A Room with a View

Hertford's Graduate Center
(note the sunny day!)

Hertford has spoiled me. In the flurry of figuring out where I want to live next year for my Senior year at Kenyon  (Themed housing? Avoid the lottery? Grab a Morgan? Will this group work? How much will it cost? The New NEW Apartments, yes, okay but do you really think that they'll exist?), I have figured out that no room back in the states would have its own en-suite bathroom. Yes, you've heard me right (or, rather read, you can't really hear me, can you?): I have my own BATHROOM. It's mine. ALL MINE.  Not to mention the two windows, one of which overlooks the Thames (or, if you're particularly Oxfordian, "the Isis"). When each of the IFSA-Butler kids were handed a key upon our arrival in Hertford, we had no idea what was in store. I remember when each of us opened our doors, exclamations of "no way!" and general disbelief seemed to be the consensus.

Also, all of Hertford (and I suspect all of Oxford as well) only provides single rooms for their students. Trying to explain the concept of a roommate is hardly worth it and often met with incredulous looks of "why would you ever share a room?" Needless to say, I am now in the market for a single room for next year.

All Hertford residences also come with their own "scout," which is, for all intents and purposes, a housekeeper except better. Our scout, Janet, comes once every day of the working week and empties our trash ("bins"), straightens up the communal kitchen (including putting dishes away), cleans each of our bathrooms once a week, and I've even heard rumors that she will even make your bed or wake you up for your tutorial (!!). Not to mention, the constant banter and conversation Janet brings wherever she may be. There is no comparable position to a scout in the states.

Enough about my room. Let's talk Oxford City (mostly to prove that even though my room is amazing, I do actually get out and explore my fabulous surroundings).

- The Covered Market is, well, fairly self-explanatory, but awesome. They have everything from fresh produce stands to a butchery complete with pheasants (NOT peasants or protestants, spell check suggestions! Goodness gracious) hanging outside the door to dress shops displaying floor length gowns to restaurants (including a Traditional English Pie [i.e., not fruit] place and a professional Bakery where passersby can watch the final touches being put on a wedding cake to the best cookie place EVER called....

Ben's Cookies complete
with Cyclist.

- Ben's Cookies. Oh Ben's Cookies. When you all come to visit me, I'll take you there so you can fully understand the brilliance of this establishment. Until then, I think the best description (aside from the accompanying picture) I can provide resides in the single fact that the price of a cookie is determined by its weight. Yep. Dangerous. Oh! and it's absolutely om nom nom-ability should be noted.

I've run out of time. This always seems to happen.... but! I do have an excuse: we have a Ball tonight! And, as magical as Oxford is, I have no fairy godmother to make a dress for me, so I guess I'll just have to go shopping. Much love and until later, adieu!

Settling In

Out of the twelve days that I've been in the UK, nine of them have been spent in some sort of Orientation program or another. Needless to say, I am now absolutely oriented (... now that I've said that, I will find myself hopelessly lost tomorrow as I trek over to Hall for lunch). I parenthetically say "trek" in the most lighthearted way imaginable, for despite the 15 minute walk to Hertford College proper from my British abode (more on that later) I really enjoy walking - especially when it means walking past beautiful English buildings, over the Thames (or as Oxfordians call it, the Isis), and/or through misty fields. I even like walking in the rain.... because it is British rain.

The Hertford Crest
(Hert = Stag)

Because Hertford's Orientation was frighteningly similar to Kenyon's Orientation at the beginning of freshman year, I will instead focus on a couple useful things I learned during orientation but not BECAUSE of Orientation. Catch my drift? (Also, before I continue onwards, I probably should explain what exactly "Hertford" is. Unbeknownst to me before applying here, Oxford University is made up of anywhere between 38 and 40 [I have yet to hear a definitive answer/number and each of the various officials who have talked to us have said different numbers each time... ] different, self-governing academic institutions. Hertford is one of the many colleges that belong to Oxford and is known to be the friendliest college - who knew?! They certainly have lived up to that reputation so far). 

Okay back to some useful (or, rather, curious) things that I've learned:

- Articles such as "the" are often left out in UK English. For example, an American would say "I need to get to the Hospital! I just broke my arm!" This formation is not for the Brits... instead, they say "I need to get to Hospital! I just broke my arm!" As you can see the omission of "the" really saves them some serious time. Okay, joking aside, the unnecessary article of "the" is often left out in phrases such as "I'll meet you in [the] college" and "Dinner's always in [the] Hall." Leaving it out is harder than you might think, although I did successfully achieve this article-dropping earlier in this post. Can you find it? (haha Interactive fun!)

- "Lodge" or "Porter's Lodge" - The best equivalent I can come up with for this place is Security for an American University. This is like the front office or reception desk, where you can check in for directions to a room in a college. Also, this is where you check out your keys, check in your visitors, and check out formal robes to borrow. Also, this same place is the mail room. The Porter, the man who sits behind the counter answers calls 24/7, makes sure doors are locked, delivers mail, and is quite a busy, but very friendly person overall. 

- "Pidge" is short for Pigeon Hole, which is what Hertford students call their mail slots. Unlike a Post Office, the Lodge's pidges are all open faced. This means you can "pidge" something to one of your friends or tutors by placing it into their labelled pidge. As you can see, pidge can also be a verb. I like this word a lot an will be using it as often as possible.

- "Tutes" short for Tutorials. We don't have classes, we have tutorials. Similarly we don't have Professors, we have Tutors.

- Zebra Crossings are the best things ever invented. Remember that iconic picture of the Beatles walking across the street? (Click here if you need a quick reminder.) Wonder why they weren't hit by a car while taking this picture? It's because once a pedestrian sets foot into one of these striped walkways, all traffic MUST STOP to let them cross. Kenyon should definitely get one of these for where Middle Path crosses Wiggin Street.

Some of the International Students
and Myself before the Bop:
 A Zebra, a Panda, a Flower,and a Bird

- A "bop" is a dance. Hertford had one last Saturday with the theme of "Jungle Nights." Unlike American students (or at least my experience with American students at American universities), Hertford students take the theme quite seriously. I will never forget being passed by a group, or rather a herd of Hertford boys dressed like Zebras on my way through the city of Oxford as we headed to the bop. That's right, everybody, no matter how "cool" they may or may not be, dresses up and walks through the streets of Oxford in costume. I think the residents of Oxford proper have gotten used to this phenomenon because the lady tending the bar at the pub we stopped by didn't think twice of serving a tiger a pint.

- "Uni" is short for University. (Pretty self explanatory, really. I would also like to take this moment to point out the copious amounts of abbreviations - abreevs - that the Brits use. I think this is just sups fab!)

.... okay, well now that I have exhausted myself (and probably you, my poor reader) I will stop this lengthy post. I promise I'll get around to telling you about my (amazing) accommodations and about my first experiences with the tutorial system and even more.... but that'll be later.

Orientations: Left, Right, and Center

Parliament, Big Ben, and the River Thames

Since leaving Ohio two Fridays ago, life has been pretty much non-stop, hence the (excruciatingly) long wait for another update for such dedicated readers as my family. Sorry guys! Not to mention the complete lack of internet… never the less, here I am!

 Despite being away from home for 10 plus days, I’ve only been out of the country for 5 due to the lovely stay my family and I had in New Jersey with our cousins at the beginning of the New Year. That well-timed trip allowed me to take literal baby steps out of the country: step one – leave my dog and my house, step two – say goodbye to Dad and Caroline, step three – say goodbye to Mom and the USA. It was a fairly easy process, actually, and quite preferable to going cold turkey on leaving the comforts of home, family AND country for the first time by myself.

The phenomenon of meeting new friends is fascinating to me. Having gone to the same school from K-12 prevented me from ever having to do that until Kenyon came along and I found that it’s actually kinda fun. The same seems to go for meeting my fellow IFSA-Butler (Institute for Study Abroad through Butler University) students. We’re from all around the country, majoring in various different subjects, all extremely nervous about going abroad, and as a result, we’re very chatty and quick to engage, preferring nonsense above letting any moment of silence slip through our constant chatter. The result: amazingly fast friendships (or, perhaps more realistically, acquaintances). The 11 Oxford students quickly found one another and haven’t left each other’s sides until reaching our two Colleges this morning: Lady Margaret Hall and Hertford College.

But woah, I’ve gotten ahead of myself – did I mention that we had our orientation in the wonderful city of London?! We had many MANY hours of orientation informational meetings, including the very useful information that if a gypsy ever throws a baby at you (to distract you in order to pick pocket you), DON’T catch it. Rather, drop it, kick it, or more realistically, push it back. No but really, we did have a good and useful set of days dedicated to orientation which included several meals out on the town and even theatre tickets! The Lady Margaret Hall and Hertford College kids ended up having an extra day after orientation and before leaving for Oxford, so my group of friends got to explore the city on Sunday. 

Waterfowl at St. James' Park

Believe it or not, that Sunday brought out the sun! Encouraged by the warmer weather (in addition to the widespread tube closures due to routine maintenance), we chose to explore the city by foot. While this may seem daunting, it really was not nearly as large of a task as one may imagine - we were able to make it to iconic Trafalgar Square, the Royal Horse Guards, St Jame's Park, Buckingham Palace, Parliament (and Big Ben, of course), Westminster Abbey (and an evensong there later in the day as well - literally surrounded by beauty - architectural, acoustic, aesthetic), the London Eye, bought Tube Passes, and ate at a very good Indian restaurant called "Masala Zone." Fun Fact: Chicken Tikka Masala has replaced Fish and Chips for the official/favorite food of England. As you might expect, I was in heaven.

Oh so very much more to come about my new town of residence: Oxford, Oxfordshire. Much love and until then, adieu!