It has now been one week since returning to Oxford. The transition into Oxford life has been relatively smooth, except for a few rather large bumps. The first of these is the relocation to a new dwelling- The Vines. Second-term students are required to live in the house they did not previously occupy. In my case, this means the 'country' house of 40 students and a good 45 minute walk to the center of town. Don't get me wrong- the huge yard is beautiful and one of the walks is gorgeous. However, trying to get to know 40 new people instead of just 20 is almost terrifying. Especially when you never see them because the house is so big everyone just gets lost unless they sit in their own rooms. A few of the newcomers have made efforts and now are a part of our spontaneous 'returners' food groups. But I miss all the friend I made last term and the ease with which I could walk somewhere.
The second major hitch has been my tutorials. There was trouble with my primary tutorial over Winter Break and it only managed to get sorted yesterday, and only after a major ordeal and lots of trouble. The person who normally does my tutorial is on leave and their replacement was being far from helpful in taking over. Having not heard from them, our administrators suggested I pick a new one. So I did, after which they almost immediately heard back from the other guy. So, I switched back to my original topic and set up a meeting. Then it turned out that there was a misunderstanding about how the tutorial worked. The meeting was still on but only tentatively, in case something else fell through. Then the email system of our administrators crashed, making it impossible for any of the outstanding errors to be efficiently resolved. The tutor never showed up for the meeting and so, sick of it all, I just chose to go with my second option. Needless to say, I've spent the majority of the week in a limbo, waiting to see what the outcome would be so I could start working. And now I can, a few days behind everyone else and with my first essay due on Wednesday.
On a lighter, and perhaps a bit comical, note: I tried to ride a bike around the other night. The houses are rather far apart and the walk can get a tad tedious. So, I bought an old bike off of one of last term's students. The seat is too high, the brakes squeak like they're in their death throes and the chain is rusty. It doesn't help that I haven't tried to seriously ride a bike since before high school or that a good deal of the riding here is done on the streets. Needless to say, I'm glad I attempted it in the dark and on a relatively empty bike path.
Serious essay writing and studying begins on Monday. We've already been out a few times to our favorite pubs- just to get back into the swing of things and initiate some of the new kids. The room (I have 2 roommates now) is already a mess, or rather, never was clean and laundry has yet to see the laundry room. But I'm glad to have my books and my coffee back, the same bed every night and the company of people I have, can and will get to know.
