Hello!

Yesterday after lunch, I decided to go pick up a phone. The Vonage one that we got wasn't working so well, so I picked one up for pretty cheap. It took a little while to get things all figured out and where to buy it and by the time I got home, I only had time for a twenty minute nap. Even though it was short, it was just what I needed! I got up and took a shower. Since my travel shampoo bottles started leaking, I threw them out a while ago. Since then, I have been using the shampoo that was at the hotel in Paris. That has since ran out and I forgot to buy some more. Yesterday, I used my body wash as my shampoo.....which I don't recommend. It was a nice substitute, just this once, but I was able to go to Boots and get a new bottle. It was nice to actually have real, clean hair after my shower. I got ready just in time for dinner. Last nights dinner was lamb, potatoes, peas, and the best part...chocolate cake. After dinner, I talked to some people and we all planned to meet in the pub at Jesus College and then go out afterwards.

After dinner, a bunch of us girls walked around Oxford a little bit. All of the shops close here really early, so we weren't able to go into any stores. We walked down by Christ Church (where Harry Potter was filmed) and were just able to see the outside. Although we couldn't go inside, the big doors at the entrance were open and we could see a part of the large courtyard. After we walked around for a little bit, we decided to stop at a little pub right by Jesus College called the Turl. I got an authentic bitter English beer...served at room temperature. I don't really like my beer that warm, but I really love trying new kinds. It was called Brakspear and it was pretty good. We all were able to sit outside at a picnic table, which was nice. I LOVE to sit outside. :) After we finished our drinks, we decided to head back to Jesus College and go down to the pub. There were some people already there when we got there, and more came later. The beer at the Jesus College pub is only 2 pounds, which is just a little bit cheaper than the regular pubs. After a few beers, we all decided to find a place to go out. There were about 25-30 (out of the 65 that are here from UNL) of us all walking down the street in a huge line. It was pretty funny to see. People on the streets were probably wondering what was going on. No one really knew where to go, but by this time it was about 10:15pm and most pubs close at 11pm. We walked down the street a ways and someone decided to go into what I think was the smallest pub in Oxford. haha. We all walked across the street to go in and before I even made it in the door, people were turning around to walk back out. I guess the bartender started checking IDs, and there he was the only one working. Since that would have taken the entire 45 minutes of our drinking time...we decided to find another place. One of the guys asked a man on the street and he pointed us to a bar that told us we only had a half hour to drink. Well, that just isn't enough time! Plus, it looked nicer and there were older people eating what looked like dinner. At this point, we had to go somewhere that was going to stay open later. This other guy and I decided we should just take everyone to the Purple Turtle because we knew it would be open late and it was big enough to fit all of us. So, we led the group back to where we started.

When we got to the door, they asked us if we were there for karaoke. We didn't even know that they had karaoke that night, so we were all pretty excited! All of us girls were basically peeing our pants during the long walk, so we all hit up the bathrooms as soon as we got there. There was hardly anyone there when we first got in, so our group was definitely the majority. Not long after we got there, they opened up the back, more people showed up and the karaoke started. I wasn't planning on doing it at all because you all know what a wonderful voice I have. Pretty shortly after we got into the back, Cory and Jackie were doing a song together. It was so much fun! Six of the guys did a Backstreet Boys song and got REALLY into it. Hilarious. After a while and a few more beers later, someone was doing Born in the USA. Well, there were actually a lot of Americans there and when that song came on, ALL of the Americans jumped on stage to join in. It was awesome! At one point while we were singing, a guy in the front stole the microphone and was singing "Born in the UK" to the tune of the song. We immediately stole it back. All of us were singing and dancing and it was a blast! Later on in the night, Ayhan and I were trying to get to the bar to buy a drink and it was really crowded. I told him I would just go up there because I could probably get a drink quicker. While I was waiting, a guy from Oxford started talking to me about the different beers. I told him I was up there buying a drink for me and my friend and he offered to buy it for me. I told him no and that I could give him money, but he insisted. I did fail to mention that the beer that he bought for my friend was for my guy friend...haha all well. The kid didn't even try to creep on me after he bought it...which was nice. It's always nice to save the 3 pounds. :) We hung out by the bar and we started to wonder where Cory was...until we heard his voice over the speakers! We were pretty sure he was in the back doing Karaoke by himself...haha...he loved it. After a while, we decided it was probably time to get back home. While we were walking back, Cory thought it would be a good idea to give us all a walking tour....NSE style (backwards)...and in an English accent. The tour was wonderful, except for the fact that we had to tell him which way Jesus College was...haha!

When I got home, after Max didn't answer my phone call, I decided to call Jen. Thanks Jen for putting me on speaker phone. Not. It was nice to talk to her because I haven't in a while. The conversation didn't last long because I was really "tired" and needed to get to bed.

I woke up this morning and my comforter was in the middle of the room. I went to sleep with it in, so I am assuming I did some sleep walking or something. It was too far away from my bed to have just fallen off....so, there was definitely some transporting going on sometime. I ate some breakfast and drank coffee and tea. I normally never drink coffee, but I loaded the cream and sugar and it tasted ok. I needed something to keep me up! Today, for a change, the first class seemed a lot slower than the second one. We have about a half hour break in between classes, so I decided to go get my favorite Starbucks drink...a caramel light frappuccino. The line was little long, but I had about 15-20 minutes until class started. After I ordered the lady making the drinks took a very long time. She seemed to be doing all the hot drinks first and the girl behind me got her drink before I did! When it was five til 11, I told the lady that I had to be in class in 5 minutes and she finally got to my drink. It was already made and everything, she just hadn't put it into the cup. I booked it back to Jesus College, which was just around the corner. With the way the building is, I could only go into the main door, which was on the opposite side of the classroom. I was walking so fast and even broke a little sweat. I was so nervous because I didn't want to show up to class late, especially with a Starbucks in my hand. They wouldn't have done anything, but I definitely would have been picked on by Dr. Horsewood. When I got close to the room, Jess was outside and told me he wasn't there yet. I was really excited about that...considering it was 10:58am! So, I ended up being fine. During class, Dr. Horsewood called on me and asked me my name again. My voice is a little hoarse after all the singing we did last night, so I could hardly speak. Of course, he made fun of me and I had to explain that we all did karaoke last night. It was a pretty funny class and went by really fast. Lunch was okay and when we were done we all sat around and talked for a little while. Dr. Holmes was a little late for lunch, so he sat down and talked with us for a while.

After lunch, we went on a walking tour of Oxford, arranged by one of the student assistants. We saw some of the colleges and different buildings. Oxford is a really old and pretty city, so it was nice to walk around in. She showed us an area where in the 1300s a big massacre was where I believe 63 students died. On the street, there is a huge X to mark where they all died and down the road is a huge statue memorial for all the students. We were able to go on the other side of Christ Church and see the gardens, which were beautiful. We didn't go inside, but it is something that I definitely want to do before I leave. She told us about the different competitions between colleges and rowing was one that is huge. I told Iggy, our student assistant and tour guide, about how big crew is in New Jersey and how Erin and Holy Spirit rowed at Henley and won. She thought it was pretty cool!

During the walking tour, I put my keys and phone into Megan's purse because I didn't want to carry them around. Towards the end of the walking tour, I was walking up front and talking to Iggy. When we got back to Jesus College, I just walked right in and waited for the girls to catch up. After everyone had gone through the big door, I remembered that they had plans to go shopping! I walked down the road to Zara, because I knew they had wanted to go there, but I couldn't find them. The shopping area is really big and crowded, so there was no way I was going to find them. I decided to walk back and knock on her door just in case I missed her or something. She wasn't there, and since I had no way to get into my room and didn't know where any of my friends were...I had no choice but to ask the student assistants to use the spare to get me in. This really isn't a big deal, but they have to ask the Porter and for some reason the Porter's get mad when you ask them questions and for spare keys. Anyways, Emily was nice enough to ask for the key and I was able to get into my room...clearly. It's a good thing they had a spare because I don't know what I would have done otherwise. They were going to be gone for a long time, so I would have been waiting in the quad for a while, before they came back. Since I have been in my room, I have been updating this and I might take a nap. We saw that salmon was for dinner again, so we might go out to eat, instead. There is a place here called "The Mission" and it is JUST like Chipotle. We think it is owned by the same people because all the fonts and pictures on the menu are the same and the burritos are similar. Anyways, I better take a nap or shower before dinner.

Oh, and please remember what I said about my bad grammar and ignore it. I do these quickly and don't have time to go back through to check for mistakes!

Love and miss you all!

Sarah