UPDATE: Our New Home in the UK

A lot has happened since my last post-- I graduated from MSU, moved to Washington, D.C. for an internship at Amnesty International, got married to my wonderful wife, Monica Mukerjee, moved to the UK, and am now employed in London.

Wow- I guess that qualifies as a lot.

Monica and I have been settling into our flat in Oxford and adjusting to life in the UK. Our immediate reactions to British people and UK culture, in general, were that it is not that different from the U.S. Yes, everyone have interesting accents. Yes, they drive on the 'wrong' side of the street but we really do have more in common than we originally thought. I guess, from my travels, each place has had a distinct feel which sets it markedly apart from other places I've been. When we stepped off the plane at Heathrow and our first few hours in London, it felt like other big cities I've been to in the U.S.

Maybe this is because industrial metropolises have standard things in common (i.e. subways, sidewalks, street signs). Some scholars point to this as a growing 'business civilization.' Or maybe once a city gets to a certain size it will have an international, multicultural population with certain aspects in common with one another. Or maybe this is our post-modern civilization beginning to emerge within the urban centers in the world. (Let's hope for the latter.)

Although British culture is very similar to American culture, it is the little things that will get you. First off, I'm surprised I survived the first week in Oxford. Even though the city has helpfully stenciled "LOOK RIGHT" and "LOOK LEFT" on pedestrian crosswalks, I step out to see a small European car buzzing toward me. Monica has pulled me back to the safe sidewalk numerous times just as an Oxfordian bicycle goes zooming by us. Last week, Eric (one of our American friends living in Oxford and a spouse of another Marshall scholar) and I were quickly crossing the street when a double decker bus blared its horn at us and we scurried out of its way just in time.

The second little difference is in the Queen's English. I know, I know-- I am not one to be a stickler for spelling but my attempts at the job search have taught me to replace a few words with the British equivalent. Most popular in my CV and personal statements were organization/organisation, program/programme, and honors/honours. Some that didn't appear in my personal statement are mom/mum, airplane/aeroplane, goodbye/cheers, boogeyman/bogeyman, and arse/ass. I think one of the reasons my applications got interviews was because I successfully integrated the Queen's spellings (and not the latter).

The third difference is tea. Brits know how to steep a mean cup of tea, bit it Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Assam, or green tea. I, as an American, thought my beverage of choice was strong, black coffee. Early in the morning, I enjoy the crisp, shockingly strong taste and the hot liquid to wake myself up. A few weeks ago, I caught a cold and lost my voice and attempted to coax my voice back to health with cups and cups of tea. After about a week, I was hooked and now I have become accustomed to nearly five cups of tea a day--which sneaks up on you. I was mistaken that tea is harmless and has no caffeine and is really more like water than anything else. Tea does have caffeine and with five cups a day you hit the 'loo' quite a bit.

Besides these little things, life in Oxford has been great. We have explored some of the hallowed halls of Oxford's oldest colleges and even found a quad that was filmed in one of the Harry Potter films!



Next mission: find the Quidditch Pitch.



More Pictures:



Linacre is Monica's college at Oxford. Oxford is organized into colleges for students to live and eat together but are not related to their subject or field of study.










This is the main building of Linacre College.






















































































































Riding in one of these boats is a classic Oxford experience called 'punting'
(but we haven't done it yet!)

Our friends, Marzyeh and Steve