In half an hour we are to arrive at Hall for the 8:15am breakfast. Wadham college is stunning with its architecture, stained glass windows, and formal processions of things- a bit intimidating I might add!
So yesterday and the day before that was an exhausting, drawn out occasion meshed into unknown hours of packing, traffic, airtravel, and becoming situated here at the college. The flight was a much better experience than the last overnight trip to France, but lack of sleep and jet-lag are inevitable. It was funny because my best friend (and colleague), her dad flies for American Airlines and knows the captain- so just before take off he made a special welcome to Megg and Frances! I enjoyed looking out the window- passing over the northern coast of the U.S. as the sun was setting and just a few short hours later the sunrise just before passing over Ireland, Wales, England. I like looking at the layout of grasses and farm fields from above, and figuring out what objects are there when the plane gets closer. I spotted a star pattern cut into the grass and hoped to satisfy my hope to see the White Horse of Uffington even though we weren't flying over Oxfordshire...
We took a mini bus, driving on the left side to Oxford, passing what I hope were fields of lavender and meadows with cows, sheep and horses and a softer side of commerce. Rather than the deliberate or obvious advertisements of specific fast food or gas stations, highway signs were marked here with simple symbols of bed, gas pump, soda cup. Getting off the highway, we entered the town of Oxford and were driven through the streets toward the university. (Oxford University by the way is made up of many individual colleges- including ours; Wadham College) Many of the houses here are smaller, made of brick or stone with little windows and red or brown roofs (not quite like what you might see in photos of the Baltic region), each walled in. Buildings with vines and flowers are especially adorable. The flow of traffic feels different, and there is special attention for bikers who have their own portion of the road.
At the college the luggage was unloaded and we made our way through the arched doorway to the Wadham courtyard, and received our room keys and a map. Friends Megg and Caitlin and a graduate woman are on the top floor, located by staircase with individual rooms. Each has a common room with a desk, chairs, tea* table and a separate bedroom with a closet and sink. Everyone has a different view from the windows that look out onto the college grounds, very nice! We had a few hours to unpack and "relax," although this was very hard to do. A few of us went into the town in search of a bite to eat and drink but I felt delirious with fatigue and sort of stumbled about the place. Not quite sure what the buildings are made of but many of the college buildings and churches and made of a warm, golden stone. We ended up at Mortin's for a cheaper lunch of baguette sandwiches, I got one with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes and a Celtic Spring water. I also learned to ask for "still" water instead of just bottled water to clarify not wanting any bubbles.
Later on all of us met in one of the courtyard for a welcoming Pimms party to initiate the summer program and to meet our tutor/professor, Dr. Emma Plaskett. (the course is Oxford Fantasists, reading some of the works of Oxford alum like Tolkien, Wilde and C.S. Lewis!) She seemed very nice and looking forward to the class. Most of the students on the trip are English majors but I think I'll be alright, intimidated yes but my background in anthropology and geography will come in handy somewhere. We will have two papers to write so I can incorporate a topic of interest from my own perspective. Pimms is a common alcoholic drink here (not like the beer though but something I would like) with oranges, cucumber, mint and fruit base it could be orange or mango- delicious! Before this we also had had an orientation meeting with Dr. Jadwiga Smith and Mrs. Brachman about the schedule. A few time changes were made but we'll work around this to hopefully do some separate travel from the group.
After the Pimms party we had dinner in the great Hall, with long tables lined in rows, candles, portraits and stained glass windows of family crests or crests of some sort. Dinner was served in courses (you might notice I like talking about food), first a roll of bread and dinner salad, next an entree of tuna steak (Surprise!) and potatoes, and an awesome desert. The desert was a bowl of fresh strawberries and raspberries and a sweet cream to pour over it. It was a consistency a cross between cream (such as half and half...) and yogurt that made a simple and delicious desert. That was nice to have after the tuna steak, I normally do not eat or like seafood but I think that will be encountered here more than once on the trip and it wasn't horrible. Breakfast the following morning was also good, in general the ingredients or standards of food quality seems to be higher.
Following breakfast our BSC professors took us on a walking guide through the town, it was nice to see it in a less tired state, but I have yet to go back again and stop into a few places and see a few buildings such as the Radcliffe camera and the Ashmolean Museum. We saw much of the Bodleian library and theaters, the covered market again and an old pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis would meet and talk. It is a very nice, walkable town and it is so pretty with all of the buildings (made of this mysterious stone), cobble-stone (if you call it that) sidewalks, and old houses. It must really be something to just live here in a town that's been animated with people for hundreds of years, there's a lot of thought put into how things run today...here. Megg said something funny to me earlier, that this is one of those places that we feel like we should whisper while you are in that place, not just out of respect but there is a certain element of perhaps sacredness or something.
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