english polaroids

even though i brought a polaroid camera with me during my travels, i hardly took any photos. to me, polaroids are like gold, so it sort of distresses me if i take a lot of them. hence, i only really have two of oxford and two of london. when i decide that i take a polaroid of something, it takes me a good 5 minutes to compose the picture in my head and when and only when i think the picture will come out perfectly, i snap the photo. one thing i really need to accept is that the beauty of polaroids is the fact that you can't change them. without editing and multiple takes, you really only have once chance. they come out the way they do, and with all the "imperfections" they have, they're actually quite perfect.

clockwise from top left: oxford punts, the oxford university corpus christi college library, david with the thames and the london eye, and big ben.

strawberries and pimm's

a few weeks ago i posted about going punting, where my friends and i drank pimm's-- a traditional british summer drink. it's a sort of liqueur (?) that's fairly sweet, but then you mix it with "lemonade" (their lemonade being... basically sprite or 7 up). anyway, it's not very alcoholic when you dilute it properly and it's a really nice drink in the hot weather. you can also throw in fruit to add flavor, and once you finish your drink, the fruit is saturated in the pimm's yumminess.

a few days before i left oxford, the program sponsored a strawberries and pimm's garden party, which was simple but fun. there was a mountain of strawberries that i couldn't get enough of, and the pimm's with fruit was perfect for the weather.

65 high street

i'm in hot manila now, but here is my room from oxford.
time to play catch up

david is here!

yesterday in london, today and tomorrow in oxford (:

*photo from our ride on the london eye

trinity

i often like to say that autumn is my favorite season. being here in oxford during trinity term, or just spring, makes me want to pick a new favorite. a few weeks ago i was just walking in university park and i came upon these beauties. i love that flowers are plentiful here, especially tulips, because they're my favorite. i almost never see tulips like this back home in california and finding them here is always such a pleasant surprise.

tulips are my favorite for a reason (:

one of my favorite things about england

10 days!

until david comes to visit in oxford!!!

excitedexcitedexcited

{polaroid from our favorite gasthaus in vienna}

the first prints i've ever developed

oxford punting

even though i began this weekend lamenting the fact that i wasn't traveling anywhere, my friday turned into quite a lovely day and i realized that this weekend was perfect to be in oxford. i ended up going punting with my friends eunice, cristal, and my new friend ben. prior to coming to oxford, i had no idea what punting was (and therefore had never done it before), but for those of you who don't know, punting is riding along a river in a low, flat boat and paddling along with a big pole thing (much like venice's gondolas). during our time on the water, we literally bumped into the riverbanks, some trees, and some other friends! friday was the perfect first experience, complete with wonderful people, pimm's and sunshine.

the corpus christi tortoise fair

today was the annual corpus christi tortoise fair!

for any of you who are unfamiliar with the oxford college system,

there are about 40 colleges within oxford which are independent and

have their own classes, buildings, students, etc

but altogether they form the university body.

anyway...

the college i'm affiliated with is corpus christi

(which i love especially when (but not limited to...))

the fun tortoise race they had today.

there were tortoises from some other colleges and they all came together to race

but also to raise money for different charities

there were also little booths and games for people

giant chess, face painting, choir concert...

the start!

there were a ton of people there to watch the little guys race

it was also pouring rain

luckily and rightfully,

the corpus christi tortoise won (:

birthday fun

when it was midnight and my birthday began last monday,

sarah led me downstairs to the kitchen for a surprise cake celebration (:

earlier, hiyabel (my roommate) was freaking out because all of the grocery stores close early on sundays, so she couldn't go to one for a cake. she ended up walking into a ton of cafes and coffee shops to see if she could buy an entire cake, rather than a slice, and she found this delicious chocolate one! i. loved. it. and i love them ♥

then, during the actual day of my birthday,

we (sarah, hiyabel, chelsey and i) went out for afternoon cream tea!

things i have to say:

1. scones + clotting cream + jam will never get old to me

2. i'm newly obsessed with tea

3. i have wonderful, wonderful friends