...the best of intentions, actually. When I made the decision to return to Oxford this summer, I told myself that I would be a much better blogger than I was last summer. No matter what it took, even if it was just a couple of sentences, I would blog every day....and I realized that I've already been here for two weeks and am just now blogging. Blerg. Sorry.
So here I am, in my office, listening to Billy Joel while the kids are downstairs at a dance. My role is a bit different than it was last year. This year I am a Residence Life Director, so I have much more involvement with the kids, and I love it. It is still a really time-consuming job, but I am really enjoying it.
Oxford is just as charming as it was last year, and now that the program is up and rolling, I am going to make more of an effort to tour the city and see the sights. There is so much history here, it is almost unbelievable.
We had our first big trip into London, and that went really well. I took a group of students to the Victoria & Albert Museum (one of my favorites), then off to Harrod's to shop. As burned out as I am on retail, and as crazy as Harrod's is, there is still something about it that I am fascinated by. Maybe it's that there are puppies for sale on the 4th floor? Yeah, that's probably it.
I had a funny moment on arrival day...I was standing with one of our students in the Arrivals at Heathrow Airport while we waited for another plane full of kids to arrive. We were talking about how quickly it filled up in there, and I said something along the lines of "Isn't it crazy to think that you used to just walk through the airport and wait by the gate to drop someone off or pick them up?" The student I was with is 17 at the oldest, and after the slight pause I realized that he likely had no idea what I was talking about. I said "Well...that was before 9/11, and 9/11 was a little over 10 years ago...so do you even remember that?" He said, "No," then paused and said, "but I've seen it on Seinfeld and stuff." Ouch. I felt old.
I have taken a few pictures since I've been here, but I'll have to share those in my next post because I realized I left my cord to upload photos to my computer at home...oops. I'll pick one up tomorrow in town, but in the meantime, here are some interesting Britishisms:
- Here, lemonade is a Sprite-like drink. But they also have Sprite...not sure what the difference is.
- Chips are called crisps, french fries are called chips.
- What we call Jell-o, the Brits call Jelly.
- Beans are part of a traditional British breakfast.
- Elevators are called lifts.
- Brits use the word "called" a lot when talking about names...for example, I would say "My parents have a dog named Max," but a Brit would say, "My parents have a dog called Max."
- One DOES NOT want to be known as an "Essex Girl." (It's like being a valley girl...but more insulting.)
- Prawn is big here...prawn crisps, prawn crackers, prawn salad sandwiches.
- Eggplants are called aubergines.
That's all for now...I will post pics and update again SOON.
Cheers,
LL
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