UPDATE: Fudgie the Hamster

First, I'd like to admit that I was kidding when I promised to follow up on the hamster post. I mean, did anyone really think that BBC would publish another story about Fudgie? But...they did, so I decided to keep to my word and let those of you waiting with bated breath know what happened.

BBC reports that Fudgie finally got bored of living in a hole and crawled back into her cage earlier this week. Six year-old Zoe is much relieved, and her mom says "it was like Christmas morning" when they realized Fudgie was back. Hurray!

The Welfare State

So...this week I'm studying the British welfare state. My main conclusion (apart from the academic stuff) is that the UK really cares about its people. Seriously, everyone. You don't even really have to be a person:

Here, for example is the amazing story of the state's attempt to help a little girl save her missing hamster. How many firefighters were involved? If you guessed less than 8, you're wrong. (Or more than 8. It was 8.)

Unfortunately, even Britain's finest (armed with a chocolate-covered high-tech camera and a vacuum cleaner fitted with a sock) couldn't find Fudgie the Hamster. Some might draw conclusions from this about the efficacy of a system that creates dependence on the state, but frankly, the hamster's only been MIA for a few days, and I think we should give the system a fair shake before judging it.

I'll post an update if it becomes available.

I eat, sleep, and read (political philosophy)

So, a bunch of people (mostly family) want to know what I'm doing with my time.

Mostly, I'm studying. The main difference between studying at Oxford and at Brown is that I'm taking just two, intensive classes at a time, and writing a paper at least once a week. This much writing involves a lot of reading for hours on end, but the actual class meetings, in which I discuss my papers one-on-one with my instructors, have been amazing so far.

I made my obligatory rounds signing up for every student group in existence at the Activities Fair here, and I've been trying my best to get involved. This term (the first 8 weeks) I'm rowing with Mansfield's boat club. The autumn term is for amateurs, and most visiting students give it a try because rowing is a quintessentially "Oxford" experience.

The city itself (Oxford, about 60 miles outside London) is beautiful. There's even more going on here than I expected, including a great theatre and restaurant scene. The university is broken up into a ton of constituent colleges, so there are some iconic places I haven't seen because they are part of other colleges. Hopefully I'll find a reason to explore those as well soon.

As far as the essentials go, there are more Chinese and Thai restaurants here than anywhere I've ever been, barring Chinatown. I'm having more trouble finding acceptable ice cream. I'm keeping up hope, though.

Woohoo! Blog! ENGLAND! Blog...in England!

So, I'm relaunching this blog to chronicle my time in England. Mostly, I've decided that I have too many ridiculous comments about British culture and food products to keep to myself, but I'll also throw in some details about what I'm doing so nobody misses me too much. I'm sorry the blog is ugly; feel free to send pointers. This is a test post -- expect a real one soon!