Based on information from the Oxford University site
"... students receive an intensive education, including our distinctive tutorials, and are taught by academic leaders in their field. Colleges provide multidisciplinary communities within which students are supported and intellectually challenged, and have the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life and many different countries.
Tutorials
In tutorials our undergraduates meet their tutor alone or with one or two other students, meaning greater personal attention and the tailoring of learning to meet students' individual needs. Tutorials take place at least once per week, in addition to lectures and labs.
...
World-leading academics
Oxford has a world-class reputation for academic excellence. Our students are taught by academic leaders in their field."
We were most interested to learn about the Colleges, which as the site describes,
"The Colleges
College life is one of the University’s greatest assets. All of our students are members of a college where they live - often for the first and final years of their course, sometimes for the full duration of their course. The college community provides a friendly and welcoming home for students, and exposes them to a multidisciplinary environment where ideas are debated over meals and in common rooms."
Reported by Andrew Ong and Betris Ang
Straford upon Avon-Oxford-London
It’s finally the day we're going to London.
Woke up bright and early for breakfast before departing for a city tour of Oxford. The weather forecast in UK is extremely accurate. Our bright sunny days were clouded by mist and grey skies and a slight drop in temperature, just like what London is stereotypically portrayed to be.
On the way to Oxford we saw bus loads of people being ferried to the protest site in Oxford Street, London. It seemed like we were part of their protests too since we were on the way there as well.
Oxford
Went to the Radcliffe Library. It houses every single publication in the UK. It is indeed quite a massive collection of books in a single building. Had some free time in Oxford to grab lunch before returning to the bus and head to London!
London
We arrived in London and were greeted by the famous London red double decker buses and ”underground” signs of the London Tube and the busy streets as it were a Saturday after all.
Our first stop in London was Borough Market.
It was a bustling marketplace full of people. We tried a variety of food from pan seared scallops to Vietnamese curry to ice cream, champagne cider and sangria. They were all extremely delicious although the Vietnamese curry didn't look very appetizing from the looks of it, bubbling in a giant wok.
After the market, we headed into Docklands where our Travelodge was located. It was so far from the city we had our own light rail system the DLR to connect to the main tube. Like LRT in Singapore...
After we checked in, washed up and it was time to head to Oxford Street for some shopping. The entire time we were in London except on Sunday when we went on the city tour we travelled by the tube. It is extremely convenient and idiot-proof.
We alighted at Bond Street and arrived at a mob of people beginning to disperse after the scheduled protests at Oxford Street. We had 3 hours to explore the area and grab our dinner. So there began the most of everyone's shopping. We literally shopped till we dropped. Well for me at least.
It began to get really chilly in the night as the wind blew and we roamed the streets. Walked past Topshop but sadly it was closed. Apparently the protests got a little out of hand and people were splashing paint on shop windows and Topshop had to be forced shut. Police patrolled the streets where we roamed. I'm not sure if I felt safer with them around or more afraid.
The best shop that night of shopping in Oxford Street has got to most definitely be Primark. 1 pound shades, 5 pound t-shirts... just imagine...
We took the tube back to our hotel and walked in the freezing cold night. London was much colder than any other city we've been in or perhaps it’s just my extremely poor tolerance of the cold.
With that concludes the our first night in London, went to bed extremely satisfied with all the new loots and looking forward to the London City tour planned for us the next day!
