Lodge Work and Other Miscellany
First, I shall begin by expressing my annoyance at the sudden removal of the ability to edit the time and date of a post. This function was one of the main reasons that I switched from Xanga in the first place enabling me to write retroactively about my day once it already had passed, an important factor seeing that I often post beyond midnight, not to mention the fact that I often write about events a few days after they happen. I dislike writing "On Wednesday I did this..... on Thursday this" as I find it rather clunky, but I guess now I have no choice.
Did a 6 hour shift in the lodge on Sunday, as interview candidates were arriving - 45 of them in all. I guess they hired me because despite the Sunday porter's earnestness and good nature, it was "best if he had some help" in the words of another of the porters. As mentioned before, I quite enjoy lodge work even if it is a bit tiring, so I was happy for anything that came my way.
Seeing all these interview candidates arriving all nervous, excited and somewhat lost does make me feel positively old - not just in years, but in experience. You feel like the grizzled old veteran in some war campaign shaking your head in wonderment at the 'green' ones coming in. It certainly highlights the extent to which my time here is coming to a close.
On a totally unrelated note, I heard that Trinity is actually one of the most competetive Colleges to get in for PPE, which I certainly found surprising seeing that we do not have the strongest of track records for it in any respect. Part of the reason is undoubtedly the small number of students we take in. From the number of people coming for interviews, it is undoubtedly the case that we remain one of the more popular Colleges by application, period.
Monday was filled with a vague attempt to get some work done. Did meet DT for dinner and we studied together in the library for quite awhile, though with some distractions. Am whetting my appetite by reading Fareed Zakaria's book on illiberal democracy which isn't strictly academic, but has some useful and interesting points on liberal institutionalism and democratization.
Tuesday was spent nicely wandering around town, doing some errands. Had a fine lunch at the Radcliffe Arms - the last time I had been was with Zakir ages ago. Was famished and ordered a huge amount of food. Whilst waiting for the pub to open, I wandered over to Jericho Books which I had passed often, but never at a time when it was open. This is unsurprising seeing that I am only in Jericho for dinner, or to catch a movie at the Pheonix. It was a lovely secondhand bookstore, with a very good stock of various eclectic academic titles - something unsurprising seeing its location in Oxford. Ended up buying books (but of course!), a 5 pound bargain of a book on Foreign Policy analysis which will be very useful for IR revision, and a brand new copy of Berlin's Four Essays on Liberty, which I just could not resist for 7.50 pounds. Got two Terry Pratchett books as well at good prices. Dinner in hall was followed by the Turf Tavern pub quiz (my Tuesday tradition) with several of the interview helpers. It would have been perfect if not for the freezing cold weather. As tradition dictates (and Murphy's law rules) we came in Fourth, yet again, losing out Third by a point.
Did a 6 hour shift in the lodge on Sunday, as interview candidates were arriving - 45 of them in all. I guess they hired me because despite the Sunday porter's earnestness and good nature, it was "best if he had some help" in the words of another of the porters. As mentioned before, I quite enjoy lodge work even if it is a bit tiring, so I was happy for anything that came my way.
Seeing all these interview candidates arriving all nervous, excited and somewhat lost does make me feel positively old - not just in years, but in experience. You feel like the grizzled old veteran in some war campaign shaking your head in wonderment at the 'green' ones coming in. It certainly highlights the extent to which my time here is coming to a close.
On a totally unrelated note, I heard that Trinity is actually one of the most competetive Colleges to get in for PPE, which I certainly found surprising seeing that we do not have the strongest of track records for it in any respect. Part of the reason is undoubtedly the small number of students we take in. From the number of people coming for interviews, it is undoubtedly the case that we remain one of the more popular Colleges by application, period.
Monday was filled with a vague attempt to get some work done. Did meet DT for dinner and we studied together in the library for quite awhile, though with some distractions. Am whetting my appetite by reading Fareed Zakaria's book on illiberal democracy which isn't strictly academic, but has some useful and interesting points on liberal institutionalism and democratization.
Tuesday was spent nicely wandering around town, doing some errands. Had a fine lunch at the Radcliffe Arms - the last time I had been was with Zakir ages ago. Was famished and ordered a huge amount of food. Whilst waiting for the pub to open, I wandered over to Jericho Books which I had passed often, but never at a time when it was open. This is unsurprising seeing that I am only in Jericho for dinner, or to catch a movie at the Pheonix. It was a lovely secondhand bookstore, with a very good stock of various eclectic academic titles - something unsurprising seeing its location in Oxford. Ended up buying books (but of course!), a 5 pound bargain of a book on Foreign Policy analysis which will be very useful for IR revision, and a brand new copy of Berlin's Four Essays on Liberty, which I just could not resist for 7.50 pounds. Got two Terry Pratchett books as well at good prices. Dinner in hall was followed by the Turf Tavern pub quiz (my Tuesday tradition) with several of the interview helpers. It would have been perfect if not for the freezing cold weather. As tradition dictates (and Murphy's law rules) we came in Fourth, yet again, losing out Third by a point.
posted by Caleb Liu | 3:55 AM
1 Comments:
My dear Caleb, it's St. Edmund Hall without the apostrophe, hee.
Post a Comment
<< Home