Romantics and Really Good Cake - July 7th, 2009

It's 1:30 in the morning and I really should be reading or asleep, but I'm blogging instead. Do not judge me for my post titles.

This morning I got up and had another jog/adventure, bright and early. This time I actually knew where the park was, so I got lost in the park instead. Not really lost...the kind of lost where you know you'll be able to get back out, so you let yourself get lost. Turns out the park goes right up to the river...it's so beautiful. It's hard to believe I can do something so normal as go for a morning jog in a place so unbelievable.

After my jog I had breakfast and got ready for class - class was super exciting, of course. Note the sarcasm. They aren't bad though, really. Dr. Halli is amazing. He's just so knowledgable of everything, and so fun to have as a teacher.

For lunch Anna and I grabbed sandwiches at the grocery store around the corner, then ate back in our rooms so we could get a bit of reading done as well. That school thing again.

This afternoon we headed down to Christ Church, which is one of the 30 something colleges here in in Oxford, but they are really kind of snobby and call it only Christ Church, without college at the end. Anyway, it has tons of historical and literary significance, which is great....and IT'S WHERE SCENES OF HARRY POTTER ARE FILMED!!! The great hall and the staircase in the HP movies are the dining hall and staircase at Christ Church. Ahhh...just knowing I was walking where Daniel Radcliffe has walked before was ah-mazing.

More than that though, the cathedral and grounds were beautiful. It's amazing how many significant and amazing buildings and sites can be packed into such a small area.

Afterwards Sarah and I journeyed up to Cowley Road to explore a bit for one of our Arts of Oxford class assignments. Oxford is kind of like Tuscaloosa in the sense that yes, it's a college town, but it's more than that as well. There is an automobile industry, as well as a few other things. Cowley Road is quite a contrast from the "university life" part of town - it's full of ethnic grocery stores, shops, and restaurants. It's so cool. Like a global tour within a few blocks.

When we returned I finally got to do laundry! It was getting desperate. I'm so excited about having clean clothes. Although most of my shirts don't go in the dryer and it rains too much for me to put them on the clothesline, so my bedroom looks like a shirt museum right now...

For dinner we had hamburgers that were pretty delicious...but then we had the most amazing chocolate cake. I was afraid I was going to go into a sugar coma, but it would have been worth it. Obviously it was so good it got a blog mention, haha.

Tonight is not full of wild adventures and fun things - more like Wordsworth and responses for classes. Woohoo. Oh well, grades come first anyway. And the rest is nice.

On one hand, I feel like I've already been here forever - I'm really getting used to the culture and getting familiar with the area....but at the same time, I just keep finding myself pleasantly surprised at how amazing everything is and how happy and lucky I am to be here. Like, really, it's indescribable. I can't imagine what it would feel like to actually go to school here. I would just think I was living in a dream world or something.

I'm a dork. I don't care. Oh my gosh, I forgot...Harry Potter premeires tonight in Leicester Square in London. Like, the red carpet with actors and such, I believe. Oh, if I had been there I probably would have exploded with excitement. Probably a good thing I wasn't there as a) I would much rather be in Oxford, un-exploded and b) I'm not sure how Daniel would feel about exploding girl.

I hope this post makes sense. I should go to bed. I think I shall. Cheers :)