Things To Remember [Oxford Week -1]

-Negative weeks are a real thing here. It is -1 week of Michaelmas Term. Next week is 0 week. Why this is/how they decided to create this system is still a mystery to me. I aim to find this out and then it will become something to remember.

- There is a boys' school right by my flat. Like, a real British prep school with British boys ages 8-16 (ish). And they have a choir that often sings on my way to city centre.

- The leaves are tinted with yellow right now. They chase me on my way to college or flutter before my face and then fall gracefully into the River Cherwell.

- The larks sing early in the morning.

- Apparently the new students brought the sun to Oxford. At least for -1 week of Michaelmas Term. It hasn't rained yet. I'm enjoying the crisp fall days while I can.

-There is nothing quite like running the streets of Oxford in the morning and going past the Bridge of Sighs, Radcliffe Camera, and Bodelain Library. Mornings are beautiful here. I think I will be a morning runner here.

Not a soul in sight. Just me, the moon, and the Bodelain.

- I talk. A lot. And fast. I think it puts the Brits a bit off guard.

-Walking on cobblestone streets on the way to Corpus Christi College.

-Peaceful blue British skies.

-I am an absolute sucker for British accents. Especially children with British accents. And especially when those children are dressed in adorable blue sweaters.

-FaceTime is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

-Chicken pesto paninis with sundried tomatoes are incredible.

-I have a flat mate who studies English literature. And she focuses on Victorian literature and loves Russian authors. So obviously we had an hour-long discussion about Middlemarch, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, and Crime and Punishment. She loves Andrei and Pierre, and got annoyed with Levin the second time she read Anna Karenina. It was one of the best discussions of literature I've had in a long time. And it was wonderful.

-The Pitts Rivers and Ashmolean Museums are two of my new favorite places. I could spend all day in the Ashmolean. Maybe one day I will.

-Virginia Creeper turns an incandescent scarlet and leaves some colleges draped in glory.

-The air on my walk to college smells like dying leaves, baking bread, and the occasional controlled fire (burning leaves).

-I walk on the Magdalen Bridge every day. And past Magdalen College. It's absolutely stunning.

-Everyone is nervous and afraid to start somewhere new, far from home. I can help make that transition easier in my small way. It's not that hard to start a conversation or to smile.

-October thrives here.

-Embrace the day. Love the experience. Soak it all in. Live.