Made it!

I'm heeeere!

Got off the plane at Gatwick Airport in London at 5 a.m. Michigan time. Unpacked bike. Found Canadian Oxonians who helped run bike across Gatwick airport. Ran across Gatwick trying to catch Oxford bus with careening trolley of luggage and Canadians and bike. Got to bus. Told me I had to repack bike. Fished bag out of garbage, repacked bike. Got to Oxford. Tied packed bike up illegally to get keys to apartment. Two hours later, unpacked bike on side of busy street.  Bike makes it to apartment! Don't bring bikes on airplanes.

It's International Orientation week! I've met hardly any students from the U.S. (although it is the number 1 country to send grad students here); so far it's been mostly Germans, Norwegians, Estonians, Hungarians...the list goes on.  Everyone is studying something fascinating, speaks three languages and finds American partisan politics remarkably entertaining.  I told them it's not as entertaining when it's your Congress that's being held captive by the Tea Party...

I'm staying at St. Hilda's College, which is right before the Magdalen (pronounced Maud-lin) bridge on the river Thames. Streets are tightly packed with buildings here, and the traffic is crazy, although ever street seems to have a bike lane. All the Europeans find the traffic driving on the wrong side of the street as disconcerting as I do - most of the rest of Europe drives on the right side like in the U.S. We're always looking the wrong way when we're crossing a street.

Some interesting British-isms: Restrooms are toilets. I asked for a restroom and had to restate myself at the airport. We're all "Freshers," commercials are "adverts," and we're all going to go "Punting," which means to push yourself down a river with a pole in a boat. We're currently all trying to figure out how we're going to buy our "Sub-fusc" clothing for Matriculation, which involves wearing dark skirt, white blouse, black ribbon-tie, academic robes, and mortar board for women. Men have to wear white bow ties. It's going to look absurd.  I'll take pictures.

So much to do! I was homesick yesterday but am doing better today. More later.

Lisa