Hey friends,

I’m typing this on my phone, so bear with me in regards to any spelling or formatting errors. I’m on the train right now headed to Bordeaux, but I feel like I should recap this past week, since a LOT happened.

First, and arguably most importantly, I have officially completed my first term at Oxford!!! The time has flown by and it’s been a lot of hard work, especially the past week, but I loved every minute of it, and I can’t wait for Hilary term to start.

Now, for the recap of the week, starting with…

SHEFXIT: I spent last Sunday morning / most of the afternoon with my cousin Shefali, who officially moved from London to New York this past Friday. We got brunch and then hung out with some of her friends at a cool underground bar. I was there for a few hours before I ran out the door in order to make it back to Oxford in time for…

CHRISTMAS DINNER: Due to massive train delays, I *barely* made it to dinner (thankfully, the dinner was also slightly delayed…). It was an evening with great food and wine, phenomenal company, and some hilarious caroling.

Following the next few days of constant work that ended with me having two tutorials in a single day (which is basically unheard of here)…

MY BIRTHDAY: My birthday isn’t until the 15th of December (ten days until I’m 21!!!), but I wanted to celebrate with my friends here at Oxford since all of us will be on holiday by then, so we celebrated this past Thursday night, exactly two weeks before my birthday. We had a blast – we spent a few hours in the Dawson common room before ending up at Purple Turtle, the Oxford Union’s bar/club. It was definitely an amazing night, thanks to all of my friends 🙂

(By the way – I asked for no gifts, but a group of my friends bought me an XL bottle of Prosecco, along with a Make America Great Again hat. I’m still not sure whether I love them or hate them.)

FRIENDS LEAVING: Friday night was my last night with my fresher friends, and Saturday night was my last night with the visiting students. Friday night was definitely crazy – we hung out in my friend’s room for a few hours before spontaneously deciding to go back to Purple Turtle. Saturday night was much more relaxing – the visiting students all got dinner together and then spent a few hours hanging out in one of the visiting student’s rooms, before I eventually bowed out of going clubbing for the third night in a row (I was beyond exhausted). It was hard say goodbye to everyone, especially the visiting students who aren’t returning for next term, but I’m excited to keep in touch with them from here.

Today, as I mentioned above, I’m headed on my first trip – to Bordeaux, France. I’ll blog about my trip once I get back to Oxford!

Much love,
Tasha