Have I been here for a week already?

I've been in Oxford for eight days already. In those eights days, I've celebrated Independence Day with the very people we claimed independence from, I've visited a palace, and I've had class in what looks like a castle. Here's a quick recap on it all.

You might ask, "But Sara, wasn't it weird being among those retched Red Coats on the fourth of July?!" To which I'd respond, "Nope, it was awesome." 

Since America declared its independence 237 years ago, Britain's managed to get over the whole thing. Like all my interactions thus far with the English, they were incredibly polite and thoughtful the whole day. The porters at Trinity College wished us a happy fourth of July on the chalk board at the entrance of Trinity. I really can't imagine UGA wishing the French foreign exchange students "Happy Bastille Day." 

Polite British manners at its finest. 

That night, I went out with some of the other UGA at Oxford students. The city was taken over by Americans. Besides the workers at the pubs, I don't think I talked to a non-American the whole night. From a distance, it could have looked like we were in the U.S. Most people were dressed in red, white, and blue. I even saw the ever so classy "Back to back world champions" t-shirt. 

My fourth of July in Oxford didn't include fireworks or a BBQ, and even though I'm so far away from home, the day somehow felt rather homey. Leave it to the British to make me feel at home on the fourth of July. 

Less than ten miles up the road is Blenheim Palace. It has been the home of the dukes of Marlborough for the past 300 years and was the birth place of Winston Churchill  On Friday, I convinced everyone to go to the palace with me, because princesses.

The garden view of the Blenheim Palace.

 It was overwhelmingly grand and beautiful. The state rooms were covered in large portraits (everything was framed in gold) and extravagant furniture (yet nothing looked like it had ever been sat in).  Amazingly, the 11th Duke of Marlborough still lives at the palace but only for part of the year. I can't imagine what his secondary residence looks like. 

Earlier today, I went to my first class with my Oxford professor. At first, I was nervous I would be intimidated by my professor's lectures, but once I got to class, I was just intimidated by the building class was held in.

It looks better than Cinderella's Castle, doesn't it??? Yep, that's where I had class. It was actually a great hour of lecture over Pre-romantic literature and what we thought of it. Tutorials at Oxford are the professor, two other students, and yourself. My professor was the sort of person that was so intelligent on the subject that it terrified you but in a good way.

When we first entered her office she said she left her window open, and that's why an ivy started to grow within her office. Instead of being upset or pestering with the plant, she quoted Coleridge. What?! Then about twenty minutes later she referenced Twilight to make a point about pathetic fallacy. It was quite a class. Her knowledge about the subject of Romantic Literature just made me more conscious of my thorough  knowledge of absolutely nothing. 

The last week in Oxford has been amazing, but it has made me feel a bit inferior. I hope I'm able to take  full advantage of this place and grow over the next six weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'll be quoting Coleridge by the beginning of August... Probably not, but a girl can dream.