…And went to Oxford. One of my fellow American students—a self-described Anglophile—marched us straight to one of the most famous pubs in the city on our first day together, the place C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien frequented with their group called the ‘Inklings’. (The pub’s real name: The Eagle and Child. The pub’s name according to the Inklings: The Bird and Baby.)
But back to the beginning…
After navigating Heathrow en route to Oxford, I got to a sweet bed and breakfast called Cotswold House.
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| My room at Cotswold House |
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| The stairwell at Cotswold House |
I got out of my taxi and knocked on the front door and was greeted by name. I got there hours ahead of schedule, so while I sat and waited for my room to be ready I got to meet the owner’s wife. She fed me juice and biscuits and told me she was mothering me—a welcome feeling in a strange new town. Her friend and friend’s kids were there, so the next thing I got to do in Oxford was hold a beautiful baby. After a lonely trip, it was good to connect with believers (the owner is also the pastor of a local church, and the friend became a Christian at their church).
The strangest thing was being awake after a red-eye flight—it was ten in the morning and I felt like I had accomplished so much, since I had just had a 24-hour day. I sat, freezing (I did NOT pack enough warm clothes and blankets), in my little room and decided to go for a jog and see a little bit of town, then tried to get internet in Starbucks. The minute I finally got on, Starbucks closed for the evening—at 7 p.m. Everything closes early here. Little did I know it would be a week before I got reliable internet!
I got to my college housing the next morning—it’s about 2 miles away from the city center (where the Jesus College campus is)—before any other students. I wandered around for a few minutes until the housing caretaker found me and led me to my room. Before long I heard a knock and went to the door to find three other students. The guy in the blazer and sunglasses said, “You’re American!”
Next thing I knew I was headed into the city to get bus passes, explore campus, go to a pub, and get to know my new friends from Catholic University, Azusa Pacific University, and George Mason University. And that was day one as an OPUS (Oxford Programme for Undergraduate Students) student!
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| Jesus College campus |
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| More of Jesus College |
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| Jesus College chapel |
Since then we've had orientation, started our lecture series, had a field trip to the Ashmolean museum, and--guilty confession--I haven't taken very many pictures or, as you know, been blogging coherently. But if you want to see/hear more, check out my wonderful flatmate Claire's great
blog!
