Formals

I know I've been MIA. I came down with some sort of cold like illness I have dubbed the Palatine Plague that I am still coughing from 3 weeks later (though thankfully less frequently) and had an essay worth 50% of my grade due, so I avoided postings and such. Sorry. Now on to better and brighter things...

I have posted a couple of pictures on flickr, the rest of the candlelight vigil pics and some from formals. What are formals? Good question. Hatfield College is one of two colleges (I believe) at Durham Uni that hold formals on a weekly basis, in Hatfield's case, twice weekly. Basically formals are fancy dinners. You dress smartly and are required to wear your academic gown. Guest formals require black tie.


The MCR (postgrads) are reserved a table with the rest of the room being taken up by the JCR (undergrads). There is also a High Table where the Master of the College and Tutors sit. MCR members are also invited to sit at High Table though I have yet to do that.


Each college has their own traditions but our formals kick off with spooning. Basically this is banging your spoon on the table very loudly in different rhythms. Needless to say, there are very few unbattered spoons. All of this comes to a halt when the High Table enters, for which we all stand in silence. Once they have reached their table, the grace is read in Latin and we can then all sit down and enjoy our three course meal (four if it's Guest Formal). During dinner, drinking games can be played since wine can be bought fairly cheaply at the start of formal. The JCR Secretary is in charge of keeping order and can fine you if you break a rule (anything from getting up from the table to being too unruly/drunk). After dessert has been served, the JCR Secretary goes to High Table, silencing the room, and bows to the Master. This is the sign that you are now able to leave the room if you are ready to do so.

Candle, Candle Burning Bright

There is a tradition every Michaelmas term at Durham to hold a candlelight processional. It starts out at the south side of the Bailey and walks up (and I do mean up, this is quite a hilly place) to the cathedral. Under the idea of trying everything in Durham at least once, I decided to tag along and was very glad that I did.

(Thank you choir for the scarf! I'm putting it to good use!)

There were easily several hundred people mostly University students on the trek up the path in the dark and into the south side of the cathedral. We were lead through the cloisters into the cathedral where the chaplain welcomed us and told us a little about the cathedral.


We were then free to roam about the cathedral. By candlelight. It was gorgeous. The cathedral was built in the 1100s and is incredibly impressive during the day with soaring ceilings and massive columns, but it was even more amazing with not much light other than candles and moonlight. The cathedral is usually closed after about 6 or 7 in the evenings so it was a rare treat to be allowed in at a late hour, let alone to have so few lights on in the building. I do have to admit, it was a little creepy when the organist started to play since he somehow managed to pick the darkest, creepiest organ music ever written but fortunately it only lasted a couple songs and we were left in silence.


Pictures aren't normally allowed in the cathedral so if you want to see more pictures of the cathedral, here is a link to their website:
http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/introduction/gallery

Note on Flickr: I have posted 2 videos of college songs. Apparently every college has their own songs they sing often incorporating the name of their college and/or teasing other colleges. I took a couple of videos of the JCR (undergrads) singing college songs at the college bar a couple weeks ago. I will apologize for the terrible quality as it was dark and I was using my digital camera which is not such an awesome video camera.
There are also now a couple of pictures from the candlelight procession but there are not likely to be any more pictures on flickr for another week or 2, I seem to have already reached my limit for the month. In the meantime I will throw in some pictures here on the blog.

So Very Cold...

It is the middle of October and it is currently 36 degrees. I have been trying to save my heaviest winter coat for, you know, winter but that may not be possible...

British Climate 14
Devon 0

To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells

Turns out there is a tradition of bell ringing in Durham. All the old churches have bells that are rung manually, often by the Durham University bellringers club. It is a very lovely tradition. For about a week. I may have mentioned previously that my house is St. Oswald's Church adjacent. In fact my window overlooks the churchyard. The cathedral is about a 10 minute walk and can be seen from my house. It seems that the cathedral and other local churches ring their bells all day, and I mean all day, Sunday, only stopping briefly for services. And then there are the practices. It's a little shocking that they actually have to practice since there is no discernible melody, only about 6 or 7 notes repeated over and over in a cacophonous sort of scale. As I write this, I am listening to the rehearsal at St. Os's which has been going on for nearly an hour. I'm supposed to be reading for class, but my brain is a little vibratey thanks to the constant ringing. I'm hoping I'll get used to it before too long. I'll be able to test that theory pretty quickly as rumor has it there are more rehearsals on Thursday...

What a Difference an Hour Makes...

When I went in to Open Choral practice at the College Chapel it was sunny and warm (well, warm in comparison to recent days, not what I would normally call warm). An hour later when we were done, it was raining and cold. I had heard tales of drastic weather change but this is a little silly.

British Climate 9
Devon 0


Oh and how was choral practice you might ask? Let's just say I didn't sign up to audition. Tonight they held an open rehearsal followed by singing this evening's Evensong service to give people a chance to see what it was like before auditions start later this week. I thought I would go just to be able to say I sang once in the Chapel at a service but it turns out they sing some seriously hard stuff with little to no accompaniment or rehearsal. The first piece I saw was in Latin, containing very few words I knew how to pronounce, so I was happy when we turned to the next song. Turns out the English wasn't any easier to understand/sing. At one point tonight I chanted/sang:
"Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe:
Philistia, triumph thou because of me."

Matriculation

Today was matriculation. It's an old English word meaning sit in a really old cathedral wearing academic gowns while people in fancier academic gowns and caps welcome you into the university. Look for a couple more pictures on facebook/flickr.

Back to College

It's been a little nuts getting settled in, meeting everyone, shopping for groceries and other necessities, learning my way around town, registrations, etc. so I haven't really had time to post anything without feeling terribly antisocial. But I seem to have some down time so I thought I would write a little about the University.

Durham is a collegiate university like Oxford and Cambridge. Every member of the University belongs to a college, mine is Hatfield. The college really has nothing to do with academics, it serves more of a social service. It provides accommodation, has a dining hall, a bar (yes, every college has its own bar), and often a library, gym, and chapel. At Hatfield, all of this is located in one spot we call Main College and I believe many of the buildings are from the 1800s.


This is a picture from the courtyard of Main College. The tan pointy building in the back is Durham Cathedral built in the 11th century and is about a 1 minute walk. I actually live in a college accommodation about a 10 walk from Main College with about 40 other postgraduates but as a member of the college, I'm free to come and go within the Main College buildings as I please.

The Univeristy buildings, including the other colleges and lecture buildings are scattered around Durham instead of having a central campus. Where I live is about a 10 minute walk to the Science Site where my classes will be, the Library, Main College, and shops. The only problem is that no matter where you are going, it is always uphill. I have not figured out how this works, but I promise, it's uphill both ways!

As a postgrad, I'm a member of the Middle Common Room (MCR) of Hatfield, while undergrads belong to the Junior Common Room (JCR) and tutors and other faculty belong to the Senior Common Room (SCR). I have 3 tutors. I'm not entirely sure why I need 3 of them but they are all very nice. What is a tutor you may ask? To quote Douglas Adams, having a tutor means he has "charge of [your] general welfare, told [you] when the exams were and not to take drugs." And that seems about right. They are the people to talk to if you are having any troubles and occasionally they invite you to brunch in the Senior Common Room.

Stay tuned for more posts and pictures on facebook/flickr as time allows.