My Ice Prince

«The city of brooding spires» is what some singer Matthew Arnold called Oxford in England in one of his songs. Exquisite architecture and stately buildings – everything here holds history. From Mary I first heard the information that even Adolf Hitler during the Second World War ordered not to bomb the city while London was constantly under air attack. All because, my neighbour claimed, it was the city that Hitler wanted to turn into the capital of England in case of its conquest.

Legend has it that Oxford came to England thanks to Princess Freidswade. The beautiful girl dreamed of becoming a nun, but the obstacle to this was the king, who wanted to marry her. To avoid this, she ran away to a small village, and when the king went after her, on the way he lost his sight and gained it only after the princess forgave his persecution. For this he promised the girl her freedom, and Freidswade founded a monastery, around which the first collegiate colleges sprang up, and then the city.

The history of Oxford begins in the ninth century, when King Alfred the Great ordered the construction of fortifications in several English villages for defence against invaders.

The fortress built by the Saxons soon became a flourishing town, and its favourable location between two rivers was the key to trade.

The town was periodically attacked by the Danes, and in the eleventh century it was completely destroyed in a fire. After reconstruction, the city was taken over by the Norman conquerors, who built the first castle here. At that time the city was the second in England in population just after London.

In 1117, the oldest university in England was founded in order to give the clergy a more complete education. It was not until the reign of Henry the Second that Oxford became a true university town. Its students received many privileges from the government, which, of course, displeased the local population. There were constant conflicts between students and residents, and to resolve the situation, the university authorities diverted students to Cambridge, which became the foundation of the second oldest university in the English-speaking world.

During the Tudor era, the city's economy revolved around the institution: students became a Playboy source of income for local manufactures and industrialists. Oxford soon grew from a small town to a large wealthy city.

During the First World War the number of students decreased considerably, as most of them were called up to serve in the army. The university itself gave part of its premises to military hospitals. After the war, the city was quickly rebuilt and became a centre of industry. In the Second World War the destruction of Oxford was bypassed, as the city did not have a developed heavy industry, and Nazi Germany did not have much sense to spend resources on it.

Mass labour migration after the war turned Oxford into a multicultural city. It remains so today: the number of international students from all over the world grows every year. This beautiful old city has become a centre of intellectual potential, with technological and scientific facilities that attract young minds, and is still a city of great scientific potential.

The largest and oldest university in the city is Oxford University, which is where I enrolled: it has thirty-eight colleges, as well as six hostels – closed educational institutions owned by religious orders without college status. The institution is divided into nine faculties: English Language and Literature; History; Linguistics; Philology and Phonetics; Medieval and Modern Languages; Music; Philosophy, Theology and Religion; Ancient Sciences; Oriental Languages and Culture. It also includes research centres where scholars and students work. Every year, more than twenty thousand students from all over the world choose this institution as their «alma mater».

The architecture of the city deserves volumes of description, but I would not be witty if I said: «Gothic reigns here!». Gothic, which attracts millions of tourists every year. Many of Oxford University's colleges are also housed in medieval buildings. For example, mine is the beautiful old St John's College, founded in 1511 by Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry the Seventh.

Thus, I became a part of this beautiful, one of the most famous and ancient universities in the world, and was unspeakably happy at the thought.

Monday was the first day of school. I was incredibly excited, and I spent Sunday night foolishly: I spent the rest of the morning choosing my outfit and opted for a white shirt with narrow arms, a black skirt with a classic cut, black tights, shoes with a comfortable heel, and, of course, a black silk neckband. The robe, new and neatly ironed, weighed on the back of a chair.

In the morning I went for a run, cutting my jog down to an hour, showered, washed my hair, blow-dried it, put on my suit, tucked my hair into a knot at the back of my head, put on my shoes, carefully folded the robe into my bag, twirled in front of the mirror, put on my autumn brown coat, left the house, got on my bike and rode to the college. I was so excited I could barely hear the noise around me, even though it was always following me, but this time the excitement drowned out the perpetual buzzing in my head.

As I pulled up to the car park, I hitched my bike to a post and stood there hesitantly, something holding me back, restraining my actions. When I was lost, I was very indecisive. So now I was silently looking around, watching hundreds of students walking boldly towards the college.

«What kind of cowardice is this!? Are these people braver than me?» – I thought irritably, and these thoughts moved me.

I walked into the college and, watching the other students, handed my coat to the wardrobe and put on my robe. But then my nerves kicked in, and I hid in a corner, not knowing what to do next. My courage faded, leaving me alone with a sickening sense of awkwardness: everyone knew what to do but me! I huddled in the corner, realising that I was being a fool, but afraid to leave this refuge.

– The girl from the shop! Is that you?» I heard a familiar male voice beside me.

It was Andrew, Mary's ex-guyfriend.

– Hi» I said, confused.

– Hi! Why are you hiding here? – He was wearing a black robe, too.

– This may seem silly and fu

– Then let me take you where you need to go: the freshmen are about to take their oaths» said the guy.

– What would I do without you? – I said with sincere gratitude. – I'm Misha, by the way.

– Misha » he said again. – And my name is Andrew. Come on, we need to get your coat.

And that's right: now I saw that his robe was on top of his black coat.

I picked up my coat from the cloakroom, put it on, then the gown, a cap on my head, and Andrew and I walked out into the courtyard, which was already lined with hundreds of students. The guy led me to the organised rows of freshers and walked away. The freshers standing next to me were chatting merrily, and I was just very nervous, not at all understanding what was happening and what was going to happen.

– Hi, did you just get in too? – suddenly asked me the neighbour on my left – a nice smiling girl.

– Hi, yeah. And to be honest, I'm insanely excited! – came out of my mouth.

– Oh, I know exactly what you mean: I'm the same. Where are you from? You have a strange accent.

– From Poland» I answered and smiled: I was very pleased that she had spoken to me.

– Far away from here… And I'm from Scotland. My name is Ellie.

– I'm Misha. You know, I'm very confused.

Ellie laughed softly.

– Me too. We can… – She didn't finish, because at that moment an elderly grey-haired man in a robe (but not like ours) and a cap came up to the podium and greeted the students. A thunderous applause erupted in response. I followed the students' actions, but I still felt like an unimaginable dumbass.