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To better understand this blog entry and also merely for the fun of learning, I will introduce you to some of the vocabulary I found commonly used around college:
For the record, breakfast is from 8:15-8:45 every morning except Saturdays and Lunch is from 12:45-1:30 everyday.
Scaf is an informal canteen-style dinner every night from 6:00-6:45 before formal hall, which will be referred to as simply hall in this entry
Kip– Nap ex: I am going to take a kip
x– Kiss They tend to sign their texts with one or several of these X’s that startled me at first, but now I think I will adopt the habit! X
ATS– Alternative Tuck Shop
Hassan’s– A food truck on the Broad Street. Apparently, it is Catz tradition to grab food from here upon return from a night out
JCR– Junior Common Room. A lounge area with a bar and a mini game room on one side, as well as a TV on the other. Usually the meeting spot for crews to head out for the night.
Lodge– Porter’s lodge. It’s like a front desk to the college. The people are very nice and helpful inside and students usually meet outside to head to events located outside the college.
Pigeon Hole– Mailbox. At any given moment Hedwig does indeed fly in with a letter from Hogwarts.
Tramp– A bum or homeless person Question: If Ross tells Hilary he never made it in the club because he was talking to some tramps outside, should Hilary get upset, splash her glass of wine at him and never talk to him again? Answer: Nope. He was doing a good deed and talking to homeless people, as opposed to women working the streets, as we Americans would think.
Essay Crisis– The birth child of procrastination and Facebook. It’s the last minute preparation for an essay due in a few hours, or minutes in some cases.
Blunder– Mistake/error
Sub Fusc– Gowns worn on very formal occasions
Quid– Pounds, how we say “bucks” instead of dollars. Funny story, for the longest time, I thought they were saying squid and I wondered silently why in the world these people had so many squids!
Fag– Slang for cigarette ex: Can I bum a fag. Translation: Could I borrow a cigarette?
Staircase– Synonymous for US dorm. Not literally the staircase, but the entire building. Staircases are numbered as opposed to ex: at UP where the dorms have names: ex: Brill Hal of Eastview Terrace.
MONDAYS
1) Breakfast – 8 items for 2 quid (About 3 bucks) is not bad at all
2) Essay crisis
3) Lunch
4) Essay Crisis
5) Secondary tutorial every other week for an hour at St. Hugh’s college (It was such a hike!)
6) Usually go for a Law or any other society event at another college
7) Hall or Scaf depending on the menu
8) Evening visits to Friends’ staircases
9) Try to catch people online on Skype
10) Somehow fall asleep
TUESDAYS
1) Wake Up
2) Library
3) Repeat act #2 for Acts number 4,5 and 6
7) Lunch
8) 3-5PM Attend an optional lecture for PIL (Public International Law)
9) Hall
10) Repeat Monday’s activities after hall
WEDNESDAYS
1) Library all day. Literally
THURSDAYS
1) Wake up at 6: ESSAY CRISIS
2) Breakfast
3) ESSAY CRISIS
4) Submit Essay for primary tutorial
5) Lay there with the weight of the world lifted form my shoulders
6) Skype
7) Lunch
8)Return library books and get new ones for the next essay
9) Linger around till hall
10) Eat and linger some more
FRIDAY
1) Lunch
2) Library
3) Run errands
4) Choir Practice
5)Hall
6) Find out what everyone’s doing and join them. (Usually going to the club: WAHOO, which I hate)
Between Saturday and Sunday, I would go to church, go to basketball practice, go out, study and work on Monday’s essay, catch up with news back home, etc. During most of the free time I had, I was able to attend a few events hosted by my subject’s societies. I also seized the opportunity to make use of the Career Services by attending career fairs and having my resume looked over.
And there you have it ladies and gentlemen; a quick and broad look into a week in my life at Oxford. Let me know if there are any vocab words I left out or misunderstood or anything of that sort. Till next time,
Cheers!
PS: Special thanks George for the vocab tips! Xx
Random pic of Cornmarket St. Oxford.
Location: Oxford, England