Details, Details, Details

This is way too much information for some of you, so read or not. It's basically a summary of how hectic the first week at Oxford has been, as shown through today's example:

I woke up this morning at 7:15, for the first time sleeping almost seven hours straight from when I fell asleep at 12:30. I still have a cough and a sore throat, plus a slightly stuffy nose, but I am feeling so much better.

When I woke up, I had a lovely email from my boyfriend informing me that I would get a letter in the next week or two! Eeeee! I like mail (hint hint).

At 8:30, Katie and I left so that she could quickly show me the grocery store in Headington. Which is next to the post office. Now I will one day be able to send you mail back! This was my first bike ride in traffic and was rather intimidating, but I can get there. Really, I can. Maybe.

Then we rode down to Wycliffe Hall, the Oxford college our program is affiliated with. Total, this was 3.5 miles, which is probably the furthest I have ever ridden in one stretch in my life. My fitness needs to increase greatly before I will be comfortable biking in Oxford…

Then we were orientated at some more. All of the orientation. Today we learned about tutorials and clubs and libraries and what to do if we are having a personal emotional crisis. I will get to these later, except the personal crises stuff. It would be boring to an outsider. Though, I will note that the people at this program are amazing. I am definitely independent to do my own thing, but if I get into some sort of trouble I couldn’t get out of, I would trust the people here to help me.

Today we had two tea and coffee breaks. Tea is everywhere and so far, all the types I’ve tried have been wonderful. My favorite was Twinning’s Jasmine Green Tea. Tea gets old for some, but not for me!

After orientation, a group of us went to the Eagle and Child pub where C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and the other Inklings used to spend their time. It was a nice little place, but not at all how I had imagined a pub… I think I need to try some more before I make a judgment on pubs. Unfortunately, I did not drink a beer. First, it looks gross. But the larger reason is that my program strictly enforces the drinking policies of our home institutions. George Fox University does not all me to consume alcohol, so I’m not going to break the trust of the staff at my program. It’s the first week, and that sounds like a very bad place to start.

So, that’s what I did today. It’s pretty much what I’ve been doing every day: random adventures (when I have energy), learning more about Oxford life, and drinking tea.