The Vines Move

Adjustment is hard; readjustment is harder. 

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. 

First Week

Today marks the end of my first week of a real Oxford term, appropriately labeled "First Week." (Next week will officially be "2nd Week" and so forth.) It's confusing when things actually refer to the weeks like that and not by the dates themselves, since it is very easy to lose track of the abstract idea of a numbered week than an actually impending date. 

This week I started my tutorials, which turned out to be much less intimidating than I had assumed. On Mondays I have Creative Writing at Wolfson College, which is a short 10 minute walk from my house. Once there I make my way to a small room consisting of two lounging chairs and a small desk with chair. The windows are quite large and between two edges of building I get a glimpse of the college's quad. Mostly though I get a full view into someone's office, which can get quite awkward if they realize they have the same view of you. I then spend the next 50 minutes reading my own stories aloud to my tutor and having her tell me what I need to work on. My focus for the 4 weeks we meet will be fairy tales, culminating in a finished fairy tale of my own composition as a final project. It hardly seems fair to the other students that my homework consists of reading Hans Christian Andersen and The Grimm Brothers and writing about strange forests while they are all stuck with philosophers and historians. 

On Tuesdays I begin my day with a tutorial on C.S. Lewis. My tutor for this one is amazing; I love her already and hope to somehow forge an actual relationship with her. She is very nice, very welcoming and very understanding. The majority of our tutorial consisted of discussing Lewis, Tolkien, and Pullman, and deploring boring allegories such as The Pilgrim's Progress. The purpose of tutorials is to have a discussion, and I feel like that might actually be achievable with her. She is also my Long Essay advisor, so most of my guidance this term will be under her and on subjects concerning Lewis and fantasy. 

After my tutorial I have an hour or so to kill before my first lecture. Lectures are very different for us here than they are in America. We get to choose whatever lectures suit our area of study and that best compliment our tutorials. There are no tests or quizzes, so it is entirely for our own enlightenment we go. This makes them infinitely more enjoyable, not having any pressure attached. We each go to four sets of lectures. Mine are: Intro. to English Lit, Medieval Literary Theory, Spenser's Poetry and Prose, and Victorian Literature/Ideas. All the professors are brilliant are definitely more engaging than most, even when they are reading straight from an outline. 

When I'm not going to lectures or tutorials I am either in the library reading for the next week or finding multiple distractions to keep me otherwise occupied. I spent a few hours yesterday in the park, writing and then enjoying some wine with another group of American students. 

Endless Possibilities

Oxford is alive and bustling with the students who have trickled in over the weekend. It came as a surprise on Wednesday when I was walking down the street and suddenly realized that no, it wasn't a weekend shopping day for tourists, but merely an afternoon in a University town of no meagre size. I still am finding it hard to believe that I get to be a part of this; I am an Oxford student. Today was Fresher's Fair, an amalgamation of every possible activity the university has to offer crammed into one building. Each booth was encroaching upon the others' space and yet doing a good job of ignoring the fact. I was verbally accosted a few times by overly enthusiastic members and discovered just how bad I am at asking the kind of questions that provide pertinent information. I think I signed myself up for an overwhelming amount of clubs, but only a few with the intent of actually attending. One of them was a climbing club I might try and boulder with on occasion. One free coffee, free pizza, free mug and a tree's worth of paper flyers later, I sat at my desk to begin work for my tutorials. 

Tutorials are beginning next week and I am excited. My C.S. Lewis tutorial sounds difficult, but I love the fact that it is merely an excuse for me to read his works and the works that influenced him. Maybe someday someone will be reading him because he influenced my writing. Which brings me to my other tutorial, creative writing. My tutor said I will be writing around 1000 words a week with a finished story as my final project. I already have an idea in mind and just hope it will be possible to put onto paper. I think I will be spending a lot of time in a coffee shop, pen and notebook in hand with Lewis waiting on the sidelines to inspire or distract. 

Another distraction I recently discovered is Primark, a very cheap clothes store in our mall. A group of us went yesterday and had a wonderful time being normal girls and college students. I bought two rather similar striped sweaters, accidently, but that should be good for layering. I also bought an awesome pair of black boots. They are pirate boots, tall, slouchy suede, with a leather tied fold at the very top. I also got a hilarious pair of shorter boots in a sort of checkered pattern that I can't wait to wear. It's hard to wear only a few outfits for a month without getting antsy for new ones, so I feel justified in my cheap, new purchases. Although now I'm going to want a new sweater every week. If you want to contribute to the 'dress Lizzie in a British wardrobe' fund, I'll be happy to accept donations. :-)