A Week At Oxford

The British government was very supportive and helpful to overseas students. The British Council had a program that offered week-long stays at either an University or a famous location for education and pleasure. You could even request aid for tuition, room, and board. All you needed would be your pocket money and a return fare for your travels.The events were designed for the Overseas students who needed to find something meaningful to do and some place to stay during the breaks in the school Year. Very well organized.

During the week, there would be lectures by experts on your chosen topics, excursions, and other activities. You would learn a lot about the Subject you wished to study and the Place you would be visiting - an intensive learning experience, a wonderful opportunity for us to know more about the country as well.

I had chosen to go to Oxford for a week's Study on Modern  Literature - T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Orwell, Huxley, and others. I would be living at one of the Colleges at Oxford - on campus, so to speak..

So after my visit to my friend Mary's home, I went to Oxford for my week-long stay. I was excited. Not everyone had the chance of experiencing the life of a student at Oxford - the oldest university in England..

So on a gray day, I checked into a room at "Wadham".

The next morning, I was awaken by a knock on the door and a male voice, telling me it was time for me to get up. I was alarmed. I did not realize that it was the custom at the School, that the Houseman or whatever he was called, who took care of the students, would wake them up every morning. That was an experience!

We had a group of about thirty, from all over the world, of varied ages. A third of us women. It was great to meet people from different parts of the word. Almost all of them were very well-educated and highly intelligent. Many of them were working on their Ph.Ds.. I felt a bit inadequate. Among them, there was a young man from Canada, David. It turned out that David was doing graduate work at Edinburgh. We felt like we were almost kins. 

There were a couple of Dons who guided us during the week. They made our lives so much easier since almost all the us were still new to the British Isles.

Throughout the week, we had most of our meals in the Great Dining Hall, (the kind like in the movie of Harry Potter) - with high vaulted ceilings, huge heavy dining tables of dark wood, wooden long benches, stained glassed windows, different flags flying around the wall (family crests) - almost like a church. We had our lectures in the classrooms and they were marvelous. We took guided tours in and around Oxford. We learned many aspects about Modern writers and a lot more about the place Oxford and the different Colleges.The town was charming with the many medieval buildings. The architecture was intriguing. I felt good.

The week went by far too fast. I had to return to Edinburgh. So did David.