Well this time last Thursday I was on my way to London. It definitely seems like it has been more than a week since I got on that plane! (Although that plane ride did seem longer than a week. Hey Dad, wanna spring for first class on the way home?) Anyway, Oxford is still amazing. Yesterday we went on a walking tour through the city with this adorable British lady as our guide. She showed us where J.R. Tolkien lived in the years before his death. We also saw the building where all Oxford students take their exams. The exam system is confusing here, but from what I can tell, a students' work at Oxford is measured by three exams, one after each undergraduate year. The students are also required to dress for each exam in their cap and gown, giving the cap/gown slightly different significance than we're used to. After we passed the Examination College, we saw the building that Cecil Rhodes had built to house Rhodes scholars. Apparently he was a bit of a megalomaniac, because he made sure that the statue of him was situated higher on the building than the statues of the kings are. Finally, we visited another Oxford College, called Jesus College. Aside from having a pretty awesome name, Jesus College also has Lord Krebs (son of the Krebs Cycle dude) as its president.
Now I mentioned my housing last time, but it's definitely something worth discussing in a bit more detail. My room is on the top floor (up 82 stairs) of the New Building at Magdalen College. Although it was built in 1733, it is indeed very new compared to some of the older buildings which date back to 1467. There is a tree outside of our building that is probably older than any structure in the United States. This place is OLD! Another cool thing about this building is that it was the home of C.S. Lewis when he was a student here. The rooms are enormous, and many of the other study abroad students are afraid to sleep because they're convinced that the rooms are haunted. We also have a deer park behind the building, and according to the guys on the first floor, the deer make very strange noises all night.
Studying at Oxford is not all fun, games, and deer, though. I had my first tutorial today, which was on a short passage from one of Shakespeare's later plays called "Coriolanus." We spent over an hour going through 50 or so lines, so it was indeed a VERY close reading. Although we only had those 50 lines to read from the play, we also had 5-6 books to look into for supplementary reading. I would highly recommend the Bill Bryson Shakespeare biography to anyone who is interested. Definitely an good read. For Tuesday, we're discussing a more broad topic, and for Thursday we will have essays due about Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth.
Before I head off to bed, I do have to make one complaint about my experience here. The food, I must admit, is really awful. Included in our program are three meals a day at the Magdalen dining hall. The hall itself is really cool, old, and ornate. The food, however, leaves a lot to be desired. They love serving potatoes (often 2-3 different potato dishes in a single meal). Because we're all doing a lot of walking and not a lot of eating, we're always hungry! On Monday nights, though, we have a formal dinner with slightly better food. We have a speaker at 5, followed by a reception at 6, and dinner at 7. The reception consists of standing on the lawn and drinking champagne and sparkling water, while the dinner is a three course affair. Each week, a different set of students has to sit with the speaker and the professors at "High Table." It's all very snooty and lots of fun. :)

Enjoy all your heat!
~Annalisa