Study Abroad in London: Oxford

Today I went to Oxford with some other students from UNH. UNH sponsored the trip, and we took a 2 hour private tour throughout the city. It was FREEZING cold! (Like 20 degrees F and windy) but it was still enjoyable because of the beautiful architecture and history. I absolutely loved learning about all of the famous authors such as Lewis Carroll and JRR Tolkien who both attended Oxford and later taught there!

Our tour guide explained that Oxford is made up of 38 colleges which together make up the University of Oxford. Each college has a unique character, (seven of which are designed specifically for postgraduate students), and allow for a small-community feel instead of students being lost in the giant university. Oxford is mostly international as well -- another fact I did not know. Anyway, our tour guide brought us into Exeter College, which is a quad. The students live, eat and study at the college, but take classes in academic buildings which are located throughout the city. Oxford does not have a campus; instead, the buildings are located throughout the city.

Exeter College

Exeter college was particularly exciting to see for two reasons. First, the college dates back to1314, so parts were extremely old and impressive. Also, we were able to go inside the chapel (all colleges have chapels attached) and it was absolutely stunning. The chapel had just been cleaned, so it was extra bright and beautiful. A male vocal trio was rehearsing with piano while we entered the chapel... obviously I loved this addition. :)

Chapel in Exeter College

Exeter College Chapel

In addition to the 38 colleges, which all have their own libraries, there is a giant central library which houses the FIRST COPY of every single book EVER PUBLISHED in all of Britain! By law it has to be the first library to get a copy. The collection dates back to the 1300s! The library gets around 3,000 books a day, and in order to store all of these books, the collection stretches 5 stories underground! There are various entrances in the square, which must be silent at all times as there are reading rooms which overlook the square, which lead to the various subject departments within the library.

One of the entrances to the library

The library

The main entrance to the library

After visiting more of the colleges and seeing some of the gownies (gowns -- people wearing gowns -- aka: students) walk about because it was diploma day, we visited Blackwell Bookstore which is one of the oldest bookstores in Britain. It was 7 stories (including a basement) and the very top floor had squeaky wooden floors and sold second hand books! I found a poetry book there that I really liked and browsed, but I didn't get it. I did pick up 2 books for myself though which weren't very expensive because they were having a sale.

We also got Oxford sweatshirts (OF COURSE! So necessary.) and hot chocolate, which was also necessary because it was frigid outside. This week has been especially cold and I'm not sure why. There was not switch from low 50s to all of a sudden high 20s low 30s! Yuck!