typical day

i don't know if i've told you guys what a typical day looks like for me while i'm working in england, so here's an attempt, if you're interested:

10am - wake up, lie around, check emails, take a shower, tidy up my room, etc.  [i'm on a sort of three day rotation: one day i'll be on duty from 8am-1pm, the next from 1pm-6pm, the next from 7pm-midnight, and then it repeats...so most days i can sleep in.]

12 noon - check in with the office to make sure there are no crises for the day, walk around town running errands and picking up lunch for myself (usually a sandwich and crisps [chips] and a bottle of water...sometimes a savory veggie pie...sometimes falafel and couscous and hummus), walk back to the office.  eat lunch with random coworkers/friends sitting around the office.

1pm-6pm (let's pretend that's my shift today) - on duty in the office.  answer phones, respond to emails, respond to random inquiries from kids who come in (i've locked myself out of my room/do i have any mail/where is the lecture this afternoon/etc.), deal with issues that faculty members have (can i use the copier/where do i find this form/can you get a message to this student/etc.), read a magazine during slow times, deal with any crisis that comes up.  i'm always on duty with a PA (program assistant - an oxford undergraduate who works for the program), so i have someone to hang out with.

6pm - eat dinner in the dining hall

7pm - do nothing and LOVE IT

9pm or so - get (or send) a text message related to having a drink at our staff's favorite pub, the three goats heads.  check in with the office on the way out to make sure there isn't a crisis that's come up.  go to the pub.  sit in the same booth we always sit in (if it's free).  have a pint or two with my coworkers/friends (they're really the same thing).  laugh a lot.

11pm or so - walk back to college.  go to bed.

moral of the story: it's not a bad job at all.