Yes, a Thai restaurant just down the road (next to the Kebab House)
advertises Halal chicken, a concern I doubt would arise in Thailand.
Little could better illustrate the cosmopolitan nature of this city. I've
heard Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, other South Asian and Slavic
languages, in addition to both British and American English on the streets and
in the cafes.
It’s also far easier to get a good cup of coffee here than it is to get a
cup of tea. Coffee shops abound, from
the familiar Starbucks to Costa coffee to dozens of local shops that offer a
good cappuccino with your Cornish pasty, Baguette sandwich, or Panini. On the
other hand, Oxford sports a variety of local pubs that offer good cask beer,
known as “real ale” here, together with “bangers and mash” (Cornwall sausage
and mashed potatoes), fish and chips, a hamburger and French fries, or other
pub food. Rewley House, where we are
lodged, offers traditional English breakfasts, complete with free range eggs,
(Canadian) bacon, muesli, Weetabix, hash browns and stewed tomatoes. Alas, we did not see any steamed beans or
vegemite!
So our group hasn’t starved here, though several of us found English cuisine
a bit bland. There was talk of having a “make
your own food” day back in Dayton, complete with jerk chicken, curry, baby back
ribs, even moqueca. The possibilities!
Of course, important as food is, we did not come here to savor British
cuisine. We came to study at the
Bodleian, the world’s first “library of legal reserve,” the model for the U.S.
Library of Congress. The Bodley now
cares for some 12 million items, including some 9 million books. We had to be sworn in as members of the
Bodleian, promising not to bring in nor kindle “fire nor flame,” nor otherwise
damage its collection or place it at risk in order to receive our cards.
As you might imagine, we cannot directly access the library’s stacks. Rather, we look up the books and journals we
need in its online database, then ask for those books to be delivered to the
reading room. Most books and journals
are delivered within 24 hours of our request.
Imagine the logistical nightmare!
Yet we’ve been able to get the books we need and find ourselves so
immersed in study that we often forget to eat.
We’ve also enjoyed lectures from Drs. Stan Rosenberg, Farhan Jahanpour, and
Rollin van Broekhoven, in addition to Evensong at Christchurch Cathedral and a
service of Holy Communion, led by Steven Pix, a graduate of Exeter College
here. All in all, a very good week in
Oxford!
