Another List Post. Sorry, but they help!
My Reminder List.
This list is to help me remember things I need to do for myself. Things I know will make me a better person, a happier person, and more holistic one.
1. Exercise. I joined the Teddy Hall rugby and football teams, and, while it is ok for me to drop one if my studies get too toilsome, I do want to remain active.
2. Read every day. Not only the books I "have" to read for my tutorials, but other stuff too. Like the news, old journal entries and poems I forgot I loved.
3. Have patience. Our crew is amazing but big, and we all love each other.
4. Keep moving on, no looking back; live for the moment. This is the experience of a lifetime, and I will not let anything from home, from the past, from the future, from the internet, from myself interfere with that.
5. Notice the beauty in everything. The buildings, the lectures, the people, the different accents from around the world, the quietness, the tea shops, the food...
6. The food: don't eat as much! I cannot continue to eat a full baguette every day. Don't get me wrong, discovering them was the best (* Please refer to my "Baguette of the Week" List, below), however, I do need to take heed in how often I reward myself with one. And also scones. Oh, and also chocolate croissants. As well as cider. Eek! Food here is awesome, I don't know who the heck told me otherwise!
7. Keep mingling with the local students! No matter how awkward I feel, or stupid about my american accent, or self-concsious I am of "talking with REAL Oxford students." Tom, Jay, Chris, Sam and Fez can really like me, it wouldn't be ludicrous like I sometimes let myself think it would be. I have to remember that. Friends can be friends, I need not be so intimidated.
8. Find more beautiful music to listen to. In concert halls, and through my headphones.
Baguette of the Week List.
Yes, you read right. I am obsessed with baguettes. I know they're just samichs on thick, toasty, wonderfully grained rolls, but, still, they're awesome.
Week 1 (Manchester, Newcastle): The meat pie/sausage roll.
Week 2 (Edinburgh, Belfast): Ham'n brie.
Week 3 (Belfast, Dublin): Ham, Salami, Pepperoni, green peppers, lettuce, tomato and American.
Week 4 (London, Oxford): Italian salami, onions, brie, lettuce, peppers.
And, officially,
The To-Do List:
1. Get some clothes at Primark.
2. Finish Crime and Punishment (Dr Baine)
3. Register at the Slovik Languages, Modern Languages, Russian and English libraries.
4. Buy cleats (Oh, I mean, "boots").
5. Get measured for my robes for Formal!
6. Find a "anything that's dead" costume for the Bop.
7. Finish Descartes' Meditations and start thinking about the man upstairs (Dr King)
No. 7 of your list is absolutely my favorite, and I went through the same exact thing. For the first few weeks, I would literally stand there, swallow my fear, and think, "Fuck it" and I'd start a conversation, and I'd force myself to keep it up. Don't be intimidated! You'll find that you are more confident and likable than you ever thought possible. It is empowering and strengthening. And once I started talking to people, I found out there's a lot of other Americans here too, and that the accents aren't immediately identifiable. And if they are, they're not a negative. You'll stop noticing it after a while. Keep up the good, hard work, love!
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