Clare at Cambridge: Matriculation Dinner

So, I spent most of last weekend and the beginning of the week getting over my "fresher's flu." I think I'm almost there, but not quite yet, which is annoying. At least life has started to settle down here so I'm not constantly on the go. I've gotten into the beginnings of a routine, going to work and rowing one morning a week, plus we've starting having house dinners once a week as well, which is nice.

But there are still big fun, formal things going on in college, and this week was one of the biggest: Matriculation Dinner. This is a dinner for all of the graduate students at the college plus all of the fellows, and is designed to welcome new students, like me, to Cambridge. It is quite formal, some people even wear gowns, which is quite unusual for a chill place like Churchill. We also eat by candlelight, to pretend we're in a college like Magdalene or Kings. Everyone has an assigned seat, and the fellows are also placed intermingled with the students, which is nice. I love all of these dinners; the formality and tradition is really fun. They do the "long graces" in Latin at really special occasions like this, and our Master gave a speech about the great tradition of Churchill scientists (did I mention we have the second largest number of Nobel prize winners after Trinity? well, we do). The food was not so great (they sometimes have trouble with vegetarian options here) but whatever. Since this hall was special, wine etc. (and by etc., i really mean it: champagne, plus white, plus red, plus port, plus claret, plus more wine after dinner).

I also got into somewhat of a, let's say intellectual debate instead of fight, with my dining neighbor. The nice lady sitting across from me (i think she was a fellow's wife) asked me what I thought of Barack Obama, and I said something along the lines that I really liked him but sometimes wished he was a little less diplomatic and just said what he thought instead of always walking statements back when they might offend people. And my example of this, probably stupidly, was Park 51 and the planned Islamic cultural center. The guy next to me started off on how the organizers really should move the mosque and respect the "sensitivities" of 9/11 families. I happen to strongly disagree (partially because there are a lot of 9/11 families that are in favor of Park 51) and I expressed my opinion forcefully, which I think made him and this lady a little uncomfortable. oops. she did ask about American politics....

I was the weird touristy person taking pictures during the dinner, which made me feel stupid, but also means that I have some really nice photos to share with all of you!