Now the real work begins

Most of my ducklings have landed, and after holding a brief pre-orientation in the first quad of Jesus College (hey, I wanted to distribute their health-insurance cards, and figure out exactly who had arrived), I led a goodly number on a strictly non-required walk down through Christ Church Meadow and down to the boathouses. [Spoke too soon. Just got a call from a stray, from Heathrow, who's going to be on a 1:50 AM bus, yikes, and if she feels squirrelly when she gets to the station here, I told her to call me. Double yikes. Should I have told her just to spend £75 on a cab? Camp in the airport? Dunno.]

Of course, to file under "Things aren't what they used to be": here's the temporary sign that now warns us not to overload this bridge. The actual number is 10, but heck, these aren't plus-size tourists we're talking about. From what I can tell, it's a good group, seemingly pretty interested in the literature. What remains to be seen is whether they / I can sustain that interest for a month, or whether they'll get bored. I finally pulled the trigger on some long-delayed decisions about the way I want to structure the course, and naturally I am hoping that I will not wish for time travel as I encounter "you should have booked that months ago" when I try to arrange some of the activities like Bodleian Library tours and other delights that I couldn't decide on earlier. But as I keep saying: Improvisation Rules.

Now, just for fun, here's an odd sight from Westgate Mall. "Bubblefoot" seems to be a gimmick to relax and re-energize shopping-tired feet. I didn't want to get too close, but inside those little tubs are not only bubbles but . . . dozens of tiny fish. That supposedly tickle your feet into a state of consumption-readiness. Or something. Who thought this was a good idea? Who pays for this stuff anyway?

Ack. The first class meeting is tomorrow--orientation followed by some academic stuff followed by a walking tour guided by yours truly--and if the weather report is to be believed, tomorrow is also our window of opportunity for the punting trip on the Cherwell that I had hoped to delay until Thursday (when it's supposed to absolutely pour rain, with lightning possible).