we had a seat near the back by the doors through which street noises came in a constant stream. And since I could hardly hear him, and since it was so warm in that church, and since I had not near enough sleep last night... I was very zoned out. I tried! I really did! But even when I did, I could hardly hear him.

After his speech, there was a break and I decided I should go back to Keble and sleep so that I would be wide awake for my afternoon elective session.


On the walk back I couldn't resist but to fight my exhaustion and stop briefly in a few stores (I needed to buy a drink anyways... not that you can find drinks in shoe stores...) But anyways, soon I got back to our room and passed out til my mom woke me at 2:25! It was a wonderful nap, and I felt much better, except that my elective started in 5 minutes, and it was all the way down by St. Aldates. So I rushed down there, found the parish centre it was held in (hidden amongst a long row of townhouses on a tiny side street) only to find that the building was being vacated due to a fire alarm! (Selfish as it may be, it was quite the blessing in disguise: I was late.) Thankfully, there was no fire - one of the building employees informed us that a bug most likely flew into the smoke detector (RIP dear insect) and that all was well to return to our sessions.

My elective is called Persistence of Vision: Popular Art, Culture and Industry and is led by Prof. Bill Romanowski, a lecturer, author, critic, and teacher at Calvin College. The two and a half hour session was amazing! We talked about how Christians view film (and in reference to this, the downfalls of narrow-mindedness) but the main topic of the session is film as an art, and how screen writers and directors can express views on aspects of culture in (seemingly) subtle ways.


For his examples he used a wide array of films, ranging from old classics like The Rear Window (yussss!) to teen flicks like American Pie.


He showed us a freeze frame from the movie American Beauty and had us comment on what we could observe from this one still image - as a group we pulled out all sorts of commentary on class, gender role, and family life, and also all sorts of information about the characters in the frame. And that was just from one single frame... think of hundreds of frames strung together. We're subonciously fed a lot of information while watching films.

He showed us clips from Rocky, The Rear Window, Notorious, Casablanca, and more to show us tricks/tools in editing and camera-use that indicate all sorts of things.

I could go on for a long time (I have 3 pages of notes) but I shan't. If you have any questions, you can leave them in a comment :)


During the fifteen minute session break, I met some really nice people who are in the class with me (they're all American! Ah!) and after some customary introductions and small talk, we discussed the session and stuff. It was very cool.

Soon after, I met up with Mother-dear and we shopped for a bit before dinner (no success yet. I have to be careful about spending my pounds, since each one is worth 2.439482384.. dollars and the prices here are pretty much the same as at home... except in pounds.)

Later, on my way to dinner, I met a lovely older woman in the elevator. She was from Florida, but originally from England (quite the dramatic switch - and ironically enough, she hates warm weather). We chatted easily on the walk to the great hall; she told me about her grandchildren and how she's attended the Oxbridge Conference 5 times before and how she misses her husband. I really liked chatting with her.


Then I found my mom in on one of the long, long dinner tables (when I mention the hall, think of the feasts in Harry Potter. The hall is set up in exactly the same way, sans the enchanted ceiling) and ended up sitting beside a wonderful old man and his wife who talked with me a lot about the conference and our classes and their careers and the fact that and that I don't know what I want to do with my life yet but that it's okay cause God will let me know in due time. He was a very cool man.

Across from me was a younger guy from Colorado Springs who was also attending a private liberal arts school (I told him about Redeemer). He was wearing a cap that said "Scranton - We welcome you" which delighted me! Hooray, a fellow fan of The Office!


After dinner, I grabbed the Nikon and went on a little photography walk to get some of the pictures I wanted to get yesterday. I shall share a few with you:


A section of the lovely grounds at Keble.
The archway close to the right side of the left building is the tunnel of the main entrance/exit.
The Great Hall is in the building on the right.












I love these things.

One of the entrance ways to Trinity College (it was through here that I spotted the young gents playing *ahem* croquet.) I apologize for the poor quality of this shot, but it's the one that best shows the intricacy of the gates.

The beautiful tower of the University Church (where I went last night).

















Amazing. That's all there is to say about that.





That's all for today. Time has slipped by me once again... I hope I can stay awake tomorrow. Goodnight!


-CH