Oxford after two years

Can't believe it's been two months that I wrote my last post. A lot happened over past two months, mostly a lot of traveling, jet lag, recovering, catching up with normal life and traveling again. Finally I'm home almost after 3 weekends, so thought I should look back and write a post.

In 2015 summer I was in Oxford for 6 weeks for the Oxford-Illinois Digital Libraries Placement Program. That was my first time in U.K., a place I always wanted to be. It's especially endearing to me because my dad was at Cambridge for 6 months and we grew up hearing those stories. Being there was a unique experience for me, something that reshaped my professional and personal life, for better or worse. I loved the campus so much (who doesn't, right?) that I wanted to be back for grad school, which hasn't happened yet because of the U.K. educational funding system. That's a different story, but I went back this year again for the Digital Humanities Oxford Summer School (DHOxSS) to present my poster on special collections discovery methods and participate in the machine learning workshop. 

The famous Radcliffe Camera

Being back to Oxford was a bitter-sweet experience for me, it brought me back many good memories I hold really close to me. As I walked the streets, all the familiar places made me nostalgic and I wished I could go back to 2015. May be I would do few things differently if I could go back. Anyway, summer school was a mixed experience too. I learned some and it was great seeing my favorite faces from UIUC and OeRC but I was hoping to get more out of the workshop. The city was beautiful as ever and luckily we had a nice sunny week. Here are some photos -

Christ Church College

Loved the sculpture under window

Another favorite sculpture

Weston Library for Special Collections

Bridge where Harry Potter was shoot

Also, this year my workshop took place at St Anne's College, where I stayed last time. I could see the backyard garden full of lavenders, which I really adored. Another thing I should mention is food - one of the great things of summer school is the variety of food, they always provide awesome lunches and desserts (and I never say no to desserts, so tried most of them :p).

St Anne's backyard

Got to see a pretty sunset

One week went by pretty fast and I was beyond exhausted by Friday. Unlike last time, I didn't get to go to my room and rest the whole evening. I had to pack my luggage and get ready for a ridiculously long trip. Also, unlike last time the ending of summer school was less heartbreaking, I was ready to be back home. Oxford -> London -> New York -> Washington -> Raleigh, after three layovers and a night at the airport (did this second time in my life and never doing it ever again), I finally arrived home and bravely went back to work the next day. Not sure if this was my last trip to Oxford, time will say but this is a city I'd love to be back again, may be at some different time of the year.