Abingdon Adventure

*Really, Really Long Post Alert*

So a few days after the fact, I am going to fill you all in on my host stay last weekend. I spent the weekend with a married couple who are both around 60 years old. They are both semi-retired. They told me that they were retired for a year or two but got really bored so they got involved in a few things. Josephine (Jo) was the person who I was officially staying with but obviously she lives with her husband so I stayed with both of them. She was born in Singapore and is second generation Chinese. She works in a company that does business with Singapore, the UK, the US, and other countries. I didn't really learn any more than that. She is involved with Rotary scholars and stuff. They had a rotary scholar with them for a time last year but have never had a host student before me. She told me that Singapore is very clean and orderly and so is her house. It was incredibly clean and very nice looking. Her husband is Bruce and he was born near Oxford. He has lived in Cairo, St. Petersburg (with Jo), Singapore (where he met Jo), Ethiopia, and Germany among other places. He was an industrial accountant (he told me not to ask about taxes, somehow the thought never crossed my mind) and worked for a company that had offices all over, thus the travel. This is his second marriage, he has a daughter who is 28. Now, he works at Oxford-Brooks University where he helps graduates get jobs when they graduate (he has lots of connections). They were both extremely nice and I am eternally grateful to them for their hospitality.

They live in a town called Abingdon which is about 10-15 minutes outside of Oxford. Their house is in a residential block that was built in the 90s (picture 1). All the houses look relatively the same and are smaller than houses in Brooklyn Park for instance but it was still really nice inside. They have a garden in the back where Jo has a ton of exotic flowers but, sadly, they weren't in bloom yet. One the ground floor, they have a living room with large tv and couches (loved that) and a kitchen and dining room. All over the dining room (picture 2) and living room are mementos and art and drawings from all the places Bruce or Bruce and Jo have lived. They have a drawing from Ethiopia, a golden sheep from Singapore (Bruce is the year of the sheep), some sketches from St. Petersburg, the list goes on and on. I loved all of them and spent quite a bit of time just looking at each of them. Upstairs, they have a bedroom with bath, a guest bedroom, study, prayer room (Jo is a Buddhist), and a big bathroom. I, obviously, slept in the guest bedroom. It was very comfortable and nice. I did feel a little bit about interrupting their cleanliness and neatness sort of. Part of sleeping in someone else's houses though.

They are quite well off but don't flaunt it or anything like that. They have a BMW which I got to ride around in. Definitely one of the highlights of my weekend. That sounds weird but it was nice to be in a car again. I haven't ridden in anything but public transport since January 9. They told me that their next door neighbor has a shed in the backyard where he stores carpets (he owns a carpet company). They also despise the big blue van that he drives around and leaves in the driveway. They think that he doesn't fit in with all the professionals that live in the area. We got on this subject because they asked about where I live and I told them about the Liberian fast food restaurant next door to us. They are hoping that he and his wife move away soon. It seemed to be a big issue to them.

OK so now that you have an idea about what Bruce and Jo are like and where I stayed, I can start to tell you about what I actually did over the weekend. I took a coach bus out to Oxford where Jo and Bruce picked me up. When I was getting on the coach, I asked the driver if there was a student discount (harmless question). He said there was but he needed to see a student ID, I told him that mine was somewhere in Rome with a jerk who stole my wallet. He got all huffed up about it and got this worker guy for the coach company who was out on the sidewalk to come in the bus and tell me that they needed to show an ID to get the discount. I said, "That's fine. Just asking." But they kept going on saying basically the exact same thing again. Um, yeah, I got it the first time. They just made a big scene out of the whole thing and it wasn't a big deal for me. Anyway, the bus ride was uneventful, other than a really cute girl sat next to me but I didn't say anything to her (typical). So I got to Oxford at around 7 after a 1.5 hour coach ride. Bruce found me at the station (we had talked on the phone, I told them what I was wearing) and we drove to their house. At the house, they showed me around and Jo heated up the chicken curry (Singapore style), eggplant, and rice she had made earlier. They kept warning me that the curry was spicy but I didn't think it was. It was FANTASTIC. It was so much better than the crappy pasta and sauce that I had for dinner the past 3 nights straight. They called the eggplants something else and I didn't know what they were and just ate them. Eventually I had to acknowledge that I had no idea what they were. We laughed about the names of things and how they are different in the US. They teased me about how I say tomatoes (toe-may-toes, instead of toe-ma-toes). While we ate we talked about a whole bunch of stuff from US politics, to the geography of MN and England, to what they do and where they lived, just a total range of topics. It was a lot of fun but I felt bad sometimes because I wouldn't now the answer to some of Bruce's questions (like, What is the sq. area of MN? Um, I have no clue). It really opened my eyes to how little I know about where I come from. After dinner, we had an apricot tart (YUM!) and after that, it was pretty late so we went to bed.

The next morning, Bruce got some muesli (like granola) and bananas out for me for breakfast. So good. Then the two of us went into Abingdon and walked around. He showed me the old Abbey ruins (picture 3). The main reason the town is here is because of that Abbey. It was a really important one until it was mostly destroyed during the Reformation. He also showed me a gathering space thing that is on a place where the old Abbey was. We walked along the River Thames and on to the big church in the town, St. Helen's (church and Thames in picture 4). It was locked so we couldn't go inside. We walked into the Town Hall (picture 5). On big holidays, the mayor goes to the top of it and tosses buns off. Don't ask me why though. We went back to the house to pick up Jo and head off to Oxford.

Oxford, as I said, is about 15 minute away from Abingdon. We parked outside a flat that Bruce and Jo own and rent out (the guy there doesn't have a car) and walked the short way to the town. Oxford is a lot like Cambridge: University town, lots of famous Colleges, river to go punting on, sacred grass. The only difference is that Oxford is a little big. The town, not the University I mean. The Universities are about the same size but Oxford has a few more museums and quite a few more shops and people walking around. So we walked into the town. Our first stop was the Bodleian Library which, along with the Cambridge Library and the British Library in London, receives a copy of even book published in the UK. Needless to say, they have a lot of storage space. An exhibit was going on there about John Milton. We walked around some more and made our way to the Turf Tavern (picture 6). It is a pub in Oxford that has been around for almost 500 years. I had sausage and mash with an orange juice and it was incredibly delicious. Again, quite a step up from my usual PBJ sandwiches. The gravy on it was amazing (on a side note, I can't believe I ever disliked gravy when I was younger, what was I thinking?). Rumor has it that it was at the Turf Tavern that Bill Clinton, when he was studying in Oxford, that he "did not inhale" if you know what I mean. Anyway, it was a cool place and a good lunch.

We went to the University Museum of Natural History next. It was a really cool museum and I really liked the architecture of the inside of it (picture 7). Bruce and I posed for a picture in front of the museum, he got distracted though (picture 8). From there, we popped into the Science Museum to see a blackboard that Einstein used when he visited Oxford. We went to Christ's College next. It was in the dining hall of Christ's College that the dining hall of the Harry Potter movies was filmed. They also used the steps just outside the dining hall in the movies too. Unfortunately, the dining hall was closed when we visited so I didn't get to see it. I did get my picture taken outside the courtyard though (picture 9). Jo and Bruce were extremely tired by this point. I felt terrible because we were setting a grueling pace, even for me, and there was really no need. I didn't need to see EVERYTHING and I was happy to just walk around with them. Oh well, so we went to the Ashmolean Museum which is a lot like the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge: lots of stuff that alumni stole from places all over the world and gave back to the University. That includes, Greece, Rome, Crete, France, Africa, America, you name it. Jo and Bruce went into the cafe and sat down while I explored the museum. I liked a bunch of the stuff in it. Right by the museum is a pub called The Eagle and Child where Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, among others, used to meet to talk about stuff (inside of it is picture 10). From there, we headed back to the car to go. Bruce and Jo were not doing too hot. Again, I felt kind of bad.

We got back to the house and I napped. Then we went out to dinner at a pub called The Fox. Bruce was convinced that all Americans love steak so he insisted I get one. I did not say no. A 10 oz one with potatoes and french fries. DELICIOUS!!! I cannot express how fantastic it tasted. Just so good. I had pineapple-upside down cake with custard on it for dessert. I loved that too. Haha. They told me that they refused to send me home lighter than when I arrived. After dinner, we watched The Daily Show on their tv and I got to sit on a couch. It was awesome. I love couches by the way. Then we went to bed. The next day, I had muesli and bananas for breakfast again (still great). Then we headed off to Baddesley Clinton. That is a manor house in the country that has a moat around it (front of house picture 11 and back of house which has a better moat view picture 12). It was really cool. The house was built in the 1400s but was added on since then. The house was used to hide Catholic priests during the Reformation when being a priest was a capital offense. Like I said, the house was very nice but the grounds around it were even better (picture 13 and 14). I loved walking around the little lakes that were all over the place. So pretty and peaceful. We had lunch there too. I had roast chicken and vegetables. I was so spoiled the whole trip. We drove back to Oxford and they dropped me off at the bus station. We said our goodbyes and I left. The coach ride home was uneventful other than the really cool sky and countryside (picture 15).

The weekend was a great success. I got to meet to really interesting, generous British citizens. I got to see Oxford and some other areas around. I had fun and learned quite a bit. It's funny, the three things I liked most were 1) riding around in the car 2) eating dinner and talking with Bruce and Jo 3) sitting on a coach and watching tv. That sounds like it should be the most boring parts but its those little things that I tend to miss most in London. Anyway, I had an awesome time and I can't think Bruce and Jo enough for all they did for me.