Our
second week at the Oxford creative writing summer school has come to an end,
and how quickly it by as well!
This week
was a interesting one. We went out on a weekend excursion to Blenheim Palace on
Saturday the 4th of July. The palace is
a monumental home situated in the town of Woodstock in the Oxfordshire. It is one of England's largest houses and the
seat for the Dukes of Marlborough. It is also notable as the ancestral home and
birth place of the celebrated Prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. The estate
also houses many a stunning garden. Both the gardens and the palace were
enthralling and stunning to walk around. We were also lucky to catch a jousting
tournament complete with knights, horses and a bit of sword fighting! Much fun
and enjoyment was had by all who attended.
On Friday
afternoon the students from the classes held by Dr Sandie Byrne and Julie Hearn
were treated to an afternoon tea in the Rector's drawing room. A vast array of
delicious hand baked cakes and pastries were served. Many were also introduced
to our first experience of the typical English summer drink, Pimms. A light and
refreshing sort of fruity alcoholic cocktail. It was a lovely afternoon and
everyone enjoyed mingling in the relaxed atmosphere whilst munching on the delectable
produce.
Another
thing that hit everyone this week were, the assignments! After receiving our
assignments for our classes last week, I would have to admit that the
realisation of how serious things getting didn't really hit me at least until
the Monday of week 2. Therefore much of this week was indeed taken by just
that, assignments. Panic! Many of us traveled down the street to Tesco and
stocked up on student study snacks.
Fortunately
I got everything under control and pulled together all my pieces of assignments
together, to a stage that I was pleased with them. So nervous about handing
them in though ( I mean, it's Exeter college!)
We were
fortunate last week to have gotten to experience some very hot and sunny
weather. I was almost under the impression that the whole ' grey and rainy'
English weather idea that I had been led to believe was in fact a myth. Well
that myth was certainly dispelled this week, as we have been treated to
plenty of overcast days. Not to mention the odd rain shower and thunder storm.
To be honest, I had kind of been looking forward to seeing Oxford in the
rain. I can not believe that the second
week went by so fast and we are up to our last week already!
The has
been such a whirlwind of amazing experiences, I am looking forward to catching
you all up on our last week!
See you
later,
Kiri
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