Halal Thai Chicken: Notes on my First Visit to Oxford

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!