farewell to my stay in Jesus College undergraduate dorm

This is the last night of my stay in the undergraduate dorm of Jesus College. Tomorrow I will be moving to the graduate housing flats outside the city center. It was a short stay here in the undergraduate dorms, but at the same time a rather interesting and unique Oxford experience.

Having breakfast in the old dining hall was the most exciting experience for me. With the old portraits hanging on the wall of the founder of Jesus college--Elizabeth I and other famous people from the college, I could sense the long history. However, at the same time I felt a little uncomfortable being stared at these people while eating. Another odd thing I found here was how could I get to sit down on the long wooden benches when there was only one spot left in the middle. (I wished that I could jump right in!) The actual full English breakfast was really good with the usual bacon, sausage, fried eggs, toast tomatoes and breads. The unique things would be the plain yogurt, which I personally would put a LOT of honey to sweeten it. And the orange marmalade was also a good spread on toast.

Dining Room in Jesus College

Just like every other collages in Oxford, Jesus college has its' own library, chapel and pub--an interesting reflection of the British pub culture. There were also Junior Common Rooms for undergraduate students to relax and hang out together. The dorm buildings are organized into three rectangular courts with a center lawn. Although you may have to pay special attention to whether you are able to walk across the lawn or not. Usually, only the college fellows or tutors would have the right to go across it. It was more of a decoration rather than a place to sit around.

My window view

So back to my dorm experience here. Every room would have a sink inside, which I found it very convenient. Yet I have to admit that I was not quite used to the old toilet system here. That was one of the drawback of living in an old building. :) haha

Anyway, living inside the actual dorm inside Jesus College was a fun experience. It was a peaceful place to get away from the crowed tourists inside the city center. Once I entered the college front door, I felt that I entered a new community environment--a sense of belonging. I wonder if that was one of the initial ideas to create different colleges inside the university.