OMG! I Can't Believe I'm at Oxford!

YAY! We’re finally here! After submitting my application a year ago, getting accepted 6 months ago, planning all summer, packing for the past month, spending the weekend in London, and one of the most nervous bus rides of my life, I cannot believe that I am finally here to study for a couple months! Worcester College is absolutely beautiful! As soon as pushed though through the antique, large wooden doors, dragging my two suitcases and backpack, I was stunned to walk into a stone arch entryway and overlook the luscious green grass surrounded by the prettiest old ivy-covered buildings on each side. This Main Quad is a lot smaller than the one we have at Stonehill and you aren’t allowed to walk on it, but I can see why! Throughout this blog post I’ll provide you with pictures of our campus, most of which I took on a sunny, morning stroll the other day.

On Monday, as soon as we arrived, we didn't have much time to do anything or even settle in. I met my tutor for my secondary tutorial, Dr. Elisabeth Dutton, because she is also the director of the JYA Program. The group of 16 of us Americans had lunch with Dr. Dutton before we could drop off our things in our rooms, and immediately after that we rushed along to have tea with Dr. Dutton in her office. She then gave us a quick tour of some important things around the city of Oxford, such as where to go for the best food and coffee, Blackwell’s (a popular bookstore), the Bodleian Library (the main library for all of Oxford, which has tunnels of books underneath the city!), and the ATM and grocery store. The back on campus we had just a bit of time to freshen up before drinks in the room of the JCR President, which is basically like the student body President, yes, he has three rooms that he lives in, just for the purpose of holding such social events! Next we moved along to mingling before dinner, and being served the most fancy dinner I’ve ever had! We had dinner with the Provost, Chaplain, Dean, and a couple other fellows, and the student members of the JCR (Junior Common Room), which is very different than SGA, but would be the equivalent of student government at the Hill. We had a halibut for our appetizer, duck for the main course, and a pudding for desert. They kept refilling our drinks as well, like literally would refill a splash of wine if I took a sip. After dinner, the Provost asked the JCR members to whisk us away to the college bar for some socializing with fellow British students.

During the day on Tuesday, we had lots more informational, orientation type things. I was very pleased to have my first true English afternoon tea at this cute little hotel…they had a fire going and everything! It was quite delicious, and I had a lovely conversation with one of the other JYAs, who incidentally knows someone I know at Stonehill…small world, huh? Tuesday night we got to meet all the freshers (first year students) because they all moved in on Tuesday. It was strange to see them going through exactly what I did two years ago when I was a freshman at Stonehill. They're very nice for the most part, but it is difficult to carry a super long conversation on with all of them right off the bat being American and all. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have an American accent, because I think it would be easier to mingle in and make new friends. After mingling on campus, the JCR had planned an outing to a club in Oxford, so about half of the freshers and of course a lot of the JYAs don't want to miss out on anything, so some of us went along.

The next couple days were similar, as we were doing everything, like charging our meal cards, finding our pigeon-holes (mail-boxes, I swear JK Rowling stole the idea of using owls for mail from Oxford!), and topping up my mobile phone, for the first time. It has been strange at times to try to converse with British students and make new friends. There is a culture gap between us, so at times it is hard to understand what they are talking about, because of their accent and the words they use or loud music in a club, which makes conversation very difficult. But everyone has been really nice, and with time I am sure I will get even closer with some of my new British friends! It has been easier for the Americans to stick together at times, which is ok too though because I’m also making new American friends!

I am studying Women's Literature (specifically Austen and other authors of that time), and Shakespeare (specifically focusing on his comedies). This week is officially Week One of eight. So that's when my first tutorial meeting is. I was really lucky to have my tutor tell me that I do not need to write a paper for our first meeting. I just had to read a novel (Evelina by Frances Burney, which I finished this morning!) and as many secondary sources about that time and the author as I can. Then on Tuesday I will meet with my tutor and talk one on one about it all for an hour. Otherwise, for each other meeting I will be writing about a ten page essay, and that will be the focus of discussion. My tutor for Austen is a visiting lecturer from Stanford University, and although I still have not met her in person, she seems to be very nice, she even asked me to call her Emma rather than Dr. Plaskitt! On Tuesday we are meeting in a coffee shop in Blackwell’s, the bookstore, so it should be a nice relaxed environment in which to discuss the novel. As I mentioned before, one of my tutors is Dr. Dutton, and she is my tutor for Shakespeare, but as it is my secondary I won’t be meeting with her until next week. In addition to the tutorials we can attend lectures by PhDs and Professors (who are actually higher up here in Oxford), which will help us learn more and come up with topics for our papers. Full time students are required to attend these lectures, but visiting students like me can choose to go if we would like to. I actually went to my first one this morning, and it was strange because we don’t have lectures 300 people large at Stonehill! It was about Shakespearean criticism, and I feel it was a little over my head, but its good these are just extras for us!

The work load is going to get very busy very quickly, and it basically already has! But I am trying to balance work with other activities and being able to enjoy the experience of being abroad. So I am also trying rowing. This weekend we had an introduction at Worcester College’s boat house along the Isis (and got bribed with free food!), and then I also began learning how to row in “the tank,” which is an indoor pool with a concrete “boat” in the middle of it meant to learn and practice rowing techniques. I am already quite sore in my legs and abs from holding my “back stop” position! But I don’t think I would’ve had the opportunity to row anywhere else, so this is pretty cool!

Ok, I mentioned it’s going to be a lot of work here, so I really must return to my reading! I will update on my weekly endeavors!

Cheers!

P.S. The food is really yummy, and I have a really really nice room with my own bathroom and everything! Have a look: