Sunday 24 January

The first day in Oxford promised a lot. I had already threaded on green grass and the sun was shining. It was a perfectly beautiful spring day. Welcoming programs said shopping and tours, guided by other international students. From answers given yesterday I decided I would do better on my own. Clive Booth Hall and Oxford Brookes University is 15-20 minutes walk from town centre, depending on mood, shoes and sense of geography. All three could be questioned since only the weather was opting for a morning smile. Morning coffee was, to be honest, British. There was a chemical flavor that could only come from a country who considered the issue of tea or coffee to be an international historical conflict still. However, even the afternoon tea had the same tang to it. Simple deduction lead me to question one of three common denominators: Water, boiler and the contamination from English kitchen culture. The water tasted well enough, but I was attacked by a scent of chlorine when I lifted the boiler lid. Apparently someone had cleaned it and thought it sufficient with a single rinse. A proper rinse, five boils later the smell was still there, but a touch of tea made it through, once in the cup.I arrived downtown before the shops opened and got a taste of old Oxford; colleges, gardens, the castle, churches. It really is a beautiful spot. I spent the first hour browsing and checking prices. The only thing I bough was water- or wine glasses from Debenhams – 4 rustic Jamie Oliver’s for £10. Then I picked up pans, and electrical adaptors so that I could plug into England and went to get my bike, which meant walking again.

To have a bike is nice. Let’s say no more about that. Although it was a bit wobbly since they had forgotten to secure the saddle. Going back I got a set of simple tools and an extra discount on bicycle bags. Time was not running my errands so I barely had time to pick plates, bowls and mugs up before shops closed.

I had planned to by some nice antique ones but poverty is the mother of convention too, so I settled for 6 for £12 at Whittard’s. I could have done better, going for black mugs at Marks and Spencer’s, but since I have so far exaggerated the size of my room in a Don Quixotian fashion I felt I would need some encouragement for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the room is not 10 but 6 square meters. Therefore, I picked the most colorful I could find. And with Arwen on my mind, everything I have will be ours, the mugs are dark purple, plates are red and bowls are in different matching colors, blue and purple. Just so you know dear reader what to expect if you come and visit: Bring a mattress of reasonable size. There is 70*200 cm left on the floor between my desk and my bed.Step by step I see what I have forgotten in Falun and Uppsala: Photos of passport size, electrical adaptors, computer adaptor, a Magnus Mills book to read, my England pants, so far.

Finally rain fell and all that shone was my own personal stellar constellation; the myth has it that God is still frustrated that he could never achieve anything like her after making her as a first sketch for mankind as a print on the sky.