I Know I Need to Write More...

(To the right: My crazy, but best good friends :))
Ah! It got really crazy around here this week! It's probably always going to be pretty crazy around here, though. I had about a thousand pages to read, four-thousand words to write, and clear and concise notes that I can use in class. And I think that will be the average week for me. I finally have a consistent schedule, which is really nice. I'm only in class about five hours a week, and the rest of my time is spent reading and writing. I probably do 7-8 hours of homework a day. It's great fun. But I am really learning so much and becoming more comfortable talking to my professors and stating my opinions. Today I had my last class of the week (Yes, the weekend for me starts Thursday morning at 10am) and my tutor was really impressed with my essay. So then for next week, he gave me four books to read and two essay questions! So the better I do, the more work I have to do. I actually really like this. It's individualized, so I'm never bored. And if it's too hard and I really mess up, they are lenient and nice when then they offer suggestions for next time. It's still somewhat troubling at times, and I miss the American system of education... but I am happy that I am learning so much!

(To the left: Hannah, Rashelle, Brittany and I at the social)

Last weekend, our school threw us a party. They give us money to go buy alcohol at the store! It's crazy... We're technically not allowed to have alcohol in the building without permission, but the administration doesn't care.. I think they encourage it, since they give us free alcohol. I'm not trying to emphasize the alcohol here; I don't drink much and when I do, it's very lightly. It's just another different concept compared the dry campus of SCSU.

It also rained a lot last weekend and the beginning of this week. I tried to go to church on Sunday, but I never made it because of the flood. I thought it was really funny. A strange lady offered me a ride across the water in her car, but there are many obvious dangers in that so I politely said no. That was funny to me too. But now it hasn't rained in about two days and the sun has been out all day. The sun and the idea that it is the weekend makes me smile. Believe it or not, however, I have to spend most of my weekend studying. I will try to write more as a way to take a break from reading. I'm sorry that I haven't good at updates. Have fun in the cold.. it's about 55 degrees F here :) (I do miss snow). (Below: The flooded road... the bus is going to go through it!!)
Things I have learned (or that just refreshed my memory):
Washing clothes by hand is cheaper
I'm pretty good at making dad's popcorn :)
3000 miles and 6 hours is quite the distance, but we will make it anywayS

Technically Week One.. 'Cuz last week was week 0 (British Oxford Students start this week!!)

(To the right: Me in a red phone box)
I meant to write on Monday... keep this thing updated weekly, but I got distracted. It's pretty easy to get distracted here! Last week was dull over all anyway. I had a couple classes and a couple lectures. Things are going better. It's independent learning, but it's good. I think if I had any more lectures, I'd go crazy. My professors talk fast so add that to the accent and it's challenging. Last Tuesday, we got inducted into a library. Not even kidding. It's called the Boldleian Library and it is huge! It has three main buildings and numerous other buildings around Oxford, but that only includes 10% of the actual library. Most of the library is underground and they system to retrieve those books is pretty interesting. There are five stories below the ground in Oxford, but many books are stored in a salt mine in Chesire in Northern England! The books in storage can be ordered by a library member via the Bodlian internet catalogue. The books are picked up by workers, placed in bins, and sent to Oxford. The process can take 2 hours to many days, depending on where the book is. I have been lucky so far and the books I need are on the shelves in the main buildings. The library gets about 5000 books per week and has a deal with copywriters which gives them one copy of everything printed in England. Of course, this system is expensive and well monitored. It is a non-borrowing library, and they check bags going in and out. We had to take an oath to not destroy or set fire to the library and to follow all the rules. It was scary at first, but now I love it. I have access to almost any book in the entire world!

Since classes hadn't really begun, a small group of friends and I decided to go to London on Saturday. We had a lot of fun. We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We then walked about five blocks to Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. We decided to tour the Abbey, which was extremely interesting. My friend is a history major, and so he explained the significance of the people whose graves we saw. After that, we walked a long, long way to the Tate Modern. Art is not that exciting for me, but it was alright. Then we walked over to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, but didn't take a tour. (Above: Changing of the guard; Below: Me and Big Ben)
(Above: Westminster Abbey; Below: St. Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames)
(To the left: Buckingham Palace)
Night fell and we walked to St Paul's Cathedral, which is somewhat like Westminster Abbey, but there are less graves in there. Then we walked back; unfortunately, downtown was crazy and we ended up not knowing where we were. But it ended up really, really good. We were in Trafalgar Square, home of the famous Nelson Column. We got directions back and walked through some cool arches. The road led back to Buckingham Palace and so we got to see it all light up at night (and there was no more crowd!). It was pretty amazing. We reached our bus stop, which ended being the wrong stop, but the driver took us anyway because he was nice. We probably had to walk six miles to see everything, but it was worth it. And I have more pictures, don't worry. If you want to see them, here are the links to my albums on facebook:
http://stcloudstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112816&l=49269&id=56013847
http://stcloudstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112821&l=4ab4f&id=56013847

The second week of classes is going alright. I still think it is awkward to talk to my professors and it still makes me feel stupid, but everyone here says they feel stupid, so I'm not alone. My free time is spent in the library or running around town looking for vendors in their vans. They have good, cheap food and the food we get at school consists of small portions of low-quality carbs. It's actually not so bad, though many people complain.

Here are two more links to different albums I have made since coming here:
http://stcloudstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112090&l=07ddf&id=56013847
http://stcloudstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112095&l=68a19&id=56013847

Things I've learned (or that just refreshed my memory):
Look RIGHT-left-right... which is hard because I don't know my rights and lefts.
Shhh... People talk very quiet.
Everyone loves a Minnesoooooooooooootan accent!

Boredom?

(To the left: a street in Oxford... the back of my building is above East... the top windows are our dinning room and kitchen)

Orientation is over and school has begun. This weekend was entertaining, but only for awhile. I really love the other Americans in my group.. it's so much fun to explore the town with them! I am feeling fairly comfortable here now. I know where most places are and have seen almost everything, except the Thames which I will eventually.
Friday and Saturday were spent exploring the town and buying the things that we discovered we needed. Like a watch/clock since our mobiles (cell phones) don't work here. And boots.. okay, I just wanted the boots. It is true I have already been to a few pubs and a club, but didn't drink anything. Alcohol is expensive, so I just watch everyone else and still have a good time. (To the bottom right: St. Peter's College, the college of CMRS students like me!)

My first class was today. Now, the schooling system is way different. There are sessions called tutorials, which are one on one meetings with a professor. The class is focused on the individual student, who gets to decide its direction. I have two of those. Another type is a seminar. It's a small group of students and a professor. My seminar has one other student. The topic: political philosophy. And today sucked. I really didn't understand much. There are certain concepts that I know nothing of simply because I have only taken two philosophy courses. I want to study and am excited for the class, but at the same time I hate it. I hate the awkwardness of feeling so inadequate. The professor is really smart (obviously) and the other student actually talks. I don't (I know, that's hard to imagine). My final class is an integral course that is composed of different lectures and field trips. Everything starts now, however, the tutorials end in the third week of March, the seminar a week later, and the integral in the middle of April. Whew. It sounds complicated, but it's not that bad. It's just not really my cup of tea. I think the point of philosophy is learning a variety of views, not feeling stupid when the professor keeps telling you you're wrong. (Below: Shoe Lane, my street.. the tall red building is CMRS)
So now I'm extremely bored. Oxford is the size of Red Wing and isn't that interesting. I have no motivation to study... but I guess I can crack a book.
(To the left, the Tower from the Oustide)

Oh, one other thing. Sunday we went to London to see the Tower of London. It was surrounded by a moat and was where prisoners were brought to die. Of course, royalty were imprisoned there too. There's the story of two young princes who were murdered, but their bodies were never found. About a thousand years later, in the nineteenth century, an archaeologist discovered their bodies in the wall of the white tower. Also, the early British thought that it was good fortune to have ravens in the tower. If they left the tower, the British would lose their battle, but if they stayed, the British would when. To this day there are ravens in the tower, however, the British somewhat cheat by clipping their wings.
(Above: The Wall and Tower Bridge. The ravens are in the grass. Below: The White Tower)
So that's my last few days. I'm sure I won't write for awhile... it now all seems to be winding down. I miss the states and want to come.. but don't worry.. I will have a good time since I'm here.

Things I've Learned (or just that refreshed my memory):
The first floor is called the ground floor and the second floor is then the first floor!
There is no warm water... why warm when you can dip in cold then hot?
It's always raining :(

MSP-LON

An excellent trip always starts from a complicated beginning.. at least now it does! On Wednesday morning, I went to the MSP airport to catch a flight to Cincinnati, which would later connect me to a flight to London. When I arrived, I learned my flight was delayed. Really no big deal since I had a six hour layover in Cincinnati, however, about an hour and a half after my flight should have taken off, the flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. I was fourth in the long line to re-route, and coincidently, a woman from England was right behind me. So we chatted for a bit and both got an excellent non-stop, first class ticket to London that arrived 20 minutes before my planned plane would land. Pretty nifty! Her name is Ann and she is magnificent. We found our new gate together and then ate lunch and waited with each other. A few hours before our flight, we received our boarding passes, however, right after I got mine, there was an announcement about how the flight was overbooked. Since I had nothing better to do, I volunteered to go on the next flight, sacrificing my first class ticket, but gaining a $750 voucher for Northwest (and it’s good in Europe!) and money for a meal. Yum.

So my plans once again changed, and I was set up to fly to Amsterdam later on that evening. And then that flight was overbooked… Just kidding. I stepped on board my first plane ever Wednesday night. It was a lot different than I thought. It felt like we were moving so slow, but before I knew it, we had crossed all of Wisconsin! It was pretty cool. I slept on and off and the flight was amazing. I looked out my window during the night to see a sky full of beautiful stars. I watched the moon and sun rise. It was beautiful. And I saw the ocean for the first time ever, over eight miles below me. The plan arrived on time in Amsterdam and I had to attempt to get my boarding pass to London. I found my gate, after some time spent wandering around, and then I waited six hours. I wanted to go into town, but I didn’t have any Euros because I was not planning on going through Amsterdam (or any other country that uses Euros). Also, I did not have an actual ticket, just an agenda from Northwest, and I did not want to leave and have that cause problems later. So I visited a museum and the gift shops in the airport to get my fill of Holland culture. Finally, my flight to London took off and I arrived in London, with no place to stay.
(Above: The sunrise over the atlantic. The small light is Venus and bigger light is the moon)

I somehow accessed wifi at the airport and was searching for places, but didn’t have a phone to check for availability. A woman from the airport directed me to another concourse where there was a hotel. When I reached the other concourse, I couldn’t find what she was talking about and was about to leave when I saw a huge sign that said hotel. I stood by the hotel booth for a few minutes and finally worked up the courage to tell the woman that I needed some place to stay that was cheap. She knew of a nice hostel in Oxford, and so I continued to travel two and half hours by train to Oxford. I met a couple while I was waiting for my last train, and they accompanied me for awhile and pointed me in the right direction in Oxford. Unfortunately, the map confused me and I ended up taking a wrong turn almost right away. About a quarter of a mile later, I realized my mistake and turned around. I found the hostel immediately after I walked past my starting point. I struggled and got my luggage and myself in. I was somewhat tired and so I climbed into bed as quietly as I could. In the morning, I left as soon as I could for the bus station to meet someone from the school. I didn’t have to wait long until I saw a man with a sign. He hadn’t even put it up when I approached him. He led me to the dorm and I moved in and showered. Shortly after that, my roommate came as well as some other students. We walked around town and grabbed some lunch. Right about now, most people are napping because of the jetlag, but I don’t feel it, nor did I yesterday. These last days were so hectic that I didn’t notice the time difference. It is really weird to think about the difference, especially when it is late afternoon here and only morning in Minnesota. It reminds me of all the things I have done already and you are not even awake yet! Anyway, to make a long story short, I left Red Wing and arrived in Oxford. Orientation starts now so I must go.

Things I have learned:
Moving walkways are fun, especially when you speed walk.
I do not know Dutch.
British people are so nice and helpful : )
Dang, my luggage is heavy!