Oxford 2011 Freshers Chat Thread

I'm quite relaxed about the final things I need to buy, really. I'm probably going to take tons of stuff up with me, half my hi-fi included. I certainly don't need to worry about clothes, though I still want more; my dinner jacket is all sorted (and ****ing fresh too), though the trousers are being altered at the moment.

Suppose I should get some cooking stuff and re-fill my stationary. Not too fussed about books (should I be?) as I've gathered a little pile of them to take, but mainly I'll use the libraries. I haven't read a vast amount, but I've still plenty of time. May treat myself to a nice fountain pen, too, as I lost my last one in a club a while ago, it was a present too...

Totally possible! When I moved to Iceland, I brought about 45kg of stuff though I was only allowed 30. This is how:

1) Put as much weight as you can into hand luggage. \Most airlines allow a handbag/manbag and a laptop bag. My 'handbag' was a huge shoulder bag (though within hand luggage spec), and my 'laptop bag' was an equally huge backpack with a laptop compartment which contained my laptop and most of my books. Put all your heavy stuff in carry-on - they don't usually weigh it.

2) Clothes. Wear all of your clothes for the 15 minutes it takes to go through the security, and just run to the bathroom after you're through. There, take it all off, stuffing it into a THIRD hand luggage bag you had hidden in another of the two hand luggage bags. Just make sure you have nothing metal on you or you'll have to take it all of if the machine beeps!

To give you an idea, I wore 5 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of tights, leggings, 2 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of socks socks and my heaviest boots, about 15 t-shirts in increasing size (YES), 4 thick sweaters , 2 jackets and all my scarves. It is possible. I melted. But I am alive as I type this today.

3) Check-in. This has the least wiggle room. Tehrefore, you should pack in this as little and light as possible - i.e. no toiletries as you can buy those in the UK, only the clothes you can't wear - and other than that all the knick-knacks you can fit. Also I can say from experience that if it's up to about 5kg over, they don't charge you. It helps if you jabber on about being nervous about moving to the UK, and seem nervous as they'll be less likely to charge you than if you appear cocky.

I also took a guitar as a third piece of hand luggage, but not all airlines would allow that.

Good luck!!!

A fountain pen in a club!?

What sort of club are we talking about here....?

A place called Opium, phenomenally amazing cocktails in an underground bar, made up of four caves. It's genuinely like a Lewis Carroll absinthe dream, and at £7 a drink, worth it in every measure.

That sounded like I just wrote them an advert. Seriously, one of the best things about Bath.

Urgh...

*lives in a small town that only has one grotty, soulless nightclub and several slightly less grotty but equally soulless bars*


I just wrote an anti-advert?

But that place sounds amazing.

My mum bought me a fancy Parker fountain pen today
Not one of the £200+ reeeeeally fancy ones but still a lot better than the cheap £10 one I've been using for about 6 years...
I felt there was a better chance of people on here understanding the awesomes of a new fountain pen, as opposed to my friends (none of whom use fountain pens )!

My mum bought me a fancy Parker fountain pen today
Not one of the £200+ reeeeeally fancy ones but still a lot better than the cheap £10 one I've been using for about 6 years...
I felt there was a better chance of people on here understanding the awesomes of a new fountain pen, as opposed to my friends (none of whom use fountain pens )!

I actually can't write with fountain pens...

But I left my job at Ryman today and my colleagues got me a really nice Gunmetal Parker ballpoint and an awesome Japanese Paperblanks journal.

There's something very empowering about good stationary, if you ask me!

And deFoss; that place doesn't even look real! I'm positive there must be similar places in Oxford; it's a personal mission to track them down.

Somewhere that regularly plays GOOD Celtic folk music would be highly appreciated. Reasonably priced Guinness is also desired.

I love cheap biros, weirdly I write better with them

If it's the Gunmetal one I saw in the shop today (with a square pattern?) then that too is very pretty
There really is, however, I can't usually justify buying the good stuff when I can get twice as much for half of the price with the lame cheap stuff

Just joining in with your other conversation, that club does look ridiculously brilliant. Oxford really must have something similar hidden away somewhere!

I actually can't write with fountain pens...

But I left my job at Ryman today and my colleagues got me a really nice Gunmetal Parker ballpoint and an awesome Japanese Paperblanks journal.

There's something very empowering about good stationary, if you ask me!

And deFoss; that place doesn't even look real! I'm positive there must be similar places in Oxford; it's a personal mission to track them down.

Somewhere that regularly plays GOOD Celtic folk music would be highly appreciated. Reasonably priced Guinness is also desired.

That's a nice leaving present, good stationary just inspires writing. And good writing, too, as you want to make it worth it.

It doesn't even feel real there! Pretty lucky in Bath, nice handful of pubs - a few with decent music too, be it DJs or live bands. What would be good Celtic folk? I assume somewhere which isn't called O'Reilly's, O'Brien's, Kelly's....

Stationery, fellas. Stationery.

-flies away to annoy others-

It is the square-pattern one. Good spot
It's nice, isn't it?

See, I can (or could, until today!) justify getting higher quality stationary because with my employee discount it'd work out about the same price as cheaper stuff for people without a discount. One of the few perks of working in a crappy retail job for two years!

I'd bet my life on Oxford having something at least similar!
I just want some good bars/pubs/clubs with soul, good music and a unique atmosphere.
I'm rather sick of these generic places in my hometown.

Stationery, fellas. Stationery.

-flies away to annoy others-

I did spend ages looking at them. The poor woman helping us at the counter must have been so annoyed! It is very nice though, literally the reason I didn't pick it was because I'm simple and I thought the shine would distract me when trying to write

Ah, beautiful, I work in Boots and do the exact same thing with make-up and food!

My dear you are preaching to the choir, so to speak. My friends usually go to crappy clubs anyway and if we do go to pubs it's usually a Wetherspoon's or a generic local. No matter how good the company, an evening can only be better with good music and atmosphere!

That's a nice leaving present, good stationary just inspires writing. And good writing, too, as you want to make it worth it.

It doesn't even feel real there! Pretty lucky in Bath, nice handful of pubs - a few with decent music too, be it DJs or live bands. What would be good Celtic folk? I assume somewhere which isn't called O'Reilly's, O'Brien's, Kelly's....

And yeah...

Good folk =/= Cheesy "Irish Themed Bar".