Getting to Know the British

The land of England – where the Harry Potter stories and movies are based, where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, and the country some say is America’s strongest ally – was the location of my most recent adventure. A friend named Tanya, who attends Oxford University, was the foremost reason for going. We met two years ago as I was in Istanbul studying for the semester as an exchange student; it was a few weeks before I was to leave for the States when we met at a party and became inseparable. However, after barely speaking the whole time we were apart the past two years, a lot had changed with both of us. She spent 18 months in Iran, and I had graduated college and moved to a new country I had never been to. She told me that living in Iran changed her a lot – down to her core beliefs and the way she saw the world. I even noticed a change in the way we interacted. She was a bit more defensive at times when we were debating about certain issues, and was much surer about her convictions. I would chalk it up to us living in close quarters and therefore virtually unable to “escape” one another’s company rather than going back to our own apartments at the end of the day, as was the case in Turkey.

A sign you're in London

Buckingham Palace

However, there were sundry other reasons as well for my trip. I had the chance to experience London for two days. If you haven’t been, it’s the largest city in Europe and it certainly feels its size. The trip from the airport to the city center lasted 45 minutes, and at least 30 minutes was needed to travel within the city from one location to another. I relied heavily on the Tube to get around and was quite easily able to see the Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, the houses of parliament, and the Globe, where Shakespeare’s plays were put on. These of course are the main tourist attractions. For a more local feel, London and Oxford both have small pubs in which you can try several types of beer; the food’s pretty good too if you like fish and chips!


The best time to be in London is at night. There are few places that compare to the romantic ambiance of walking along the Thames at night with the blue and white lights from the trees shining dimly below. One of the best views I had of the city was during the airplane landing at night. We did a loop around the city which afforded me a cloudless, 360 view of London from just a few thousand feet above. It was reminiscent of Reno because of the casino-looking blur of lights. (I would say Las Vegas perhaps, but I haven’t been there. Yet!)

A favorite spot of mine

Later in the week I had the opportunity to meet several other Oxford students, many of whom were stressed (but did a good job of hiding it) because of the rigorous two-month terms to which students at Oxford subject themselves thrice each year. Some even took me around their individual colleges and showed me their libraries, gardens, and famous dining halls. (Oxford is divided into 38 different colleges, each of which has its own library, courtyards, and small plot of land in the city of Oxford upon which the college sits. “Their own four walls,” you could say, except this phrase doesn’t do justice to the “spire-inspired” architecture of the buildings and the beauty of the gardens.) It’s an important fact that students here pride themselves in their colleges, not necessarily in the school of Oxford itself.

Courtyard in one of Oxford's colleges

View of Oxford from a church tower

A highlight was surely the dinner the first night I got there. We all got dressed up and went to Formal Hall, as one of the colleges had hired a new Head Master. We arrived to a splendidly set row of tables (think Harry Potter), paintings of famous people who had attended the college, and the sound of Latin grace before the meal. The students didn’t seem too excited for this event other than the fact that it was an excuse to come together and talk, but for my part I was fascinated by this centuries-old ritual. The food was average, but the allure of the atmosphere was by itself enough excitement for me.

This may look familiar to Harry Potter fans

On the way to Formal Hall

In the future I’d like to spend more time in London to see some museums and walk along the waterfront at night. The London Eye (the giant Ferris wheel owned by British Airways) would be cool to experience too. I’d also like to visit nearby areas such as Cardiff, Wales, and of course Dawn and my plan to see Ireland.