Returning home (Oxford, Day 1)

It is 4:30 AM, Friday morning. I am sitting in the faculty apartment listening to the end of the ACU football game as I write this post, my first from Oxford. It is strange calling Oxford our “home,” but there is a part of me that feels like the word is the right one to describe my feelings. Walking in to city center yesterday with our students, Tara and I were reminiscing about many of the locations that have personal memories attached to them from our first stay back in 2012. The KFC that Gabe wanted to eat at for his birthday meal still stands, as does the local Tesco we visited for our family groceries. When Tara and I did this for the first time, I frequently said to her, “I can’t wait until we can do this without our kids!” Now here we are, and just 24 hours in I’m wishing that they were here with us. Tara is a great traveling partner, but our kids are our greatest joy.

Alas, without our own kids to share the experience, Tara and I have 24 new “kids” to share this Study Abroad semester. We had a lot of fun yesterday walking through the open market with some of our students, a large square that welcomes local food trucks and produce vendors during the week. It has been a lot of fun observing student reactions to the UK and Oxford. “Wow, look at those hedge rows! Everything is so green here! That street looks like Diagon Alley!” The students are dealing with varying degrees of jet lag. Today (Friday) we’ll have a morning orientation led by Jacque Morrison, ACU’s study abroad director in Oxford, followed by an afternoon scavenger hunt game that will give students the chance to learn more about the city.

While at City Center I kept my eyes out for a local soccer pub where I could watch the evening Everton-Manchester United match. Funny story: In the afternoon I walked in to a small, hole in the wall pub and inquired, “are you all showing the soccer match tonight?” The bartender replied, “No we don’t even have a television, but we do have very pleasant conversation.” “Thank you,” I replied. “I look forward to enjoying the conversation in the near future.” The pub is on my must-visit list. For the soccer match I ended up at the Wig and Pen on George Street. I had a great time! EPL soccer, in a British pub in Britain. About 15 minutes into the match a stranger named Ryan approached my table to ask if he could join me. We watched the entire match together. The conversation was just as enjoyable as the match. A construction manager from Cambridge, Ryan is in Oxford heading up the new Life and Mind Building project. While sitting with Ryan, I took the opportunity to ask him some questions that I was thinking about, among them:

So what about tipping?

Answer: “No need to tip here. When you purchased the pub food and told the bartender to ‘keep the change,’ did you see the look of surprise he gave you? There is nothing wrong with tipping, but it is not expected.”

What is the political character of this area?

Answer: “Oxford has a reputation for being more Tory (i.e. more ‘conservative’), but this is something of a misnomer. Tory identity is complicated these days given the divides that emerged in the party over the Brexit referendum. A significant segment of Tories opposed Brexit, though the current (soon-to-depart) Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was a prominent Pro-Brexiter whose ascendance sidelined more EU-friendly Tories. Politically speaking, class divisions also exist locally between Oxford city, itself populated by highly educated, wealthier elites, and surrounding Oxfordshire which is more rural and working/middle class.”

How well do UK sports fans keep up with American football?

Answer: “Surprisingly, more than you would expect. The NFL is increasingly popular in the UK. In addition to the annual NFL games scheduled in London, it is possible to watch a growing number of regular NFL games in the UK.”

Any other pubs you recommend I check out locally?

Answer: “The regular soccer pub I visit when in town is St. Aldate’s Tavern. You should also check out Sandy’s Piano Bar, and The Bear Inn, the oldest pub in Oxford, is essential.”

Walking back to the ACU house last night after the match (which Manchester United won, 1-0!) I took a stroll down North Parade Avenue, a side street not far from the old Canterbury Road houses that ACU students lived in for many years. Seeing the old local pub, the Rose and Crown, and the convenience store we used to visit when we didn’t want to walk all the way to Tesco, things felt familiar and comforting.

It felt like home.

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