I finished my paper that morning at 10:00 am but I didn't turn it in until around 1:00. I was totally hesitant to do that but I did and I leave the rest up to fate.
I met up with Jeff afterwards because I have been commissioned (for free) to take his picture to send to CUA for one of the UHP brochures. It was a nice sunny Sunday but it was difficult to find a spot that would just scream Oxford so we walked around and took pictures at a couple of places. When we deemed that we had enough, we had some Moo-moo's and then we separated. I was waiting around for mass while he went to go do some work.
I walked down Cornmarket which was where the picture was taken. There were about 3 or 4 street musicians scattered across the street. Because it was a nice sunny day, everyone was out and about basking in the light. The musicians create such a lovely atmosphere as one walks up and down the street hearing one musician and then the next as one goes further down. I love it. I guess, this is the "artsy soul" in me. It makes me absolutely happy to hear street musicians as they do their craft in a very raw setting. Also, it helps the whole aura, which is probably why people don't make such a big fuss about them here.
I then went over to Primark and got myself a belt and then headed over to mass which pretty much marked the end of my sunny Sunday.
I think, the highlight of this day was the fact that I got 2 free pizzas instead of 1. At the Fresher's Fair, Domino's gave out a bunch of coupons for free personal pizzas, one per student. Suzanna and I availed ours today. However, they messed up my order so they ended up giving me two. That explains the picture above. And the fact that I paid 0GBP for it made me very very happy.
Other than that, I spent the nice sunny day inside writing a paper. It was a difficult feat and I didn't quite finish like I would however I was fairly productive with it. The first paper is always the hardest, I think. I don't know what my tutor is expecting from me yet so I have a lot of apprehension writing the paper. But it'll get done. I promise.
Spent the day reading and attempting to write a paper. There's really nothing much to say about this day. Unless you count my topping up of my Bod card exciting, then there is nothing else that happened. I topped up my Bod Card/ Pink University Card so that I can eat breakfast or lunch at New College.
The rest of the day was spent doing more reading. I did some of it at the Greens Café but I was mostly at home, hence the picture. I also attempted to start the paper but that didn't happen. Not surprising at all. Haha.
I did not wake up until 11:30 today and that is absolutely weird for me. I have not done that the past six months, at all. When I left the house, I headed down to Blackwell's and sat at Café Nero reading Contemporary Strategy Analysis. I had their latte and I loved it. Best coffee I've had in Oxford so far.
I had dinner with the Catholic U students at Fire & Stone that night. We then headed over to the Union for the first ever Union debate. I guess it is expected that that would be the picture I would use for this blog. However, I thought that the picture is more appropriate because it's a better representation of what the hum of my life has become. Reading, coffee and cafes are such a normal part of my day now that it's amazing to me that I don't get tired of it.
The Union was exhilarating. Even if I didn't really get into the debate, nor did I recognize the MP's that were present, I was still amazed by the intelligence and prominence that surrounded me. The debate began with a predebate which was a debate regarding the recent increase in tuition. The activism and the opinions expressed by the students was just…WOW. There's nothing else more inspiring that a room full of students debating with other students regarding current events. The debate proper itself was amazing. I really enjoyed the experience and I was glad I was able to see it.
Suzanna and I headed over to Kings Arms afterwards just to chill a bit and then we headed home.
Every Wednesday, there is a Farmer's market in Gloucester Green. The whole square is filled with stalls selling fruits, vegetables, pastries, cheese, cured meat, etc. It's quite a fun place to go to on Wednesdays and is definitely a nice entertainment in the middle of the day. There's also one on Thursday. However, the Thursday market is more of the antiques and the bric-a-brac, which is also a nice one to go to just to look and see.
Thus, I bought myself peaches (which is a current addiction) and some plantains. The stall where I bought my plantains from were kind of playing around with me, kidding me about free cabbage but really, it wasn't.
Nonetheless, the day was spent reading. What else is new? Haha. My paper is due on Sunday but I really want to get the reading out of the way.
That picture was taken from the other side of one of the passages into the Bod courtyard. As I exited from reading in the Lower Reserve room, I saw a married couple preparing to take a photograph in the awe inspiring architecture of the old Bodleian library quad. If I were braver, I would have stayed there and taken a picture right behind their professional photographer. Haha.
Because this blog is about the Oxford culture, I will now begin to enlighten you, my dear readers, about how exactly it is.
Yesterday, after I met with my Strategy tutor, the hum of my life changed. It is definitely time to live the "Oxford life". I am only required to be in a tutorial 2 hours a week, 1 hour for each tutor. The rest of the time is yours.
Although that sounds so alluring, I need you to trust me to say that it's not. It's absolutely difficult, especially coming from our school system, to understand the concept of independent studying. The tutors give you a reading list and an essay prompt. Which you read and how you answer the question is always up to you. If that's not enough, the essay prompt isn't exactly a close ended question. It is usually one that can be taken one way or the other. In other words, it is open enough for however you want to answer it, as long as you are prepared and could discuss it with your tutor.
I was at the Bod that day because I was reading one of the books on my reading list that is only available there. The Bod is a reference only library. I was at the old Bod (The new Bod is actually closed for renovations at the moment). You use this search engine called SOLO to look for your books and if says its on the "stack", you need to request it and they are going to deliver it to the reading room you chose. As it happens, the reading room I chose for this time is the Lower Reading Room. I ended up reading a bit there but in all honesty, the Bod aura is not for me. At least, not the aura in the lower reading room. It was massive and…old. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's actually gorgeous. It's just that it makes me feel sleepy and exhausted.
I went back that afternoon, however, and discovered the Upper Reading Room which was more my style. Thus, I have found my place in the Bod library and learned to send my books to the Upper Reserve the next time around.
Today was the day I met with my Business Strategy tutor for the first time. It was only an introduction meeting wherein we talked about the syllabus, his expectations of me and the basics of how the next 6 weeks are going to be. We met at the Said Business School (SBS) lobby before he bought me into the hallways that are restricted to non-SBS students. The business school is such a sharp contrast towards the other schools. As you can see in the picture, it's very modern. I feel like I'm walking into a hotel whenever I walk into the lobby. My business strategy tutor and I decided that our tutorials are going to be at 2pm on Mondays. He wants me to turn in my paper 24 hours before which means that my paper is due on Sundays at 2pm. It was a very appealing idea. But I don't really want to think of a different date. Besides, my Marketing tutor emailed me that morning and told me our tutorials are going to be on Thursdays at 10 while my papers are due on Wednesday at 6pm. W/c means I just have to stick it out.
Afterwards, I went into the city and started looking for my books. We were supposed to get our Union cards today but it got moved so I wasn't able to check out the textbook for my strategy class. Nonetheless, I found out that I can use the SBS library (aka, the Sainsbury Library) which was nice because when I walked in there, I was immediately in love with it because of its very corporate office like setting.
I went home and then went out with Joanne and Debra for the night. After meeting with my strategy tutorial, I can't help but feel that it's the beginning of the end for me.
