Oxford Calling: "Anyone else want to have a Ziggy Stardust moment?" (Day 3)

Today was the first day of class! WoOoOoOoO

I started off the day waking up at 6am for no reason for the second day in a row (Seriously, why does this happen? That would be midnight St. Louis time...). After sleeping another hour at most, I began a hopeless search for a notebook in the shops in Oxford. I'd tried to get one at the supermarket the day before, but I had a hunch that £5 was a bit expensive, so I passed. First accidental cultural lesson about Oxford--they don't do mornings. Before 8:30, nothing is open except a few coffee shops. With breakfast at 8 and my first class at 8:30, it looked like I was going to have to mooch some paper for day one. And so I did.

8:30 -- Crime & Criminality in 18th Century England
I'm a big fan of my prof for this class, who inspired the title of today's entry when a classmate asked to go by a name other than the name listed. Today was just an intro, but the focus will be on what was considered crime and how it was addressed (no police forces until the mid-19th century!). I already have a paper due Monday, so that's fun.

10:00 -- Group Lecture
The Glorious Revolution of 1688. I have nothing to say about this, except that I really enjoy the British pronunciation of "dynasty."

11:15 -- Architecture in 18th Century Britain
THIS CLASS IS GOING TO HAVE LOTS OF FIELD TRIPS!!! Yes, I am veeeeeeery excited about this. We jumped right into it, with a test on what we knew of classical architecture. Let's just say the bit of architecture I learned in middle school helped, but it didn't help a lot. I learned a few important non-architecture things in this class too: there is a stomach bug going around, and this June has been the rainiest in England since 1860 (which explains the near constant drizzle!).

After class, I completed the final chapter of the Quest for St. John's Internet, so I'll be spending a lot less on tea & milk in order to get online, and be able to post/do homework way easier. I finally found a notebook (99p! that's more like it!) and bought a much-needed map. And of course, some wandering about the city.