Orientation

January 11, 2013

                Two Weeks. After arriving in Jolly Ole Oxford on the 31^st, Ryan and I spent two nights at the Adams’ Guest House before trekking to Eynsham – a village to the west of Oxford. Kevin Bywater currently resides in the tiny town- a town in which he boasts is the ‘Original Hobbitton” (He even has a half-sized door in the city proper to prove it). We spent the remainder of the week and part of the next week (January 2- 8) “setting the table” for the Summit portion of the program while we are here in the United Kingdom. While in Eynsham, the students stayed at local British homes in order to become more familiar with the British way of life and the history of the Island Nation. It was a most enjoyable experience. Tyler Smith and I spent our evenings with James and Ruth Webster and their two young men- Adam, 5, and Jonathan, 3. They made our first week easier as we had a nice warm bedroom to return to while we recovered from jet lag.

                On Tuesday January 8^th, we moved into our flats.  My flat is about 2 miles north of Oxford City Centre.  It is an “old” house, but it’s not too old.  Altogether there are seven of us in the house we fit quite nicely. Five of us are from Summit Oxford: Zakiya(Zak), Ben, Tyler, Ryan and I- as well as two others from the United States- Sam and Scott, both of which are Christians from Minnesota and New Jersey respectively. As you can see, our accommodations are very nice and my flat is a place of peace and solace. Over the past week, well half week, we have taken part in the OSAP (Oxford Study Abroad Program) Orientation.  During this time, we have had the opportunity to meet a number (close to 50) of Americans who will be spending the term in Oxford, take a tour of a few of the colleges, be inducted into the Bodleian Library, and become officially members of our respective colleges. I was inducted into Christ Church (college) on Thursday with nine others from OSAP. The OSAP Orientation will continue until next Tuesday, at which point the tutorials will begin. I am looking forward to my first free weekend in Oxford- I plan to walk with a group of a few others from Summit to 'The Kilns' which was CS Lewis' home. It should be an exciting weekend.

Cheers!

P.s.- Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will have internet at the flat.