"Why negative one," you ask?
Not because I'm sad (it's actually going quite well, better than expected, though I miss you all).
Rather, Oxford lists all their terms' weeks by numbers. Week Zero starts next week.
So I've decided this is Week Negative One.
Other things I've learnt:
1. "Clarity is the enemy of progress." This was a repeated phrase in the Vice-Chancellor's welcome to the University.
2. Until 10 years ago, "proctors," who wear tuxedoes every day to work, could arrest (and imprison in a university prison) students. Now, they can only give them monetary fines (even for academic misdemeanors like plagiarism).
3. You can only get a Social Security number when you have a phone; you can only get a phone when you have a bank account; you can only get a bank account when you have proof of address; you can only sign a lease (to get that proof of address) when you have a bank account.
4. 40% of O's academic staff are international. As a result, I feel a sigh of relief. No more being judged for not knowing American things! No more weird fetish of Canadians! Rather, a whole community of transplants.
5. I have raspberries growing in my (tiny) yard. They taste really good.
6. If you run towards a cow, the cow may run towards you.
Pictures to follow (when I get a phone, which will have a camera, but which requires a bank account, which requires a proof of address).
L'shanah tovah!
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| Proctors in 1674 |
Did you run at a cow?
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteBut the cow was on the trail I was running on, so I thought I'd keep going and it would move. It had a similar idea, and came running - literally running - towards me.
I stopped.
It stopped.
I went onto the grass.
It stayed on the path.
And I walked around it.
There are cows five minutes away from the bodlein library.
Yeah, that weird fetish of things Canadian has worked out for you. See Laurie.
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice comment from my perspective, CBAM, but indeed, I have S.C. 's forbearance of my boorish American ways to thank for much happiness.
ReplyDeleteAnimals I saw running recently, among many items I don't get to mention: skunk, deer. But it ran toward you? Incredible.
YSA is giving CBAM a hard time (forever protective). I appreciate it, but CBAm, you may indeed be right.
ReplyDelete