Breakfast was from 8:30-9:00 in the dining hall. I was just expecting a simple room with a couple tables and a buffet. When we walked into the dining hall, I think my mouth dropped. It looked like the Great Hall from Harry Potter. High vaulted gothic ceilings, 3 long tables with little lamps that lined them, and stained glass windows and portraits covered the walls. The tables were set with your dishes. You just picked out your food and everything else was at the table. It was an amazing setting for breakfast. The reason there is a dining hall is because we are actually staying at Oxford University. But really it is called Keble College. There are 38 colleges that all belong to Oxford University. So there isn’t really a campus, just 38 small campuses called colleges. Everyone who applies to Oxford gets accepted into a college and then they live at that college and work with the professors within that college and then to graduate, they take a test and then graduate from Oxford University, not the college. So every college has a dining hall and chapel of some sort. The dining hall at Keble College was da bomb. After breakfast, we tried to find a place to worship. We were going to meet in the chapel in Keble College but there was actually a service going on. There is some conference going on right now at Oxford so there are a whole lot more visitors here than usual. That also meant that all of the other rooms were reserved for this conference thing. It was chilly and rainy this morning so we didn’t really want to stay outside but the rain finally stopped and we found a sitting area with some chairs so we just worshiped outside. The great thing about the church is that we can worship anywhere we congregate. Today, that was outside:) After worship we had about an hour break before lunch. We went searching for some Oxford sweatshirts. I wasn’t sure I wanted to buy one at first but I found one that was a blue color that I didn’t have in any of my sweatshirts and it was only 12 pounds so I went for it. I am glad I did because I feel a greater connection to Oxford now that I learned more about it. I walked back to Keble College to meet my half of the group that was eating lunch at The Eagle and Child for lunch. Again, this is the restaurant that C.S. Lewis and Tolkien and their friends met to chat and such frequently. I ordered a roast beef with vegetables. It was actually not that good. I was pretty disappointed in it. I then ordered a lemon tart with a raspberry chocolate sauce and that made up for the lame lunch. It was delish. After lunch, we were meeting the whole group for a guided tour around Oxford. The whole group split into two and we each had our own tour guide. She took us to different colleges and showed us gardens, chapels, dining halls, student rooms, statues, and told us about who went to what colleges. A lot of famous people attended and taught at Oxford. She pointed out all of the things that connected to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. We saw the colleges they attended and taught at and their favorite places to sit. We saw the place where Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and heard stories that a student of Lewis told our tour guide. That student was the man who acts as Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter movies. All of the connections were neat. Oxford is just so old that a lot of the buildings just hold some incredible history. Our tour guide knew A LOT about Oxford and it was really interesting hearing about all she had to offer us. We went to Christ Church College last. This location was the inspiration for the Harry Potter staircase entrance and the Great Hall. It was magical. Also the quads in each college have the most perfect green grass ever (probably because no one is allowed to walk on it). We also saw a door, lamppost, and Mr. Tumnus statue that inspired C.S. Lewis for his Narnia book. There is a lot of inspiration going on in Oxford. After we travelled the colleges enough, we went to a little cafe for cake and hot drinks. I got apple cake and coffee and it hit the spot since it was rainy and chilly. Next door was a Alice and Wonderland shop. That book was also inspired by a young girl named Alice who lived in Oxford. We then walked back towards our college and on the way searched for dinner. We always have the hardest time deciding where to eat. Mainly because all of the restaurants we might like, are extremely pricey. We finally found an asian place that I can’t remember the name of. Mooshi or Mushy or Moogie. I don’t know. It was weird. We all ordered Chicken Teriyaki but it was different than what you typically think of. It was freshly chopped and cooked chicken, greens, rice, and a light sauce. It was delicious though. Those people knew what they were making. We all chowed that meal down. After resting for some time, we walked back to our college, dipping into stores trying to soak in our last few hours in the U.K. When we got back to Keble, I hadn’t been in the Chapel yet and heard it was a must see. Us 5 girls went in and there was just another guy taking pictures in there. We looked around and then sat down. We decided we wanted to sing a bit while we were there. We waited for the guy to leave and then started singing and singing. It was beautiful. There weren’t many of us, but I miss just singing to no end with a group of Christians. Take advantage of that Freedies. The opportunities will dwindle. The guy actually came back in for some reason and sat down for a long time. He walked up to us like he wanted to say something but then just left eventually. We weren’t really sure what to think of him but he had a Cambridge sweatshirt on so I wasn’t really sure what he was doing there at all. They are kind of huge rivals. After we sung/sang? ourselves out, we went back to our rooms and I rested for a good while, packed and got ready for bed. These past 10 days have left me EXHAUSTED. We keep telling ourselves we can rest when we stop traveling, aka in 3 months. I am not ready to leave the U.K. I love it here. It is magical and wonderful and perfect. But I do need some rest. Just not ready for this school thing again. yuck.

Fun Facts: there are no exits here. Just “way out”s. J.K. Rowling was just asked to attend Oxford. There are 3 original Oxford University buildings (as in they don’t belong to a college): 2 libraries and a church. I have seen vomit on the street in almost every city I have been to.

SHOUTOUT: My friend, Devan. Probably can’t read this because she in India (I think) also studying abroad. But I miss you crazy girl!