Tutorials behind, Alps ahead

So, here I sit, 7:16 p.m. in my bed in my cozy little dorm-like room, preparing for my spring break trip to Germany and Switzerland. By preparing, I mean catching up on ugly betty and the office from last night and enjoying a warm, peanut butter, kit-kat cookie that my room mate just baked. 

Today, I had my last tutorial. Although last Thursday, I was pretty ecstatic to be done with my theology tutorial, the one today was a bit different. Well, we have been studying Romantic poetry for the past 8 weeks, and I have read hundreds of poems and written eight (stellar) essays on authors like Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley and Anna Barbauld. I have SO enjoyed time spent every week reading poetry, dissecting it, then talking with my amazing tutor about it. And we usually end up talking about random soap boxes, things like feminism (which is a good thing, in case you were wondering). Also, English essays are so fun to write. I get to put in my opinion, use lots of quotes from books and not be quite as serious as articles for the newspaper are. 

But anyway, a chapter of my Oxford experience closed today, sadly. I had my last tutorial at 9 a.m. today and left glad to be done, but also sad that my tutorial days are over. Also, the Oxford students are leaving this weekend because their terms is done, so I will miss observing their intellectual ways and snazzy fashion sense. 

After surviving 8 weeks of tutorial, I really feel like a changed student. Even tonight as I was watching Ugly Betty, she was asked at a dinner party to talk about the history of opera. As she was coming up with an educated answer about something she knew nothing about, I, weirdly, was too. Being with a professor who knows everything about the subject you're studying for an hour and asking sometimes crazy curve-ball questions can really help you think on your feet. At the end of these eight weeks, I feel more prepared to answer hard questions, to come up with questions and to not feel awkward sitting for a minute staring into your tutor's fireplace to come up with an intelligent answer. And sure, I failed answering questions a few times, but mostly, I tried my best and got the hang of it. I find myself not shying away from intellectual conversations and not relying so much on dictionary.com to give me a definition for a word or thought.

Now, with my tutorial experience conquered, I am off to conquer the wonders of southern Germany and Switzerland with two girlfriends. We will be traveling from Frankfurt to Heidleburg then to Munich for a few nights. Then, we are going to see the Neuschwanstein castle (aka Disney stole their castle architecture from this castle) then on to Thayngen, Switzerland. We are renting a car, so I'm super excited about a fun and scenic road trip! Wooh!