oxford | keble college & updates

i know, i am long overdue for a blog update.

it's been nearly two weeks,

so i apologize.

schoolwork here is more rigorous, even, than i imagined.

in the mere three weeks that i have been here, 

i've read T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland,"

two novels by Virginia Woolf,

James Joyce's Ulysses,

& packets of supplementary history documents so thick 

that i may have killed a tree.

i've also already written three essays 

nearing 2,000 words each

with a fourth one due friday.

so, now i find myself with a pocket of time 

and an itch to provide some pictures of my college at Oxford.

this is the first view that you would see
once you enter the big wooden doors.

keble college is, i believe,

the 4th largest college in the university.

choosing a college at Oxford is, essentially,

very similar to picking out a dorm in the U.S.

the education is uniform across the different colleges;

so the choice is centered around 

the environment that a student is looking to study in.

although, some majors of study are only offered in certain colleges,

which is another key factor in the selection process.

the main quad.

here, you can see the keble chapel clearly.

i have not yet been inside, though, as it is currently being renovated.

my history group tends to meet up for collaboration on that bench.

it happens to be very close to the entrance of the college.

mysterious steps leading to a mysterious location.

exactly what you would expect at Oxford.

this is a dorm for students as well as people attending

various conferences before term begins.

keble bar.

in my opinion, it looks like a futuristic spaceship,

incongruous with the architecture shown in previous pictures.

grassy lawn for lounging, drinking, etc.

i really love the doors here.

i took these photos on a cloudy, overcast day

and was quite pleased with the results.

i know, so many pictures of one place.
it's just so difficult
to capture the essence of its magnificence.
i wish i had the iPhone with its nifty new panorama capabilities.

as a hiatus from all the architectural pictures,

here is my roommate Eunice and me 

on the bench from earlier.

she's seriously wonderful.

just today, i skipped breakfast & lunch (sorry mom!)

to finish up my english paper,

and when she came back to the room and heard i hadn't eaten,

gave me half of her delicious sandwich.

it's so nice to have a good roommate, 

especially when you're so far from home!

okay, these next two pictures are of my dining hall.
honest to goodness,
the first time i walked in, i had to pinch myself
because i felt like i was in the great hall at hogwarts!

yes, we eat here for breakfast, lunch, & dinner.
breakfast and lunch are a la carte,
and for dinner, we just come in, sit down, and have our food served.
i have really been enjoying the food,
albeit we see a whole lot of potatoes.
& the desserts - creme brulee, raspberry cheesecake, tiramisu, etc.
it's a dream.

anyway, my time at oxford has been wonderful so far,
and i still have so much to explore.
next week is our last week of seminars
(two courses taken in larger class settings with other UGA students),
and then, we have tutorials.
these are one-on-one or small group classes
with student & tutor.
i'm really looking forward to that because those classes
[Shakespeare: Selected Works & Sociology of Education]
are of great interest to me in terms of my major
as well as my future career plans.

thank you all so much for the messages & emails.
it would be impossible for me to convey how very much
they truly mean to me.
sometimes, when i feel as if home is a distant place,
i receive these words of support and encouragement
that really lift me up.
look forward to big, bear-y hugs
when i come home! :)