A Bulldog Abroad: Sunday in Oxford

Today, our first Sunday in Oxford, the Christ Church contingent decided to pay a visit to the cathedral for College Communion. We then spent the afternoon with some unexpected guests!

6:50am - The ever-scholarly Spencer can be a recluse at times, but today he was excited about our visit and knocked on my garret door early! I'd been working late into the night and was glad for the wake-up call. We ate a light first breakfast, read through some paperwork, and then ran off to town.

Side view of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

8:45am - Arrived at Christ Church gate. Met Ben, Bailey, and Hannah and proceeded across Tom Quad to the college cathedral to take our seats for the service. (for more cathedral info, click here) Communion takes place in the Lady-chapel, a mid-12th century chapel at the rear of the cathedral to the left of the altar. (Directions include "turn left at the grave of John Locke!") The chapel has a rare painted ceiling (quite faded, unfortunately) and a beautiful stained glass window. Supposedly, the chapel was added in fulfillment of a stipulation by the woman who donated the Meadows to the College and asked that, in return, the cathedral pray for her soul daily. Unsure of decorum, we'd dressed up and arrived early. The College Chaplain Ralph J. Williamson greeted us and assured us that neither was necessary.

Nave of Christ Church Cathedral with view towards the altar

Choir ceiling of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

9:05am - The service begin promptly on "Oxford Time." Oxford lies 1° 15' 24" west of Greenwich and its Royal Observatory and is therefore 5 minutes and 2 seconds behind Greenwich Time. Many events, tutorials, and meetings maintain a tradition of starting five minutes past the hour. Even then the service was sparsely attended. A few late-comers, including the two student readers clad in boardshorts and flip-flops, trickled in. Another student provided piano accompaniment. As might be expected, the Anglican service was very similar to a Catholic mass with the exception of communion. Our small group gathered around altar in a circle as the chaplain dispensed the bread and wine, a very pleasant difference which I felt added to the communal atmosphere.

Altar of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

10:00am – We adjourned to second breakfast in the McKenna Room (adjacent to the main dining hall) hosted by the chaplain and his wife. Rev.Ralph J. Williamson has served at Christ Church for 15 years and was more than willing to discuss college and Oxford trivia with us. Our discussion quickly turned to the Queen's Jubilee service that took place in the cathedral yesterday. This was a smaller, local commemoration before the official Jubilee celebrations which begins next Saturday on the 60th anniversary of the Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and will run into a four-day weekend and bank holiday (June 2-5). The chaplain explained that since Diamond Jubilee commemorations don't happen every day, the the planners of yesterday's ceremony just wrote their own guidebook and made up roles for any civic leaders with enough self-importance to participate. There was a good turnout.

Hannah Rogers and Ben Bailey in the McKenna Room, Christ Church.

Other topics of conversation included the London weather (dreary, as expected), the multitude of charming Cotswold towns which we must surely make time to visit, and local wildlife. As one would expect, we've seen quite a different mix of animal life than we typically find in the States, especially in the rail yard between the Oxford Station and the student apartments at Venneit Close and also along the shaded canals and fields near the Thames. Mute Swans and mallards clog the waterways, and foxes and maybe even a badger have been spotted by students walking at night.

10:45am - Departed Christ Church and paid a visit to the Oxford Covered Market, an 18th century structure designed to give order to the city's garbled medieval market practices and to remove the butchers' and craftsmen's stalls from the high street. You can still buy a good cut of meat or your daily produce, but these days the traditional trades share space with a few small coffee shops and boutiques.

11:00am - Spencer and I decided to pay another visit to Blackwell's bookshop. I gave Spencer a tour of the math section and ordered a book I'd been hunting. (Despite the five levels and miles of shelving, Blackwell's doesn't have everything! However, it's usually available in a day or two with no shipping fee.)

11:45am - We wandered next door to Trinity College and ate brunch in dining hall. Spencer is member of the college and treated me to lunch, paying with his student card. I'll return the invitation later in the week and take him to a meal at Christ Church. Guest meals and reciprocal invitations are a common part of student life here. Students may find themselves in strange parts of town, far from their home colleges, as they hunt down research material in out-of-the-way libraries and archives. Fortunately, a friend's college is usually just around the corner. MSU has students at Christ Church and Trinity, but some WISC students are studying at New College and perhaps others.

Spencer Hall at Trinity College, Oxford

12:30pm - Returned to the flat at Juxon Street. We busied ourselves making a list of minor maintenance issues with apartment to hand in to the WISC offices and then read some texts for class. The pile is now a little smaller.

2:45pm - Four of the students in the MSU group, including myself, are Distinguished Scholars (holders of a prestigious MSU scholarship), and as an afternoon treat, we had the opportunity to meet with our recently-retired DS mentors Dr. John and Jean Marszalek. They are taking a group tour of England over the next several days and were passing through Oxford today. Rather than remain with their group, we offered to give them a behind-the-scenes tour of Oxford. This meant yet another trip to Blackwell's, but you won't here me complaining! Anyway, it was good to see the Marszaleks again and I think they greatly enjoyed the afternoon.