I was in Oxford just long enough after Trinity Term to witness my first, and only, Encaenia… Encaenia (yet another Latin term!) is an annual academic ceremony where distinguished persons and alumni of the University are presented with honorary degrees.. Perhaps the more notable feature for most Oxford tourists is watching the procession of fellows across the University, and through the Bodleian Library to the Sheldonian, where the ceremonies are held… Anna and I made it into the city centre and through the tourist crowds (and around the animal rights activists who were, rather obnoxiously, picketing) just in time to catch part of the procession!…
2011 Encaenia at Oxford…
After Encaenia, Anna and I decided to make a day of lounging about Oxford enjoying the city and running little pre-departure errands… We spend the afternoon shopping, getting Anna’s ear pierced, meeting Josh for lunch, and getting fishy pedicures! Haha :) It was the strangest experience, having free time… After weeks and weeks of exam revision, just walking around the store, casually- without a care in the world felt like some kind of deviant behavior… As if we were teenagers that had snuck out after curfew. :) We were in hysterics laughing at the mere image of the two awkward nerds trying to fit in, outside our comfort-zone of the library… We were quite proud of ourselves by the end. One would hardly know that (between the two of us) we had a total of 5 academic degrees, spoke a total of 7 languages and enjoyed solving 2nd order differential equations for fun. :) And yet for two such nerdy women, the highlight of our day came from the simple pleasures of dunking our feet in a vat of tiny little fish!
We’d seen the fishy feet stand in the shopping centre before, and always passed it with curiosity… So on our last afternoon in Oxford we decided to try it once and for all! And the experience was even more strange and hilarious than all the time we’d spend attempting to “blend” in the stores… We giggled, and giggled, and giggled some more… And when the fishies were done, our feet actually were more smooth! :)
IT TICKLED! Haha
Later that afternoon, we headed over to the Examination Schools for our last “trashing”… And then spent a wonderful last evening celebrating everyone’s departure from Oxford (to different corners of the globe) with drinks and then a wonderful dinner of Chinese and Mongolian barbeque… It was great to have the whole gang together for one last night of laughs, ridiculous cat-lady impressions (by Benedict), and stories from the past year… :)
Heading to the Examination Schools… They almost look as if they’re walking out of the mist to save the day… Haha
With Love from Oxford… One last time! <3 Mary Elizabeth
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