Just another sunny day... in England!

Well today is just gorgeous outside! I tried to read some stuff for class tomorrow... but I came back inside because a) it got really hot and b) I ended up just chatting with everyone. So I will try to get that done before dinner at the dining commons tonight, but before that I'll give everyone a little update.

The flight here was pretty uncomfortable and after waiting for an hour to get off the plane after landing, I was ready to get off! We took a greyhound-style bus to Oxford, which was about an hour trip through some pretty rolling countryside with lots of sheep and cows. Once we got to Trinity College, I checked in at the porter's lodge and recieved my room key. I have a single with its own sink and shower, so I'm in luck (none of my other friends lucked out like me!) However, I'm kind of far away from all the girls I've become friends with. Have to take the good with the bad I suppose. The first night everyone watched the Spain vs. Germany football game at the school pub (cool, right?) but I couldn't keep my eyes open from the jet lag so I went in to sleep early.

The next day was FULL of tours. We had a great breakfast at the dining commons then headed off to our walking tour of Oxford (check the video link my mom sent you!) with a very knowledgable Oxonian lady named Debbie. We saw some amazing buildings and scenery and got to make a wish under the Hertford Bridge and see some upper level students leaving their final exams. They have to wear full dress called sub fusk for every major test and school event, which includes a black robe that has varying length depending on how far you are in school (very Harry Potter-esque). A very cool formal tradition.

A few of us then took the Trinity College library tour which is mandatory to use our facilities. The librarian, Allison, is a soft-spoken, glasses-wearing English lady who doesn't do much other than make sure you don't steal books, since it's only a reference library and you can't check anything out.

Then came the best part of the day. All of us studying at Trinity have readers access tothe Bodleian Library, an amazingly HUGE library that receives the first copy of any book published in England. We all had to recite a promise to never take any books (same thing, reference library) and to never "kindle fire or flame" within the walls of the library. They are TERRIFIED of fire here in England. I guess it carries over from the Great Fire of London and all that jazz. Afterword, a few of us Harry Potter fans checked out a few places in the library that were featured in the film, including a hall that served as the infirmary after Harry fought Voldemort, and the old part of the library on the top level (it's the "restricted access" part in the movie-lots of old books you can't touch). We didn't walk through because security is SO tight in that part of the library that you're not to have a "large bag". I did. But the super old old old old books were cool to see, especially because only "readers" (mostly students, we are very priveledged to be allowed to be readers) ever get to see that area.

Okay enough of the nerdiness. After all that I had to keep going! I had to get ready for our High Table dinner, which happens every night during the six weeks where everyone gets dressed up and has champagne on the lawn with their tutors. I'm legal here... and it was only appropriate to drink alongside these amazing professors ;) This was the first High Table, so I got to meet my tutor Ian Archer, who teaches my history class The Age of Renassaince and Reformation. He's a sweet old little man who is a professor at Keble College just down the road. We talked about random topics, including his trips to Athens and the upcoming American election. He seems really nice, but we'll see once the real work rolls around! After that we had a formal four course dinner in the dining commons, ending with tapioca that had poprocks-like sugar on the top (very unexpected and funny!) We tried to go out afterword to enjoy the nightlife of the town, but that's a difficult task for a Monday night so it didn't end up working out.

Today was the first day of my seminar, Fundamentals of Media Effects. My professor is a UGA professor, Dr. Reber. Throughout the class we will be writing a few media-related papers and doing some Oxford-style debating. Ironically, I'm on the Pro-Sexual Content in the Media group. So... we'll see how that goes. Afterwords, we did some shopping, which is AMAZING here... if you don't figure in the prices. We found a cheap clothing store called Primark that I fell in love with. There's just so much to do here! Then we all when to an Italian Bistro for lunch and came back to do a little work... except my studying turned into blogging!

I've got a little while to catch up on some reading now. Please leave comments I would love to hear from everyone! (And maybe if you ask... I can get you some chocolate from Thornton's Chocolatier... yummy!)

XOXO Megan