Oxford

My "Oxford story" started more than a year ago, when some time in the summer I had the sudden thought of looking for the websites of Oxford and Cambridge (It had been a running gag in the family that one day I'd go to an elite university) just for fun.
But the more I read about Oxford (it soon preferred it over Cambridge), the more I wanted to really go for it and apply there.
So I applied for Christ Church for Experimental Psychology.
To make a long story short, I got rejected without even getting an interview (more than 70% are interviewed), a reeeaaally depressing day. I came home during school breaks for a week when it finally arrived and I cried for the following 3 free lessons I had at school...
Anyway, now that I reflect on it I made every possible mistake with my application, which I am not going to list here. But applying to uni in the uk is a science! You have to know all the tricks, know what to do and what to avoid.

Since I realized that, I thought I might as well take a gap year and try reapplying as I hadn't shown Oxford my full potential. Luckily, my lovely hostmum Jackie is a secondary school teacher, so from the start she was thrilled about me applying to Oxford and has immensely supported me (I redrafted my personal statement at least 10 times thinking about every single choice of words carefully. She asked other teachers for advice. She brought home books from the school library illegally. She let me got to an Open day on a work day. I could go on forever, but most of all she kept reassuring me and was as enthusiastic about the whole idea as I was).
So then I sent my application and could only wait.
Waiting - a central word of the whole process :).
The interviews for my subject were scheduled for the 9th till 12th of december and i was supposed to hear at least a week in advance. What a nerve-racking time! I think I drove everyone around me crazy (I can see you nod, reader!) and was in tears daily during the last days until I finally heard on tuesday, less than 7 days in advance!

Anyway I was thrilled. Going to Oxford and actually staying there for a couple of days at a college. My college of first choice (one has to choose one) was Univ, as I had liked it on the open day, so that's where I stayed.
I had 4 amazing days! I met lots of lovely people and we really bonded (sadly, only one of them got in while many great people got rejected). We had lots of free time. I stayed for four days and altogether had 2 interviews and one written test. My second interview was at Christ Church, coincidentally the college that had declined me last year. I was immensely pleased as I was now in the run for two colleges I really liked.
My interviews went fine. They were challenging (When I first saw the tasks I got at my Univ interview I thought that's it, I have nooo idea!) and I got things wrong a couple of times (We were presented with an experiment and asked questions about what the result might mean and so on) but got to some conclusions with the tutor's help. The Christ Church interview was quite different as I was asked a lot more personal questions, about why I wanted to study Psychology and so on. I am glad I prepared for that question as I said that we discussed Milgram's study of obedience at school and was asked a couple of details about it which I knew! I liked both tutors. The Univ one was very young and the ChCh one was more impressive, but still not too intimidating.
In our free time we hung out together or did some activities the student helpers organized, e.g. a quiz in the college bar which my team one (not due to me though...;)) and a cinema night (the golden compass, set in Oxford!)

I wasn't happy to leave at all, but eventually did on Wednesday. We were told that decision letters would be sent by the end of the week or the beginning of the following week. So, waiting again.
My first letter arrived on Monday, from Univ. I almost fainted when I read the first line, as it said that they couldn't offer me a place at Univ. But then it said that is was LIKELY that I'd get an offer from a different college soon. How precise :). Jackie celebrated as if I was already in, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high... We all prayed I'd get an offer from Christ Church.
But then, hurray, I got a letter from Christ Church today! I talked to the postman in delirium when I saw the envelope and then, as I read the offer, cheered and jumped through the house.

I actually can't believe I am going to Oxford, yet. It is too good to be true.

It's been a while...

... since my last post. Here are the updates:

After days of anxiety (Quoting my friend: "She is cracking up. She's gonna have a nervous breakdown..."), Oxford FINALLY sent me an invitation for Interview on tuesday (they are supposed to arrive 7 days in advance and my interview is from sunday till tuesday...)! I am really pleased! So was Jackie, she kept saying how relieved an happy she was (She hadn't asked me about it for a couple of days but said that I had looked so miserable) and immediately started gathering all the resources and tips at her school :D.
I started doing some more reading and after doing some test, I actually feel quite confident. As I heard, Univ really does test potential and not knowledge...

Apart from that, I received my first offer from UCL (a top London uni, 9. in the world), which I really didn't expect because they normally interview candidates as well, but my grades seem to be enough :D. I wouldn't accept this offer, but it makes me feel good.

North Finchley - There is a high street!?

Funny how sometimes you don't see what is right in front of your eyes. All these months I thought that near the place where I lived there was nothing nice (weird shops and take away restaurants only).
BUT, today I had to pick up a parcel from the North Finchley post office, which is a15-20 min walk away. I had never been there.
To my delight and surprise, I discovered that there is actually such a thing as a highstreet!
With all the things you need: A waterstone's (bookshop that I have a bonus card for :D), boots and superdrug (beauty and stuff), banks, a River Island (clothes), an Aldi (home sweet home), a Waitrose (quality supermarket) and most importantly a STARBUCKS! So I bought a latte (The interior is very nice, I will come back many times ;) and browsed through books before getting my parcel (birthday present *harharr*).
It is actually a nice alternative to Brent cross. If you fancy a walk and don't feel like an overcrowded noisy mall, it's perfect! (There is a bus for lazy people like me, too)

All I want for Christmas...

Today I started doing some christmas shopping at Brent Cross shopping centre. The whole mall looks as if Christmas was next week: decorations and christmas articles everywhere! In an attempt of organisation I had made a list of people that I wanted to send christmas cards to and a list of presents. So I searched for ages at John Lewis for the perfect card for everyone (which cost me a fortune, but since it's my first year of sending my OWN cards :D). I bought some other presents (can't write what;)), a cinnamon latte at Costa (I got the whipped cream on top for free!) and ordered photos at boots.
I then started looking for an Oxford interview outfit (not that I have been invited yet...), saw some perfect black shoes and tried on every smart trousers at Zara. I will come back and buy stuff if they invite me.

I had fun, actually. Can't wait to write the cards an giftwrap the presents.

Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Ballet!

A magnificent evening!
I bought the ticket months ago, considering how fast the performances sell out. It was completely full.
I sat at the very left side on level with the stage, basically overlooking the orchestra. I was really really close to the stage (sometimes I could hear the dancers take a breath), but I couldn't see the very left side of the stage.

Firstly, the Royal Opera House has a fantastic atmosphere of grandeur (mostly red and gold in the auditorium) and the buzzing excitement of the people makes it even better - watching as the theatre slowly fills up as people takes their seats, etc)

The performance itself was really good. I have seen the ballet before at the Bavarian State Opera with my favourite dancer Lucia Lacarra in the titel role, so it wasn't so easy to please me ;). I instantly liked the romeo, he just looked perfect for the role. I had to warm to Juliet (Roberta Marquez), but I did! Of course, the costumes and the stage were magnificent.
The choreographie was also different from the John Cranko one in Munich. I love Cranko's version (the bedroom pas de deux!), but I also liked this one. Very emotional, very strong, not at all stiff.
It was also nice to be able to see the orchestra and the sound was superb (Prokofiev's score is simple breathtaking).
The audiance was alright, they cheered and screamed bravo, but just like in Shadowlands, they seem a bit reserved. Considering the high quality of the performance, any German audience would have applauded longer. They didn't even show the corps the ballet, only the leading dancers got curtains! And as soon as the light in the auditorium was switched on, people seemed to takes this as a sign to stop applauding and leave.

Still, it was a fantastic evening, I am definately going to see more ballets. What a priviledge to live in London, really.

(pics: this is not the cast I saw)

A glorious day out with Puppy!

I had a lovely sunday again! First of all, we had SAUSAGES (I had 4!!!)! The best way to start the day!
Later, Puppy and I took to bus to Brent Cross as we had planned. She wanted gloves and I had to go to Apple to have my computer fixed. We had so much fun! Firstly, We looked at different shops to find the nicest pair of gloves for Marie. Then we stopped at Millie's cookies where I bought some cookies and an icecream for her. Finally, we sat down at Starbucks for an eggnog latte, orange juice and lemon cake for Puppy. It is so much fun spending time with her jumping next to me at my hand, being excited about such small things as an ice cream with colourful topping,

As for Alex, I am starting to connect with her more, I think! We did get along well, baked together and so on, but for the first time we had a longer conversation for about an hour or so. She is really mature! We talked about class, labelling people, and the situation at her school (sounded horrible, all these gangs and fights... I am so glad I went to a grammar school). She also is an awesome writer, I read some of her short stories, they are amazing! All three are really bright kids.

My puppy

This post will be all about my wonderful Aupair child Marie, who I call puppy, duckie or schnacki most of the time :D.
I realized that the two walks to and from school with her are actually the best part of my day. It's just 20 min time for us (she is always in a rush, on the way to gym or ballet, at home) to talk, joke, play game and so on. We have a lot of games!
1) The mini, yellow car and beetle game - Whenever you see one of them, you have to tag the other person. We take this quite seriously!
2) Ein Hut, ein Stock, ein Regenschirm - I taught her this German game. She loves it and is very good at "hoch das Bein!" (being a gymnast)
3) The "throwing" game - very silly, I used to play it with my brother. She walks straight forward in front of me and I throw her from one side to the other. Hilarious, we always laugh and look very stupid to the people around us.

I am so amazed by her! She is very clever and always in a good mood! She is smiley, performs cute little dances when she is happy about something and very energetic. I have seen her moody only twice, that's only when she is really exhausted and tired or when she is ill.

Today, on our way home, we saw a glorious sunset while walking through the park. I said to her "Oh look how lovely this looks!"
She said "Oh yes. To me it looks like behind these clouds, that's where heaven is." Left me speechless.

Oh, and our sundays are also very special!
First of all, we are both very keen on sausages for breakfast. Then, we often make pancakes together. Also, sunday is our "Disney day", that means we watch a Disney movie (and I have to say they are all great! Tarzan was wicked :D!).
Marie also uses every single free minute to play the piano. She can't read notes, so that means I have to teach her the tunes and she learns them all by heart (she is very quick). Her thirst to learn is incredible, she always says "Pleeeease, pleeeease, can you teach me some more!)

On sunday, we plan to go shopping together (glove-shopping actually, as she wants gloves). I hope Jackie will let us. Would be lovely to look around shops and then go to Starbucks or so :D.

The world of Gymnastics

...isn't mine! Yesterday, I came along to watch Marie at her competition. Highly stressful! Girls in tears everywhere when they failed. It was a twin piece competition, so Marie was competing together with a partner. She was doing bars and beam, while Saskia did floor and volt (!?). I was so scared! Sadly, it didn't go well. Marie did perfectly during warm-up, but then fell off the bars twice (from a handstand), and also off the beam at her fliks backwards (a beam is very thin to land on, isn't it!).
Thank God she wasn't too devastated, but I really felt for her. Anyway, I was completely exhausted afterwards :D.

"Shadowlands" at Wyndham's Theatre

Today, I finally got round to seeing Shadowlands, the matinee, after dance. I had seen the movie and liked it (after all, it's set in Oxford and Hopkins and Winger were the cast, so what could possibly go wrong ;)). This production starred Charles Dance and Janie Dee, who I had heard on Woman's Hour. It was FANTASTIC!!! Not only is the play really good, deeply moving as well as clever and very witty, but the actors, also the supporting roles like Warnie, simply blew me away!! And Charles Dance is outstanding! It never gets cheesy, but the truth of the emotions and the tragic really touches you.
The play by William Nicholson is the true love story of C.S: Lewis (Narnia books), who was a lecturer at Magdalen College Oxford.

"The pain, now, is part of the happiness, then. That's the deal."

Bonfire night

I forgot to write about Monday - bonfire night! We had fireworks in our garden - it was pure magic. Marie was dancing around happily singing "We're having fireworks, we're having fireworks!", then sitting on my lap when Jackie lit the rockets whispering "I am happy" to me and we all screamed and cheered when they exploded in the sky. We also had lots of sparklers which we waved through the air like wands. The kids' excitement really got hold of me. I am glad to get a share of their happiness.

I love VIDAL SASSOON!

Fate was generous again, since I was really worried about how I'd possibly manage to get to the academy (see below) on time (9.30), since I had to drop of Marie at school first. But she stayed at home today with a cold! Lucky me and Barry looked after her because he also worked from home today.
So I got to Bond street (right in central london) on time after a horrible tube ride (full is not a sufficient description...).

The school looks really nice and posh and everybody was very nice, they led me to the "classroom", which basically looked like a salon. We were about 12 models. After some time, the students came, all Italien (I had hoped for Japanese because they are perfectionists...) and translaters. The teacher, a very nice guy, asked me what I would like to do and complimented me on my hair. He uttered his ideas and I gave my consent. He was supervising 6 student, always going round explaining the next step to the students, then coming back after a while to check and do some corrections. My student was nice, quite young, but couldn't speak English at all! But she was trying really hard and the teacher also took great care so I felt comfortable.
Most of the others got quite drastic cuts, I mean asymetrical layers and so on and bright colours (pink, purple). But if someone didn't want big changes, he was relocated to the other school which does more classic cuts. So in the end everybody got what they wanted, I think. At least I did :D.

The whole procedure took till 1 o'clock (including a blow-dry). I am really pleased with the result and will come back. Apparently it will be cheaper the next time, so this time I paid 11 pounds. But it was okay since they used high-quality products on my hair and this cut in a Vidal Sassoon salon would cost about 100 pounds.
I can only recommend this.

The perfect saturday evening!

I love my job!
I had such a nice time today! First of all, I lay in front of the telly a bit with Marie, after being to contemporary dance and to Primark (on a saturday - the longest queues ever!). Then, we played our four hand pieces on the piano, which is always great fun. Then we built the do it yourself gingerbread house (I brought a set from Germany), a big mess with icing, but it's lovely to see Marie enjoying herself (squieking "this is so pretty, this is so pretty!). Jackie took lots of pictures...
Meanwhile, Alex was making her own profiteroles with chocolate sauce, which we had with candles lit around the little house.
They were delumptious! I had a least 6...

I love it here. I really treasure these moments.

Landslide (currently on repeat)

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, I've been afraid of changing
cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

(I love this song and the lyrics. So truthful.
Listen to Stacey Kent's gorgeous live version here (song starts at 6:08):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/ram/2007_44_mon_01.ram)

Nothing special...

People ask me what I do during the day, and actually - nothing special! Thinking about it, I really have to start making the most of my time here. November has started and time is rushing by, I already feel like Christmas was next week.
Most of the time, I just spend my free time at home, where I should be reading Psychology (which I'm not) and being on the Internet (which I am).
Although, today, I am going on a day trip (haha!) to one of my favourite places in the neighbourhood - Brent cross shopping centre (see pic), mainly to complain about my Ipod which isn't working and to enjoy a Starbucks latte (addiction!). And to go (window) shopping....
I know this was a boring post - sorry! I'll try to be more original next time ;).

Fancy a fancy haircut for FREE?

I am going to try an experiment. Considering my Hairdresserphobia and my empty wallet, I considered becoming a hairmodel. Some friends of mine had already tried it and got gorgeous cuts. Some research on the internet quickly revealed to me that the Vidal Sassoon Advanced Academy is the place to be! There, you get a cheap haircut from students from all over the world, all with several years experience under the guidance of a teacher. Vidal Sassoon apparently is a very posh, well-known brand.
So after reading several positive reviews from people who had been there for cuts, I made an appointment for next Tuesday morning! I will have to rush there straight from dropping Marie off at school, as it is 5 minutes from Bond Street Station.
They teacher assured me that i would get a lot of say in how my hair would be cut, but that I'd have to be quite open as the students learn very trendy, interesting styles.
Detailed Report and Pics will follow next week!

Little men running over grass

One funny incident I thought I might share with you...

One weekend a while ago, my boy Daniel was watching a match downstairs. I joined him for a bit. I saw the score: 8:9. Wow, I thought, this is well (:-)) high for a football match! It was England against France. World cup it said. They are really fast having another world cup.... Anyway, I sat and watched for a while as the little men ran over the grass. In order to show some understanding of football, I then asked Daniel "Is Beckham playing?". He laughed. "What?". "This is Rugby." came the dry response.

What I love about London

I took this picture crossing the Millennium bridge walking towards St. Paul's, and as I absorbed the view I felt thrilled and excited about living in this city.
It seems so normal now - waving to a red bus to make it stop, hopping on the tube with my oyster card, standing right, walking left, drinking the perfect 5-second tea with milk, buying a tall latte from starbucks while walking down Tottenham court Rd, listening to Radio 4 and looking forward to women's hour, watching Hollyoaks every night, buying a book with my Waterstone's card :D, planning an hour and a half for a journey to a different part of the city, and so on and so forth!

It....is....wonderful!

Still, holidays are nice and I can't wait. Of course, a cold is slowly emerging (typical: starting to relax the bacteria succeeds!)
Tomorrow by this time my plane will just have landed, what a nice prospect.

Gettin' chavvvy

It might have sounded theoretical in class, but YES, Britain is a class-concious society!
The word "chav" alone is proof enough (is there a German translation"), which means something like a lower-class person, which can be easily recognized by his or her clothes and especially, the language!
After working with socially underpriviledged kids, my friend Estelle (who studies English...) was quite shocked when she heard me say "I am so fed up with THEM kids".
Other examples which sneak into my every day vocabulary...
I am WELL tired (Marie always corrects me - VERY tired)
Oh my daaaays!
brov (or something like that) - brother (any bloke)

I have to be careful not be step into the interview at Oxford saying "Oh my days, I really love them old buildings, brov, they're well nice." ;-) Better not.

Another thing is northern English, which I love!
casssstle - not posh cah-stle
the same with bathhh, not baaahhth
grass not graaahss and so on

u is u not a
meaning
but is but , not bat
put the cutlery down sunshine or young man (many u's) always makes my family laugh when I say it with a northern accent.

Scotch Pancakes and Yorkshire Puddings

This entry will be solely dedicated to the joys and wonders of British food!
My favourites:

Sunday roast:
roast chicken or beef with gravy (brownish sauce), stuffing (some flour/herbs stuff), apple sauce, vegetables, and YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS, which I really want to be able to bake myself!

Apple crumble and Custard:
Every saturday after dance, I buy some bramley cooking apples to be turned into the most wonderful pudding ever, with thick warm custard!! (which unfortunatelly turned into scrambled eggs last time I made it, after being perfect!)

Scotch pancakes:
small, thick pancakes
my recipe:
100 g plain flour
100 g self-raising flour
50 g caster sugar
2 eggs (beat the white till thick separately)
about 200 ml milk

1-2 tbsp per pancake

According to Marie "the best pancakes ever"! She ate about 7 in a row ;).

Hot cross buns:
Lovely raisin buns with cinnamon and other spices.
Toast them and add lots of butter (according to Marie it has to be burned with little butter, which inevitably leads to the conversation "it is unhealthy when it's burned" - "Well, having that much butter (she points at my plate) is unhealthy, too!" every morning.)

Half-term break, I can't wait!

Just one week to go (hoover twice, bath once, mop once :D) and I am off to good old Germany. I luuuurve it here, but still, a break would be nice (considering that I have been working since 07.07.07 :))
Bought loads of tea and shortbread fingers for all the people who helped me with my application which I have sent ON SUNDAY.
Apart from that I am constantly tired, and it's only tuesday AND on top of that, ballet tonight -.-. I hope it will be better this time... some of these girls were really weird! I mean, when the teacher said do what ever you like, single, double, triple, triple was a joke! (I hope). just like the scene in centerstage....they try to be ever so posh and ballerinaish! Well, the german girl was nice, but meeting only germans wasn't my plan!
oh well.
Gotta go soon to get Marie. thank god it stopped raining. My shoes are still soaked from this morning....

It's getting better and better! Now I start to feel like I know what I am doing... and living in London seems perfectly normal now (at least most of the time ;))
I managed to order two new glasses at specsavers, I am so happy! My poor, oxygen-deprived eyes!
Apart from that it's a lazy day for me again. I can't be bothered to leave the house really! Marie seemed a bit gloomy this morning, I am so used to seeing her happy and smily. I hope she will be more like her old self when she comes home...

Getting settled

After a week, I am finally starting to feel settled down. Of course, my duties are still a bit vague to me as far as the housework is concerned, but I am having a lot of quality time with the kids. I luuuuurve Marie, she is the sweetest little girl ever (shared with Emily).
Today I posted my application for the university college oxford open day and booked a train ticked - I am so excited about this. Actually having lunch INSIDE a college, how cool... I will also pop in at some other colleges...