First, official, graduate, back in Oxford, still have all my new pens, post.

So it's all going pretty good. I'm doing my best to meet new people, even offering them some of my new pens in exchange for friendship. This has been moderately successful. I was alarmed to find that one of the old stalwarts of meeting people in Oxford questions has now been rendered unusable - I can only ask people what subject they are doing a few times in an Economic lecture before I'm branded forever the Special Child. Thankfully, it has been replaced with "where did you study before?", a great question, because it creates a more than one word answer. Unless the answer is "here", in which case I need to call upon all my improv skills to advance the conversation. "What, here?", I say. "Yes, here", they reply. And so a new friendship blossoms.

All in all, my use of that question, as well as "what is your name?" and "what college are you at?" have made me somewhat of a hit with all of the class. I asked one guy a combination of these questions nineteen times, incorrectly as it turned out. It's all about timing. If you pound these questions over and over again with machine-like frequency then people will get tired of answering. It's important to let the awkward silence build, before going in for another round of name enquiry.

Anyway, I expect I'll be spending a lot of time with my new friends, whatever they are called. And wherever they live. And wherever they studied before this. And whatever they are called.

Love.