Oxford and the Goblet of Fire

So, as the weeks have passed I have become bogged down with the routine of school, work, sleep, and more work. I guess no matter where you are, there is some routine that you eventually get trapped in. Everyday I return to the office, I feel like I just left. There is nothing like working in Parliament. However, at the end of the day, it is still work! However, in the past few weeks I have had a few more politician citing. I have seen:

-David Cameron (Conservative Party Leader- Rival to Tony Blair)
-George Galloway (MP- Recently involved in controversy surrounding his choice to be on Celebrity Big Brother)
-Geoff Hoon- Speaker of the House
-George Osbourne- Shadow Treasury Secretary

It is definitely exciting to see these high profile people everyday at work. One thing it has made me realize is that they are just people. It is odd to see these people on TV in the chamber and then sit next to them at lunch.

Today, the program director, Alex Boughton brought us all to the world famous Oxford University for a policy study visit. We received a lecture from a few Oxford professors and toured around the town/campus. The university is antiquated in every sense. The architecture is extremely beautiful (I use this word too much but it's so true). In addition, the libraries have books that have accumulated dust for hundreds of years. We had the pleasure of hearing a lecture from a famous professor of elections. He told us a great story about how met Sir Winston Churchill at 25 years of age. Churchill, once figuring out how old he was, boasted.."You better hurry up boy. You are falling behind.. Napoleon was only 26 when he approached the banks of the Rhine!" I found this be hilarious. Thinking about conversing with such a powerful and interesting man like Churchill is not something most people get to brag about. He seemed like a rather humble man. The other lecture was on Tony Blair vs. Gordon Brown in the struggle for premiership and what fundamental differences would be exemplified by a Brown premiership.

The structure of classes at Oxford is very cool. The students have regular lecture twice a week. However, the part that strikes me, is that they have a tutorial every week with the professor, which consists of 2 students with a professor in their office. He asks them questions on the application of the material and expands on it. I know this sounds like office hours in the American system but it seems really intense/useful for getting the brain thinking about the material. I often find in the American system that teachers spit out the material in lecture, students write it down, and then close their notebooks and don't think about what they have just heard until the final. Ultimately, studying for finals is extremely painful because you have to re-learn all of the material instead of taking the time to learn each peace separately. It doesn't make sense to me but I fall victim to this as well. Oxford was a very cool experience and I'm happy I got to see one of the most famous institutions of education in the world. This program really does provide us with some great opportunities.

Tomorrow I am off to the constituency with my Member of Parliament to do some canvassing for a local district council candidate, Angela Barker. We are also going to go to a surgery in Houghton Conquest. Surgeries are where MP's meet with their constituents to hear their concerns. It sounds like a very beneficial and effective feature of the British Political system but I will save me judgments for after I see it in person. I am ready to escape London for a bit and see middle England. Farmers, fresh air, and politics...always a favorite combination of mine. I will update soon after I return from the constituency. Signing off.