I Get It

There's a couple of Americans (that I know of, maybe there's more) that work for my Oxford program that have lived here in the UK several years. I saw why after my first full day here at Oxford. 

I had a full day of lectures and science & religion discussions. 

It's a nerd's dream.

I had a couple hours of break so a group of us walked down to a shopping area. It was a crowded, eclectic mix of old and new buildings. I loved it. I'm looking forward to exploring more.

This is the place where the Inklings met regularly. 

My hall is next to a beautiful park. I got to run this morning (I have a running buddy from the cohort!) and took another walk tonight. Big trees. Ponds. Lots of birds and squirrels. It's great.

View from the top of a bridge



My walk from the Porters Lodge to my building is full of flowers.

Okay I get it. I'm loving it here.

Getting to Oxford

It was hard to leave the kids and Josh at the airport, but my excitement carried me though. Plus, Face Time and free Wi-fi helped, too. I flew back in December, and there wasn't free wi-fi at my airports. This time I had free Wi-fi at every airport and on my bus to Oxford. I've been able to talk to the kids every day, even on the day I flew out while I was waiting in Charlotte.

 

My travel went pretty well. I got a bit sick on the long flight (I think it was a combo of something I ate, and my blood sugar dropped), but nothing a Coke-Cola and some sleep couldn't fix.

Up above the clouds on the way to Charlotte

This is my excited, but tired face. I'm about to get on the 7-hour flight to London. I also had accepted at this point to embrace the selfie. Hey, I gotta take some pictures of me on my adventures!

 This was my first flight with the awesome set-up. I watched two movies on the flight, listened to some music, and periodically checked our GPS position and stats. We are so spoiled now. I slept 30 minutes.

Pretty sure this curry dish was the main culprit of the sick-on-the-plane incident.

 The customs line was forever long. It moved steadily, but there were so many people! Lots of student groups. 

I waited awhile in the bus stop area (it's connected to the airport). I had a chai and people-watched. I noticed the diversity of the people working and waiting at the airport. I head lots of languages and accents. It made me smile when the bus driver called all the women, "Love."

I ran into an OC alum while I waiting to board the bus. I had changed into an OC t-shirt, and the student asked me if I worked at OC. 

On the bus to Oxford

I had some time to kill once I reached Oxford before I could check into my Hall. I had fish and chips in a square. I people-watched and read (aka drifted off periodically).

I took a taxi to the Hall and found my room. I got homesick unpacking, but I felt much better after I Face Timed again with the kids.

I managed to stay awake until 10 PM that first night. I felt pretty good today so I think that I'm about adjusted to the time change. Around 2 PM today I was struggling, but we had coffee at 3 so I survived.

I'm loving the view out my window. 

I'm in Oxford!