Likes and Dislikes

As in any new place, there are things that I love, things that I hate, and things that fall somewhere in the middle. Here’s my current list of things at Oxford that fall along that spectrum.

Things that I love:

The fact that this place is oozing with history: A few weeks ago I went to the 12^th Annual Oxford Beer Festival (something that could be in it’s own category of things that I love), which was held at the Town Hall. On my way to the women’s restroom, I passed a glass display case containing the largest civic mace in the UK. Let me state that again: on the way to the women’s restroom. They have so many cool historical items here that they can just toss one like the largest civic mace in a hallway on the way to the bathroom, no big deal. How cool is that? For some more perspective, Santa Clara, the oldest University in California, was founded in 1851. My college here, Mansfield College, was founded in 1838 and it’s one of the newest colleges at Oxford. Awesome.

The amount of stone: This goes hand in hand with the oozing history aspect. It seems to me that nearly every building is built out of stone. It gives the city a magnificent and stately air. I can’t help feeling that I’m a part of history. What have the buildings that surround me witnessed? What have these stones survived? If they could talk to me, what would they say? I suspect that one hundred years ago, the city didn’t look that much different (albeit with fewer cars and more horse manure). And I’m willing to bet that in one hundred years from now, the city still won’t look that much different. It’s a delightful feeling to be a part of something that’s so static, yet so vibrant. Plus there’s just a ton of gargoyles everywhere, and that’s just cool.

Pubs: And all that comes with ‘em! I love the history behind the pubs, the number of pubs, the names of the pubs, the kind of people that go to pubs, the pub food, and, of course, the pub beer. My favorite pub thus far is The King’s Arms (for the beer), but it’s followed closely by The White Horse (for the fish), The Cape of Good Hope (for the chips), The Angel and Greyhound (for the location), and The Eagle and Child (for the name). I’m hoping to set up an actual pub-crawl with friends, but this takes foresight and planning, which I’m not doing so well with right now. In all honesty, I’d really like to do the pub-crawl just so I could buy this poster where you color in the pubs once you’ve had a drink there. Hey, everyone needs a hobby…

The British sense of humor: “They say that anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except for polio.” –The Inbetweeners. What can I say? These people know how to make a Jackie Stotlar laugh. Especially when it comes to British sitcoms. Some new friends introduced me to the show “Black Books.” It is by far one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I’ve only seen a few episodes. Keep ‘em coming!

Walking everywhere: It’s nice to clear your mind with a good walk, and here at Oxford, I have to walk everywhere. I have a 10-15 minute walk onto Mansfield’s campus for classes and food and such, and a 12-17 minute walk into the heart of Oxford for shopping and food and friends and such. Walking everywhere has given me a great sense of direction and the feeling that I am an actual city resident. “Why yes, sir, I do know where the Wheatshef is, and I can tell you how to get there!” I also get a good workout in just by going shopping. See, Dad? Shopping is good for my health!

Things that I hate:

Walking everywhere: Oh my god, I know why they invented cars. The thing about cars is they’re awesome. First of all, cars can hold a ridiculous amount of groceries/clothes/books, far more than can fit in my backpack. Cars can also travel great distances at great speed, with minimal effort on the part of the driver. My friend lives on the other side of town, probably about three miles from my dorm. With a car, the situation plays out like this: “Oh, you live only three miles away? Great I can be there in two minutes.” When you have to walk there, it plays out like this: “Oh you live three miles away? Crap, I’ll be there in an hour and two minutes.” This is especially a problem at night, when it gets quite cold and dark. I’ve tried to alleviate the problem by purchasing a bus pass, which has helped. Yet you still have to wait for a bus, in the cold and the dark by yourself. A car just sits patiently, waiting for you to hop on in and drive away, shielding you from the cold, dark night, and delivering you home in a matter of minutes with all your groceries and books from the day’s outing. *Sigh,* I miss my car.

Banks: I chose my bank, Abbey National, based off of a guide sheet provided by Mansfield. Abbey had free international transfers and they had a desk specifically designated to setting up international student accounts, so I thought they would probably be pretty good at dealing with the type of account I needed. Wrong. I think the reason they have free transfers and a separate international student desk is because they are inept at dealing with international student accounts in general, and so place them in a separate “screw you” area, and the transfers take so long to clear, that they know no sensible person would pay to wait that long for their own money. I’ll have a full bank story about this later, but for the purpose of this list, I’ll say that banks are generally inefficient and a huge pain in the butt.

The fact that everything shuts down at five pm: Would you like to do your shopping later in the day after you’ve put in a good days work? Too bad, because everything will close before you have a chance! Now, would you like to get something to eat to ease your frustrations about the fact that all the shops are closed? Too bad, because everything closes before you’re hungry! Looks like you’re eating pub food again. Better get in before they stop serving food at nine…

Driving on the wrong side of the road: Seriously, who told England that they should drive on the left? This goes against every traffic safety lesson I’ve have since I was two. The biggest problem is that I automatically look to wrong way to check for traffic. “Nobody’s there, it’s safe to…gah! Where’d that car come from!?!?” Driving on the left side of the road also makes me extremely wary about getting a bike. While many of my friends have bikes (which cut their commute down a ton) I know I’d mess up and drive on the right side of the road. So I choose life, but thanks for the offer, bike.

Things that fall somewhere in the middle of my love/hate scale:

The Weather: It’s not particularly warm but it’s not particularly cold. It hovers in that annoying yes-you’ll-need-a-jacket-for-tonight-but-right-now-you’ll-sweat-like-crazy-if-you-wear-that-jacket-while-walking-to-campus temperature zone. It also tends to rain whenever I’m wearing wool, which makes me feel like a wet sheep. However, it’s much better than absolutely freezing and we’ve had some really nice, sunny fall days that make you understand why anyone said, “Yeah, let’s stay here!”

The Tutorial System: I think the best way to describe the tutorial system is that it’s very different than anything I’ve encountered in the U.S. There really isn’t a rhyme or reason to how your tutorials will work. For me, both of my tutorials have turned into one to three hour one-on-one lectures, which can be tedious at times. There’s also no set reading assignments. Both my tutors give me extensive reading lists that may or may not pertain to what we talk about next week. This can be extremely frustrating, especially coming from a system where I’ve been told what I need to do all the time. There’s also not really a great sense of how you’re progressing. While discussing your paper, your tutor might say, “Well, did you consider this idea?” But you’re not really sure if that’s a “Well, did you consider this idea because your idea was total crap,” or a “Your idea was great, but did you consider this idea?” That said, I’m learning a lot, but it’s very strange to not really be taught by a teacher.

The Food: Mostly, the food is pretty good. And they don’t lie when they say that the pub fish and chips are awesome. But the English don’t seem to understand the concept of salads and I feel like I’m constantly missing out on my veggies. I eat a lot of fruit, especially since the dining hall has a giant fruit bowl out at every meal, but I can’t seem to fill the veggie gap in my diet. Also, most things tend to come with gravy. Chances are if it comes with gravy, it needs it to taste good (a lesson I learned the hard way). Overall, I feel I’m staying well nourished, but I’ll be happy to return to American fare.