Welcome to my study-abroad travelogue! Where to begin . . . approximately 5 weeks ago, I arrived in Oxford with three suitcases and a backpack. I walked the short distance to the college and settled into a newly renovated building built in the 16th century (IIRC - maybe it was the 17th century). That pretty much describes a considerable amount of my interaction with a lot of the things in England. “Wow, this is really awesome! And by the way, it is older than the United States. Just FYI.”

The building itself is great, although because we arrived before the regular students returned, they were still doing some construction on the building. As a worthy axiom that seems to be true in every country that I’ve ever been in, construction never seems to ever finish on time or within budget. Such was true here as well.

The British collegiate system, especially at Oxford, is a very different system from the United States. For one, it seems that being a specialist is preferable to being ‘well-rounded.’ In the States, undergraduate institutions often have “core” requirements to ensure that students are well rounded, not only in their major, but also in a multitude of subjects. Here, in Oxford (and I believe in the UK generally), students are asked to specialize as early as 11th grade, spending two years before they go to college “reading” for the subjects that they have an interest in. Once they arrive at college, while they have the option to take other classes, it seems that most people’s schedules are solely focused on their major. Of course, maybe I am using too broad a brush to paint all of the UK’s collegiate system based on a few observations.

Next week on this blog, I’ll explore our weekend adventure to jolly old London. After that, you can look forward to stories about our adventure to Edinburgh (wherein we learn that it is pronounced Ed-in-boro, not E-din-burg) and the great contintental experience of Brussels/Bruges. Stay tuned!