So today was the first day of classes for Nate, so today was my first official day of being ON MY OWN. I\'m not quite sure what to make of it. It hasn\'t been a bad day by any long stretch. I think the day is just too long! I\'ve already been out on the town for two hours, came back, ate lunch, showered and practiced the piano. I still have more straightening up of the room, and I have dinner to prepare (not until late), but after that, I\'ve got nothing to do! I wandered around trying to find the information center of Oxford, but I couldn\'t find a store or building that specifically said it was the information center. There\'s plenty of souvenir shops that sell books, I don\'t think that\'s what I\'m looking for. (By the way, If someone wants an Oxford hoodie, but you aren\'t planning on coming over here and buying it yourself, let me know, I\'ve got the hook-ups! I saw over ten different shops that should have your size and favorite color at an outrageously high price!) I\'ll probably end up doing one of the walking tours, so I can get some information on some of the buildings before I visit them. That\'s a thought. I also wandered around looking for "goodwill" stores, thinking that they might have kitchen stuff, and I found the Red Cross and a store called Oxfam. Both in close proximity to our house. They didn\'t have a lot, but it\'s worth keeping an eye out, especially when Nate and I wear our clothes out. That is one thing that Oxford is not short on: clothing stores! I know my sisters would be drooling over all the cute little boutiques with their cute outfits being modeled in the window displays. You definitely should not be poor if you want to shop in Oxford. Everything\'s expensive! Especially when it\'s translated to American dollars! But it is fun to poke around and look at everything. I was very happy to find a store that sold kitchen stuff. Boswells. I think it\'s comparable to maybe a Sears or JCPenny? It had many different departments, even a pharmacy! I might get some kitchen things from there if I can\'t find a cheaper place. There are places like the Dollar store around here. It\'s called "Poundland." Nate and I have translated it to "Dollar-Seventy Land" because that\'s what it becomes when you convert it to American currency. We got a good giggle out of that one. A really nice thing the British stores do is they include the tax in the price of the item. So when a bag of apples cost £3, you know that it\'s going to ring up £3 at the register. So much easier to calculate your bill this way! That is one thing I will definitely miss when I leave. I am still trying to get used to the new traffic pattern. When crossing the street, I have to go against knowledge i\'ve had since I was a child. The "look left, look right, and left again before crossing the street.". Why, America? Why do you have to be different from the rest of the world in something that is very hazardous to peoples\' lives? Who told me that Churchill almost died in New York because he looked the wrong way when crossing the street? For the first hour of walking down the streets, I followed what everyone else did, when they crossed the street, I did as well. I basically had to tell myself, "look RIGHT, then left." And then I\'m going to have to readjust when I come back home! AACK! And there\'s no method of which side of the sidewalk to walk on. When you see a person coming at you, take a side and hope they didn\'t choose that direction as well. If they did, you better be quicker than them at changing directions. And when you\'re walking down the sidewalk, don\'t stop suddenly! Especially in high traffic hours (which in Oxford, that seems like all the time!), or you\'ll get run over! I applaud those who live like this! I think I will enjoy this while I\'m here, but I will be more than happy to leave some of it behind when the time comes! In the mean time... Cheers!
Erin
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