Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 11

Thursday started early in order to catch the train from Oxford to the UK’s capital city, London.

On our arrival, we went straight to Waterloo, where we started a “Duck Tour” on an amphibious vehicle originally designed for the 1944 D-Day landings. We saw many famous London sights, including the Palace of Westminster, the Horse Guards’ Parade and the MI6 building. Of course all of these landmarks dwindled into insignificance compared to the fact that we were on a big yellow boat/bus thing.

After the Duck Tour, we walked along the South Bank to the Globe Theatre to watch Howard Brenton’s play, Anne Boleyn. Despite standing for over two hours to watch the play, nobody complained as the mixture of swearing, sexual references and crude humour kept us all enthralled.

Some of us then headed inside the Tate Modern art gallery next door to catch a brief look at the famous Turbine Hall displays. The rest of us enjoyed some time in the London sunshine with ice cream next to the River Thames.

We finally headed for dinner at Café Rouge, overlooked by Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral. Tom made sure that everybody knew that Christopher Wren was a Wadham College alumnus. Once we’d eaten, we headed on a brief, impromptu walking tour of London on the way back to the station taken by Michael, where we saw Temple Church and a number of other (mainly legal) sights.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 10

Wednesday again began with tutorials and quiet study. Excitingly for the engineers, today’s tutorial involved using matchsticks and copious amounts of glue to attempt to make a bridge that would support the weight of an 80kg man!

After some quiet study time in the afternoon, we had a lateral thinking workshop with Sophie to try and encourage us to think (and work) in a more exciting and original way. This resulted in heated debate as to how we would redesign the human body, knowing its flaws, in order to improve it, and also evaluating the position (advocated largely by male students) that marriage should be a five-year renewable contract.

Once the lateral thinking session had finished, we headed over to Oxford’s historic Port Meadow to enjoy some traditional British fish and chips - the food that Din had most been looking forward to for the whole two weeks! We managed to find a beautiful cow-and-horse-free spot to sit and eat in the Meadow, which dates back to the time of King Alfred the Great.

After dinner, we headed home. Some of us chose to play football (again...), whilst others relaxed by watching Oxford alumnus, Hugh Grant, in action in Notting Hill.

Next up: only two days to go, but a trip to the UK’s capital city of London!

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 9

Tuesday began with the usual mixture of tutorials and private study.

After this, we headed down to the Cherwell Boathouse on the River Cherwell to try our hand at the punting we had witnessed in Cambridge last week. We divided ourselves into five boats and took to the river, heading downstream towards Lady Margaret Hall and University Parks. The real star of the punting session was Carl, who took to punting like a duck to water. Carl steamed past everyone else yelling, “What’s up, slow pokes?”. Such punting skill. Such modesty. This performance did not overshadow a similarly proficient (though far more modest) display by Kate in the same boat.

After punting, we headed back to the Staverton Road site to enjoy a picnic in the orchard. Everybody tucked into the vast array of food, though Zenya did not appreciate the additional company provided by the ants in the grass!

Later, we headed back over to Lady Margaret Hall to play football once more. This time Alice put in the star performance, acting as a rock in the heart of the midfield. Summer School Director, Jamie, described her tackling as “tenacious” - high praise from Jamie, who was surprisingly good at football! Afterwards we were all exhausted and headed in the direction of bed, ready for tomorrow’s tutorials and lateral thinking session.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 8

Monday started early again so that we could be in time for the bus to get to the birthplace of Winston Churchill and today’s destination, Blenheim Palace.

We began the day with a tour of the Palace. We saw a number of lavishly decorated rooms, including the room in which Churchill was born and (more interestingly to some in the group) the room in which Chelsea footballer, John Terry, had his wedding reception.

After the tour we stopped for lunch (as Alice’s midnight cereal sessions can only sustain her for so long...) which we ate in the courtyard of the palace which was bathed in the most glorious sunshine of the Summer School so far.

In the afternoon, we walked around the grounds of the Palace, admiring the breathtaking (man-made) scenery ranging from rose gardens to lakes. Afterwards, and to the infantile delight of many in our group, we rode the miniature train to the Palace’s “Pleasure Garden” to tackle the UK’s second largest hedge maze. We were a-maze-d that nobody got lost...

Once back in Oxford, we enjoyed a British afternoon tea together (complete with cucumber sandwiches!) at the Staverton Road site. After this, we took part in a “balloon debate” to further hone our analytical and argumentative skills crucial to success at interview for Oxbridge and in writing effectively. The winning team (representing suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst) of Sarah, Stephanie, Talia, Hamza and Carl showed real maturity in their analysis, which was also exemplified with great passion (and aviator-style sunglasses) by the evening’s best individual speaker, Bogdan. How David Beckham beat off Oliver Cromwell, Isaac Newton and Queen Elizabeth II to the final round we will never know...

Next up: punting on the River Cherwell and a lateral thinking workshop!

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 7

Sunday was certainly not a day of rest for us as we continued with the schedule of tutorials and quiet study. For some, this was the first day of work in new subjects and with new tutors. Ashveen and Izzet, for example, have now moved on to study the gruesome intricacies of criminal law with all its murders, robberies and frauds.

During the quiet study period, the medicine students were fortunate enough to be taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford by their tutors to see the HIV and malaria laboratories and experience some real-life, practical medicine.

Later in the afternoon, we had some free time, in which (much to Joe and Din’s delight) many of us headed over to Lady Margaret Hall to play football once more. Others enjoyed their afternoon in the beautiful sunshine in which the city of Oxford is unexpectedly bathing!

In the evening, we headed to Noodle Nation for some noodle-based gastronomy before watching the new Harry Potter film at the cinema (purely to spot the bits of Oxford University used in the filming, of course...).

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 6

Saturday started with tutorials in the morning, followed by study time. After lunch we were given an interview skills workshop. Barbara, a former Oxford tutor, enlightened the students on what goes on behind the scenes of the application process and what tutors are looking for in candidates. The session focused on all aspects of application to Oxford and Cambridge, from how to make yourself an attractive candidate (which entails more than merely wearing one of Chloe’s snappy blazers), to how to handle the difficult questions often faced in interview. The students all showed remarkable skill in answering questions about their chosen subjects.

After the session, we were treated to some of Mike and Kit’s home cooking in the form of lasagne, which we ate out on the Staverton Road lawns in the glorious evening sunshine - a rare treat in a British summer!

After dinner, we remained outside in the sun playing 6-a-side football. This gave us a chance to experience Ashley’s unique brand of defending and an incredible display of footballing composure and style from our Portuguese goal-machine, Mariana! Having played a good two hours’ of football, we were all exhausted and headed to bed to get some much-needed rest.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 5

Friday started again with the typical mixture of tutorials and private study. Zenya and Talia were fortunate enough that, with a brief moment of British sunshine, they were able to have their tutorial in the wonderful gardens of the Staverton Road site.

After lunch, we were given a debating masterclass in preparation for an evening of debating at the world-famous Oxford Union Society. The Society, founded in 1823, has kick-started the political careers of many famous faces including William Hague, Harold Macmillan and Benazir Bhutto. We were given instruction in formal debating and valuable technique coaching, which even the experienced Greek debating team of Angelos, Costas and Iannis found useful.

Following a student-supper of takeaway pizza, we were then taken to the Oxford Union itself to conduct the real debates. Everyone gave a good showing in the preliminary rounds before we were given a tour of the Oxford Union’s library and debating chamber. It was in that debating chamber that the final of our debate took place, with Chloe, Ashley and Costas lining up against Sarah, Pandora and Angelos E. The motion for debate was: “This house believes that university education should be free for all”. The judge (and former Oxford Union President) Theo Roos commented on the “impressive” performance of all the finalists before declaring Sarah, Pandora and Angelos to be winners. Costas put in an incredible (and very funny) display to win the title of best speaker, leaving the audience in hysterics!

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 4

Thursday started early by catching a coach from Oxford at 7am, which meant that we were all awake by 6.15am - a truly unheard of time of day for young people!

We arrived in Cambridge and were given tours of Trinity, St John’s, Downing and King’s colleges by current and former Cambridge University students. We also had an impromptu question-and-answer session in Trinity College, where (despite what Angelos might try and argue) all of the Oxford-educated staff decided that Oxford really was the better university.

After some lunch in the city centre, we were taken on a punting tour of the River Cam, which allowed us to learn all sorts of fascinating stories about Cambridge life past and present. The route took us along “the Backs” (a stretch of river running adjacent to the rear of many Cambridge colleges), and gave us all plenty of time to argue about the accuracy of historical dates with the tour guide. This, I suppose, is the danger of taking so many well-educated students anywhere!

After some free time in Cambridge, we had a meal at Wagamama (a Japanese restaurant) before getting on the coach to head back to Oxford.

Next up: debating at the world-famous Oxford Union and an Oxbridge interview skills workshop.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 3

Wednesday started with the now usual mixture of tutorials and quiet study. Sarah, Maxim and Mariana (some of our medicine students) were set the task of preparing presentations about various genetic mutations to be delivered on Friday to their tutor - no easy task!

In the afternoon, we were once again divided into two groups: sciences and arts. The scientists were given a problem solving session by Tom, who challenged them to devise a method of keeping an egg from cracking when thrown off the roof of a building. One might say that was an egg-citing afternoon for the scientists...

Meanwhile, the arts students were given an essay writing technique session with Alex Rhodes, a doctoral candidate in mediaeval poetry at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. We looked at how to choose a question, how to plan an essay and how to write an effective introduction. Despite Costas and Izzet’s well-argued protestations, we eventually decided that it might perhaps be better to plan an essay before starting rather than waiting for some divine inspiration mid-way through!

In the evening, we went for a traditional British meal of “bangers and mash” (sausages and mashed potato) at Oxford’s Big Bang restaurant, before heading back to enjoy a quiz prepared by Tom. A particular hit was the music round, where it became very apparent how depressingly ancient the staff are when none of the students were able to recognise a song by 90’s Brit-Pop band, Blur.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 2

Tuesday started with the first tutorial, for which we had prepared work - and early reports from the tutors sound very promising! Brains were stretched and ideas were challenged for an hour and a half (though nearly two hours in Zenya and Talia’s case!) before there was time to wander into Oxford city centre for lunch.

After some time spent working in the afternoon, we were divided into two groups - scientists and arts students. The scientists were given a tour of Oxford’s Science Museum by Summer School Leader and Wadham College physicist, Tom. Meanwhile, Summer School Coordinator and historian-extraordinaire, Sophie, took the arts students around the newly-refurbished Ashmolean Museum. Of course, Bogdan thought he could do better than Sophie and gave an ‘interesting’ tour of the history of money gallery...

Following an hour’s free time in the city centre, we ate at Oxford’s most famous (and, admittedly, only) burrito restaurant, The Mission, where the carbohydrate-heavy mix of beans, rice and tortilla wraps defeated nearly everyone, with only an elite few being able to finish their meal.

We then went to watch an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Said Business School. Fortunately, the rain so often typical of a British summer held off, allowing the combination of fighting, gore, romance and fire to captivate the group well into the evening.

It has been a thoroughly enjoyable first couple of days. Next up: essay technique and problem solving sessions; and a trip to Oxford’s famous rival university - Cambridge.

Oxford and Cambridge Summer School 2011 - Day 1

A good night’s sleep was needed after the exertion of Tom’s ‘getting-to-know-you’ games on Sunday evening, which involved a great deal of moo-ing and barking. However, we were all bright - eyed and bushy-tailed for the morning meetings with tutors, who set the first academic work of the Summer School.

After some time to study in the afternoon, we went on tours of some of the Oxford colleges led by Tom and Michael. Highlights included visiting New College, where actor Hugh Grant comes to party, searching for wandering deer in Magdalen College’s Deer Park, and of course seeing where Harry Potter first learned to fly his Nimbus 2000 in the film series.

After the tour there was time to go out for a meal at an Indian restaurant on Oxford’s vibrant Cowley Road (sometimes referred to as “Cowleyfornia” by some over-enthusiastic locals!), before heading to the famous G&D’s ice cream parlour for some delicious home-made ice cream.