An unexpected pleasantry...

Last night a group of us were advised to visit a local pub called The Rose and Crown. It was a lovely little place but we had a bit of an issue locating it at first. Finally, after asking the bus driver four times to advise us on the correct stop and then having to be pointed in the right direction after we left the bus, the group found itself at the pub. Instead of taking the back porch, we squeezed ourselves into the front dining hall, around two long tables. Seated at one corner of these tables was an older chap dressed in a nice suit (including sweater vest) perusing through a magazine and enjoying the last morsels of his meal. I asked him if we could share his table and he smiled and begged us to join him.
For the sake of privacy I will simply call this man Mr. William. Mr. William and I began talking about what the class was doing in England. I told him of our study of C.S. Lewis and he seemed thrilled by the idea of students taking on such an extensive study over such a short time. Mr. William and I also went on to discuss my current studies at Wofford: Victorian Literature. We talked about Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, which then led us into a discussion of English weather and the strangeness of the warmth and rain this time of year. For the next two hours there really was not a moment’s rest in conversation. Mr. William kept us on our toes with questions and answers. He was a wealth of information for tips on how to best spend out time in Oxford and what we should not miss seeing while we are here.
But it wasn’t his inside scoop on Oxford that charmed us. It was his personable nature and his kindly attitude. He was the firs Britain that I have met tha honestly took the time to share with us who he was and what he was doing. He took the time and energy to let us know that we were welcome and appreciated not because we were Americans but because we were people, just like him. This is not to say that all Britons are jerks excluding this one man. That’s not what I mean at all. It was just something about him that made us all feel at home for the first time in this foreign country.
The dinner finally came to an end and we all had to be going. But one thin that we have repeated often to each other is how awesome it was to meet this man. So to you, Mr. William, whom I hope gets a change to read this, thank you for spending an evening with us. You have left a remarkable and lasting impression.

Written by: Becky Siegert