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Published: January 10th 2006
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Ducks?
Yes! REAL LIVE DUCKS! Crossing the road! Yes... I know... we are realy countrysiders now... Today was the only day that we've had any AWAKE free time since we've been here. So in light of that we decided to make the most of it and get all of our errands done. Of course because of the time difference both Emily and I cannot seem to sleep for the life of us and at 5:00 this morning I hear here whisper, "Tanya" and nearly fall out of my bed as I don't expect her to be awake laying in bed frustrated and bored just as I am.
So instead of wasting the day staring at the bland ceiling and the porcelein chandeliers we decide to get an early start. We walk up to the local grocer where we find that this country doesn't make any sense. You have to pay for SHOPPING CARTS but airline baggage carts are free? How does that work? Anyway we get all of our grocery shopping done (or some of it at least) and head out very excited that we not only found the place but similarly was able to use our debit cards so easily.
When we come home we meet up with Elizabeth (the girl next door and
also student of USD) and we head into the city. This was only one of many indications that our school has no idea what is going on. We are looking for the IT department because there are various problems with the internet connection and we wanted to get everything squared away. First of all we were sent on our way to an office that didn't even exist until FINALLY we found someone who knew what she was talking about and took us to the department herself.
As for the workers of the IT, we minus well should have just taken our laptops, sat them on a desk, and WISHED for them to repair themselves. The gentleman who was helping me was so afraid to even TOUCH a macintosh that he jsut looked at me blankly when I took it out.... I wasn't sure if I should worry more for him or my laptop. Anyway it turns out that I know more than those guys ever will about macs and computers in general so we left there feeling a bit defeated but ready for our next task.
At City Centre Emily and I took our passport photos for the
third time this year and came away with three extra trading photos (just in case we need them along the way). After that we got our ISIC cards and headed over to CARPHONEWHEREHOUSE where Elizabeth and I picked up some international phones. Although we were really productive for the first part of the day the most amusing thing had to have been the bus ride home. The bus drivers here are quite possibly some of the least helpful individuals I have ever met in my life. Our initial plan was to ride the bus home, drop off our stuff, and head back to school... INSTEAD, we spent the entire time riding the bus from oxford, AROUND our house, and back to school again... thank God we have free bus passes.
After that we gathered again for "Afternoon Tea"... and when I say that the busdrivers are some of the lease helpful individuals in the world... our school administrators are the others. They tell us to come to this tea where we will meet people and professors and lah-di-dah... but little do we know that we're jsut going to be herded into a little room to elbow our way toward
the coffee and tea. The room was so small and so cramped and I don't think a single person knew what was going on... After that we went on a "Walking Tour of Oxford".
The tour itself was nice... we saw places like Oxford University, famous restaurants/pubs, places to eat and shop, etc... but for the first part of the tour I felt like a herd of sheep. The woman who let the tour came into the tea room (where we had received no previous instruction) and yelled at us for taking so long to meet her outside because she was "bloody freezing". Then as the students filtered out of the room she was off... more than a block down the street and going strong with one of her fellow colleagues... without even acknowledging our confusion. We hesitantly ran after her and afterwards two gentleman professors took over and things went a little more smoothly.
To end the evening, Emily, Elizabeth and I visited the local pub across from campus. We were very excited about the supposed "pool room" that the site had to offer but was only met with utter disappointment when we found that not only
did the 'pool room' not exist, but the pub closed in 20 minutes... a LATE night of 11:30pm (or should I say 23:30).
We're loving it here and having a great time but I guess to sum it up so far it's been "interesting". It's cold and sometimes uncomfortable but the city is amazing and really beautiful... and I think we're finally getting a grasp on the money....
Until I write again,
Cheers!
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Frank Leidy
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Great Idea
Tayna, this is a great idea! Getting your impressions down will be invaluable later. Thanks.