I've been on Oxford for almost a month now! Last night as I was procrastinating finishing my journals for British History and Culture (hey, don't judge. They got done), I was contemplating the improvements I have made in adjusting to the culture here. :)
Things I am getting really good at in Oxford
Eating the same thing 3 days in a row so it doesn’t spoil
Lighting the stove with a lighter... every time
Standing in just the right spot in the shower so the water doesn't fall out of the half-curtain and get the bathroom soaking
Checking for spiders
Speed walking- 15 minutes to the city center!
Not cringing when I sit on a bus on the wrong side of the road.
Saying sorry with a British accent so people are nicer to me
Having two faucets (one for hot, one for cold) and rapidly moving the water between the two to avoid scalding of the hands
Looking like I know where I’m going when I’m actually really lost
Figuring out which cookies will give you the most chocolate for the lowest cost.
Ignoring the fact that cars are driving on the sidewalk right outside my door
Calling it the toilet, no matter how crass it seems.
Ignoring spiders as long as they stay outside. If I find one inside though....
Knowing that if its nice outside you have to go RIGHT THEN to take advantage of it. If you wait a few minutes and it will be cold again.
Bringing a jacket/umbrella EVERYWHERE
Things I am not good at yet
Not laughing every time I see “To Let” on a sign *means "to rent". It’s too close to toilet! If they just called it a restroom, we wouldn’t have this problem.
Understanding accents- every British persons accent is so different, it takes me a while to get used to it.
Cooking. It’s hit or miss. The best meal I’ve “cooked”- warming up soup from a can.
The money. Whose idea was it to make the 2 pence twice as big as the 20 pence? Makes absolutely NO sense!
Probably more to come as I continue to adjust/be made aware of my continuing ignorance. :) Hope this entertained you!
"Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness" ~Psalm 115
Saturday, September 25, 2010
On the Road to Guernsey
As I write this, I am currently sitting on The Airline bus service from Oxford to Gatwick. I've still got at least an hour to go, but the scenery is super pretty, especially to a Californian who is used to seeing signs EVERYWHERE you turn. It's so nice to see actual trees everywhere.
I finished my first class of the Oxford semester last night at midnight when I finally finished writing my reflective journal entries. It was a three week lecture series called British History and Culture. Every day we'd walk a little more than 2 miles to class and then hear different lectures on topics deemed essential to British history and culture. While I enjoyed the class and getting to see everyone from GMU and APU every day, I am also looking forward to what the next set of classes brings with tutorials. I feel pretty good about this semester after ending the lecture series on a great note. We were supposed to make a 7-8 minute presentation on some element of British History and Culture. Being the econ nerd that I am, I decided to do it on the economic causation of the Industrial Revolution. No, people, it's not a loss of trees (there's still plenty of trees) or a magical increase in crops which left people with too much time so they invented more ways to do work, i argued that the IR was due to high wages, plentiful resources, and a demand for the technology. But, we don't need to get into that at the moment. :) We were encouraged to read our papers for our presentation and not ad-lib (americans are not as good at public speaking as we would like to think we are- I would agree). I got up there and started to read my paper. Quickly I realized, "No one is going to understand my paper- there's too much jargon." I believe my next thought was "screw it! I'm ad-libbing," but it worked out well. After every term, I tried to explain what it meant in a way that was easier to understand. I was definitely nervous, but I consider it a great mark of speaking success that people who have no basis of understanding for an economics topic where able to understand what I was presenting. All in all, I'm ecstatic it went so well. :)
Which leaves me free to go on to my next topic! I am currently on a bus going to Gatwick to take a plane to go to Guernsey. For those who don't know, Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands which my mom's side of the family is able to trace their lineage directly back. When I found out I was going to England, I googled Guernsey to see where it was. Ill be perfectly honest- i thought it was a county and that I was going to hop on a bus, take a picture of a cow, and come back having performed my familial duties. Come to find out it is this cute little island resort town! So, I am going for five days to meet some distant relatives, see the sites, do some Christmas shopping for that side of the family, and have time to relax and process the past three weeks. There's already so much to think about.
One of the things, that really has nothing to do with this post other than it's something that I've been thinking about lately is free time. In England, or at least the places I have been, most everything closes around 5pm. For an American, this can be torturous some times. Half of my day happens after 5. :) I've been making a point to go for walks in the park behind my house almost every day; walking after 5pm has become one of my favorite things to do. Because nothing is open and the weather is still nice, people flock to the park! There are blokes (such a fun word!) playing football (soccer), women pushing strollers chatting with their friends, kids on the playground, old women sitting on benches,people riding home from work on their bikes, kids learning to roller blade, etc. One of the favorite things I have seen though is how many fathers are out with their children at the park! I have seen at least 2 every day. They play with their kids on the playground or teach them how to ride a bike. Whatever they are doing, they are present and I LOVE seeing that. I feel like that is one of the main things we miss out on in the States. Because there is always something to do, to distract us, people are distracted from their families. Having everything close early makes it so people are concsious of the time they have their families. I think seeing the dads playing with their kids will continue to be one of my favorite daily sights.
I've also been thinking about the harm of too much free time. There is a clear converse to the increased family time. Everything closes around 5pm- except the pubs and the bars. Now, there's nothing wrong with going to the pub and hanging out with your friends- I've done it plenty of times. But it creates a cultural expectation that there is nothing to do at night besides drink. I'm coming to believe it too. I have a hard time thinking what else could be done with a group besides going out and drinking. It's a hard balance- one that I'm not sure there is an answer to. But it's definitely something that has been on my heart for the past week.
I'm off to enjoy a relaxing travel break in Guernsey. Hope you all have a great week! :)
I finished my first class of the Oxford semester last night at midnight when I finally finished writing my reflective journal entries. It was a three week lecture series called British History and Culture. Every day we'd walk a little more than 2 miles to class and then hear different lectures on topics deemed essential to British history and culture. While I enjoyed the class and getting to see everyone from GMU and APU every day, I am also looking forward to what the next set of classes brings with tutorials. I feel pretty good about this semester after ending the lecture series on a great note. We were supposed to make a 7-8 minute presentation on some element of British History and Culture. Being the econ nerd that I am, I decided to do it on the economic causation of the Industrial Revolution. No, people, it's not a loss of trees (there's still plenty of trees) or a magical increase in crops which left people with too much time so they invented more ways to do work, i argued that the IR was due to high wages, plentiful resources, and a demand for the technology. But, we don't need to get into that at the moment. :) We were encouraged to read our papers for our presentation and not ad-lib (americans are not as good at public speaking as we would like to think we are- I would agree). I got up there and started to read my paper. Quickly I realized, "No one is going to understand my paper- there's too much jargon." I believe my next thought was "screw it! I'm ad-libbing," but it worked out well. After every term, I tried to explain what it meant in a way that was easier to understand. I was definitely nervous, but I consider it a great mark of speaking success that people who have no basis of understanding for an economics topic where able to understand what I was presenting. All in all, I'm ecstatic it went so well. :)
Which leaves me free to go on to my next topic! I am currently on a bus going to Gatwick to take a plane to go to Guernsey. For those who don't know, Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands which my mom's side of the family is able to trace their lineage directly back. When I found out I was going to England, I googled Guernsey to see where it was. Ill be perfectly honest- i thought it was a county and that I was going to hop on a bus, take a picture of a cow, and come back having performed my familial duties. Come to find out it is this cute little island resort town! So, I am going for five days to meet some distant relatives, see the sites, do some Christmas shopping for that side of the family, and have time to relax and process the past three weeks. There's already so much to think about.
One of the things, that really has nothing to do with this post other than it's something that I've been thinking about lately is free time. In England, or at least the places I have been, most everything closes around 5pm. For an American, this can be torturous some times. Half of my day happens after 5. :) I've been making a point to go for walks in the park behind my house almost every day; walking after 5pm has become one of my favorite things to do. Because nothing is open and the weather is still nice, people flock to the park! There are blokes (such a fun word!) playing football (soccer), women pushing strollers chatting with their friends, kids on the playground, old women sitting on benches,people riding home from work on their bikes, kids learning to roller blade, etc. One of the favorite things I have seen though is how many fathers are out with their children at the park! I have seen at least 2 every day. They play with their kids on the playground or teach them how to ride a bike. Whatever they are doing, they are present and I LOVE seeing that. I feel like that is one of the main things we miss out on in the States. Because there is always something to do, to distract us, people are distracted from their families. Having everything close early makes it so people are concsious of the time they have their families. I think seeing the dads playing with their kids will continue to be one of my favorite daily sights.
I've also been thinking about the harm of too much free time. There is a clear converse to the increased family time. Everything closes around 5pm- except the pubs and the bars. Now, there's nothing wrong with going to the pub and hanging out with your friends- I've done it plenty of times. But it creates a cultural expectation that there is nothing to do at night besides drink. I'm coming to believe it too. I have a hard time thinking what else could be done with a group besides going out and drinking. It's a hard balance- one that I'm not sure there is an answer to. But it's definitely something that has been on my heart for the past week.
I'm off to enjoy a relaxing travel break in Guernsey. Hope you all have a great week! :)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Shelob's Lair
This blog is short and to the point.
I hate spiders.
There are TOO many spiders here.
One has made its camp right outside my window and another one outside the window downstairs.
They're like zombies, taunting me, daring me to go outside and walk through their vicious web.
I understand where Tolkien got the inspiration for Shelob from.
If there's anything I have disliked about this semester so far, it is only the sheer amount of spiders.
I hate spiders.
I hate spiders.
There are TOO many spiders here.
One has made its camp right outside my window and another one outside the window downstairs.
They're like zombies, taunting me, daring me to go outside and walk through their vicious web.
I understand where Tolkien got the inspiration for Shelob from.
If there's anything I have disliked about this semester so far, it is only the sheer amount of spiders.
I hate spiders.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Spiritual Workout
I am going to be in such good shape when I get back! Currently, I walk about 40 minutes to class every morning. That same walk has to be repeated to get back to my house afterward, assuming I don't need to stop by the supermarket, go to someone's house, or have a meeting to attend.
There comes a part of my morning walk, usually as we cross from New Park End Road or whatever its called (give me some slack, I'm not a morning person. :)) over to George street, when I start to think, "I can't do this anymore. I'm too tired." I desperately want to slow the brisk pace my friends set in the morning down to a leisurely stroll.
I've begun to feel the same way in my spiritual life over the past few days. Every once in a while, I'll hit a wall where I feel like, "I can't do this anymore. I'm too tired."
I take comfort from the memories of my morning walks. Every time I hit a wall while walking (not literally, that would be painful. Although I have done that before in my life), I press on for a few minutes more. That gets me past the hard part and suddenly, walking becomes so much easier! I am doing the same in my spiritual life. Pushing past the hard bits to get to the times when God reminds me, "You're doing what I have asked of you. Good job!"
The other day, I hit one of those moments where I thought I might explode from the strain of doing what God has asked of me- to love Him, reflect his glory through my life, and to love other people. I hurriedly rushed outside, knowing that if I remained indoors, a side I did not want to come out would become present. As soon as I walked out the door, I saw this double rainbow stretched across the sky. Peace filled me as I thought of the promise of the rainbow. God told Noah that he would never destroy the earth by flood again. As I remembered this, it was a reminder to me that God values the world he has created and he values our role in it. Those moments when I am having a hard time: God still loves me. And even more importantly, he loves everyone else the same. What a wonderful reminder of the sovereignty and love of God.
I'm going through a spiritual workout here. But it's worth it. And the results are going to be good. Maybe I'll even get a spiritual six-pack! ;)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
"How all were very busy" - Prince Caspian
I've decided to make my titles be chapters from books I've read, so I found this chapter from Prince Caspian to be extremely appropriate.
This weekend we took an APU/GMU field trip to foggy London town as an educational, yet fun, requirement. :)
Friday morning we left around 10:30 and took the train to Paddington station. All morning after, I was craving marmalade, even though I'm pretty sure I do not actually like the stuff. :) After that, we took the subway to Kings Cross Station (yes, like Harry Potter! Holla!), waited in an epically long line for the bathroom (this seemed to happen a lot this weekend- there's too many people in London that have to go when I do, I feel like). After we had all come back together, we made the 10 minute walk to our hostel on Kings Cross road. Then we went on an epic Lamkin-style walking tour, passing such quintessential sites as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby, St. James Park (favorite!), the London Eye, the River Thames, and eventually ended up at the Shakespeare Globe (reconstruction) theater for a dramatic reproduction of the Merry Wives of Windsor. As tired as I was, and as un-interested in literature as I can be, I was having a bit of trouble getting into the moment. Before long though, I was really enjoying myself. This may sound stupid, but I understand why Shakespeare's plays are meant to be seen as PLAYS- they are much easier to understand when you can see what's going on. :)
The next day, Jenae and I made a game plan and set out to see the rest of London. We made an early morning start and meandered (yes, I'm learning British English, so now I meander everywhere) over to the British Library to see the Treasures Collection. It was AWESOME! We saw Anglo-Saxon psaltries, the Magna Carta, original notes from the Beatles, a whole series on Alice in Wonderland (including one with a high level of Guinness product-placement: "Off with it's head!" cried the Queen. "No!" cried Alice, "Guinness never loses its head." Oy vey!), the Gutenberg Bible, really old maps, really old book covers, Jane Austen's writing desk, a copy of Jane Eyre in original hand writing. It was awesome. After that, we once again meandered our way over to Sainsbury's to grab some food for lunch and then ate at the South African vegetation exhibit at the British Museum. Apart from being hassled by a bee for possession of my sandwich, this was quite enjoyable. Then, we began to walk towards Tower Hill where the Tower of London and Tower Bridge are. Eventually we found it- wasn't quite sure what the tower of London was until we saw the sign (just thought it was an awesome castle- haha), but it was pretty neat. We didn't go inside; instead we spent a long time looking at Tower Bridge. I think it was one of my favorite things.We even got to see it go up! The sky was beautiful! I felt like Jesus was smiling down on me. After a long trek across tower bridge (awesome!) we went to the Tate Modern to see some works of Picasso they have. Jenae really enjoyed it; I think Picasso was a disturbed individual after the stuff I saw... yuck. But it was cool enough. Then we went across another bridge to St. Paul's cathedral.
We were trying to get there in time for the nightly evensong service (which, rumor had it you could get in free too; rumor success!), but we got there very early. After sitting outside of what we later found out wasn't even the main entrance (could have fooled me!), we made it inside for the service. We ended up being able to sit right up front in the wooden benches designed for very large choirs. I was literally 5 feet away from the priest. It was very overwhelming, but still neat to see all the ways people have tried to depict Christianity and to realize how many other believers have worshiped there. After that, we had dinner at Ye Olde London Pub and had the best meal ever! Chicken, chips (fries), and peas. I'm meant to be British. Also, there bathroom was hidden by a secret paneled wall of books; how cool is that!? Afterwards, Jenae and I went to Harrods (made it inside for one minute before we had to leave cause they were closing), McDonalds, and back to the hostel.
All in all, it was a great weekend! But I did learn one thing very important. I'm already starting to feel at home in Oxford. Maybe its because we had 16 girls in one hostel room, maybe it was all the new, but I definitely missed being around my flatmates and having a calm house. 16 girls = TOO MANY! I'm very thankful I have the flatmates I do. Now, I'm going to wait for my laundry to finish and rest up before the next week of crazy awesomness continues!
This weekend we took an APU/GMU field trip to foggy London town as an educational, yet fun, requirement. :)
Friday morning we left around 10:30 and took the train to Paddington station. All morning after, I was craving marmalade, even though I'm pretty sure I do not actually like the stuff. :) After that, we took the subway to Kings Cross Station (yes, like Harry Potter! Holla!), waited in an epically long line for the bathroom (this seemed to happen a lot this weekend- there's too many people in London that have to go when I do, I feel like). After we had all come back together, we made the 10 minute walk to our hostel on Kings Cross road. Then we went on an epic Lamkin-style walking tour, passing such quintessential sites as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby, St. James Park (favorite!), the London Eye, the River Thames, and eventually ended up at the Shakespeare Globe (reconstruction) theater for a dramatic reproduction of the Merry Wives of Windsor. As tired as I was, and as un-interested in literature as I can be, I was having a bit of trouble getting into the moment. Before long though, I was really enjoying myself. This may sound stupid, but I understand why Shakespeare's plays are meant to be seen as PLAYS- they are much easier to understand when you can see what's going on. :)
The next day, Jenae and I made a game plan and set out to see the rest of London. We made an early morning start and meandered (yes, I'm learning British English, so now I meander everywhere) over to the British Library to see the Treasures Collection. It was AWESOME! We saw Anglo-Saxon psaltries, the Magna Carta, original notes from the Beatles, a whole series on Alice in Wonderland (including one with a high level of Guinness product-placement: "Off with it's head!" cried the Queen. "No!" cried Alice, "Guinness never loses its head." Oy vey!), the Gutenberg Bible, really old maps, really old book covers, Jane Austen's writing desk, a copy of Jane Eyre in original hand writing. It was awesome. After that, we once again meandered our way over to Sainsbury's to grab some food for lunch and then ate at the South African vegetation exhibit at the British Museum. Apart from being hassled by a bee for possession of my sandwich, this was quite enjoyable. Then, we began to walk towards Tower Hill where the Tower of London and Tower Bridge are. Eventually we found it- wasn't quite sure what the tower of London was until we saw the sign (just thought it was an awesome castle- haha), but it was pretty neat. We didn't go inside; instead we spent a long time looking at Tower Bridge. I think it was one of my favorite things.We even got to see it go up! The sky was beautiful! I felt like Jesus was smiling down on me. After a long trek across tower bridge (awesome!) we went to the Tate Modern to see some works of Picasso they have. Jenae really enjoyed it; I think Picasso was a disturbed individual after the stuff I saw... yuck. But it was cool enough. Then we went across another bridge to St. Paul's cathedral.
We were trying to get there in time for the nightly evensong service (which, rumor had it you could get in free too; rumor success!), but we got there very early. After sitting outside of what we later found out wasn't even the main entrance (could have fooled me!), we made it inside for the service. We ended up being able to sit right up front in the wooden benches designed for very large choirs. I was literally 5 feet away from the priest. It was very overwhelming, but still neat to see all the ways people have tried to depict Christianity and to realize how many other believers have worshiped there. After that, we had dinner at Ye Olde London Pub and had the best meal ever! Chicken, chips (fries), and peas. I'm meant to be British. Also, there bathroom was hidden by a secret paneled wall of books; how cool is that!? Afterwards, Jenae and I went to Harrods (made it inside for one minute before we had to leave cause they were closing), McDonalds, and back to the hostel.
All in all, it was a great weekend! But I did learn one thing very important. I'm already starting to feel at home in Oxford. Maybe its because we had 16 girls in one hostel room, maybe it was all the new, but I definitely missed being around my flatmates and having a calm house. 16 girls = TOO MANY! I'm very thankful I have the flatmates I do. Now, I'm going to wait for my laundry to finish and rest up before the next week of crazy awesomness continues!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
"Why send her in alone?" "Because going in alone is a very important thing to do" ~The Brother's Bloom
Hello all!
Well, I've been settled into Oxford for about 5 days now, and I've now met some people who have internet, so I can get online to post. Hopefully soon we'll have internet at our "ghetto-fab" house (as we have lovingly termed our house). Don't get the wrong idea- I LOVE my flat! It has a ton of character. And by character, I mean quite a few bugs and quirks. But seriously, I am living up the college experience by doing this! And we do have nice couches, so it's all good. :)
We've had quite a few walking tours of the city so I'm getting a much better idea of where everything is, which is good because the first night I had no skill finding my way around. Luckily I was walking with a flatmate, so I didn't get too lost.
Yesterday we partook in a traditional Oxford pastime by going punting. Now, when I first heard about punting, I was pretty sure that it meant we would be standing along the banks of a river punting footballs. I was very confused as to why this was a good idea. But it is nothing of the sort- it's actually more insane! A punt is this flat boat that you propel with a pole. And that's it. I was considering the possibility of punting until about 10 minutes into it, Luke, our designated punter fell into the water. It was the classic dilemma: punt or boat? The river decided. After that, there was no way I was going to stand up in that thing. :)
Today I took a long walk with one of my flatmates. We found a meadow, some horses, a stream, and secret trails down behind our house. Down one of the trails, we found an old graveyard which we explored. It was very neat, but also really sad. There was quite a significant portion donated to soldiers who died in WWII, all from the Botley area (the area of Oxford where I live)
The past few days I've been able to hang out with lots of APU students and make some connections there. Today I mostly hung out with my roommates- they are pretty sweet. Definitely don't think it was by chance that I've been put with them. First of all, we're almost all econ students and we seem to live really well together.
All in all, I'm enjoying being on my own out in Oxford. It's weird remembering though that this isn't a short term trip and that, while 3.5 months isn't THAT long, it IS longer than a short trip and I need to pace myself so I don't tire out and crash too soon. There's a feeling on independence though that is so much more than when I was in Azusa- I don't know, maybe it's cause I'm across the ocean from everything I know ;) haha. Thanks for all your prayers! Continue to keep praying for peace, love for those around me, and that I will remain firm in the knowledge that I am placed exactly where God wants me. :) Love to you all!
Well, I've been settled into Oxford for about 5 days now, and I've now met some people who have internet, so I can get online to post. Hopefully soon we'll have internet at our "ghetto-fab" house (as we have lovingly termed our house). Don't get the wrong idea- I LOVE my flat! It has a ton of character. And by character, I mean quite a few bugs and quirks. But seriously, I am living up the college experience by doing this! And we do have nice couches, so it's all good. :)
We've had quite a few walking tours of the city so I'm getting a much better idea of where everything is, which is good because the first night I had no skill finding my way around. Luckily I was walking with a flatmate, so I didn't get too lost.
Yesterday we partook in a traditional Oxford pastime by going punting. Now, when I first heard about punting, I was pretty sure that it meant we would be standing along the banks of a river punting footballs. I was very confused as to why this was a good idea. But it is nothing of the sort- it's actually more insane! A punt is this flat boat that you propel with a pole. And that's it. I was considering the possibility of punting until about 10 minutes into it, Luke, our designated punter fell into the water. It was the classic dilemma: punt or boat? The river decided. After that, there was no way I was going to stand up in that thing. :)
Today I took a long walk with one of my flatmates. We found a meadow, some horses, a stream, and secret trails down behind our house. Down one of the trails, we found an old graveyard which we explored. It was very neat, but also really sad. There was quite a significant portion donated to soldiers who died in WWII, all from the Botley area (the area of Oxford where I live)
The past few days I've been able to hang out with lots of APU students and make some connections there. Today I mostly hung out with my roommates- they are pretty sweet. Definitely don't think it was by chance that I've been put with them. First of all, we're almost all econ students and we seem to live really well together.
All in all, I'm enjoying being on my own out in Oxford. It's weird remembering though that this isn't a short term trip and that, while 3.5 months isn't THAT long, it IS longer than a short trip and I need to pace myself so I don't tire out and crash too soon. There's a feeling on independence though that is so much more than when I was in Azusa- I don't know, maybe it's cause I'm across the ocean from everything I know ;) haha. Thanks for all your prayers! Continue to keep praying for peace, love for those around me, and that I will remain firm in the knowledge that I am placed exactly where God wants me. :) Love to you all!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I made it!
Well, ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, I made it to Oxford! :) Woohoo!
My parents dropped me off at the airport on Monday and I almost made it without tearing up, but they were definitely happy tears. Spent a lot of time people watching in the airport. It was definitely strange being one of the only Americans on the flight, but that's just the first of many such experiences to come! I ended up sitting next to an 11 or 12 year old French boy and his family. This was mostly okay, but at one point, with about 3 hours left on the flight, he fell asleep on top of me. Part of me was weirded out, the other part of me was too tired to care and knew that he would be the one embarrassed when he woke up, not me. And yes, he was. Haha. Besides that, and getting to sort of see the sunrise while flying over Greenland (I was in the middle aisle, but I leaned across as the man sitting next to the window covertly opened it a crack. A stewardess came by quickly to ask him to shut it cause it was too bright. Poo.), it was a mostly uneventful flight. I watched a lot of TV (which was very enjoyable for those who know me) and only slept a teeny tiny bit.
We got stuck on the runway for a bit once we landed, so we were listening to british music from the 80s on the airplane radio. Everyone else was exhausted, but I was definitely bouncing up and down in my seat the whole time. :) I am VERY excited to be here.
In the morning, even though we arrived slightly late, I was able to get through customs and meet my traveling buddy Liz on time. I did pull two overweight suitcases about 2 miles through the airport because I didn't realize you could take the luggage trolleys all the way to the bus stop. Oops! A few blisters and a very sweaty shirt later, now I know. :)
We then got to drive to Oxford! I managed to stay awake and saw some horses, rolling green hills, lots of trees, and, best of all, SHEEP! This made me SUPER excited! Also, I saw a fantastic road sign. It was a tow truck sign that said "Free Recovery: Await Rescue". If I see another, I'm definitely taking a picture.
Also, I get so excited every time I hear people talk. British accents are so cool! I've already started thinking in a slight one. At one point, I saw cars parked along the side of the road facing both ways, and, I believe the exact word to describe it in my mind was "higgeldy piggeldy". Oh boy... father, I may not be able to keep my promise to come back not sounding presumptuous. Sorry. :)
We successfully figured out how to take a taxi, managed to stay awake enough to find food, explored some, and finally fell asleep just after 8 when it was dark enough (but not quite dark) for us to justify going to sleep. 11 hours of sleep later, we are taking advantage of the paid for internet until check out time and then are off to take another taxi and find out our housing assignments. I'm slightly nervous, but more so VERY excited. It's got to be Jesus helping me out. :)
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