"Mum and Dad are one place to start (with networking), but your friends have mums and dads" -The Oxford Student

If you were ever a 13 year old girl trying to circumnavigate the mine-field that is middle school social life, or, in the least, if you have seen Mean Girls, you understand the importance of having a trustworthy BFF. This person is someone that you can confide in, someone that understands you, someone that you can trust to keep your secrets and honestly tell you when your ass looks proportional to the size of texas. In this scenario, your the 13 year old girl and this blog is my ass. Oh, wait, wrong. What I mean to say is that this blog is a secret, and you, my middle school BFF, are going to keep it that way.

Most of the visiting students that I am friends with have blogs, and all of those who are E.T blogging home lots of updates, are doing so publicly...by posting their blog URL on their facebook. I have chosen not to do so and have kept you a secret, mainly because of the life lessons I learned from being a 13 year old girl (and from Mean Girls): If your going to talk about someone behind their back, make sure that they can't hear you. For the purposes of this blog, I am going to talk about Oxford behind her back and our friendship will remain in tact as long as she doesn't find out about it. (My lovely and amazing mother however must have missed this part of Mean Girls because I'm fairly certain that at this very moment she is having business cards with this URL printed for every person that she has ever met. Quick welcome to all of those who have been directed to this blog by my mom. And yes, I know, we look alike). To make myself feel a bit better, and less like a b-i-t-c (you get the picture), I'm going to think of myself as an anthropologist. It would be very wrong for me to show the village people my notes about their silly head dresses and questionable sacficial ceremonies. Well, same goes for here.

Now that we have gotten that sorted, lets get to the gossip: (And I'm not talking about THE big engagement (Prince William), which, no one over here seems to be that excited about.) First, Oxford is kind of a weird place. (Disclaimer: Oxford is also an amazing, life-changing, academically enriching, occasional cinnamon raisin bagel selling place). There was an article in the Oxford newspaper that read "Oxford students too selfish to win jobs." Now, you should know that according to this article, 95% of Oxford graduates are employed or in some kind of graduate training within 6 months of graduation. I wouldn't exactly say that the Oxford selfishness is prohibitive of finding a job. However, despite the phenomenal education offered at one of the leading institutions in the world, the Oxford Student: Oxford's Newspaper since 1992, might have a point. This article cited the lack of team work and ability to work in groups as the main complaint from employers or perspective employers of Oxford graduates. The Oxford tutorial system is one of the most personalized higher education systems in the world, where we (the students) attend lectures given by leaders in their academic disciplines and then defend essays at tutorials with one or two other students to a super-duper brilliant tutor. To give you some perspective on the super-duper brilliance, I have had more than one conversation in the last six weeks about the proper way to cite, and analyze a quote written in a tutor's book or article. Some tutors (not mine) require students to read their essays aloud in class, at which point "Dr. Terry O'Shaughnessy argues blah blah blah in his article blah blah blah, but fails to mention blah blah blah" can get a bit awkward when Dr Terry O'Shaughnessy is your tutor and you are reading this lovely essay aloud to him in his office. Now this issue can only exist because of the fact that we have the opportunity to sit with our super-duper-brilliant tutors weekly and discuss the stuff that they are better at discussing than most other academics in the world. However, there's not alot of team work required in these type of experiences, and students are literally never required to work in a group. While I do moan and groan and complain about almost any and all group work required at IU, having seen first hand what an education system void of that training looks like, I am beginning to see that all those trust-falls and late nights on the fourth floor (group-work/talking floor) may be paying off.

In addition, Oxford is where the "well-rounded liberal arts education" comes to die. In the UK, at 16, high school students "drop" half of their subjects to focus on subjects relevant to their A-Levels (Advanced Levels). A-levels are two year courses, where students specialize in usually 3 (or 4) subjects which they are tested on at the end of these 2 years. These test scores are then submitted with college applications (SATish). Then students must declare a subject of study when they apply to Oxford (or Cambridge...but you can't apply to both), which they will focus on EXCLUSIVELY for the three years they spend here. Each term, students will take 2 courses in their subject, for the three years, and take a big fat exam at the end of the three years, and THAT'S IT. No English composition requirement, no science requirement, no math, no history, no NOTHING. Just Economics or Biochemistry or Classics until your face falls off. While I've learned about as much about economics in the past 6 weeks as I've learned in 3 semester courses at IU, I have also learned about anthropology, philosophy, calculus, spanish, health care in business, computer in business, psychology, modern history, and tailgating at IU. These are also life-long and important skills that I feel will prepare me for whatever graduate work or career I choose, and I do feel that although great in many respects, the Oxford curriculum can be a little...um...limiting.


(But DON'T tell Oxford I said that about her, promise?)

When the going gets tough, the tough get bagels

My favorite food is cinnamon raisin bagels. Lightly toasted, with cream cheese, from Dunkin Donuts. It goes best with a medium iced with skim, no matter what the season. I like cinnamon raisin bagels so much I had to put myself on a sort of probation because otherwise I would literally eat them for every meal, and they charge fat people for two seats on airplanes now, and I just can't afford that. So I don't have cinnamon raisin bagels very often, but every once and a while, usually about once a month, I will declare it Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Day. Usually this day is a particular stressful day, or tired day, or rainy day, or just all around crappy day that could use a little pick me up. I eat 3 cinnamon raisin bagels on this day, for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Day is always a happy day.

The past few days have been pretty crappy. Last Wednesday in the middle of the night I woke up shivering and sweating like I was running back and forth between an igloo and the Sahara. Never a good sign. The next morning I laid in bed finishing my essay and didn't get out of bed till my tutorial at 5pm that night. By dinner time I knew I was in trouble, and have spent the last week in bed with a very high temperature and throat glands the size of cricket balls. The Nurse came to see me on  Friday and suggested it might be glandular fever (British for MONO) and the endless "who have you been kissing" jokes have begun. Note: I have been kissing no one. Also note: These jokes are funnier when your temperature is sub 103. So needless to say that sucked, especially on the tail end of my sprained ankle recovery, but I have survived, thanks primarily to the season of Grey's Anatomy that I rented and the Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice cream that I could finally eat on Monday, and I'm feeling a bit better. I went to the Surgery (British for my General Practitioner's office, a bit dramatic of a nickname if you ask me), this morning and had a blood test for mono. When I asked if I was still contagious Dr. Leaver kindly replied, "Well, not unless you plan on kissing anyone." And then proceeded to inform me that 50% of 18 year olds and 85% of 21 year olds have been exposed to, and are now immune to mono. This will obviously be my new pick up line if I do intend to do any kissing in the near future.

But across from the surgery is the co-op grocery store, and I figured now that I sort of have an appetite again I should probably stock up on some food. And walking through the bread isle, something amazing happened. Right in front of me, amidst a random assortment of white and "brown" bread, English muffins, and rolls, sat the package of 5, "New York Bagel Co. Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say today is now Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Day. And what a glorious day it will be. I also picked up some Philadelphia "soft cheese" spread to go with it. I hope to continue to be on the mend through the weekend and really back on my feet by next week, and I really am in good spirits despite the setback (mostly because of my current bagel heaven.) I'm booking flights this weekend for a 2.5 week trip to Athens, Rome, Paris, and Barcelona during winter vacation (Dec 4-20th) before flying home to the 617 (Newton) for a couple weeks rest and lots of reading and preparation for the next term.

Anyway, that's all the updates I got for now, because well, I haven't moved in a week. But I promise to provide a more happy and eventful update next week. And the week after that, I'm going to a Ball!

Peace, Love and Bagels,

Sara