Matriculation

On Saturday all of us Freshers were required to participate in an archaic ceremony called matriculation, after which we all officially became members of the university.  All it really entailed was some photo-taking in the morning, and then a brief - about five to ten minute - Latin speech given at the Sheldonian Theatre.  We all dressed up in our sub-fusc and enjoyed a day of very little work and quite a lot of food and alcohol.  The most important Latin phrase read at the ceremony is:

"Scitote vos in Matriculam Universitatis hodie relatos esse, et ad observandum omnia Statuta istius Universitatis, quantum ad vos spectent, teneri."  ("Know that you are today added to the Roll of the University and bound to obey all the statutes of this University so far as they apply to you.")

I'll post more pictures as I get them, but here is one for now:

My fellow Oriental Institute graduate students, all from Wolfson College.  You see Josh on the far left there is sporting a fancy furry gown because he received his Bachelor's from Oxford as well.  The rest of us are wearing the normal post-graduate gown.

Week 1

Monday was the first day of week 1* of Michaelmas term, which means for many of us students the first day of classes, tutorials, lectures, or lab work.  As for me, my schedule goes something like this:

Mesopotamian History: Mondays and Tuesdays from 12.00 to 13.00
Egyptian History: Wednesdays and Fridays from 12.00 to 13.00
Biblical History: Thursdays from 11.00 to 12.00
A topics course focusing on Sumerian hymns: Mondays from 15.00 to 17.00
A research seminar: Tuesdays 14.3 to 16.00
Akkadian: Wednesdays from 14.00 to 16.00 and Fridays from 9.00 to 11.00
Aramaic: Thursdays from 13.00 to 15.00

Correction: I also have an hour and a half of German on Fridays.  =(

I'll probably also try to find a part time job, hopefully in a library somewhere, but if not I'll try to squeeze in Biblical Hebrew on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10.00 to 11.00.  One of the great things about Oxford is that the students (or anyone affiliated with the university) are welcome and encouraged to attend any and all lectures they can, no matter which department or faculty they are in.  For instance, if I wanted to sit in on lectures on law or politics or medicine, I could do with no questions asked and no fees incurred. 

It's only been three days, but I can already tell that this term will be busy but also very fun.  I love all the fellows I have the pleasure of learning from and have already spent countless hours doing "for fun" reading from among the countless treasures the libraries here have to offer.  Oxford is truly a unique institution and I can now fully understand why many people become spell-bound by its magic and never desire to leave.  There will be an information session next Tuesday for MPhil students about how to search for and secure funding for the DPhil, so if I can manage to do so maybe I'll be lucky enough to stay here for another three years after I complete my Master's!

Other than work, I have been enjoying the social aspect of my college and the university as well.  There are a number of students at Wolfson who are a part of the Oriental Institute also - studying subjects including Cuneiform studies, Egyptology, Jewish Studies in the Greco-Roman world, and Syriac studies - with whom I have become close friends and have been exploring the city.  Along with some other Wolfsonians, a group of us went on a ghost tour of Oxford last week which was fascinating if not altogether historically accurate.  We've also been sampling the local selection of restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs.  I will say this about Oxfordians: they certainly know how to have fun just as well as they know how to work!

I've also managed to see several museums, including the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford (the oldest museum in Britain!) and the British Museum (which gave me an excuse to visit London again).

I don't have any new pictures of Oxford, but I hopefully will have after I matriculate this Saturday.  In a nutshell, matriculation is an event in which students dress up in sub-fusc, get herded into a beautiful building called the Sheldonian Theatre, have Latin shouted at them for about half an hour, and then they leave as an official member of the university.  I'll let you know how it goes.

For now, I'll leave you with some pretty pictures of London again and one of the Ashmolean, which I must confess I got off of Wikipedia.  Enjoy!

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

"God and my right." The motto of the British monarchy, referring to their divine right to govern.

Like from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!

The British Museum.

The London Eye.

A view of the river Thames from the London Eye.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the London Eye.

A pretty museum (?) from the London Eye.

*In Oxford, people invariably refer to an event in relation to which week of term it occurs.  For example: "The end of term bop** will be Friday of week 8."
 **Bop: Oxford-speak for party, usually in the college bar.

The Kingdom's Best Ice Cream

Earlier last week, while out to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with my flatmate Abdul (a Saudi DPhil student in communications technologies) and our friend Nadia (a French DPhil in something to do with butterflies), the topic of ice cream came up and Abdul and Nadia proceeded to gush about the best ice cream they had ever had.  Naturally, I was determined to experience this ice cream, and since the shop was in London it seemed quite achievable.  So on Saturday Abdul, our other friend Jed (an Idahoan DPhil in the history of medicine) and I forayed into London in search of the best ice cream in the country.  Though since this would be my first time in London-town, Jed graciously offered to give a tour of the city, since he is full of interesting and often arbitrary historical knowledge. 

Of course it is impossible to see all of London in one day, but we did manage to visit quite a few interesting sites.  To be brief, we started off on Baker St. (yes, as in 221B Baker St.), then saw: the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament/Westminster Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the National Gallery, to name a few.  My favorite part, though, was a massive used books market along the river Thames...I'll definitely have to return to London for that!

After a full day of sight-seeing, we ended the evening in Chinatown and managed to find the ONLY Korean restaurant in the area.  I am proud to say that I successfully introduced Abdul and Jed to Korean food, and they both enjoyed it immensely. 

Now, the ice cream.  Since Abdul couldn't quite remember where the ice cream shop was, and Jed had never been there before, it took us the entire day to track it down.  Finally, after circling the city a couple times (and thus allowing us to see the wonderful aforementioned sites), Abdul found the infamous ice cream shop.  With hearts filled with eager hope and anticipation, Jed and I looked at the shop and let out groans of shock and keen disappointment.  It was a Häagen-Dazs.  After explaining that Häagen-Dazs is an American ice cream chain, Abdul tried to salvage the situation by claiming that maybe British Häagen-Dazs tastes different than American Häagen-Dazs.  Unconvinced, we all went in and had some ice cream.  In the end, although it was quite good, it was still no different than what we have at home.  Oh well.  Maybe next time I'll discover some truly delicious British ice cream!

The Royal Mews (fancy stables for the Queen).

Buckingham Palace.

The Academy of Sciences.

War memorial?

Busy London street with Big Ben in the background!

The parliament building.

Big Ben with the London Eye in the background.

The London Eye along the Thames.

Last, I have an Oxford picture for you.  This pub, the Eagle and Child, was the regular meeting place for an Oxford writers' group called The Inklings.  Members of this group would read their works aloud and offer each other comments and critiques.  Famous members of this group included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Hugo Dyson.  During one of their meetings in which Tolkien was giving a reading of the Lord of the Rings, Hugo Dyson is famously quoted as saying: "Oh, f***, not another elf!"

The City of Dreaming Spires

I have finally arrived at Oxford and am beginning to get settled in.  The flight over the pond was uneventful, in the best way possible, and connecting to Oxford from the London airport was smooth and simple.  If only the whole world could be as organized as the UK!

My first few days have been quite busy.  I've been completing various registrations and familiarizing myself with the way the university works (which I'm not sure I'll ever completely understand).  It's necessary to register either in person or online for every single service the university or college offers - college libraries, university libraries, internet access, printer room access, laundry access, punting access, dining hall access, the college bar debit card, gym access, etc. - so that has been amusingly redundant.  I also attempted to get a UK cell phone, but for reasons I don't fully understand I am unable to do so until I set up a bank account here, which I can't do until I can get access to the college computing and printing rooms, which I can't do until a notice arrives in my pidge (pigeon hole, i.e. mail box) informing me that my request for access has been granted.  Good ol' British bureaucracy.

For those of you who were confused by my references to both the college and the university, let me explain: the University of Oxford is, so I've been told, a "confederate" university.  Meaning it is made up of several semi-independent colleges or halls that serve the academic, social, and residential needs of all students and fellows.  So although I am a member of the University of Oxford, I am also, and almost more importantly, a member of Wolfson College. 

Ah, Wolfson.  I'll admit I was a bit trepidacious before arriving at Wolfson.  It is one of the newer colleges so it does not have the beautiful architecture and infamous "dreaming spires" Oxford is known for.  Upon arrival, however, I am pleased to inform you all that I could not be happier with my placement at Wolfson.  What it lacks in classical architecture it makes up for in beautiful grounds and a charming punting harbor on the Cherwell.  Here are some pictures of the college to further impress upon you how lucky I am to be here:

Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford.  How cute are these signs??

Entrance to the Wolfson Lodge.

Wolfson's punt harbor.  I went punting for the first time yesterday - complete with Pimm's and lemonade, naturally - and I must say it's harder than it looks!

Cherwell Boathouse.

The meadow at Wolfson, accross the bridge.  The past few days there have been cows grazing here, but they must have been elsewhere today.

Ducks sunbathing on the Cherwell.  I'll try to get pictures of the swans and geese that live here, too.

B-block, where I live.

The Wolfson gardens.

Bridge to the meadows.

View from my room!

More gardens.

More gardens.

Dragon clock?

There are two great willow trees on the grounds.  So lovely.

My room!

The living room.

Also the living room.

View from the living room #1.

View from the living room #2.

Me punting!  I was very focused.

Well, I hope you enjoyed those just as much as I enjoyed taking them.  I'll be venturing into town again tomorrow to buy my sub-fusc, so hopefully I'll have some dreaming spires for you soon!