Missing Out on a Summer in Oxford

“My happiest hours are spent with 3 or 4 old friends in old clothes tramping together and putting up in small pubs” – C. S. Lewis
I have been lucky to call Oxford my home. This city, has revived me in so many ways and so many big changes happened in my life since moving here: I have a new found freedom, a new perspective on life and like many others who have lived the Oxford experience, I have made so many amazing lifelong friends that I will cherish forever. Oxford has made me feel so grateful for the blessings in my life, and it is this, which makes this place magical.
As a city, this place is buzzing - the streets are filled with young, ambitious and intelligent people and it feels like there never is a moment to catch your breath (in a good way). A normal day is busy and packed, filled with social events, talks to give or attend, research to plod on with and lots and lots of free wine, port and cheese. Surviving as a student has never been easier. Conversations here are like none I had previously experienced in my life before - as most conversations leave me thinking about something new - like quantum physics, or space and the planets in our universe, the plays of Simone de Beauvoir, Baroness Hale’s opinion on feminism, Kant’s philosophies or Jeff Koon’s balloon dog. Here, normal life happens, but everything that you experience, seems to happen through what I like to call “an Oxford lens”. Living in Oxford, is an education in itself. That is not too unexpected, for a city that holds the reputation that it has - in fact, Oxford, is so wonderful for the rich culture from centuries of tradition, architecture, inspiring scholars and its vibrant and unique social scene (such as the college formal dinners, guest nights and even songs in grandeur chapels). Blessed with the opportunity to roam the streets that Tolkien and C. S. Lewis once did, seems somewhat bizzare. And bizarre occurrences never cease to occur - last year, I woke up at 5 am on the 1st of May, threw on some clothes after my morning shower and headed out my front door into the sea of people whilst frantically texting my friends. When we finally managed to find one another and meet up, we shuffled along with the masses until we finally reached High Street to listen to the Magdelen choir stand at the top of the Magdelen chapel and sing evensong to the whole city as Extinction Rebellion protesters waved their flags about. Then, we walked around the Radcliffe Camera house, to watch the Morris dancers keeping the tradition alive when I turned around, and looked into the reminder of the bizarre existence that is Oxford: Ian McKellan roaming the streets in his pyjamas, enjoying the May morning beside me. Over-the-top is the normal here - suits and gowns, heels and make-up, “normal”, I was reminded, is a relative term.
So the effects of the pandemic almost seem somewhat amplified in this environment. The streets in Oxford are now deserted. Social distancing has made people more distant, and not just physically. Trinity term here is normally when all the great events of Oxford happen (such as the fancy decadent balls, garden parties and not to mention the excessive number of punting trips along the River Cherwell), and yet, the punts are parked collecting cobwebs, the shop doors are closed and the familiar faces of strangers I long to converse with can only but wave a friendly but distant wave from inside their homes as I walk to collect my laundry. Lockdown has removed everything I love about Oxford. However, like many, I have chosen to take this national halt as an opportunity to get in touch with friends abroad, or old friends I’d lost touch with. I have chosen to build a new but equally as enjoyable Oxford summer filled with sewing, drawing, singing, cooking or taking up some hobby I never thought I would have the time for. My garden is looking wonderful, filled with spider plants, Kalanchoe, Elephant’s tongue and edible plants like fresh mint, rosemary and lemon balm. I choose, daily to make good memories worth cherishing as it is far too easy in these times, to focus on the negative, but I remind myself each day, how lucky I am, in this life, in this city.

I am writing to you, as the lockdown in the UK begins to ease off (we are now allowed to hang out with members from another household in an outdoor setting and social distanced – which limits what we can do). I don’t know how I have managed to pass the months since the pandemic broke out – it felt like it has been a long time since my life was somewhat normal. In the past few months in lockdown, I have gone through dark periods, and also experienced many high moments – that is life I guess, even in lockdown. I often wonder what I missed out on, like all the quintessential Oxfordian things that I could have experienced. I had a taster of these events as it is not my first year in Oxford (which I am thankful for!). Anyway, I hope that as you are reading this, your world is filled with many people you can hug, many travel plans that you can embark on to far away and exciting places and that your days are filled with many loud laughs shared in the sunshine of Oxford. I have forgotten in some ways what that life is like and I hope you will never be in my position. I hope that in future, even if there is some terrible virus, that you will have better technology to address it, or that this pandemic, will provide insight for future generations (though, it appears that the Spanish flu was somewhat forgotten in history and we failed to learn an awful lot from it).

2020-05-20 See all items with this value

Oxford

Irene Yang