Thanks to my parents for a kick-ass care package. I had a bunch of friends over last night and we just kicked it and LEGALLY DRANK VODKA-CRAN-OJ's. It was great. I wore gold pants. When's my next long post, you ask? Here's a joke to tide you over:
Friday, January 18
Wednesday, January 16
Were you aware? The British don't believe in fitted sheets.
No seriously.
One of the odd things that I've come to expect here is a mix of things I'm not used to paying for costing money, and things I'm accustomed to doing for myself done for me. Case in point: dinner. Actually, there are two dinner services here. One is called "scaff" (a contraction of "Pete's Cafe" or something), which is an informal, self-service dinner, which I have not been to yet. It has faster (read: fatter) food items like pizza and chips. "Hall" is a formal (by American standards) three-course dinner. The way Hall works is you HAVE to show up around 7, they will not let people into the dining hall after 7:15. My friend Dara wasn't let in the first night at Oxford because of this. Anyway, we all file in as we show up, but you HAVE to walk in with friends because not only do they dislike seat-saving, but they won't allow any gaps in between students. We all sit and chat (hopefully, sometimes conversations can stale if you're one-on-one with another person) until the fellows of the college walk in. Although we don't have to dress formally for dinner (some colleges at Oxford do), the fellows are always dressed nicely. While they file in, students stand up and quiet down a bit (though it's not totally silent), until one of the fellows bangs a gavel and says "Benedictus benedictum" at which point the fellows sit down at the high table (much like Harry Potter). After this, we are served appetizers, which in the last week have ranged from the delicious (I think tonight is hummus and pita, last night we had onion soup) to the mundane (wilty green salad). The servers are pretty pushy and are encouraged to keep things moving as quickly as possible, so the moment you put down your fork, they whisk your dish away. Main courses vary even more. Last night was pretty godawful, some kind of grey rumproast (a real Marie Doliva classic, for the family in the house). But apparently, the head chef in the kitchens is actually a pastry chef, and as a result, almost every desert is amazing. The British are VERY fond of custard-soaked cakes, which are AIGHT, but the winners are the chocolate deserts. I had a great bittersweet tart one lunchtime. Dinner usually lasts from 7:15-8PM, but there's coffee at the end of the hall, which is nice, because at school, we sometimes hang out long after eating is done, just talking. There's a considerable absence of socializing here, since we're all meant to spend 9-5 working, and the libraries are certainly not made for group study.
So that's a little food-rant for you. Tomorrow I have my first tutorial meeting, and present my first paper to an Oxford scholar. Fingers crossed for me, and I'll let the internet know how it goes!
Also, yes, there are no fitted sheets here, and my hospital-corner skills seem to be greatly lacking. But they DO give you clean linens every week, so there's that.
Ta!
One of the odd things that I've come to expect here is a mix of things I'm not used to paying for costing money, and things I'm accustomed to doing for myself done for me. Case in point: dinner. Actually, there are two dinner services here. One is called "scaff" (a contraction of "Pete's Cafe" or something), which is an informal, self-service dinner, which I have not been to yet. It has faster (read: fatter) food items like pizza and chips. "Hall" is a formal (by American standards) three-course dinner. The way Hall works is you HAVE to show up around 7, they will not let people into the dining hall after 7:15. My friend Dara wasn't let in the first night at Oxford because of this. Anyway, we all file in as we show up, but you HAVE to walk in with friends because not only do they dislike seat-saving, but they won't allow any gaps in between students. We all sit and chat (hopefully, sometimes conversations can stale if you're one-on-one with another person) until the fellows of the college walk in. Although we don't have to dress formally for dinner (some colleges at Oxford do), the fellows are always dressed nicely. While they file in, students stand up and quiet down a bit (though it's not totally silent), until one of the fellows bangs a gavel and says "Benedictus benedictum" at which point the fellows sit down at the high table (much like Harry Potter). After this, we are served appetizers, which in the last week have ranged from the delicious (I think tonight is hummus and pita, last night we had onion soup) to the mundane (wilty green salad). The servers are pretty pushy and are encouraged to keep things moving as quickly as possible, so the moment you put down your fork, they whisk your dish away. Main courses vary even more. Last night was pretty godawful, some kind of grey rumproast (a real Marie Doliva classic, for the family in the house). But apparently, the head chef in the kitchens is actually a pastry chef, and as a result, almost every desert is amazing. The British are VERY fond of custard-soaked cakes, which are AIGHT, but the winners are the chocolate deserts. I had a great bittersweet tart one lunchtime. Dinner usually lasts from 7:15-8PM, but there's coffee at the end of the hall, which is nice, because at school, we sometimes hang out long after eating is done, just talking. There's a considerable absence of socializing here, since we're all meant to spend 9-5 working, and the libraries are certainly not made for group study.
So that's a little food-rant for you. Tomorrow I have my first tutorial meeting, and present my first paper to an Oxford scholar. Fingers crossed for me, and I'll let the internet know how it goes!
Also, yes, there are no fitted sheets here, and my hospital-corner skills seem to be greatly lacking. But they DO give you clean linens every week, so there's that.
Ta!
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