Well, I went to Washington DC last weekend. I stayed with Hayley Mirek (friend from Oxford), at The George Washington University. I left after work on Friday, at about 6:00pm. Just as we got into Philadelphia, the bus driver took a narrow corner and side-swiped a parked car, causing it to move a substantial amount. [...]
I am pleased to announce that I will be coming home to Boston for several days before leaving for Texas. It was actually much cheaper to do this than it was to try and fly to Austin all at once. Much furthermore, it will be good to see friends and family.
I will be back in [...]
This writing is in response to a lecture panel which spoke on the topic of “Climate Change: Manageable Problem or Looming Catastrophe.” The seminar, part of a series offered by the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute for Hilary Term 2008, was given by speakers Lord Dick Taverne of the House of Lords, John Gummer of [...]
On a whim I took a 26 hour bus trip up to Aberdeen, Scotland. I did an 18km hike southward along the North Sea, and learned a bit about the oil industry here. The sea is beautiful, and the people have been very nice. Thanks to Olivier and Victoria for letting me stay with them!
This page is a follow up on my previous blog entry, a proposed travel itinerary. This is a second pass for travel plans for this winter break, many of which have actually been booked at this point.
Well, I just finished my first Oxford tutorial - on Linear Algebra. This being the case, I thought perhaps I would ask myself “What is Linear Algebra?” and then try to explain it a bit, so that someone might be able appreciate what is I’ve been doing with my life for the past two months.
Better [...]
The last ten days or so have been exciting ones. This post is mostly informative / a jog of my recollection, but has pictures for once, which should be appreciated by the reader! But they take forever to load because I still haven’t set up my image hosting properly due to lack of time. So [...]
This page is about plans for my travel over winter break from Oxford, from 4 December, 2007 to 10 January, 2008.
Travel Goals
My goals for these travels are as follows:
See the English countryside, Aberdeen, and Dublin.
See the fjords, mountains, and glaciers of Norway.
Go to the Arctic Circle.
Hang out in Venice for a few days
See Zurich, Geneve, [...]
I recently received a letter from a British organization informing me that I was under investigation for having not purchased a TV license. This was my response:
Mail Recipient of John Hales
National Enforcement Division
TV Licensing
Bristol, England
Dear sir or madame:
I am an American who is visiting Oxford for the year. I was contacted by post a few [...]
I’ve been working on this site a lot, and the last few posts have been technical in nature. I must employ you, my humble and typical daily blog reader, to forgive me of this tomfoolery. Indeed, just as the setting of the pale and wanton stars of summer sky do then grace us with autumn [...]