10 Things I like about Oxford

In no particularly order…

1. It’s a beautiful place, with an abundance of gorgeous trees, interesting buildings and cobbled streets. It’s a great place to just walk around in.

2. Levor smiles for no reason. It’s been years since I’ve seen him just smile.

3. No-one knows who we are. We aren’t important (either in a good or bad way) and no-one cares what we think or say. What I say in the Bible study group I’m part of isn’t the ‘right answer’ just because it is me saying it.

4. Church is enjoyable and enriching.

5. There are a lot of very edible cheeses to be had.

6. The pace of life is delicious. Our diary has blank spaces after being crammed full for months. I don’t have to do things on particular days. Levor can just study. He doesn’t have to do that plus sixty million other things, while juggling something else on the side. We are having evenings off and Sundays off and having conversations and watching Lewis (Morse spin-off) and listening to music… and on Thursday we are hoping to go out and see Antigone at a playhouse. This is really, really good. I’m sure it won’t last but it is almost like a holiday at the moment.

7. We haven’t had a phone for two and a half weeks. We have one now, but we don’t have an answering machine and have decided not to get one. People can ring again or email us, and returning phone calls is not something we’re good at anyway. I think we deal with change by bunkering down and not having a phone has really helped with this. Other people need to feel connected to people, but I think we are completely the opposite. We can only connect with people when we are sufficiently together to have something to give them. So, being by ourselves has been really therapeutic.

8. The medical system here is really good. Except for the tendency to not give people tests and drugs because it increases the NHS bill. I’ve seen the midwife and the doctor and next week we go to visit the hospital where (God willing) we’ll have our baby. It’s been so easy and is a lot more patient friendly than Australia.

9. There are lots of berries in the supermarkets and they are reasonably cheap.

10. We have a window in our apartment (on the fourth floor), which has a tree right outside it. Squirrels climb the tree and dance about in the branches, and when they are busy doing other things, pigeons come and sit quietly in the branches and think little pigeon thoughts. We can also see across the top of some of Oxford, a skyline of chimney pots perched on terrace houses and off in the distance there is a hill of some kind. We can see the rain clouds coming across the horizon and when it rains hard (which it did just this morning), the rain drums on the roof. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in a place where you can lie in bed with a book under the covers, and listen to the rain.