Yesterday was a cold day in Oxford, with bitter wind and snow flurries. Despite our British Life and Culture class' knack for scheduling tours on painfully cold days, it was one of the greatest trips I have taken so far. Oddly enough, it was the trip I thought that I would enjoy the least...
When I first heard that we were taking a trip to Oxford, I figured we were going to the university to admire the architecture and history of a school that few could afford. I was mildly interested, but assumed that the tour would have that "Hey, look at this place that you don't have the grades or money for! Isn't it just wonderful? Too bad you can't go here!" vibe. I was wrong on just about all counts, including my basic image of what Oxford University looked like.
Let's start by discussing my most basic misconceptions (and perhaps correcting some of your own). First of all: yes, Oxford is prestigious. I don't know what grades are required to get in, but you do have to be very academically sound and involved with your school (or so I imagine) in order to be accepted. I looked up the tuition, fees, and room and board for Oxford when I got home last night: I discovered, to my happiness and amazement, that the total cost was around $20,000. However, before typing this blog I wanted to double-check. I don't know where I found the figure that said that price included room and board and meal plan, but I apparently misread something. The actual cost to go to Oxford is much more like Ivy League schools in the United States: around $44,000 per year (for overseas students; students in England pay around $25,300, not including meal plans). That was a disappointing revelation, but I suppose it's better that I double-checked! In the grand scheme of things though, when Oxford's costs are compared to the tuition, room and board, and meal plan totals of the top U.S. colleges, well...I'll let numbers talk:
Harvard University: $54,496
Princeton University: $53,250
Yale University: $56,380
Is $44,000 a year still painful? Yes. Was I heartbroken to find out that the $20,000 figure wasn't accurate? Yes. Perhaps it's better just to stick with their graduate program: $25,272 (not including housing or meals) for a two year Creative Writing M.A. Okay, maybe I should scrap the Oxford idea all together...moving along...
Now we've learned that the cost of attending Oxford isn't AS painful as it could be (though still a dream for many of us). Onto the next misconception: How do you picture Oxford University? To my surprise, Oxford Uni is not one big campus. It is, in fact, made up of a whopping 38 individual colleges. Each college has its own faculty hierarchy and they are basically individually run (but of course they all answer to the same people, in the end). When one applies to Oxford, they can put down which colleges in their area of study they would prefer to attend. The college they end up at is decided by admissions. To be honest, I never pictured Oxford, England as an actual town. I assumed that anytime someone said "Oxford" they meant the university. In fact, Oxford is a lovely little town with cool museums and shopping centers. I didn't get to see the inside of any museums due to lack of time, but I would like to go back and explore them someday.
On to the tour! This is where I got pleasantly surprised by all that Oxford has to offer. I was unaware of just how many famous authors went to Oxford. Among them are Philip Pullman, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Golding, and Lewis Carroll. Right away, this grabbed my interest. I would soon experience more things that would make my English Major heart very happy, but I must not get ahead of myself...
Our tour started in the Sheldonian Theatre. The building was completed in 1668 by famous architect Christopher Wren. It was built for the purpose of hosting graduation ceremonies, which it still does to this day. The graduation ceremonies are two hours long and are done entirely in Latin. (Sounds like a hoot and a holler, doesn't it?) The ceiling of the theatre was beautifully painted and I had to take a few photographs!
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| Not the ceiling, but still pretty cool. |
Our next stop was to a lookout point on top of of the theatre to get great views of the city of Oxford. (The "lookout point" had a name, but I cannot remember what. "Lookout point" will have to do for now.) Here are the pictures:
Next, we traveled to the Divinity School. It was founded in 1427 and took 60 years to complete (the first architect died of old age before it was finished).
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| Turned out well, though! |
Harry Potter fans will be excited to know that the Divinity School was the site for the hospital scene with Harry and Dumbledore at the end of the first movie. The Bodleian Library, which is the main library at Oxford and one of the oldest libraries in England (housing 11 million items) was used as the Hogwarts library in the first two Harry Potter films. (For those wondering what the biggest library in Britain is: The British Library! It has over 150 million items and is given a free copy of everything published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.)
On the side of a wall to the left of the Divinity School, there are little statues. These statues (for lack of a better word) were put there fairly recently when the older ones began crumbling.
Each statue has some type of meaning for the college. The one to the far
left is the Dodo from Alice in Wonderland (a tribute, of course, to
Lewis Carroll). The Dodo character is actually based on the author!
Lewis Carroll's real name is Charles Dodgson, and it is believed that he
chose the Dodo because he spoke with a stammer and would introduce
himself as "Do-do-dodgson". Fourth statue from the left is a lion head,
representing Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia. The statue second from
the right is Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. (I didn't write fast enough
to tell you who the other statues represent. Apologies.)
We moved on with the tour and got to see more beautiful buildings and hear stories about the colleges. I am trying to remember what I can and combine it with my notes, but some things are forgotten. The pictures below are from a courtyard we went through:
Below is one of the more famous sights in Oxford: the Radcliffe Camera.
Next to the Radcliffe Camera is a gated entrance to the quad of All Souls College. (The full name of the college is: The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford. You can see why they shorten it.) All Souls has no undergraduates; It is a college strictly for research fellows and allegedly has the hardest entrance exam in the world. It is so difficult that there are some semesters where they don't admit anyone new! Makes me wonder what exactly is on that exam...
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| I know it isn't the greatest picture. I was hurrying to catch up with the tour group. |
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| The quad of the very elite college. |
Next to All Souls College and the Radcliffe Camera is the church of Saint Mary the Virgin. It has stood there for over 1,000 years and is (I believe) the official church of the college.
As the group moved onward, our tour guide brought us into a little thoroughfare between a main street and the Radcliffe Camera. She told us to imagine it was freezing out (which didn't take much) and that there was a lot of snow on the ground. She had us recall the moment in The Chronicles of Narnia when Lucy first enters the wardrobe and walks out into a snowy Narnia; The first thing she sees is a lamppost, followed shortly by Mr. Tumnus the fawn. The guide explained that the thoroughfare we stood in was used by C.S. Lewis often in his walks. She had us turn around and take a look back at toward the camera. This is what we saw:
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"That," the guide said, "is likely the Narnia lamppost." She further proved her point by showing us the entrance to a building beside the post. Look at the curious creatures on either side of the door:
They're fawns.
After getting our moments of literary bliss, we were brought to one of the dorm areas and got to peek inside a chapel. We were told that nobody is allowed onto the grass in the quad area except for the person who takes care of it, film crews, and the Queen herself. Apparently this is a strictly enforced rule.
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| Athletic teams who do well can graffiti their accomplishments on their dorms. |
Soon after that, we were brought back to a main road and the tour was over. We had an hour and a half to get lunch before heading to Christ Church for self-guided tours of the college. Amy, Johnathan (a student from Tennessee) and I all wanted to head to the same place: The Eagle and Child. It is a pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis would meet to discuss their ideas for fictional works. These works are now known to everyone as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. Knowing that I sat in the same pub as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis makes me very, very happy and giddy.
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| Why the child is perfectly calm remains a mystery. |
I wanted to get something British for lunch so I ordered bangers and mash. Sadly, they were out of pork sausage. They did, however, have venison. I decided to try it. I have to say, I am not a venison person. But now I know, and I can say I've tried venison! That alone is worth it! (The mashed potatoes were yummy and filling enough on their own, and the garlic bread I got as a "just in case I don't like venison" side came in handy.) I also ordered a ginger beer, thinking that it was the British version of ginger ale. I had asked for ginger ale in a different pub weeks before, and the lady replied "Ginger beer?" I said, "Yeah, ginger ale" and there was no problem. I got ginger ale. Well it turns out that the first lady realized what I wanted, but I walked away assuming two very different things were the same thing. The woman at the Eagle and Child asked if I wanted alcoholic or non-alcoholic ginger beer. I said non-alcoholic and was mildly confused because I still thought we were talking about ginger ale. It turns out that ginger beer is much different. It tastes like liquified ginger and is served on ice with a slice of lime and a slice of orange. It was good, though extremely gingery. I had to squeeze in the lime and orange to make it a bit easier to drink. I walked away from that pub with the knowledge that I do like ginger beer but do not like venison. It's fun to discover new things, isn't it?
Our next stop was my favorite place on the trip: Christ Church College. The campus is beautiful, as is the cathedral. There is a lot to see and appreciate at Christ Church and it is a must-see for anyone who visits Oxford.
Who wouldn't want to go to school there?
For Harry Potter fans, Christ Church will be of great interest. The Great Hall is based on the dining hall at Christ Church. The staircase leading to the dining hall is the actual staircase that was used in the first film when Professor McGonagall leads the first-years off the boats and to a set of stairs outside the Great Hall. Because of this, I think it's safe to say that I got into Hogwarts.
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| Hah! I am a wizard! |
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| The Headmaster's table! I remember where Snape sits... |
An interesting feature of the Great Ha--er, the dining hall, was the stained glass windows. One in particular was pointed out to us by our teacher, Elly. Take a look at this:
It is a Lewis Carroll window! You can see Alice in the top left pane, in the corner. Along the bottom of the lower row of panes are various Wonderland characters. It's always refreshing to see how much respect Britain has for its famous authors through various tributes to them.
Our next stop was the cathedral. There was actually a small stringed group playing music inside, which made the experience even more pleasant. The stained glass in the cathedral was something to behold, and I don't think any pictures do it justice. Enjoy the ones I got!
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| Can anyone translate? |
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| Luke and John. |
We must have been walking at the same pace as our teacher because we met her again in the cathedral. She pointed out another stained glass piece of importance. This one depicted Thomas Becket. He is considered to be a martyr by the Catholics and Anglicans. He had gotten under the skin of Henry II, who said something in annoyance that his knights interpreted as "oh, Henry wants us to kill that priest." The knights marched into the cathedral where Becket was (not the one at Christ Church; Becket was in Canterbury) and brutally murdered and beheaded him right in the church. Becket became a martyr and was even canonized by a pope. Years later, King Henry VIII came along and ordered that Becket's bones be destroyed along with all other depictions of him or anything that mentioned him. This is why the stained glass in the Christ Church cathedral is so important: it is one of the last original pieces that depicts Becket's death.
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| Becket's death is portrayed in the very middle. It's a bit difficult to see, but you can make out swords and a yellow shield. |
That about wrapped up the trip to Oxford! If you ever want to visit Oxford, there are coach buses that leave from London on a fairly regular basis. You can also take guided walking tours like we did. There are the good introductory city and university tours, but there are also specialized tours available. These tours are things such as the C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien tour, the Harry Potter Tour, and (here you go, Mom and Dad) the Inspector Morse tour. More information on all of them is available at:
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com
Until next time...Cheers!
