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A day in the life
of a boarder
The ‘normal’ day for an Abingdon boarder does not, like
a normal household, begin at a particular time but rather
over a period of an hour, with the committed minority making
it down for breakfast dead on 7.30am whilst the rest of the
house, who struggle to make it out of the comfort of their
beds at such an ‘early’ time, perform an excellent dance with
time to maximise sleep. To the awe of the younger, less
experienced boarder, such a master of time will be showered,
dressed and even managed a hearty breakfast in under 10
minutes without even breaking a sweat, and all just in time
for registration.
It takes only two morning lessons for the full force of a
boarder’s appetite to return. Luckily, food is at hand once
more, with break-time snacks available in the kitchen. One
may think such a popular feeding frenzy for the grazing
students would result in congestion, however all happens in
respectable time thanks to the three toasters at hand. The hot
crumpets, waffles and toast that follow are guzzled down as
quickly as they came about, with the kitchen emptying in time
for the next lesson, leaving no evidence that a hoard of
hungry teenagers had just exited (that is until someone
checks the waffle cupboard).
After the school day ends, the boarders encounter another
food-based ritual in the form of 5 o’clock teas, where the most
prized sandwiches hurriedly disappear in the hands of the
chanting victor, leaving the poor tutor on duty with
the less desirable egg and cress or tuna mayonnaise to
choose from. At this point the boarders have a couple of
hours to relax in their rooms, go to the gym, play indoor
football or wander into town before making their way to dinner
where boarders in other houses catch up on the latest news.
