Visiting the Past Part 2 - Witney & Oxford

After my month-long trip to Australia in 2008, I stayed put in South Africa for almost two years. I was unhappy with my life to say the least. I spent most of my time earning money just to throw it away on an expensive cost of living, and only venturing out to the nearest mall, nightclub, or friend's house. I was hardly opening my mind or broadening my horizons. In short, I missing out on the good stuff.

In June 2010, I abruptly moved to England. I stayed with my family who had emigrated there from South Africa a few years before - my father, step-mother, and three younger sisters. It was a big change after being a (somewhat) independent 20-year-old. Suddenly I wasn't the master of my own kitchen anymore, and had to navigate one of my worst enemies again - public transport. We lived in the town of Witney, population 25,000, which is a quaint place filled with pretty old buildings from the Middle Ages. Yes, it's bloody ancient, and I quickly became used to my new old world: cobblestone alleys, chancels and spires, and names like Wood Green, or Tower Hill.

Besides the bits of travelling I managed around the county, I spent many weekends in Oxford - another ridiculously old place, but with a lot more going on than my small town. It's where I would go pub-hopping or band-watching at night, and window-shopping with a million other people during the day. This is my personal slogan for the place: "Oxford: home to traffic jams and 9.3 million tourists a year, who can usually be spotted in their Oxford University hoodies licking a Thornton's ice cream."

Here are some photos from my year of living in Witney:

A snow-covered street in town.

"The Plough Inn" - how British.

The view from my bedroom window in December.

This was my neighbourhood - pretty small and uniform.

Our tiny backyard covered in snow - polar opposite to South Africa.

The view out my bedroom window during snowfall.

The same view after the snow fell. I had never seen snow okay!

This was the house we lived in.

A street in Witney.

Garden-envy.

I used to walk past this all the time to get into town.

The route home.

Swans that I would say hello to almost every day.

One of the views I would usually see on the bus to Oxford.

Another one of those views.

Cake in Oxford. Yes, I have a problem.

Oxford scenery.

Massive old cathedrals, nothing new - Oxford.

Adrian Fleur, England, living abroad, Oxford, past, travelling, Travels, Witney, young woman

edit

Published tháng 6 19, 2013 by ana03 with 0 comment

Visiting the Past, Part 1 - Australia

Back when I was still sporting piercings and bleach-blonde hair, I went on a month-long trip to Queensland, Australia. It was 2008, I was eighteen, and I was about to take my first bite of "abroad".

I mostly stayed in the luxurious, tourist-ridden area of the Gold Coast, where I spent my days walking the pristine suburbs and sampling the various sparkling beaches. I quickly became infatuated with Surfers Paradise and Gelato, and when I felt like getting lost on public transport, I'd make my way to the city of Brisbane. While I was there I became accustomed to lavish fantasies about roadtrips to the other side of the continent, and perhaps playing house in one of the famous big cities. It'll be a long time from now, but my ultimate goal is to get back to the land of Oz.

When I landed back home in South Africa, I knew I was different, and my bedroom window was no longer enough of a view to satisfy my new appetite. As a child, I had travelled all over my own country, and to my neighbouring countries as well, but after Australia I knew I had to get out again. I'll tell you more stories about that later.