Back At It Again - BLOX2017

Most years, I traverse up the mountain with my little Toyota stocked to the brim: clothes, hangars, shoes, a lamp, a fan, books, sweaters, toiletries, sheets, blankets, towels, and a dozen other necessaries for a summer in Vermont. This year, though, I've traveled across the pond for my first summer at Bread Loaf's campus in Oxford. Yes, jolly old England - the land of Shakespeare and Tolkien, Dickens and Austen. The glorious place where you grab a pint, use the loo, wear a jumper, and call your mum. Simply magical.

I've already been in Europe for a week and a half, and I still can't believe I'm here. Granted, I haven't been in England the whole time. For the first ten days, Michael and I traveled to London, Paris, Versailles, and Amsterdam (with a pit stop in Brussels as well).

City Highlights:

• London: staying with my 5th cousins, tea at Kensington Palace, and the Pub on the Thames
• Paris: ascending the Eiffel Tower just as it lit up, mass at Notre Dame, and macaroons
• Versailles: fancy dinner at a fancy hotel, Rick Steves, and the musical fountains
• Amsterdam: a river boat tour, waffles for lunch, and a room with a view
• Brussels: trying a Belgian beer in the two hours that we spent there

Since then, I've had two days to recuperate and try to read all the books I need to finish before class starts on Wednesday. 

In the meantime, today is the first day on campus, and, let me tell you, it is simply stunning. Even my second-story room (which I think looks out onto a vent from the rooms below?) has a view of beautiful windows across the way. 

The whole place feels ancient and sacred as lofty bells ring the hour. Hundreds of thousands of students have walked these paths before me, and I am both humbled and anxious to be following in their footsteps. Academic giants have found their fame in these hallowed halls... Just last year, for instance, I read Vera Brittain's memoir Testament of Youth for my WWI course - I even wrote my final paper on that book - and the whole first section is about her time here at Oxford!

I can't even begin to fathom the number of great minds who have studied in these same walls since the university started teaching students back in 1096 (practically a thousand years ago). The course I'm taking will be strikingly different from the first classes taught here, but I'll still be using their old rooms and perusing their old books. It's insane to think of what life was like for the students here 100 years ago or 500 years ago, let alone 921 years ago! I just hope I can make them proud in my short time in their space.

Here's to another summer of academic adventure! #BLOX2017