kswl

I will be in Europe this summer for several weeks and have some interest in indulging my passion for Jane Austen by taking a course through the continuing education department of Oxford. The residence for these courses is Rewley House. There are a limited number of suites (two singles connected by an ensuite bathroom). There are also several nice looking, moderately priced B&Bs easily accessible by bus.

Questions: has any Fodorite taken one of these courses? I'm interested in the type of students who attend them and whether or not you enjoyed the experience and considered it worth the week's time. Also, Rewley House---I realize it won't be a hotel accomodation, but would it be do-able for a week? Would the convenience of the college be a better trade off for the (I assume) spartan lodgings than the hassle of two bus trips daily but a nicer room?

Thanks in advance for any replies, and yes, Chomondley---I confess I am a Jane "Bloody" Austen fan.

Cimbrone

Hi KSWL. I spent three weeks at Exeter College, Oxford, living in the dorms there. Fabulous experience. I was sent on scholarship by the English Speaking Union, and many others in the program were also teachers sent by ESU. There was a large contingent from Kentucky! Other students were wealthy middle aged Californian women, Yale students, quite a few young Spaniards, a Hungarian, some (Soviet) Georgians, a couple of Italians...quite a mix. I highly recommend it. Sorry, am not familiar with Rewley house, but if it's an Oxford residence hall, I would trust it to be fine. My dorm provided an elder gentleman who would come and make my bed each morning! Gotta go, but feel free to ask me anything else you think of...

kswl

Cimbrone, that is exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks for that quick reply!

Additional information welcome from anyone else who has had an adult Oxford experience, particularly with Rewley.

flanneruk

Rewley House isn't a college.

It's a Victorian office building in a square on the edge of the historic centre (but slightly closer than the "women's" colleges), full mainly of admin and seminar facilities. It's got corridors and all sorts of other modern features quite unlike the traditional colleges. I doubt it has the scouts Cimbrone found. But it's close to lots of restaurants and bars, as well as the splendidly raffish and sensibly scruffy Jericho area. The accommodation will almost certainly be better than you'd get in the medieval bits of most colleges - where having a bathroom within 50 yards is often viewed as sybaritic.

I use its non-residential courses from time to time, and the academic quality is fine going on excellent. Can't comment on the social aspect of the summer.

kswl

Thank you, flanneruk. I admit that the proximity to restaurants and bars would be preferable "Splendidly raffish and sensibly scruffy"... also good. I would ask to see photographs of the place if I thought for one minute that the continuing ed. office had them to send.

Has anyone actually been Rewely? I can put up with almost anything---wildly varying temperatures, spartan furnishings, small spaces, etc.---EXCEPT mice and/or bugs. To avoid that I would take a bus in from a hotel or bed and breakfast accomodation. I have an email back from them that they also have rooms in St. Peter's annex. Are you familiar with that, Flanner? It's more expensive so I would expect it to be nicer.

flanneruk

Photographs of what place? Central Oxford's one of the most overphotographed bits of the planet, and Wellington Square gets its share.Oxford Conted has lots of pix of its facilities, and some (including the accommodation) are at www.conted.ox.ac.uk

St Peter's has several different annexes scattered around town, none part of the main college and all new (which to my mind means boring, but...) There's one in Paradise St, which really is in an area called Paradise that they tore up to put up a parking lot on (though in this case, life imitated art because the song came out a year earlier), and one called St George's Gate which abuts part of the medieval castle. All are far too close to the city's horrible main shopping streets for my liking, but there are pictures at www.spcmcr.co.uk. Wellington Square, BTW, is a pleasant sqauare of the kind you get in north London and the nicer bits of Belgravia

I REALLY wouldn't condider a B&B less likely to have bugs than a college: Oxford's colleges have many residential shortcomings, but one strength (apart from their winecellars) is that the housekeeping is mostly done by local mums, who work year round and stay with the same college for decades. College rooms are inhabited most ofthe year by people who work, sleep, carouse and fornicate in them all term, except when their scout forces them out so she can clean the room properly. Undergraduates aren't picky about many things: but cockroaches (rare in Britain anyway) would be a pretty good way of putting off potential conquests. I've never heard of creepy crawlies in one.

Cimbrone

My room was spartan but much larger than the rooms at any b and b I've stayed at. After all, it's geared to students, with a desk as well as a bed. You're likely to have less frilly wall-paper and less flouncey bed linens, but I think the extra space and convenient location will make it worthwhile. My program provided meals in the dining hall, and it would have been a real pain to commute back and forth for those as well as for classes.

Part of the fun is being part of a community, and you will miss out on some of that at a b and b.

And I saw no vermin in the Exeter dorms.

kswl

I'm convinced! I don't really like frilly all that much anyway.

Flanner, I know what Oxford looks like, I want pictures of the rooms---you know, the "guest room" shots on hotel websites. I also know they won't have them and so I won't ask. Thank you again, both of you!

flanneruk

If you can't really understand the phrase "pix of its facilities, including the accommodation" I really don't think you should be wasting your time on the course.

Cimbrone

Good decision, kswl. And it may sound odd, but I actually prefer industrial tiles and venetian blinds for an extended period. Less likely to be mold and dirt, and the allergies won't suffer. And chintz is not conducive to quiet reading time.

I can't wait to hear all about it! Definitely go to services at Christ Church College Chapel (Oxford's Anglican Cathedral) and stroll Addison's Walk and the Deer Park at Magdalene College. And drink some lager and eat some pasties for me. I love the vegetable ones with curry. Delish!

Cimbrone

P.S. Maybe flanner can offer the logistics for getting to Blenheim Palace. I believe he's called it "England's most enduring architectural treasures." Or something like that...

kswl

Flanner, you were so helpful---need you be so rude? I scanned your reply quickly as I was going out the door to give a concert in another town and did not have time to post that I have already visited the site you posted---how did you think I found the course?

There are no photos of Rewley on that continuing ed. site. There is a nice written description of the accomodations here: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/conference/index.php but NO photos. If I've missed something on the site I would be glad to be directed to it.

Cimbrone, it's been several years since I was in Oxford and I'm excited about this. We're still trying to work out the details of this trip but this course and another sound like a good way to spend two weeks. I will have another week at the end to travel, and some time on the front end of the trip with DS. We were thinking we would go to Ireland before London, but there is a school in Scotland he'd like to see, too. What looked like a long summer suddenly is looking very exciting!!

ElendilPickle

Kswl, I would do this in a heartbeat. It sounds wonderful!

Lee Ann

kswl

Lee Ann, for some reason I knew it would appeal to you!

I was trying to talk a friend into going with me and she kept asking in disbelief... "a <i>dorm</i> room? ...<i>cafeteria</i> food? " I guess something must be wrong with me, the course sounds so fun!

DH and I once spent a week at our alma mater taking a course. Our baby was about six and he took a tennis camp at the same time on campus, we were able to see him at mealtimes. DH took a class in web design; mine was Hamlet--- deconstructing, watching, rehearsing, rewriting, etc. It was wonderful, and remains a cherished memory. I hope this works out!!!

ElendilPickle

I hope it does too - and of course you'll need to post a complete trip report when you return!

Lee Ann

Merseyheart

Hi, kswl. I say: go for it. I did a summer school session at Oxford ten years ago. It was an American school that borrowed a Oxford school and a couple of professors. I had my own room, with a private bath, and enjoyed it tremendously. (It was the Corpus Christi school.) I wasn't wild about the food, but I'd eat out occasionally, just having a meal at the local spots. I *loved* my class (British history and politics since WWII), and was so delighted to wander around the town, seeing the local colleges and the river, as well as visiting Blenheim one day.

The continuing ed department has a section called "The Oxford Experience". Is your course on Jane Austen being offered through that? They have a course (evidently new) on the Beatles. I am mighty, mighty tempted. Too much England, not enough time.

kswl

It's not through the Oxford Experience, although that program looks very interesting. This is just a regular summer offering in the continuing ed. department. I think the difference is that you can take this for credit (heaven forbid) should you want to do that, and we will not be staying in one of the actual colleges as you did. I think the OxEx is still at Corpus Christi or perhaps Christchurch this year; I would be in a newer building called Rewley which, according to flanneruk, is much less medieval---which suits me. I am very "keen" on Austen and there is another course I might take that would help me in my profession and the times work out nicely.

We will be in Europe for about a month, and I would like to devote at least two weeks to improving my mind

kswl

Mersey, any chance you'll be back this summer for a course?

Merseyheart

Ah, it doesn't look like I'll do Oxford this summer. It's on the "someday" list. I was just in England last year. With this economy, I'm glad to hear some folks are traveling. I know some people locally who are in the Jane Austen Society. I'm in an English Country dance group, and it's drawn some Jane Austen Society members. I like watching the J.A. movies, just to see the dances I've learned over the years.

kswl

Do you mean Morris dancing?