Oxford, Day One

This weekend I went to visit my friend Anna in Oxford. Anna is a first year PhD student in classical archaeology at Oxford University; I had met her this summer during the epic excavation in New Jersey. I have always wanted to see Oxford, and now I had the perfect reason to go.

Anna and I had talked online about my arrival on Friday; we had it set for about two o'clock. I caught a bus from Marble Arch in central London and headed out of the city at around one on Friday. Once on the bus, I tried calling her, but something was going on with her phone; she wouldn't pick up. Oh well, I told myself as the bus trundled into Oxford, I can just find her in her dorm or something.

As the bus rolled further into town, to my right I saw some beautiful architecture: ornately carved sandstone complete with turrets, gargoyles, and cathedral spires. This must be it, I thought, and I got off the bus. The plan was to go into the University, find an administrative building, and look up Anna's dorm number. In retrospect, I was severely underestimating the sheer size of Oxford University.

It turns out the building complex I had been dropped off at was a college of Oxford University; one of the 39 colleges at Oxford. Each college is set up like an American college; each one has its own set of dorms, its own quads, its own library, chapel, and dining hall. Oxford had 39 of these colleges. The town is not a town at all; it is more of a small city, completely focused around academia. I realized my odds for finding a central administrative building, let alone Anna, were not promising. I told myself I would look for the next few hours, until the sun went down, and then if I couldn't find her, I would go back to London. Keep in mind that we were having cellphone problems.

After about an hour (and many asking of directions) I made it to Anna's college, Lincoln. Thank god I at least remembered what college she was in. Once there, they informed me that she lived in an apartment complex away from the college, and they gave me a complicated set of directions on how to get there. My situation was looking bleaker by the second.

I kept my chin up and tried to follow their directions as best as I could, and I set off, my suitcase rattling noisily behind me on the cobblestones. I wanted to stop and look at the incredible architecture, but I had to concentrate on where I was going. After walking for several minutes, I looked up and spotted someone down the road from me that looked suspiciously like Anna from behind (Anna has flaming red, curly hair). I couldn't be sure, but I decided to screech out her name anyway. If it wasn't her, I would look like a lunatic, but at this point I didn't really care; I had been wandering around for quite a while.

It was her. Once I realized this, I felt I had experienced a moment of divine intervention. What are the odds of seeing one person you're looking for in a small city (and Oxford alone has 18,000 students)? It was remarkable, and I sent up a silent thank-you to the cosmos.

Anna took me to her apartment, I dumped off my stuff, and she said she was going to take me to formal dinner at her college. At formal dinner you sit at long tables in the dining hall and are served a 3-course meal. Free food- sounded excellent to me.
"Did you bring anything nice to wear?" Anna asked. "You have to dress well for formal dinner. No jeans."
Umm, I hadn't brought anything but jeans. Oops.
"You can wear my roommate's robes, then," Anna said. "I'm sure she'll let you borrow them."
Wait a second...robes?
"We all wear black robes to formal dinner," Anna explained. "You can wear one over your clothes, and you'll fit right in."
So we pulled on black robes over our clothes (bizarre but cool), and headed off to Lincoln college for formal dinner. The dining hall was built in the 1400's, and consisted of long wooden tables with long wooden benches. Portraits of famous Lincoln scholars hung on the walls. The vaulted ceiling arched high above our heads; Anna said it was still the original ceiling built centuries ago. Everything was illuminated by candlelight. All of the students trickled in, wearing long black robes. The entire experience felt like a scene right out of Harry Potter.

The coolest part was when one black-tied server banged a wooden plate on the table, and everyone got to their feet. Three professors walked silently down the aisle and took their places at the high table at the end of the hall. A prayer (grace) was said in Latin, and after it was over everyone sat down and conversation resumed. It was a moment laden with tradition, and I thought it was fabulous.

The food served was very British: soup, pork, and for dessert, cake with hot custard poured all over it. I made sure to try some of everything (even though I don't really eat pork). When in Rome....

Overall, it was a very cool dining experience. Stay tuned, for next post I will detail my further adventures in Oxford...