Arriving in Oxford

I've finally made it! I left home at 11 AM on Friday the 11th and arrived here in London at 8:30 AM today, Saturday the 12th. A friend of mine who really never gives hugs gave me a goodbye hug, and I'm convinced that it brought me luck for the whole trip. I think that's why she doesn't give them often; she must know their power! Getting through check in was a breeze. It took a total of 30 minutes to be seated at my gate from the time I walked through the front sliding doors. I checked my bag all the way through to London and didn't have to deal with it again until I arrived this morning. I got to my gate and still had around 1.5 hours to kill, so I finished the book I had started ("The Way The Crow Flies" -- great read if you're looking for something good), and eventually made it to Dallas. From Dallas, I found the correct terminal without too much trouble. It was only a short connecting ride over, and I sailed through check in. I only had to get a boarding pass, so that made things easier. I broke out the next book on my list, "Wicked", and started reading that before meeting two friends at the gate. The one I had really known well before, Amanda, and I had arranged to have seats together, so we got to chat the whole way. The plane left, and we had very little turbulence. I did have trouble sleeping just because I wasn't really tired, but I got in about 1.5 hours, which was more than most of my classmates.

I suppose the lucky hug only works its magic in the States because when we got to England, things started to get a little bit crazy. At the airport, we had trouble finding the bus to Oxford. It was hectic because there were lots of different terminals (like at Dallas) with connecting bus routes between them. We were meant to meet two other friends, but we waited for about 40 minutes, never saw them, and finally got on a bus that had space for us. (We found out later that they had gotten on at a different terminal and actually saw us waiting as they drove by leaving. Damn the fact that we don't have cell phones here!)

The bus driver was a douchebag and gave us a hard time for no apparent reason the whole time. He was our first encounter with the British, and we would not give a glowing report. He griped at us when we tried to help him, and he was rude when we paid him. I think he was just tired and maybe unhappy at his job, but it was unfortunate that he let it out on us. For a break in the chaos, we did enjoy a lovely trip from the airport to Oxford. The countryside is something out of a movie and, unlike Texas, they get rain, so everything is lush and growing. The English have, quite possibly, the best manicured lawns in all of the world. Even from the sky we could see the rows and could tell how clearly cut everything is. Anyhow, we arrived in Oxford and the insanity began again. This time, we were a little more delirious, so that made it both easier to handle because we just couldn't stop laughing and also more frustrating because we just wanted to fall over and go to sleep.

At our stop, the bus driver got off and started unloading what we assumed were our bags. We followed him, grabbed what was out so far, and then he immediately closed the storage area. Three of my friends (we met up with one more on the way) had bags still underneath and requested that they be allowed to get them. The bus driver said "I'm not prepared to open this and I'm not helping you get any of those out. You can get them out at the next stop at the top of the route" which was ridiculous for obvious reasons. They needed their stuff and weren't about to say, "oh yeah, you go ahead and keep the other 3 bags... just do what you want with them". So, he finally let them get their stuff, and we thought things were fine. Then, I looked over and noticed another bag nearby that I didn't recognize. I asked the other girls if it was theirs and they all said, "no". At that moment, we realized that the bags the bus driver grabbed were totally random, and he had unloaded some random person's bag and left it on the side of the main street in Oxford. Nice. Obviously, we felt we had to remedy the situation. After all, someone was in Oxford without luggage and at a huge loss. We walked all over WITH OUR BAGS through the crowded streets only to find that place after place couldn't hold it. Finally, we received help at a bus depot and were able to leave and find the college.

It's been a while since I saw such busy streets. It reminded me of Rome, really, and I had wrongly assumed that Oxford was quiet and quaint. I'm definitely surprised by how many people come here and how much stuff is available in this small town. Walking through the streets for the first time was exciting, but our arms were aching as we pulled ourselves through the entry gate. We signed in and the rest is yet to come.

My room is very small but I like it a lot. There's a bed, dresser, small closet, and amazing window which looks out to nothing special but reminds me of "typical" England. We've gotten to roam a bit, eat lunch at EAT, and visit each other's rooms while unpacking and laughing over travel stories. I like everyone on the trip so far, have yet to see a professor (which ends in 30 minutes), and have already warmed to my new short-term home.