"Whatever You Do, Don't Get a Bike..."

It's Monday, marking a week since I first arrived in Oxford. This was the first day I left my room without a map or a camera in hand (not counting the time my camera died and I put it in my pocket, or the 3 times I was told not to take pictures in various museums). I am finally starting to feel like this is home and not just some luxurious vacation or amazing dream that I have yet to wake up from (I say that now, but the work has yet to begin!)

Today I met with Mansfield's Senior Tutor and newly assigned head of the Visiting Students Programme, with whom I had exchanged a number of emails over the summer. She's the person responsible for arranging all Mansfield student's tutorials, not a light feat. She's so sweet and officially welcomed me to the College.

Mansfield 

I returned to my room to be greeted with an email saying our welcome packages had arrived and were ready for pickup! So, back to Mansfield it is! This was the first time I had to wait in line at the Porter's Lodgings. It seems to be about that time when students are starting to arrive (we were given about a 3 weeks time frame for move-in. I seemed to be in the minority by choosing to come the earliest I was allowed!) I waited as the Porter directed each student one by one to the college office to get their ID cards, the same thing I had done the week before. When it was my turn for the porter's attention, he told me the welcoming packages were in the college office as well. I made my way across the quad (not on the grass though) and found all the students the porter had directed to the college office standing outside a locked door with no idea where to go or what to do. I used my key, opened the door, and led the flock in the right direction. It seemed crazy to me that I was actually the one pointing people in the right direction, when only a week earlier I had just stepped foot in this country for the first time!


After I got my welcome package (which only consisted of some documents... no free tee shirts like you get in the States when you even so much as look or walk past a college), I hit the streets. Walking for the sake of walking in Oxford is truly a beautiful thing. I happen to run into one of the students I helped to find Mansfield's college office. She is studying for a PHD in history and had lived in Oxford for over 40 years. We exchanged stories and she warned me, "Whatever you do, don't get a bike!" Apparently 1 in 5 bikes get stolen everyday in Oxford, not to mention it is terrifying to ride them on the street. BUT, getting a bike was my mission on day 3, and I always complete my missions!

Here she is! I got my basket, my lights - front and back (because it's illegal not to have them) and most importantly, my lock! 

It's not that I necessarily need a bike, but some of the streets and little alleyways in Oxford are just too gorgeous not to bike down. I also think it will come in handy when that UK rain starts, although so far the weather has been gorgeous! Hasn't rained yet!

I did take it out for a spin the first day I got it and I learned very quickly that it's safer to ride on the road than on the sidewalk. I don't have a problem riding on the left side of the road (probably because I am so spacially challenged to begin with, my brain never got too attached to the whole drive on the right side of the road thing), it's the hand signalling I need to get used to (and the big buses everywhere)! I can't exactly ride a bike without 2 hands on the handlebars at all times, which makes signalling difficult (okay, it makes signalling impossible...) But there are people riding bikes here without any hands... Okay, stop showing off and go get a unicycle already! With practice, who knows, maybe I can ride with no handlebars in a year's time (just in time to sell the bike back...)

After my chats with the senior tutor and the grad student, I just got so excited about being at Oxford (as if I wasn't excited before) and ran out and bought my academic dress robes (stay tuned for pictures)!

Tomorrow I am headed to London for three days. I am meeting a fellow Dickinsonian who is studying in Germany, staying at a hostel (my first hostel experience), and on Thursday, I'll be meeting with a magistrate to discuss possible law related internship / job opportunities over the breaks and the summer. I am very anxious about the whole trip, mostly because I am not entirely sure how the whole transportation thing is going to work. I have a vague idea of where I need to be and how to get there, but the key word there is vague. But I am also ridiculously excited! Wish me luck!