After a short 6 1/2 hour flight, 1/2 hour circling because of fog and 1 hour in a taxi I arrived safe and sound in Oxford, UK. The weather is beautiful possibly nicer than back home, sunny and warm for 5 days straight. The radio is a buzz with the possibility of record breaking temperatures.
Aside from enjoying the good weather and picking up the Oxford essentials (proper academic dress, and college scarf), there are many international student welcome events. Free drinks, free food, and new people looking lost are everywhere. Week -1 is International Week when most of the international students arrive and information is provided about services available to international students and how to set up your new life -> credit/debit cards and cell phone plans.
Along with all that fuss is a few interesting statistics, 60% of the graduate student body is international. Of them Canadians are hugely over represented coming in a close third behind the USA and Germany, both of which have many times the population. I've already met 3 other Canadian graduate students in my college and several others in other colleges. There were surprisingly few Asians and Persians, compared to Canada, and those that were present almost all had been raised in the USA. English requirements must be quite high for admission.
I will close with my favourite piece of advice from this weeks welcome speeches: Be sure to practice your Oxford accent it will help you further your career.
Cheerio!
