A Farewell to the City of Dreaming Spires

"Dear, dear Oxford!" I cried, as I wandered alone before the college, on the last evening of my being there; "when shall I cease to regret you!--when learn to feel a home elsewhere!--Oh, noble halls, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this spot, from whence perhaps I may view you no more!--And you, ye well-loved trees!--but you will continue the same.--No leaf will decay because I am removed, nor any branch become motionless although I can observe you no longer!--No; you will continue the same; unconscious of the pleasure or the regret you will occasion, and insensible of any change in those who walk under your shade!--But who will remain to enjoy you?"

(If you can figure out where this passage, which I have amended only slightly, comes from, dear reader, you will win a Univ hat!  Be the first to comment with the answer, and you will receive the lovely navy-blue knit hat with the Univ crest on it as soon as I return from England!)

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm in love with Oxford.  And six days is not NEARLY enough time here.  I think I'll be coming back one weekend.  But yeah... I really really don't want to leave.  :(

On a happier note, let's talk about Wednesday and today.  Wednesday, I failed to get up for Buttery breakfast again, but had philosophy nice and early, so I had to get up anyway.  After philosophy, Kate and I went to Blackwell's (the epic bookstore) and spent at least an hour there (probably more).  I managed to stop myself from buying the entire store, but I did still get The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology (how could I possibly resist?  though I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get it home...it's kinda huge), as well as really pretty gilt-edged copies of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Mrs. Dalloway.  Then we went to lunch at The Eagle and Child, the pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien used to meet, and we talked about philosophy (I finally fulfilled my need to have an intellectual conversation in a pub!).  It was a really cool old pub, and had lots of amusing artifacts hanging around, like this one:

A bit later in the afternoon, we met up for a group tour of Christ Church College (which I had been to before for services, but hadn't seen the rest of the college).

This is the Harry Potter Staircase-- it's used in one (or several?) of the movies.

The Great Hall-- also used in Harry Potter (but minus the levitating plates of food).

Inside Christ Church Cathedral.

Bad Kate!

Bad Heron!  (Yeah, the security guard actually chased it away.)

Being nonchalant.

 Being non-nonchalant.

After Christ Church, I went back and attempted to do work (it's incredible that in such an academic place, where you are inspired to have brilliant conversations and think about life in profound ways, it is almost impossible to focus on doing your homework).  Then we decided to head out to dinner, and picked up a few people along the way.  We went to The Bear, Oxford's smallest pub (and one of the oldest), and had a lovely dinner, complete with wine.  But then we decided that we hadn't had enough to eat yet, and figured that going out for ice cream would solve this problem.  

So we went out for ice cream (this seems to be becoming a theme...).  Kate Six and I ordered brownie sundaes, which simply looked to good to resist.  But they were huge, and this caused a problem for us:

Before.

After.

Once we had recovered from our food comas a little bit, we headed back to Univ with the intention of all doing work together in Kate Six's enormous room, but this devolved into playing games and being goofballs.  Needless to say, I was up very late trying to get my homework done.

By some miracle, I managed to get up on time for breakfast this morning though!  After breakfast, we went to the Natural History Museum and the attached Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology, which made the five year old child in me ridiculously happy.

The famous stuffed dodo which inspired Lewis Caroll.

 SHARP TOOTH!

 Evolution on parade.  (See the giraffe in the back?!)

Whoa.

The expression on the little primate's face was simply too funny not to share.

 The Pitt Rivers Museum: An exhibition of the historical British custom of sauntering into a society and simply taking things that they thought were cool.  And boy were they good at it-- there were hundreds of thousands of fascinating artifacts from all over the world (including shrunken heads!).

 These things moved when you walked by, and jingled, holding out their hands to request a donation.  When you put a coin in, they bowed.  The explanatory plaque read: 

"The Anthropologist's Fund Raising Ritual."

After the museum, I set off on my own to take a quick look at the Bodelian Library (the ginormous one that has every British copyrighted book and an incredible selection of medieval manuscripts), but of course, I couldn't get in unless I took a tour, and they were all booked for the day (get it? booked?  hahaha... oh.  sorry.  horrid pun).  But anyway, to give you an idea:

It is hugemongous.

 And very pretty.

I spent the rest of the morning shopping (and really didn't buy anything, which is kind of sad), and then went to the King's Arms Pub for lunch with two friends that I ran into (I have been to more pubs in Oxford than I have in Bath).  Then we all went shopping for a little bit-- I bought a fantastic headpiece for the formal, and a vintage pearl necklace, and a requisite Oxford University shirt.  And then I had class, which was kinda boring... but then...

I SHAVED CLAY'S HEAD.

I should probably explain.  Clay's hair was on the long-ish side (or so he tells me-- I thought it looked fine).  He wanted to do something radically different for the formal so as to shock and awe everyone when he showed up.  So, he entrusted me with his secret plan of shaving his head so that he had very very very short hair-- and my job was to meet him in his room and actually do the shaving.  I was terrified, because I was sure that I would mess up, but it wound up being kind of fun.  

Then I ran home and got dressed, and met up with Clay before we headed over to the Hall-- we decided to be dates, because we matched, and were both wearing bold outfits, and because we're just that cool.  So we made a grand entrance, arm in arm-- he with his super short hair, three-piece suit, and hot pink tie with matching pocket handkerchief (he looked gorgeous), and me with my little black dress with a deep v-neck, complete with a long string of pearls and a fantastic black-and-white-fascinator-shaped-like-a-huge-flower-with-feathers-coming-out-of-the-center on my head.  We looked smart.  And we had everyone's attention (and got lots of compliments).  It was awesome.

And dinner was incredible.  Tablecloths, candelabras, a Head Table, three different forks (I was appointed official teacher-of-all-things-etiquette, so I showed everyone how to eat their food properly), menus, a Latin benediction at the beginning of the meal, tuxedoed waitstaff, two kinds of wine, mints that were printed with the Univ crest, and really delicious food (particularly the dessert)-- it was super posh, and absolutely wonderful.  Oh, and did I mention that we were eating in here?

Kate Six, Clay and I, sitting at the Head Table (after dinner).

 

Ali, Clay, and I.

In case you couldn't see the epic hairpiece in the other picture.

After dinner, the Master of the College gave a hysterically funny "lecture" on the only Univ alum who ever composed anything worthwhile-- telling us all about his life as the son of an American father and a British mother, who felt closer to his American side, and went across the ocean.  Apparently, he was not heard from until one day where he was found wandering about the countryside in search of a place to eat a picnic lunch by a company of soldiers (under the direction of some bloke called "Custer"), and then traveled with them briefly, until they had the unfortunate luck of running into a large group of very unfriendly natives.  The Univ alum's remains were found next to the ruins of a picnic basket, and DNA testing showed that the dirt that his hand was tightly closed around was the remains of a slightly limp cucumber sandwich.

It took us a while to figure out that he was actually kidding.  Pretty much everyone got it when he mentioned the cucumber sandwich.

Anyway, he proceeded to play us the final song that this chap wrote on his guitar.  He is a very good classical guitarist, and he began to play this lovely melody, which we slowly began to realize was a composite of various American and British folk songs, carefully intertwined and elaborated so as not to be immediately recognizable.  It was a brilliant, hysterical performance which we all enjoyed very much.

Afterwards, we headed to the college bar to hang out with our tutors and each other.  I had a lovely chat with my philosophy professor while we watched a few people playing pool (and I found out that he likes Star Trek, but sadly, only after our conversation-- I heard him quote the new movie in a very subtle fashion, and I got really excited about it).  It was nice-- very laid back.  Also, Jonathan, the programme director who looks like Hugh Grant, complimented me on my headwear.  I was most pleased.  And I also got to watch him playing pool, which was also most pleasing.

After leaving the bar, my friends and I stood outside talking for a little while.  At one point, my friend Rachel stumbled (she was wearing heels) just as the Porter was walking behind her (the same porter of ice cream vs. alcohol fame).  He caught her, much to her surprise-- she didn't know that he was walking behind her)-- and in response to her shocked expression, non-challantly said, "I just seem to have that effect on women," set her back on her feet, and walked away.  I've decided that the Porter is now my favorite person in the whole world.

Side note-- the strangest looking bug just landed on my screen.  I have never seen anything like it before-- it's actually really cool-looking.  However, it is still a bug, and thus I am creeped out, but I can't get it off of my screen.  This makes me uncomfortable.  

Sadly though, all that is left of my time in Oxford is packing and breakfast.  I'm hoping to get up early enough to go out for breakfast at a tea place that I've been trying to get to; otherwise, I'll simply have to wait until I return to Oxford (which I certainly intend to do).   

Anyway, it's really late, and I still need to pack.  We're off to Blenheim Castle tomorrow, so I should have lots to report next time I write; however, I shall no longer be writing from within the hallowed halls of Univ-- I hope you will not be disappointed (though I most certainly will be).  

So long!  Farewell!  Auf wiedersehen, adeiu!

(But before I go, enjoy this lovely bit of exhibit from the Natural History Museum):