Day 5 (Oxford)

Hooya this is Jesslene and Hui Qi who are your bloggers for the real Day 5. We are officially in the scenic town of Oxford (which Huiqi always thought just referred to the school) that is currently on a rare heatwave (remember to drink lots of water). This can be seen in the photos by the realllly bright sunlight. Alright. So, just a mini-recap and little thoughts for the sights and sounds of today.


First of all we met our blue badge city guide, who turned out to be a real pro. Bringing us to the doorsteps of a few colleges - Christ Church, St. Catherine, Merton, and a few others that we didn't really went into. We can see the importance of their gardens by noticing the really generous amount of space that is allocated to their well kept lawns and I think this is really unique of Oxford and England. Singapore pales a little in comparison.


Christ Church is really pretty and of course we all learnt about the Harry Potter filming as well as other locations. What Huiqi really likes is the insight on C.S. Lewis and how we learn the inspiration behind his stories - the wonderful Alice and the rabbit hole, etc. Another major attraction is the cathedral itself, which really is awe-inspiring and certainly beautiful.


Alright so we went into St. Catherine and we had a lecture on Jane Eyre. We learnt more about the different possible ways we could read the book. We considered how we can read a book and approach it from different angles, which is something we've never considered. I guess we get really caught up in trying to understand the content most of the time that this is something really new and it most probably never occurred to us that we should consider the writer and the historical context in which it were written.


St. Catherine is really different though, in its clean lines and modernity. I think that today's tour of Oxford was really enriching because we got to see and contrast the different colleges.


Understandably everyone felt a bit overdressed during the dinner but I think we guys looked presentable. The dinner was very interesting because we got to speak to very friendly alumni that were eager to share as well. The shared background of a NY girl really helped to bridge any gap and we had a lovely time with them. The most valuable part of the interaction is most probably getting to know more about how they integrated into the local culture. As we heard from them, the social life of the locals are built on the basis of alcohol, pubs, and partying (which our seniors were not comfortable with). Our seniors also mentioned that although they might be able to communicate with the locals, they did not forge especially close bonds with them.


This is Hui Qi and Jesslene, signing off.