The most blindingly obvious differences are in the system. Having studied in the US for two years, where time is structured around classes, here there really isn’t much of a structure. I could attend lectures, or I could sleep all day. I could work at my translations a little bit every day until the next tutorial meeting, or I could do it all the day before.
Even the work for my tutorial isn’t that structured. ‘Translate as much as you can’, my tutor says. Just how much that is is debatable.
It’s unfortunate IFSA-Butler chose to place me in St Catz, where they don’t do Classics. This means the college library is of no use to me, and there’s nobody here I can even really discuss Classics with in earnest.
Other than that I have no complaints. The sun is still making occasional appearances, the lecturers have been informative (I am attending lectures on Plato and Aristophanes), and my tutor is helpful. The city of Oxford is beautiful, but that was to be expected. Now, off to translate 150 or so lines before Tuesday.
