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Hello my wonderful little rats. Iâm back, and since Guy Fawkes Night and 5th week blues are long gone, I officially declare it Oxmas. Wahoo!!
Onto the qualms of the week:
Hi, Agony aunt. Where are the best libraries? My college library is dank and not in the good way?
Hi bestie, the best library is in your heart <3
So, this is a question I have been asking people relentlessly this week, so youâre either psychic or just one of my mates being funny. But my college libraries (St Anneâs) are not that dank, theyâre rather pleasant and modern; the same bloke who designed the telephone box designed Hartland House (old lib), whilst Annesâ new library was built in 2017 and is so nice and warm because of its modern heating system. Despite me insisting that the new library looks like a Minecraft block, its exterior continues to threaten me with its existence, which I admit Iâve got to respect the gall.
My fav libraries in Oxford (as an English student with ADHD who needs to both sit for hours and ponder, whilst simultaneously getting up to walk about every 5 minutes):
Gladstone Link:
– So beautiful and wonderful. Hides me away from prying eyes. Definition of a liminal space, lets me forget that Iâm in Oxford and relax for a moment. Has a specific smell which is quite nostalgia-inducing for some reason. Links the Old Bod and the Rad Cam, which is legend behaviour and canât be replicated.
Old Bod:
– Pro: Feels like a fun maze.
– Another pro: If you go on the wrong side for the common room (the left entrance is the common room side, thank me later) you get a nice workout walking around the entire building pretending youâre a supermodel.
– Pro (again): The common room has a sweet shelf of books and is a great place to snarf down a Boots meal deal.
– Yet another pro: Connected to the Gladstone Link⊠Iconic.
Weston Library:
– You canât work in here unless you want a very specific book and love writing in pencil on paper. Used to be ugly and boring according to Wikipedia. Built at the same time as St Anneâs old library, that bloke apparently experimented with Anneâs to make this one.
– But itâs so nice. I wish studying there didnât require so much sacrifice. Feel like Iâm showing off to the tourists swinging my bod card around, and the cafĂ© is fab so actually 10/10.
Taylorian:
– Fell in love with the lady on the service desk here the other day. Library is nice too.
Radcliffe Camera:
– The ground floor is hell and the dryers in the toilets sound like an aeroplane taking off. But the funky spiral staircase up to the top, and then the smaller, cuter spiral staircases to even higher up?? Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.
– Pro: Connected to Gladstone Link.
– Seems like the perfect place for a game of bogies.
Continuing Education library:
– Continuing Education has a cafe and I love cafes. Also this place makes me feel young which I appreciate. Iâll also shout out anyone from Harris Manchester, you keep being in your golden years xxx :))))))
American Institute:
– Big and shiny, hidden. Oooh pretty garden. Where are the toilets? Hidden.
English Faculty Library:
– Hell on earth. Weird and smells wrong, unlike the Gladstone Link which smells lovely.
– Actually not that bad, just kind of feels like a call centre. Or that someoneâs going to jump out and announce that youâre on a hidden camera show.
Okay, hope this helped your search.
If not, just go to the main desk of your college library and ask them. Your college librarians are 100% more intelligent than me, brownin the agengy Ant.
Good luck,
brownin the agengy Ant
Iâm super homesick and I canât deal. Iâm a visiting student from the US and being away from my family for Thanksgiving sucks so bad what do I do
Hello,
My first advice is to find the other visiting students from America and throw a party together! There are so many Americans at Anneâs, so I might be a little biased, but just go to the new Wendyâs and youâll find them, gathered in ritual.
Or go to the Oxford American society, I bet itâs alright. Like my fellow Geordies always say, âShy bairns get nowt!â which means give it a go. If you donât ask anyone, then youâre guaranteed a lonely holiday. If you ask and get rejected by absolutely everyone, first of all contact me as I will hang out with you, but second of all you would not be losing anything as Thanksgiving by yourself was always a baseline.
But I know how hard it can be, feeling homesick and like nothing can replace the memories from home. Thereâs a little bit of grief for the life youâve left behind, and accepting that those memories are in the past and wonât happen again can feel like a punch to the gut. Try and make new memories, take lots of pictures, and make this time in Oxford count for something beyond just academic credit.
All the best
Bronwyn
My friends keep making fun of my accent
Same!!! But in a nice way, I thinkâŠ
My advice is to make fun of them back, I mean really go all out and exaggerate it. My favourite way to make fun of Londoners when they pick on my Geordie accent or the way I say âbookâ (like this: âbooh-kâ) is just to pretend they sound like the Artful Dodger, me old china plate. Very funny yet it only makes me laugh. But oh, how I do laugh.
Bron
hey bronwyn how do i say sorry? i made a bad first impression on someone, and instead of breaking the ice i froze it over and created a big glacier. HELP!
Hiya pal
Thatâs so rough. Maybe you could just move to another city.
Usually, people arenât that bothered. But when youâve royally screwed-up what could have been a lovely friendship, my genuine advice would be to leave it. Maybe they just donât like you, and thatâs ok. There are lots of other people out there who need a friend, so put your energy into those people rather than the person who sorta rejected you. What could happen if you tried really hard to impress them and win them over? After loads of effort they could still be like âmehâ. So just move on, take it in your stride and go touch some grass.
Love, Bronwyn
***
Alright! So thatâs the end of this weekâs column. Not sure anyone reads this bit so Iâm just going to mention that Little Mixâs new Greatest Hits album, Between Us, was released last Friday, the 12th of November. Their new single âNoâ is chefâs kiss and very catchy, so give it a look, especially if you havenât heard anything from them since Shout Out to My Ex. Speaking of Shout Outs, shout out to the guys at Ace tea, we are an exclusive club of weirdos with wonderful names xxx
Got a problem? Hard to describe? Are you lonely? Filled with regret? Do you lie awake at night, pondering the logical inconsistencies of the 2007 direct-to-dvd movie âBratz: Fashion Pixiezâ? Do you really still think about how Olivia didnât invite you to her birthday party in Year 9, right after you had invited her to yours? Are you constipated? Submit your question HERE! Or if youâre seeing this in print, you canât click the link. Just yell your question out your window at 3am on a Thursday. I will hear it in my dreams, and send you a dream-message back.
