Greetings from the Beautiful City of Oxford!

 'Ello there, friends!

Below is my first blog post that I wrote on the plane, but have been unable to upload until now:

I am currently sitting on the plane on my way to LONDON!  It's 1 a.m. and after several attempts, I have given up the idea of sleeping...at least for now. I have decided instead to read a book given to me by a friend about all the sights and stories of Great Britain. Already I feel how short the eight weeks will be, and I want to fully experience as much of the area as I possibly can while I am there.

The flight attendants must have thought I was crazy when I first boarded, but I could not help smiling from ear to ear when every single one of them spoke with the British accent I've been in love with ever since my childhood BBC addictions (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and of course all the Dickens classics: Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend...the list goes on and on. I’m sure some of you remember those days ;) When someone talks to me about American TV shows, I am usually clueless as to what they're talking about, but mention a BBC classic, and I’ll quote it beginning to end. The accent is an art form I have pursued for years, and I'm hoping this language "immersion" experience the next eight weeks will help me perfect it!

As many of you know, this opportunity to study abroad is a dream come true for me. When I began looking at colleges as a junior in high school, any time an admissions counselor asked me if I had any questions about the school, the first (if not only) question out of my mouth was "Where would I be able to study abroad?" Nursing school, however, does not allow for this during the semester due to mandatory clinical rotations, so for a while I was unsure whether or not I would be able to go abroad at all. But through a series of events, this opportunity presented itself, and I am so grateful.

Quick summary of what I will be doing during my time here:

There are essentially two parts of my program: the first two weeks consists of an intensive Worldviews class with Summit Ministries followed by a six-week Oxford tutorial. (http://www.summitoxford.org/) The tutorial I decided to do is bioethics. Other than that, I don’t actually have much detail about what we will be doing, so more on that later. 

Fun fact: Oxford--which is a city, not just a university, by the way--got its name because its location happens to be a great spot to cross the river (ford for oxen…Oxford!).  

One of my goals is to do a photo-a-day, so I will definitely try to post many of those on here. 

Losing steam...bed time :)

Cheerio!