They come out during the day...in packs.

There is one draw back to Oxford in the summer. This, for some reason has become a major gathering spot for teenagers. They come on buses from all over the world. There are busloads from Italy, Spain and Japan. I can't think why this has become such a poplar place for kids, but this has become the new "hot spot" for the tour buses.

Some groups sing, and I don’t mean like a choir. They just spontaneously break into song as they walk along the street.

I can’t imagine that happening with a group of American kids. The main problem is that I don’t know if there is a song that everybody knows. Maybe “99 bottles of beer on the wall,” or perhaps the “Star Bangle Banter,” except for the high note, but I can’t think of anything else.

They also seem to be able to speak several languages, and you know that no American teenager, or even us adults can do that. I was walking down one of the back streets behind the college, and I must admit that I was lost. I was looking for what the back gate, I knew there had to be one, but I just couldn’t find it. I came upon four teenage boys; they had to be around 14 or 15 years of age. They were excitedly speaking to each other in what I took to be Japanese.
I soon found out that what had them excited. There were also lost. I found that out when one of them, politely in perfect English, asked if I knew where the back gate to the college was. Not wishing to disappoint them, I pointed back up the alley and told them to go to back to the street they had just come from, turn left and then take the next alley.

They seemed perfectly satisfied with that answer.

I felt a little guilty about that

Oh well, teenagers. They have to learn, even being polite and multilingual, you can’t always trust strangers.

On the other end of the “age continuum,” we have a lady here from Australia. She is 91 years old and made this trip all by herself. She is beyond spry and is always at the head of any line, that included last nights gin tasting class, and except for being a bit careful on stairs, she slows down for no one. She is in one of the English novel classes and is as sharp as anyone needs to be. All you can think is that you only hope you’ll be close to being that aware and courageous when you get that age.

While it is true that someone could have put her on the plane she got to Oxford by herself. That means she got off the plane at one of the world busiest airports, collected her luggage, found transportation to take her to London. Then she found and got on the train with all her luggage, and finally found a taxi in Oxford and got her and her baggage to the college.

Let’s see those teenagers do that.