Don't judge a book by its cover.

So I'm sitting in the hallway with my new Oxford Sweatshirt...I accidentally bought a large in stead of a medium...but it's so incredibly comfortable! SO I think I ended up with the right hoodie...

Yesterday I went to Oxford. It was a really interesting time. I really liked Oxford...but let me start at the beginning.

November 19th 2010 - Friday:

I woke up early and went running! I really like when the streets of London are empty. It makes the city a whole new kind of place. I really enjoyed getting to run and hear the flapping of my shoes on the pavement because everyone else was either asleep or already at their jobs. Who knows...but they weren't out walking/jogging on the streets. I've decided that the average Londoner does not walk to a destination - they run.

Sheesh.

Anywho, I got all showered after running and had lunch before I was ready to hop on a train with Erin, Hillary, and Kemper that was Oxford bound. I took plenty of pictures, no worries. :)

It took about an hour to get there, and the lovely thing was that the sun was out shining in full force. However, after we spent about fifteen minutes on the train, we noticed a weird fog surrounding London town. It was crazy.

But foggy or not, we continued on our little journey. I was immediately lulled into a sort of foggy sleep that I couldn't really shake off for the rest of the day. BUT we finally got there and hopped off of the train onto Oxford Soil.

The town (I would call Oxford a town, compared to London anyway) was very quaint. It looked very Gothic to me and walked by a bunch of the colleges and such. It was intense. I took a bunch of pictures. I've decided that the reason I like all these towns and cities that have an ancient/old/gothic/antique feel is because I haven't ever really experienced that ever before in a city/town. I don't think the US has 'old' in the same sense.

Anywho once we walked around a bit we found a covered market. Kemper has a friend that goes to Oxford for undergraduate studies and she suggested that we go to this market. It was very quaint. They had fresh groceries (when I say fresh, I mean meat hanging from the ceiling) and all sorts of other nice veggies and such. After wondering around there for a bit we stopped at a nice little cafe for lunch.

I got a panini thingy. Then we dropped Erin off to meet with one of her friends who was studying at Oxford. Kemper, HIllary and I found Christ Church (where the Great Hall from Harry Potter was filmed) and then we found Christ Church Meadows. It was really, really pretty so we walked down this neat little garden pathway and took pictures among all the colourful leaves. I love when the leaves change colours.

After that we had to go find Erin again and then we went back to the same spot in the Meadow. Hillary made some friends with some of the ducks passing by. Haha. There were also some cows nearby with some pretty intense horns. Like I said, I really liked the town, it was quaint and nice.

Next we went and found a little coffee place and I got some tea. I got the same Twinings tea that I made Dad try at that cafe in Covent Garden. It was really good - mango or orange cinnamon or something like that. I absolutely loved it!

After tea we walked around in the dark (it gets dark at four thirty over here) and we waited for Kemper's friend to text her. When she did text we ended up meeting her and going to this Italian restaurant for dinner. I had a bunch of questions to ask her about the Oxford way of life and school system. It pretty much blew my mind. Here I am thinking that Hendrix is hard. Pssssh. I should have gone to Oxford. Yeah right.

SO anyway, after that we walked back to the train station and stood outside for five minutes. A train came up and we didn't know if it was the one for London or not. We kept arguing about it, because the electronic sign said it wasn't a London train...so we didn't end up getting on. I was completely under the impression it wasn't a London train. One of the train workers even got on the loudspeaker and tried to explain to everyone where the train was going, but we couldn't hear/understand him.

Turns out the train is driving away and I see, "London Paddington" on the back of it. WELL. Why in Hades would you put the destination of the train on the back?! You then don't see where it's going until it's literally already gone!

Anyway, we had to wait about forty minutes for the next one, which put us back in London around eleven thirty...and we were scared the tube was going to be closed. Luckily, the tube was NOT closed. We were safe! So I returned and I was so tired that I didn't even update. But now I'm chilling in the hallway with my comfy hoodie and a nice glass of water. :)

So that brings me up to today

Saturday November 20 2010:

Today I managed to sleep in. My nonsleepy thing was finally catching up with me. In fact, I slept in until ten! WOO! I used to be able to sleep so late, but now I get up early. The only problem is that I don't go to bed any earlier than I used to...I still go to sleep at about three sometimes. So it's probably not the best.

I have a theory, however. I think the reason that I can't sleep in late anymore is because I love being up before everyone else. I can ensure the quite and peace of the whole flat to myself. Isn't that selfish of me? Haha. I wonder if when I get home this will hold true? Probably not, I'll probably be sleeping in as late as I can. :) Isn't that just the way it works?

Anywho, after I got up I went over to Kemper's to prepare. We went to Portobello road market. I wish I had gone there earlier in the semester! It puts Camden to shame. There was soooo much just junk and stuff and food and everything. It was a little too crowded for my taste, but I had a great time. I bought some Jimi Hendrix. What can I say? I'm a little obsessed...I think. With the records...I think I know what I want for Christmas. HINT.

After that we came back (we spent a good two-three hours exploring the whole street and the side crannies and such. It was intense.) Kemper had lunch (I didn't because I had already eaten a lunch earlier.) Then we went to the library and studied. I worked on my Riddley paper today. I literally got my Riddley Walker paper done today, all I have to do now is proofread it. I might have Johnny read it if he has time, because I want to know if it makes sense. That makes me feel a little caught up on these four papers I have due soon, because two of them I have a rough draft for. So, that's progress.

Then we went to the store to get a couple of things because tonight we had a girl's night in and we made Tex-Mex. It's cheap to do this, and when it's cold like this outside, you essentially don't want to go anywhere! Gosh! I barely made it to the store. I'm glad I come home in ELEVEN days! (I'm going by my time and it's currently 12:08 AM so - ELEVEN DAYS!) Get excited!

I seriously could not handle a winter over here, I could barely handle a fall. Haha.

Well that's my update for my lovely little familial unit! I miss you guys. I'll be home in the blink of an eye.

Cheers!