Is "magical" too cheesy?

Because it is honestly the only way to describe this heaven. My room is enormous with a fireplace and a spiraling staircase leading up to it. the streets in front of Merton (my college--one of the three oldest, built in 1264) are true cobblestone, and everywhere you look are huge wooden doors, stained glass windows, ornate carvings, gargoyles, statues, and crests adorning every doorway. The flower gardens everywhere are just as breathtaking. I hope to get pictures up on here soon**

Yesterday a girl named jessica and i spent most of our day walking around Oxford, just taking everything in. we also had a formal english lunch, with four courses and constant filling of our wine glasses. This caused most of us to become quite sleepy in our introductory courses a little while later...
We headed to our first English pub experience as well, at a pub called the Kings Arms. You definitly can't be shy when trying to order drinks here! There are about a dozen different pubs in Oxford, and it will be neat to compare them all as the weeks go by!

This morning, after a very different English breakfast (ever tried scottish eggs??) I attended lectures from two different Oxford professors--one on the history of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the other on trends of leading world powers. The dictionary lecture was given by a woman who is considered to be the leading authority on the OED in the world. Believe it or not, it was fascinating.

Between lectures was tea time, (there are about 5 poortunities to get tea a day) and after lectures we had our induction into the Bodliean library, which houses 8 million volumes...and is again, is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. (Rivaled only by Oxford's other architecture.) Harry Potter was filmed there. (and we also saw the square where Malfoy was turned into a ferret!) After the Bodliean, we had our first formal walking tour of Oxford and all its colleges. There are almost a dozen colleges here at Oxford, if you were unaware, each of them unique but equally stunning.

Tolken and TS Eliot both stayed at Merton, and Louis Carroll lived next door (not at the same time of course) near Christ Church College, and drew his characters and settings from thins right outside my window.

So much of what I'm experiencing will be better shared through my pictures, so I apologise if this is dry! I'm in a bit of a hurry, as a bunch of us are headed to The Bear tonight--the oldest pub here at Oxford--and then maybe Merton's College Bar.

I've discovered (moreso than ever) how I love English food. The food at Oxford is amazing (I know I keep using that word) and the desserts (we all agree) just keep getting better.

My professor is also (once again) amazing. Not only does he teach and write books, but he also plays in a recording jazz band (that has toured the US) which is giving a concert tomorrow night at a pub in North Oxford (quite a lengthy walk from Merton). Some other students and I are planning to attend.

We had about an hour of spare time today (with the induction and tour taking up a bit of time) so we found this beautiful old bookstore on the High Street (main street) and I'm definitly headed back. There's this quiet feeling of reverence (??) that you get when you look at writings older than your country.

There's so much more to describe--hopefully it will come out in my next couple of postings. THANK you to all who commented on my news story on KELO--it was SUCH a surprise when Matt called me here for an interview. I hope I didn't sound too uneducated...cause I didn't know much...

Anyway, night for now--enjoy your SD sunshine!!