Fine Dining and Fairy Bread

We had some genuine Oxford experiences this week courtesy of Julian, one of Mark's old school friends who is currently doing a PhD in legal philosophy at Oxford Uni. On Tuesday, Mark was invited to dinner at the 'high table' at Pembroke College as a guest of Julian. Mark wore a suit and Julian wore an academic gown. The evening commenced with pre-dinner drinks in the college "reception room" before being ushered into the formal dining hall and seated at the 'high table' (similar to the head table at a wedding). The students are seated below along long tables (a bit like in the Harry Potter movies) amongst walls lined by portraits of previous masters and founders of the college going back hundreds of years (photo). After grace in Latin, a 3 course meal and a few glasses of French wine, guests of the high table (about a dozen of us) were led into a separate dark candlelit room and seated along a table lined with platters of fruit, nuts and chocolate. The head of the table passes around caraffes of port and dessert wines (in a specific order - one is frowned upon if they disrupt this custom) which do 3 laps of the table and are followed by the snuff box(!) The evening concludes in the common room with brandy and coffee. A truly unique experience.

On Friday, we were both invited to a banquet at the same college by Julian and his wife Anna. This was a black tie affair and held in the same dining room -although this time we were seated with the 'commoners' - The commoners being undergraduate Oxford students with very posh English accents (think Prince Charlie) from public school (ie posh private boarding schools). Meaghan sat among three such lads and proceeded to "interview" them. Two were "reading" Law and the other Medicine, they had all been educated at boarding school and their parents were graduates of Oxbridge. Yes, this is the reason stereotypes exist - because they are true! Meaghan had great fun with these fellows and by the end of the evening we all learnt something; they discovered the term 'bogan' and we learnt how to "sconce" someone. Sconcing is essentially an Oxford drinking game along the lines of 'drink if you've ever........' but much tamer given that the college master and his wife were present. Proud to say that the "sconces" were read out by a very well spoken Aussie MC. We moved on to the bar at Jesus College (Anna's college) where we found ourselves amidst a toga party (or should I say pimply, pasty, scrawny Poms dressed in bedsheets - see photo of Meaghan's new friend James). Or we just getting old or are they getting younger?
Sunday provided a slightly different experience as all 4 of us went off to playshul at Oxford Synagogue. Noah enjoyed the fingerpainting and everyone sang happy birthday to Ethan (in Hebrew). The kosher cake tasted ......kosher! Sunday afternoon was a combined 1st birthday party for Ethan and 2nd birthday for Monte, who belongs to John and Nova, fellow doctors from Melbourne who are working at the same hospital as Mark. Meaghan made fairy bread which was a real novelty for the English guests. John and Nova made an amazing caterpillar cake which was the perfect complement for our last minute supermarket cake (see pic). Ethan finally turned 1 today (is he only 1 - been a long year). It was great to hear from all the family and he loves all his cards and presents.

This week in Oxford.....

The horrific news coming out of Victoria over the past week has been devastating and seems even more unrealistic when we looked out of our windows and see a city blanketed by snow and ice. It has been a major story even in the UK and our thoughts are certainly with those affected back home.

The ice has thawed and the snow melted and life has returned to normal in the UK - just cold and dark. We managed to drive down to Windsor on Saturday and visited the Queen at Windsor Castle. Unfortunately she snubbed us and we had to make do with an audio tour. Nevertheless, it's quite a remarkable fortress and the state apartments are very impressive. Noah was in awe of the soldiers/guards.

























Noah has started kindergarden and loves it. He has settled in really well and has already made a few friends - 'Oksar' and 'Senena' - we assume are Oscar and Sienna. We are encouraged by the fact that he will be learning to read and write and are impressed that he will be learning French as well. Although we were sightly alarmed to hear that the children receive chocolate as a reward for good behaviour. Ethan has become a real character. He has started 'Monkey Music' and has taken a real liking to it. Looking forward to his first birthday next week (has it only been a year???)



Meaghan has had an interesting week. It started on Monday morning when she went outside to collect our first home delivery of milk and yoghurt which she had ordered online - only to be greeted by 18 litres of milk and nine 6-packs of yoghurt (no joke). Where Meaghan thought she was entering 9 for 9th of Feb, she was actually writing 9 in the quantity section. Thankfully the company was understanding and collected the rest and thankfully the order wasn't for the 28th!! Meaghan has been trying a variety of avenues to aquire friends in Oxford and has finally had some success.....firstly the lovely Diane, a South African lady who has been living in Oxford for 22 years. En route to kinder, Diane stopped Meaghan on the street and invited her in for a coffee once she had dropped Noah off. Of course Meaghan, being Meaghan, couldn't remember which house Diane lived in (well they do all kinda look the same -especially covered in snow) and went home instead. Luckily Diane was in the street again the following week and over a cup of tea, set to work telling Meaghan how to meet other 'at home' mothers and other important Oxford facts. We look forward to a promised Sunday roast at their house soon! The local Sumertown Wine Cafe is a popular joint for yummy mummies during the day and Meaghan has met a few other nice mums so hopefully the diary will start to fill up.
This week holds a few potential highlights with a 'high table' dinner at Pembroke College (for Mark) on Tuesday, a black-tie college banquet on Friday night and Ethan's 1st birthday on the weekend. Watch this space.....

From Jericho to Summertown

We moved into our new flat last week which is a nice, modern and spacious 3-bedroom apartment in Summertown. After some initial teething problems with telephone, internet and plumbing, we have settled in nicely and much prefer it here. Summertown is a bit like a small version of Toorak. I have noticed that it is de rigeur, here, to wear Ugg boots. As a fashion statement. Hilarious! So two years ago for Aussie Gen Ys. There are all these middle aged women zipping about Summertown (from beauty salon, to lunch date) in designer digs and Ugg Boots (in the rain, cold and even snow!). Will someone tell these madams that Ugg Boots are to be worn inside one's house as slippers!!!!

Mark managed to lose his passport within the first 3 weeks of being in the UK so had to venture into London to attend an appointment at Australia House in order to re-apply for a new one. Was greeted outside the Australian Embassy by a bunch of dreadlocked hippies protesting against logging in Tasmania. Managed to take in a few tourist sights whilst in London such as Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Hyde Park. Looking forward to seeing London properly - so much to see and do!

While Melbourne wilts in the 40 degree plus heat, the mercury in Oxford is struggling to get above zero. We woke this morning to a complete 'white out' as Oxford was covered in snow. It then proceeded to snow all day and probably will for the rest of the week. It really looks spectacular. Noah loved making footprints with his 'wellies' and throwing snowballs into the canal. England has really been affected by the 'adverse weather' with many transport services and airports shut down, and many shops and businesses closed as people can't get to work. Many of the schools have also closed, leaving angry parents with nowhere to send their kids and without childcare. It's costing the country truck loads of money but it's incredible that a place as 'sophisticated' as England has no contingency and cannot cope with 24 hours of snow, much to the amusement of the media.

The boys are great. Noah starts nursery tomorrow and is excited at the prospect of learning to read. Ethan started crawling 2 weeks ago and cannot be stopped. It was much easier when he was less mobile. Ethan starts Monkey Music classes tomorrow too - so hopefully we can start to get to know other people here. We did meet a couple of the local playground mums and kids on Saturday who said Noah had a broad Aussie accent (I think just a polite way of saying that they couldn't understand a word he said!) We're sure it won't be long before he is speaking like an Oxfordshire Pom!

Mark has been at work the past two weekends so we're looking forward to having some free weekends to do some day trips (weather permitting!). Meaghan is going stir crazy and needs some respite from the kids.









Photos from Mark's intimate family birthday celebration (party hats courtesy of Noah).......

Winter, Wheels, Woodstock, Work and Witches

The cold snap has finally broken and temperatures have soared to a sultry 8 degrees. Of course, this has brought the rain and Oxford is now wet, grey and dark. The weather has been the major talking point even among the locals who cannot remember such a cold start to winter. It snowed twice last week which was great for the kids but not quite enough to build a snowman.

We have spent this past week busying ourselves with "settling in". We found a new flat, bought a car and finally drove to a big supermarket to stock the fridge (as we hired a car for the weekend)! We did manage to drive to Woodstock, a quaint, historic town, 20 miles north of oxford and famous for Blenheim Palace. Unfortunately it is closed during winter and the kids had fallen asleep in the back so we had an excuse not to leave the warmth and comfort of our rented Land Rover.

Mark started work at the John Radcliffe Hospital last week. A little bit busier than anticipated but will no doubt prove to be an invaluable experience. Wasn't quite counting on the 1 in 7 on-call which was a bit of a surprise.

Meaghan took the boys to a pantomime of Sleeping Beauty. Noah was beside himself with excitment as he loves princess fairy tales and has been asking all week if the witch would be "a real witch". They sure take their pantos seriously in this country and it was a packed house. Noah enjoyed the audience participation -booing when the (real!) witch came on stage and was a little confused if the rotund elderly man dressed as the "good fairy" was real too! Meaghan was actually a bit disappointed that there weren't any Neighbours or Home and Away cast in it! Anyway both boys loved it and Ethan was able to wave and clap at all the right parts (and at other times too).

Some Oxford sites - The Radcliffe Camera (an 18th century library) and Church of St MAry the Virgin (14th century).....

Settling In

Arrived in Oxford Dec 26th after eventful flight with Noah requiring medical attention in Singapore after vomiting on plane. Thankfully second leg wasn't quite as dramatic. We are staying in a nice modern apartment in Jericho which is a trendy area with great cafes, pubs, restaurants and theatres (not that we've been able to enjoy many of these with 2 young kids). We're a 15 minute walk from the city centre and a short bus trip to the hospital. It's been absolutely freezing with maximum temperatures between 0 and 3 degrees. The major canal in Oxford is frozen solid and it even snowed today (quite beautiful). There are few hours of daylight (8am to 4:30pm) but at least it hasn't rained (yet).




Managed to get to London for a day mainly to sort out administrative stuff but looking forward to returning and seeing the sights.






Oxford is a truly beautiful city and we look forward to exploring it. So far have only managed to check out the sales in the city, attempt to navigate our way through the supermarkets and go to the Natural History Museum (see photos). Also took a stroll through Port Meadow - open fields with horses grazing literally around the corner from our flat.

I have to say that England does not seem so "kid friendly" - our mountain buggy stroller (with Noah on the skate board on the back) is like a massive tank driving through the streets, (which the Poms are not keen on)! The English still live by the old adage that "children must be seen and not heard". The dear old ladies seem to like Ethan though. BTW Ethan can now clap and wave on demand! So cute. Clearly it's the Oxford academic environment. Here's Ethan at the pub....