Two Weeks in Oxford
Writing out the title for this post is enough to make me discontent with being back in America, because spending two weeks in Oxford was my absolute favorite part of my summer in England. Walking the cobblestone streets, drinking tea in a classroom, visiting the places where some of my favorite writers taught and studied, and seeing professors in tweed jackets outside of cafés nourished my soul. The only thing that made me sad in Oxford was the thought of leaving. And yes, I’m glad to be home again. Yes, I missed my family and my friends and good Mexican food. Yes, my national pride is at an all-time high while watching the Paris Olympics (and at an all-time low every time a political ad comes on in the commercial breaks). Yes, yes, I’m a born-and-raised North Carolinian. But I’ve learned just how possible it is to love a place that isn’t your home.
The Kilns
While in England, I was taking a class on the Inklings (the group of Oxford literary greats that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien). If you don’t know much about Wheaton College, C.S. Lewis is our patron saint. You can’t pass a week (much less a day) on campus without hearing his name in a class or a chapel service. Our Wade Center is dedicated to Lewis, Tolkien, and their circle, and we have their desks and the wardrobe. The wardrobe. So naturally, you bring 33 English majors from Wheaton to Oxford, and visiting Lewis’s home was a non-negotiable.
The Kilns is a cottage in a quiet neighborhood far removed from the busyness of central Oxford. Here, Lewis lived with his brother, Warnie, two women who were the family of a friend who died in World War I, and later, his wife, Joy. The house has books nestled in every corner (not originals, though… Wheaton has those 🙃), a beautiful garden and surrounding nature preserve, and terrible stains on the ceilings and walls. Turns out, the Lewis brothers were pretty awful housekeepers. We saw the library, Lewis’s bedroom, his wardrobe (Wheaton has the real one, although there is much debate about which is the “real” one), and heard some endearing stories about the quirks of the house and Lewis’s time there.
Funnily enough, I visited the Kilns with my family back in February 2020; it was my first time out of the country, and we spent a week in London, with a day devoted to a trip to Oxford. As I walked around the house, it was pretty surreal to think about how much I’ve changed since then, where I am in life now, and how little high-school freshman Bailey knew (but college freshman Bailey definitely knows less). My reflection in the wardrobe’s mirror has changed a great deal in four-and-a-half years, and sometimes I’m nostalgic for fourteen-year-old me.
At least nineteen-year-old me has better fashion sense.
Magdalen College and Addison’s Walk
While we’re on the subject of C.S. Lewis, another highlight of Oxford was visiting Magdalen College (pronounced MAWD-len… weird, I know), the college where Lewis was a professor for many years. The University of Oxford is divided into over 30 individual colleges, each with its own small campus and overall vibe. My fellow Wheaties and I stayed in St. Anne’s College, one of the most modern-looking colleges, but colleges like Magdalen, Merton, Oriel, and Christ Church are quintessentially Oxford. You think Oxford, with spires and turrets and stones, and Magdalen College is Oxford. A few friends and I walked around the drafty, stone building and out onto the gardens, following the path to Addison’s Walk.
Addison’s Walk is a path through the woods surrounding the college, and it’s here that Lewis and Tolkien used to go for long strolls and talk, leading to Lewis’s conversion to Christianity. We sat on a bench by a creek, listening to a lone duck call across the water, and one girl happened to have her copy of The Magician’s Nephew on her (I’m telling you… this is the advantage of traveling with English majors). The shade was cool, the creek sounds were gentle, and we read our favorite passages from the book. It was one of the most idyllic moments of the trip.
Independence Day
As it so happened, we spent July 4th in Oxford, so as much as I would swap my American passport for a British one any day, we of course had to celebrate our freedom from the mother country. We hiked it to Port Meadow and began our celebrations on a bridge over the Thames, where we had a ceremonial reading of the Declaration of Independence and sang the National Anthem. There is footage on my phone of us dumping tea leaves into the Thames, but that footage shall not be leaked. So thank you, King Charles, for hosting us Americans in your country to celebrate our independence. God bless America.
Blackwell’s Bookshop
I don’t even know how many bookstores I visited in England, but Blackwell’s is by far the best bookstore I have ever been in. Y’all. I can’t even explain how enormous this place is. It just kept going. One of our assignments for my Inklings class was just to visit the bookshop, and we spent the better part of an afternoon in there. And then came back a few days later. It’s probably a good thing we left Oxford when we did, because I would empty my bank account in this place if left for too long (but pro: books in Britain are overall cheaper than books in America). The haul…
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott- 5/5 stars
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell- 6/5 stars
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett- currently sitting on my bookshelf calling out to me
Not that anyone cares. (:
Emma Watson
A small party out of the group ran into Emma Watson in a café.
Unfortunately, I was not part of the small party.
I’m still seething with jealousy.
Out on the Town
The sight-seeing was great, but I think my favorite part of being in Oxford was just walking the streets, getting to know my way around, pretending like I was a local. Oxford is such a historic place, but it’s also a place vibrant with the 21st century. The food scene is surprisingly great, and there’s a lot of international cuisine, from high-end Indian dining to cheap Lebanese street food. Of course, we had to visit a pub and pretend to have an intellectual conversation (we were probably just talking about food). We found a tea shop that quickly became an obsession. And Oxford as a town is a very diverse place, with students and tourists coming from all over the world… especially in the summer. These are the same streets that academic giants like C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, and Dorothy Sayers walked, but they’re generous enough to welcome the feet of an anonymous American teenager.
Oxford, you have a large piece of my heart. Blackwell’s, if you’re hiring, please send me that job application.