Living in Oxford

Hello again! Thank you to everyone who read my first blog! It was a nice confidence booster to get so many compliments about it. In this blog post I want to share a bit about where I’m living here in Oxford.

Last time, I talked about what I’m studying, but I completely forgot to talk about where I live. I live on St. Giles St. which is a very central location in Oxford. I can get anywhere I need to go in 15 minutes which is super convenient. According to my apple watch, I am walking about 8 miles everyday, so luckily I brought booties made for walking. Below is a view of the street I live on.

There are two famous pubs 1 minute away from my house. Eagle and Child is a pub where many famous writers gathered including C. S. Lewis who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien who wrote the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. As a quick side note, many writers found their inspiration for their novels here in Oxford. See if you can get the reference from the photo below.

[For those of you who are not in love with Chronicles of Narnia, you might not see Mr. Thomas in this door frame]

The other famous pub is Lamb and Flag. C. S. Lewis was seen a lot at this pub with his writing group called the Inklings, which makes sense because the two pubs are across the street from each other. On the way to my international law tutorial, I take the Lamb and Flag passageway and below is a picture giving new meaning to an alley-way.

Sorry for the tangent, I just have so much to share! Now we’re back to business. My house is a historic 18th century Georgian mansion which means that it is extremely beautiful and most likely haunted. Did I mention we have an old cemetery across the street? It embarrasses me to say that one night the combination of the creaking of the steps and the thudding winds against my windows caused me to sleep with my desk light on. BUT, you can’t be too careful with ghosts haha. If I’m not imagining the presence of ghosts, I hear the late night conversations of intoxicated British people walking by my house on their way to the nearby pubs. My favorite quote of last night was “I’m not as drunk as you think I am” – anonymous man at 1:30 am. While this might seem annoying, it is actually filling the void in my life left by reality television.

(P.S Don’t bring up Celebrity Big Brother, Project Runway, or Married at First Sight with me right now)

Here’s a close up shot of my house.

Even though I’ve been calling this place “my” mansion, I live with 7 other visiting students. I got really lucky in my housing because they are who I share most of my days with. I have a single room on the 1st floor (in the States we would say 2nd floor) and my room is legit bigger than my room at home. Sorry Mom and Dad! Of course, I sprinkled some decorations in my room to make it feel more like home. Since I know everyone is so curious, here are some pictures of my room.

Soooo that’s where I will be living and breathing for the next few months. If anyone wants to send me mail or a gift (if you’re feeling the love) please send it to the address below.

Alicia Muir

C/O Washington International Studies Council

3rd floor, Chester House

Oxford

Oxon (you might not need to include this, but this is the county)

OX1 2AY

United Kingdom

Until next time!

…Alicia