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I made it to Oxford!!! Today is Tuesday, July 24. I need to back up to Saturday afternoon.
We were planning on doing the walking tour of London on Saturday, but it was raining, once again. We waited it out for awhile then decided to try the bus tour of London. The Underground was flooded so we couldn't get to the location we needed. After a bit of walking we made it to the bus stop.
The bus tour was a double decker bus tour and we decided to sit on the top level to get better pictures. It started raining on the bus so we slipped on some ponchos and held on to our umbrellas. It was a pretty fun experience! We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, The London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and some other things. We were wet and cold so we just laughed the entire time. Since it was raining so much we didn't get good pictures either.
After the bus tour we returned to our hostel. We just grabbed food from the market at the train station and ate in our rooms. Corey and I packed and got ready for moving our stuff to Oxford!
Sunday – we woke up around 9, enjoyed the free breakfast at our hostel, then headed out with our luggage. We took the Underground to the Victoria Coach Station. We had to buy a bus ticket to get to Oxford. After waiting in line we boarded the bus and headed for Oxford. The bus ride was about 1.5 hours and we got into Oxford around 2 pm. The walk from the bus station in Oxford to our college was short!
We were escorted to the “Nebraska Office” at our college and we were given our keys and one of the Oxford Student Assistants helped us take our luggage to our room. It was sooo nice to finally see the luggage that we dropped off over 2 weeks ago. The assistant Aimee helped me carry my heavy luggage to my room.
Joni and I are roommates at Oxford. Our room is in the “8th Staircase” and I believe we are the only people in that staircase for right now. We have a “living room” with a small couch, chairs, and 2 desks. We also have our own bathrooms and our bedrooms are separate. It is really nice that we have a large common area! Our room is the biggest of the rooms I have seen at Oxford so far. I like it!
I dropped my bag off quickly and Corey, Ryan and I headed out to find soft pillows, soap, and lunch! We were starving! First we ate at a New Orleans-type restaurant. We split chicken strips, a hamburger, and steak fajitas. Quite the combination, but it was great. After that we went to the department store in Oxford (just a couple blocks from our college!) and we bought pillows. Ryan tried out the pillows by lying on the floor in the bedding department. I think we got the best ones J I also bought some cute blue and lime green towels on sale to decorate the bathroom a little bit. While I was going through the sale stuff I found a pink pillowcase too. My room needed a little color!
The entire Nebraska at Oxford group gathered for orientation at 5:30. There are 70 students from Nebraska studying at this college in Oxford. I know most of the students but there are some faces that I have never seen! At the orientation they told us the basics about the city of Oxford and the University.
Following the orientation we had our first dinner. Dinner is served every night at 6:30. We eat in a dining hall (I guess it looks like the Harry Potter movie? I haven’t seen it…) and we get served a 3 course meal at our table. Amazing! The food in interesting sometimes…and kinda strange. It has been good so far!
After dinner on Sunday night the entire Nebraska group, professors, and student assistants went to the Turl Bar. We all got to know each other and enjoyed some beer (they didn’t sell any Bud Light ;)). It was a lot of fun! After that some friends and I hung out in my room. Fun!
Monday – First day of class at Oxford University! Breakfast was served at 8:15. Great breakfast…too much food. Eggs, sausage, ham, toast, cereal, fruit… First class at 9:00 am. The class is called the British Economy since 1941. So far it has been a lot of history of the UK and the changes in their economy. Exciting J We have a 30 minute break between classes and the second class starts at 11:00 am. Second class is called International Economics. That class is more technical and deals more with econ terms and such. All the Nebraska at Oxford students have to take the 9:00 class…then students can either choose between the 11:00 econ class or they can take a Shakespeare literature class. I am taking both of the econ classes because I will have an econ minor after this trip!
Lunch is served right after class. Lunch is buffet style like breakfast. After lunch yesterday Morgan and I went shopping. It is soooo cold and raining here! The professors said this is the coldest summer in quite awhile. The wardrobe that I brought here is all the clothes I would have worn during a summer in Nebraska. So, Morgan and I had to buy some warmer clothes! J
We made it back to the college in time to shower and get ready before dinner. Dinner at 6:30 and then the Nebraska group went to a play. The play was alright…during intermission we all went to the bar at the theatre and got wine or beer. The second half of the play was much better! Following that the Nebraska group returned to the college and we went to the pub in our college. Each college at Oxford has their own pub! The student assistants took us out to a club in Oxford last night also. It was fun…nothing like Lincoln!
Today we had breakfast, classes, lunch, shopping, and I have been on the internet for almost 3 hours now. I checked my credit card balances, bank accounts, emailed friends, and I uploaded pictures to my blog!!! I only put up a few pictures from each city because I want you to still be excited to see me (or at least my pictures) when I get home! J
Thanks for all the messages! It is great to hear about what is going on back home. FYI there is no flooding in Oxford. I guess the news has been saying that? But we are safe…just a little cold. Bye!
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