WEEK IN MY LIFE AT OXFORD 🎓🥹 matriculation, bodleian library, classes *VLOG*

a week in my life at the university of oxford! join me on my very first week of classes, studying at the radcliffe camera, and perhaps the most exciting–matriculation!!!

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timestamps:
00:00 intro
00:27 my 1st lecture
01:44 how it went/workload
03:16 buying a bike
04:02 learning mandarin
05:12 autumn vibes & meeting my supervisor
06:16 my 2nd lecture & landlord drama
08:39 studying in bodleian library
09:46 my 1st seminar
11:54 how i do essay research
12:48 trying on my subfusc
14:50 my hair is falling out lol
16:51 matriculation day
18:32 my opinions on matriculation

sub count: 472

if you read to the bottom of the description, 我爱你 😎

But I love free paint. And I know this is like first world problems for for real, but like this just makes me sad. Look at this. The mother didn’t show up again. He didn’t show up to the rescheduled appointment. Why does it look so weird? [Music] In the trenches. Today is officially my first day of lectures, which I’m super excited for. But it did mean that I had to wake up at a staggering 8:30 a.m. instead of my usual 12 p.m. So, not ideal. [Music] I want you [Music] We will volunteer later. [Music] kill. I want you. So I had my first class today which wasn’t anything exciting. It was just research methods. So I can only assume the more grueling stuff will come later in the week when I have my seminars. But that being said, the class did get me thinking a lot about my research question and the question I want to write about and you know answer in my dissertation. I was given my supervisor last week and to be quite honest, his research interests aren’t necessarily aligned with mine. I’m not going to go into detail because I doubt that there’s many people on this channel that are interested specifically in what I do. But let’s just say I want to focus on Central Asia and his specialty is Taiwan. So, I don’t really know what the logic was there. He seems nice, though. And we have to schedule meetings with our supervisors before the end of next week. So, I’m going to talk to him, I guess, and just try and decide what specifically I want to focus on. You’re not really expected to start the bulk of your dissertation until the second half of the year, but because I decided to take two modules on top of my quantitative research methods class, um, I really want to make a start to my dissertation now and just get the bulk of the research out of the way before Christmas. For me personally, when it comes to writing, the research is what takes up the majority of the time. I can write pretty quickly because I make very concise notes. When I do my research, I make sure to be as expressive as possible, I guess, is a way to put it. Thing is though, that I also have two formative essays I need to write, and they’re not even assessed. They essentially want me to put my heart and soul into two 3,000word essays which are not even going to get assessed which I guess is good because it allows me to kind of get used to the marking like I don’t know like the mark schemes of Oxford but at the same time I could be putting that time towards something else I my dissertation which does get marked so I don’t know I’m not complaining yet. An update on the bike saga though. Literally every single vlog that I’ve posted to this channel I’ve been talking about buying a bike. In the first vlog, I bought a bike, but it was too big, so I ended up selling it. In the second vlog, I went and I bought a new bike. You know, it fit me. That one was fine. But then in this vlog, I mean, I didn’t film it, but I did actually end up returning that bike because I rode it a total of three times, and I realized very quickly that I am not a bike girly. Um, and I simply cannot be bothered. Low key, the bike that I bought was not worth the money that I paid for it either. So, that was another reason. I should get my money back, but if Ox Bike’s trying to tell me that I only get that money back in credit, I’m just going to jump off a bridge. No, I’m joking. I’m joking. Anyway, going to try get some work done. I’m going to edit a YouTube video and then finish my readings, I guess. Guys, I really wanted to keep learning Chinese because I haven’t formally learned it since like Easter semester this year. But I couldn’t sign up for classes at the Oxford University Language Center because the Chinese classes there that align with my level, they overlap with one of my lectures. So I emailed the teachers and we were trying to figure out like how else I could learn Chinese. Um, and then I went on my old university’s Confucious Institute website, you know, where they offered Chinese classes. And I saw that they have a weekly online class every week on Monday at my level. And it was like a pretty decent price. So I was like, za. I feel like I’ve forgotten a lot of my Chinese, but I really, really need to improve on it because I’m studying Chinese politics, so I need Chinese language as well. Chinese class [Music] That was unironically the hardest Chinese lesson in my whole life. I got these leaves from outside though, so I’m going to decorate my board of them. I love autumn. [Music] So, I’ve not had any classes today, but I am about to leave and go meet with my supervisor for the very first time. I’m just really excited to get some direction on my dissertation. So, I think it’s going to be a very productive meeting. [Music] So, my first lecture went well, but I’m so hungry. To be honest, it’s a little bit annoying that I don’t live at my college because my college is literally just a couple of minutes away from, you know, where I have my lectures and stuff. Instead, I live like 2 miles away, which it’s not too bad, but it’s so much farther than just a couple of minutes. I actually had some drama with my landlord this morning. It wasn’t drama, but basically, I requested some maintenance to be done in my bathroom, and they told me that the contractor would come on Monday between 9 and 12:00. He didn’t come. At 1:00, they emailed me to tell me that the contractor couldn’t attend because of a funeral, which is like, okay, fair enough. So, they rescheduled it for the next day between 9:00 and 5:00 p.m., which in itself is actually ridiculous cuz it’s like that’s such a massive like time frame, but I was gracious. I was like, “Okay, fine.” The mother didn’t show up again. He didn’t show up to the rescheduled appointment. So, today’s Wednesday. This is the third day. It’s like 12:00. I’m about to get into the shower to wash my hair cuz I have a lecture. And the guy knocks on my bedroom door. And I’m like, “What? Like, who is that? What?” And I’m like, “Um, who is it?” And he’s like, “Oh, I work for the estate agents.” And I was like, “Is this about the contracting job?” He was like, “Yeah.” I was like, “Brother, like, why are you here? We didn’t have an appointment booked for this day or for this time or anything.” And I I just said to him, I was like, “You were meant to show up yesterday.” He was like, “Oh, yeah, but I’m here now to do a job for like another room upstairs.” I was like, “Okay, but you didn’t give me my legally required 24 hours notice. Like, go home.” All I wanted to do was wash my hair, you know? And I didn’t have time to do it later cuz I had to go to class. So, I just said, I was like, “Well, can we reschedle?” He was like, “Yeah, that’s fine.” I was like, “Okay.” This motherucker told the estate agents that he had completed the jobs. I get an email from my landlord saying like, “Oh, uh, we spoke to the contractor and the contractor said that the jobs were completed and there was no more work to be done. Like, can you explain to like what else you you think needs doing?” I’m like, “Bro, like the contractor has not entered my room. How could he possibly complete the work when he is not physically present in my room?” So, I’m just waiting for the response down cuz I gave them an outline of the conversation that I had, you know, through my door with the contractor. Um, and then I sent them pictures because luckily my mother, bro, I literally got my mother to sort this out. My mom had sent them like photos of things that needed fixing like at the beginning of there’s literal proof in the emails of what the like area that needed maintenance looked like. Surprise, surprise. It looks the exact same as it does today because like the guy didn’t do any. I don’t know. They’re a bit incompetent to be honest, but hey, long lords. [Music] I’m going to go study in the Bian Library now, specifically in the Radical Club of Cambridge, which I’m so excited for cuz I’ve not had the opportunity to stay in yet. So, bro, how did Sn get here? He has such a good photo spot. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] So, I’m here for my very first seminar at Oxford, which I’m a little bit nervous for. I just don’t really know what to expect. Like, I don’t know if the teacher is going to be grilling us. At my old university, I was always the only person speaking in seminars, so I have some hope that it’s not going to be that way in Oxford. At least you would hope so. I had a little crisis this morning, which meant that I missed my first seminar. Then, I emailed my teacher and asked if I could go to one later today, and he said yes. So, I’m really hoping that that hasn’t created a negative first impression of me in his head. I hate being late and I hate missing classes. So, that didn’t really help my problems. But, I had a Subway. I’m okay now. So, I guess I’ll just see you guys after. You guys, two people came in and brought in these like cookies, pastries, and I completely forgot, but the China Center is having a coffee hour like at 4:00 after my seminar. And like I was considering going cuz I love free things. If you watch my fresh week vlog, then you’ll know that I love free things. But my college posted a picture on Instagram of the most dectable looking hot chocolates ever. So I was fully prepared to go to my college after my seminar and just devour a hot chocolate. But I love free things. But the hot chocolate honestly it’s so good. And I get a student discount in the cafe. So to be done. So we came to this restaurant for dinner. They gave us soup and shot glasses. So that’s about Um, sorry that I didn’t film much yesterday. My seminar went all right, but I remember saying that I was worried I’d be the only person speaking again and I mean it was like that for the first half of the seminar. Then luckily other people started speaking which I’m really glad about cuz the topic was modern Chinese history which I don’t know much about and even though I did the readings I kind of just didn’t really have much to add. In terms of plans for today I’m not really sure. I’ve got a seminar at some point that’s for research methods. Tomorrow oh my god I nearly forgot tomorrow is metriculation. So, I’m 100% going to try and film as much as I can because, you know, metriculation is such an iconic part of being at Oxford. I wear the subfos, which is those outfits, you know, the white shirt, the black skirt, and like the gown. I wanted pizza, so we came to Franco. [Music] So, we’re stopping by home real quick to grab some things cuz I’ve been so behind on after my seminar. I’m just going to go somewhere to a library somewhere somewhere somewhere some place cuz I haven’t SG in two weeks that I just want to get out the way ASAP. It links together with the content of my presentation in two weeks as well. So, that’s kind of hitting two birds with one stone in the trenches. [Music] Hello. Hey guys. So I’m back home now. I spent a good couple of hours at the Oxford Brooks Library and I got a lot of work in which I’m very pleased about. Now I mentioned previously that my metriculation is tomorrow and if you don’t know what that is, metriculation is the formal admittance of students into the University of Oxford. So I’m very excited. Every single student goes through the ceremony. We have to wear something called subfusk which is essentially the Oxford uniform. You wear it for metriculation, for exams, for graduation and it’s just overall a very iconic look of an Oxford student. To be honest, the list of requirements for your subfusk is pretty specific. I bought the majority of my uniform a while ago, but I was just waiting this week to receive my black skirt, which is the final piece of my uniform. So, I thought that I would try it on for you guys, show you what subfusk looks like. So, I’ll show you in 3 2 1. Here it is. I’ll stand up so that you guys can see it a bit better. But, I mean, to be honest, I’m not too sure what to do with these things here cuz I think it looks a little bit weird. I don’t know how I’m supposed to wear them. Are they meant to be on the side? I feel like a bat. If I have them just behind my shoulders, it kind of creates this weird gap on my back. I don’t know if you can see that. It just it looks a bit weird. I also have these leather shoes to wear. And I will also be wearing tights. Right now, I’m not wearing any tights, but tomorrow I will be. Yeah. I don’t know. The little batwing situation is a little bit weird, to be honest. I really don’t know what to do. It just looks weird. I bought this gown from like a proper shop. It was one of the stores that Ox recommend like Shepherd and Woodward or something of that nature. I can’t quite remember. So, it is a legit gown and I really doubt that I managed to buy the wrong one. I really doubt that there are multiple different types of blin like gowns that you can buy. But why does it look so weird? I’m going to try not overthink it. But can you imagine if I show up tomorrow and then like the watch dogs are like, “Goodbye, new gown.” I dropped my camera. No, I also don’t know what I’m going to do with my hair. I was thinking of curling it or maybe just doing something a little bit nicer than my regular, you know, straight hair, but then I was like, I just I don’t know. I have had a whole saga with my hair recently because it’s all fallen out. I’ve had tape extensions since the start of this year. So, for the last 10 months, but at the beginning of September, I decided to take the majority out and kind of just keep the tapes that I did have kind of to my natural hair length, which is currently down to there. I’ll insert a picture, but when I had tapes, my hair was like down to there, maybe. And I loved it because I’ve always dreamt of having long hair, and my natural hair just does not grow that long. But anyway, it became very expensive to keep up with. And I was like, “Okay, I’m moving to a different city. I really need to save my money and not spend it on something as stupid as hair.” So, I was like, “Okay, I’ll take the majority out, but I’ll keep a couple of tapes in for thickness.” When I tell you, when I tell you, like, I have two tapes. No, I have maybe like one tape left in my head. I don’t know why these just fell out so quick. And it can’t be a fault with my hairdresser because I’ve gone to the same hairdresser this entire year and I’ve never had an issue this bad. I did contact her and she blamed it on the maintenance I did whilst I was in Dubai because I spent 5 weeks in Dubai. I had to get my hair done there instead of, you know, back home. and she said that oh like the tapes they used were weird blah blah blah and I’m like girl like be for real like I don’t know if she’s telling the truth but I don’t know and I know this is like first world problems for real for real but like and this just makes me sad look at this my natural hair is so thin genuinely like the amount I’m holding here is probably more than in my entire head just look at this is hair from my entire head and then look at the extensions this is genuinely more than what is on my head I’ve also been thinking of going blonde because my natural hair is like mouse nasty brown. It’s kind of like a dark blonde light brown. And I was considering going lighter. But the problem is is that a couple of years ago, I bleached my hair so much to the point where it all fell out. So, it’s like I’ve been trying really hard to grow it back and like keep it healthy again. So, I don’t really know yet if I want to go back down that route. But, who actually cares about my problems? Nobody. Like, what what the am I complaining about? [Music] So, [Music] the register established who was a real student and deserve the university’s protection in the frequent time. [Music] [Music] Watch this video. [Music] That is the closest. [Music] [Music] So, it is a couple of days after my metriculation. Me and my boyfriend went back up to Manchester for a day like on that Saturday. So, I didn’t really get a chance to sit down and, you know, talk to you guys about my experience. If it looks like I’ve just woken up, it’s because it is 20 to 2:00 p.m. on a Monday. And I quite literally have just woken up. I woke up at 7:00 and then I stayed up till 8:00 and then I went back to sleep and then I woke up at half. Okay, whatever. Anyway, I mean, you guys will have seen kind of how the day went anyway, but I’ll just quickly walk you through it. I got to my college at a staggering like 9:00 a.m. which I did have to get up quite early, but you know, it’s fine. It was a special day. There was a drink reception in the morning, but for like, you know, just teas and coffees whilst, you know, everyone registered. And then there was also the option to take professional photographs, so I did do that. To be honest, I’m a bit annoyed because it was cloudy the entire day. I feel like I didn’t get any nice photos, but it’s fine. Like at Oxford, there’s plenty of opportunities to wear a subfusk uh metriculation, exams, graduation, things like that. So, whatever. I’ll get over it. So, I did my photos, then I met up with my friend. We just hung around for a little bit before we went over to hear the dean speech. And then after that, the entire college walked into town into the Shelonian Theater. And it was so funny because there were just regular people stood around taking pictures of us. It just I don’t know, it was giving zoo animals to be honest. The actual ceremony didn’t last long. It lasted maybe like 15 minutes, like 20 minutes. No, 15, maybe 10. I don’t know. It just it really felt like it flew by. And it’s funny because the vice chancellor was saying, “Oh, I still remember this day 40 years ago.” Blah, blah, blah. It just hit me that that was like probably the only time that I’m going to experience that. After the ceremony, me and my friend walked back to Kellogg. We just had lunch. I mean, to be honest, I was expecting somewhat of a nice lunch. Um, but it was just a buffet. But then at the same time, I don’t know what else I was expecting cuz there were so many people there. I think nearly 500 students from Kellogg alone metriculated that day. So I was like, “No, there’s not going to be a nice formal lunch.” But it’s fine. I filled up on Strong Temper and it was great. And then yeah, I don’t know. I just went home and then me and my boyfriend went to Manchester. But I know that a lot of people, you know, actually just celebrate the entire day. The friend that I was hanging out with, for example, she she went to a sexy subusk party at Lica College later that night. But yeah, that’s all from me guys and I’ll see you in the next video. Bye.