We made it to Oxford safe and sound about 3 weeks ago. (Yeah I'm a little behind). Oxford University is actually a collection of 39 colleges spread out over the city of Oxford. My college, Worcester (pronounced "wooster", not sure why) is absolutely beautiful. When you enter through the main gate and pass through the first set of buildings (the cloisters), you immediately see the main quad. This is an area of "sacred grass" maybe 50 feet long by 50 feet wide. The grass is greener than any grass I have seen in my life. No one is allowed to walk on it. It is watered and mowed every other day (I'm not exaggerating). The best part is, the gardeners use a special lawnmowing system that allows them to get the job done without even stepping on the grass themselves! The quad is surrounded on all 4 sides by buildings, including some dorms, the chapel, and the dining hall. The dining hall looks like it's straight out of Harry Potter. Outside of the main quad, paths lead to several other areas of campus. All these paths are lined with gorgeous flowers (that are also watered every other day). Just beyond the quad lies a small lake/large pond with lily pads. Very serene and peaceful, many benches surrounding the lake. Past the lake there are soccer, tennis, and cricket courts. It may seem big from the description, but the campus is actually quite condensed-- I can make it from one corner of campus to another in less than 10 minutes. Possibly my favorite part of Worcester is the ducks. Ducks are on the crest of the college (in a way like the school's mascot), and Worcester College prides itself on its families of ducks (there's maybe 15 ducks and ducklings in all). They live around the lake, but during the day when the get hungry they waddle around some of the lawns where we lay in the grass and study. They are not at all shy of people, and won't hesitant in coming up to an unsuspecting person and pecking at their feet in hopes of getting some bread crumbs. When someone actually does have some bread for them, that person becomes the ducks' new best friend, and they will happily follow him around for hours in hopes of more. I never thought of ducks as being particularly cute before, but these ducks are just so adorable and funny to watch, I am now a duck fan for life. Our rooms on campus were assigned randomly, and my room is in a building in the center of campus around the main quad that was built in 1380! My room itself is huge, probably about 5 times the size of my dorm room last year! Not only do I have a sitting room (with a table and 6 chairs), but I have a piano! Yes, an electric upright piano in my private room. I plan on seeing if I can buy some cheap piano sheet music to mess around with. I've been very busy these first 3 weeks studying. I'm taking a British history class and an international ethics class. Both are extremely interesting but time-consuming. At the risk of sounding too nerdy, somehow being on a campus like Worcester really makes me excited about learning. I just can't get over the beauty that surrounds me as I walk to classes or study in the lawns. It really keeps my stress level down and motivates me to get work done. I've spent all my weekends travelling. My first weekend here I visited my friend Leigh in London, and this past weekend Leigh and I went to Dublin. I've also made side trips after class to Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon. This weekend I'm going with my friend Sarah to the Lake District (a supposedly gorgeous area in northwest England), Blackpool (a Boardwalk-type pier on the Irish Sea), Liverpool (home of the Beatles), and York (hmm... where the Yorkshire Terrier came from?). We'll also be doing a 20-mile bike ride through the Cotswolds (a bunch of thatched roof towns just north of Oxford). I'll write more about my weekends later, time for bed. Good night!