Oxfordshirt!

Say the title of this post without the "T" on the end and you'll be talking about where I'll be living for the next three months (Oxfordshire)! I'm actually wearing an Oxfordshirt right now--we got our first official UGA at Oxford togs at the orientation tonight, and even though it's long-sleeved and it's summer I'll just turn up the AC. I wanted to see how it looked on me, and the answer is: Pretty damned official.

I've been slaving away over my 20+ books for the whole summer post-Cannes, and with the number dwindled to 4 (totally manageable in, uh, thirteen days) I'm finally starting to anticipate the payoff. I actually got to hear a bit about Oxford today even before I went to the second orientation; I was catching up with Tolu at Jittery Joe's before I went up to Park Hall, and a nice girl overhead my Oxford chatter and came over to witness about her fun on the summer program! I totally get how a study abroad program can turn you into a missionary, since anyone who asks me about Cannes practically gets a Powerpoint presentation out of me, so I started to envision Oxford as an experience possibly as fun as France and then found it hard to just sit in my seat and not run around in excited circles.

I got super gross walking up to the Broad St bus stop with Tolu (and standing to chat with Bill, who I totally meant to bring the Transformers poster from my most recent Empire magazine), so I found one of the hidden Park Hall bathrooms like the savvy upperclassman I am and then settled into the big lecture hall with a lot of similarly uncomfortable-looking kids and their parents. I settled accounts with one of the program managers (whew, lots of money, but this time it was my dad's! rock on, Dad!) and got my T-shirt to fiddle with so I looked busy enough to not have to make awkward small talk with anyone (I know that's so awful, but when I've been out of school this long and only talk to my family--who get me--or my regular customers at the video store--who generally are cute/crazy old people--on a regular basis, I feel a little socially retarded). We got a virtual tour of our new home, full of lots of details. 1) No, it is not flooded. 2) You might just have an oven for a desk. 3) Laundry is free in the building (WTFBBQ?! After 8 euro loads in France, this was probably the best news I could have gotten all night). We also went over a rough itinerary--we'll probably be going to Stonehenge or Bath for our first group excursion, we get a full tour of the Bodleian library on our first day there, and once a week for the first four weeks a group of students will be responsible for making dinner for the rest of the house (and spending the 200 pounds allotted for it wisely)! I can definitely foresee six or eight batches of my eggplant curry if my housemates like spicy (aka awesome) food...

After two hours we were sent home with packets full of more info, like Dr. Trivedi's quirky review of all things gourmet in Oxford, Dr. Pfile's file of nearby grocery stores/ATMs/bookstores, and an overeager/probably student-compiled rundown of the Oxford bar scene. I think a lot of kids and parents still had some questions, or felt nervous about 12 weeks away from home in a strange environment, but I left ready to take Oxford as it comes. I've been trying to justify taking two rather expensive school trips within half a year (three, if you count the Grady long weekend in NYC in January), but I feel like all of my experience has culminated in a great, independent mindset for myself. I've had to make it work, often on my own, getting to magazine offices in Times Square or exclusive premieres on the Croisette. I've learned that, even if you're speaking the same language, you have to communicate differently with people from different cities and backgrounds (and it's pretty fun figuring it out!). I really enjoy the days when I'm on my own to find something to do--it's either an accomplishment when I get a few friends together for dinner, or a mental break when I can just take a walk by myself and not think about anything. It has been hard to keep this state of wonder up while drudging through boring days at the magazine office or crazy days of people yelling at me about late fees, but I feel like I go into every day with fewer expectations and end every day with fewer disappointments. It's a good thing.