Midsummer Madness

What a week! I feel like today is the first day this week that I can actually sit down and relax. I knew that work was going to be full-on, but had no idea that I'd be coming home completely exhausted every evening. The first week of the courses that I'm teaching are always hard and after 5 months off it's taken me a while to get back into teaching mode, which hasn't helped. I also have a very difficult class and have had words with them on a number of occasions already. Hopefully this week will be a little better.

Yesterday I went to London for the day. The combination of warm weather (which they're calling a heatwave in the tabloids - hah!) and England playing in the quarter finals of the World Cup seemed to give the city an air of madness. It was also Euro Gay Pride, so amongst the throngs of diehard England fans (who must be feeling depressed today given that England lost) crowding every pub around Soho and surrounding areas were drag queens and shirtless gay posers. Quite a combination!

My main reason for going to London was to go to a performance at the Globe Theatre. Standing tickets in the yard are only £5 and if yesterday's performance is anything to go by the yard is definitely the place to be. I saw Titus Andronicus, which apparently was Shakespeare's most violent and experimental play. It was definitely violent - a story of mutilation, rape, murder and revenge - and there were some pretty gory scenes. It was fantastic though and an amazing experience. Am now planning on going to see Anthony & Clepoatra and The Comedy of Errors.

Today I'm spending the day with Sophie, Carmine and Grace. Carmine was in London this morning doing some run, so Sophie and I took Grace to the Cowley Road festival. Cowley Road is Oxford's most diverse area - very different from the Oxford that most visitors see.

Back to work tomorrow...