Final Thoughts

My English adventure has finally come to a close. I wasn't expecting July to fly by so quickly, so my friends and family are going to have to put up with my constant reminiscing and stories beginning with "When I was in Oxford..." for a couple weeks now. Maybe a couple years actually. Well probably the rest of my life.

I could not possibly be happier with how my trip went. I made so many new friends, wrote papers I am very proud of and learned quite a bit writing, explored London, Oxford, Blenheim Palace, and Bath, shopped at Blackwells, went pub-hopping, and overall had a time I can only describe as "jolly good," or "spot on." I will never forget all the laughing and learning I experienced there, and will forever be thankful it was made possible for me by the English Speaking Union, my extremely loving and supportive family and friends, and my professors and mentors who wrote me recommendation letters or offered me constant words of advice and encouragement. You all are the reason I was able to do any of this, and if I ever stop saying thank you just switch mid-sentence to an English accent and I'll remember to start up again. That was a psychological development I had during the course of my stay. I have always been a fan of English accents, but now they remind me of my first trip to their homeland.

Blake, Joanna and I had a strange experience traveling back home. We had an overnight layover in Newark's airport, so we decided to camp out in front of the bag check counter all night. I slept for maybe 10 minutes on the floor there, which had to have been designed for sleeping because of how comfortable it is. Both our flights went very well though, so I can't complain that much. Still, never sleep on an airport floor. It doesn't feel, smell, or look nice in any way. I think I frightened a number of families as they walked past the window to see a disheveled looking bearded man positioning himself in an unnatural way to try and utilize his suitcase as both a pillow and guard against the festering bacteria in front of the bag check line.

Landing in Louisville was wonderful. As much as I miss Oxford and look forward to returning, there really is no place like home. Blake and Joanna were greeted by their welcoming parties and my lovely girlfriend Mollie met me with a hug, bag of Kit-Kat bars, and a welcome home balloon. We picked up our suitcases and started off towards home for a much needed shower/nap combo. Saying goodbye to Blake and Joanna after all this time was strange. There was nothing really too sad about though, I think it's safe to say we each (along with Alexis, who is currently exploring Europe after her successful studies at Cambridge) became wonderful friends. I hope we make time in the future to see each other and talk about our further adventures. They are a big reason my trip was such a success after all.

Thank you again so much for reading this blog. It has been an immense pleasure to write. If you ever go on a trip like this, as I very much hope you do, I recommend keeping a journal of some kind. Now I can always come back to the writing here and immediately be filled with the same thoughts and memories that I count among my most valuable possessions. Hearing from you all about my trip while I was over there was wonderful, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Again, a fair warning about my constant stories, but I can't help it really. My Oxford summer was too much fun not to share with you over and over again.

One More Day

I awoke on my final day in the city of dreaming spires to the sound of the cleaning people going through all the rooms people had left earlier. We were supposed to be out of here by 9:30, but I paid for an extra day so I was determined to sleep in. One woman on the cleaning staff came into my room with a surprised look to find a barely awake Benjamin trying to pack up a few final things. “What time are you leaving?” she asked me with a look that said “I hope you leave right now I want to finish cleaning.” I told her I was staying an extra day, and she was ok with it, but I had the exact same experience a little while later with a different staff member. I should have made a sign for my door.

I left my room after packing with the intention of just going on a walk before meeting my Kentucky ESU pals for lunch, but to my surprise found some of my friends still at the door to Exeter. There were actually some Exeter students graduating today, and their robes were flippin’ flappin’ awesome looking. They processed out the front gate as we summer school students watched in awe. I helped Anna with her suitcase and walked with some friends down to the bus station. 

After bidding them farewell and promising to utilize facebook for keeping in touch, I went on my pre-determined walk. I went down past Christ Church and past St. Philip’s Books farther than I had walked yet. With a trusty Diet Coke in hand I went over Folly Bridge into a quaint little residential area of town. I walked for about 45 minutes that way, and then turned around to head back. I stopped by the covered market to avoid the crowds (my last day here is uncharacteristically hot and crowded), and made my way back to Exeter to meet my friends. On the way in, I ran into Fernando. He was on his way to the busses. I’m very happy I got to say goodbye, he was one of the first friends I made here. Maybe someday I can go hang out in Madrid with him. 

I met up with Joanna for lunch, and we waited a few minutes for Blake to show up with no luck. We went and knocked on his door, and then looked around campus but couldn't find him. We finally gave up and got some lunch, and then arrived back on campus to learn he had slept through our loud knocking on his door. We tried.

After walking with Blake as he picked up a sandwich, Joanna and I went over to Blackwells for one last browse. I am really going to miss such an amazing bookstore; hopefully I can use their website to continue giving them the business they deserve. I went back to my room to take a brief nap, and then met my Kentuckian friends for one last dinner in Oxford. We decided Jericho was a part of the city we hadn't explored yet, and walked for about 15 minutes before finding it. I wanted to try The Victoria pub, where Thom Yorke from Radiohead likes to go, but it was too crowded. We opted for another pub called Jude the Obscure. Strangely enough, they had the exact same menu as the Turf Tavern, the same dishes, printout, and menu set-up. The only difference was the name of the pub. We weren't upset, having loved the Turf's food, so we picked a little table next to a bookshelf and ordered some food. The three of us had a conversation about politics which is always lovely, and then walked back home.

Going to bed was a little strange; the whole campus was empty. I walked past all the rooms of the people I had gotten to know so well on the way up to mine. It takes small experiences like that to foreshadow just how much you are going to miss being at a place you love and leave. I called it a night and settled in to my bed in room 9-15, hoping I'd wake up in the morning and still be in my first week over here. 

My Oxford Summer

Most people are familiar with the bittersweet ending that a program like this has. For those of you who are not (I really hope you get to experience it soon), but I’ll try and sum it up for you: I’m so happy I spent the summer here and learned so much. I made many new friends all over the world, and we have all decided to try hard to keep in touch. I submitted papers to Oxford and did well on them. I toured the great colleges and shopped at Blackwells. I read in the Bodleian library and had a Guinness at the Eagle and Child. I wandered the streets of one of the most beautiful, and now I can say one of my favorite, cities in the entire world. That’s the sweet part, with the other side being the fact that I’m packing up now. I know I’ll be back; I want to bring my friends and family to see it and give them the grand tour, but I’ll never be able to leave Oxford for the first time again. I may never be able to study here again. I probably will never be in this city with all these wonderful people again. Despite the sad thoughts that come with ending a period of studying and living with a close group for a little while, I think we can all say we are leaving quite happy. We are leaving knowing we just had a life changing summer, one we will be able to reminisce on over tea and cold toast all over the globe for the rest of our lives.

I started the day by getting up early and writing my blog post for the day before. I headed out from Exeter to try and get some more souvenir shopping done before going to the final plenary lecture. I bought a few things, with the intention of finishing up tomorrow, and headed back to school to meet everyone else. Before going in, I stopped by the summer school office to pick up my EU paper, which I did well on! Huzzah! With the relief that I passed my first paper behind me, I went to the lecture.

It was titled Labour Prime Ministers from Attlee to Brown and was delivered by Lord Kenneth Morgan. Yes, the final lecture was given by a member of the House of Lords, and it was fantastic. He gave us the history of each of the Prime Ministers from the Labour party, started with Attlee right after WWII. This complimented my British Politics class nicely since that’s right where it ended. After giving us the lecture, he and Dr. Buchanan read off our names and gave us our certificates. We all cheered for each other and had a lot of fun. The plenary lectures during this program have been wonderful learning experiences and I think they were organized very well. I am really going to miss those.

From there I had lunch one more time in the dining hall, and then met up with Daniel, Anna, Blake, and Antonia to go explore Christ Church’s campus. I’d been around it so many times, but never inside. We walked through a side entrance and flashed our Bodleian Library cards (people in the know call them ‘Bod Cards’), and got in for free. It’s the biggest campus in Oxford, and it is quite a sight. The quad is huge, and the buildings are filled with hallways scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed in. We also toured the great dining hall which inspired the Hogwarts one. After nerding about that for a while, we got ice cream at a famous place across the street (the name escapes me at the moment), and then went over to Magdalen college. It was similarly an amazing and beautiful campus, with the best chapel of all the colleges in my opinion.

After heading back with my friends, I started packing my suitcase and listening to music. At 4 o’clock, I went to the room I’ve been having my British Politics course in to get my paper back. I would say of the two I put the bulk of my work into this one, and was thrilled when I got a good grade on it. I got to speak to Dr. Buchanan about the paper for a while, and he gave me some really helpful and interesting feedback. One of the best parts of this summer school has been the feeling of genuine interest the professors here have taken in our work. I will always be thankful for that.

I packed and walked around the streets some more, taking in all the sights I could, and then headed to Exeter for the closing dinner. After getting all cleaned up and fancy-like in my suit, I walked to the dining hall to get some pictures in the front with everyone, and then we went to the Fellow’s Garden. Like the opening reception, we had champagne and talked with each other and the professors. Unlike the opening reception we all felt a lot more comfortable and less awkward mingling. I tried to make my way around the garden to see everyone, and hopefully was able to take or be in pictures with everyone. I even got a picture with Tom Buchanan, which was really cool. We all moved from there into the dining hall for our last dinner together.

The food was wonderful; they saved the best for last. It was a fig salad, white and red wine, a steak with sautéed vegetables and then coffee for dessert. I sat with Kevin, Bryan, Alex, Blake, Jessica, Julia and Joanna and we all had a great time. After eating, the heads of both departments said a few words, thanking us for a great month and hoping we make it back to Oxford. After they had spoken and received hearty applause, Lord Morgan gave a brief speech as well. He opened with what I thought was a phenomenal speech-starting joke by saying he knows he was not elected as a Lord in a democratic process, but the Americans can’t hold that against him because neither was President Bush. I probably laughed harder than Blake on that one. He also gave an all around wonderful speech by thanking us again for our participation and welcoming us to stay in touch and come back to visit. The part I loved the most was when he said “I hope you all enjoyed the Oxford summer, your Oxford summer.” In case you hadn’t gathered already from reading my updates, I did.

Tomorrow I am spending my last day in Oxford with Blake and Joanna. Hopefully I can see some of my friends off as they leave. Thank you so much again for reading my posts, there are only a few left now, so I’m taking suggestions for what to blog about next. All I’ve got is “Benjamin’s Big Blog of Bacon Dishes,” and “I Miss Oxford: Sad Haikus from America."

Last Day of Class

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.

Exploring and Speech Writing

Today I got a decent amount of exploring done, and I also finished my last assignment.

I slept in a little more than usual (until about 9), and stayed in my room to get some of my presentation for tomorrow done. After some noticeable progress was made, I went down to grab some breakfast before the lecture of the day. I went over to the Missing Bean Coffee shop and got a almond croissant (one of my new favorite snacks), and a tea. The lecture of the day was titled Blasphemy and the Right to Speak Freely: Lessons from the UK, and was given by Dr. Christopher Nock. Dr. Nock is the assistant director of the History and Politics program here, and an expert in Political Philosophy. The lecture was a review of blasphemy laws in the UK over the couse of history and their gradual decline in importance as the liberal democracy progresses. Mainly the decline is because the laws only protected adherents of the established Church of England, so no one else (a large population of British subjects), had full rights.

I went from the lecture with Blake to pay for our one extra night of staying at Exeter, and then to eat lunch at a really fancy restaurant. It was called "Pizza Hut," and it served greasy buffet pizza and old bread sticks. I am joining a campaign to get such a wonderful place started up in Louisville.

After lunch, Blake and I headed back to Exeter and split up. I did some more work on my presentation and wrapped it up in preparation for tomorrow. I now am not only a master of Irish Home Rule history and Italy's involvement in the European Union, but also am well versed in the Labour party's difficulties and rise during WWII. My knowledge will no doubt be in high demand when I return home to the ignorant masses of Americans thirsting for a brief glimpse into British Political History.

I went from working on the speech to explore the city a little more. I went into the Sheldonian Theatre, which was designed by Christopher Wren, the famous British architect who designed St. Paul's in London. The Theatre is an amazing thing to see in person, and was exciting because I had seen the main room in a movie called The Oxford Murders, which thankfully has not been recreated while I've been here. I also climbed into the cupola of the building for another top down view of the famous spires.

I went on a long walk over near Chrits Church, and then back to Exeter, where I did my reading for tomorrow's British Politics class in the Fellow's Garden. The bench where I sat in the garden has a great view overlooking the Radford Camera and the Bodleian Library as well as Mary the Virgin Church. I read about People's views of Churchill before the 1940 election and how he came into power under a very unlikely series of events. When I was finished reading, I went to take a nap before meeting Joanna and Blake for dinner.

We went to the Turf Tavern and had a great dinner. It was nice to hang out with the two of them again, we haven't been able to do something with the three of us since the paper-writing madness began. We told stories about high school and about our classes here at Oxford, and then headed back to meet up with everyone else in the undercroft bar. After sitting outside in the quad and having a drink with a big group of the students, we all walked back over to the Turf Tavern to hang out there. We made our way over to the King's Arms afterward, and then headed home. It was a successful pub crawl where I met a really nice Australian teacher named David who was teaching German students in Oxford at the moment. He asked me and my friend Anna if we were hanging out as a big group on Friday and if he could join, since he said he was tired of going to hang out with 16 year old German kids. We'll have to give him a call soon.

I got back to my room and video chatted with my good friend Ted and then my family, and afterwards called it a night. Tomorrow are my last two classes and my presentation. Thanks for reading, there will be another update soon.

Due Date

Today I turned both my papers in. It is at the same time a feeling of relief that its over, and regret that I couldn't put more work into it. That is inevitable when you have only a week and a half to write two big research papers and keep them at Oxford-level though. Overall I am very happy with my work here. Regardless of what grade I get, I learned so much during my research of the two essays I did not know before.

After getting up early and having my usual breakfast of cereal and tea, I went to the European Union class. We discussed both the foreign policy of the EU ad Turkey's potential membership. Foreign policy within the EU is an interesting topic because of the continued search for a European identity and the lack of a clear spokesman. Turkey is also a fascinating subject; if demographic trends continue and they joined, Turkey would be the biggest country in the EU, surpassing Germany population-wise. They would also be the first Islamic country, and the border would be stretched all the way to Iraq. Lively discussion ensued, and the class was insightful as always.

From there I went to the day's lecture, which was titled Four Fifths Expired? Al-Qaeda: The Deadly Franchise. It was given by Dr. Mark Raford, an Irish former soldier and policeman. The talk was very interesting, he touched on the lack of leadership in Al-Qaeda at the moment and the fact that they depreciate in both numbers and credibility when they go without a large scale attack for a ling time. Terrorism is obviously still a large threat, but the chapter on Al-Qaeeda may be coming to a welcome close.

I left the lecture and went on a brief walk, getting a traditional cornish pasty for lunch and reading a little for my next class. I went to British Politics next, where we discussed the pre-WWII years and appeasement. We spent a lot of time discussing Chamberlain as PM and his role in appeasement with the fascist powers of Europe. One really interesting thing we discussed were the instances when British politicians went to meet Hitler in Germany before the outbreak of war. The way they described the Nazi leader was very odd to a room full of people who grew up already knowing the monstrous things he was capable of. Lloyd George and Chamberlain both met him and described him as a charming, even likable man.

After class, I went over to Blackwells to meet my good friend from high school and college, Andy Brill. We went to the Eagle and Child for dinner, where we ate in the same room the Inklings would meet in. He is studying in London at King's College, so we discussed how much we love London and Oxford and all the fun we've had here so far. After deciding to form our own world-famous literary group, we went over to another famous pub, the Turf Tavern. We had a lot of fun talking, laughing, and having a good time. I walked with him back to the train station and he went on his way back to London, and I headed back to Exeter.

Tonight I am trying to get some more of my presentation for Thursday done, and maybe going out with some Exeter people tonight to celebrate the end of our papers. Huzzah! I'll update you soon about the continuing efforts during my last week to see all of Oxford. Thanks for reading!

Tourist Time

For the beginning of my last week, I decided to try and knock off some of my list of Oxford attractions I have yet to see. I started off the day by getting up early and returning my six Irish History books to the Rewley Library where I checked them out almost two weeks ago now (hard to believe). My desk looks a heckuva lot emptier now. I walked from there over to Carfax Tower, which is the only remaining part of the medieval St. Martin's church. The tower advertises a birds eye view of the city of dreaming spires, so I had to do it. Since I got there as they opened, I was the only person there for a little while. The view was wonderful, I saw Exeter's chapel and the other buildings that make up the famous image of Oxford. The weather was perfect for it too, it was a good way to start the day.

I grabbed a mocha and a piece of baklava from an Italian coffee place in the covered market for breakfast. Yes, I had baklava for breakfast and I'm proud of it, I'm just sick of corn flakes! I took my healthy choice breakfast with me over to the lecture theatre for the day's talk, which was on, you guessed it, divorce. It was titled Divorce: Reasons and  Repercussions, and was given by Dr. Amanda Palmer. She discussed the divorce rates and changing trends in family life in England and how our society is becoming more accepting of divorce as a normal thing. She also spoke of how it affected children in the divorce and how that differs with age. She did a very good job, and it was obviously a lecture people had a lot of questions for her by the end of.

From the lecture I had lunch and went over to the Oxford Botanical Gardens. I wasn't sure how I would like it since I knew nothing about the gardens, but when I walked in I couldn't have been happier. I spent about an hour and a half walking around and looking at all the plant life from around the world. They had rooms for different kinds like an arid room, a lily room, and a palm room, and they were all fascinating. To get around in that area you have to walk through a jungle-like hallway of giant leaves and vines, pushing them out of the way and ducking under others. The rest of the gardens were beautiful as well, with beds of different flowers and fruit trees. I sat on a bench in the center of the gardens and just took it all in for a few minutes. I also got distracted by a lady bug that was walking around on the arm of the bench next to me for entirely too long before deciding to head back to Exeter.

When I got back, I wet to a couple shops around the area and got an Exeter sweater to add to my small arsenal of Oxford clothes (I didn't pack enough from home) and some souvenirs for my family. Then I took a brief nap, which is always a glorious recharge for the rest of the evening. I had dinner in the dining hall and then got some work done on my presentation for the British Politics course on Thursday. I hung out with Bryan for a little while afterwards and then called it a night. Tomorrow night people want to go to a club for karaoke night. That may be fun for me to go watch, but if I want to keep any of the friends I've made here I should probably stay away from the microphone.