Friday 13 August
Another week has flown by and unfortunately my time in Oxford is drawing to a close. This week has been just as, if not more, intense and demanding as the first, with a typical student-like last minute rush to finish my paper and presentation for W
ednesday morning (I didn’t make it to bed until 2am!). This week’s seminars and lectures have lived up to the first week’s and as I 
walked away from my last seminar this morning it struck me how strange it is going to be not to see everyone on Monday morning. As some of my classmates have described it, it feels like we have been living in a bubble these last two weeks, with our days so structured and centred within the College. But unfortunately that bubble is about to burst as we all start preparing for our travels after Oxford. As well as being very studious, I also managed to see a little more of Oxford this week, visiting the Covered Markets (where they do amazing
pies and milkshakes), the cent
uries old Bodleian Library, Christ Church College (which contains the Great Hall where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed), the house where author J.R.R. Tolkien used to live and Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Winston Churchill). Although I’m feeling a little worse for wear after last night’s celebrations (down at the local Royal Oak and out for some dancing) I am planning to head into the city centre for some last minute shopping and to pick up some souvenirs.
Tonight will be the farewell dinner, how time flies, it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were meeting each other for the first time, all filled with expectations and hope for what the two weeks would hold. Now we can look back and reflect on what we have gained from this incredible experience. I’ll save my individual reflection, however, for my final blog, but right now it’s time for one last walk into the city, now where's my trusty umbrella?...
Natalie Ilott is the Study Abroad/Exchange Officer from Edith Cowan University. She travels to the University of Oxford summer school courtesy of the University of Oxford, AirAsiaX and AIM Overseas.
Read Natalie's other posts on her Oxford experience:
And off to Oxford I go
Welcome to Oxford
I survived the first week
Lessons from Oxford
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