An Important Ability

With two days of class under my belt, my favorite moment so far came during my first Editorial Management lecture. The professors had asked us to list attributes that a successful editor would have. After things like "adaptability" and "patience," one of the profs said (half under his breath) "drinking." The prof who was leading the lecture picked up on this, and said yes, the ability to hold your liquor is a good ability for editors to have. So I figure I've got at least one of them.

And Here We Go

Tomorrow I have the first class of my master's course. It's called Editorial Management, which should be interesting. I really have no idea what to expect-I don't know what we're going to be doing, I don't know how the class will be run, and I'm not entirely sure where we're meeting (well, maybe I have some idea). In any case, it should be exciting.

Over the last week I've tried to get things set up in terms of my living space, my registration with the University, and my ability to quickly pick up accents-and not just English. There are slightly over 80 students in my program, and there's a very strong international contingent. So I'm hanging out with people from all over, which is extremely cool.

I've also spent some time walking around the centre of Oxford (I keep calling it downtown, but that's kind of inaccurate), and I'm slowly getting to know my way around in general. So far things have gone pretty well, but I'm looking forward to getting into the actual course itself. I've already had my first project assignment (looking at bookstores) and my first reading assignment (this article on the changing landscape of sales and marketing in the entertainment industry). I'll have class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, along with Friday mornings, with various additional things on Wednesday mornings. Altogether not too bad of a schedule. We'll see how it goes.

Photos!

I'm now online here in Oxford, so, as promised, some photos.

From the Lake District

I'm currently in the Lake District wrapping up a few days of hiking, getting ready to hopefully return to London on Friday in advance of heading out to Oxford on Saturday, when I can finally give up my hobo-like wanderings and officially move into my room at Brookes. However, it's been an awesome few days, which will be capped off tomorrow by cruising around Windermere. That's right-I'll be on a boat.

Pictures will come later, but I kicked off the week in high gear by doing a 10 mile circuit hike from Grasmere. I expected it to kick my ass a bit, and it did. Of course, that's partially because I was a moron and unintentionally went bushwacking at the beginning and end of the hike, thus making the whole thing a lot more tiring and time-consuming than it had to be. Of course, after hiking that massive loop I had to hike another two miles to the hostel I was staying at, since the two hostels in Grasmere were both booked full and I had to go to Langdale to find one with room. Fortunately, dinner was in between the two, which proved to be pretty necessary since all I had had to eat to that point in the day were two cliff bars. Also, only having one nalgene of water for a 10 mile hike is pushing it. It can be done, but damn was I thirsty when I finally got back into town.

Yesterday was therefore a bit easier-a nice walk around Grasmere and Rydal Water, with some stops at Rydal Hall (which has some kicking formal gardens) and Dove Cottage (where Wordsworth lived for 8 years). Probably about 6 miles all told, but much less climbing, and still some terrific views. Today was a travel day, as I hiked from Langdale over Loughrig Fell to Ambleside, where I'm staying for the next two nights. So all told, a very nice couple of days. Pictures will be up when I am ensconded in my Brookes residence with my own computer.

From London

10 thoughts from my initial travels over the last couple days:

1. Iceland needs more frequent buses from Keflavik to Reykjavik.
2. Sitting in an airport for 10 hours kind of bites, at least after your ipod loses all its juice.
3. Jet lag sucks.
4. I keep running into people-when I keep right, I run into Brits who are trying to keep left. When I remember to keep left, I run into other tourists.
5. London is crowded on Saturdays.
6. London theaters are crowded on Saturdays. At least the ones I want to go to.
7. The Great Hall at the British Museum is astounding.
8. Reading Neverwhere while in London is slighly unnerving.
9. British keyboards are weird.
10. Pubs=Good.

I leave tomorrow for the Lake District, where I have no reservations and no one expecting me. Should be interesting.

Sweet Relief

The British government instituted new rules for applying for visas this year, which meant that I had to show proof, in the form of bank statements (essentially), that I had the funds necessary to study in England. Because of this, I was a little later than I would have liked in getting my visa application submitted. Since my plane tickets say I'm leaving next week, I was getting a little bit nervous that I still didn't have my passport back, since you have to send it in as part of the visa application. But today I got an email from the British Consulate, saying that my visa had been approved and my passport (with the visa in it) is winging its way back to me even as I read. Then there was a giant woosh as I exhaled and 4 of the 6 knots in my back relaxed. Looks like I'm going to leave for Oxford on time.