Select Highlights from Lent Term
I have spent most of this term soliciting sponsors for the Union Society, attending Union Society and Gates events, designing and editing my survey for my dissertation, and going to class. Aside from that, I have capitalized on a few opportunities to attend formal halls and to make my way into London…
FORMALS
Magdalene
Way back in January, I attended a formal hall at Magdalene College (pronounced “mawd-lin”) – considered one of the most conservative of Cambridge’s 32 colleges in part because it was the last college to allow women to matriculate*. Magdalene’s formals are noteworthy because it’s one of the oldest colleges in Cambridge (established in 1428) and because their formal halls are lit entirely by candlelight:
*See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh8Tf4H3XEA to watch Borat discuss women in academia with a notable Cambridge academic.
Trinity
In February I dined with the Gates Scholars at Trinity College (the wealthiest college in Oxbridge) at their graduate formal hall. Trinity usually has a nice reception with sherry in their Old Combination Room (where I am shown below), followed by a delicious meal in their grand hall, some famous “Trinity College ice cream", and finally a port reception back in the Old Combination Room.
Many might wonder how one can stay sober through it all – a fair question indeed. In these instances, sobriety may be attributed to a number of possibilities such as teetotalism, banter (for Wikipedia's definition of banter see the *), or a tolerance that builds up after so many of these “sherry-wine-port” events. I often go with the sherry-water-wine-water-port-water technique, but many are not so adept (as the blurred photo below clearly indicates...). Sitting up straight and refraining from unprovoked smiling can become harder and harder as nights like these drone on…
*“Banter is the art of jovial and frivolous conversation and behavior, which can be taken to several different levels, and can be liable to involve crude, offensive sexual joking which may offend some. It is also liable to be very personal, being directed at particular people and may develop into direct offense and 'mickey' taking of a person. The saying 'If you can't take the banter, canter' means that if you take offense to another's comments/actions when they were intended only to amuse, then you should leave.”
Queens and St. John's
I made it to a few other formals during Lent term. Below is a picture of Queens College’s Old Hall, which is smaller than the Queens Hall in which we dined but nonetheless seemed like a nice photo to include. Also, I’ve included a different picture of St. John’s Hall, which happens to be the hall I attend most frequently.
In March, when I attended at the last minute with some friends, I narrowly escaped getting kicked out of hall when I tried to switch seats with someone in the middle of dinner. Apparently NO ONE is allowed to stand up until the fellows finish eating, the gong has been rung, and the fellows have left the hall.
UNION SOCIETY ACTIVITIES
Aside from the typical union indulgences – wine tastings, fudge tastings – I decided to take the opportunity to utilize what is apparently one of the only places in Cambridge that has full-sized snooker tables. Consequently, my mates from Girton -- Peter, Khalid, Evan and Matthew -- and I spent about two hours learning to play snooker, which it turns out is actually a pretty fun game.
Since the snooker table is about three times the size of an American pool table, “putting” (pronounced like a golfer would) the balls in the pockets takes much more time than American pool. Thus, I’ve found Snooker offers a great opportunity to shoot the shit with someone for about an hour and half…
As Treasurer-Elect of the Union this term, it was my responsibility to sit next to the President-Elect and preside over the student debates at the Union every Thursday night. Subsequently, I would almost always stick around for the main debates, which covered topics such as the United Nations, Israel and Palestine, women in the armed forces, national security, and others. Debaters included David Trimble (Nobel Peace Prize Winner), a couple of former Chancellors of the Exchequer
(the equivalent in the US would be the Secretary of the Treasury), the former Foreign Minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a couple of ambassadors (including the current Syrian Ambassador to the UK), the UK’s #1 and #2 playboys (pictured with some friends and my mother), and a couple of World Debating Champions.
ACADEMICS
On the academic front, I FINALLY received my marks from last term: a couple of marks in the 70s and a couple in the 60s. “Oh no,” you might be thinking, “Tristan’s just barely passing.” Actually, a mark of 70 or above is considered a “first,” which is very good. A mark of 55 or below is failure, but scores in the upper 50s to low 60s are about average. Most recently I completed two, two-hour, hand written exams, which consisted of writing two essays for each exam. After living here for a few months and experiencing the many ancient practices of this 800 year old university, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t provide us with a quill and papyrus to write our exams. As far as my dissertation goes, expect an email from me shortly. If you are an American citizen I will be soliciting you for 10-15 minutes of your time to fill out my survey and I will also be asking for you to provide me with any email addresses of friends of family that might be willing to fill out my survey. Speaking of which, in February I was excited to learn that my Program Director has taken interest in my research and has decided to become my second adviser. If we receive some good data we will likely spend some of June and/or July working on a paper that we can submit for publication.
FORMALS
Magdalene
Way back in January, I attended a formal hall at Magdalene College (pronounced “mawd-lin”) – considered one of the most conservative of Cambridge’s 32 colleges in part because it was the last college to allow women to matriculate*. Magdalene’s formals are noteworthy because it’s one of the oldest colleges in Cambridge (established in 1428) and because their formal halls are lit entirely by candlelight:
*See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh8Tf4H3XEA to watch Borat discuss women in academia with a notable Cambridge academic.
Trinity
In February I dined with the Gates Scholars at Trinity College (the wealthiest college in Oxbridge) at their graduate formal hall. Trinity usually has a nice reception with sherry in their Old Combination Room (where I am shown below), followed by a delicious meal in their grand hall, some famous “Trinity College ice cream", and finally a port reception back in the Old Combination Room.
Many might wonder how one can stay sober through it all – a fair question indeed. In these instances, sobriety may be attributed to a number of possibilities such as teetotalism, banter (for Wikipedia's definition of banter see the *), or a tolerance that builds up after so many of these “sherry-wine-port” events. I often go with the sherry-water-wine-water-port-water technique, but many are not so adept (as the blurred photo below clearly indicates...). Sitting up straight and refraining from unprovoked smiling can become harder and harder as nights like these drone on…
*“Banter is the art of jovial and frivolous conversation and behavior, which can be taken to several different levels, and can be liable to involve crude, offensive sexual joking which may offend some. It is also liable to be very personal, being directed at particular people and may develop into direct offense and 'mickey' taking of a person. The saying 'If you can't take the banter, canter' means that if you take offense to another's comments/actions when they were intended only to amuse, then you should leave.”Queens and St. John's
I made it to a few other formals during Lent term. Below is a picture of Queens College’s Old Hall, which is smaller than the Queens Hall in which we dined but nonetheless seemed like a nice photo to include. Also, I’ve included a different picture of St. John’s Hall, which happens to be the hall I attend most frequently.
In March, when I attended at the last minute with some friends, I narrowly escaped getting kicked out of hall when I tried to switch seats with someone in the middle of dinner. Apparently NO ONE is allowed to stand up until the fellows finish eating, the gong has been rung, and the fellows have left the hall.UNION SOCIETY ACTIVITIES
Aside from the typical union indulgences – wine tastings, fudge tastings – I decided to take the opportunity to utilize what is apparently one of the only places in Cambridge that has full-sized snooker tables. Consequently, my mates from Girton -- Peter, Khalid, Evan and Matthew -- and I spent about two hours learning to play snooker, which it turns out is actually a pretty fun game.
Since the snooker table is about three times the size of an American pool table, “putting” (pronounced like a golfer would) the balls in the pockets takes much more time than American pool. Thus, I’ve found Snooker offers a great opportunity to shoot the shit with someone for about an hour and half…As Treasurer-Elect of the Union this term, it was my responsibility to sit next to the President-Elect and preside over the student debates at the Union every Thursday night. Subsequently, I would almost always stick around for the main debates, which covered topics such as the United Nations, Israel and Palestine, women in the armed forces, national security, and others. Debaters included David Trimble (Nobel Peace Prize Winner), a couple of former Chancellors of the Exchequer
(the equivalent in the US would be the Secretary of the Treasury), the former Foreign Minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a couple of ambassadors (including the current Syrian Ambassador to the UK), the UK’s #1 and #2 playboys (pictured with some friends and my mother), and a couple of World Debating Champions.ACADEMICS
On the academic front, I FINALLY received my marks from last term: a couple of marks in the 70s and a couple in the 60s. “Oh no,” you might be thinking, “Tristan’s just barely passing.” Actually, a mark of 70 or above is considered a “first,” which is very good. A mark of 55 or below is failure, but scores in the upper 50s to low 60s are about average. Most recently I completed two, two-hour, hand written exams, which consisted of writing two essays for each exam. After living here for a few months and experiencing the many ancient practices of this 800 year old university, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t provide us with a quill and papyrus to write our exams. As far as my dissertation goes, expect an email from me shortly. If you are an American citizen I will be soliciting you for 10-15 minutes of your time to fill out my survey and I will also be asking for you to provide me with any email addresses of friends of family that might be willing to fill out my survey. Speaking of which, in February I was excited to learn that my Program Director has taken interest in my research and has decided to become my second adviser. If we receive some good data we will likely spend some of June and/or July working on a paper that we can submit for publication.
posted by Tristan Brown | 10:16 PM
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