The college library at St. Antonyrsquo;s used to be a chapel. It is now a beautiful library - the frescoes have been preserved, though, which makes for some very distracting reading, while you focus on the beautiful artwork on the walls.There is something socialist about turning a chapel into a library, and it goes well with the history of the College as a popular spot for those who wanted to study Rusology during the Cold War. While in other colleges, chapels are used to attract tourists and are therefore restored to their original shape, ours is quite utilitarian in nature and quite exclusive on top of all that.

The odd thing about the library, and St. Antonyrsquo;s Library is no exception to the other 38 college libraries in Oxford, is that you need to swipe your student card to be able to enter. I think I blogged about this before - How strange it felt to have exclusive access to a building that should normally accomodate everyone. Everyone, that is, who has been granted access to use the facilities, and everyone who is a member of St. Antonyrsquo;s College.

The other strange thing about the Library is that it contains, in the collection, donated books from the personal libraries of some of the most well-known international relations thinkers, Hedley Bull being one example. Itrsquo;s a little breathtaking to randomly find books signed by Bull, especially since he is put on a pedestal in the English school of IR. I feel as if these should be put in a glass case somewhere, so the ink and notes on the inside donrsquo;t fade away.

I do like the chapel-turned-into-a-library idea, even if Irsquo;m constantly distracted by Biblical scenes on the wall that I hadnrsquo;t noticed before.

I was pleasantly surprised over my holiday break to find out my good friend Holly was off to Japan on an exchange trip to Japan, which sounded amazing! Holly is in a group with other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as well as other Canadians, along with some French young professionals, and their Japanese counterparts, and will be touring Japan. What an excellent way of spending the last few months of Newfoundland winter! Herersquo;s the blog of Hollyrsquo;s group. Irsquo;m looking forward to the news updates and stories from the land of the rising sun!

I was pleasantly surprised over my holiday break to find out my good friend Holly was off to Japan on an exchange trip to Japan, which sounded amazing! Holly is in a group with other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as well as other Canadians, along with some French young professionals, and their Japanese counterparts, and will be touring Japan. What an excellent way of spending the last few months of Newfoundland winter! Herersquo;s the blog of Hollyrsquo;s group. Irsquo;m looking forward to the news updates and stories from the land of the rising sun!

As is probably obvious, renting in Oxford is a bit of a problem. Rent is sky-high, if yoursquo;re lucky to find a nice place that you can afford.

When I got here in October, I was guaranteed College housing at St. Antonyrsquo;s, since I was a first-year student. Since I will finish my first year in a couple of monthsrsquo; time, I will no longer be eligible for College housing. So. in the last three weeks, Muneera, Tania, a friend of Taniarsquo;s and myself decided we would look for a place to rent in the fall.

Summertown and Jericho, Oxfordrsquo;s posh neighbourhoods, have been the neighbourhoods we looked at the most. This is the safe, quiet, green part of Oxford, where cute independent fashion stores and small candy shops adorn both sides of the streetwalks.

So far, the places wersquo;ve looked at are all 1900 pounds and morehellip;Shared between us, the rent is about 475 pounds, plus the bills. Thatrsquo;s about CAD$1000/month for a room.

Wersquo;re going to see three houses on Monday. Irsquo;ll post an update if we decide to go for one of them.

It turns out, I passed! Celebrations began last night with a trip to Gamp;Drsquo;s, a local ice cream parlour, with Mun and Tania - Mun and I are done with Stats! Life begins now!*

*Actually, life will begin after April 23rd, when my other, Qualifying Test (a 3-hour writing exam to test our knowledge of International Relations), is done and over with. Until then, all is well!

If I survive this upcoming Tuesdayrsquo;s statistics exam, I will be the happiest person on Earth, for at least a week.

I woke up this morning to a BBC Radio report about the Cougar helicopter crash off the coast of Newfoundland yesterday. Apparently, 16 members of the crew of an oil rig are still missing in the water, the helicopter is now at the bottom of the sea, and there are speculations the crew may have been trapped in the helicopter.

They came from all parts of the province, on their way to another shift on the rig. I feel sad for the families and friends of the 16, at this time when sorrow can make things no better. My thoughts are with them.

Righthellip;I write this while preparing for a ludicrous Statistics exam I have on Tuesday. I am confident I will pass and all will be well, but thinking about it stresses me out, on top of the thesis topic planning Irsquo;ve had to do this term, as well as learn about the groundbreaking IR theories that Irsquo;d never come across during my BA. Irsquo;m sure Irsquo;ll be grateful for it all soon, but right now, I just want to have enough time to explore my thesis topic.

For readers from home, yoursquo;ll be pleased to know that next Saturday night, wersquo;re having the first Newfie night of the year - wersquo;re being exclusive this time, so only the small circle of four Newfoundlanders and one Labradorian (of 8 normally in Oxford - the other 3 are off in Nigeria, Ottawa, and some other exciting place) will be therehellip;Wersquo;re celebrating Oxford/Newfie style - going to a pub for a meal, and the hardcore ones will go for pints and pints of beer.

Hilary term has probably been the busiest one yet - IR theory took some time to grasp. In fact, I am still working on some of the concepts and paradigms.

I joined a number of volunteer positions, and that in itself has been keeping me busy, but for friends and family who know me, you knew this would happen eventually. I took your warnings to heart, but I couldnrsquo;t resist getting involved with things that inspire me to feel like Irsquo;m doing something other than studying, reading, and writing:

1. I became the JCR (Junior Common Room - similar to Student Union for MUN, but at the college level) Social Action Coordinator for St. Antonyrsquo;s College, which was delightful, in that I now have the freedom to organize and coordinate any social justice-related events that I want. Yes, I take pleasure in doing small things. We had a great March 8th social action day, where we invited a guest speaker to come and talk about womenrsquo;s rights groups in Zimbabwe, we fundraised for a hospital treating women survivors of rape in DRC, and then spent the afternoon writing letters on behalf of detained, abused, arrested female activists around the world.


2. Following point 1 above, I started an Amnesty group at St. Antonyrsquo;s College. I am excited about our own letter-writing and action-taking group meeting (every Wednesday night after dinner!).


3. I joined the Rhodes Ball Committee. The Committee organizes the Rhodes Ball, which is on May 16th, and is one of the most exclusive balls in Oxford, since only Rhodes House staff and Rhodes scholars and their dates are allowed to buy tickets. Since I was the last to join the Committee, I was given the ldquo;amazingrdquo; task of decorating Rhodes House for one of the flashiest, most elegant, and most exclusive balls in Oxford. I feel a little unskilled for this task, and am slightly nervous, but I have a few ideas that I suggested to the group, and so far they liked it. The perks of being in the Committee include a ldquo;sampling dinnerrdquo;, where I get to have a full meal and decide if the guests would like it. For those who drink, a ldquo;sample drinkingrdquo; night is also organized. The group is made up of some great people, including a fellow Canadian from Winnipeg.


4. I became the co-editor of the May 2010 issue of St. Antonyrsquo;s International Review journal. The issue will focus on secessionist movements and the politics, legality, history, sociology and philosophy of the concept. This one will require a lot of work later this year, and I am actually looking forward to the abstracts and the papers wersquo;ll receive. Itrsquo;s exciting to co-edit a journal issue on one of my favourite IR topics.

I also recently started going to gym every day. The routine has actually made me appreciate the re-energizing effect of an hour of physical fitnesshellip; I need to change my ipod playlist, though - you can only listen to the same music so many times.

Righthellip;I write this while preparing for a ludicrous Statistics exam I have on Tuesday. I am confident I will pass and all will be well, but thinking about it stresses me out, on top of the thesis topic planning Irsquo;ve had to do this term, as well as learn about the groundbreaking IR theories that Irsquo;d never come across during my BA. Irsquo;m sure Irsquo;ll be grateful for it all soon, but right now, I just want to have enough time to explore my thesis topic.

For readers from home, yoursquo;ll be pleased to know that next Saturday night, wersquo;re having the first Newfie night of the year ndash; wersquo;re being exclusive this time, so only the small circle of four Newfoundlanders and one Labradorian (of 8 normally in Oxford ndash; the other 3 are off in Nigeria, Ottawa, and some other exciting place) will be therehellip;Wersquo;re celebrating Oxford/Newfie style ndash; going to a pub for a meal, and the hardcore ones will go for pints and pints of beer.

Hilary term has probably been the busiest one yet ndash; IR theory took some time to grasp. In fact, I am still working on some of the concepts and paradigms.

I joined a number of volunteer positions, and that in itself has been keeping me busy, but for friends and family who know me, you knew this would happen eventually. I took your warnings to heart, but I couldnrsquo;t resist getting involved with things that inspire me to feel like Irsquo;m doing something other than studying, reading, and writing:

1. I became the JCR (Junior Common Room ndash; similar to Student Union for MUN, but at the college level) Social Action Coordinator for St. Antonyrsquo;s College, which was delightful, in that I now have the freedom to organize and coordinate any social justice-related events that I want. Yes, I take pleasure in doing small things. We had a great March 8th social action day, where we invited a guest speaker to come and talk about womenrsquo;s rights groups in Zimbabwe, we fundraised for a hospital treating women survivors of rape in DRC, and then spent the afternoon writing letters on behalf of detained, abused, arrested female activists around the world.


2. Following point 1 above, I started an Amnesty group at St. Antonyrsquo;s College. I am excited about our own letter-writing and action-taking group meeting (every Wednesday night after dinner!).


3. I joined the Rhodes Ball Committee. The Committee organizes the Rhodes Ball, which is on May 16th, and is one of the most exclusive balls in Oxford, since only Rhodes House staff and Rhodes scholars and their dates are allowed to buy tickets. Since I was the last to join the Committee, I was given the ldquo;amazingrdquo; task of decorating Rhodes House for one of the flashiest, most elegant, and most exclusive balls in Oxford. I feel a little unskilled for this task, and am slightly nervous, but I have a few ideas that I suggested to the group, and so far they liked it. The perks of being in the Committee include a ldquo;sampling dinnerrdquo;, where I get to have a full meal and decide if the guests would like it. For those who drink, a ldquo;sample drinkingrdquo; night is also organized. The group is made up of some great people, including a fellow Canadian from Winnipeg.


4. I became the co-editor of the May 2010 issue of St. Antonyrsquo;s International Review journal. The issue will focus on secessionist movements and the politics, legality, history, sociology and philosophy of the concept. This one will require a lot of work later this year, and I am actually looking forward to the abstracts and the papers wersquo;ll receive. Itrsquo;s exciting to co-edit a journal issue on one of my favourite IR topics.

I also recently started going to gym every day. The routine has actually made me appreciate the re-energizing effect of an hour of physical fitnesshellip; I need to change my ipod playlist, though ndash; you can only listen to the same music so many times.

A friend, flatmate (yes, Irsquo;ve switched from ldquo;roommaterdquo; to ldquo;flatmaterdquo;), and fellow Rhodie posted a note on Facebook today, quoting the following things as the things she likes about Oxford: ldquo;trains, no atm fees, crocuses, crumpets, snowdrops, snowfights, rolling green hills, warm custard, dreaming spires, vegetarian food everywhere, cream tea, tea breaks in lecture, tea breaks after dinner, tea breaks anytime, really quincentenniary anything.rdquo;

There are many things Irsquo;ve grown to like in Oxford. Among the many and perhaps the best is the amazing, pink-orange-red sunset that reminds me how fortunate and privileged I am to be here.

In no particular order, I am really enjoying the following things about Oxford:

Going to random cultural theme nights - In the last four weeks, therersquo;s been a Jazz Night, Indian Society Night, Aussie Night, Brazilian Night, etc. etc.;

Meeting people who know what I mean when I quote arbitrary arrests, detentions, extrajudicial executions, etc. Itrsquo;s amazing how much time it saves in a discussion. This point also goes well with:

Discussing the problems of the world at dance parties;

Meeting people who vehemently disagree with my idea of the problems in the world. Itrsquo;s great to have your views challenged by people who are truly convinced in their views and have the intellectual capabilities to back it up;

Searching for practically any book on history, politics, or diplomacy of the Balkans and finding out that a copy is available somewhere in Oxford;

Hearing the locals complain about the weather - It makes me feel slightly nostalgic, but mostly happy to be here, where 5 degrees Celsius is verging on cold.

Having everything Irsquo;ve learned until now challenged in ways I never thought possible - Most of the time, I feel like I know very little, when professors challenge my thoughts and knowledge. I turn red, take note, and rush home to research what I just heard. Whoever said it was right - Oxford is the place where your best is not good enough;

Being able to bike everywhere I want and knowing that there IS a bike lane for it. There is much respect for cyclists here, or, put another way, proportionately more respect than in St. Johnrsquo;s;

Attending talks by experts in all sorts of fields in a room with only 20 other people. In the last five months, Irsquo;ve heard Richard Dawkins, Mohammed Younnis, Joachim Ruecker, Chris Patton. I missed out on Joschka Fischer and Gordon Brown;

Having the chance to apply for travel scholarships aimed at helping my ldquo;self-discoveryrdquo;;

Hearing Brits talking when in centretown (another one - no more ldquo;downtownrdquo;) - Add good grammar (not a big thing here, surprisingly), and you have an amazing combinationhellip;

hellip;more to come.

I am still getting used to the idea of being surrounded by Albanian speakers, after spending such a long time in an English-only community. At yesterdayrsquo;s Kosovar independence anniversary celebrations in London, I was literally overwhelmed [in a good way]. I was invited to a function organized by the Kosovar Embassy in London, where, it appeared, staff from various embassies had come to socialize and of course, take advantage of the drinks and munchies [My Albanian-Canadian friend who is also in Oxford said the wine was very good]. What was even more comical was the fact that representatives of states that have NOT recognized Kosova as an independent state were sipping wine and greeting the Ambassador.

Then there was the second irony of it all: The Serbian Embassy organized a special event, inviting the members of embassies of various countries that had planned on coming to the Kosovar Embassy cocktails. It was not surprising that the Serbian government would do this, but that the staff of these various embassies would feel compelled to go to both - Kosova is celebrating a one-year anniversary, Serbia is hosting a guest speaker. Itrsquo;s disproportionately important, no?

Nevertheless, this minor issue did not matter much in the grand scheme of things. The room where the reception took place was so full, one could not even notice the consular staff who snuck out every few minutes.

There is something sweet, something bitter, something heartwarming in hearing onersquo;s mother tongue spoken in a group of people who are randomly talking about their last shopping trip, the awkward man they saw in the tube, or how disappointed they were at the 0:0 result of the Malta-Albania soccer game. I preferred to stand aside and listen to the random words pronounced and thrown around, until random passerss-by greeted me and we introduced ourselves.

My Albanian friend and I spent part of the afternoon meeting Kosovars and internationals, and then went to the Victoria amp; Albert to see various permanent exhibitions. A couple of hours later, we met his sister for dinner and had steak sandwiches in a pub in South Kensington, where a member of the staff was, you guessed it, Albanian.

We met a couple of other Albanian friends from Oxford at a tube station and made our way to an LSE party that featured live Kosovar folk music. IT WAS AMAZING! Men going crazy on the stage and kissing the flag, women belly dancing and performing traditional Kosovar dances, drunk young guys breaking glasses at random, the whole room echoing the lyrics of the songs sung - what else can one want?

I had such a wonderful day. I spent the declaration of independence glued to the TV, witnessing a moment that my grandfather could not have imagined would happen. I was honoured, pleased, happy, joyous, nostalgic, sad that I couldnrsquo;t be in Kosova then [I was writing my Honours dissertation]. This year, I am in Oxford and had little chance of being in Kosova once again, but going to London and meeting Albanian friends was a great alternative. Life is good.