Oxford 2011 Freshers Chat Thread

I have a question for current students, I don't drink, is this going to be a problem at Oxford? Is there a drinking culture amongst Freshers?

Keble (moved from St. Johns, so have never been inside Keble, am dead excited)
Philosophy and Theology

Which I guess makes me a Ke-girl, rather than an X-man or a Hu-man...Hmm, not sure I like this, sounds a bit like kegel.Yeah, not good.

Now thats funny, I was also in an all girls school from Y7 through to Sixth Form, and I found it had exactly the opposite effect. I find it really easy to talk to boys in the normal, people/friends sense, because they take you at face value. You run out of things to talk about, talk about x. And you talk about x. With girls, know everything you say about x or y is being evaluated and judged, stored away as ammunition later on.

Not a hater, just wary. Girls take in waaaay too much information, and we can use it to be hostile in such random ways.Like, what you wear can radically affect how they see you. We had two own-clothes-days at school a few months apart, and I wore the same black T-Shirt with big gold roses on both occasions, you know, cos it was a nice top. People remembered, and commented on it. Somebody even told me I was a gothic tramp, which made me LOL. I mean, I <3 fashion, if you wear a fabby pair of shoes and I notice, I will remember your epic shoes as being epic. I won't bother to remember if I didn't like your hair.

<shrug>

Not a problem. I also don't drink, and not only have I never had a problem with that anyway though I've socialised with a wide variety of people (i.e. not just the friends who know and love my oddness)... but I've also checked with a half dozen or so people I know at Oxford and they all said it's totally normal to have non-drinkers around and that they're not treated any different.

Hurrah! I feel a lot better after all these positive comments, I was afraid I was going to be a social outcast *sobs*

I'm slowly realising quite how much I have to buy in the four or so days between coming back from Berlin and going up...

I'm slowly realising quite how much I have to buy in the four or so days between coming back from Berlin and going up...


Out of totally non-judgemental interest, why don't you drink?

Ok that's pretty cool . . . *tries to make something equally cool for St Hugh's and fails* no wonder they call us the Hufflepuff House (incidentally I'm also in Hufflepuff on Pottermore should I be offended? At least I'm not evil . . .)

Mostly just because I don't like the taste. I find it hard to take a sip of any alcohol without grimacing, the most I can manage is a drop of wine at weekly communion. It's not some big moral thing.

Sorry to butt in, but ooh, Pottermore reference! I still haven't got my welcome email, I feel that all the effort for early entry is getting less and less worth it! But as a major HP geek, I obviously don't mean that

And from the trend, I'd be a He-Girl, which is a strange contradiction.

I pity you! Though in a way it's good because it'll stop you spending way too much money... I'm making three IKEA wish lists, varying from 'Ooh that looks nice, I'll take it' to 'Let's be sensible, now' and 'Be realistic, you can only afford the bare basics.&quot; It's exciting but scary to see how easily everything adds up! I had no idea how expensive mini-fridges were :O

Mostly just because I don't like the taste. I find it hard to take a sip of any alcohol without grimacing, the most I can manage is a drop of wine at weekly communion. It's not some big moral thing.

You should try cocktails, I had one the other night which tasted just like a raspberry milkshake, shame I cant remember what it was called.

Yeah, I really ought to make a list of everything I need to buy at some point in advance. I shall have a crazy IKEA day, I think.


Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. It's such a huge range of flavours though; regardless of drunkenness I like alcoholic drinks. Things like liqueurs don't necessarily have such a taste of alcohol to them (and with any drink, to taste it properly and minimise any alcoholic 'kick', sniff it first, breath in the smell deeply, take a sip, hold it in your mouth for a moment to get the real taste, then swallow).


Try 1 msr vodka, 1 msr Chambord, 2 msr cream (shake with ice, strain onto ice into lowball glass and garnish with raspberry) for a Raspberry Russian, pretty sweet and milkshakey? Or just add vodka to a raspberry milkshake.

Yeah, I really ought to make a list of everything I need to buy at some point in advance. I shall have a crazy IKEA day, I think.


Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. It's such a huge range of flavours though; regardless of drunkenness I like alcoholic drinks. Things like liqueurs don't necessarily have such a taste of alcohol to them (and with any drink, to taste it properly and minimise any alcoholic 'kick', sniff it first, breath in the smell deeply, take a sip, hold it in your mouth for a moment to get the real taste, then swallow).


Try 1 msr vodka, 1 msr Chambord, 2 msr cream (shake with ice, strain onto ice into lowball glass and garnish with raspberry) for a Raspberry Russian, pretty sweet and milkshakey? Or just add vodka to a raspberry milkshake.

It wasnt a raspberry russian. It was one of the house cocktails, so i dont know at all.

I'm quite sensitive to spicy foods too, I'm just not keen on it but I have n
o problem with other people drinking :-) on the buying things front today I got a big fluffy duvet two bounce back pillows and a lovely bright green kettle (I've decided I want all my things to be green, I have a cute little green doorstop shaped like a stuffed owl too) I'm enjoying shopping a little too much actually but it's so exciting having my own real space for the first time!

I made Raspberry Russians up in that post, I'd be pretty chuffed if bars were serving them already.


Fair enough, I suppose. You might surprise yourself by growing into it, though. And obviously if you're keen on the drunkenness but not the flavour there are always alcopops...

I think I saw that owl on the 'what are you bringing' thread, it looked cool.

Actually, before now I didn't know there was a what are you bringing thread so- OMG SOMEONE STOLE MY OWL!

And as for the alcohol I said taste was the main reason but there are other little ones (I've seen alcohol abused by quite a few of my friends, and personally I usually have a better time sobre) so I think I'll give it a miss but you guys have as many alcopops as you like! I think I'll nosy on down to the &quot;What are you bringing thread&quot; and see who stole my owl . . .

Yeah, I really ought to make a list of everything I need to buy at some point in advance. I shall have a crazy IKEA day, I think.

Yeah, the prices for the three lists ended up being £430, £175 and £50, so I guess I know what I'll be going for.... it also depends on things like if I can bring a rug, if I can bring a floor-lamp etc. I'm also going to trawl clas ohlson, and just in general the high street! The main thing I think I'll spend on is duvet covers and things, because I want them to be really nice, and minifridge/kettle/toaster.

IKEA rocks, so I'm looking forward to it!

Don't think of it as stealing, think of it as your owl having a sibling somewhere else? Speaking of owls, I'm quite tempted to set up an ironic mock-shrine in my room with a little marble Athena owl I got in Greece years ago to offer shots to in exchange for essay guidance.

I actually named my owl Minerva (Minnie for short, Minerva's a bit of a mouthful) so we clearly both think along Athena lines (although Minerva's Roman Athena's Greek I think? I did Latin so I work with the Roman names mostly . . .) you're right it'll be nice for her to have a sibling.

I think that if you ever fail to produce an essay or do a really awful one (not that you would) you should attempt to blame your Athena owl and see if the tutors buy it.

Edit: just saw your above post about prices. That does seem a bit much money-wise as an estimate but if you want a TV (and license) and a bike it's going to be about that amount, it depends on what you think you'll need I guess.