After my crazy day of field tripping all over Wiltshire, our whole program migrated to Oxford for the week. It is truly and incredible place, full of very very smart people! So we are staying at University College, the oldest college in England!
Basically Oxford University is made up of about 15 little colleges that hold about 500 students each. I didn't know that Oxford wasn't one, large and contained campus. It's rather fifteen little campuses that have a courtyard, a chapel, a great hall (looks like Hogwarts) academic areas and student housing. So where we are staying is beautiful and the dining hall looks like Hogwarts and it's wicked cool to eat there and be like "This is just like the Ravenclaw table right now!" Yesterday though, our table got demoted to Hufflepuff because a group of faculty had stolen our table. Another really unique quality about the little colleges is the living style. I live in a single with a huge sink, a bed, a desk and a closet...BUT...I have a whole room next to me that's mine also! We all have insanely large rooms here! With that being said, it doesn't really have a social vibe, because it's not long hallways with doubles. Instead it takes me 8 doors and four staircases to get to my room which is surrounded by just two other rooms before having to walk down a narrow hallway to the next cluster of rooms. I don't know if you can picture that, but basically it's very isolating because of the doors and staircases. Another fact I bet you didn't know about Oxford is that you don't walk on the grass! It's a real rule...Nobody walks on the grass, but there are no signs that say this so it's just a known and unwritten rule. haha i walked on the grass for a second...
I don't want to post too much at once but I have so much to tell you about! The history surrounding Oxford is amazing. The colleges date back to the 1200s, when the King of France kicked out all the English students and scholars because of a war. Because Oxford was the furthest corner away from the Bishop's house which is about four hours north, it was a perfect location to hold college because the church wouldn't have control of the liberal teachers. This is how Oxford became the smartest place in England... Two nights ago my friends and I went to a pub called The Turf and you have to walk through three old, medieval allies to get there and through a castle wall. It was amazing to feel like you're eight hundred years in the past even though you're in a modern city! The pub was so fun and it was a classic English experience, with a huge patio and many little tables sporadically placed throughout a quirky stone house.
We had another very English experience and we went Punting! I didn't know that punting is basically when you have a flat river boat and a long pole and you make your way around a canal in this awkward boat. As you know, I'm fairly athletic and adventurous so I thought it would be relatively easy...FALSE! it was soooooooo hard!!! OMG! We crashed so many times and it took forever to make our way around this little canal. Nonetheless, it was hysterical and so much fun. Our boat had a great time and we laughed so hard for the whole journey.
I'll post about the rest of my trip later, but the final exciting thing I did was go to Chirst Church College, which has so many Harry Potter references. I got to see the Great Hall, as well as the staircase where the students are always hanging out! I love feeling like I'm in such a magical world. I'll post those pictures next time. Christ Church also has a beautiful Cathedral and I went to church there Sunday. It was beautiful and the choir was amazing! I felt like I was listening to a national choir or something because they were so good!
While in Oxford, it was also Bid Night at Gettysburg. Although I haven't felt homesick yet, I felt very far away and disconnected from my school. I really would've loved to be part of Bid Night and I know my friends abroad feel the same. So this is probably the most homesick I've felt but I wouldn't trade my experience. But I know for sure that when I get back in the spring I'm going to be so happy to meet all of our baby violets!!! Everyone tells me they are great and I'm so excited to meet all of them and get to know them as sisters! I'm thrilled that I have so much to look forward to :)
I guess you can tell that I love Oxford even though it's a very quirky place. I don't think I would like to go to school here, but I can see why it's such a prestigious place with such a high reputation. I'm going to Munich this weekend so I'll have a lot to blog about next week I bet!
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