Christ Church College

　　After giving them a parting wave, we headed for Christ Church College, which was one of the tourist destinations in Oxford. The main purpose of my wife might be visiting a gift shop associated with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" , which was written by a professor in Christ Church College.
　　Be that as it may, it was past admission hours, but by my daughter showing her Id card, we were allowed to enter the college. Some tourists were staring at us jealously. I admired my daughter's present status and felt proud of her.
　　We walked along the tour course and entered the hall where the students have meals. When I entered this hall last time, its majesty surprised me and it deprived me of my carefulness, just overwhelmed me in other words, so I looked at the interior details this time. I saw lots of painted portraits. I was able to identify one of them as the portrait of John Locke. He seemed to have belonged to this college. Knowing that, I asked my daughter why she didn't choose Christ Church not Pembroke College. She answered that most students of this college were posh and she didn't like such an atmosphere. I understood her feelings, as she had always been modest in Japan. The memoir of Ten-noh helped me understand her college life in Oxford at the same time.
　　When I entered the hall, the prep for dinner had just started. It was the reason the sightseers were stopped from entering. The tables on the raised platform were called the "high table" and teachers and postgraduates are designated to be seated there. My daughter had been seated at the high table a few times to adjust the number of members at the high table.

(Vocabulary)
Be that as it may それはともかく、
majesty [U] 雄大さ, 壮麗さ

　New Collegeのあと、クライストチャーチコレッジを観光した。近くにある「不思議の国のアリス」ゆかりの店に行きたいとカミさんが言うもので、クライストチャーチの方がついでかも。
　それはともかく、観光客の受入時刻は過ぎていたが、受付で娘が自分のＩＤカードを提示すると何の問題もなく通してくれた。時間切れで入られない人たちの羨望のまなざしが印象的だった。娘の成長を有り難く思い、また誇らしく感じた。
　まずはホールへ向かった。学生たちが食事を取る場所である。前回訪問時にはその荘厳さに圧倒され注意力を失い、ただただ驚いただけだった。今回は掲げられている絵画に注目した。そしてジョン・ロックの肖像画を見つけた。このコレッジで暮らしていたという。
　娘にこのコレッジを選べば良かったのにと話すと、ここの学生はposhな人が多くて自分には合っていないとのこと。今回は陛下の留学記のお陰で大学のシステムが少しわかっているのでいろいろと得ることが多い。
　ちょうど学生達の食事の準備が始まったところだった。そのために一般観光客は入場不可となったのだろう。一段高いところにあるテーブルがハイテーブルと呼ばれ、教官クラスが着席する。一部大学院生も人数調整の必要からテーブルに呼ばれるそうだが、なんと娘も座ったことがあるという。凄い経験だなと我が娘ながらその成長に驚く。