Oslo & More Oxford!

Hey All -

So I guess the trick to getting me to post a blog is have me writing a paper I'm trying to procrastinate! :)

So I can't believe I'm on my third week in Oxford, we're wrapping up finals for our first 1/2 session of classes on Greece, and we start the Roman stuff on Monday! This weekend I'm venturing to Dublin, Ireland with my trip, and I think I'm more excited for this weekend than I've been for anything so far. SO EXCITED.

Life in Oxford has become pretty routine. My classes have been fascinating, but it's a bit of a challenge to be taking three classes in such a short time crunch. Lots of papers! It's always a bummer to stay in writing rather than experience day-to-day Oxford life. We've done a lot of exploring, though! The night life in Oxford is great, but just walking around during the day has to be my favorite thing. We have a covered market right outside the gates of Lincoln, and I either get a delicious Ben's Cookie or a Moo Moo's Milkshake at least every other day! :) Cool thing - Emma Watson (Hermoine in Harry Potter) was spotted by one of my friends in the covered market last week! She's studying at Oxford this semester so I'm hoping to get a glimpse of her at some point myself!

Beth and I went to church the weekend we were in town, which was one of my favorite experiences. We went to St. Alban's, which was a contemporary service in a 13th century cathedral. It was so cool to worship God in such a revered environment. I have to say this was one of the best experiences I've had here, and the community was so welcoming and awesome! (Hope Fellowship may have some English competition for coolest church in the world...)

Here are some of my favorite Oxford pictures (I don't have a lot... haven't quite gotten that it's okay to act like a tourist sometimes in the place I live!)

This was on a tour of Oxford - this is a copy of a bridge in Venice

Some of my girlfriends and I at our first High Table, these amazing formal dinners we get each Thursday

Our Punting Adventure (I was pretty good if I must say so myself...)

So besides the amazing experiences I've had in Oxford, I had my first vacation trip last weekend! Me and six friends went to Oslo, Norway for the weekend, and I might've had my doubts... but it was probably the most awesome place I've ever been! We had some trouble planning something for this three day weekend and settled on Oslo because of the cheap flight and the big group that was going. I was excited to go somewhere I'd never really thought about visiting. Oslo is a walking city at heart, and the weather we experience was beautiful. This trip started at 1 AM late Thursday night and we got back at 4 AM Monday morning, and it was worth every second I didn't sleep! I think Scandinavia may have my heart now...

A few highlights:

Our fantastic group :)

The Nobel Peace Center!

Oslo City Centre

This Sculpture Park was AMAZING!

We also went on a fjord bay 2 hour cruise, hit up an ice bar, and avoided spending a million dollars on food (2nd most expensive city in the world! I'm talking $40 pizzas!) Funny story, we missed our bus coming back to Oxford after landing in Stansted airport (3 hours away). Luckily, the nice people at National Express got us back!! (at 4 AM!)

So it's off to Dublin this weekend! Can't wait to get to share about this weekend! I'm excited to begin a new set of classes and get ready to jet-set to the continent in a few weeks.

love/miss you all!

Sarah

PS- A big shoutout to my Kappa Delta sisters at Rhodes this weekend, so bummed to be missing bid day! Good luck with the rest of rush, can't wait to meet the new babies!!!!! AOT

Oxford

I'm finally in Oxford!! I can't believe I'm finally here. I've heard so much about how amazing this city is and how beautiful the university is, but I still think it's exceeded my expectations.

After a week in York, we traveled up to Hadrian's Wall in Northern England and were pleasantly surprised to be staying at these BEAUTIFUL bed & breakfasts in the countryside. I got a hot bath, some amazing amazing food and a little rest while enjoying the Roman remains on the wall. Hadrian's Wall was the northern frontier of the late Roman Empire. The wall is still generally standing today and runs between the thinnest point of the United Kingdom and used to be the boundary between the empire and the Barbarians (England & Scotland). We saw some amazing preserved Roman forts and got to do a 3 mile hike along the wall with some beautiful views from the hilltops.

We made our way to Oxford on Sunday, and we're housed at the beautiful Lincoln College. Oxford is spread around the city into thirty-something small colleges where students are housed and dine. I'm lucky enough to have a single room here at Lincoln and live right in the heart of the city for the next 6 weeks :) We went on a walking tour of the city and saw a bunch of Harry Potter filming sites, which was pretty awesome. We had our first High Table dinner and started classes today.

I'm in love with Oxford already and already having the most amazing experience! Can't wait to continue this journey and get to know this city over the next 6 weeks.

Sarah


PS - Here are the photos of Edinburgh and York I didn't get to post on my last blog.

View over Edinburgh, Scotland from a hilltop hike

 York Minster Cathedral

Tattoo Performance in Edinburgh

First Week!

Hey All!

So we finally have some level of internet connection, so I'm posting my first blog! It has been the most incredible week here, and I am so glad already that I made the decision to study abroad.

We flew into Edinburgh, Scotland at the end of last week, and that was an amazing way to start. We had beautiful sunny cool weather, which is pretty much unheard of there, so we were really lucky! We ate at a great sandwich shop the first day and I got talking to the owner. Turns out his sister lives in Gunter, Texas. One of the first reminders I've had here of what a small world it is! We had an AMAZING dinner at a restaurant called the Dome, probably one of the nicest places I've ever eaten (Thanks European Studies!). We explored/walked all over Edinburgh for the next few days, and if you've talked or chatted with me once since I've been here you know I've fallen in love with this city. One of the highlights was the last night we saw the Scottish Tattoo, which is a military band show during the huge festival that occurs in August in Edinburgh. See picture below :) It was raining and cold but it was right in front of the Castle and one of the coolest shows I've ever seen. There were large bands and performances from around the globe - so so great.

We then headed onto York, and I'm ashamed to say I slept through the entire bus ride through the English countryside. I am glad that I waited until tonight to post this blog, however, because today was probably the best full day we've had yet! We've been studying Ancient Rome's role in Great Britain, which is kindof backwards history-wise but has been a great place to start. I could talk about a lot of really amazing Roman sites we've seen in the countryside, but I pretty much only want to talk about today, anyways.

We went to an archaeological dig site that's being excavated to clear the area for some new housing. It was so large, look at the picture below! We had a great guide show us where all these Roman graves and Viking houses were dug up. Then we got to go inside their excavation site and see some of the remains! It was literally amazing. I saw real human remains from the Roman period (2/3rd century), and a lot of other really exciting finds. I don't know if I've ever seen real history being discovered before my eyes.

We then went into the city of York and went to their history museum which was full of exciting items. Then I got to go to the Evensong at the York Minster Cathedral. It is a beautiful site I got to see the first day, but was even more beautiful when filled with a choir and prayers.

I've loved my first week in York, I'm already in love with England. The nightlife is exciting, the people are friendly, the sites are breathtaking and it's so nice to just walk around beneath history and so many amazing places.

I apologize for the fact that I haven't really talked to anyone, but I am alive and having an amazing time :D I can't wait to share more of my adventures, and cannot believe that this is only week one.

NOTE: Sorry, the internet is too slow for me to post any pictures. I promise there will be some for this blog as soon as I get to Oxford on Sunday!

Cheers,

Sarah