Sunday, August 6, 2017

Bittersweet Ending

This post has come on way too soon--the last post from England, specifically Oxford. I can't even begin to describe how much of an absolutely amazing journey this has been for me. I've tried to convey it in my posts, but there's just something I can't describe. It's not just all of the absolutely mind-blowing places that I've visited, walking in the footsteps of some of the most amazing authors. It's not just the great food, the lovely accents, the good beer, the amazing sights, the intense history, it's that I came over here and did this. I've never truly travelled on my own before. And yes, I've almost always had people around me during this trip, but I was doing a lot on my own--navigating London and Oxford, staying on my own, getting the most out of this experience as humanly possible.

I haven't written much this week because I was trying to focus on my course and experiencing Oxford. I've met some pretty incredible people while here, not just in my course but in the city too. I even made a new friend that I've gotten to know pretty well. But the people in my course are some amazing students who come from all backgrounds and offered the most unique of experiences to the idea of Oxford and Fantasy. I can't recommend enough the OUSSA program through the continuing education department. They offer week long courses throughout the month of July and into August. There were some people who had taken several weeklong courses over the summer. The administration is very helpful, and if you find the program soon enough, you can actually stay at the college (I was a little late to the game, but my Air BnB was still great and centrally located). My tutor, Maria...her knowledge literally blows my mind. She knows so much and has so much to say, and there's never enough time to get it all out. She posed some great questions in class that led to interesting discussions. Plus, it's pretty fun to listen to an Oxford educated tutor with a Phd talk about how much of a geek for Lord of the Rings she is. We finally got her talking about what she doesn't like about the Lord of the Rings movies in the last class session.

And the other wonderful part about being in this course--you're surrounded by people with the same interests as you. Your conversations are meaningful, and you can totally geek out because everyone is as geeky as you. Now, I was the only real hardcore vampire fan, but that's okay. I think I inspired some people to get back into the vamp genre haha.

All I've seen in Oxford while not being academic:
The Perch (beautiful pub outside the city that has you walk through Port Meadow)
Merton College (where Tolkien taught)
Christ Church College (where scenes from the first Harry Potter were filmed and where Lewis Carroll taught while write Alice in Wonderland)
The Ashmoleon Art Museum
The Natural History Museum (which has a bunch of creepy shrunken heads)
The Turf pub (where Bill Clinton did NOT inhale pot... where the prime minister of Australia set a drinking record, and where a lot of the HP cast would hang out during filming) #
The Bear (the first pub in Oxford that basically existed before Oxford was actually a city)

And now I'm going to go out and enjoy my last day in England, which is surprisingly nice weather (don't get me started on how much I've talked about the weather while I've been here. It's a real thing. I get it now).

See you back on the other side of the pond,
      HER

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