In a Nutshell

Hello All! Here are some pictures first because I am still learning how to work this program. :)

You have to make at least 60 million pounds to live in this neighbourhood. I saw two Lamborghini(s) while walking through. 

This is a decent picture of Buckingham Palace behind me. It was crazy crowded when you get up close to it. 

This was my first sight of Big Ben. 

Very Tourist -y I know, but I had to do it. 

These horses are known to bite, that's why I look kind of nervous. lol

I took a picture of this because it looked cool. lol 

Classic double decker bus. All the buses are double decker here though.
The taxis (on the bottom right) are all black and look like a 20s era vehicle, all of them look like this.  

This is the National Portrait Gallery. I saw a lot of famous art here,  like Van Gough, as well as at the Tate Museum. I saw the Lady of Shallot and other various famous paintings. 

 
  I'm a very sorry that I have not posted until now. I really wanted to get the hang of everything before I started posting on my blog. I have completed orientation, made a friends, and am quickly learning my way around Oxford. I would like to say that some of the most noticeable differences include: driving on the left side of the road, the classic British reserved demeanour, and the love of learning seeping out of the city. I would say one of the hardest transitions was learning to do everything on the left. I have to ride my bike up, down, and around the city. There are massive hills here, some of which I have made it my goal to be able to ride up by the end of term.

I am planing on going back to Westminster
for a Evensong service.
I'm pretty excited about that. 

  In America there is a need to move right when your in the way, here you move left. That was difficult at first. However, I finally have the hang of it. I really enjoy conversations with people here. There is a negative connotation that the British are stuck up and mean. This is not the case. They are truly friendly people. You just have to make the effort to talk to them. There have been instances were I have been lost and people have gone out of their way to help me without me asking.

I was there long enough to take numerous pictures of London at night. 

   I went to London last week, these are the pictures I will be posting, it had one of the best days of my life. I apologise if my pictures are not that great. I am a real amateur at the art of photography and the photos that include myself were taken by people who do not know how to work my professional camera. ha.  That was the one day I was truly a tourist. I find it hard to do tourist-y things while being a student. Therefore, pictures of Oxford, the city I live in, will come later this week. London is fast paced. I would like to say it's like Chicago, but it is not. It has a different feel. It feels as old as it looks, yet at the same time, it has frays of 21st century throughout and within it.
   I would say that my favourite part of being here is being involved with the larger academic community. Academics here are entirely different. Everything is centred around your own education, you get what you put into it. The Tutors, or Professors, push your intellectually to answer tough questions. The lectures are filled with people who are never on Facebook. Everyone, I mean everyone is taking notes. They all want to understand the information for themselves. Being a nerd, I really appreciate that.
  I also joined cricket, very different than softball or baseball but there are a lot of the same elements implemented. They told me I was better than average because of my training in America's pastime. I will post pics of that too when I go to practice this week.
That's all I can think of talking about now, but if you have questions do not hesitate to comment and I will answer them in the next post. Also, do not hesitate to Facebook me.

Random Facts about Oxford:
1. You might have noticed that my spelling is a bit different. I changed it to fit the spellings here, I wanted to seem less American in my emails. It seemed fitting, no?

2. Chips are called crisps, and fries are chips. (Don't mix the two or your could get something different.)

3. Pants are trousers, and pants are underwear really do not mix the two. You could seriously embarrass yourself; I have once with my "RD" who is luckily a woman.

4. Pedestrians are the lowest of the low in England. The food chain works like this: buses, cars, bikes, pedestrians. The first three have the right of way over pedestrians except when in specific rare occasions.

5. Riding your bike in Oxford is like an action video game or film. Your fighting for your life everyday, but at the same time it's exhilarating.

6. Your version of an English accent sucks no matter how much training you might have had. Apparently, the little I do know in an English accent sounds like a "Cockney, Dick Van Dyke accent," from what I have been told by one of my new friends. :)  I will work on that more. They do put an inflection on the end of their questions, as well as add adverbs to a lot of their everyday language. At first, it was hard not to mimic their accent when they were speaking to you, but the most important thing is to concentrate to what they are saying and not how they are saying it.  Stick to that and you can stay out of trouble. :)

7.There are over 12 million books in Oxford. Some are even stored in salt mines, in bunkers, and even underground tunnels. Pretty cool huh?

Cheers, Courtney