My last day of classes went very well, finishing off one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. I learned so much and will never forget what I did and the great friends I met while I was here.
I woke up early to assure I made it to breakfast today. After nearly falling back on the wondrous snooze button for the third time, I finally got up. I had cereal, toast and tea for breakfast, and then headed to my final European Union class. We took a quiz as an overview of what we've learned, and had a group discussion on the direction we thought the Euro was going to go in. I am so happy I took this class, and now have a much better understanding of the Euro and the EU. I am obviously by no means an expert, but I will approach news stories and future European travel with a grounding in the financial system from the experience I gained at Oxford. Stuart Kewley is a wonderful teacher, and I hope to stay in contact with him in my future academic and professional life.
I went from there to grab a drink at Cafe Nero, and it hit me that I won't be walking the busy streets of Oxford much longer. I knew that before walking out the gate of Exeter this morning, but when I was actually there on Turl street, it hit me as a mixture of pride that I've studied here and a sort of nostalgia for having to leave so soon. After grabbing my mocha I went to the lecture.
Today's lecture was given by Dr. Elizabeth Gibson Morgan and was titled Constitutional Change in Modern Britain. It was a really interesting talk on the history of the unwritten British Constitution, electoral reform, and the possible reform of the House of Lords. I asked her during the question period if she thought the Liberal Democrats would be able to push through any near-future electoral reform (which they need badly if they want to be a major political player again), or if the opposition to it and support for the "first past the post" system is too strong. She said with the most recent defeat of that legislation it didn't seem likely, and electoral reform could be a long way off if it happens at all.
I left lecture to grab lunch in the dining hall, and then to my room to review for my presentation in the British Politics class. When I got to class, we discussed the final years we wanted to cover, and WWII in England. There were some very good discussions in our final class about the differing ideals of 'glory' in post-WWII England. Is it the case that after Churchill, England's Empire declined, they lost a deep independence held for so long, and they succumbed to a socialist state in a dramatic fall from glory? Or are all these characteristics of post-war Britain a new type of glory all together, making the English people stronger than before? I also gave my presentation in class on the Labour party in WWII, and it went really well. I was proud that I was able to spark interesting discussion between Dr. Buchanan and the class about the reaction against Churchill and the Torys after the war. Like my EU course, I am extremely thankful and feel very fortunate I took this class. I learned more about the recent history of England than I thought possible in this short time I've been here. Knowing about how the great country I'm studying in came to be the place it is has made a world of difference in the lasting effect I expect to gain from it all.
After class I did a little souvenir shopping, and then went on a walk. I decided to head down towards Christ Church to see if I could get in. Unfortunately it was closing, but that ended up working in my favor quite nicely. I walked a little further past the college to see what was down there and noticed a sign on the outer wall of a restaurant. It was for St. Phillip's Bookstore, was was tucked away in a small alley next to the building. It's a second hand bookstore specializing in History, Theology, and Literature, and I had a similar feeling of bliss as the first time I walked into Blackwells. This place is much smaller, but they have an amazing selection of History and Theology books, as well as a whole shelf for the Inklings. I ended up buying a book on Tolkein and a really old copy of The Sign of Jonas by Thomas Merton. I had to leave because they were closing, but will most certainly pay them another visit tomorrow.
Before dinner, Tom Buchanan took my British Politics class to a nearby restaurant, The Beefeater, for drinks. I had a Guinness and talked about the differences between academia in our respective countries. We had a great time, and headed form there back to Exeter to eat. After dinner (which was a very thick, delicious hambuger; way to go England!), there was a trivia night in the undercroft bar. I formed a team while down there and we put up a valiant effort. Unfortunately most of the questions were more suited to the Literature students, but we had a lot of fun none the less. Three of the people in the Literature program even put on a small play as a brief break from trivia, which was hilarious and well done.
I went out to Three Goats Heads with some of my friends before heading back a little early. I'm going to try and get up early tomorrow and walk back to the bookstore before our final lecture. I also get my grades tomorrow. I'll let you know how they go! And if they are bad grades I'll just lie and say I did well! I'm only kidding, I wouldn't use my blog for such foul purposes. If I do bad I just wont mention them at all on here.
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