A British boy asked me to marry him, but I told him no.

Okay, that's not true. But I got your attention! I figured that heading would be a lot more eye-catching than "My daily schedule" or something. Because now, I'm pulling a bait-and-switch: instead of talking about a fictional proposal, I'm going to talk about my daily life.

Here's how my life goes:
--wake up either to the sun (silent and nice) or to my alarm clock (annoying and tiny). Nearly crush clock in attempt to turn it off without falling out of bed
--turn computer on, check Facebook
--eat breakfast/check e-mail/check news/check Facebook/listen to Celtic Thunder (Dyanne: Celtic Thunder came out with a second CD!)
--take shower, wish that British shower-tubs made sense
--get dressed, wish I brought more clothes, and miss wearing flip-flops
--check Facebook
--most mornings, leave house to go to a lecture in one of the ugliest buildings in Oxford (the good citizens of Oxford went through this phase in the 60s and 70s when they thought, "Hey! This beautiful old architecture is cool and all, but why don't we build all our new buildings out of concrete Kleenex boxes, broken glass, and discarded airport control towers! That'll be so aesthetically pleasing and matching and stuff!").
--after lecture, walk to Regent's (rocking out to Celtic Thunder on the iPod I borrowed from Abbie). And, behold! Regent's!

Okay, this actually isn't Regent's yet. The building on the left is St. Cross College. The building on the right is the Oxfam bookstore (where they sell Geobars, the best granola bar anywhere, ever), a newsstand, and The Eagle and Child. Regent's is behind Oxfam...

...right here! The wall on the right is the outside wall of Regent's. And here...

...is the inside courtyard of Regent's! I wish I had taken this picture before the leaves fell off the tree. Oh, well. Anyway, Regent's is a very tiny college. The courtyard is maybe as big as a football field, if not smaller. There are many more impressive colleges in Oxford (as you will see later), but I think Regent's is very pretty. And now, to return you to our regularly-scheduled walk through my day:

--lunch at 1:00. Eat too much (again) and wish the Brits knew how to properly spice food. Wonder at how the food can be so good and so bland at the same time.
--on Tuesdays at 3: go to Victorian Literature tutorial at Regent's. Listen to professor act out all the parts from the novels I just read, get hungry, wonder where the padding in my armchair disappeared to.
--on Fridays at 4: go to Oscar Wilde tutorial at Magdalen (reminder: pronounced Maudlin) College. Marvel at Magdalen College, because it looks like this:

And this:

Also, Magdalen College has a deer park. ALSO, C.S. Lewis taught there, and Oscar Wilde and a king of England (Edward VIII) went there.

--eat dinner at Regent's at 7:00. Revel in dessert.

--go home, eat Digestives, wish that six-hour time difference between here and Kansas City did not exist, listen to Celtic Thunder.

--go to sleep at midnightish.

In between all this, I've joined several activities and groups here in Oxford, which I will be sure to tell you about soon. And in between all the activities and groups and tutorials and lectures and eating, I do homework.

In my Victorian Literature tutorial, I am studying five authors and three poets in eight weeks. I am assigned novels or poems on Tuesdays, which I read from Tuesday to Saturday. This means that from Tuesday to Saturday, I read, on average, 250 pages a day. This is a lot of work for me (although, as I type this, I'm thinking of Laura in medical school laughing at me, saying, "You think that's work? I'll show you work!"). Sundays and Mondays, I write my paper over the novels/poems. I've gotten my essay-writing down to an art. It's just the kind of art where you throw some paint on the canvas, lay in the paint, wriggle around a bit, and call it good.

My Oscar Wilde tutorial only happens every other week. I read about 40 pages a day for that one, because I have two weeks in which to do my work.

Finally, in between my homework and meals and later-to-be-explained activities, I do have fun. For instance, last week there was a costume party for Halloween. Erin wasn't able to make it, but Sabrina, Robyn and I dressed as three Greek goddesses:

I was Hera, Sabrina was Aphrodite, and Robyn was Athena. We even had a "Golden Apple" (i.e. an orange with a stem drawn on it).

Here are some of our friends. Most of these people are American, except the cowboy (ironically), the ghost, and the two cat-girls on the left.

So, in my life, I eat a lot of Digestives (you're right, Aunt Debbie, they are some of the best cookies ever made), I read a lot of books, and I make a lot of friends. None of them have proposed to me, though.