Roomates!

My great flatmates! Its going to be a great semester with them!

Left to Right: Me, Michelle (SUNY Buffalo),
Maura (Catholic University of America),
Dan (Catholic University of America)

Dinner at Local Irish Pub: O'Neill's

Another Week Bites the Dust!

Remember how I spent most of the first week exploring and just having a grand old time? Well, that season of blissful boredom and freedom is over because its time for what Oxford does best: learning!

Last Monday, I started my academic journey, meeting my academic advisor, Dr. Rhodri Lewis, who is probably the funniest and most intelligent person I have met in Oxford as of yet. So after taking the hour long trek from our flat to his office in north Oxford (at a college called St. Hugh's), I met briefly with Dr. Lewis and he gave me the names of my tutors and the subjects I would be taking for my tutorials.

On Monday we all got to tour the Oxford Union which is Oxford's debating society! It has beautiful libraries and reading rooms and is going to be a great study spot this semester! Also the Union hosts weekly debates during term, with famous speakers and politicians coming to debate hot topics in British culture and politics. This Thursday's debate is on the Afghanistan War and whether or not the UK should withdraw its troops, which should be fascinating if we can get in (the hot topics are often very popular and space in the debate hall is limited)!

Wednesday also was a day for tours! We went to the Bodleian Library and received our orientation to the library and our cards, which give us access to almost all of the libraries in Oxford. However, the Bodleian is a reference library only, so the books there can only be used within the walls of the library. Although there are lending libraries in Oxford, because we are visiting students we are only allowed to check books out of our college library and the Union library.

Kiley, Katie and I then headed over to New College for our tour by the JCR (their form of student government). New College is absolutely spectacular and the whole college looks like Hogwarts from Harry Potter. In fact, the Cloisters were actually used in the Goblet of Fire movie (for the scene where Malfoy was turned into a ferret). The Chapel was also simply astounding!

That night, OPUS hosted a formal dinner for all of the St. Catherine's and New College students in the program at St. Catherine's. The food was delicious and I really lucked out in the seating arrangements. I sat right next to my advisor Dr. Lewis who, as I said before, is very entertaining, across form the representative from our JCR, Ali, and near Katie and Kiley. We had a great time with Ali and Dr. Lewis who were rather entertaining.

Most of the rest of the week and the weekend was filled with reading and reading and more reading.

Kiley and I decided to go to the college chapel for their Sunday morning communion service, which was, not surprisingly, Anglican, but was surprisingly small (only 5 other students)! Apparently, their big service in the evensong which is held in the evening with the full choir and all. Still, it was good just experiencing what it was like, and we got to talk with the chaplain and other students over breakfast afterward.

Sunday night my roommates and I went out for dinner at a localIrish pub. It was really good food for a really good price and we had a great time just recounting our most recent adventures and laughing together again!

Yesterday, I had my first tutorial on African history. It was amazing! I met for an hour with my tutor, and we talked about decolonization and independence movements. Since I did not have to prepare an essay for this one it mostly him giving me a personalized lecture, but he also asked me a great deal of questions, and then would expand on my answers. It was kind of intimidating at first, but by the end I was definitely more comfortable with my answers and confident in explaining my ideas. Our next tutorial will be in two weeks, and since I am writing a paper for that one, I will likely be doing a lot more talking, explaining my ideas and thoughts on our next topic: the ride of one party rule.

Currently I am still researching for my international relations tutorial. Hopefully, I will finish that today and can work on my paper all day Wednesday, since its due soon! I have my first tutorial for that on Friday which is really exciting, but, again, slightly terrifying.

So, now I'm off to New College for lunch, then its off to the library for research galore!

A New Type of One-on-Ones

Tutorials, tutors, colleges, OPUS, oh my what is he talking about!

I though I would take a moment to explain a little bit about how academics here at Oxford work, along with a little bit about our program and what I will be studying!

The University of Oxford is actually a federation of 38 independent colleges, each with its own campus and governing bodies, which run the day to day business of the college. The university's role is to oversee examinations, the library system, and confers degrees. Academics at Oxford are done mainly through the tutorial system. Tutors (the teachers) assign readings and a paper topic for a student, who works on the paper in preparation for the tutorial meeting. The tutor and student meet weekly, one-on-one, and the paper serves as the basis for discussion, which often involves many questions from the tutor and the student attempting to defend and explain their work.

My primary tutorial is on international relations and the secondary is on sub-Saharan African history. Currently I am working on my first paper for international relations, which is focused on the main competing theories of the field. I know! You all have such excited looks on your faces already! It has been lots of reading already and there is still lots more reading/skimming to do, since my first reading list has over 50 books on it! (Lets just say that the Social Sciences Library and I have become well acquainted.)

The APU program is run through an office called the Oxford Programe for Undergraduate Studies(or OPUS), which coordinates several study abroad programs at Oxford. For our program we have two tutorials: a primary (which meets 7 times) and a secondary (which meets 5 times). The term at Oxford lasts 8 weeks, following which we will have a short break and then come back for a seminar (a tutorial with 3-4 other students) on British politics or history.

Each student in the program is placed in one of four Oxford colleges: New, Christ Church, St.Catherine's, and Hartford. I ended up in New, which, despite its name is actually over 600 years old. The "New" name comes from the fact that the official name is College of St. Mary, but when the college was founded there was already a college of St. Mary in Oxford, so the college then took on the name, New College of St. Mary, shortened to New College. It feels like going to school in a castle! Just check out our dinning hall!

Oh Yeah I Have a Blog to Update...

Its been a while since I last updated this thing!

Oxford has been one huge whirlwind after the other!

"We get snow, but it never really sticks," said my cab driver on the first day. I mentioned that it was snowing in my last blog post. That may have been a small understatement, since what we ended with was the largest snowfall Oxford has seen in the last 25 years! The problem with snow in Oxford (I would estimate we got between 10 inches to 1 foot), is that there are very limited resources to deal with snow removal. I saw one small city plow, and those shoveling had only garden shovels. Everything was literally shut down, and trying to get a cab was nearly impossible. When I finally managed to get one who would make the trek to the hostel to pick me up, the driver told me he could only promise to get me as close as possible to my destination. Finally though, I managed to pick up my keys at Hertford College, and head for my new home for the next 3 months!

My flat lies on a small street off Botley Road, the main street connecting West Oxford to the central city. 50 Oatlands Road is a quaint (if slightly, well how to put it, well used) flat which I will be sharing this semester with my flat-mates Michelle, Maura, and Dan. Michelle and Dan arrived on Wed., but because of travel problems Maura was delayed in arriving until the next day.

Orientation was a long and brutal affair, taking up most of Thursday, but it was also informative and helpful in getting some idea of the semester to come.

Afterwards, the four of us, along with Kiley Price (one of my good friends from APU), went out to eat at a great local pub called The Four Candles. It was great and we had fun just getting to know one another better.

Friday was a day for exploration and fun. Dr. Martin, a psychology professor from APU who is serving as our program director here in Oxford, hosted all of the APU students for lunch, which consisted of a familiar favorite: Domino's Pizza! This semester we will have weekly convocations where we get together to discuss and reflect on our experiences. Plus, Dr. Martin's apartment came with in-floor heating, a feature we were all envious of.

That night the five of us again gathered for a meal, this time in our kitchen, for a fantastic home-cooked meal by Maura and Michelle. As we all sat down at the table, it was oddly silent, and we were all glancing around at one another, waiting for a cue to start. Michelle suddenly exclaimed, "Are we all waiting for grace?" to which we all laughed and acknowledged that we were indeed waiting. Turns out that Maura and Dan are Catholic and the rest of us are protestant Christians. It was yet another fun moment of bonding, as we dived in to a discussion of our shared beliefs, and differences.

Saturday was another day of exploration, but with a particular purpose: boots! In my case, I simply wanted to find a comfortable pair of shoes that would keep me warmer then the very thin (and cold) Converse that I had been using since I arrived. Kiley and I set out with the two Katies (Katie Shore and Katie Hazdovac, both APU students) and scoured what seemed like every shoe store in Oxfordshire county! After a long day and many stores, I finally found a suitable pair of shoes, which have so far kept my feet much drier and much warmer!

Later that night, the four of us decided to take on the challenge of baking, which posed three particular challenges: 1) we had no ingredients, 2) it had to be gluten-free (because Katie is allergic to even minute amounts), and 3) we had to use an old kitchen none of us were familiar with. The first two were quickly solved by Katie's revelation of an easy gluten free peanut butter cookie recipe and a quick trip to the nearby convenience store. However, the kitchen proved to be a more formidable task. The Katies' oven had no temperature settings, merely a range from zero to ten, and the first cookie sheet we put the cookies on didn't actually fit in the tiny oven. Although the first batch did not fare too well, the second one was superb and I would have never have guessed it was gluten-free (though sugar is sugar)!

Sunday, St. Aldate's Church was the destination for many APU students. The service was great, and it was very much like being home! However, that was probably my biggest problem with it. I don't want to simply experience the same thing in England that I can experience in the US. St. Aldate's is a great place, but I want to find a place of worship that is challenging as well.

For lunch, discovered one of Oxford's food gems: The Mission. Just think Chipolte with British accents. But really, its this little Mexican place that is a carbon copy of Chipotle. The food was great and really filling, and it was fun just being in a familiar atmosphere with familiar food!

Monday was the begining of the end. Well, the end of carefree days at least. I met with my academic advisor, who assigned me my tutors (teachers, more on academics in a later post) and answered all of my questions. So far, I have a meeting with one of them on Thursday, and sitll waiting to hear back from the other. Its exciting to be finally starting the academics, but also terrifying because its certainly not going to be a walk in the park!

Last night we all got a tour of the Oxford Union, of which we will have membership this semester. Its housed in this amazing facility with beautiful libraries and study spaces, along with a cheap pub. However, the main attraction of the Union is the debates they host. Famous scholars and politicians come to argue hot issues, which you've probably guessed, I can't wait to start. Overall, it seems like a great asset to our time here in Oxford, and is also another great way to meet other students.

Today has been a nice, relaxing lazy day, with the only main task being a very well needed grocery run. Tomorrow, however, is filled with appointments and tours, all in preparation for term to fully begin!

Sorry it took me so long to post this, and sorry that its is so lengthy!
I promise I will post more consistently in the future! Photos to be posted to Facebook soon!

Miss You All!
Cheers!

Sun to Snow

Greetings from across the pond! Oxford is AMAZING!

I arrived yesterday in a daze, spending most of the day drifting in an out of sleep on a couch in the hostel lounge. In between sporadic naps, I spent a few hours wondering around the nearby shops and streets in awe of the architecture and culture. The people are kind and friendly, and only sometimes give me a funny look when I speak.

Today was beautiful, sunny, and a balmy . I spent most of the day wondering around the central city exploring and taking in a few of the sights. The architecture is simply stunning, the air is clear, and there is green everywhere. Walking down the streets feels like walking on a movie set; its surreal!

Radcliffe Camera, Which Serves as a Reading Room for the Bodleian Library

Outside Christ’s Church College

Panini’s are a delicious local favorite for lunch and are really affordable. This one cost only £2.69.

Tonight it started snowing and it just makes everything look even more beautiful!

Everyone else will arrive tomorrow for housing check in, and then orientation begins Thursday!

Cheers!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tomorrow is the day it all begins! Its a day of long flights and long layovers but then England! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I know that Oxford has some great adventures and experiences in store!