Oxford Orientation

Yesterday after getting settled into the UGA House at Oxford right outside the main square we had orientation at the house including the rules of the house. I have come to learn that Oxford has many rules and regulations that need to be strictly followed and promptness is a key virtue. The English also seem to be terrified of fire so they have the strictest fire codes. We then went into the city and had a tour of the entire city. We got to see all of the different colleges within Oxford and I was completely baffled by the reputation and some of the great minds to have studied here. Basically everyone that has ever been important in England has studied at Oxford. Some of the great people of our time that I have the privilege to study with under the same University are Albert Einstein, Lawrence of Arabia, Stephen Hawking, George Whitefield ( Whom my high school is named after), John Wesley, Adam Smith, Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, John Locke, basically all the prime ministers of England, and Bill Clinton. This is probably the most academic study abroad I could have chosen but I am willing to put in the work. Last night after the tour we had our formal orientation dinner with drinks on the lawn after meeting our professors. We then had Duck with Creme Broule for dinner and went to the pubs after to celebrate. This morning I had my first class with my professor Richard Martin over the sub-prime mortgage crisis. After this I got a tour of the trinity library and got a lot of work done already for my environmental Economics course. I am meeting tons of people and trying to balance school and traveling. I am about to go out now and get rent a bike for the next six weeks so I can travel around Oxford like never before.

Oxford Arrival

Just got into Oxford yesterday morning an hour early at 6:00am England time and I am finally settled in. I am just going to recycle the blog I have already created and continue blogging while I am in Europe. I met a football player by the name of Andrew who played for Milsap college in Mississippi who lived right across the hall from my friends Alec Kerr. Small world. They were both in the same fraternity and played the same position. Going into the airport I didn't know anyone except for my friend Meredith whom I recognized across the gate E07. When I went to go speak with her my Professor Dr. Martin was right there next to her and then I proceeded to meet Brittnay and Jeff whom we I had a lot of common friends with at UGA.

Once we all got together and got on our charter bus we drove into the Oxford area and got to the UGA house. The Terry College of Business which makes up about 20 students is set apart from Oxford at Trinity which is in the city. We are set about a mile away from the rest of the UGA group but it won't be that big of a problem. I met up with Chris LeCraw who is a graduate assistant here at Oxford who actually stayed here last summer. He was telling me about how I can rent a bike and get to class in about three minutes. I'm also trying to figure out how I am going to be traveling on the weekends and figuring out where to go. I know some people are going to the running of the bulls this weekend so I think I am going to end up doing that. We are going to have a tour of Oxford today and then get "inducted" into the library almost like a secret society. UGA is out here with Stanford, Georgia Tech and Williamson college. I am soon finding out that UGA @ Oxford is probably the most academic study abroad I could have taken and will be a lot of work. I was up late last night reading up for my class. Most of the work is going to be independent studying and writing so I have to be on top of everything. I pleasantly found out that my classes are Monday- Thursday so I will have an extra day to travel on the weekends. I am going to try and take pictures today and post them so all can see.