And So It Begins...

I now have time to write out a longer account of my adventures thus far...

Since my flight out on Saturday (the 6th) wasn't until 6pm, I spent the morning with Chris, ice skating at Kendall Square, having lunch, finishing laundry. It was really nice out so we had a nice time. I got to the airport way earlier than necessary, as often happens, then uneventfully flew over to Heathrow and nabbed a bus to Oxford.

Spring Break, Day 1; England, Day 1; Oxford, Day 1
-or-
March 7th:

After a 45 minute ride through beautiful country side, I arrived in Oxford around 8:00am. The sun was just coming up and since it was Sunday, no one was around. It was rather strange, walking down a road that was completely empty and silent. But I guess that on a Sunday at 8am, I wouldn't be on the street, either. So I found Noon's house without any trouble and let myself in. He was in Cambridge giving a paper or something, so I just went into his room and collapsed on the bed. I slept for about 4.5 hours- the sleep of the jet lagged.

Noon came home around 3 and found me awake, clean, and already aquainted with his housemate Tom, who was kind enough to make me some delicious instant coffee. We had a glorious reunion full of hugs and swinging around- its hard to believe that I haven't seen him in 3 years! It was really great to finally see him again.

We decided to go and get some food- Chinese at a place called the Rice Box- then we walked up into town. Noon showed me his college, Christ Church, and we had a lovely time walking around, chatting and taking in the place. It is so beautiful it's hard to imagine people actually studying here. It's like something out of a movie or book (we did in fact see the dining hall that is used as the Great Hall in the Harry Potter films). Everything is so...English!

After our walk, we went home to hang out with Tom for a bit before heading out to a Portuguese place for dinner. After dinner, we went back home, picking up two bottles of wine on the way, and prodceeded to drink quite a bit. We then went out to a pub to meet another friend, Barnaby, where we drank some more. I have to say, I am very proud of myself, since I was very jet lagged and haven't had that much to drink in ages. I held it together quite nicely.

Around 1am, we staggered home, and that was my first day in Oxford!