Hilary Term in Review

From a few too many midnight walks through the city to ginger shots and matcha before rehearsals to getting lost trying to find Latin tutorials, it has been quite the eventful term. My second year got off to a rocky start, with a few too many doctors appointments and late essays. In contrast, Hilary has proved itself to live up to my belief that it is the best term of the three. Although I did not get as much time to myself as I perhaps would have liked, every second was filled with new adventures, new faces and plenty of laughs. Of course, there was also plenty of work! This term has taken me on a journey from the lyric poetry of Wales and Germany to the adulterous bedrooms of Arthurian legends.

In the review of the term, I will of course start with the thing that got me out of bed every morning with a smile on my face: The History Boys. Anyone who has put on a show (especially whilst also doing an Oxford degree) will tell you that it is stressful, all consuming and the best fun you will ever have. I spent so many days sitting in Blackwell’s pouring over my script, making notes and drawing diagrams before heading to the rehearsal room. The lodge staff got so used to my visits that they would simply ask which key I wanted and even came along to see the final result. Pret and Leons must have got just as used to me – what with my tradition of a matcha and ginger shot before rehearsal. This ritual turned out to be the thing that saved both my voice and my energy, as most rehearsals were spent trying to make myself heard over the constant laughter of at least nine boys in a small space. There were moments of frustration, but mainly just memory upon memory of fun. I was a director who was not afraid of the 9am rehearsal, who inflicted a three and a half hour run on a delirious group of actors. But despite the lack of reviews, it was a spectacular performance that made every second of crazy worth it. Directing your first show is a steep learning curve and deciding to do your first show at the O’Reilly is nothing short of insanity. I have been told that you have to love your show enough that you can still be in the theatre at 3am on minimal sleep and still rather be there than anywhere else. Surrounded by a crowd of new friends, even when everything is going wrong that is technically possible, it is the most amazing adventure a person can ask for. And everything technical really did go wrong – from a sound cable that would not work, to a video that had to be played on two laptops in sync, to a fire alarm mid Friday night performance. Suffice to say that sitting listening to the dawn chorus after a chilled party and with an aching ankle from carrying a table down the stairs in heels, I realised quite what a whirlwind it had been. I could write many more words on the amazing experience of the show (and have), but suffice to say that it drove my tutors to frustration.

My studies this term have been rather up and down, with three essays some weeks and nothing others. Over the course of the term I tackled three units: Medieval Lyric, Early Middle English and The History of the English Language. The beauty of the Lyric unit is the ability to study whichever languages you choose. The Faculty held four seminars: one in Vernacular Religious, Welsh, Arabic and French. From here we were able to choose which languages to study for tutorial – in my case vernacular religious, Latin and Welsh. Unsurprisingly, the Welsh was my favourite. Taking place in our new quad, I lost my way (just as my tute partner and I got lost on our way to our Latin tute). However, from the second I walked into the room that eighth week morning and was greeted in my mother tongue, I knew that it would be a wonderful hour. Escaping from the theology that governs so much of my degree, I had written my essay on Dafydd ap Gwilym a contemporary of Chaucer. Reprising my A Level knowledge, I enjoyed delving deeper into the poet and discovering that there was more to his work than tongue in cheek misadventures with Englishmen and Welsh women. The poems which I focussed on were the most beautiful depictions of the natural world that I think I have ever come across. In the case of Middle English, it was a continuation of a topic that we began in Michaelmas. Finishing studying Troilus and Criseyde, I have also written essays upon the topics of grief and marriage. The former focussed upon the dream poems The Book of the Duchess and Pearl, while the latter was a study of Malory’s Morte Darthur. As for Language… where do I even begin? I have yet to meet a Course 2 student who enjoys the language unit, as it is simply so challenging to wrap one’s head around. Every essay failed to quite answer the question and every lecture was at 10am on a Friday morning. Need I say more?

While the first half of my term was primarily a focus upon The History Boys, the second became a bit of a theatre extraviganza. In the short space of a week, I saw Engraved, The Addams Family, Spring Awakening, The Tempest, Bare and This House. Apart from the last of these, my reviews for these can be found elsewhere on this blog, so I will not go into too much detail other than it was a pleasure to support our History Boys family. There was something of a reunion for Tom Pavey’s performance in the Union Chamber and a more organised repetition of this on the Thursday of 8th week. It felt like a perfect ending to a wonderful term. As a side note, I also ran for OUDS president and gained a place on the standing committee, having run (yes I did run!) across town from a spectacular performance by Archie Inns to reach hustings on time.

My formal wear has certainly not had enough use this term! The Pink Week Ball was definitely the most adventurous of the three formal events I attended, being my first ball at The Exam Schools. Lit in a wash of the expected shade, this was a whirlwind of an evening including the making of new friends, the donning of masks and dancing until midnight. It was the first time in a while that I had walked through the streets of the city in the peace of the wee hours and I had forgotten quite how quiet the experience was – although perhaps not the most fun in heels! Our Halfway Hall and Subject Dinner were by comparison far closer to home and far more alcohol fuelled. With a chaotic subject dinner treated half as pres before other end of term events, there is nothing to be said about the speeches other than that the second year one was certainly not prepared before hand! It is a strange thought to be over halfway through my degree, for I feel as though I have only just arrived and also am a part of the furniture. It is clearly the latter impression that I express to others, seeing as I won the award for ‘Most Likely to Never Leave Oxford’. I guess we shall see if this prophesy comes to pass…

For the meantime though I will try to enjoy the city that we spend so much time in without seeming to experience. I spent a few days at the end of term being a tourist and exploring places other than the inside of my textbooks. Of course, the snow helped. I spent the afternoon that the snow hit walking slowly home revelling in the simple beauty of the natural world. Is there anything more perfect than gently falling flakes catching in your hair? Try to remember to slow down and breathe in such moments! A walk through Oxford without the pressure of a looming deadline can be the most beautiful feeling in the world. For such an end of term walk, I began at the jewellers, picking up a necklace that I had been admiring, then found myself at Arcadia buying a teacup and a mothers day present. A trip to the Covered Market supplied me with a beautiful bouquet of roses and a coffee from Gulp Fiction. From here I meandered down the High Street, enjoying the sights of the store fronts preparing for spring and a somewhat muddy stroll through Christ Church meadow, before finding myself at Queens Lane Cafe for a coffee with the wonderful Mina Moniri. It may seem like a simple day, but sometimes those are the most beautiful.

The day before term ended found me sitting in the gallery of the Natural History museum enjoying a coffee, the best salad I have had in a long while and writing reviews and short stories. All in all, my best term so far at Oxford, Hilary was filled with energetic highs, manic essay rushes and peaceful moments surrounded by history.

The Term’s Top Five:

Best moment: Closing night of History Boys

Best coffee: Natural History Museum

Favourite topic: Welsh Lyric Poetry

Best book: Death Comes to Pemberley

Best show: To watch – Bare!! (but, of course, History Boys)

The Term’s Worst Five:

Study session: Spending about 12 hours trying to write my second language essay

Moment: Learning that two of my friends are rusticating

Topic: The entirety of the language unit!

Most embarrassing moment: Explaining my roasts to my tutor

Fashion disaster: A red velvet jacket with pink hair