Day Trip to Wales

On Sunday I went on a day trip to Wales.  The first stop was Tintern Abbey, and then we went to Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

Hilary Week 2

Week 2 was fairly multicultural - bhangra, zumba, Chinese New Year, and a trip to Wales.

London in January

I spent a rainy afternoon and (a rain-free) evening in London on Friday of Week 1 visiting museums, sitting in on a concert rehearsal, and taking a long walk along the river.

Hilary Week 1

Week 1 was the first week of Hilary Term classes. I kicked off the new term with a GTC Formal Hall, a trip to London, bhangra, and some Sherlock.

Hilary Week 0

Week 0 of Hilary term wasn't that exciting, as I spent the majority of the week studying for final exams. There was a fun Google Bop over the weekend, which is what this photo is from.

Christmastime in Oxford

Oxford was full of Christmas decorations, and I had many Christmassy adventures during Week 9.

Michaelmas Week 9

All of the undergrads were gone by week 9, as it is not a part of term time. I started the week with a final and spent the rest of the week getting in the Christmas spirit, attending a rugby match, and doing touristy things around Oxford.

Michaelmas Week 8

Week 8 was the last week of Michaelmas term. I went through the formal process of handing in a paper to the Examination Schools, enjoyed Oxford's Christmas Light Night, spent time revising for statistics, and tried to fend off my cold before the upcoming stats exam.

An Afternoon in London

On Tuesday of Week 7, I had to go to London to take a problem solving test at the McKinsey office. I had class in the morning, but since I hadn't been to London in 4+ years, I decided to make an afternoon of the trip and wandered around before and after the test.

Michaelmas Week 7

Week 7 brought a break between essays, a half-day in London, an Indian dinner, Thanksgiving, a feast, a regatta, and the beginning of the Christmas season. This photo is from the St. Cross Founder's Feast. More after the jump:

Michaelmas Week 6

Photo of the OII seminar room (where I have every class but stats)

Week 6 was a busy school week with assignments and lectures. Continue on...

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday is held on the Sunday nearest to November 11, Armistice Day (anniversary of the end of WW1). Ceremonies are held across the UK, and Oxford held a parade and service on St. Giles', a main road that is home to the war memorial (I also live on it). Remembrance poppies are a way bigger deal here than in the US - everyone seems to wear them in the weeks before Remembrance Day - and wreaths of poppies are placed on war memorials. More on the commemoration activities after the jump:

Michaelmas Week 5

The big school assignments started to hit in Week 5 (this photo is of the St. Cross College library, which is open 24/7), but there was still time for nice dinners, Remembrance Sunday activities, movies, and riverside strolls. More after the jump:

Guy Fawkes Day

Saturday was Guy Fawkes Day, but fireworks could be heard all weekend long.  Guy Fawkes Day commemorates how Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was arrested while guarding explosives that a group of Catholics placed in Parliament in order to kill the Protestant king. People held bonfires in order to celebrate the king's survival. The first time I saw fireworks for sale in the grocery store in October, I was confused as to why they were there and only until November 5th. I guess I didn't remember, remember the fifth of November! More on the festivities after the jump:

Michaelmas Week 4

Week 4 was full of wining and dining and setting fire to the sky. With 3 college formal halls (this photo is from formal hall at Green Templeton College) and Guy Fawkes Day celebrations (amongst other activities), a lot of fun was to be had before the massive amounts of work start come week 5. More on the week that right now probably sounds less academic than it actually was after the jump. If you make it to the bottom, you'll learn about some differences between college here and in the US.

Michaelmas Week 3

Week 3 involved finishing our movie (see week 2 post) and attending festive fall and Halloween activities. More after the jump.

Michaelmas Week 2

Week 2 (and the first 2 days of Week 3) was about movie-making. Some of my classmates and I participated in a week-long short film festival and created a movie called "See." More about our movie and the week's activities after the jump.

Matriculation

Saturday morning was Matriculation. In this ceremony, we formally become members of the university. We are required to dress in sub-fusc, which comes from Latin for 'dark/dusky color.' For men, this means a dark suit, black shoes, white shirt, and white bow tie. Girls must wear a white blouse, black ribbon, black skirt or pants, black tights, and black shoes. Girls have the choice of having a mortarboard or a soft cap. We can wear a dark coat, but our academic gown must be worn over it. Postgraduate students have gowns that go to the knee - undergraduate gowns are shorter. 

More on Matriculation day after the jump.

Michaelmas Week 1

Week 1 was the first week of classes. Lectures started, hall dinners started, and we matriculated (that will get its own post), played some poker, and tried to make sub-fusc "sexy." The photo above is some OIIers the afternoon of matriculation. More details after the jump.

Michaelmas Week 0

Week 0 of Michaelmas (the term from October-December) was orientation week. Oxford likes to run by week numbers instead of dates, which means I have a paper due on Friday of Week 5 rather than November 12. Monday and Tuesday were orientation days at the OII. The photo above is of all the entering MSc and Dphil (doctorate) students. It was taken in one of the quads of Balliol College, the college the OII is associated with. You can learn about my classmates here. We're a diverse and impressive group. About 40% of the class is from the US. The UK and Canada are the next most represented countries.

On Tuesday, all the masters students had to give a short presentation on what we were thinking of writing our thesis on so we could get assigned advisors. My advisor is Monica Bulger. At first I was confused why I wasn't assigned to a political science person, but it turns out that the methodologies for the projects she has done are similar to what I have proposed to do. As of now, I plan to write my thesis on congressmen who don't use social media, use it infrequently, or were late adopters. If you are interested in more details, check out my proposal.

The week also consisted of orientation activities at St. Cross and the Freshers Fair (activities fair) held in the Examinations School. Of course I signed up for many things I'll probably never do, but there just may be an interesting speaker somewhere someday.

On Friday night, St. Cross held a Freshers BOP in the dining hall. A bop is a party that a college throws - it stands for 'big open party.' After that, we went to Freud, a cafe/bar that is in an old church - talk about a weird/cool setting.

Since the weather was so wonderful in this very un-English heat wave, some of us OIIers spent that Saturday afternoon punting on the Cherwell.

More on punting after the jump:

Exploring the city

The next few days consisted of getting settled in and exploring the city (and getting my first smart phone). The picture above was taken at Christ Church College. The most surprising thing about this city is how many buses there are. I think I've seen more buses here than in DC! The city is also incredibly bike friendly. There are some roads you can only bike down because they are blocked off or are too small for a car. The bad thing about this town is that basically everything closes at 5 on Sundays. There are also a bunch of homeless people, and they all seem to have scruffy dogs with them. Fun fact: restaurants were already advertising their Christmas dinners in September. 

More photos of the city and Christ Church are below the jump:

Moving In

I was welcomed to Oxford and St. Cross College on the last Wednesday of September with sunny skies and warm weather (in the 70s -- and it lasted for about a week!). Every Oxford student is associated with a college. For undergraduates, this is where you are educated. For graduate students, it serves more of an administrative, food/housing, and social function. St. Cross is a college with just graduate students, and it is about 70% international. It is right next to the city centre and basically across the street from my department, the Oxford Internet Institute (OII).

More on St. Cross and my room after the jump: