The following is a haiku explaining my first week here at Oxford.
The weather is gross
The buildings evoke my awe
Love ChoZen Noodle
~Rachel Surratt
When I first go to my flat, all I could think was ‘yep…this is Britain’. Stepping foot off of the Oxford train gave me absolutely no sense of what I had to expect from one of the oldest cities in the UK. Since I had been staying in London a few days prior to my travels to Oxford (I sound like a Bronte character), I was expecting more hustle and bustle similar to the streets I had just come from.
That’s decidedly not what I got.
Instead, I was treated to the most quaint, and visually stunning views I could muster. Walking across George Street (a journey I do NOT advise with a suitcase, when will I learn?!) I saw flourishing green riverside pathways with boathouses along the Thames. Also, don’t let anyone tell you to jump into the Thames, It’s no cleaner or body-free here than it was in London. Anyways, I had to wait a full 24 hours into this trip before I was struck dumb by the architectural juggernaut that is Oxford. It didn’t really hit me that this city has been the home to people and scholars alike since before the ‘more perfect union (extreme side eye)’ that is the United States had even been an idea.
Having this epiphany in the middle of a walking tour really culminates how I’ve felt these past few days, a few words that accurately describe the State of the Union: thunder-struck, humbled, invigorated, intimidated, and honestly a lil’ tired and hungry (I see you ChoZen Noodle).
Shakespeare in Oxford! 