June 1, 2016

Hi again! Don't know if I can top the church robbery scene, but I'll give it a go:

Today, which for me is Tuesday that 31st of May, I met my tutor for the first time. The tutor system at Oxford works in a way that, in a one-on-one situation, a student and teacher meet each week to discuss the students essay on a particular topic, decided upon by the professor. It's only used at Cambridge and Oxford -- hence the name, Oxbridge Tutorial. Either way, I met my tutor today. I had to take a bus, which went fine except I got off the bus too early because I was scared of getting lost. Did you just laugh and go "That sounds like Karleigh" because you should have. Either way, I found it fine and my tutor has another student in the WISC program. I love her so I'm excited to have time to make better friends with her. She's doing play-writing. Aren't you jealous? I am. Anyway, I'm doing Hemingway which includes reading A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, "Men without Women" and A Moveable Feast. I'm really excited to get reading. Today was our first rainy day (read: regular day in England). It was kind of miserable, but still nice in some ways I guess. Dr. Snyder, the dean of MSU's honors college, gave a talk at Trinity College and that was really nice and I had my first actual class, which was really relaxed. It was a really nice day in Oxford; I really look forward to going to London tomorrow.

Today, actually because it is the first of June, was actually the coldest day I've experienced in the UK so far. It was a windy day near the River Thames in London, and the breeze was so harsh. I had on a t-shirt, a cardigan, a turtle-neck sweater and a jacket. I was so frozen. We had an early start for London; we left around eight this morning and got into London around ten. We started off with a walking tour with just our small group of eight in which we saw the Burghers of Calais, a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, and Westminster Abbey. It was very pretty and very old. I cannot think of any other descriptions than those really. It's really gorgeous here. We ate a quick lunch and then walked along South Bank to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The Globe is not the same really as it was in Shakespeare's time, as it's burnt down a few times between then and now. However, it is just as awe-inspiring. We saw a (quite naughty) modernized version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was hilarious and very bold. I loved it, obviously, because I adore theater but I would not have been bringing my children to such a show. We got back quite late from that but it was a very eventful and fun day. Tomorrow, I'm off to buy my books for class and explore just a bit if it heats up some.

Please, say a prayer for me. I've seemed to have hurt my knee, and it's slowing me down on the long walks which are required over here in England. Also, pray for my homesickness, which hit today, a bit late but still a feeling that I really don't want to be bothered with whilst here. Obviously, homesickness is a part of traveling but I don't want it to linger.

catch you later,
Karleigh