Initial Observations

After a long plane flight and what felt like an even longer bus ride (thank you London traffic) I arrived in Oxford Friday afternoon!

First off, I can't believe that I am actually here and that this place is going to be my home for the next 8 months. I have always been fascinated with British culture and have wanted to live here for as long as I can remember. A lot of the other Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) students and I cannot believe that these are our lives now.

Wycliffe Hall - My new home!

My window is the middle on on the left.

The first few days were kind of a whirlwind of meeting people and exploring the city. There are 56 SCIO students in total from different Christian schools across the country. I have enjoyed interacting with all of them and learning about different people's experiences.

Sunday was an excellent opportunity to take part in some British experiences such as an Evensong service at Christ Church Cathedral. The service was lovely and the acoustics in the church were even lovelier. I found myself getting lost in the music as the choir sung prayers and scripture passages while weaving in and out of complicated harmonies and counterpoint. I was also "kidnapped" for lunch by a lovely Scottish couple at the church I visited. They took a group of us back to their home and made us a delicious meal and of course, plenty of tea.

Because Oxford's Michaelmas term does not start until the beginning of October, we have a chance to get to know the city and the libraries before all of the students arrive. However, this does not mean that I get a month of vacation. For the next few weeks I will be taking a rather whirlwind class about British culture for which writing three essays as well as a theology seminar which will culminate in a research paper due at the end of the term.

St. Gile's fair was a particularly enjoyable portion of exploring the city. It is a street fair that completely takes over one of the major streets in the city. There where carnival games, rides, and food. From my limited experience I have found that British carnival rides are faster, taller, and overall far more dangerous looking than their American equivalents. Some of the higher rides provided an excellent aerial view of the city (although most of that view was skewed by being upside down). In terms of carnival food there were many booths boasting that they served the best "American Burgers." I tried some "american" doughnuts, which I found to be far tastier than actual american doughnuts. They tasted almost like fried dough and were coated in white sugar :)

Much better than american doughnuts!!!

Each arm of this star rotated on its own as the whole star spun around.
Riding this during the day provided excellent views of the city :)

The little pod at the top of the arm rotated on it's own as the whole arm spun around. 

As many of you probably know I am a huge Harry Potter fanatic. Though not many scenes from the films where actually filmed in Oxford I have managed to track down most of the filming sights. Today I toured the cloisters of New College whose passages and courtyard where used in 'The Goblet of Fire.' Yesterday I visited the restricted section of the library. I believe this will be my chosen study spot for the year. The smell of old books permeated the room creating an overwhelming air of history and knowledge. The Bodleian is by far the most incredible library I have ever visited. I cannot wait to dive into its depths of knowledge!!!

No pictures allowed in the Restricted Section, but here are some places from Goblet of Fire!

Tomorrow we embark on a trip to Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury. (For any of my friends from home: looking at maps and not thinking of their NEW England equivalents has proved to be quite a challenge.)

I am completely awestruck by every little thing that I have experienced here. I cannot wait to share my coming adventures with all of you!

~ Brynn :)