Blogs and Bottles

Being in a sorority, I thought I knew all there was to know about organized social events. I was wrong. Here at Exeter College there is always something going on! Luckily my neighbor and the friends I've made like to be just as involved as I, so I've been to almost every event scheduled and then some. What has been most intriguing about the social aspect is that there is a lot of organized drinking with fellow students, professors, and college staff. Three out of five nights this week I've attended an event where I drink with my tutors. However, it is quite different from the American idea of drinking. At these events it's more like a "have one drink so I have something to do with my hands" event. I may be completely off base, but from what I've experienced in the week I've been here, the British drink less, more frequently. Whereas Americans drink more, less often. What I mean is the folks I've come into contact with so far have one or two drinks every day, whereas in America you would go out maybe once a week and have several drinks in succession.

On Monday my lecture was from 8-9:30pm instead of the usual 11am time. This is so we could be sworn into the library and get our reader card (more on that later!). After our lecture, which was on British politics in light of the Scottish Referendum, we had an after lecture drink in the college bar. I got a Guinness; figured I should play it safe and order something I know on night one. I played trivia pursuit with two other girls from my program. I won!! But then I took a snapchat about it and it had a grammar mistake so all my creditability went out the window.

Pre fatal grammar mistake

Each college has its own bar. Ours is located directly underneath the Hall. They have quick foods during lunch and serve drinks from 2pm until close I believe. I got a chicken tikka sub during lunch the other day. Chicken Tikka is similar to a chicken salad only it's made with curry. It is SO GOOD!!! If you can find chicken tikka in a restaurant or a recipe on Pinterest I highly suggest you try it. The bar closes at 10pm, so it's not like you could get wild there, but it's nice for small social gatherings. It's convenient that you can just walk down stairs (even though it is five flights of stairs) instead of going down the street.

On Tuesday evening before dinner I met with the program director and a few other students in my program for a drink. The purpose of this was for the director to get to know each of us a little better. I already knew him from where I had to speak with him to switch classes, so I had a leg up on the competition. My friend Megan and I arrived five minutes early and they were still setting up. The director himself walked in just as we did. I used this time to converse with him about social customs. I explained that when you are attending an event or are invited somewhere, it is customary in America to arrive early. I explained that I liked to be every where at least five minutes early, maybe earlier depending upon the context. He said this was not customary in Britain at all! He said that if he was invited to attend an event that began at 6:30 he would never arrive earlier than 6:35! My mind was blown. So Megan and I looked like the American nerds that showed up five minutes early for drinks. Regardless it was nice; I mingled with other students from my program. I also managed to sneak back and ask the server for a second glass of wine. Score! No one here drinks more than one glass at a time/sitting so I was afraid it might be perceived as rude, but it was fine. At least no one said otherwise to my face. Ha!

After dinner that same night one of the program assistants gave us a walking tour of the city center, the main streets through the town with all the pubs and shops. It lasted maybe 30-45 minutes. We all went to a pub together afterward, but it was too crowded for us to stay so we headed back to the college bar. This time I ordered an Exeter Beer. This beer is a microbrew created in honor of Exeter College's 700th anniversary last year. It is brewed with hops grown right here on campus in the Rector's Garden! I was so excited to try it, but honestly it was atrocious. I've developed a palate for beer for the past year (thanks Zach!). I favor beers amber or darker, but I'll drink anything (thanks Appalachian!).  I can drink pretty much anything, but this beer was not enjoyable whatsoever. It was a lighter beer but very heavy. I don't know enough technical terms to be able to describe the flavor or taste, but just take my word for it. Order a Guinness.

If only it tasted as good as it looks.

On Wednesday afternoon I went on a walking tour of Oxford. This time the tour focused on the school instead of the town. A popular historic phrase here is "Town and Gown." This refers to the combative atmosphere between the townspeople and the coleegeiates. This mutual distaste has persisted since the 14th century! (I attended a voluntary lecture on the history of Oxford this evening! I'll do more on that later.) The tour guide was an older white lady that had attended Oxford in her youth. She had so much knowledge and pride in Oxford. This place is so historical it almost has a magical quality about it. There has been organized education here since the 11th century. During the tour I saw many different colleges (Bill and Chelsea Clinton studied at University College) and learned many interesting facts. Here's two of the most interesting: The actor that plays Mr. Bean has a Master's in Engineering from Queen's College! School exams are oral and are extremely random: "If you were planning on participating in an orgy and the members arrived in Nazi uniforms would you still participate? Why or why not? Explain."

This is the home of JRR Tolkien after he was first married. 21 Merton St Oxford.
Tolkien was an alumnus of my college, Exeter!

On Wednesday evening I attended an optional mandatory political debate. It was optional but was lead by my economics tutor. During seminar on Wednesday he made it very clear that we should be at the debate. The topic of the debate was "Democracy: Vox populi vox dei, vox populi vox diaboli? Is the voice of the people the voice of God or the voice of the Devil?" Students sign up to debate one another and at the end of the session the audience votes for the winner. However, it is important to note that the audience does not vote for which side the agree with; they vote on which side better proved their point. It was extremely interesting. The PRO side (voice of the people, pro democracy) was one female from Australia. The CON side (voice of the devil, anti democracy) was two gentlemen, one from Singapore and one from Britain.  Theoretically I agreed with the CON side but the lady on the PRO side did such a better job in the debate. After she proved her initial point and rebuttal, the audience fired questions at her and she handled them with such grace and knowledge. I voted for the PRO side, as did most of the audience. She won!

After the debate on Thursday night I met a group of my friends at a pub. There is also an English literature program going on here and I have several friends from that program. They went early to the pub as they did not have an interest in the political debate. We met at the Turf Tavern, the pub we intended to go to after the town tour. The Turf tavern is one of the most historic pubs in Oxford. Its slogan is "an education in intoxication." You have to go through the long and winding alleyway to get there. I wish I would have taken pictures on the walk in. You go through a very tight alley way (single file) and it takes about three different 90 degree turns. Once you get to the tavern it opens up in to a small outdoor space and an indoor pub. One side of the tavern is built on the ancient city wall from Medieval times. 

The wall in the background is from Medieval Times.
It is the original wall still standing from the 13th century. 

Pimms -- The British version of Sangria

That same night we went to two other pubs, White Horse Tavern and the King's Arms. Both are within a two minute walk of my college. The White Horse Tavern was quaint, but I really enjoyed it. We sat around a small circle table adorned with Union Jack bunting. I ordered a glass of white wine. I was planning on ordering beer, but honestly I was scared after my Exeter College beer disaster a couple nights before. The King's Arms was much larger. It felt like a bar in Greensboro with the amount of people in such a small space. This time I ordered "a dark beer thats not Guinness." Branching out!!

Our group at King's Arms! from L to R: BerryHill, Caroline, Kim, Myself, Anneliese, Conor

Delicious.

My next door neighbor and I at King's Arms! Staircase 2 rooms 6 and 7.
Anneliese is from Australia and finishing up undergrad. 

Thursday Evening our college bar put on a beer tasting. The email stated it was so we "could sound sophisticated at the pubs." The beer tasting was put on by LuLu, the bar manager. Lulu is by far one of the best people I've met at Oxford so far. She is so friendly and down to earth. Even though she has one of the strongest British accents I've heard so far, she reminds me of an American in her hospitality and down to earth nature. She used to manage the gay bar in Oxford until it got closed down. We tried three different beers. The first two were from White Horse Brewery, a brewery here in Osfordshire. (Oxfordshire is where Oxford the town is located. I'm assuming Oxfordshire is the district, county, or the British equivalent.) The first was a light ale called "The Village Idiot." The second was a dark lager called "Oxford Dark Blue." It was created in honor of the University of Oxford Rowing Team. The color of Oxford is dark blue while it's rival Cambridge wears light blue. Thirdly, we tried the Exeter College beer (once again, I'm always ahead of the curve). My neighbor Anneliese doesn't like beer so she would take a sip and then give me hers, allowing me to essentially have two of each beer! Perfect!

Tonight, Friday, I attended a talk on the history of Oxford University. It was by far one of the most interesting sessions I've attended so far. It was completely voluntary, so only about fifteen students showed. Their loss!! I will post a more detailed post on the history of Oxford later. After dinner tonight I walked with my friends Anneliese, Megan, and Conor to Tesco, a grocery store. I bought some body butter. The water here is SO HARD. There's a ton of minerals in the water and lime scale on everything. So I am constantly peeling because my body isn't used to it. So I bought more lotion to hopefully alleviate the problem. Afterward, I came to the college bar to have a glass of wine while I type this post. I don't have a mini fridge in my room and I didn't realize how much I'd miss having wine or beer any time I please. So I came to the college bar so I could drink wine and type at the same time. As I went to order a final glass of white wine LuLu informed me that I had drank the entire bottle. Whoops. 

I'm signing off now. In the near future I hope to post on my dorm room, the Bodleain Library, and my London trip this weekend!!! XOXO, Oxford Girl