Chapter 46: Starting Oxford

Chapter 46: Starting Oxford    

          In Junior year of college, I realized I was ahead on finishing science courses for medicine, and so I joined a study-away program to Oxford, England. Some of my favorite people in the school also joined, including Micah and Laura, as well as several others who would become amazing and life-long friends: Marc, Mollie, Audrey, and Molly. Unfortunately, Kyle would make the wrong decision and did not apply, which we have never let him forget—much to his pleasure. The trip would be about a year long and led mostly by someone we’ll just call Greg. Already we were worried about Greg. His demeanor was exceedingly eccentric and we soon learned that he previously wasn’t allowed to lead study away trips after impregnating a student on a previous trip (although they eventually paired up).

              We would arrive at Oxford in the beginning of January. We fly into one of the many busy London airports (Gatwick or Heathrow, I cannot remember which) and eventually get on the bus to Oxford. Like typical Americans we made several comments about being on a red double-decker bus in London. Seeing London in person as we made our way through the streets was like entering the stages of so many movies I had seen. Eventually we enter the freeway and see more of the country. The gentle English rolling hills in the soft golden hour light seem to glisten with a simple brilliance. It’s an uncomplicated and understated beauty as opposed to the majesty of mountains or forest or river. I could see how someone may develop a more reserved or somber personality or culture growing up in this area. I remember Montesquieu’s “Spirt of the Laws,” in which he argues how climate gives rise to culture in general.

              We get to the Oxford bus stop. Professor Strum has come with us (the other professor to teach on the trip) and leads us off the bus and toward the homes.  We have two lovely houses on Jericho Street, about half a block apart, sandwiched between a couple pubs, the canal, and a large park called “Port Meadow.” Mollie, Molly, Laura, Audrey, and one other trip member took the house further down at the end of the block, while Micah, Marc, I, and Rainey and Ariel took the other house.  The inside is very nice. It’s the typical vertical and narrow British design. There is a large living room at the back of the ground floor with sliding glass doors to a relatively large backyard. We divvy up rooms, I take a room that shares a wall with Micah and a window that opens to the backyard. The others take some of the several rooms upstairs. After setting our stuff down we walk out to a nearby pub for a quick meal and some beer. This is about when I discover that England keeps its ales warm, allegedly to keep them “aromatic.”. It was certainly more aromatic in the sense that I smelled it more and wanted to drink much less. Having heard the reputation regarding British food, I’m initially worried about ordering. I get some Fish and Chips that are quite delightful. On the way home we stop by the local food co-op and get foods for Breakfast. We would do a full grocery run the next day.

              Our actual classes won’t begin for about or week or two to give us time to settle into the area. The next day we get a tour of the area including grocery stores and pubs and restaurants that the class the previous year had enjoyed (They had given us a large PDF of general dos and don’ts, what to expect from classes, places to travel to, and specifically what to be worried about regarding Greg). Then we were introduced to the College that we would be associated with: Regent’s Park. We got there around 4 pm at which time the other college members were having “Afternoon Tea,” an hour break from any classes to relax and recuperate. Several of the students were doing a crossword while having tea and one brought in miniature pastries and snacks for all. We were given a tour of the college by Peter and Jack. The college was a friendly place. They tell us that each day there is lunch, and that every Friday is a “formal dinner,” in which you must dress up a bit and need a ticket. Tickets were sold by the school and traded around via a Facebook group every week. They introduce us to the mascot, a turtle named Emmanuelle. Jack and Peter then tell us that Friday nights they have a “Bop,” a weekly themed dance. Information about the theme would be posted each week on the Facebook group. Lastly, they showed us the school chapel, told us when the services were, and invited us to a Monday Bible Study group to meet some other college members and maybe make some new friends. It happened to be Monday and so I stuck around with Marc and Micah. I didn’t feel like I could contribute much and didn’t particularly enjoy the discussions or questions and didn’t come again. However, I would find out when coming to the chapel to practice piano that they needed a pianist for a couple of their weekly services because their current pianist had many other commitments. I agreed, having played Lutheran hymns and the like before. Baptist liturgy was different. I needed to spend a good amount of time each day practicing to be ready for each service. I enjoyed doing it and it made me feel more integrated into the community.

              Before calling it a night, Jack and Peter tell us that the next Bop is Star Wars themed, and that at the canal the college owns a punting boat that can be rented for 1 pence, and he encourages us to go in the spring when it’s warmer.

              That night we decide to put together a cooking schedule and have meals as a group, with at least one per week as a group between the two houses. That night we have little time, so we get some pasta and cheese and butternut squash from the nearby co-op and make a quick, nice dinner for our house. We had a fun, cohesive group in general. We had a good group.

              The following day we went to the famous Bodleian library and received our university and library cards. Afterwards we explored the library system. We found the original Gutenberg Bible, which I guess is less exciting since it was the first mass-produced bible. We looked at some of the other old first-edition books. None of them available for checkout, just display. Next, we were informally introduced to some of the clubs and groups at Oxford. I signed up for the Cross-Country club, Laura joined the school orchestra, and Molly joined rowing as a coxswain for the Men’s team. Marc and Micah ended up joining a little soccer group with Peter and Jack at Regent’s Park.

              That evening we went out to buy groceries and cookware. For cookware we walk to the edge of town to find this dinky thrift shop that Greg had recommended. Entering the shop, a veritable selection of mildly rusted metallic objects that could resemble cookware twinkled in our vision. The rust scraped off most things, proving its quality. We find some pots and pans and a knife that will likely survive another life. We were tired and hungry and along the way back stop at Nando’s—a fast food Spanish chicken restaurant. Nando’s was surprisingly good and became a staple for the group. Think a better tasting Chick-Fil-A without cruel, unbridled oppression of minority rights and social privileges. We take the cookware back to the homes. We still need more but decide to go to the grocery store and hope they might have cookware as well. We walk to the local Tesco (a much closer walk). They have an abundance of cookware. We buy the rest of the items we need, along with a variety of groceries. They keep their eggs on the shelves unrefrigerated. We later learn that because the eggs are not washed, the bacteria on the shell protect the egg from spoiling. I wonder why we clean eggs in the US, it seems an unnecessary and expensive practice to clean the eggs and necessitating long-term refrigeration prior to selling.

              There was one member of our household, however, that did not like anything that seemed dirty. One morning Micah and I woke to find a stealthy Marc in the kitchen handwashing several of the eggs. Micah laughed and made him stop. We put the newly cleaned eggs in the fridge. This would not stop Marc. Only after several sessions did we convince him to just clean the egg before he used it.

…

That evening we have our first true house meal. The other house decides to go explore Port Meadow. They tell us that Port Meadow has numerous wild horses and a pub right in the middle with a lovely lighted vine archway leading inside and implore us to go.

We have about one more free day before classes will start with Dr. Strum. I take the time to try and develop a running route, mostly along the canal near our houses. It’s a beautiful, well-shaded run along a dirt path, but is unfortunately difficult to turn into a loop. I must do a bit of meandering the first couple of runs to get a loop that doesn’t double-back on itself. That evening is the first Cross Country meetup. They start by go over practice schedule—including long runs on weekends with optional marathon training, hill climbs on Fridays, and conditioning on Mondays (weights and abs and whatnot). Our major race would be the Hyde Park relays. Then we went on a short 6 mile or so run that was relatively hilly. By the end I was exhausted, still tired from my previous run. There were some incredible runners in the group who easily maintained at least 6-to-7-minute mile pace the whole run. I was excited to run with so many talented runners. When I get home, Marc and Micah were playing soccer in the backyard. I washup and help make house dinner before we end the night.