I was so busy with the end of the term that I didn’t have the time to write this post in the last day of the month as I usually do. I will change the date to November in a couple of weeks. I finished the first term at Oxford and I’m very happy with my progress. In November I did a lot of things, so I will share a few highlights, in no particular order. There are quite a few things I will not include in the blog, like pictures from some events because I want to respect the privacy of the ones who attended. I only shared a picture after I asked if it’s ok to do so. I also included a blurred picture from one of the Christmas parties I went to, as I didn’t think to take a picture of something neutral, like a xmas cracker.
Oxford University Museum of Natural History had an After Dark event, where knowledgeable people shared their passion while informing us, the visitors, on various aspects of animal life. We couldn’t book to any of the lectures on the night, as they were fully booked in the first 15 minutes or so. It was really great.
Wallingford fireworks were amazing, so much better than I imagined they will be. For a small city, the fireworks were better than the ones we have in Liverpool.
I’ve been to a few libraries in search for the books I needed.
We visited Hellfire Caves.
This month is the Holodomor remembrance day. I’m an atheist, but I have decided to light a candle in church to remember Holodomor instead of at home. The church was part of Oriel, my college, and I thought it would be more appropriate for remembrance. I spent a few minutes in the Oriel pews thinking of the people who died 90 years ago. It was avoidable, but the russian regime made it impossible for people to get help and others in the west were guilty of covering up the man-made famine.
This month the russian ambassador was in Oxford for a propaganda event (the organisers were just established, had 2 events in total, both uttering pro-russian views and helping with the russian narratives), so we went to protest and show our support to the Ukrainians living in Oxford. A few Russians attended the protest and were vocal about the ambassador not representing them. It was nice to see that.
Oxford is the perfect place for all sorts of interesting events. This month I’ve been to a few, including these two pictured above. On the left is the talk with the former Afghanistan Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow, while on the right is a picture from the event with Dr Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.
The ruins of Wallingford Castle are great to see, even on a cold autumn day.
1. Talk (online) with Tobias Cremer, author of The Godless Crusade 2. Radcliffe Camera, upper floor. 3. Dessert date. 4. Wallingford fireworks. 5. Tea rooms in Wallingford. 6. So much for corruption in Ukraine – 127 British firms traded with russian sanctioned entities. 7. MCR at Oriel. 8. Ukraine war in the media, organised by two Oxford Societies. 9. CITY UNDER SIEGE – Film about Kharkiv. 10. Staircase in Radcliffe Camera. 11. Annual Dinner at the Rifle Club, picture from Vincent’s Club. 12. Hellfire Caves. 13. Road. 14. Pub crawl. 15. Delicious desserts, tea, and cocktail at Cream.Dream. 16. Courtauld Gallery. 17. Christmas related event in Liverpool. 18. Wallingford castle. 19. Christmas cards. 20. Birmingham New Street. 21. Vegan croissant. 22. Formal in the Senior Library. 23. Worcester College. 24. Talk given by the former Afghanistan Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow. 25. Remembering Holodomor. 26. Vegan society social. 27. Taylor Institution Library, part of Bodleian. 28. Christmas dinner (blurred for privacy reasons). 29. Protesting against the propagandistic event with the russian ambassador. 30. Dr Albert Bourla at Said Business School, Oxford
Books I read in November:
Approaching an Auschwitz Survivor by Jürgen Matthäus – 5 stars
Bloc Life by Peter Molloy – 5 stars
Diary of an Invasion by Andrey Kurkov – 5 stars
Gabriella Romano, The pathologisation of homosexuality in fascist Italy. The Case of ‘G’ (2019) – 3.5 stars
Secret police files from the Eastern bloc by Valentina Glajar, Alison Lewis and Corina L. Petrescu – 5 stars
It was a long time ago, and it never happened anyway by David Satter – 5 stars
Gareth Jones by Ray Gamache – 5 stars
I always find your monthly write ups so interesting! I must visit the Hellfire caves. Is one of those Hartford’s library? I visited it with my friend Lily so I wondered if it was that?
Well done for showing up for the Russian event to show your dissent! Were there many there?
Kezzie recently posted…Star in the Sky!
I am in another college, Oriel, so I can’t visit the Hartford library, it’s a rather crazy rule. These are from the university libraries, to specific institutes or on topics, such as the Social Sciences.
There were quite a few to the event, especially as we didn’t talk about it online, not to promote it in any way.
It looks like you had a good November!
Nikki – Notes of Life recently posted…Helsinki Christmas Market
It looks like you had an eventful month! The first two libraries are beautiful! We have nothing like that here in Alberta, Canada. I miss going out to events and exploring, but now having two kids, it makes it difficult.
Hellfire Caves are on my days out bucket list. Such a shame that the spaces got booked so quickly at the museum but how brilliant that so many people wanted to attend. #project365
Glad your first term at Oxford has gone well. Great photo from the fireworks display. We visited Hellfire Caves earlier this year. Good for you protesting at the Russian ambassador’s talk and good that a few Russians were there protesting too. Beautiful photo of the ruins at Wallingford Castle. #project365
Well done with finishing your first term at Oxford. It sounds like you are really enjoying it.
What wonderful photos! Oxford sounds a wonderful place to live with so much going on. x
Kim Carberry recently posted…Our weekly meal plan! 4th – 10th December. #MealPlanningMonday
It’s hard to believe you’ve already completed your first term at Oxford! I know you’re busy with your reading and classwork, but you still managed to do a lot of fun things.
Kelly recently posted…Rockstar Dolly
Yes, the term was so intense, both when it comes to work and to having fun as well. 🙂