Wrapping it all Up: Oxford, Paris, Reunions, and More

It’s been over a year since I returned from England — for that matter, it’s been more than a year since I last posted about it — but there has still always been that one last post to write. I delayed for several reasons, including schoolwork, my focus on sports blogging, and my uncertainty about how to illuminate an overarching theme of the trip, until every time I thought about writing a conclusion it seemed too troublesome to pull off and completely trivial to delay another week.

Now, though, I have to come to terms with the reality of how long it’s been since I last discussed the trip and how long the story has spent without an ending. So I thought I would do in this post what I’ve done best in the whole blog — simply describe the remaining events of Oxford as they happened, and post a few photos. Perhaps that’s what this adventure needs for a denouement: not an ending at all, but a final exhaustion of stories to tell.

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Head in the Clouds

As I prepared to travel to England, I had something noted on my calendar that had nothing to do with literature or even tourism. This was the Farnborough Airshow, supposedly the largest and best event of its kind. It was going to take place in my third week at Oxford, just a couple of hours away. Naturally, I had to go.

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Earl Grey and Actual Earls: Experiencing British Class and Culture

One of the subtle but important goals of the program was to familiarize us with some of the facets of British daily life and how the nation’s history and class live on in modern traditions. This was important for two reasons: first, it provided some local flavor for our travels; and second, it gave context to cultural nuances in the older works we studied, such as The Wind in the Willows.

On the grounds of the Wilton House.

On the grounds of the Wilton House.


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