first few days...

I've arrived in Oxford! So many first impressions and stories already, but I'll just give some of the highlights. The trip here was I guess about as easy as expected. After picking up my two huge bags at Heathrow, I found my way to the bus station and to the direct to Oxford bus. I thankfully remembered the name of the stop nearest my college, and once getting off of the bus made my way to the porters lodge. Once arriving, I was told that I wasn't on the list of early arrivals, but thankfully my room was ready anyway and I was able to get my keys!

My room is on the top floor of a townhouse about 6 blocks from my college (but on the other side of town from the business school!). I think the top floor is nice, so I won't have anyone walking on creaky floors above me, but it was pretty difficult to get those suitcases up there!! My hands were red for a few hours afterward! I'll try to take a photo of the house and post in in the next post (once I have internet access with my laptop!), so you all have a better idea of the place.

On Thursday afternoon I met with my mentor from the previous class, Natalie. She gave me all sorts of tips on Oxford and about the program in general, and even sold me some of her books. I feel lucky that I got a good mentor, as it appears I'm one of the few students who actually corresponded with mine!

Yesterday was spent trying to get more of my room in order and running errands. I learned that it is not possible to get a cell phone until you have a british bank account (which hopefully happens on monday)!! Last night I went to my first gathering of classmates at a pub very close to the school. There were almost 50 people there, and I think I met at least 30 of them. It's pretty overwhelming to try to remember who everyone is, but there were a lot of nice folks, so it was pretty encouraging.

I hope to have internet access hooked up in my room on Monday, so that will help with the communication, since I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe on the High Street. Nice, but I don't really think I should be having to pay for the internet on top of all of the other money I am already paying to be here. More soon! *K