Science Officer's log - Michaelmas Term Week 2 (20/10-26/10)

 Week 2 was much less eventful than week 1. 

On Sunday, my day started with a bus ride to J's bar, a sports bar just outside Kassan stadium, home of Oxford United, which I had visited once before. I was there for a taster of the Oxford University Pool and Snooker club. I started playing pool after I moved to Oxford, and I played quite a few games with a couple of people at the bunker of my college's MCR. It's a cool game. It wouldn't challenge a Vulcan child ;) So I thought I might give the club a try, maybe get better at the game, and meet some people who might become new friends. 

 

Walking to J's bar, in horrible weather

 

I actually won my first ever game of American pool

This taster however, was a total bust. There was a cool aspect of it. I learned to play American pool (which, as it turns out, is different from British Pool, and played in a noticeably larger table). I even won my first game. And I played a game of Snooker which is played in a table so large I am convinced it is larger than the room I had growing up. Meeting new people though didn't go so well. The club's regulars looked like very skilled players but they weren't really interested in playing with or socializing with anyone new... So, after I'd have enough of the games, I caught the bus back to Oxford. That night I attended OUSFG's desert planet books, which is a traditional discussion session in which we vote for a list of 10 recommendations of great SFF books we would take with us to a desert island. I am speaker for the Speculative Group now, so I am trying to attend more of their events, especially seeing as I am not at evensong every weekend anymore. 

Snooker tables are huge

I loved the vibe of the bar, but the society event was a bit of a bust...

 

 

I had to cancel most of the stuff I had planned for this week because I caught a could and didn't really feel up to much besides my course load and lab work. I did go to Star Trek on Monday, where we watched The Offspring (TNG 3x16) and The Die is Cast (DS9 3x21), winners of the poll for the theme "episodes where someone disobeys a direct order from a superior". That was a good time. I also went to the MCR Black Tie dinner with a geust from OUSFG. I had mixed feelings about the experience, mostly because I don't usually enjoy the MCR community at Jesus. Whoever organized the dinner placed guests across from their hosts in the hall, which made conversation exceedingly difficult, especially as everything was so loud. My guest and eye retreated to the bunker after dinner, to play a board game, but our peace of mind lasted only for a few minutes before a group of 5 or 6 graduates barged in with drinks and proceeded to chat at a shouting tone over their wine glasses. 

On Friday, the Orchestra rehearsal took place at the Cohen quad, on Walton Street. The conductor didn't make it so it was short, but we made some progress and it even more low pressure than usual, so all was well. And Quidditch, on Saturday, was fine too, even though it was cold and muddy, and they freaked me out a little by saying that next week we'd need mouthguards, because it's supposed to be a full contact sport and we'll start tackling. I'm a little bit burned out by this bioinformatics course I've been taking, extremely exhausted from the cold,  and a little worried about my birthday next week. Hopefully things will start to look up soon. 

 

View from the terrace at Corpus Christi college after a post graduate brunch this Sunday