I'm beginning to understand why British people talk about the weather so frequently.
Today, for instance, the sun was shining this morning as we left for church. It was absolutely gorgeous on the ride home as well; but when we sat down for lunch, in the space of five minutes the clouds came and it rained steadily for about five minutes. And then the sun came back out, and it's lovely again! 

Last night, a lady from the church I'm going to here invited some girls from small group over to her flat for dinner. It was fine when we cycled down, but started pouring a half hour before we left. I felt like I had gained some kind of bragging rights by the time we got home, as all three of us were dripping wet. 

Speaking of church, I have been attending Headington Baptist Church since coming to Oxford, and am loving it there. In the past couple of weeks, I have gone to (and served at!) a church dinner, joined a small group, and have had the chance to mingle with non-students. I do love being around families! There are so many friendly people in the church, and overall there is a very homey feeling to it. I'm very grateful for finding a church so quickly! The church is much smaller than E Free or New City Fellowship, and it seems like everyone knows almost everyone else, as several people have walked up to me after services and said, "I don't think I recognize you, are you new here?" which is impressive on two levels - that they know people in the congregation enough to be able to tell when a visitor comes, and also that they are so welcoming when new people are there. 

As odd as this may sound, grocery shopping has also been really fun. I am in a food group, so three of us share dinner some nights a week, which has worked out nicely, as I have been making one big meal a week for the group (and then eat leftovers for lunch), and then I get fed two other nights! Since food storage is limited in The Vines, I usually go to the grocery store twice a week to pick up fruit and vegetables, and then to get whatever stuffs I need to make a meal. So far, I have discovered that Cilantro is called Coriander. I have heard of Coriander seeds being used in recipes, but I had no idea that they were the same thing as Cilantro! There are several grocery store options, the most popular being Tesco, the Food Cooperative, and Sainsbury's. I prefer the Food Cooperative, as it's close to church, and the ride back to The Vines is downhill, which is quite nice when you have groceries in your bike basket! 

For my C.S. Lewis tutorial this week, I am reading The Great Divorce. Looking over the notes I have been taking, I might as well just copy the book word-for-word; I want to quote almost everything that he writes! For Shakespeare, I am reading Richard II. Since my first Lewis tutorial was postponed, it feels like I have had two tutorials each week so far, and I am looking forward to next week and only having one. I love the homework (so much reading!! YES!!), but balance is always nice, too...



Here are a few pictures from the snow week that I took while walking home from lectures

 

On Snow and Digestives

For those of you wondering about Digestives, I am here to inform you that they are the most delicious British cookie you could possibly imagine. It is a possibility that great quantities of these have been consumed in Room 11. But just a possibility.

In other news, Oxford is covered in snow! Here is the view from my favorite nook of the house:

British snow is very wet, and the first day of the snow, I had forgotten my umbrella. After walking around in the wet for an hour or two, it had made a strong enough impression so that I have remembered to put my umbrella in my backpack before leaving every day since. I haven't taken any pictures while walking around Oxford, but seeing it snow-covered is like living in a postcard. The buildings are all so interesting and full of character that the snow makes it feel as if I had stepped into another era.

I wondered before I left the States if I would miss my car. (For those of you who don't know, that little blue Ford is probably the best car I can imagine myself driving, in spite of the overly loud engine and speakers that barely work. Really. I love that car.) However, walking around Oxford has been one of my favorite parts of being here. I love having time to think as I walk, and being able to pay closer attention to what's happening around me. The people-watching is amazing!

On Thursday, I had my first Shakespeare tutorial. I was nervous going into it, as I wasn't sure how to prepare properly, and I spent the morning anxiously revising my essay before walking down to Norham Gardens. However, as soon as I walked into the seminar room and sat down, I changed my mind about the need to be anxious, as the Shakespeare tutor is very personable and reachable. We started off chatting about my transition to Oxford, and then he seamlessly switched the topic into discussing Macbeth. During the hour long tutorial, we split who did the talking:  he would ask an open-ended question, and I would answer with what I found most interesting or relevant related to that topic, and he would follow that rabbit trail wherever it would lead. I appreciated how much the tutorial was centered around hammering out the ideas I had found while reading, and he gave positive and constructive criticism of the essay I had prepared. So encouraging! At the end of the session, he asked, "What would you like to read next week?" I've never had a professor ask me to choose any topic I wanted before, and I hadn't even thought about an answer, so we talked through different options, and when we decided on Julius Caesar, he gave me a question for my next essay based on a topic he thought would specifically interest me. Needless to say, I am beyond excited for next week's tutorial! Spending a week reading and processing, and having an hour long session of open-ended discussion to discuss whatever I've found or the questions I have... This seems like one of the best ways of stimulating learning to me!

As I ponder over what I have been experiencing this last week to write down, I am overwhelmed again by how blessed I am. Having this opportunity to study in Oxford and explore a different part of the world surprises me every time that I realize that this is happening in real life. I am living with lovely people, studying with amazingly intelligent professors who care deeply about learning, and am in ENGLAND for goodness sakes!

Cheers!

Week Two

Starting the second full week at Oxford! As I think back about this last week, I still am in a bit of shock that I am living in England. But the best kind of shock! 

Most of this week was spent in orientation and exploration.  We have bikes now, so transportation has gotten much faster and more exciting! It takes about 15 minutes to bike from The Vines into town, and I will be cycling into town nearly every day, for lectures, tutorials and library visits. Going into town is great - it's downhill. Coming up is a little harder, and complaints about "the hill" have been circulating amongst us all!
 Despite my lack of experience, being able to cycle has opened up the city for me, and I have enjoyed exploring downtown on wheels. Oxford is full of beautiful buildings and small streets just asking to be looked at, and I hope that I will become an expert at navigating my way around.

I have met one of my tutors, and also the professor for the seminar I will be taking after Hilary term is over. Dr. Thorpe is the Shakespeare tutor this semester, and he had a group meeting with the different students he's tutoring before term began, to answer any questions and give the first homework assignment. I wasn't sure what the meeting would be like, but the meeting put my nerves to rest. He had the meeting in a pub in town, and presented quite the friendly first impression: He was drinking an enormous cup of tea, sitting quite comfortably at a wooden table that was tucked in the side of the restaurant. He asked questions about what we had read of Shakespeare, what we liked, and gave us a meeting time and essay question, and that was that! My first tutorial will be on Thursday, and I have been enjoying reading Macbeth for this week's homework.
The seminar professor, who I won't see much of until Hilary term is over, is the quintessential British professor. The first day, he walked in a few minutes late, his umbrella under one arm, wearing a green plaid coat over his sweater, with his grey and bushy hair flying in all directions. Instant admiration.
I'm still a bit nervous about tutorials starting, but I am getting more and more excited as well. I think this will be an amazing opportunity to study in-depth in ways I haven't gotten to before.

A group of us went on a field trip to London yesterday! Simon, one of the directors of the SCIO program, led the tour. He has a good store of information about London history, and a wry sense of humor as well, so the tour was quite funny as well as informative. There were about 20 of us walking around together, and I'm sure we must have looked amusing, as we all tried to stay together amidst the crowds and traffic. The highlight of the trip was going to Evensong at St. Paul's, where we sat in the choir seats near the altar. The cathedral is breathtaking, and hearing the music echo left me with the best of solemn feelings.

All in all, this has been quite a week! Full of new things, and the promise of lots of work to come. I have done reading, but tomorrow, the semester's work will begin in earnest. I think I am ready for it.

Here are a couple of pictures from my trip to London!

 

Buckingham Palace

 

In front of the gate with Damarise and Hannah

 This was my view for lunch. 

I know. Absolutely crazy.

St. James' Park

 

Tower Bridge

In England at last!

Guess what? I’m in Oxford! I arrived here Friday at dinner time, and have spent the weekend getting acquainted with the building I’ll be living in, The Vines, and meeting other students living here. I think I’m going to enjoy the atmosphere!

This post is rather jumbled, but here are a few highlights from my time here so far…

I flew in to England on January 2^nd, so before coming to Oxford, I was able to spend two days in London. Some good friends from school were flying back from Africa and had a day layover here, so the three of us got to hang out on Wednesday night and walk around London on Thursday.

Walking around London was amazing! We saw Buckingham Palace (and Hannah and I got a picture with a policeman there!), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and walked along the outside of St. James’ Park (which was lovely). The Turnbulls left around noon to catch their plane, and I headed across the Thames and walked down toward Tower Bridge. Seeing so many landmarks that I have only ever seen in pictures was mind-blowing!

I loved London. The city is designed for walking, and everywhere you look there is a mix of the old and the new, squished up right next to each other. There were bucketloads of tourists and businesspeople walking around, and I heard people speaking languages that I didn’t even recognize, which was pretty cool. I am looking forward to going back again!

Random story time…

The hotel room felt empty without the Turnbulls there, but I put on some music and read, until someone knocked on my door. Confused, I opened it, and the hotel staff was standing outside. They sang happy birthday and gave me a croissant, and then left. I’m still not sure what to make of that, but it was pretty funny. At any rate, I’m sure my facial expression was amusing because they were all laughing!

Taking the bus to Oxford, someone asked me if I belonged to Hartford College, and I said no. He looked confused and said, “But you are Australian, aren’t you?”  “Um…no. I’m an American,” I said. He apologized and said that there was no way that he could have known me, and sank back behind his newspaper.

Things I have learned on my trip so far:

            A 42lb backpack is heavy. Especially when you’re climbing up multiple flights of stairs.

            Jet lag is just as nasty as everyone told me it would be.

            Taking the Underground is AWESOME, and I was probably the only person there who thought so.

           

Anyways. It has been lovely being here so far, and I am excited for tutorials to start soon! We will have more orientation stuff for the next few days, so I will figure out more about how to do things properly here. For now, cheers! and I'm sure I'll have more stories to share very soon.