The phone rings. I am working. It’s a journalist. I am immediately all ears. I am a marketing and media consultant, so when a journalist phones me I am pretty pleased.

I have several clients with projects coming to fruition shortly.

I wonder which one has captured this journalist’s imagination? Is it Oxford Lieder Festival, Flintlock Theatre, Dancin’ Oxford, Chipping Norton Theatre? To my surprise, the voice says: “Hi Tei, can you write 500 words on Oxford?”

You learn early on as a publicist, that you are not the story, ever and what you have to say is not nearly as important as your client’s opinion.

So I’m a little taken aback. But the question is interesting and makes me think.

What is Oxford to me? Living here for 35 years, bar three on a Dutch barge in London, (but that’s another story) my experience of the city is as old as my eldest son.

Like him, I’ve had some life-changing moments here. It’s a city of contrasts, perfectly illustrated by those that live in the east and the north of the city.

I’ve lived in both. When I moved to North Oxford, some years ago, my new neighbour asked what my husband did for a living, not me. She needed to fit me into a social structure that will make her feel comfortable.

Years later in East Oxford, a new neighbour asks how they can help and offer local information about bin collection. I loved living in East Oxford.

It was by far the most vibrant and exotic location in all the city.

The sounds and smells that are the wallpaper to life here, create a constantly changing variety to the everyday.

The diverse ethnicity here is a wonder to behold: the food shops beckon with unimaginable goodies.

Who knows what they are used for or taste like?

The restaurants offer the chance to sample these things in a journey that can take you from a fast food nation to Nepal in a couple of strides. Such delights.

Then there’s the truly expansive arts scene.

I work in this world and I love what it offers me and the people of Oxford.

In 23 years I have experienced some truly astonishing moments: sitting in the oldest concert hall in Europe listening to Willard White singing Schubert Lieder; watching aerial dancers on the walls of Oxford Castle; listening to the excitement of children watching pantomime; seeing two heavily tattooed men happening upon a contemporary dance performance in the city centre and watching transfixed for 20 minutes; witnessing Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth and many others on the Playhouse stage; standing in an audience showing its admiration at the prodigious talent that Oxford attracts.

Now the 500 words seem far too few, I want to say so much more.

Oxford is a remarkable place and I am lucky to have lived most of my life in it.