Eights Week

On Wednesday Logan and I headed out the The Oxford Newcomers Club! It was so nice to go and hang out with people whom I hadn't seen since the end of the first term (there are three school terms in a year). As many gathered around to meet little Logan I realized how much I had missed socialising with these people.

They had a trip planned for the day and we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and joined them. It was a boat trip to Iffy village! Along the way we came across "Eights Week".

What is Eights Week?

Its Oxford University's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year.The 5th week of the Trinity term in Oxford from Wed-Sat. there is the annual Bumps Race. The idea is to crash (bump) into the boats ahead of you. Once bumped both boats are out of the race, and the boat who bumped will go ahead of them in the river the next time. The idea being to become the head of the river, where the winning crew gets the winning blades with their names and school colours on them. A dozen boats race in each division moored at boat length. There are the shots fired at 5 min. before, 1 before, and the start of the race. Bump racing is somewhat cruel as it encourages the teams to sprint the whole way. As soon as two boats bump they are out of the race! The boats are packed closely together at the start so there is no margin for error: start off late ('catch a crab') and your chances of making it are slim.

We went to Iffy village. Such a beautiful little village with a 12th century church! Logan, my friend Neha, and I walk along the path back toward city center. We were able to catch more of the races as we walked back along the boat houses. After we passed some of the boat houses, we caught up with a few of the other girls from the Newcomers Club. They had picked a perfect spot for a small picnic, and though we did not have anything to contribute to the picnic they invited us along. We had a perfect view to watch the rest of the colleges in Oxford compete against each other! So much fun!