Highlights of Week 2

Sunday January 14th : Gorceries? Nah.
One week down!

Despite my best attempts to make it through the entire weekend on tea (the college doesn't provide food on the weekends), Tyler convinced Kristie and I to finally go to the COOP grocery store to buy something substatiative to eat. It's only 2 blocks away so it was nice not walking miles to get there...and I came back with a very balanced stock of bread, jam, and spaghettie. What can I say, I want to make sure I get a good amount of carbs for all the energy I burn walking (well, the fact that I got all this for about 1pound 50 may have also been a factor)

Monday January 15th : Losing My LIFE

I declared this my first official day of school. In celebration I woke up at 7:30 am and made it to breakfast! After the 2 mile hike I was certainly ready to eat.

Then it was time to buckle down and finally get to work. Which meant beginning the search for my assigned readings for the essay due in 4 days.

The greatest draw back to the Oxford system is that there are thousands of students that have to share the same books...so even though a library may have the book I'm searching for, the copies are either already checked out by other students or the book is declared sacred enough to be "confined" which means I can only read it in the library where it is located. So collecting the needed books to use for my paper can often be like scavenger hunt...finding out which library has my book available and allows it to be removed....not that I don't want to spend my entire day in one library, I just like the freedom of reading where ever. Because I was still getting adjusted to this process on Monday, I feel like the only thing I did between breakfast and lunch, was walk for ages and take brief breaks at the libraries I went to. But I guess this is just how it had to be.

I made my first trip to the philosphy library which was a great deal smaller and older than the social science library. There must have been 50 people crammed into the room at the tables between the shelves that lined the wall and the long table that ran down the center aisle from the front door to the back wall. Yet I felt that every step I took had to be the loudest noise in the room and I felt like I must be disturbing everyone just looking around for my books. Yet as "cozy" and quiet as the place was, every person stayed intensely focused on their readings. This is unlike anything I've experienced in the Georgetown library where everyone one turns and stares at anyone walking by.....not to mention the many pointless conversations that follow. Ah. How I miss having an excuse to procrastinate in the library. Now I just have to get to work like everyone else.

After Lunch I attended my first Rowing Practice! I walked with the girls to the Oxford University Athletic Center where we practiced in the "Tank" which is where we practice rowing without being on the river. There are the rowing seats (which slide up and down on grids), four oun each side, and on either side is a pit of water to simulate the rowing expierience. Hannah, the captain who lives with me, assigned me the bow side. She then helped me strap my feet in and showed me the correct way to hold the oar. It has taken me a bit of concentration to get the technique down but I think I'm going to enjoy it. One thing that is worth noting...rowing is all in the legs (which is good, because as a runner I have no upper body strength whatso ever)...but truly you use your legs to push the seat back...keeping your arms locked and then give a final pull on oar when the stroke is complete...before sliding back up to start again...I can't wait to get on the river and actually make the boat go somewhere. The girls say the tank is much harder than the river because the water creates more resistance in the tank and doesn't get us anywhere....all I know, is that I came away with some pretty blisters on my palms...


Just when I think I'm making progress as a responsible individual, something just happens to convince me that despite my efforts, I will always be the most absent minded person alive. This would be okay if I lost track of truly insignificant things....but when I was getting ready to go back to dinner Tuesday night, I realized that I had in fact lost my little change purse....which contain virtually MY LIFE:
debit card,
Oxford Bodleian Card (giving me access to the libraries)
About 30 pounds in notes (cash)
All of the codes to the buildings at Regents
My key to get in Regents College
My GCARD! (which is useless to me here, but always seems to get lost)

I had only 30 minutes to make it dinner. So after destroying my room I finally decided there was nothing I could do about it...but I might as well not starve...so I just left for dinner. Needless to say, I couldn't help but go through my typical panic ritual imagining every possibility of where most most essential possession could be.

"Let's see....I could have dropped it on the way home from the tank...and if so certainly someone has taken it by now. And there's no telling how much of my money they're already devoured...and then there's my identity, which I guess is more important than my money ...and of course there's the fact that I will have to pay for the loss of keys...and someone has the codes to all the buildings on campus so the school will have to handle that and I'll be completely embarassed.....I'll have to purchase new cards with the money I know longer have....and stupidly I haven't written the numbers down for card company so I have no way to even find out how to stop transactions from where I am...the office at the school is closed so they cannot help....this is such a disaster...and the worst part is, no one will be surprised in the least....and my parents..well maybe I'll just not tell them that I've let myself be robbed....but I've been trying so hard to keep up with that thing! why couldn't I lose a book somewhere? but no, it had to be my purse. Go figure. A day in the life of Jennifer Martin. "

This all went through my head in a matter of about 1 minute. So as I hurriedly walked to Regent's faster than ever before (as if this would help me find it) I scanned the ground as if magically my purse (which is about the size of my palm and black) would appear. Once I passed the athletic field again, I decided this was useless. Hopefully I just left it in the Regent's Library, which is the last place I remember having it...and hopefully no one will have wanted my identity and every penny to my name.

When I walked into college I tried to be calm, and ran directly to the computer I had used in the library earlier. Fortunately my friend Jonny who lives with me at Stanley was using it...I told him my situation and he said that he definitely saw it there earlier..and that no one at Regent's would have taken it but I would have to wait till morning to check with office..my heart rate return to a sane level...I felt a great sense of relief as you can only imagine.

Sure enough, the librarian had sent me an email around 4 to let me know she had my purse. Imagine, if I had only checked my email.....ah well, perhaps my scare would help me keep up with it....but i never keep my hopes too high for that miracle.


Tuesday January 16th : Internet AT LAST

I finally was able to see Bob the ITS guy who fixed my computer and gave me access to the internet!! This was a relief as I could now write my essay and email it from my own computer...not to mention I could start keeping in touch with everyone and download my pictures on Facebook- a very crucial thing. :)

Wednesday January 17th : First All Nighter Fellas!

Even though it was crunch time for my paper, I decided to go to the Royal Oak pub with my housemates and some of their other friends. I was ready for a break and it was good to spend some time with people after spending time with books all day long. The Royal Oak seems to be the favorite of the Regent's gals and fellas. Apparently there is great attempt by some to help broaden the variety of where they go to hang out in the evenings....and somehow they always end up back at the "Roak", as they refer to it.

Thursday January 18 : Tutorial Jitters

After staying up virtually all night long...and finally getting past the first paragraph around 9:30 am...I completed my paper by the 5am deadline...and even had about an hour to proofread. What a relief. The topic was "Liberty" and I chose the question " Your money or your life, Is this a free choice" Meaning if a gunman demands you to give you his money or else he'll kill you- do you have free choice. ....something to think about....and I spent plenty of time doing just that.

I was surprised when I recieved an email from Seth, my tutor, around 7 who had already read it. He told me there was no need to be nervous about my first "tute" (word used for tutorial by everyone at oxford). It made me feel a little better, but of course I was going to be nervous. I'm Jennifer, over worrying is just something I do. I've decided its some strange form of motivation that drives me to get things done....

Friday January 18th : Only the Beginning
Finally the day of my tutorial.....I met Seth at the Social Science Library...as I went to open the door to the discussion room...I pulled it shut (because it handle that looked like it needed pulling). Infact this door was supposed to be pushed....and as the front wall of the conference room was just a huge window, Seth could see my struggle...and I thought I had made the door lock...so it took me a moment to see him telling me to "push" the door. What an awkward start.

I actually enjoyed my meeting.....it was the first time I fully grasped the difference in the Oxford/Cambridge tutorial systems from every other university in the world. Because Seth had already read my paper...and developed his critique of both my arguments and writing style before I had arrived...So the hour was spent not only discussing the fun stuff (philophies of liberty and all)...but also my tutor was gave me very specific feedback on each section of my essay...helping me to understand better ways to explain my own arguments and develop my essay more clearly. If I do not improve in my writing and analyzing ability, it will certainly not be for lack of specific instruction. Because the critique is directed just at me, and it will be painfully obvious if I blatantly don't follow his advice. There is definitely no room for laziness in this situation.

Friday night I enjoyed my second formal hall, and a night of liberation from the week of reading.

Highlights of Week 1

Tuesday

All the Georgetowners brought our laptops in to be configured for internet connection through the school. As luck would have it, mine was the only one out of 5 that did not have the necessary components to hook to the internet...and because the IT service man...appropriately named Bob, would not be back in until next Tuesday, it would be another week before I would have internet access on my computer. I have to say I was a little dissappointed because I was eager to write everyone, post pictures, and such. Not to mention I would have a paper due the following week which I would need to use my laptop for....this was a bit of a blessing in the end however, as it forced me not to waste my evenings trying to contact everyone I knew as I'm sure I would have done. And a week proved not to be so long with out the internet...though I guess it made my parents anxious to speak to me.

We took a walking tour of Oxford after lunch guided by Dr. Taul, director of International Studies at Georgetown. This was a necessary trip because all of the books I need to complete my essays are located in one of the many libraries throughout Oxford. The Social Science library and the Political Science library are about ten minutes walk from Regents and about ten minutes from each other as well. I became very worried that I might not ever find them again when it came time to pick up my books...but after visiting them frequently in just the past few weeks this has not been a problem.

That evening we all visited The Eagle and Child, which is a pub right next to my college. This was a must for usNarnia and Lord of the Rings fans. The significance of this pub is that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein met here every Tuesday morning from 1939 to 1962 and held meetings with their group of accomplished literary minds of the time, who called themselves the Inklings . The called it the "Bird and Baby" The place has been a pub since 1650!



Wednesday : Meeting My Tutor
This day was gorgeous as it was no longer cloudy and I was happy to see the sun!
I walked by myself to St. Peter's College to meet my tutor for the first time. Regent's does not have a tutor for Political Theory, so it is not uncommon for students to be taught by tutors from other colleges. St. Peter's is much larger than Regent's...it is quite beautiful as well.
I was a little nervous but when he came out wearing a hoodie and sneakers I became a little less uptight about it all. He is D.Phil here so I would guess he is in his mid twenties or so. He maintains high standards nonetheless, and thoroughly critiques my essays. So I expect to improve quickly in my writing. My first 2500 essay would be due in a week, so although I was still adjusting to a new place, I knew I needed to get to work soon.

I stopped by Borders on the way to lunch at Regent's just for a little taste of home.

I walked around Oxford with my friend Ryan after lunch. We went to a covered market area which had an impressive bakery specializing in fancy cakes!
What a cake!
We also stopped by a charity shop (like goodwill) called Oxfam. I was so tempted to buy something but held myself back...realizing that I'll be around here for a while.

At 4:00 the Georgetowners had high tea with Dr. Taul in Georgetown flat at Regent's. We wasted no time in adapting to the English culture regarding the afternoon tea break :)




Guys from Gtown- Tyler and Taylor and Dr Taul


Thursday : Shopping Around

Kristie and I decided to get down to business and buy postcards. Which I have yet to write on despite the fact that I bought them over a week ago. So I do own some pretty Oxford postcards now. We also decided to grab some school supplies! Adjusting to the prices here is still difficult because I have to double everything in my mind...."okay so it says the paper costs 1.50...this means it is3 dollars" I finally managed to settle on which kind of paper to buy and which color binder to get (purple for my gtown roomies). So I was happy to be making my first Oxford purchase when the lady looks at me and says "You haven't signed the back of your card"

not again. How do keep getting myself in these messes? I've been using my card for over 2 years now in America and absolutely no one has ever noticed...and obviously I hadn't noticed either. So, she hands me a pin to sign it...and of course it doesn't work. She hands me another which barely works..but I am determined to get this over with and not make the people behind me wait any loger so I manage to scratch some resemblence of my signature into the back of my card accented with some blue ink here and there. I'm fortunate my purchase amounted to just around 3pounds 50. Otherwise they might lock me up or something...just kidding...but They really don't play here in Oxford.


Friday

Kristie and I bought our undergraduate gowns for Formal Hall, which takes place every Friday night. Everyone dresses up for dinner complete with their gowns and the faculty set at a table at the head of the room called the High Table. It's a neat atmosphere. Since all the students were returning at this point, I was able to meet many more Regent's students.

I got my heel stuck in the drain! Classic Jenn moment.
Kristie, Ryan, and I are decked out in our gowns!

Before formal hall each Friday there is a chapel service in upstairs. This week the Prinicpal of Regent's, Professor Paul Fiddes was the speaker. The theme of the term is Sacred Spaces so he gave an interesting talk on Nazareth as it related to Jesus...it very much pertained to me because the idea of it was how Jesus left Nazareth to accomplish his ministry and break new ground in the religious world....I'm certainly doing nothing like that...but I am in a new place learning a great deal. And like every college student hopefully is doing I'm in a process of sorting my thoughts on many different ideals...so at least breaking new ground in a personal sense for me.

Dr. Fiddes is apparently quite an accomplished in the world of Baptist Theology. He is one of the primary reasons many graduate students come to study Theology here. So I felt it was a great opportunity to hear him preach. It was very different from the preachers I am used to however...rather than give extemporaneous type of speech he had the entire lecture written out and read verbatim from it for the majority of the time. Dr. Taul informed me that that is very common here...as it is much like performing a monologue from their writings. Other differences included brief tunes in latin after each prayer done by the choir (which consisted of less than 10).

The room was small and there were 20 or less people in attendence I would guess. This made the service uniquely intimate. Some of their Baptist hymns were in tunes that were familiar to me, but the words were not the same. I have also learned that responsive reading is the quickest way to develop an English accent. It is very awkward to be the one of the crowd pronouncing words with obvious long vowel sounds.....like Pree-vail.....when everyone else says preh-vail. The southern slowness of speech does not help- though I'm sure I'm the only one in the room who notices the difference right? It is interesting to hear the different inflections they use in saying the Lord's Prayer...I suppose we all just get accustomed to it sounding one way because that's how everyone else has always said it together.

Saturday : Bop Time!

This night I attended my first Regent's social the Pirates of the Carribbean "Bop" (bop=dance or party) I didn't look much like a pirate....but I did wear black boots and hoop ear rings. It was a great chance to meet the rest of the Regent's students who were excited to see each other after the 5 week break from school .

On the way to the bop we passed several men who were pushing their car (I guess it had broken down or something) on one of the side streets a few blocks from our house. Kristy was talking to our Irish friend Jonny and I didn't really didn't notice them because I see people of middle eastern descent all the time here.... until one of them looked at us and said something like "What are you smiling at American? Go back to America!" Obviously we just kept on walking and didn't let it bother us....though it did shock me a little since that was the first expression of true disdain towards me as an American since I have been here. There were not English, and I'm sure they weren't from Oxford, but it was a sobering reminder that I'm the international student this time...very unprotected from the common prejudices affecting the majority of the world.

Ryan, from Georgetown.

Me and Esther- a Regent's gal in her 3rd year.

Alana from London who is one of my housemates.

Ben! Who thinks pirates must wear feathers.

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First Impressions
Monday January 8

The bus ride to Oxford took two hours, but because I slept the entire way it seemed much shorter.



We arrived at the Gloucester Green bus station and decided to just walk to Regent's Park College, which was less than half a mile away.

The small parade of five Americans, each loaded with two 50lb. suitcases along with a very collegiate looking overstuffed backpack must have been a sight. As we rolled along over the cobbled pavement I became grateful for the invention of wheely suitcases....and wondered if the surrounding residents were amused by our musical entrance which resembled something like the trotting of 50 horses. The pavement is mostly tiled or pebbled or bricked so the occasional flipping over of a suitcase made for a humoruous treck. I decided then that I should have been lifting weights rather than practicing yoga all summer. By the point we turned the corner of Pusey Street (pronounced Pew-see) where the door to Regent's is, I could no longer feel my arms and my hands had indentions from my suitcase handles. Though the weather was a bit rainy and chilly, I was quite toasty by this point as well (Remember I am still wearing the many layers that did not fit in my suitcase) I felt incredibly cumbersome and ill. This half mile had been at least 2 miles indeed, or at least it felt like it.



Pusey Street is a one way surrounded on either side by walls, and about midway up is a door which is the entrance to Regent's Park College. It's was as if after all of these corners and alleys we had been on, all the sudden there just appeared a door in the middle of a wall, behind which is a college.


Unlike many of the larger colleges of Oxford University (like Christ Church or Queen's)Regent's is quite small and sort of tucked away. While the others are impressive architectural monstors resembling something more like castles than schools (complete with grand gated entrance ways), Regent's is modest but no less pleasant. There are essentially four buildings that form the square of Regents. The one side is offices, with a chapel upstairs and library. One side is the dining hall complete with windows that stretch from ceiling to floor. The next side is student housing and the Junior Commons Room ( a large living room type area with a wooden floor in the center to convert the use the for dances) and the other is more student housing, only they are flats rather than just single bedrooms.



We were met at the door by Mr. David Harper, Regent's Bursar. who seemed quite pleased that we had made it just in time for the 1:00pm lunch. He kindly opened his office for us to store our massive amount of luggage- which completely filled the tiny room to the point where I'm not sure he could get to his desk if he wanted to.

We met Becky, the Vice President of the Undergrad Student body who showed us to the Junior Commons Room. There are less than 100 undergraduates at Regents who are members the Junior Commons Room (JCR). Ministerial students make up the MCR and the teachers/faculty are called the SCR (Senior Commons Room) I find it interesting that about 12 or so people make up the entire faculty of Regent's. Because of the small size of the college I am already able to recognize practically everyone that attends here. Needless to say, there is a very strong sense of community.



Suddenly we heard a loud bell ringing to let us know that it was time for dinner. Every meal is signified with this bell, which I can hear at least a block away from Regent's (I know this because I was nearly late for lunch the second day on my way in)

Lunch was unlike anything I have every experienced at a school. We entered the dining hall which consists of 3 long tables. We stood behind our chosen seats which already had place settings ready for us. After everyone settled in the room, one of the students rapped the table loudly with his spoon and proceeds to bless the meal. The prayers are always brief, maybe one sentence. For example "For this food and fellowship, God we thank you. Amen" It reminded me something of a the poetic prayers I would say as a child "God is great...God is good"....and I realized that the older I have become, the more I have grown accustomed to prayers which are more meandering in thought and much less direct I suppose. I decided that I would probably have to plan out my exact prayer if I were ever to say one at the meal here- for my tendency is to start at "Dear God" and end up some where talking about the food after a host of other requests.

Following "Amen" everyone may then sit down and proceed to be served by the staff. It is strange to sit at a meal in school with out ever having to get up for my food. There are pitchers of water placed on the table which students usually serve each other with before the pour for themselves. The glasses are basically juice glasses which have to be refilled several times during the meal if one requires more than 60z. during a meal to quench their thirst. Each dinner begins with a "starter", followed by the meal, and dessert (which is called "pudding" by the English). The vegetables are placed in dishes in the middle of the tables to be shared by 8 or so people.

After each course the staff take our plates and bring out the next. As a former waitress, I feel very spoiled and guilty that I am not tipping. All of the students eat together at the same time (which is later than in America. Lunch is at 1pm and dinner is at 7pm.) This has been a great way for me to get to know people, as generally we just sit at the next seat available when we come in (as opposed to the segregated groups which form at the separated lunch tables at Georgetown) Someone once told me that meals at Regent's resemble those in the Harry Potter movies....so I guess that is an accurate description to use a reference.





But this is enough about the meal I suppose.

After lunch I made my first journey to the Stanley Road house, were I now live.
The journey is approximately two miles from the college and takes about thirty minutes to complete when I am walking as briskly as possible. As we traveled the streets I was torn between my desire to admire the quaint and historic buildings....or get out of the rain and move into my room. I was overwhelmingly exhausted at this point so the contest wasn't too hard.
We met Hannah, our new Welsh housemate at the famous Bodleian Library who took us to our new home.



The house is huge, but it is more like a maze than the typical ranch style homes of America. It is very difficult to describe this house. There are 4 stories (including the basement.) The left and right side are split so that only the basement and the top floor have a way to get from one side to the other. There are 2 rooms on each floor, each side, in pairs. So one will essentially live next to only one other person. To visit anyone else, I must go up the stairs, or down the stairs through the basement and up to the other side. So even though Ryan lives on the other side of the wall from me, I have to go down the stairs and back up to get to his room. In the basment there are 2 kitchens, 2 toilets with showers and one room with a bath. (Again, they are very specific here in England, so one does not refer to the toilet as a "bathroom" or "restroom"...you just say "where is the toilet?" This is because many toilets do not include a bath. There are at least 2 toilets like this in the house...and maybe more that I have yet to discover.

I have a room to myself for the first time since I have been in college. Again, I guess I am being spoiled because for the past two years I have lived in a 3 person bedroom in the sorority house..sharing an apartment with 6 women.When I explain to the students here that I usually occupy on the corner of a room the same size I have now to myself...they are amazed. Here everyone at Oxford has a private room and the idea of sharing a bedroom at college is just crazy to them. ( a little note in here to my roommates: I do actually miss having you to talk to at night and living alone in a room is not nearly as much fun as living with you all :)

I live with one American girl who came with me (kristie), and three Regent's girls (Alanna and Alli from London and Hannah from Wales) The Georgetown guys (Ryan, Taylor, and Tyler) also live here along with 2 Regent's guys (Jonny from Ireland and Matt from here in England) The Regent's students have been great fun to live with and have been extremely hospitable to us. It has made the transition easy being able to live with them.

The first thing I did upon finding my bedroom was collapse on my bed and sleep. The school provided a comfy down blanket so I slept extremely well. When I woke up, it was already time to make the journey back to Regent's for dinner. I would have been satisfied staying in the bed but decided that food was also an important option. Thankfully Taylor and Tyler had been to Oxford last spring and knew how to get to school. Walking back into Oxford looked incredibly different during the evening. All of the shops were lit and I spotted the McDonalds right off. As old as the town of Oxford is, it has some great fashionable stores and even a mall right in the middle of town. I'm holding off on going to these places for obvious reasons.

So dinner, and then another journey home and my first day in England was concluded.

Two weeks into my Oxford adventure and I finally feel like I am settling in a bit here....or at least I've been around long enough to clutter my room anyway :).

Unfortunately I am just beginning to have time to write about any of it. Perhaps that is because within the first three days I was assigned my first 2500 word essay due two days after I would have Internet access on my laptop the following week....this was probably a blessing in disguise at it helped me to avoid talking to much to those I missed and procrastinating with these addictive Internet communication tools.

I feel I must recap as best as possible...mostly for the sake of my own memories since I've already filled everyone else in..


Saturday/ Sunday January 7th/ 8th: The Flight and Arrival

My plane leaves from Cincinnati...finally. After a 30 minute travel to the runway the pilot informs us that there is a mechanical problem with the "extra" power unit or gas tank or something like that. No big deal. We just have to go all the way back to the airport, have some maintenance guys work on it and we'll be off. Very comforting. There's nothing like having a little maintenance work done on the vehicle that's going to take you across the Atlantic in less than 2 hours. After about 30 minutes the voice from the speaker comes on again, this time informing us that its basically just a "paperwork issue". After the necessary papers are filled out we will be off and the problematic part will be fixed in London...but we have very powerful main units that will be getting us there in record time. (Glad to know the bases are covered and the problem will be remedies soon...after the flight)

My seatmate didn't seem to worried about it, so I decided not to be either. He was a quiet gentlemen, probably in his 70's, and who I later discovered was from Afghanistan. He was traveling back home from California- a journey which would take him 3 days by plane total. When I first realized that he would be my partner for the journey, I wondered how he would feel sharing seats with an overloaded, disheveled college student taking her first international flight. I have to say, he handled it well. In fact, as soon as he noticed my 30 lb back pack with the accompaniment laptop case, he insisted on putting it in the overhead compartment for me. There were things I need from the bag, that I of course had forgotten to take out...like my ipod and journal and such. So I scrambled as quickly as possible while he hoisted my luggage above our seats. ( I was relieved to finally sit down but burning up due to the fact that I decided to wear the hoodieAND coat that would not fit in my suitcase) Anyway, I finally settled down.

The flight went smoothly, though I didn't get much sleep because it seemed like they were feeding us every time I turned around. My seatmate was eager to take care of me. For instance, as he noticed the stewardess serving coffee and tea to the seats just before us, he turned and asked if I would like a drink. I told him I was going to take some tea...so he proceeded to get the attention of the stewardess who had not made it to our seat yet (and clearly was going to be at our seat soon) and told her "she needs tea". And of course at the end of our trip he refused to let me get my bags from the overhead....


I had the window seat, which I chose because I love to look out of the window on trips...it was exciting as we were leaving North America over Nova Scotia I could see the what I think was the city Glace Bay based on the map in the plane and what i can remember...it was truly beautiful to see the outline of the land by the the lights...and thinking how small it all really was in comparison to the world....anyway, it was one of those moments you just feel tiny. Another advantage to flying at night is being able to see the stars...the moon was full so the tops of the clouds were really visible too...I hadn't imagined I would be able to see any of that at night.


The thickness and textures and even the color of the clouds seemed to change almost immediately as we reached the edge of Europe. It's as if it just wouldn't be right if England didn't have thick cloudy skies on the day we arrive.


But as we got closer to land I could the the landscape, and even beaches, and it was just breathtaking really. It was very close to what I imagined the English landscape to be....bright green hills everywhere sectioned of in squares by trees and whatnot....lots and lots of fields....that sort of thing. The grass is so much greener here ...really, it is. It must be all the rain.



I was relieved to arrive safely....and then began the journey with my luggage. I knew this was not going to be fun after my carryons started to feel like a ton after carrying them only five minutes or so and then through the insanely long customs line...it went pretty quickly though...up to this point all seemed just average..until the director man told us to "Carry On"....and I realized I must be in England. Hooray...

I suppressed my excitement while the customs man questioned me for admittance into his country. I knew this might be a rough experience when he asked me where I was from and I drew a blank.....America?

(the look on his face told me this was the wrong answer. how did i manage to get this question wrong? looking back, I'm going to blame this on the 3 hours of sleep I had...since it had magically became 9 am when we arrived when my mind was feeling like it was 3 in the morning)

"Where in America?"

"Kentucky" (ha, got it)

his look told me he was going to rephrase this one last time and then I'm out....
"Where are you travelling from?"

oh! Cincinnati. (finally!, though now he knows I'm an American idiot and proceeds to make this process hard on me)

No answer I give suits him pertaining to anything. I explain that I'm here to study political science at Oxford University...when I tell him Regent's Park College he says he had no idea that was even part of it and asks me how it is part of the University- so i ramble out what little i know of the relation and he responds " So is it part of the university or not?"

"Yes"

so he seems satisfied until I tell him that I "might" work here, (you know, i always want to keep my options open right?). Wrong, wrong answer. No one told me not say stupid things like that to the customs guy. after he stops worrying about whether I will or will not work...

He asks how long I will be here. I say 5 months, until June...so he writes down June 16th on my passport, the last day of school given on my entrance letter...and simultaneously asks which day I will leave

"the 19th"

I thought it was the 16th?

oh no...now he has to change that 6 into a 9 on my passport

so then i have to explain that I'm leaving after a ceremony 2 days after school is out...and after much deliberation in his mind over the 9 sufficiently has been created from the number 6...he finally just puts his initials beside it and lets me through..

..i think about apologizing for the awkwardness of this moment and the torment I have put him through...but decided instead to apply the lessons I learned from waitressing.....the chances of seeing him ever again are slim...and of him remembering it are even less...so instead of dwelling on the situation sometimes its better to help people forget it sooner by just moving on without hesitation....

so that is what i did.