On our second day here in
England, our group spend the entire day touring Oxford and going over the
details of our program, playing tourists before we actually knuckled down
and started our classes for real.
Downtown Oxford is swarming with tourists, students, shoppers, and
locals, making navigating the city challenging, but not undo-able. I love being here while the schools are still
in session across all levels. Every
morning I see primary school students walking along the sidewalk (pavement
here!) to school in their uniforms, with their parents chaperoning a little
behind while chatting away on the walk to school. The University is still in secession as well,
and even better, it’s exam time for them!
Well, it’s not great for them, but great for everyone else, as it is
custom for students at Oxford to dress in a formal uniform when taking exams,
so they are easy to distinguish in the crowd with their formal white button
down shirts, black pants (trousers here!) or skirts with their robes, with
either a red, white, or pink carnation. The flower distinguishes what exam they are
taking, white for the first, red for the last, and pink for the ones in the
middle. Then, when they have taken and passed their exams, all their friends
bombard them with champagne, whipped cream, confetti, glitter, flowers,
balloons, leis, party hats, and other crazy stuff to celebrate their end of
term. I have seen some students walking
around, taking pictures and celebrating absolutely covered in whipped cream,
with gigantic party glasses, and glitter covering every inch of their bodies, with
half empty champagne bottles and laughing without a care in the world. I now know how I should party after finishing
my exams. What a great idea!
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