Hello collegiettes™!
This week was a whirlwind with two day trips to London, two organization dinners, and two full days of classes. The university system in the UK works considerably different than university in the states. However, it has some significant upsides. Classes meet only once a week, which allows individual and personalized study. Two of my three classes are composed of one hour lectures and then two hour seminars later in the day. A seminar is a smaller portion of the class, around 15 or 20 students, and focuses on small group work and more in depth analysis of work. The coursework here is also vastly different. My classes only have two or three assignments each that make up my entire grade. While that can be a little nerve-racking, it is nice to have the entire semester to specialize in one focus of my course.
Enough about academics! The week kicked off on Sunday with a day trip to London. I travelled to London with my friends Michelle and Ashley, who were featured in last week’s article. This Sunday’s trip to London involved hitting as many tourist and major London landmarks as possible. We took a 90 minute bus ride from Oxford to London and got off at Victoria Station, right near Buckingham Palace. We were lucky enough to arrive just as the Changing of the Guards was winding down. From Buckingham Palace, we walked to Parliament Square and saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, and River Thames.
A gown wore by Princess Diana
Worn by Queen Elizabeth II
After our time in this area, we hopped on the tube. Of course, we got on going the wrong direction, so we had to jump off and run across the platform after a couple of stops to get going in the right direction. We went to Kensington Palace, which borders along Hyde Park. Kensington Palace is the home of Will & Kate, but half of the Palace has been converted into an exhibition. As it is not a tourist season, online tickets were half priced. My favorite part of the Kensington Palace exhibition, was the Fashion Exhibit. Multiple gowns were on display that Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Mary wore many years ago. The dresses were amazing to see in person, and truly fashion forward.
Turkish Delight at Borough Market
Banksy Art Piece near Picadilly Circus
Sunday in London was exhausting, but that didn’t stop me from going back to London on Friday when one of my high school friends who is studying in the Netherlands invited me to join her and her friends for the day. This day in London was spent exploring Portobello Road, Spitafield Market, and Borough Market. This alternative side to London was the perfect contrast to Sunday. London is multifaceted in the most amazing way. My favorite part about this day was finding a Banksy art piece. I’m hoping to do a street art tour of London the next time I go in.
Flowers at the Botanic Gardens
An up close of my favorite art piece at the exhibition. It was a focus on the fear of aging.
London is spectacular, but my days off in Oxford were still well spent. In Oxford I visited the Botanic Gardens and a lovely art exhibit put on by a group of travelling artists. The artists are a group of people who have a variety of mental illnesses and who joined together to use art as a way to work through their illness. Entrance to the Gardens and exhibit were both free, which is fantastic for students.
What an exhausting first week of classes it has been. I’m excited to really dive into my courses more next week and finish the week off with a trip to Stonehenge.
Cheers!
HCxo,
Heather