You know those moments when all your tutorials are going wrong; your pathetic attempts at ball planning are just that– pathetic; and you once again are notified of an engagement from your high school class? Well, it is those moments that I play “Empire State of Mind” on repeat. I become quite nostalgic for my hometown, my mom, and a certain vegan cupcake shop downtown.
This week marked the beginning of Hilary Term (better known as the term without SUN) at Oxford. And instead of basking in academic bliss, I have been experiencing one of those existentialist crises I have a tendency to go through at the beginning of the new year. Something about excessive amounts of rain and the disappearance of the Starbucks red Christmas cups makes me question all my life’s choices. Of course, to add to the insanity, I then go to the Oxford Museum of Modern Art and watch “Werckmeister Harmonies,” a 2000 Hungarian film that provides some of the most beautiful and self-reflexive visuals in cinematic history. And these visuals– in all their black and white glory– make me hungry. Hungry for Spanish tapas, but also for change– to be the change I hope to see in the world. Yes, clearly I have spent far too much time with Nelson Mendela this last few months.
And while I don’t want to write a self-deprecating rant about an ungrateful Jewish American Princess, I feel like I need my New York. My Wellesley roommate refers to these symptoms as the “New York drug fix” ones. An honestly, the city is like a drug. Once you start, you can never really leave.
Since I am planning a New York-themed ball, one would expect that my fix would be satiated. Only it isn’t that simple, especially when event organizers suggest that the way to truly Gothamize the ball is with an ice sculpture of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue isn’t even technically in New York waters; it kind of hovers between the Big Apple and the Garden State. And Lord knows, a “Jersey Shore”-themed ball would hardly be classy. However, if all else fails, I am planning on intoxicating all the ball attendees and creating the Oxford edition of my favorite MTV show.
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