Day 5: 3 Sep 2007

I’m beginning to realize that I won’t be able to keep this blog updated everyday, its just going to be too much work. But on the bright side for those of you who don’t like the historical outline of each day that I have been putting up. I will try to write more about my most amazing experiences and less about every facet of everyday. I’ll try to put it into a one paragraph message.

Today I woke up at 7:30am. Went to orientation which lasted all day but was pleasantly interrupted by tea every couple of hours. Then we proceeded to spread throughout the city for a scavenger hunt, which was doubly joyful due to a carnival that Oxford has been putting on for two days. As part of the Scavenger we visited several different sites, but often got distracted by the fact that, as University Students we gain access to places that no one else can get into. So we explored the Bodleian Library and Christ Church, while amazing in their own rights, you may also recognize them from the Harry Potter movies. Joe and I then went out searching for bikes and air pumps. The day drew to a close at The Turf Tavern, a pub, located in a dark alley near the Bod. The Tavern is also the local of the infamous incident in which Former President Clinton was reported to have smoked but not inhaled an “illegal substance.” The night ended by watching Spinal Tap with the group

… but here’s some of my insights…

This has been such an amazing experience. I can't begin to explain all the intricacies and multitude of experiences I'm having. So far, I've never had more fun just living some place. My mind is blown almost every second and I know that I must be the most annoying person in Oxford right now because I constantly walk around with a look of awe and of a total tourist... but then it hits me that I actually live here. I'm a local, in the seat of wisdom and learning for the western world.

These people are incredible and they are all geniuses and I feel honored to be counted among them, but at the same time at home with them. Like yesterday, I walked into a room full of sorrow faces and asked, "What's wrong team?" They replied, "We're just mourning the loss of the Library of Alexandria." And I was taken back by the outright nerdiness of such a comment but also a peace that I too could join in the mourning and be okay in their eyes.

Today I made the mistake of correctly answering a question, and revealing that while I may be the bottom of the pecking order, I do actually know something, my fear is that this will translate into me being viewed as a threat, when actually I just guessed... as always.

Yesterday, we were walking around the old city, and by old I mean 1000 old, more than 5 times older than most U.S. cities. And we came upon the Bodleian Library, the oldest, largest, and most prestigious University Library in all the world. The Bodleian, or Bod, contains the original handwritten works of Shakespeare, Aristotle, any western philosopher, or artist, or scientist... the notebooks of both Sir Isaac Newton, or Yeats, Bede, or C.S. Lewis... ect. Quite simply the most amazing collection of knowledge that mankind could assemble. The very stuff that separates us from the animals and the thing that distinguishes humanity for whatever shortness of time as a legitimate collection of cells and souls...

The Bod's spires scratching the clouds and inspiring, dreaming of new ideas and old pages... tour groups of all nations and languages walking through the cavernous court yard snapping photos and being reminded of the Kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers, the Authors and Poets, that had been educated right here... and amidst all the jumble of humanity and history, in I strode. Walking up to the security check point trained to refuse access to all but the 13,000 University faculty, staff, and students that are the only people in the world allowed into the halls and rooms of the Bodleian... and yesterday, I was one of them, humming skyline drive.

Something that has become pleasantly obvious is that I would never be in the position to do these things or grasp these opportunities if not for you and all my other loved ones back home, encouraging me.