Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of my return to the states. Its been quite a year and not a day goes by that I don't miss Oxford. My time in Ox had a huge impact on me and changed me in ways that I couldn't imagine before I left the states just over 3 years ago. Before I came back I knew there would be many things I would miss about
Ox including my friends, football, being so close to London, and the
beautiful and enchanting city itself. But, in the past year, I have realized there are so many little things that I miss about being in Ox that I didn't even realize I would miss until they were no longer there. Here is a small sampling of those things (with some of my fav Oxford photos interspersed):
--Being called "love" in shops or on the street. Here you sometimes get "darlin'" but "love" was great. I miss being called "mate" as well.
--People putting an "x" at the end of a text or facebook message. The few times I forgot who I'm texting and accidentally did that here just got weird and awkward...
--Having people say "PREM-ier" (emphasis on the first syllable) league rather than "Pre-MEER" league. Or calling them "United" and "City" rather than "Man U" and "Man City."
--Coffee and sandwich shops on every corner and places to go, sit, and work/study. In particular I miss the Alternate Tuck Shop and the two shops in the Covered Market for sandwiches and I miss Queens Lane Coffee House and Nero on High Street as study places.
--Men's fashion. I never thought I'd say this when I first got there but I miss guys wearing weird coloured trousers and blazers (or pretty much anything apart from jeans with t-shirts or polo shirts and trainers)
--People walking around town with one pant leg rolled up in their sock because they were cycling and forgot to roll it back down
--People non-ironically wearing tweed and flatcaps. And routinely seeing people in that sort of outfit walking down the road (probably with their plant leg rolled up as seen above) muttering to themselves like an absolute crazy person.
--Percy Pigs, Ben's Cookies, Kopparberg Mixed Fruit, breakfast at Spoons post training, Indian food, and Shepherds Pie
--Ordering tea and being asked "milk and sugar?" rather than "regular or sweet?" and having it be implied its iced
--White cheddar cheese that doesn't cost twice as much as yellow cheddar and that actually has flavor. The "medium" cheese in the UK was equivalent of "extra sharp" here and interesting cheese is super expensive here.
--Being able to watch Rugby. Had never seen a rugby match before I got to Ox but thanks mostly to Matt and Leon, I now really enjoy watching it and obviously can't find it anywhere!
--The Poppy Appeal every November. You get a few places around here with poppies for VFW but its nowhere near the same.
--A real honest-to-goodness English pub that doesn't have a single red phone booth or underground sign or Union flag anywhere to be seen and has more than just 3 beers on tap and that actually calls beers beer and lagers lager.
And since of course life isn't all bad, here are a smattering of things I don't necessarily miss (with some photos from since I came back):
--Having to buy new jeans simply because the inner thighs have holes in them from being worn down from rubbing on the bicycle seat
--Stochastic model predictive control and MATLAB (ugh... shudder.....)
--Feeling bad when I didn't buy the Big Issue
--Being caught in the rain while cycling somewhere and having to spend the whole rest of the day soaking wet
--Hoards of tourists and student groups descending enmasse into town during certain times of year thereby making it completely impossible to get where you need to go
--Christmas starting mid-October because they have nothing to celebrate in between Halloween and Christmas
--Being forced to watch college football via sketchy streaming (or via webcam pointed at my parent's TV at home) in the middle of the night by myself because once Neal left nobody else cared about American Football
There are probably many more things that don't immediately spring to mind but on the whole, I'm glad I spent two and a half amazing years in Oxford, but I'm also glad I'm back in the states getting to do some pretty amazing things here too. I love all my Oxford friends (oh who am I kidding, my Oxford FAMILY) so much and miss you guys like crazy and can't wait until I next get to come back and visit!
--Being called "love" in shops or on the street. Here you sometimes get "darlin'" but "love" was great. I miss being called "mate" as well.
--People putting an "x" at the end of a text or facebook message. The few times I forgot who I'm texting and accidentally did that here just got weird and awkward...
--Having people say "PREM-ier" (emphasis on the first syllable) league rather than "Pre-MEER" league. Or calling them "United" and "City" rather than "Man U" and "Man City."
--Coffee and sandwich shops on every corner and places to go, sit, and work/study. In particular I miss the Alternate Tuck Shop and the two shops in the Covered Market for sandwiches and I miss Queens Lane Coffee House and Nero on High Street as study places.
--Men's fashion. I never thought I'd say this when I first got there but I miss guys wearing weird coloured trousers and blazers (or pretty much anything apart from jeans with t-shirts or polo shirts and trainers)
--People walking around town with one pant leg rolled up in their sock because they were cycling and forgot to roll it back down
--People non-ironically wearing tweed and flatcaps. And routinely seeing people in that sort of outfit walking down the road (probably with their plant leg rolled up as seen above) muttering to themselves like an absolute crazy person.
--Percy Pigs, Ben's Cookies, Kopparberg Mixed Fruit, breakfast at Spoons post training, Indian food, and Shepherds Pie
--Ordering tea and being asked "milk and sugar?" rather than "regular or sweet?" and having it be implied its iced
--White cheddar cheese that doesn't cost twice as much as yellow cheddar and that actually has flavor. The "medium" cheese in the UK was equivalent of "extra sharp" here and interesting cheese is super expensive here.
--Being able to watch Rugby. Had never seen a rugby match before I got to Ox but thanks mostly to Matt and Leon, I now really enjoy watching it and obviously can't find it anywhere!
--The Poppy Appeal every November. You get a few places around here with poppies for VFW but its nowhere near the same.
--A real honest-to-goodness English pub that doesn't have a single red phone booth or underground sign or Union flag anywhere to be seen and has more than just 3 beers on tap and that actually calls beers beer and lagers lager.
And since of course life isn't all bad, here are a smattering of things I don't necessarily miss (with some photos from since I came back):
--Having to buy new jeans simply because the inner thighs have holes in them from being worn down from rubbing on the bicycle seat
--Stochastic model predictive control and MATLAB (ugh... shudder.....)
--Feeling bad when I didn't buy the Big Issue
--Being caught in the rain while cycling somewhere and having to spend the whole rest of the day soaking wet
--Hoards of tourists and student groups descending enmasse into town during certain times of year thereby making it completely impossible to get where you need to go
--Christmas starting mid-October because they have nothing to celebrate in between Halloween and Christmas
--Being forced to watch college football via sketchy streaming (or via webcam pointed at my parent's TV at home) in the middle of the night by myself because once Neal left nobody else cared about American Football
There are probably many more things that don't immediately spring to mind but on the whole, I'm glad I spent two and a half amazing years in Oxford, but I'm also glad I'm back in the states getting to do some pretty amazing things here too. I love all my Oxford friends (oh who am I kidding, my Oxford FAMILY) so much and miss you guys like crazy and can't wait until I next get to come back and visit!
