First Full day in OXFORD!

This morning I woke up around 7:30, laid in bed a while, showered and got my computer to sit in the kitchen and drink some tea. I had a nice conversation with Guadalupe just about how things worked in the house and her expectations. She will provide breakfast foods and dinner every day (unless I tell her I will be out).She will wash my bedding every two weeks and clean my room once and week (which I told her was not necessary expect maybe vacuuming). We also talked about mine and Vincent conversations last night because she mentioned cycling. I had asked about renting a bike and luckily Vincent works at a bike shop and actually owns a bike which he rents out. This is perfect because I prefer not to take the bus constantly. Almost everyone cycles here and there are bike lanes and everything. So, I am really excited about this! The rest of the morning I sat, drank tea, ate some toast and just relaxed. Round 11:30 I left the house for I had to be at the school building by 12:30 for lunch and our academic orientation. I left so early because I walked and I didn’t want to get lost and be late. It was wonderful to walk and Guadalupe’s daughter, Nora, had drawn me a map with a short cut on this nice path in the woods! I walked by some fields with horses, down by the canal, in the woods, past a school where a bunch of boys were playing rugby, and to the school. I arrived early so I investigated around way that google maps had plotted. Once I got back to the school most people were already eating so I grabbed a plate and sat with a girl that was in my Italian classes. The meeting got started and they just went over all the things in our packet because almost no one (except me) read it. They did that even though their opening line was “I’m not going to go over the packet because you are all adults and should be responsible for reading it” or something like that. Then we received our schedule. I have Terrorism and Comparative World Political Systems back to back Monday (10 to 12) and Wednesday (2-4) with the same professor. I have International Economics Tuesdays (10-11) and Thursday morning (9-10). I should be meeting Wednesday morning with the Blackfriars guy to set up my tutorial class with him. After a short talk about the academic side of things, we split up into four groups and took a walking tour around Oxford with one of the college staff. Our guide point out a lot of helpful things as well as some of the different Oxford colleges sprinkling the town. Oxford University is actually made up of forty something, I think 46, independent college spread throughout Oxford; each with its own buildings and professors… and crest. After our walking tour, I stumbled around town a bit, visiting this huge book shop that had a giant floor underground. I decided to take a different way home and walked up a nice road with some park to the side. When I got back to the house, Vincent (the son) was on his way out and Guadalupe wasn’t there. Vincent told me that the other host student, a Chinese boy, had arrived and Guadalupe had taken him to show him his school. So, I went up and lounged on my bed, just relaxing after about four hours of walking. When they got back, I was introduced to David and his parents as well. His parents left and I talked with Guadalupe as she made dinner. It was very good. She made seasoned chicken mixed with rice along with steamed vegetables on the side. Even though I don’t like steamed vegetables, I ate them anyway not to be rude. Truthfully, they weren’t bad. : ) After dinner, I went to my room to organize more and do some reading, eventually falling asleep. A nice first day!