Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ready, Set, Go!

Hey Everyone!

Despite feeling like I'm stuck in one extremely long day, I'm doing pretty well. My flight was scheduled to leave Atlanta at around 5:30 pm on the 30th. We didn't actually leave until around 6:30 because there was some trouble checking bags into the plane. Somehow, though, we made it to Gatwick right on time--the flight crew said we made time crossing the Atlantic.

The first really fun moment for me was at the airport. For all you Auburn fans reading my blog, you know that it does a heart good to hear someone say "War Eagle." I've been excited to see how many "War Eagles" I can get from strangers on my trip, and I'm proud to say that my very first one came right in the terminal at Gatwick Airport. Granted, she was an American who had been on the same flight as us, but still! It was really cool!!

After some heavy lifting at the airport, all 13 of us on the group flight managed to get our suitcases onto a bus and headed to Oxford. I don't remember much of the bus ride--something about sheep and driving on the wrong side of the road. When we finally arrived everyone was so glad to be able to stretch.

The UGA house here is amazing. I'll post pictures later, but it's pretty incredible. It can house 40 people, it must have like 18 bathrooms, and earlier we stumbled across a mini kitchen on the second floor. There's a garden out back and a separate shed for laundry facilities.

So after some exploration and a short nap, a few of us decided to walk into town to buy some things we couldn't pack. We didn't know that "town," or "city center" was actually in the other direction from the house, but we walked on anyways. On the drive in we had seen a little string of shops and drug stores, so that's where we went to stock up on our essentials.

Next came a pretty long orientation to house rules, tutorial etiquette, and other stuff. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Oxford and our induction to the Library. They make you swear an oath to use the library here. I guess they're pretty serious about books.

Then on Saturday we'll be visiting Stonehenge, Salisbury, and, weather permitting, Avesbury and the White Horse of Uffington.

Thanks for checking in!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Ready to Go!

As one of my many preparations for my trip to Oxford, I've decided to begin a blog. Check back for updates as I set out on my greatest adventure to date! I'll try to be faithful to update things along the way!
Thanks for your prayers and support.

The day is almost here, and I just wanted to share that my preparations are going well! I've been making lists and more lists--soon I think I'll have to make a list just to keep track of my lists!

Hopefully the blog will get more interesting and "reader friendly" as I go along. Keep coming back!