Today was legal London day. Most of the students went down to London on the schools dime to see the home base of all the legal centers. The 5 of us decided to opt out. This meant a free day for all of us. Dan decided to go see the tall ships Newcastle-upon-Tyne. About his time with the tall ships he remarked, "One of the coolest things I've ever seen. It was pretty stirring. I enjoyed it."

The rest of us stayed around the house, slept in, watched some movies, worked out, and enjoyed the free time. Here is a picture of us after a hard chest/tricepts workout. We're huge.

Typical day for the men at Oxford,

7:30ish - Awake and get ready for school.

8:30 - Head off to school, most days that means a bike ride for Bryan, Dan, and I. The ride is about 2 miles and takes us about twenty minutes.

9:00 - School starts at 9:00, although, school actually starts about five to ten minutes late each day, and most of us are greatful for it.

Our first class is EU law. We all participate in this one together. Professor Craig is excellent. He wrote the textbook we use. Each day he comes in and starts lecturing, without notes, starting right from the place he left off the day before. Bryan says, "He is a proper brit, with a sly sense of humor."

11:00 - Second class starts, that means Products Liability for me and International Public Law for everyone else.

1:00 - Class ends, some days we'll go to lunch with some of the other students, and some days we'll head home for lunch. There is a great place called Yates down by school. They have 2-for-1 fish and chips that are excellent.

3:00-5:00 - Most days we'll relax for a spell when we come home and then head over to the gym. Bryan, Dan, and I have been working out almost every day for about two weeks. Chris just recently joined us as well. We're all seeing results from our efforts, so it makes the effort well worth it.

5:00-10:00 - We come home from the gym, make dinner, watch big brother on the tube, and do some homework for the rest of the night. Sometimes we'll go get groceries or do other errands, but must days we just take it easy.

Trip to Stratford

This is one of the windows in the Church

This is a first edition King James Bible

Shakespeare's Resting Place

Birthplace of Shakespeare

The program took us on a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon today. This was the birthplace and the burial place of William Shakespear. We went to visit the grave and the house that Shakespeare was born in. It was pretty cool.

We also went to the local theatre and watched a production of 'Comedy of Errors.' About 18 of the students in the program attended the production. It was really fun. The actors really made the dialogue come to life. The English accent also added to the entire effect.

The story is of twin brothers who are separated when they are young children. 33 years later, one brother goes looking for the other. When the searching brother happens unknowingly upon the town that his brother lives in, the townspeople (including his brother's wife) confuse him with his brother and hilarity ensues.

This is a panorama and the regular photos of the river (I believe that it is the Thames) that we ride along on our way to school every day.

There are typically many kayakers, rowing buddies, and houseboaters along the river. There are also many picknikers, pedestrians, and other bikers that ride along the path. The river doesn't look like much (it's not that deep) but for some reason, they have life preservers set about every 50 yards. So perhaps it's more dangerous than it looks.

Either way it's quite pretty and it makes for a delightful ride into town each day. Personally, it gives me something to look forward to each morning.

Another photo of Christ Church

Bryan, Nikita, and I at Noodlebar

This man with Bryan and I is Nikita. He is a marketing executive from Russia. He's unique among us because he is not here in order to get any degree. He graduated from an Indian College with an MBA degree in 1998. He has since worked for an advertising agency in Russia. He decided that he would take some law courses through the University of San Diego, because he felt that too often, people from countries with a common law system (us and England among others) had a hard time understanding, and therefore trusting, businessmen who operate in a civil law system (Russia).

So last year he took two classes in Florence, Italy, and this year he is taking the same products liability class that I am taking. He's a really smart guy. He is very able when it comes to interpreting cases, and drawing the law out of the American judges opinions, which is difficult for law students from civil law countries.

Bryan and I had dinner with him this evening. We went to an oriental restaurant called the "Noodlebar." It was good. He told us all about Russia and how in many ways, the poor in Russia live very much the same way people lived hundreds of years ago. Many people are subsistance farmers. The economy in Russia is still mostly agricultural. He asked what the American public perception of Russia is, whether Americans trusted the Russians. It was very interesting.

He said that to govern the Russian people, the government must use an iron fist. That the people respond to strength and strong rulers. I got an impression that the people were tough. He said that many times, if you buy one car, you must buy a big car. The little cars that you see in Europe are, "laides cars." Many times, a man will buy a jeep, then he will buy a smaller car for his wife. However, he will end up driving the smaller car, because it's more practical to find a place to park and it's easier to maneuver in city traffic. His wife will end up with the Jeep.

A Typical Street in OxfordThis Guy is a Sentinel that Separates the Scholars from the Regular Folks (there are 13 more like him)

This is Where all the Students at Oxford Take their Exams (They have to wear special clothes)

This Cobblestone road is where we began our tour

A Building

McDonald's gets McCrowded at Lunch Time

We went on a walking tour of Oxford today. Kathryn Bevis, who has been a student here for like 10 years, is some kind of administrator for our group. She took us around and told us about all the different schools and monuments in town. There was a building that was a college founded in like 1200 or something. There is a place in the middle of one of the streets where some protestants were burned at the stake for heresy.

She showed us the building where all the Oxford students take their exams. They have to wear a special uniform. Then their grades are posted on boards in front of the schools. Most of us were glad that our grades weren't posted in public. It's a tradition to congratulate those in uniform who look happy. Those that don't look happy haven't taken their exams yet, I guess.

Apparently they found out who the bombers in London were. Dan said that a mother of one of the men had called the police because he had been missing for days. They put the pieces together and it turns out they were suicide bombings. They were all born and raised in the United Kingdom.

Some Pictures of the Main Courtyard at Christ's Church

The Main Courtyard in Panorama

The Front Spire in Courtyard

Today is the first day of classes. We met our professors and sat through our first class. EU law was quite engaging. I am excited to learn more about how the EU works.

Bryan and I hit the weights again today. It was a good work out. One of these days I'll be strong again.