Oop, slightly late post this time. Last night I went to Port & Policy and then watched Poltergeist in 3D… and was surprisingly not scared at all? So that was cool. It’s the second horror movie I’ve watched in as many nights! Who knew I would come out of Oxford such a changed person? đ
But actually, the reason I didn’t write anything last night was because I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about. This morning I realized that my friend from home, Callan (just finished studying in Philly! http://blogs.whitman.edu/callancarow), had a great idea: A Day in the Life. So, I started writing one out, and then I realized that each day is so different it’s hard to describe an average day! I wake up anywhere between 7:30am and 11:30am (depending on whether or not I have a tutorial, and how much work I have gotten done), I go to bed any time between midnight and 3 or 4am, and in between– well, I eat my meals different places, with different groups of people, I switch up where I study, and I almost always have some unexpected event. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve had a single day here where everything has gone according to plan. But here’s a taste of what an average, non-tutorial day might look like!
10-10:30: wake up, check phone (ug I never used to do this, it’s only recently become a habit… ah well)
10:30-11:15: go for a run in the gorgeous University Parks, listening to my running playlist, which includes “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, “Shake It Off” by Florence and the Machine, “Get Luck” by Daft Punk, and a bunch of other good pump-up songs (recently realized that what I thought was a 1-mile lap around the parks is actually 2 miles, so I’ve been running about twice as far as I thought I was!)
11:15-12:00: cool down, do core strengthening exercises, stretch, shower, eat some yogurt/a banana/small bowl of cereal
12:00-12:45: make a plan for the day, if I haven’t already; respond to emails, take care of any chores that need to get done
12:45-13:15: eat lunch in Hall with other visiting students and sometimes a few British students
13:15-16:15: study in the comfy chairs in CafĂ© Nero at Blackwell’s (my favorite study spot ever); order a Hot Chocolate Milano (mmmmm), read ~60 pages of Ulysses, brainstorm and research for Creative Writing
16:15-17:00: go for a walk with one of my friends, discuss our plans for the future, analyze personality differences, share stories of our past, take in the beauty of Oxford
17:00-19:00: another study session; look up articles and books for next paper, read through and take notes, outline my paper and collect important quotes and bibliographical information
19:00-20:00: eat formal dinner in Hall
20:00-22:00: more studying; catch up on whatever I haven’t finished, try to get ahead on my reading; goal by the end of the day: write 500-1000 words combined for the papers/writing pieces for each of my tutorials
22:00-23:00: meet up in the JCR (Junior Common Room) for drinks and a break
23:00-24:00: watch Game of Thrones with the group of people who follow the show
24:00-1:00: head back to my room, check in with my roommate and decompress/talk about our days, work through thoughts that have been bothering us
1:00-1:30: get ready for bed; listen to some music, do some reading, maybe write out some thoughts on the day
1:30-2:00: set alarm for the next day, draw the curtain between my section of the room and my roommate’s, fall asleep in my cozy bed đ
It sounds so chill when I write it out like that! It feels like there is much more happening– and I think often there is (and I do have to spend quite a few hours each day working, and always several days a week in libraries rather than cafĂ©s so that I can check out books for research). I just love the flexibility of it all– as long as I make sure I have time for work, the rest of the day is up to me! And there are so many amazing things to do. In the next few weeks, I’m looking forward to more circus and figure drawing, a trip to Manchester to go to a barbecue festival and see The Heavy (alt rock band), an outing to London to watch As You Like It at The Globe theatre, hearing a cello concerto and the 1812 Overture in concert, annnnd about 800 pages more of Ulysses and several dozen pages of writing. It’s gonna be great.
I love that you did Port & Policy & Poltergeist back to back!