So That's What I Took a Picture Of

It's about 11:30 here on Saturday morning, and I'm goofing off before Jon F and I go to find lunch somewhere. Hopefully, I'll finish my last paper this afternoon as I only have about a paragraph and half left (including the conclusion). I never know how my papers will turn out. It all makes sense in my head, but I worry that it won't make sense to other people. When we have our conferences next Friday, I half expect the teacher to say, "This is probably the worst paper I have ever seen!" I doubt that will happen, but you get my point. I went through and found the information, wrote the paper, and edited it, so it should be okay. However, I like to worry (well, not "like" but "have to") about just about everything. All in all, I only need a decent grade for the credit, but I'm a perfectionist and won't be happy unless I get an A, a pat on the back, and an award of some kind.

Friday
I woke up about 9:30 in order to shave. Then, I meandered downstairs to the lecture room for the lecture. This time, Dr. Almond, my Cold War teacher, gave the lecture on Regime Change in Europe. I finally figured out what the problem has been. He really is boring. Not really boring, but he doesn't speak very loudly or forcefully at any point. He is incredibly intelligent with a lot of good stories about being in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, but his voice will just put you to sleep. Matt and a few others made the same comment, so I guess that might be the problem. Anyway, the lecture was pretty good, but it was essentially the same thing we heard in our first class. Governments taking over needed to keep some of their enemy's officials in power in order to make a smooth transition. The best part may have been his comparison with the War in Iraq. After going through several successful revolutions and regime changes (the Glorious Revolution bringing William and Mary to England, the return of Louis XVIII to France after Napoleon and after him again, and post-WWII in Western Germany), he mentioned several problems with how the US has handled Iraq. The US completely dismantled the police, army, and government leaving only the US in charge of affairs. The previous regime changes were also mainly a by-product of invitations or acceptances to rule (England likes to say they have never been invaded, but technically, William of Orange brought a Dutch army to depose James II. Being a complete coward, James ran away -- that's not really true as his army essentially deserted him), but the people of Iraq didn't exactly ask for us to come. It was a pretty interesting comparison. After that, we had fish and chips for lunch. At 2 o'clock, Matt, Ashley, and I went on the Oxford history tour. It took for-ev-er. She took almost two hours to walk around the block. However, it was actually pretty interesting, but because Ashley came on this tour twice last year (why I have no idea), she essentially knew all of it. Therefore, Matt and I decided we should have just asked her to give us a tour for free because she predicted exactly what the guide was going to say. At least now I know what are in all the pictures I have taken. Then, we came back and worked for a couple hours until dinner. For dinner, we had a roasted vegetable tart (not great but okay), duck with sweet and sour sauce (good) and rice (not so much), and a brownie for dessert (by the size of it, we decided it must have been a French brownie). We decided to work for an hour and then go out for tea or beer. We left around 9 not knowing where we were going, but we ended up at the Eagle and Child where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis hung out. I guess we were there for about two hours, but no one drank much (I had a Strongbow -- I was hoping they had this Strawberry Cider they were supposed to have last time but to no avail -- and a cup of tea -- not at the same time). When we came back, it was about 12, so we decided to go and hang out in Ashley's room until about 2.

Observations:
- I don't know why I haven't written anything about this yet, but it really annoys me. The sinks have two faucets, one for hot and one for cold. The problem is that I want warm water, not the two extremes. They are everywhere. Someone explain this to me.
- Edinburgh is pronounced "Ed-in-burr-uh" instead of "Ed-in-burg." I was severely rebuked for my mistake.
- You cannot wear hoodies in some malls in England because kids with hoodies used to steal things from stores, and the hoods would obscure the camera views.