Bikkkkke Lane

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Woke up to a lovely beautifully sunny day, shocking. You never really know here as sometimes it will be blue skies and all of a sudden hurricane Katrina will come out of no where for five minutes. Not too much like sunny san diego, but Mitch and I both love it for some reason. I guess we have been rain deprived. We are really loving having the bikes as we are getting places in more than half the time. However, it is kind of scary biking to class because you can’t bike on the sidewalks as one elderly British woman informed me by shaking her cane in my face. I guess it scares them or something, so this means that Tara and Mitch bike in the bus lane. The bus lane is this narrow little lane, like the shoulder, between the actual road and the sidewalk. Mitch seems to have no real problem with this and just cruises down the street, but then there is me…I try to stay calm and just tell myself to keep pedaling, but these buses just scare the absolute hell out of me as they are mere inches from me, and on top of it all most of the students are on the buses so I am sure it is quite a show for them. I mean don’t get me wrong, it is a lovely ride until a fat English bus almost knocks you off your bike into the old ladies on the sidewalk who then try to stab you with their canes. I guess it is all a part of this British life. I just hope that Speed Racer Mitch will stop if I do become road kill and still love me if I end up looking like a traditional English breakfast (disgusting and undercooked). School was more interesting and challenging than normal, but I am so happy this is my last year. Mitch and I cooked dinner in our rooms and had a little picnic dinner on the floor with a bunch of the Holland kids. Mitch wanted to ride our bikes to go out at night, but when I thought about the bus lane, night, and alcohol I opted out. So, we then hopped on the bus and went down to the city center and hit up a pub. We have found out that it is altogether cheaper to just buy a bottle of wine at the pub because it is only about 4 or 5 pounds while a beer is 3.5 pounds. Mitch is a lightweight so that means he taps out after 1 or 2 glasses, so I step up to the plate and drink the rest of the bottle. After relaxing at the pub for a while we headed to The Bridge which is a dance club type thing in Oxford. It was really fun, and I have to say that these European men are a bit creepy but luckily I have Mitch there to scare them away. It is really great just socializing with everyone in such a fun setting. We are getting to know each other more and more and it has only been a few days. The sorority girls from USD are really sweet and I have been having a good time with them which is different because at USD I never really get to interact with them. What do you call it? Class systems or something of that caliber. Anyway, we are having a really good time and I am sure it is only going to get better. Ciao for now.

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