When we got off the plane after our 8-hour, all-night flight (during which we absolutely unsuccessfully attempted to sleep, despite the masks, earplugs, neck pillows, back pillows, stretchy socks, and nyquil that my mom so strategically and thoughtfully packed for us -- thanks anyways though, mom!), we were greeted by Jolanta, my Rotary host counselor, who was holding a big "Welcome Vanessa and Will!" sign. She gave us a big welcome hug and, despite it being 3am our time, made it impossible for us to be anything less than thrilled (and wide awake!) At that point, we already knew that she was going to be our substitute mom for the year.
With all of our worldly possessions in tow (including a lot of crap that I now know I do NOT need, i.e. high heels), we headed to our new home for the year: the dorm. Yes, we are living in our college dorm. Side note: Oxford is actually divided into 38 different "colleges" -- each student belongs to a college the same way that US students join sororities/fraternities, except that this is mandatory. I belong to Linacre College, a college for graduate students only (most colleges are a mix of undergrad and grad) with a large population of international students. End side note. So, we are living right on campus at Linacre College. Our floor has 9 rooms, 8 single rooms, and then ours, the spacious and highly coveted double room. Yes, we have our own bathroom. (That is something I was not willing to compromise.) But, we share a kitchen with the rest of our flatmates, who (so far) have been really nice and fun. We'll see what happens though, when people stop being polite, and start being real.... (that one was for all of you MTV Real World fans. Ah, what a great show.)
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