a late night

Well it's 12am here, but I'm trying to hold out until 1:30am when some of us are getting together to watch the presidential debate. It's supposed to be on until 4 but I doubt I'll make it until then. This time difference thing can get pretty annoying, and it's only going to get worse when the US has daylight savings. Today I saw the sun shine! It was a beautiful day in Oxford!! We had a meeting on English customs this morning which was very interesting. They say that Engand, like Japan, is made up of reserved people because it is a small, crowded island. The English don't wish to intrude on anyone's privacy, so many mistake them as rude, snobbish or cold. Except for my flatmate Sophie, who is extremely friendly. The speaker also mentioned that none of the English have front porches, because that would mean they'd have to say hello to people whenever they walked past. As Bob, our American-turned-English speaker, put it, "Inside each Englishman is a little American trying to get out ... if you get close enough, maybe when you're dancing or something, you may see a hand waving up his throat." We learned a few other interesting things about England, and then we had a lecture on English politics, which was more confusing than interesting. Later in the afternoon we had a tour of several museums. It was mainly just so we could see where they were and what they were about so we could visit in the future. But Oxford has got some amazing museums, and most of them are free. I finally bought some real groceries, but didn't realize that the store was so far away from my flat. My arms were aching from carrying the bags. But I could get into the whole buying my own groceries thing, this living on my own deal isn't so bad ... My Dad informed me that Oxford is actually made up of 39 colleges. Each "college" is actually just one big, castlelike building. I really don't see how they hold all the classes and students in just one building. I guess that is why so many students live in town. Tomorrow I will receive my orientation at New College, which is the college I'll be attending. According to Dad New College was established in 1348 to educate scholars to replace the priests that were wiped out by the Black Plague that year. Speaking of the Black Plague, that is one of the reasons why they suggest that the English are so pessimistic. Because over half of their population was wiped out at one time. Some famous person who's name I can't remember said something about how the English have a sense of the tragedy of life while the Americans have a sense of life's unlimited possibilities. And now I'm off to prepare for a night of debates.

settling in

Woke up to rain today. So now it really feels like England. I'm not sure if I could ever live here permanently, I miss the sun already! Rain around here isn't like storms or showers, it's just there all around you, and an umbrella is merely an extension of your body. So anyway, busy day today. We had meetings in the morning on living in Oxford. Took a break for lunch. On Wednesdays there's this open market in the center of town. You can get anything from fresh fruit to CDs and shoes. We came back to more meetings on art and architecture. Then they took us out on short tours of the city. Oxford University is actually made up of, I think 14, colleges. So the city is pretty much just these colleges with streets and shops in between them. There are just so many old buildings it's hard to keep track of all the names. Its a crowded city, but there aren't many cars. Just people walking everywhere. And the streets and sidewalks are narrow. So you've got a ton of people, all carry umbrellas ... yeah, things get tight sometimes. We got to take a quick peek in New College, which is the college I'm going to. And the Bodlein library (that might not be spelled right) which is where I'll be doing most of my studying. We also saw gardens, a formal dining hall (where they will be filming Harry Potter, Christ's Church (another college in Oxford), the Thames River and cows. Yeah, right outside of the city. It was kind of weird. Apparently Madgelan College raises deer in their park for the students to eat too. After our tour we all went back to the office for snacks and, of course, free drinks. Then we went to yet another pub (the city is pretty much made up of them) for free appetizers and yet even more free drinks. The weird thing is we go out at 5, so at 7:30 we don't know what to do. And most people are drunk by then anyway. The pubs close at 11 during the week so I'm assuming there's not much late-night life. Which suits me just fine. Another group went back out tonight, but I decided to just spend the evening back at the flat, since it's the first time I've been here all day. We found a grocery story, unfortunately it was closing in 5 minutes, so I had just enough time to grab milk, cereal and bread. We got back here and finally met our British flatmate. She is adorable, and contrary to what they say about the Brits, very friendly. She's not even a student or from Oxford. I guess she's already graduated and teaches primary school from 8-6 every day. My roommate arrived today, she's from Eastern. And the other two girls have apparently been here for the whole month and are traveling Europe with their group this week. Their from Azusa Pacific, which is a Christian school, and as Sophie (my British flatmate) describes them "very nice, very Christian, they don't drink." So Mom you will be pleased to know that 3 of my 5 flatmates are from Christian schools and we may even assume are Christian. And with that I'm going to close.

hello Oxford!

Well, I made it safe and sound! The plane took off around 7pm, and we reached London at 6:30am (1:30am EST). So I didn't get any sleep and I don't think I will. Once we got to London the sun was just beginning to rise again. We had to fly over the airport a few times, and the sky was just one, huge blanket of clouds. I just wanted to lay down and sleep on them. We had to wait over an hour at customs. But we were able to find a bus easily, which took us to Oxford, where we caught a taxi to the OSAP office and to our flat. So I just got here about 20 min ago (like 10:30). No one else is here at the moment but it looks like at least two other girls have already moved in. I think there's 6 of us, and one of the girls is from Eastern, she's coming tomorrow. It's like a townhouse, long and skinny. My room is on the third floor overlooking the street. Not the cleanest digs, kind of raunchy in fact but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I think i'm going to meet the Eastern kids in a few hours, and then at 5 we have a party or something for all of us at the office. We have a full schedule planned for the rest of the week, and then a free weekend, which I don't know what I'll do over. And lucky for me there's free drinks at all the functions!! haha, we'll see how that goes... But for now I must unpack.

vaya con Dios

Well it's my last night at home for a while. I've been scurrying around doing laundry, packing, giving my dad power over all of my life aspects, gathering together every piece of cash I have and voting for our next president. (In case you're unaware there will be an election this November and I hope that all my friends living away from home have requested their absentee ballots.) Besides emptying the penny jar, my mom helped me out with a yard sale yesterday (which was extremely successful) and tomorrow my dad and I are taking aluminum cans to be recycled. Jared complained that the money from those is supposed to go to him, but I told him he should be advocating any source of financial income for me at this point since it could be the difference of a plastic ornament or the soccer shirt he asked me to get him for Christmas.
I'm also trying to give some last minute instructions like "remember to water my plants and feed my fish" or "please don't pile clothes and mail up on my bed for the next 3 months." My one big concern was that my family would pick out a sissy Christmas tree without me there to push for my usual big one. We settled that by deciding to use the one next to the drive way. So we still got to pick out our tree "as a family" and I got my big, full one (except for a hole in the side where one of the boys ran over with with the lawn mower years ago.)
My two classes will be "Jane Austen" and a psychology one on "Human Behavior and Relationships" which I'm hoping will count towards my Relational Communications major, although I was hoping to change that to Public Relations. Nevertheless, it should be interesting. Anyway, this nice thing is I shouldn't have to buy too many books since I already own all of Austen's.
Dad and Micah are taking me to the airport tomorrow where I should fly out at 7pm and arrive in London at 7am. Mom has to work, plus she'd be too emotional to bring along. So farewell until I find the time and means to write in Oxford! Take care, write often and vote Bush!!

pop quiz!

Upon hearing of my studying abroad this coming semester the most common response made by others is:
a.) oh, that's neat
b.) Oxford? Now where's that?
c.) I hope you meet a nice, British boy!
d.) you'll never come back

Although I have heard all of the above, the most frequent response is (surprisingly) b. To which I simply reply, "Oh, somewhere in England."

still here

Today Andi left for Austria, and Jori left for Ireland, Jill left for Spain last weekend, ... and I am left behind. I don't know if I can handle two more weeks of this!! I have this insatiable desire to start packing, which would be pointless since I'd keep unpacking stuff that I need over the next two weeks, so I'm not even allowing myself to bring out the suitcases, although I do have lists of everything I will be taking, or think I'll be taking ... Still haven't figured out how I'm going to fit it all in. Let me know your mailing addresses if you want a postcard between now and Christmas!

my flat in Oxford

oxford

contact information

For those of you who wish to write or call, my address will be:21 Walton Well Rd, Oxford, OX2 6EA, England. My telephone number is (0) 185 426 074. When dialing from the US you must first dial 011 44 then 1865 (and drop the 0). Also keep in mind that Oxford is 5 hours later than the East Coast. Only 3 more weeks!!