Hi friends,

Today is Fresher’s Move-In Day here at St. Edmund (or Teddy, which I’m slowly learning to call it) Hall, so all of the domestic students are moving into the quad. I’m currently hiding out in my room to avoid the chaos, so I decided I should finally sit down and write another blog post. I’m sorry I’ve been so AWOL for the past week or so – the days have been SO hectic! I’ve officially moved into Oxford, but I’ll go over that a little bit later in the blog post. For now, I’ll briefly explain what I’ve been up to recently!

From Thursday through Sunday, I was in London for IFSA-Butler’s Orientation. (IFSA-Butler is the organization I applied through to apply to Oxford!) I got to meet about 30 other students from various universities across the US who will be studying at many different colleges throughout Oxford. Besides just the actual orientation (which was hours long but overall pretty enjoyable), the three days involved going out for dinner, various historical walking tours, and pubbing. I also went to visit the Tower of London one day, and saw a play with my friend Natalie, a fellow Case Western student who will be spending the year at St. Catherine’s Hall.

Early Sunday morning, I and the other Teddy Hall students through IFSA-Butler (there were three of us total) hopped on the train at Paddington Station and made our way to Oxford. I unfortunately fell under the weather that morning, but overall we made it with little fuss. Mom came down to Oxford for the day and helped me move in and pick up a few things I needed (thanks, Mom 🙂 ).

Below are a few pictures of my room:

Here’s a few pros and cons I’ve figured out.

Pro: I HAVE MY OWN BATHROOM.

(Sorry the pictures are awful – I couldn’t get the camera angle right – but I think you all get the idea.)

I was not expecting this.

It’s small – about the size of an airplane bathroom – but it’s perfect for me.

Con: I’m a tad isolated. My room is the only one in this corridor, which is separated off from the main corridor by two separate doors. There’s a set of showers around the corner from me, so I guess the only time I’ll meet people is when they’re heading for the shower? A slight pro to this is that I kind of have my own entrance into the building – there’s a back staircase which leads directly into my corridor, so I only have to walk up one flight of stairs instead of the two sets of staircases at the front.

Pro: I’m living inside the quad (see blog post from last Tuesday), which is absolutely gorgeous, and very centrally located. The dining hall is right outside my room, and the library is a two-minute walk.

Con: I’m the only visiting student living inside the quad – the others are living in townhouses further down the road – which means I’m living with Freshers. To be honest, I’m not quite sure how much of a con this is yet – I haven’t met any of the domestic Freshers yet since they’re all still moving in, so I’ll keep you all updated on this.

Fresher’s week (essentially Orientation Week) kicked off on Sunday night, when all of the visiting students as well as the international freshers (they moved in the same day we did) were invited to have drinks with the deans of Teddy Hall. I got to meet even more visiting students, as well as full-time international students who will spend their undergraduate years here. I had a few great conversations with the deans here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them more.

Yesterday was much quieter, as there were no mandatory events for Fresher’s week. I spent most of the day working on a paper I have due on Wednesday night (I’m the only person who has a paper due during Fresher’s week…ugh). At night, a large group of us Teddy Hall people went out to a pub for a few hours, and a few of the IFSA-Butler people who are studying in other colleges came to join us.

Today is going to be a hectic day. I woke up early this morning and  spent an hour at the post office finalizing my visa. I’m meeting friends for lunch soon. Later this afternoon I have college registration, a welcome meeting with the Vice Principal and the JCR President, a meeting with all of the tutors over drinks, and then our formal Undergraduate Fresher’s Dinner! I’ll go into more depth on all of these events tomorrow.

I promise I’ll be better at keeping my blog up to date in the future!

Much love,

Tasha