Cold, Cold, Ground: It's snowing in Oxford!!

It's January when I arrive in England for the first time. My initial impressions of London is that it is expensive and cold, and the language sound like English...yet I still fail to understand every fifth word. I only spend two days in London before I have to head to Oxford for mys studies.

Brrr... it's nearly colder inside than out here. This due to the very old buildings with inadequate heat. If you are planning on coming in the winter months bring lots of layers and clothes for the chill to the bones kind of damp weather and utter lack of sunshine.

This dreary weather meant i got sick quite often my first month, it also adversely affected my mood :(

That said, Oxford is magical, even in the wintertime I feel like I'm walking through a Dicken's novel (but if you have the option of when to come, choose late Spring or Summer). One thing I did experience that occurs rarely in Oxford: Snow!
The evening began at a local club, Clems: the music is good and it can be fun to run into randomly costumed characters but do not even get me started on the inadequacy of Oxford night life. After sweating inside we leave to be greeted by pretty white flakes. While some of the crew opted for a taxi, others stayed behind and enjoyed the beautiful snow-glistened nature interrupted occasionally by drunk people slipping and sliding through the peaceful winter streets on their attempt to return home.
While snow may have turned up the chill factor, it made the newly white buildings appear even more magical.Tom Waits Cold Cold Ground

http://www.oxfordcityguide.com
http://www.oxfordcity.co.uk/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLyHHwDXw5Y

Introduction to the Oxford Bop

Life in the UK has not felt like the leisurely days of a Victorian romance novel, but rather like the long--fascinating but exhausting--life of MiddleMarch. I blame the delay and infrequency of travel--and blog posts-- on the intense demand of Oxford academia. Now that the term is done I am left with more time to update you on my whereabouts. I am backtracking from Jan 2009.
One of my first parties at college introduced me to what would become "my crew", my close group of fellow overseas students that I would travel with on weekends. But first, a weekend at Oxford and my first "Bop" ( I believe that term is still used in the U.S. by those who danced in the Fifties. Here at Oxford this term is not reminiscent of the good old days of pigtailed girls and bobbie socks. Nope, it's more like a good old American frat themed party (though much less fratty) with the inclusion of wacky costumes. The Brits keep Halloween to a day of ghosts and gore and use all other occasions as an excuse for "fancy dress" (dressing creatively) and lots of drinking.
 My first introduction into this was our college Bop "SEH," for "St Edmund Hall." Students had to dress up as a thing that began with an "S": Shadow, Sheep,  Superhero, Satan; "E":Edgar Allen Poe (me),; or "H": Homeless person, Harry Potter character, Hippie. What I love about these bops is it is not about being pretty or looking cool but rather how creative and/or silly one can be.
 http://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/index.php?section=1

London, England. Leaving Osprey, Loving Louis V

OK, so this nine month endeavor little resembles my last seven month backpacking adventure. For one, I will be studying which means no books for leisure (not that I do not immensely enjoy the one's assigned by my professors, now "tutors"). It will also mean less traveling during the terms and keeping the explorations more local. What this also means is that I have replaced my Opsrey backpack with My Louis Vuitton luggage. I have also expanded my four lonely outfits from my last trip to include: my vintage fur coat, 16 pairs of shoes, and a few more outfit changes.
Just to offer reassurance, while Osprey did get left behind, my adventuress backpacking spirit did not remain storaged in New York, like him. No, this trip will be a welcome hybrid of goose down comforter, pretty clothes and Prada purse luxury mixed with my roughing it, backpacking budget exploration.
Some of my "not so roughin it" London adventures have included:
* tea at the beautiful 5 Star Dorchester in Mayfair, a posh London neighborhood.
* dinner at one of the highest rated international restaurants. Food was great!
* exploring Harrod's the department wonder-they have multiple food and meat sections-In a Department Store where Gucci bags are sold in the next room. I found this strange

London, England. When Getting Out is the Most Difficult Part

After a six hour flight I arrived at my friends apt at St George Wharf around 11pm. I left the dinner party early to catch up on sleep. The next day I was alone in the apartment contemplating my first day in this new city. I consulted the "Lonely Planet" guide for what to do,and yet....
There's always a certain amount of fear that builds when being alone in a new city. The longer I looked out from the apt balcony to the River Thames and the city of London, the more fearful I became. But from all my travel experiences I have learned that if I want to enjoy my time, it's ok to feel fear but i just have to do it anyway. The "doing it" part for me constituted just leaving the apartment. Ok, so although leaving the safety of my living environment to explore the unknown is difficult regardless of what city I find myself in, in London I found it virtually impossible. The door exiting the apartment did NOT HAVE A DOORKNOB!! (see pics provided). Something that I was capable of doing in NY (opening a door) turned into a twenty minute escapade.
This episode served to be what would become my London experience: everything I thought I knew, was different here; this included the words, the food and even the doors.