First Two Days

 We are glad to annouce that we have somehow made it to Oxford with all 350 pounds of our luggage (which was looking very doubtful at some points during the travel) and are now posting this blog in the comfort of our very first home together. God is so good.

 There were tons of emotions building as we arrived in Oxford and began approaching our door.  We felt like little kids at Disney World for the first time, we had our necks crained trying to take in every overwhelming beautiful building we walked by while lugging around way too much stuff.  In this instance it was rain boots and sweaters, not dippin dots and mickey mouse ears. The anticipationn continued building as we finally arrived at St. Hilda's college and received the keys to our very first flat from the porter (Brit talk for maintenance man). The key is a relic of the past, quite typical of Oxford as we have come to find, a long round stem leading to a flattened key head. We finally found the flat with an expectation of an average hotel size room with a full bed and maybe sink. We very intentionally set our expectations at their lowest so as to exceed them with whatever our accommodations ended up being. Our expectations were certainly exceeded upon entering the apartment. We are now living in a one bedroom flat with a living room that doubles as a study, a kitchen, 2 half bathrooms, a dining area, and AWESOME backyard with a pear tree, and potenital games of croquet, cricket and other british sports. It is as my dad would say chopped up with walls but it works and its wonderful. Some outdated carpets and curtains will have to be changed and covered up but there is nothing that is beyond sprucing up and a women's touch.  We have included some pictures of the before looks at our apartment but hopefully someday soon we can show some better after shots (Extreme Home Makeover style).

Today we hit the town and got to know our area a little bit. We live really close to a great area, and can't wait to know the ends and outs of it.  We were pretty hungry, considering we only had leftover wine and one chocolate candy bar from the flight, so our first order of busines was to eat.  We turned on the block and the first thing we saw was a Subway (can you believe Jared is a hit here too?).  Both of us slightly wanted to play it safe and get a hearty sandwhich but resisted the urge and ate at Kabob Kid.  For those of you who know me, I am what some say a picky eater, and as it turns out Kabob Kid is Indian cuisine.  But I am determined to soak in this whole experience so I went for it, ordered the most basic dish, and enjoyed it! Indian food check, who knows what could be next.  After our time with the Kabob Kid (I cant help but wonder if that is some kind of spin of the Karate Kid...) we strolled over to the bike shop (at Cycle King, brother of Mattress King) where Jordo got his first British bike- THE monte carlo. (picture also included).  After bicycle shopping we perused a number of thrift shops lookings for various home goods picked up some clothes hangers and other items, then grabbed some groceries for the kitchen at the Tesco (including digestive crackers- which on a side note, we learned their tastiness after we went to a bon fire last night and instead of graham crackers for smores they use digestive crackers) and finally arrived back at 175 (our home). Going back to the apperence of our flat, in our bedroom your eyes were quickly drawn to the 7 foot, wood armour directly across from our bed, and not in a good way.  I guess being the picky person that I am, I suggested we move it to the living room.  Somehow the two of us managed to manouver this huge, bulky, hideous peice out of our room and discovered hiding behind it in our bedroom was a great fireplace. Talk about a bonus! We ate dinner at 4500 Miles From Delhi (go figure more Indian food for dinner which Katie and I are quickly learning to enjoy) Anyway, after some great conversation with Rhodes Scholars from Zimbabwe and Nimibia we went to our newest favorite bar close to our house called the Cape of Good Hope.

Katie and I have both lived in some of the most quant places on earth but there is something about Oxford and its age that has shown how certain things only grow more beautiful in time. The beauty of the architecture in the town is marvelous and on every street corner you see a place that you can't wait to go into and find out about but you feel like you will  never have enough time to go everywhere you see. However, probably the most exciting and intriguing aspect of Oxford yet has been getting to know all of the other scholars from countries all around the world. You non-chalantly sit down to dinner with individuals from West Africa, Australia, and Canada who have seen the world from perspectives that are completely novel  to your mind. It is humbling and wonderful at the same time to have this opportunity and we can't wait to continue living in this setting with such wonderful people. More will come about all of our friends but we are tired and must get to bed so have a wonderful day.