I started the second term at Oxford, it’s called Hilary, which is the patron-saint of lawyers (funny, isn’t it?). I am back in Oxford, being very busy with all sorts of lectures and seminars, formals, socials. We went to London for a day and watched the commemorations for Charles I, which I am going to blog about, and also went to Cream.Dream, the lovely patisserie in Soho, for a Ukrainian feast, which I will also blog about in the next few days.
Another fun fact, the russians are now able to go to North Korea for a skying holidays!! It’s only ~£750 for 4 days, a bargain. While the newspapers in Britain are not talking about this, Ukraine has had good progress in the last months, the sea transport is greater now than it was when the grain deal was made with the russians, the oil refineries in russia are suffering from constant “smoking incidents” and so do the air defence systems. On top of that, in their “offensive” which lasted 4 months they managed to conquer 2 villages (one of about 20 people and another one of 100, pre-war levels), while loosing hundreds of tanks, artillery systems, and armoured vehicles. This, as Kyiv has received very little lethal aid from us (the west as a whole).
Beyond Meat had an event in Oxford. They offered free burgers and the owner, Ethan Brown, gave a talk at Said Business School. I was very impressed by his attitude and views, his openness.
A lovely colleague from the Oxford Vegan Society organized a Vegan Formal and I could get tickets as well. I loved it. We also had a social with the society and that was really great as well.
1. Good things jar of 2023. 2. Puzzle 3. Busy day with an essay. 4. First book of the year. 5. Pub. 6. Shopping at Cheshire Oaks. 7. Pomegranate seeds to mark Catherine of Aragon’s death (in 1936). 8. The vibe. 9. John Lewis, Liverpool. 10. Ukrainian Opera, Manchester. 11. Pastan Manchester. 12. Enjoying the Christmas gift. 13. homemade: Juicy Marbles, mash potatoes with nooch, kalettes with sesame, courgettes with oil and vinegar. 14. First Formal of Hilary Term. 15. Oriel. 16. Balliol. 17. acey deucey 18. Beautiful reading room in Central Library Liverpool. 19. Ukrainian Meadow. 20. Homemade pizza. 21. Oriel’s 698th birthday! 22. Formal at Lincoln. 23. Amazing talk by Ethan Brown, Founder & CEO of Beyond Meat. 24. I got tickets for Talk with Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize Winner. 25. Today Zelenskyy turns 46, so I donated €46 to United24, his charity, for the Safe Skies project. 26. Vegan Formal at Worcester. 27. Vegan Oxford Society meeting. 28. Borscht, wine tasting, varenyky, and honey cake – a Ukrainian feast at Cream.Dream. 29. Left a note in a library book to emphasise the biased approach of the author. 30. Christ Church. 31. Books in January
With 7 books in January I am on the right track on the reading challenge for this year. 4 of these books were for university and I recommend all of them – Not worthy, Morebath, Montaillou, and The Cheese and The Worms. The other 3 were for pleasure. The Power of Platforms offers a great analysis on the media landscape as it changed with the rise of online and web-based advertising. I also read Utopia because it was on my list of books to read for a while. I also enjoyed reading Catherine of Aragon’s biography, which was reviewed on the anniversary of her burial.
Books I read in January:
The Power of Platforms by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen – 5 stars
Utopia by Thomas More – 5 stars
The Cheese and The Worms by Carlo Ginzburg – 5 stars
Not worthy by Lubomyr Luciuk – 5 stars
The voices of Morebath by Eamon Duffy – 4 stars
Catherine of Aragon by Giles Tremlett – 5 stars
Montaillou by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie – 5 stars
Well done with the reading. I’ve been enjoying the academic books in the school I work, In September I’m probably returning to work in year 7 and will start over with the reading lists again. I’m going to keep up with the year 12/13 English Lit department though. Good luck with your 2nd term at Oxford.
I would like to read Utopia- I remember Drew Barrymore talking about it in Ever After! Your food pictures from the Vegan formal look superb!
Good luck with your second term at Oxford. Sounds like January was a busy month. That’s good that Ukraine has made good progress in recent weeks. Looks like another interest selection of books – might have to add the Catherine of Aragon one to my reading list. #project365
Oxford is such a beautiful city, you’re so lucky to study there. I’d never thought of Korea for a skiing holiday and good news that Ukraine is making progress. I love the history of Henry VIII so would love to read the Catherine of Aragon book
Wow, thank you for sharing so many interesting things about with us! I can’t wait to read your more in-depth posts. Utopia used to be one of my favourite books but I haven’t read it in years – I think I may have to go and find it on the shelf.
you have had such a busy month. That sandwich looks incredible, You have managed to read so many books that’s amazing
Ooo I would have loved that talk, I love the Beyond Burgers and even tempting my family to make the switch (slowly on some accounts but I am still very much the only vegan out the five of us!) Gutted that I am yet to get my hands some Juicy Marbles, also the food at the formal looks delicious!
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Nice to see some of the Oxford colleges featured, I think it was Balliol I’ve been round, and years ago we tried to gatecrash into a party there with a friend of ours from school who was studying there! We didn’t get in needless to say.
It sounds like January was busy for you.
I haven’t seen hardly anything on the news about Ukraine, well apart from the fact people could be called to fight against Russia. Eek! I am glad progress is being made for Ukraine.
Fantastic photos. x
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I bet Ethan Brown’s talk was very good. I like Beyond products and they have great “chicken nuggets” and “beef tips”. I tend to buy Impossible “ground beef” because it’s more readily available here. I just love that there are getting to be so many good options.
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I think you would have liked his talk. You might find interviews with him on youtube. He talked about farmers and his faith (in a very non-preachy way, which I liked), as well as the importance of switching to plant-based/vegan because of climate change, health, and animal welfare.