Dear all
I’m sorry it’s been a little while since
I’ve blogged, but as you can imagine, I have been rather busy…
So, I’ve arrived in Oxford and have been
here for about 2 weeks now. What has
been the biggest challenge for me as I arrived you may ask?
Well, it’s probably what you expect – the
toilets. So, coming from Thailand which variously differs between a
bog-standard squat (aren’t all toilets ‘bog-standard’?) and a western toilet
that cannot handle western toilet paper I thought the UK would be a no brainer.
Oh how I was wrong! There are websites (not many mind you, and yes I have
searched them) on the correct hand pressure on the flush and other such
complexities of british lavoratory engineering. Supposedly, to master the
British toilet is a citizenship requirement.
But, anyways, I’ll set out the major things
that have happened in the last week or so.
On the first weekend I arrived I travelled
up by train to a place called Stafford, which is close to Birmingham. There was
what is called the Rotary Link Weekend, which was an opportunity for all the
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars from UK
and Ireland (there are about 80 of us) meet up for a weekend. I was picked up
by a lovely couple who had been married and lived in the same house for 47
years!!! I think I met my match for encyclopaedic knowledge as my host had a
story for every single brick in the Staffordshire region. He also was a beer
afficiando and wanted to stop for a sneaky pint at 1130 at night – so I was the
grandpa who told hime I wanted to go home!
But
you probably want to know more about Oxford. Well, it is a magical place. It’s
funny though, the immersion in history becomes normalized in about a day and
you just accept it as fact that buildings are all at least 500 years old. My
college is called St Hugh’s and it is absolutely stunning. Here is a picture of my college house:
This is my main college hall and college grounds:
When I get a chance I'll put up some photos of the city.
I’m a member of the MCR (middle common
room), which is a collective for graduates at St Hugh’s. We’ve done some
awesome social activities and I’ve met some awesome people. Right now we
are in ‘freshers’ week, which is an orientation week for students. Seriously,
name your interest and they have an Oxford society for it!
I’ve had a few rides around the Oxford
region. Within 5 minutes you are out in the countryside riding past wheat
fields, along narrow roads and quaint little country towns. Unfortunately,
Oxford is flat as a pancake, so the local cycling clubs go on tours to get some
hills. I’ve been convinced to join the St Hugh’s rowing club, so I’m getting
back in a boat. I’m also going to sing in the chapel choir, which will be an
experience. My first practice is tonight. Oxford is a place where it’s really
easy to overcommit to stuff, or over-study so the advice we get is to try and
best achieve balance. And as best as I can I hope to have a ‘balanced’ year.
When I first arrived the UK was
experiencing a heatwave – everyone was complaining about the temperature being
in the mid-twenties. Now it is ‘normal’ drizzly English weather they are
complaining about the cold! It’s true what they say about the English being
obsessed about the weather.
I haven’t started my classes yet, and will
so next week. However, I’ve had a look at the reading list and it is scary!
Each subject has nearly an A4 page of things to read per week. And there is no
‘reader’ book – you must read the book in the library and you cannot borrow.
It appears that there is this philosophy in Oxford that they don’t want to make
life easy for you, it being a test of character. Personally, I think it is a
massive waste of time. But when in Rome…
Next post I will be busy studying…
Toby
