Speaking of Carols...

...for those of you who are in the area, I just wanted to let you know that the St. Catherine's College Carol Service will be held this Thursday night (1st December...can you believe we're at December already?!?) at 8:30 p.m. at St. Cross Church (on the corner of Manor Road).

I went to Wadham's Carol Service the other day, and it was beautiful. The whole thing started in darkness, and as the service began, people walked in with candles and began lighting candles all around the room. The whole thing was held by candlelight (which caused me to sit very still throughout the service, as I did not want my hair to catch on fire!). It was amazing.

So Catz people: come on down to the carol service, as I am sure it will be lovely. Plus, I could use the moral support, as I will be doing a reading of a poem by William Carlos Williams at the service!

Wish me luck...and for those of you who are around, hope to see you there!!!
Much love,
Me

>>>Edit, 11:45 p.m., 11/30/05: For my fellow blogging Oxonians who are not from Catz, you are welcome to attend as well! You'll recognize me as the one who trips over her own feet as she walks up to do her reading...;)

The weirdest difference I've encountered so far

I know I've been doing a lot of blogging about how things are different here compared to the States. Here's the weirdest difference I've come across so far:

The Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is sung to a different tune!

Here are some links to prove it:

British Version
American Version

Back to work, but I thought I would just share that enlightenment with y'all.
Later!
Me

It will be weird...

• to start paying for things with paper money and not coins again.
• to be able to shop at places after 7 pm.
• to ask, "Is this the line?" instead of, "Are you queuing?"
• not to have the automated voice telling you which cashier to go to at the post office or the supermarket.
• to give out my American cell phone number rather than my British one.
• to call it a "cell phone" and not a "mobile."
• to drive to the supermarket!
• to use the term "Greeks" to refer to people who are not necessarily of Greek origin.
• to have a grade of 68 be a bad thing.
• to use my sunglasses more often than my umbrella.
• to be back on the faculty side of things again.
• to have "pound" refer to this - ### and not this - £££
• to have "here" and "to go" ("eat in" and "take away") cost the same amount.
• to have to leave tips!
• to recount my day-to-day Oxford happenings to everyone I see at home...

I owe you some long posts about the Thanksgiving dinner, Catz Night, and other stuff, but these things crossed my mind recently. I think I've changed a lot in these past two months. It's not that I can't wait to get out of here, or that I don't want to go home, but I think that things will be different. And I think I'm a better person as a result.

Am I boring y'all with these enlightenments? I'll be finishing my paper on Tuesday, which means I'll have a few days of free time. Throw a topic my way, and I'll discuss it on Tuesday when I'm done with my paper.

Much love,
Me

Happy Thanksgiving!

For those of you who celebrate it (and even those of you who don't), I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Although I don't get to be with my family for Thanksgiving this year, I have a lot for which to be thankful, including the amazing experience of being here in Oxford.

Thanksgiving is one of my favoritest holidays because it doesn't have all of the obsessive commercialism attached to it. Even the really big deal holidays, like Christmas and Easter, have gotten to be a bit too much for me. Thanksgiving is really where it's at.

The dean of St. Catz has kindly invited all of the American students to dinner. It should be interesting. What I find really funny about Thanksgiving is that my family (this includes the extended variety, such as aunts and uncles and cousins) tends to prefer the boring, bland types of foods we've had for decades. Yes, we like canned cranberry sauce. Yes, we like plain stuffing. We overcook the yams because we like them like that. If we try something new, like oyster stuffing, we still make the regular stuff because we know everyone will want that. Is this weird? Does anyone else have family food traditions that they can't live without for Thanksgiving?

Well, off to do some work before dinner. Cheers and happy holidays!
Kaitlin

A Dorktacular Wednesday Whine

I'm not even bothering to post this on Phantom Scribbler's Wednesday Whining, because it's so dorky no one will get it, but I needed to whine in writing today.

So I was so excited because I came up with this brilliant topic for my third paper: "Images of Hiddenness and Searching in San Juan de la Cruz's 'Cántico Espiritual.'" (Dorktacular Side Note: I am using the second redaction of the "Cántico," in case you're wondering.) I was all excited because I was going to include all these great examples of hiding and disguise, and was going to write in this brilliant and clever commentary on how the metaphor of the "night" is relevant here.

But then I remembered...

...the "Cántico" is not one of the "night" poems!!!!! :(

Oh boo. I'll just have to find a way to drop it in there without it looking stupid.

Damn, don't you hate it when that happens?????

Much love,
Me