Summing up the UK entry process

I've been here a week. It feels like a month. But, at least it hasn't BEEN a month; i would be really behind on school work. Here are the gritty details of the week:

Tuesday - arrive at heathrow. Clear customs, immigration and make my way with Vera and bags in tow to Oxford by dusk. We arrive at St Hildas College, and are shipped off to my new, supposedly happy room in Stockmore House. The room was NOT happy when we arrived. The shared kitchen and bathroom were - er - displeasing. Start at bathroom: no shower, no shower curtain. Signs posted with stern warnings against using a shower-attachment. Obvious disregard for this rule - there is a shower-attachment on the taps of the tub that is secured to the towel rack rather permanently, and the linoleum floor is curling upward in response to being flooded all the time from the sprayer. Further evidence: floor has current pools of water. That's the biggest problem. Others include the toilet flush being squirrely and the mold/rust/slime on the walls at the floor.

Next, the kitchen: a stench eminates from there, and upon inspection we discover bags of groceries, the fridge full of outdated food, dirty dishes laying around, and general messiness. Vera - bless you Vera - set to work cleaning the kitchen trying to at least rid us of the stink while i collapse in bed wondering how i'll manage to deal with a roommate who doesn't realize her food is rotting. The room itself is nice and has a nice window.

Wednesday - Make a trip to the college to complain about the state of affairs in my flat in Stockmore house and inquire about a transfer. Discover that no, you're NOT allowed to have any permanent shower-attachments (ha) nor are you allowed a shower curtain. You ARE allowed to have yourself a nice bath, and you can use a sprayer then to wash your hair. I guess maybe i need to start praying to Saint Hilda?

Thursday - Attending the second day of the international student orientation, i learn that each College actually receives a different amount of money from the University. Hmmm. This could have something to do with my - ah - accomodations. Vera leaves to gallavant around the Lake District. I discover that my tidy plan of opening a bank account and purchasing a mobile phone and bike in the first few days is fatally flawed. I do manage to get my computer outfitted so i can connect to the internet in my room instead of paying a pound/20 mins at the cafe.

Friday - Go to look at a room that is available at another house, Jack Straws Lane. Miraculously, there is a woman there who wants to switch; it is too far out of town for her. Sounds lovely to me, and its been recently redone. When i arrive at Jack Straws Lane, i think i might be on another planet. The building is beautiful, an old but nice brick house, bright and cheery inside. Everything looks new, and sparkles. I can't believe these two properties (Stockmore and Jack Straws) are part of the same housing scheme. The room itself is bright, large, high cielings and a bathroom, with a (new) shower and a normal-flushing toilet right next door. It feels like paradise, like when we would come to town after the Colorado Trail and sit down for salad and veggie burgers and beer. Glorious. I accept the room switch back at college, and arrange to move the next day. Celebrate by watching Team America: World Police which is hilarious and really hits the spot.

Saturday - meet the would-be roommates at Stockmore House, and the person who is switching rooms with me. I guess she hasn't seen the room yet at Stockmore, but fortunately the disaster-kitchen woman has moved out so the place seems a little more - er - friendly. I pack my things and get myself over to the new digs.

Sunday - unpack. Figure out how to get myself from my house to school, and find my department. Go to the grocery store, Tesco, so i don't have to keep hemorrhaging money. Spend about two hours shopping for once grocery bag of stuff, since i can't figure out what anything is. Small tip: if you want cream as in half and half or table cream, buy SINGLE CREAM. You can also ask for this at the cafe and they might have it. If you ask for "cream" you'll be presented with whipped cream.

Monday - program orientation. Meet all the classmates, and pile off to a nearby nature preserve. More on this in a later post; good discussion topics and food for thought raised there.

Tuesday - more orientation. This time its the library, so not quite as riveting but instead another look at quirky British rules and Oxfordian library systems. Upon visiting the bank, i discover my application wasn't being processed and so i fix the omission (wrong address) and do not pass go, do not collect $200. Instead, since i am now in the queue with 5,000 other students it will take maybe two weeks to process instead of two days. Ah, well. I've since learned that if you can manage to actually OPEN an account within a month of arriving that you're doing pretty darn good. So, i'm still in the clear.

Wednesday - more orientation - regsiter for my department IT services. Discuss the Lake District and the growing inevitability that i join a walking club.

Thursday - off to London! Deliver Vera to heathrow, meet Zoe and walk around town. Trafalgar Square, pop in for a minute to witness amazing things and test my terrible memory of artists at the National Gallery. Have dinner with Zoe and Moon. Discuss the American/English culture differences ad nauseum. Zoe is reading Watching the English which turns out to be the best explanation of what's going on i can possibly imagine. This book should be handed to every new immigrant upon arrival in the UK. Mandatory reading. Brilliant. Borrow Zoe's extra cell phone! A connection to the world! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Today - do some shopping, walking around London. Eat lunch at Wagamama's - minimalist fresh communal japanese food. What more can you ask for in life? Bus back to Oxford, meet with Lady English - the principal of St Hildas. Get home, write down everything that happened this week just in case i forget, or in case you need to read about it.

That's the story. Roughly. Let me know if you need clarification. There will be more to come, but i promise it won't all be about the craziness of moving into a foreign culture.