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.