Oxford Institute Summer 2002

Arrival in England Information

These are some bits of learned wisdom on how to navigate the journey from flight to Harris Manchester in Oxford. Our program will begin at 2 pm on Monday July 8 at Harris Manchester College. Kevin and I will be at the college from 10 am on to assist in getting settled. Our program will end at 3:30 on Friday July 19.

From within England, to contact me by cell phone my number is 07905-679-573

I know some of you are very seasoned travelers and for others, this is your first journey out of the country. These notes are written with the first-time travelers in mind…

In flight:

At some stage in the flight, usually just when you’re about to fall asleep, the flight attendant will come around with landing cards. You want one of those little white ones. Let the attendant know you’re from the U.S. since there are different cards for people from E.U. (European Union, not Evil Axis) countries. Fill out the card. Your address in England is Harris Manchester College, Mansfield Road, Oxford. They are very uptight about the block capitals business. Your surname is your last name (I seem to always get that part wrong). Hold onto this card. Put it with your passport since they’ll need to be together when you land. If the crew run out of cards en route (which is often the case), don’t worry, there are thousands of them in the immigration hall when you land.

Landing:

Follow the herd of people who are all heading towards Immigration and Baggage Claim. (There is a bathroom to your left when you first walk into the arrivals hall. I recommend this one over the one in baggage claim which is usually very crowded.) Get into the line for Non-E.U. residents. Some person who is probably experiencing something of a mild power trip will tell you where to go once you get up close to the immigration people. When they ask what you are doing here, you say “Educational Seminar.” You should know what date you’re leaving. Hopefully they won’t ask you too many more questions. I find it best to appear perky as they are usually humorless.

Once you clear immigration and they give you the big stamp in your passport, you head to the right down to baggage claim. There are TV screens overhead that have your flight number and which baggage carousel your baggage will be on. Before you rush off to get your bags, get one of the push carts. You will be VERY glad to get one of those carts, because it is a long way to the busses. (Plus, some of us like racing them to see how well they corner…) Unlike cheapo US airports, the carts are free.

Go find your carousel and wait anxiously for your bag to appear. Sometimes they take the bags off the carousel if there are a lot of flights coming in at once, so look around on the ground around the carousel as well.

Once you’ve gotten your bags, there will be a yellow “WAY OUT” sign. You want to walk through the passageway for people with “Nothing to Declare.” You will pass people being interrogated. Pretend not to be incredibly curious. You will pass through one last duty free shop. Once you come out, there will be a chaos of people all happily meeting and greeting each other. You’ll also probably notice the obligatory guys with machine guns guarding the airport. Yes, even in England.

In the terminal:

If you’re feeling peckish, there are many coffee and food places. Word to the wise, unless you like baked beans a lot, do not go for the English Breakfast option, since they drown your eggs in baked beans (Kevin thinks that’s a wonderful thing…I disagree.). Given bus schedules and such, it may be another hour and a half or more before you get to Oxford. We generally eat something at the airport. There are many money machines in the area of the restaurants, as well as moneychangers. The airport will take credit cards for even tiny amounts of money.

Getting money:

If you do not arrive with English pounds, you will need to get some money to get to Oxford. Most US money cards work in UK machines and the exchange rates tend to be better going through your money card than through the money changers. There are scores of money machines in Oxford, so you don’t need to get 2 weeks worth of cash at once if you’re uncomfortable carrying large amounts of cash. You can ask some of the nice looking information people if you can’t find an obvious money machine or moneychanger.

Finding the Bus:

If you land in terminals 1,2,&3, you will see signs for CENTRAL BUS TERMINAL all over. That’s what you want. If you land in terminal 4, you just look for BUS STAND (I am not sure of the bus for Oxford’s number there. There are little ladies wearing green who are supposed to help you at the information desk.) Everyone else, follow the endless signs to the Central Bus Terminal. It is about a half mile walk from the place you exited the immigration hall to the bus stand. Keep a careful eye out for those bus terminal signs. When the sign seems to disappear, look for elevators upstairs. Eventually you will even see rows of busses. You will want the bus for Oxford, which is at Stand 10. People will be waiting in queues (lines). If the English are uptight about anything, it is their queues. Feel free to be typical Americans and muck up their queue! Busses to Oxford run every 30 minutes.

When the bus arrives, you need to bring your bags down to the driver at the end. Tell him you are going to Gloucester Green (Gloucester is pronounced Glosster ). It is the last stop for the bus anyway. Then go stand in the queue of people waiting to get on the bus. (Brent, you will want the stop for High Street, since your hotel is on High Street and it’s an easy walk from the bus stop. Your hotel is directly across the road from St. Mary’s Church)

You want to purchase a PERIOD RETURN ticket. That means that it’s a roundtrip but you can use the second half of it later. If you are traveling around following the seminar, just get a one-way ticket. I think the period return costs about 15 pounds, and they don’t accept plastic, so make sure you have enough cash to cover that.  Keep the second half of the ticket when he gives it to you since you’ll need that to get home. (I generally put mine in my passport or with my plane tickets so I know to keep the whole thing together.)

The Bus:

A thrilling ride through the British countryside. Marvel at sheep…rolling hills…rain clouds…rolling sheep…raining sheep…counting sheep…At the last stop, get out and get your bags. Hurray! You’ve arrived.

Oxford:

When you arrive at Gloucester Green, you will want to get a taxi to Harris Manchester (or wherever you are staying). The taxi stand is through the alleyway and across a market square. Look for a group of stores that say “Amusements,” “Cleo’s Creperie” and “Kid Kebabs.” The taxis come right in front of those stores. Tell the driver you are going to Harris Manchester college. If the cabbie has no idea where that is tell him (sorry, no women cabbies) it is on Mansfield Road between Hollywell and Jewett. The college has only one entrance gate, through old wooden doors. Make sure that the cabbie has dropped you off at Harris Manchester and not Mansfield College which is also on the same road. (There is a small brass sign on the wooden door that says Harris Manchester.)There will be signs or one of us to greet you and tell you where to go. Tipping in general, whether cabdrivers or food servers is 10% in England.

Weather and what to bring:

Weather in Oxford is always unpredictable. Bring a portable umbrella and a sweater as temperatures can range from the 40s-80s, even in the same day. Oxford is a walking city, so bring comfortable shoes. Dress for the seminar is casual but if you feel more comfortable looking a bit dressier for lectures at the CS Lewis Foundation or Ian Ramsey Centre, bring a few nicer outfits. If you forget something from home, most everything can be bought in Oxford. Clothing prices seem to be about 1½ times more than what they are in the US.

Internet access:

The college has access to the internet in the library and computer lab. All dorm rooms are wired with Ethernet access for laptops. However, if you find their connection too slow, there are no less than 20 internet cafes in Oxford. You should have no trouble keeping in touch with people from home via the web while you are in town.

Library access:

You will have a key to access the HMC library, which is open daily from 7:30 am – 11:30 pm. Photocopying facilities will be available within the college for a small fee.

Electrical outlets:

The US and England function on different electrical voltages. It is wise, if possible, to get a US to UK converter before you leave the US. There are some available here, but you can probably find the converters for sale in the airport when you leave the US.

Cell Phones and Calling Home:

Few US cell phones work in the UK as they are on a different system. It is best to purchase an inexpensive international phone card from one of the newsstands or from the college and use that to make your phone calls. You can also call home collect or reverse charges, but this can be very expensive.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all. If you have any last minute questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin or me.

Best wishes and safe travels,

Leslie Van Gelder