While Holly finished posting the London pictures, I ventured down to the Wolfson College Cellar Bar last night. It turned out to be a very good time where I was able to meet an extremely diverse and interesting group of people.
As background, the Cellar Bar is run by Wolfson students and is actually one of the college clubs. It usually opens around 9:00 each evening, but as the term has not yet started the current hours are hit or miss. Up until last night I had been too tired to wander down after 10:00 in the evening, but this time I was on a mission. On my first check of the bar at 9:30, it was still closed but they were holding a large wedding reception at the nearby dining hall. One of the reception attendees, a nice fellow named Clark, saw me unsuccesfully trying the doors and immediately brought over a couple of small Budweiser bottles saying I "looked like a man that needed a beer" and that he thought it best to bring me two as they were such small bottles. He also correctly knew that I was the spouse of a student stating that he had seen Holly and I around. Apparently these Oxford students are observant... Lastly, he assured me that the bar would be opening later tonight and encouraged me to come back.
So a half hour or so later I did come back and found the bar open. I was a little nervous walking in as there were three people in the back room playing pool and another seven or so people sitting together at one of the main tables. Fortunately, one of them jumped up, took my order and then asked me to join them at the table. With a large pint of locally brewed ale in hand introductions began and things got interesting. Of the seven, only two were actually English with the others being from Switzerland, Bulgaria, Scotland, Croatia and some other eastern European country that I didn't quite catch. Everyone was extremely friendly and had a lot of questions about Oregon. Other fun topics included the new Scottish Parliament building, the metric system, cheap airline flights and odd British habits. Of these topics two things amazed me. First, flights can be had to almost anywhere in Europe for under $1! With tax, the final cost of a ticket usually ends up being around $14. The only downside being that these flights go out of an airport that is on the opposite side of London, but I suspect we will manage. Second, they all told me never to expect an automatic dishwasher here as usually the British just dip their dirty dishes in soapy water and immediately place it into a rack to dry. I have not witnessed anything like this but you can bet I will be examining plates and silverware closely.
I also had extensive conversations with those directly next to me. First was Reto, the person from Switzerland who is here visiting Nora (from Sofia, Bulgaria). Reto is working on an economics degree at the University of Bern. I was extremely impressed that he speaks six languages fluently, including Japanese. Fortunately he prefers speaking English (and German) and has a very favorable view on the United States and our customs, although not so much of George Bush. On my other side was John who is British but has lived in 11 countries and was a real yacker. He has never actually attended college but is dating a Wolfson student from Dubai. Apparently he is an actor who had just returned from shooting a film in London. I forget the name of the film, but he claims to have worked on the first two Harry Potter films as well. This led to what might be the most important thing to have come from my evening. Holly is entitled to dine at the Christ Church dining hall, the one used for filming Harry Potter, and she can take me as a guest. We can both hardly wait to go on this dining adventure!
Several pints later I safely navigated the 100 yards or so back to our home, where I promptly woke Holly up at 2:30am and excitedly told her about my evening. It really was a great time and likely the most diverse cultural experience that I have ever had. I can hardly imagine what interesting experiences lie ahead as more and more of our neighbors arrive to Wolfson.