First Week

Well, it has been a week in Oxford, and already it has started to feel a bit like home. My housemates and I have settled into a rhythm, and I am starting to get myself aquainted with the city. I know how to get to the most important places (class, the Warner's house, the grocery store), and I am becoming quite good at finding other places either through my map or the internet. Having a bus pass helps a lot as well. Haha.

This past week has been filled with lectures, excursions and many tours. Every single morning we've had two lectures, with a coffee break in between (Francis is quite dedicated to his 10:30 coffee and tea). Then the afternoons have been filled with some sort of exciting outing. Monday was our free afternoon, so Karen and I ran errands. On Tuesday my house and another house took a tour of Shakespeare's places in Oxford. Wednesday we all went to London to see As You Like It at the Globe theatre. Francis took us on a tour of Pre-Raphaelite art in Oxford on Thursday (as well as getting very distracted and showing us other random things). Then on Friday we went to Kelmscott Manor to see the house where William Morris and his family lived in the 1800s. Morris was a famous Pre-Raphaelite textile artist, as well as an all-around renaissance man.

As you can tell, it has been quite busy. And the busyness is not over. There was tea a few hours ago, as well as an Evensong at St. Michael's church. It was beautiful, but I can gab about that later. And next week is even busier than the last. But, I cannot complain too much. :)

After a week in England, I feel one word sums up the country quite nicely: cute. All of Oxford is just very very adorable. The houses are small and smashed together. The text on street signs is cute. The stores are cute. Everything is much smaller and much more adorable. I don't know how many times I have said "That's so cute!" in the past week. And I imagine I will continue to say it until I leave many months from now.

Along with being absolutely adorable, Oxford is beautiful. And old. I have an obsession with old things, especially old buildings. Now, my definition of "old" is something that is the 17th century or before. My main tiff with America is that it is too young for my taste. It doesn't have the deep history that many Eurpoean countries have, and that is something I crave. Finally, I am surrounded by buildings that were built in the Medieval and Renaissance eras, and it makes me ecstatic (so ecstatic that I have an obsession with touching all old buildings I can find). Now, of course, my love of the old might stem from my American heritage. If I grew up in Oxford, I might not get excited by older buildings. It would become old hat. Perhaps if it were switched, I would get sick of old things and be obsessed with the new. But, one can never really know.

The Journey to Oxford

Well, here is the start of my England blog. I decided to join the club and start a blog about all my adventures so people can read it if they'd really like to.

I have been in Oxford for close to 36 hours, and so far it has been wonderful. The road here has been very long, however. I was supposed to leave a week ago. However, my visa was delivered late. Therefore, I had to leave last Friday instead of last Sunday. It was a very annoying process.

My journey to England (besides being delayed by five days) was very, VERY long. I left at 6:30am on Friday from Kansas City and arrived in New York at around 10:30am (local time). Once off the plane, I went to retrive my baggage. Unfortunately, one of my bags had been sent to Cincinatti instead of New York and would arrive at 1:15. Awesome. Well, I had 8 hours to kill in NYC, so I decided to stick around and wait for it. While waiting, I took the airport bus to the central terminal where I ate some delicious New York pizza and spied on New Yorkers. All the rumors are true: New Yorkers are impatient and loud. Also, I bought my mom and I "I heart NYC" shirts. What else would one get in NYC?

After retrieving my luggage, I took the bus from La Guardia airport to JFK (Yes, I had to change airports and manage my own luggage...boo). Once at JFK, I really just wanted to leave. However, I had four more hours to kill. So, after waiting in a really long line to check my bags and another really long line through Security I just sat at my gate playing Solitaire. I was ready to get on the plane and GO.

Finally, at 6:50pm, I got onto my plane (with free pillows and blankets...Huzzah!). I sat next to a cute old British lady who was headed to see her mother. Most of the ride over the ocean, I slept (though not deeply). Then, the sun began to rise as we flew over Ireland. It was gorgeous. Around 6:50 we had made it to Heathrow airport.

After getting off the plane, I made it through Immigration just fine. That is what I was most worried about. I worried I would screw something up, but it was cake. I talked to this cute Russian girl in the long line to the border. She offered to share a taxi with me, but unfortunately I had to decline. Instead, I needed to take a bus to Oxford City.

The bus ride was pretty, but also long. I fell asleep. I woke once we got to Oxford, and got off at the final stop. I drug my weight in luggage to the Warner's house and had finally arrived.