Journeys

Let's preface this by saying that I did make it here safely and without any danger or significant delay. That said, the trip to Oxford was not without its minor quirks. Thankfully, no flights were delayed. With all the craziness of world weather the past several weeks, delays were my main concern. I left from Phoenix at 10:30 Wednesday morning for Detroit. The flight crew was excessively happy, which was slightly offsetting, but a welcome start to the journey. The man sitting next to me seemed set to prevent me from looking out the window. Every time I would lean forward to see outside it, he would follow my movement and block my view. For all you Chaparral grads, I'm almost positive I saw Lauren Pont on the flight. No words were exchanged. In Detroit, I had an hour lay-over before leaving for Heathrow, during which time I made my final calls stateside and was asked to fill out a survey on pandemic flu. The flight to London itself was, as you can imagine, long. I think we were only in the air a little over 7 hours, but the lengthy de-icing beforehand (nearly an hour!) and the taxiing before and after took its toll. There were a few ill-behaved children in my vicinity, but they managed to quiet down after dinner. I tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep for nearly three hours before I finally gave up. We finally touched down at 7 in the morning, London time, 12 back home. After landing, we had to go through customs and immigration. Thankfully, the line for the "other passports" line was shorter than that for the "UK/EU" line, so I breezed right through there. After getting my bags, I stuck around the baggage reclaim (their term for it) to wait for Kenzie Huffman, the other student from St. Olaf in my program, to arrive. We met up, got her bags, and headed out into the main terminal to investigate public transport options. We knew what shuttle to take to Oxford, but weren't sure the best way to get to it, seeing as how Heathrow is immensely complex. We eventually found the right shuttle to take us to the proper terminal, and arrived a minute before the next scheduled Oxford shuttle. Perfect timing! We were promptly criticized for our pronunciation of Gloucester by the shuttle driver, but he admitted us regardless. The ride here was uneventful. I tried again to fall asleep, and was again thwarted. I abandoned my plans and resorted to listening to The Who (how perfect) while gazing at the passing countryside, which was shrouded in early morning mist, and partly obscured by a sparse blanket of snow. My first impression of the city was how much bigger it was than I had anticipated. I had expected a town, a few residential districts surrounding the university centre. But we drove approximately a half hour through Oxford to get to our stop. Even discounting heavy traffic and several stops along the way, it was still a lengthier journey than I had expected. My second impression, as we wended our way further into the city, was how fascinating the architecture was. An ultra-modern structure, comprised only of steel and glass, can be found directly adjacent to an ancient brick or stone building dating back centuries. The whole city is this strange hodgepodge of new and old. We finally arrived at the bus stop at Gloucester Green and met a representative from CMRS (the program), who escorted us from the bus station, through the streets and squares of Oxford, including a flea market, to Shoe Lane and St. Michael's Hall, my new residence. I will go into more detail about the building itself, which is a strange honeycomb of eclectic taste, style, and design. I was the first to arrive in my room (my roommate, Demetre, didn't arrive until that afternoon), so I helped myself to the choicest of the beds and closets. After unpacking a bit, Kenzie and I headed out to explore the city a little. Fortunately, we had a map along, which helped us get un-lost on a couple different occasions. I'm still unfamiliar with the area, and get turned around every time I step foot outside the building, but I'm learning. I facilitated the process by going on my first exploratory run last evening (the boys from bigo will be happy to know) and saw Oxford by night. The city is beautiful, and I can't wait to see more of it. I wish the best of luck to each of you in whatever you're doing at the moment. If you get a chance, drop an email. I'd love to hear about how everything's going back in the states as classes pick up again and whatnot. For those of you who have expressed concern, fear not, I'm working on the English accent, and have some excellent guides to assist in the process. It will come in time. Be well!