Miles and miles...

A discussion of the academic life of Oxford wouldn't be appropriate without a mention of the endless stacks of books at our disposal. I have been in the vicinity of millions upon millions of texts in just the past three days alone. It's all quite staggering. My first encounter was with the world-renowned bookshop Blackwell's, which is a mere two blocks away. The store spans four stories, housing texts that cover every subject imaginable, as well as a convenient used book section. This is not to mention the basement of the building, which allegedly contains three miles length of stacks. You walk into this massive room and are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of print.
The afternoon of our visit, my friends and I were so unfortunate as to be seeking a very specific, rare text for one of our courses, Pico della Mirandola's oration On The Dignity of Man. We began our search in some of the upper levels, checking literature, classics, the usual. No luck. We then proceeded to the epic basement, where we were sure it would reside on the shelves of the philosophy section. Searches proved futile. We moved from there to politics, history, even law. Nada. Those of you who know me well understand that I am quite loathe to ask for help. Well, I may have made a slight exception in this case. Please don't hold that against me. A kind fellow was able to point us to the correct floor (2nd), but could provide no further information, other than that it was indeed in stock. We set about with renewed vigor, marching up to the second floor gallantly. However, ten minutes' search in that vicinity also yielded nothing. Again, we were forced to admit the need for aid. Finally, we discovered its hiding spot, squeezed into the the medieval literature section. Of course. Why hadn't we checked there first? We had entered the store with nearly an hour and a half before our next obligation. We had to rush back to St. Michael's Hall in order to make it on time. From now on, I think we'll reserve texts ahead of time before going to Blackwell's.
Our next adventure followed only a day after, leaving us little time to recover. On Tuesday, we toured the Bodleian library, which is the central Oxford University library. You may know that Oxford University is really not much of an institution unto itself, but is split into just under forty smaller colleges, all of which collectively make up Oxford. My program, CMRS, is affiliated with St. Peter's College, one of the smaller of the constituent colleges of Oxford University. Each college has its own individual library for its use. These house modest collections, appropriate to the number of undergraduates enrolled in the college. But there is a massive, collective library that is available to all of the colleges, and that is the Bodleian. It is the 2nd largest library in the UK, housing purportedly ten to twelve million books, and growing by two to five thousand a week! Naturally, these aren't all just lying around, ready for you to dig through. Only about 10% of them are on display. The others are housed in the "stacks," meaning in underground vaults. If you need them, you have to call them up over the computer, and wait for them to be retrieved, a process which can take anywhere from 2 hours to a full week, depending on the location of the text. It is a reference library only, meaning that it doesn't lend. They told us that Charles I was stationed in Oxford once with his troops, and when he requested to borrow a book from the Bodleian, he was promptly denied. These people mean business. Only Oxford students are allowed to use the library. We were given a list of over thirty rules and regulations to agree to before we signed a pledge and were given our library cards, gaining us admittance to any one of the twenty buildings that make up the Bodley complex. We're not allowed to take any pictures inside the library, but I'll see if I might sneak a few. I don't know if I'm even allowed to be talking about this! It's a different world... But you'll be happy to know that I am using my privileges to the fullest, and was reading eagerly at a desk carrel in the upper reading room early this morning, gaining access to the place only after scanning my card to enter and having my bag checked for any illicit (lighters and other makers of flame being their key worry - wouldn't want anyone burning those books!) substances.
But it's not only miles of books that I'm seeing around here. The miles of Oxford itself have been flying by as well. On Sunday, we toured the Tower of London as a group. We all packed in a tour bus with our CMRS-appointed guide (an archaeologist whose name is ironically Dr. Jones) and drove through the scenic streets of Oxford, out into the English countryside, and into the madness of London. The Tower itself is incredible. Originally a fort on the Thames, it was strengthened by William the Conqueror in 1066 as his seat of power. The Tower, as our incredible yeoman warder guide (apparently they don't appreciate the title "beefeater," and can't even properly explain its origins), is, first and foremost, a palace and a fortress. They just happened to have kept over three thousand prisoners there. But throughout the day, we sat within the vicinity of the bones of Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More, gazed at 15th century graffiti on one of the tower walls (inscriptions and drawings made by prisoners during their stay), and stood in the chapel where Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon. Incredible.
I've also been covering miles by foot, walking all around town and running in the mornings. This morning, I got onto one of the main thoroughfares of Oxford, St. Aldate's Street (which dates back to pre-tenth century!), and decided to see how far I could go. I cruised past Christ Church (the most well-recognized of the Oxford colleges, although apparently it's against Oxford decorum to call it "Christ Church College"), over the Thames, through all of the college district, into the residential area, and finally out into the English countryside. I finally turned back when I reached the entry ramp onto the freeway between Oxford and London. The sights have been incredible. I think my favorite was running past a sheep pasture covered in fog. Somehow, I just can't find a comparable sight in Arizona.
Classes have started up, but the system is a tad too complicated to elaborate upon this evening. I will instead finish with some pictures of my journeys thus far. More to come later! Keep in touch! I've loved hearing about everything back home!

I arrive at Heathrow!


The familiar lions of Trafalgar Square.


A statue in a frozen fountain in Trafalgar. That's the National Gallery in the background.


A view from the Thames outside the National Theater. You can see the dome of St. Paul's in the distance.


Katherine and I at Avenue Q. We tried to get the Q backdrop in the back, but my photography skills failed yet again.