A hard dirt trail in front of me and a beaming sun above, I glided effortlessly towards the Trout Inn.
But perhaps I am getting a tad ahead of myself. Indeed, I recognize it has only been four days since my last post, but so much has happened and I am in such a joyous mood that alas, it is a perfect day for a bit of writing. As I revealed last time, the clouds finally evacuated and the sun came out over the United Kingdom, producing an absolutely incredible week of weather. Every day this week has been in the mid 20s C (70-80 F), which when compared to the low teens is heavenly. It seems as if Oxford has burst forth from its long, drizzly springtime, eager to get out and live life to the fullest.
Sarah, Sussan, and I had been long planning a joint barbecue for this weekend to celebrate our respective birthdays. Sarah - who's from London - has her birthday today, while mine is this coming Friday and Sussan - from New Jersey - is getting a head start on her September birthday. The cold, clouds, and rain have had us all a bit downcast and I was fretting the possibility of having to wear a jumper on my birthday. To our immense delight, however, this week brought along a forecast of 24 and sunny for our special day. The barbecue was to be held in the Acland courtyard, a quasi-secluded atrium in the heart of our two story dormitory. The MCR purchased a barbecue last month, so with their approval, we geared up for a massive celebration.
For anyone who knows me, you know that I tend to ascribe to the philosophy "go big or go home." This cookout was no exception. Over the past couple weeks, Sarah and Sussan took care of most of the logistics - including ordering food - so I awoke early yesterday morning to prepare for my end of the bargain: a day of cooking! First, I had to grab a delicious breakfast at Green's Cafe with Jenna before we headed to our grocery store, Tesco. Naturally, I couldn't have a birthday celebration without my best friend/dance partner/pastry chef, so she planned to block off the day for a massive amount of baking. I was quite happy to leave her in charge of the desserts, though I think the opportunity for baked creativity sort of went to her head. Thus, our dessert menu was almost as intricate as those cakes you see on Food Network Challenge: Jenna's family recipe chocolate chip cookies, experimental oatmeal lemon creme bars, decadent rocky road, and myriad decorated sheet cakes. To tell you the truth, the desserts actually ended up being relatively easy and I imagine a critical review of each would take longer to write than the desserts all took to make. Suffice it to say that the taste award decidedly went to the lemon bars - which I plan to make again this week - and the decorative award goes to the four cakes, which Jenna expertly decorated with frosting, marshmallows, silver balls, cake gel, and polka dot sprinkles.
After meeting up with Sussan and Sarah to relocate a bunch of furniture and the barbecue to the courtyard, I found myself with some time to take a quick power nap before lighting the grill. As the festivities were set to begin at 1800, I lit the barbecue at 1745, anticipating a fashionably late crowd. I was right, but they sure came in droves! It was great that we asked for edible contributions because I had a huge stack of uncooked meat on one side and an empty tray of cooked meat from the start of the party until 2200; I could barely keep up with the ravenous 80-person crowd! To be sure, I could not have done it alone - I was very grateful to have Jenna by my side on grilled veggie duty all night long. I also got to teach her a thing or two about grilling! She was so proud of the fact that she was working a charcoal grill for four hours and really wished her dad was there to see her! It made me really happy! Anyway, I wish I had kept track, but I reckon the final carnage was somewhere around 100 sausages, 50 burgers, 50 pieces of chicken, and a dozen veggie burgers. A great many bell peppers, courgettes, and onions were also sacrificed for the cause... as well as some cauliflower, which didn't particularly grill well. Four hours of grilling, two hours of schmoozing with our delicious puddings (see below), and an hour of cleaning sure did me in: I slept like a rock. It was an absolutely perfect birthday celebration.
But hey, the summer fun hasn't stopped there. On Friday, the day before the party, most of my lab mates and I decided to play hookey for the afternoon and go punting. Stocked with an arsenal of picnic foods, we met at the boathouse at noon and boarded two punts. I took the first shift in a boat with "Team Nature" and awkwardly shoved away from shore. With only 30 minutes of previous punting experience, it took a good amount of time for me to regain the hang of it. It also didn't help that with all the rain over the last six weeks, the river was very high and a bit faster than when I punted in March. I definitely steered us into both banks like a pinball and accidentally navigated Justine (the swimmer from New Mexico) under a prickly vine... which got caught in her bun... pulled her along the inside of the boat... and tore out a tuft of hair. Luckily she was all laughs, but I was extremely embarrassed and mortified! Alas, aside from Giulia (who is from Italy and does ballet in her spare time) going crazy at the discovery of any small spider in our boat, we had an extremely leisurely three hour tour (on which we avoided pulling a Gilligan).
Following the punting, I then took part in another Oxford/English pastime - cricket! Ok, I did not play this time - for it was the Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Match - but I did head to University Parks where I met some dance friends (including my Partner, who - being from LA - was also incredibly keen to lay out in the sun) and soaked up the sun while watching the game. I supplemented my limited previous knowledge with a much better (though still incomplete) understanding of the sport, and I hope I get the chance to actually play over the summer. Unfortunately, I had to leave before the end of the match - a big surprise in cricket ;-) - but the internet suggests that Oxford won 155-151 while down to their last 'over,' which is like an out. Yay Oxford! I must say, there's nothing like punting, picnicking, and laying on a blanket to watch cricket under a brilliant sky with a gentle breeze. Life is so good :-)
Now this morning, after finishing the clean up effort, I had a spontaneous urge to go for a run. "But Dan, you haven't gone for a run since October! You injured yourself in December and February and have been busy dancing... are you sure you're up for it?" Well, my friends, with weather like this, who wouldn't be up for it? After a brief stretch, I sallied forth from Acland and swiftly glided through Port Meadow. Everyone was out with their dog, their significant other, or just their running shoes, so it made for a splendid and easy 45 minute, 4.8 mile run to The Trout Inn and back. The endless fields of buttercups... the hard packed dirt in front of me... glorious green grass... the sound of rowers splashing the water...
I really hope by now you are jealous of being England. That's all.
CULTURE CORNER
Sadly, it appears I have failed in one respect this weekend: it's true. I cannot do everything. While I manned the grill like a salty old captain at the helm, our party precluded the opportunity to watch the Eurovision competition. Basically, each participating European country sends a musical act - like in America's Got Talent, American Idol, Britain's Got Talent, etc. The BBC televises it across Europe and holds a phone-in vote to determine the winning country. This year it was hosted by Azerbaijan, who won the competition last year. My understanding is that some of the acts are good, but some are completely dreadful. I think everyone loves the casual spirit of the whole affair, which makes for a fun night of entertainment... but we were entertaining ourselves with a barbecue, so you'll have to wait for next year for a better description!
Oh yeah! It's Memorial Day Weekend! I almost forgot, given that they do not celebrate it here. Even though I will be back at work tomorrow, it is still an honor to remember those who have served their country in wartime and in peace. I particularly remember each of my late grandfathers, who both served in World War II.
Though... I also must admit... it's nice to get my annual Memorial Day cookout in too ;-)
Lastly, on providing food for a cookout. In the States, it is typical for the host of a party to provide the meaty main dishes while the guests each bring a side to share. As I found out last night, such is reversed in the UK. If I understand correctly, it is much more common for hosts here to provide the side dishes and puddings (see below again), while the guests each bring a main to throw on the grill. Naturally, this explains the massive quantity of barbecue food yesterday: sausages (all pork and leak... I don't think they believe in Italian, Polish, or German sausage here), chicken wings, skewers, burgers, etc etc. It was delicious!
Words of the Day
Entree. n. Part of a multi-course meal coming before the main dish. Such may include a soup, a salad, some bread, or perhaps even an antipasto. This is not to be confused with an American entree, which is served immediately before dessert and is the largest dish of the meal. Syn: appetizer
Pudding. n. Part of a multi-course meal coming after the main dish(es). There are many kinds of puddings including cakes, tarts, pies, cookies, panna cotta, fruit, and other sweet confections. Often, pudding is served with tea and coffee, though occasionally tea and coffee are served with biscuits and after dinner mints subsequent to pudding. Ex. "Could you please tell me what pudding we will be having tonight?" "Yes, tonight's pudding includes your choice of Tarte au Pomme, Oatmeal Lemon Bars, or Black Forest Cake."
Salad. n. Any of a variety of mixed or plain vegetables consumed either independently or as toppings on a sandwich or other dish. They can be as complex as what Americans would consider as salad (e.g. pasta salad, house salad, potato salad, etc.) or as simple as plain cucumbers, plain tomatoes, corn, red onions, or olives. Ex. "Sir, your baguette comes with three salads. What would you like?" "Sure, I'll take rocket, cucumbers, and chicken salad. Cheers."
Rocket. n. A leafy vegetable that grows either wild or domestically. Its dark, spindly leaves have a distinct peppery taste and are fantastic on wraps, baguettes, ciabattas, or even independently. Syn. Arugala.
Alright. This word is a unique entity of the British English language. Used as a standard greeting, it simultaneously fills the functions of "Hi," "How are you?" and "How is it going?" The reply is just as simple as the original greeting, and proper usage of both call and response are essential to becoming a proper Brit. I have yet to master it:
(Person A and Person B see each other approaching on the pavement...)
Person A: Alright?
Person B: Alright.
(They pass each other right at that moment and continue walking in opposite directions.)
Pavement. n. A pathway next to the street for pedestrians to walk on. Typically made from stone, concrete, or asphalt. Approx 0.5-2 m wide. Syn. Sidewalk.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Final Comp-down
Do. Dododoo do. Dododo do do. Dododoo do. Dododo do do do do. It's the final comp-down!
Yes, that's a really bad 80s music reference. Sorry.
I'm pleased to say that after all the craziness of the previous pair of weeks, everything has started to calm down a bit. I won't go so far as to say that it's a dull roar - just a mild one. Guys n' Dolls rehearsals. Ballroom (we learned Tango last week!). Cuppers practice. Harry Potter 2 with Jenna. I would say it is a mild roar in my book. I even had the time to take a nice (albeit crucial) two hour nap on Saturday afternoon before spending the evening at a bop in the Keble MCR.
And then there was Sunday - the day of the Cuppers competition! What is Cuppers, you may ask? Ok, I know some of you may have cheated and read Partner's blog already, but I'm going to make you at least scan through my long-winded description anyway. Cuppers is officially the last dance competition of the year, and is an intramural competition held between all the colleges. In fact, as far as I know, every Oxford sport has a cuppers competition. cuppers rowing (it's called Torpids or Summer VIIIs depending on the term), cuppers fencing...
[Jenna random interjection via text message from London: "I saw a fox."]
... cuppers table tennis, cuppers croquet (!), cuppers football, and thus cuppers dancesport. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there's was cuppers punting, but I will need to first verify that conjecture. At any rate, the nice thing about cuppers dancesport is that its aim is to bring more people into the addiction of dancesport. Fresh meat is always good, right?
Here is roughly how cuppers works. Each college that is participating enters multiples of four couples: one each for waltz, quickstep, cha cha, and jive (WQCJ). There is no limit to the number of couples each college may submit, but each couple must be comprised of one inexperienced dancer. In some cases, colleges end up with an uneven multiple of couples. Those couples are amalgamated with couples from other colleges to form four-couple groups, and the points are shared between the represented colleges.
The competition itself works like almost any other competition. Each round for each dance is completed in heats so after each round, a number of couples are eliminated. After the final has been held for each dance, the couples are all ranked and points allotted appropriately. Remember how each college was required to submit multiples of W,Q,C, and J couples? Once the points are allotted, each college's highest scoring W, Q, C, and J couples become their 'A Team'; their second highest W,Q,C, and J couples their 'B Team,' and so on. In doing so, each team's total points are summed and the teams are ranked.
Unfortunately, since Jenna and I are at different colleges and both count as experienced, we could not dance together in cuppers. In fact, she ended up being the only dancer in her college, so she played the role of Keble cheerleader this time around instead of participating. I, on the other hand, convinced Peter - another guy on the beginners team - to dance in cuppers as well; together we dragged along Roos and Madeleine from the MCR to be our inexperienced partners. Peter and Roos chose to tackle the waltz as their contribution while Madeleine and I developed a quickstep routine. We practiced once a week for only four weeks preceding the competition, so I was impressed that Madeleine could pick up a routine that included a couple rather challenging moves (like run down the floor, jump, and turn into a skip, always maintaining hold? Yeah, that was crazy).
On the day of the competition, nerves were running high. I confess that I was actually more nervous for cuppers than I was dancing at Varsity the week before. The stakes were much lower for cuppers and the routine much simpler, but somehow dancing with Jenna has become sort of... a security blanket? Nonetheless, Madeleine and my quickstep became smoother and more confident with each successive round. In the meantime, Peter and Roos were looking incredible with their waltz! Aside from a few nerves of their own, they smoothly glided across the dance floor looking like pros.
As the rounds quickly passed - trust me, there weren't that many of them - it was soon time for the finals. First: the waltz final. "But wait, what's that? You say we have to give a solo demo? Oh." Yes, in most big competitions, the advanced-level finalists get the opportunity to dance a few bars solo to 'introduce' themselves to the crowd. They never do that with the beginners competitions... but at cuppers they decided it would be great for the poor nervous inexperienced dancers! So alas, when Madeleine and I were the last couple called into the Q final, away we went on our demo. I have to admit, it was really fun... but it's a good thing we did the basic portion of the routine ;-)
See, I told you I would be long winded in my description of cuppers! The dancing that day was a total blast, and it was fun to see what the other inexperienced couples had learned. As for results - Roos and Peter came in 5th overall for their waltz, which was sufficient to place them on the Keble B team. Madeleine and I placed 2nd overall in the quickstep... but as the first place couple was also from Keble, we too were allotted a spot on the B team.
And what about the team results? Annually, Keble has quite a good showing at cuppers and this year was no exception. We fielded 13 couples in total, which was good for three full teams with one spare cha cha couple. With a lot of main and beginner team talent leading the way, Keble A team and Keble B team took first and second place respectively, meaning that Keble B beat every other college's A teams! Honestly, I was totally unsuspecting of Madeleine and I making 2nd in Q and making the 2nd place team overall, but that's a testament to her picking up the routine as well as she did! It was so nice to have a relaxing afternoon of dancing ... and oh yeah ... I may have snuck in a couple social dances with Partner when I had the odd chance :-) At last, with the final comp down (hence the title), I'm ready for loads of casual dancing until September!
And speaking of Jenna, I finally stole her away to Port Meadow on Monday; a walk I've been meaning to take for a long time now. Finally this week the weather showed signs of summer (yes, I was still wearing long sleeves and a sweatshirt through the weekend), so I took the belatedly blue skies as a sign to go for a stroll. To heighten our excitement, I chose to pass off my dSLR camera for the occasion, allowing Jenna free reign to take any free range flora and fauna she could capture. With the sun setting at 2100, leaving after work at 1700 allowed for plenty of time to meander our way up to The Trout Inn for dinner and back. Perhaps the six mile walk would have taken the average person only two hours, but we definitely required the entire four, as we soaked up the sun, the ambiance, the photos and the smiles.
If that wasn't good enough, the following day saw us back in ballroom class where we got to learn foxtrot!! Let me tell you how excited I am about foxtrot. It is INCREDIBLE. The music is so smooth and relaxing; the dancing is soulful and elegant. While likening foxtrot to a four-beat waltz, I really think this fails to express how much more we enjoyed foxtrot than the waltz. Sure, I will even admit to spending half of this morning listening to Van Morrison's 'Moondance' on repeat.
Dance often. It's a wonderful thing.
Yes, that's a really bad 80s music reference. Sorry.
I'm pleased to say that after all the craziness of the previous pair of weeks, everything has started to calm down a bit. I won't go so far as to say that it's a dull roar - just a mild one. Guys n' Dolls rehearsals. Ballroom (we learned Tango last week!). Cuppers practice. Harry Potter 2 with Jenna. I would say it is a mild roar in my book. I even had the time to take a nice (albeit crucial) two hour nap on Saturday afternoon before spending the evening at a bop in the Keble MCR.
And then there was Sunday - the day of the Cuppers competition! What is Cuppers, you may ask? Ok, I know some of you may have cheated and read Partner's blog already, but I'm going to make you at least scan through my long-winded description anyway. Cuppers is officially the last dance competition of the year, and is an intramural competition held between all the colleges. In fact, as far as I know, every Oxford sport has a cuppers competition. cuppers rowing (it's called Torpids or Summer VIIIs depending on the term), cuppers fencing...
[Jenna random interjection via text message from London: "I saw a fox."]
... cuppers table tennis, cuppers croquet (!), cuppers football, and thus cuppers dancesport. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there's was cuppers punting, but I will need to first verify that conjecture. At any rate, the nice thing about cuppers dancesport is that its aim is to bring more people into the addiction of dancesport. Fresh meat is always good, right?
Here is roughly how cuppers works. Each college that is participating enters multiples of four couples: one each for waltz, quickstep, cha cha, and jive (WQCJ). There is no limit to the number of couples each college may submit, but each couple must be comprised of one inexperienced dancer. In some cases, colleges end up with an uneven multiple of couples. Those couples are amalgamated with couples from other colleges to form four-couple groups, and the points are shared between the represented colleges.
The competition itself works like almost any other competition. Each round for each dance is completed in heats so after each round, a number of couples are eliminated. After the final has been held for each dance, the couples are all ranked and points allotted appropriately. Remember how each college was required to submit multiples of W,Q,C, and J couples? Once the points are allotted, each college's highest scoring W, Q, C, and J couples become their 'A Team'; their second highest W,Q,C, and J couples their 'B Team,' and so on. In doing so, each team's total points are summed and the teams are ranked.
Unfortunately, since Jenna and I are at different colleges and both count as experienced, we could not dance together in cuppers. In fact, she ended up being the only dancer in her college, so she played the role of Keble cheerleader this time around instead of participating. I, on the other hand, convinced Peter - another guy on the beginners team - to dance in cuppers as well; together we dragged along Roos and Madeleine from the MCR to be our inexperienced partners. Peter and Roos chose to tackle the waltz as their contribution while Madeleine and I developed a quickstep routine. We practiced once a week for only four weeks preceding the competition, so I was impressed that Madeleine could pick up a routine that included a couple rather challenging moves (like run down the floor, jump, and turn into a skip, always maintaining hold? Yeah, that was crazy).
On the day of the competition, nerves were running high. I confess that I was actually more nervous for cuppers than I was dancing at Varsity the week before. The stakes were much lower for cuppers and the routine much simpler, but somehow dancing with Jenna has become sort of... a security blanket? Nonetheless, Madeleine and my quickstep became smoother and more confident with each successive round. In the meantime, Peter and Roos were looking incredible with their waltz! Aside from a few nerves of their own, they smoothly glided across the dance floor looking like pros.
As the rounds quickly passed - trust me, there weren't that many of them - it was soon time for the finals. First: the waltz final. "But wait, what's that? You say we have to give a solo demo? Oh." Yes, in most big competitions, the advanced-level finalists get the opportunity to dance a few bars solo to 'introduce' themselves to the crowd. They never do that with the beginners competitions... but at cuppers they decided it would be great for the poor nervous inexperienced dancers! So alas, when Madeleine and I were the last couple called into the Q final, away we went on our demo. I have to admit, it was really fun... but it's a good thing we did the basic portion of the routine ;-)
See, I told you I would be long winded in my description of cuppers! The dancing that day was a total blast, and it was fun to see what the other inexperienced couples had learned. As for results - Roos and Peter came in 5th overall for their waltz, which was sufficient to place them on the Keble B team. Madeleine and I placed 2nd overall in the quickstep... but as the first place couple was also from Keble, we too were allotted a spot on the B team.
And what about the team results? Annually, Keble has quite a good showing at cuppers and this year was no exception. We fielded 13 couples in total, which was good for three full teams with one spare cha cha couple. With a lot of main and beginner team talent leading the way, Keble A team and Keble B team took first and second place respectively, meaning that Keble B beat every other college's A teams! Honestly, I was totally unsuspecting of Madeleine and I making 2nd in Q and making the 2nd place team overall, but that's a testament to her picking up the routine as well as she did! It was so nice to have a relaxing afternoon of dancing ... and oh yeah ... I may have snuck in a couple social dances with Partner when I had the odd chance :-) At last, with the final comp down (hence the title), I'm ready for loads of casual dancing until September!
And speaking of Jenna, I finally stole her away to Port Meadow on Monday; a walk I've been meaning to take for a long time now. Finally this week the weather showed signs of summer (yes, I was still wearing long sleeves and a sweatshirt through the weekend), so I took the belatedly blue skies as a sign to go for a stroll. To heighten our excitement, I chose to pass off my dSLR camera for the occasion, allowing Jenna free reign to take any free range flora and fauna she could capture. With the sun setting at 2100, leaving after work at 1700 allowed for plenty of time to meander our way up to The Trout Inn for dinner and back. Perhaps the six mile walk would have taken the average person only two hours, but we definitely required the entire four, as we soaked up the sun, the ambiance, the photos and the smiles.
If that wasn't good enough, the following day saw us back in ballroom class where we got to learn foxtrot!! Let me tell you how excited I am about foxtrot. It is INCREDIBLE. The music is so smooth and relaxing; the dancing is soulful and elegant. While likening foxtrot to a four-beat waltz, I really think this fails to express how much more we enjoyed foxtrot than the waltz. Sure, I will even admit to spending half of this morning listening to Van Morrison's 'Moondance' on repeat.
Dance often. It's a wonderful thing.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Storm
The Storm:
ABlog Post Novel About Two Weeks of My Life
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Research Meeting at Bristol
III. Harry Potter Experience
IV. Guys & Dolls Rehearsals
V. Varsity Try-outs
VI. Keble Ball
VII. Varsity Try-outs Reprise
VIII. Keble High Table
IX. Keble Black Tie Dinner
X. The Varsity Match
XI. The Varsity Ball
FORWARD
In memory of DMM: 1989-2012.
PROLOGUE
Sorry in advance for the tremendous length of this blog post, but it had to be done... Thankfully, I've brought it to you in novel format.
CHAPTER I
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
This has been the predominant philosophy I have had to adopt over the past two weeks because it has been an extraordinarily busy time. I would say that "you cannot do everything" should be my recent philosophy, except one can clearly tell from the Table of Contents that I don't actually believe that such a philosophy is true. It is Trinity Term, and that amounts to the land of opportunity when it comes to events and activities. In truth, many around Oxford have had to pare back their schedule due to the onset of exams, which run from fifth-ninth week of term. The students here seem to take their exams much more seriously than students in the US (and I reckon other UK schools as well), but that may be due to the significantly higher stake the annual exams have on each student's graduation. Nonetheless, since I do not have exams to prepare for, I say "carpe Trinity" and full steam ahead!
CHAPTER II
All the way back in seventh grade, I learned that every good novel has rising action, so this novel will be no exception. On 30 April, I joined my research supervisors in a day trip to Bristol. Aside from the mildly nerve-wracking experience of sitting on the left side of the car on the left side of the road with no ability to control the vehicle, it was a beautiful and pleasant drive. Arriving on campus, I realized it felt just like a US university. The buildings were clearly defined and campus was distinctly separated from the city. Students wandered to and fro like a colony of ants. Tourists were nowhere in sight. The roads and sidewalks were paved and uninterrupted by cobblestones. Yes, it felt like home. Thus, I am now convinced that there is, in fact, a real Oxford bubble, trapping the city in a surreal time and space.
We proceeded to the engineering building, where we met two faculty members from Bristol with their research student, as well as two faculty members from Nottingham University with their research student. After a few introductions over tea and biscuits (remember: not to be confused with scones), we settled down to begin talking research. Each group was to give a brief presentation or two on their work. My supervisor went first, so I went second. The presentation went well; my MATLAB work seemed to be well received. As the morning proceeded, however, I quickly realized that I was the junior member of the group: each of the other two students was within 6 months of completing their DPhils. Thus, I found myself spending the day doing a lot of listening and observing, and not particularly providing much input. While feeling inadequate (isn't that the life of a doctorate student?), the day was very insightful for me, and my supervisors and I were able to make some important decisions for my research.
CHAPTER III
On Wednesday, two days after my research meeting, Jenna and I played hooky in order to check out the Harry Potter Experience at the Leavesdon Warner Brothers Studios. This was no easy task. First, Jenna had to buy the tickets almost a month ago - such is the popularity of Harry Potter. Then, while Leavesdon is two-thirds of the distance from Oxford to London, the journey required an epic three hour journey. We took a bus from Oxford to Baker Street in London, walked to Euston Station, caught a train to Watford, followed by a 15 minute HP bus to the studios. Once inside the studios, however, it was quickly evident that the experience would be worth the trouble.
As I may have mentioned before, I began reading the HP series last summer, in hopes of finishing it before arriving at Oxford. It is unfortunate that I only made it to the fifth book, because I consequently failed to watch the movies. This, then, is an important plot point in my present novel because Jenna saw fit to prevent me from looking at anything in the tour having to do with books five, six, or seven. (Disclaimer: It wasn't all her doing - I was more than happy to play along... even when she told me to close my ears while she discussed an element of the sixth and seventh films with another tourist.) Thankfully, since I have seen the first movie (courtesy of Jenna over Easter Holiday), I still had a significant appreciation for the many props, costumes, and sets contained in the studio.
From the very beginning of the tour, the magic of the movies was in the air. The tour began with a walk through the Great Hall, used in all eight movies. The attention to detail was splendid, with the common room crests adorning the walls and fireplace. It was also fantastic to see in the Great Hall set the costumes of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Flitwick, Lupin, Snape, HP, Draco Malfoy, and many others. Even on faceless manikins, the costumes clearly embodied the characters to whom they belonged, each unique and distinct from the others.
Moving from the Great Hall, the tour passed into a warehouse style room full of sets and props. The Gryffindor common room was mere steps away from both the potions classroom and Dumbledore's office. From the characters' wands to the philosopher's stone, the griffin staircase to the Gringott's vault 713 door, Umbridge's office to the "Magic is Might" sculpture (oops... wasn't supposed to see that ;-) ), there were loads and loads of props to admire. They even had a giant green screen set up to show how the flying scenes were captured. It was truly incredible. As we headed out from the warehouse portion of the tour, Jenna told me to take a picture with her, imitating jumping into a green, brick-lined hole. "Trust me," she says. "You'll understand eventually." Gotta love my dance partner.
Moving outside, the tour took us via a butterbeer stand (i.e. cream soda with sickeningly delicious butterscotch froth) to a small courtyard containing the Knightbus, the Weasley's flying car, 4 Privet Drive, and a couple sets. We then proceeded into the next studio to understand a little bit of make-up magic before walking the length of Diagon Alley. Me: "Oooh, so Fred and George are successful in setting up their shop!" Jenna: "Ugh! You weren't supposed to see that either!" :-) The next two rooms - the last two - were decidedly my favourite of the entire tour. Unfortunately for you, my dear readers, Jenna has opted to use the literary element of the cliff hanger to (not) describe these rooms in her own blog. Thus, not wishing to ruin the element of surprise for any select mutual readership, I feel I must follow her lead and simply encourage you to visit the HP Experience yourself! Just know that I was totally stunned, amazed, and awe-inspired. It was glorious.
CHAPTER IV
I returned that evening just in time to head to my first rehearsal for Guys & Dolls. The musical will be put on from 31 May to 2 June, so it was due time for the pit orchestra to finally assemble. We have had four rehearsals in total since then, and - in typical ensemble fashion - only a spattering of musicians have shown up for each. I think it is really nice how the music is so much fun even with only a small group of musicians. I love musical music because it is relatively easy (aside from the ridiculous key signatures) and the harmonies are SO interesting. This show also promises to be interesting because it is going to be held in the Queen's College gardens... outdoors. What?! an outdoor show for three consecutive evenings in England? All it has done for the past month is rain rain rain! Well.. Friday blue skies returned for the first time in literally a month (I actually understand the Vitamin D deficiency thing now) but I digress... I am really looking forward to playing this show!
I'm going to stick a quick intermission into my novel (yes, I can and I will do that) for this week's CULTURE CORNER. Did you know that in the UK, they don't have the same musical note labeling system? I learned yesterday that they don't use the system of sixteenth, eighth, quarter, half, and whole notes like we use in the states! Instead, their notes are called semiquaver, quaver, crotchet, minim, and semibreve respectively. A sixty-fourth note is apparently called a hemidemisemiquaver! My worldview has been radically altered. Needless to say, I think the American system makes much, much more sense. I plan to stick with that.
CHAPTER V
Now even the aforementioned quantity of activity would be sufficient for the average superhero, but then one must also consider that because of the Varsity try-outs, every spare moment had to be filled with practice. I think in one stretch, I practiced for 9 consecutive days. It has been more intense than a camping trip. Anyway, Saturday morning was the day for the tryouts, so I shall now explain the format of the competition, hoping to then make the explanation of the try outs more understandable.
The varsity match is the competition between Oxford and Cambridge. Each university selects an A team and a B team of nine couples each. The A teams from each university compete against each other in the 'Varsity Match', and the B teams face off in the 'Challenge Match.' Thus, there are 36 couples competing. In each team, the couples are divided into three 3-couple pools. Thus, for the Oxford A team, there are pools A, B, and C, each with three couples; the Cambridge A team has pools D, E, and F. The heats are then a round robin format: A vs. D, A vs. E, A vs. F, B vs. D, B vs. E... etc. In each heat, the six couples (3 Oxford and 3 Cambridge) are ranked from best to worst and assigned points 6 to 1 accordingly. Then, the round robin is repeated for each dance, waltz, quickstep, cha cha, and jive (henceforth WQCJ). At the end, the points are totaled and a winner declared for each of the Varsity and the Challenge matches.
The morning of the try outs, everyone gathered at Iffley Gym, anxious to dance in hopes of gaining a spot on one of the teams. Naturally, the beginners were all dismissed during the determination of the A Team, so we just sat by and watched. Finally, after a good deal of dancing, the coaches were able to select all of the A Team and two-thirds of the B Team. That left three open spots for seven beginners couples to vie for. After seeing the beginners dance one of each style (WQCJ), the coaches deliberated for a few minutes before revealing their result: not to decide. We were too evenly matched. That's right, they opted to wait for the the week's practices to occur before making their decision. Ugh.
CHAPTER VI
Temporarily putting all matters dance behind me, it was time to shift gears and get into ball mode. My original plan was to return from the try-outs, pick up my entrance wristband, bake a cake, practice for the next week's MCR music night, help set up a gazebo for the ball, get ready to go, and finally head to the all-night ball. Mercifully, things did not go as planned. Instead, I picked up my wristband, grabbed lunch with Jenna at a sandwich shop, and returned to my room where I promptly fell asleep. I woke up in time for my music practice, and was delighted to learn that my assistance was no longer needed with the gazebo. Instead, Jenna came over to Acland to finish getting ready (better a 5 minute walk in a dress in the cold, windy evening than a 30 minute walk) and Ellie - one of my future housemates - provide the requisite girl-girl assistance for her. In the meantime, I nonchalantly donned a tux I had rented and assisted in the tying of a trio of bow ties.
I will say at this point that Jenna was absolutely stunning in the dress she picked out. According to her, she has never owned a full-length dress; she found this dress on a trip to Scotland with Keble Ball in mind. The dress was a brilliant dark blue hue with iridescent stones in the bodice. The cut of the dress was quite simple, yet seemed perfect on her. Feeling pretty boring in my plain black and white tux, I reached for my Keble lapel pin (ok... it's actually quite cool) and was content to simply stand next to Jenna for most of the evening, redirecting the stray compliments that got lost en route to her.
So at last 19:00 rolled around and the Acland core gathered to march on over to the college proper. The gents were actually quite dapper in their tuxes, although I had to laugh when Fabio came into the kitchen exclaiming that after 10 minutes, he had been unable to tie his clip-on bow tie. We had a good laugh at his misfortune before, at last, coming to his aid. Not only were the guys fancy, however, but the ladies looked amazing as well. Blue seemed to be the dress color of the night... fitting given that it was cold and breezy (though thankfully not raining for once!). It was fantastic to see everyone gussied up for the occasion; I'm sure we made a magnificent parade as we plodded our way to Keble.
Actually, one the biggest disappointments of the evening (though I'm sure Dave - another future housemate - would disagree) was that owing to the temperature, most people remained huddled under coats for a majority of the night. I gave a winter coat to Jenna before we left, and sacrificed my second one to Roos and Jorien before we made it into the ball. Furthermore, instead of wandering around the grounds merrily, most people spent the evening alternating between packed indoor spaces and freezing outdoor ones. There's no reason it should be 5C/41F in May.
We finally entered the Ball at around 20:00 and gathered in the magnificent Liddon quad for a champagne reception. The theme of the ball was Phantom of the Opera, so it seemed fitting that the reception entertainment featured a pair of dance acts and some opera. The consummate dancer, Jenna, wasn't particularly impressed, but I thought they were quite good given the chill. Huddled together like penguins - and having accidentally exchanged the Keble gang for the Dancesport gang - we waddled into the heart of the ball.
From this point, it is hard to recount the exact series of events given that it was an eight hour ball and we did a lot of wandering. There were arcade games - I won a penguin and Jenna a ducky - a Beyonce cover act, a bunch of bands, DJ'ed music, tons of food (I highly recommend the falafel wrap), desserts (chocolate cake balls on a stick = delicious!), plenty of alcohol (I barely drank, but many others - such as the bartender in Keble bar - definitely made up for me), and droves of people.
In fact, many aspects of the night were like hide-and-seek. Jenna and I played it routinely, usually on the same team. At first, one would think that you could never find someone else in a crowd of 1600, but I ran into lab partners, Kebleites, and dance people all night long. Actually, in fairness, if you were looking for someone specific it was like a needle in a haystack... but accidental encounters were frequent and enjoyable. As the evening progressed, the crowd started to dwindle. Eventually, a silent disco - where music is transmitted through some supplied headphones - was kicked off, but most of the rest of the ball had started to close down. Consequently, as I relaxed in the Pusey Room (a multi - purpose meeting room) talking to several friends and resting our feet, we looked around and noticed several people who had nodded off entirely. The clock passed 3:30, and at last I realized it was time to call it a night. Oh yeah... that was after Sam - another future roommate - came in ranting and raving about the poor quality of the silent disco. He was very funny about it. :-)
By the time Jenna had grabbed her stuff from Acland and I returned from walking her back to her room, the clock had struck 5. Many of the Kebleites were still at the ball, which formally closed by 6, but in my exhaustion from dancing and with the swiftly lightening sky, I crawled into bed.
Such was the beginning of a crazy week.
CHAPTER VII
In any given sport, art, political forum, or other social system, it thus transpires that the concerned individuals must analyze, reanalyze, and re-reanalyze every possible angle and motivation for why events happen the way they do. Such is certainly the case in Oxford Dancesport, as noted by the fast-flying discussion that ensued after the coaches opted to leave us hanging. To everyone's relief, Bruce, the head coach, decided to make his decision on Tuesday night at beginners practice. Having analyzed every shred of information about the five remaining couples (two couples were actually eliminated on Saturday), many beginners thought they knew who was going to be selected. In the end, however, a dark horse candidate made the team. It wasn't a particularly pleasant situation... but it never could have been with five evenly matched couples aiming for three spaces.
In any event, Jenna and I made the B team along with Felix and Naomi and Louis and Bizzy. Felix and Naomi have been particularly strong in ballroom this year while Louis and Bizzy are more of a four-dance couple like Jenna and me. Based on the other six B team couples, it seemed as if we were going to try to nab the match by our merit in ballroom.
Aside from a Wednesday private lesson, that was the last practice we would get before Varsity. We were good (enough) to go!
CHAPTER VIII
As you will hopefully recall, each college is divided into a JCR, an MCR, and an SCR. Each night at dinner time, the members of the JCR and MCR enter the hall and wait until the mystical (ok, not so much) Senior Common Room (SCR) enters and takes their place at the 'high table.'
Word of the Day:
high table. n. a table at the front of an Oxford dining hall where all the fellows and distinguished guests eat. Sometimes, as in Keble's case, the table is actually elevated as compared to the rest of the tables in the hall. Typically raised behind high table are the portraits of the college's founders and/or most distinguished fellows. (Think it sends a message that John Keble looks down over the Warden, who looks down over all the students? Yeahh...)
Well one particular benefit to being in the MCR is that four students get to sit at high table each Wednesday night of term. After missing the boat for the first two terms, I finally got a spot to sit on high table this week. So what's nice about high table? Well let me tell you.
A high table dinner begins with a drinks reception in the SCR (recall: MCR is both a room and a group of students; therefore SCR is both a room and a group of fellows). At first, I talked with the other students and the chaplain, Rev. Strawbridge (whom I had previously met when the Keble choir came to Washington DC last summer). The SCR is a tall room with old, lavish embroidered wall coverings, fine upholstered wooden furniture, a fireplace, and nice thick carpets. Talk about fancy!
At 7:10, the giant bronze bell clanged outside and we processed with the fellows up the stairs and directly into the Hall. As we walked in pairs, I looked around as the eyes of the grads and undergrads gazed up at us, blankly. At last, we reached the raised platform and stood behind our seats. The head tutor (standing in for the Warden that evening) banged a huge wooden gavel and the entire Hall clambered upward from their seats. After grace was given in Latin, everyone took their seats and the wait staff rushed forward to begin presenting meals.
Typically, high table is served slightly better food than the low tables (I wonder if 'low table' is an actual term... I'm going to go with it though), and I would say that was true on Wednesday. After a fancy salad, the main was a fillet of either trout or bass served over a bed of vegetables and potatoes. There was a light sauce as well. The pudding of the night was creme brulee. To be honest, however, I wasn't particularly paying much attention to the food placed before me. Instead, I was quite captivated by the conversation. At first, I talked with a law lecturer. I found it interesting that he gets the benefits of being in Keble SCR as a lecturer while simultaneously being a member of Wadham college MCR as a Law DPhil student. Indeed, he seemed relatively young, perhaps even my age. Then, we both started talking with the choir director/music lecturer in the college. I talked with him last summer when the choir came to DC, so it was particularly nice to reconnect and actually discuss a variety of things music. If all goes well, perhaps I will be able to examine the organ up close, get a reserved practice time in the chapel (yes! cello in the chapel!), and maybe even sit in on a lecture or two next year. It also seems like he is interested in having me play in a mass in the fall, but we shall see where that goes.
Since the SCR tend to dine at a leisurely pace, all the other students in the hall got up and left as they finished, perhaps a good 15 or 20 minutes before us. When we finally finished, we recessed back to the SCR for some post dinner coffee and tea. At that point, I struck up a conversation with one of the professors (a department head!) from engineering. His focus is in fluids, but he has a strong interest in the history of structures. Being also on the Keble grounds committee, I found plenty to discuss with him. In fact, our conversation was so interesting that it easily continued for almost an hour and a half, well after everyone else had left. It was a fantastic and exciting evening, and I really enjoyed having the chance to talk at length with a few of the fellows!
CHAPTER IX
Two formal evenings down and two to go. On Thursday evening I finally made it out to the MCR's termly black tie dinner. They always fall on Thursday simultaneous with Latin class, so I missed both the Michaelmas and Hilary term versions. This time around I put my foot down (in a non dancing sense), determined to make this final MCR formal. The evening began with the MCR's annual photo session. The formal picture (and a fun photo) will be framed and hung in the MCR for the annals of time. Maybe in 100 years, someone will look at the photos and laugh at how old fashioned our black tie attire looks. Who knows.
After the picture, we all headed into the (crowded) MCR for the obligatory champagne reception. I get the feeling that champagne is somehow synonymous with black tie in this city. Anyway, I schmoozed for a while, discussing a variety of topics with the likes of Madeleine, Roos, Dave, Liam (yet another future roommate), Ellie, Sam, and others. The crisps they served were also a nice snack before our official meal.
At last at 8 pm we proceeded up to the Hall to be seated for dinner. Since the occasion was so formal, we were arranged according to a predetermined plan, which had been organized via a seating ballot. It seems very technical, I assure you. As the ballot worked out, I sat with Fabio and his friend George to my left, Madeleine directly across from me, Jorien in the 2 o'clock position, and Roos on my immediate right. Next to them were Rebecca (the last future roommate) and Sarah; between the eight of us, we had a really nice dinner with some good conversation.
On a slight tangent, I really enjoy the company I have with the Acland crew. All the late night teas... the witty banter... pub quizzes... I realized it's going to be sad when the one-year students leave at the end of June and the rest of us split up into respective new homes. I am grateful for the many laughs we have shared this year and thankful that we still have five weeks left in term. But surely that time is going to fly. What can one do?
At the conclusion of dinner (which, for the record, was lamb... again, not particularly paying attention to the food given the quality of conversation), Tom, the MCR president, gave a few quick words of thanks to important people in the room. In addition - in typical formal dinner fashion - a toast was proposed to the Queen. This was met with limited enthusiasm at best. Half of the crowd barely managed to shift their weight from sitting to crouching as people weakly responded, "To the Queen," with a remarkable display of apathy. Following a subsequent dessert (pistachio cake with rich ganache frosting), everyone meandered back to the MCR for a night of conversation and dancing. Exhausted and busy, I remained only until half 11 (i.e. 11:30) before returning to Acland.
CHAPTER X
After a crazy Friday filled with work, failed spray tanning (ha! I'll have to try harder next year, I guess), practice for MCR music night, practice for Guys & Dolls, and practice for the Varsity match, the day of the match finally arrived. My Partner had a work shift until 2 am Friday night, so when I met her by Iffley at 8:30 am, she looked positively exhausted. Nonetheless, I think I had enough motivation and excitement for both of us, for it was Varsity match day!
Now our typical competition day routine is usually to show up, practice for a while, and then just relax and have fun. Perhaps we took that to an extreme for this competition because - while we had reasonably challenging routines - we had low expectations of our standing against the seasoned veterans. Having finished getting ready - Jenna in her orange team dress and I in my standard waistcoat and white bow tie - we essentially chatted with the other team members while throwing in an occasional stretch or dance. It was really nice to finally dance in the same competition as main team couples! I felt as if we were officially part of the group, no longer 'just beginners.' Altogether, the B team consisted of (in no particular order):
-Us, Felix & Naomi, Louis & Bizzy from the beginners team
-Henry & Helen (Helen might be the gentlest person on the team; she is always incredibly friendly. I look forward to getting to know both better next year!)
-Luke & Harriet (Luke has some incredible facial expressions while dancing... definitely embodies the word "nonchalant." Harriet - who is much less nonchalant - is also quite friendly)
-James & Kate (James was this year's team president. I haven't had the chance to talk to Kate much; hopefully next year!)
-Lukas & Alice (Lukas came up to a bunch of us beginners at a service station on our way to Blackpool just on his own accord, simply to see how we were doing and offer words of wisdom. Clearly a nice guy, though it's quite unfortunate that he won't be back in the fall (I don't think?))
-Tobias & Zoe M. (Tobias was the B team's unofficial ringleader, and possibly the most enthusiastic personality on the team. Zoe M and Zoe K were a girl-girl couple on the beginners team last year, proving that good things happen to those who wait... and how do you end up in a Zoe-Zoe partnership anyway?)
-Dean & Colleen (These sort of acted as dance 'parents' for the entire beginners team. I particularly connected with Colleen, who is from Georgia, loves Chick-fil-a, and is a huge Red Sox fan. We reminisce about the south a lot :-) )
And this was only the B team. As you can tell, there are a lot of people I need to get to know better, but it was fantastic to be given the chance to integrate with such an enjoyable group!
At last, the competition began. Jenna and I were in the Oxford A pool along with Lukas, James, and their respective partners. The spectating crowd was pretty big - it was nice having a group of my own Keble supporters - but when I walked out on the floor with my Partner, everything else disappeared. Overturn spin turn. Feather. Maneuver so as to avoid that Cambridge couple. Ease into a sway. Smile. Wait.... don't smile... have fun. With that, the pressure was gone along with the first-dance-jitters. Just Jenna and me, dancing. It was amazing.
Faster than I cared for, the competition sped from Waltz to Quickstep, through a quick break (we changed into some fantastic Latin outfits) to Cha cha and finally Jive. Within 90 minutes, a competition we've waited months for was essentially done. After a couple team photos, we changed and ran up to Sainsburys to grab a bite for lunch, then returned to watch the A team match. It was nice to watch the A team couples compete, analyzing their routines and their partner chemistry in particular. We think we could tell when one partner wasn't 100% in the zone with his or her partner; an amazing routine just doesn't snap in the same manner. Nonetheless, we were thoroughly impressed with their dancing, and I admired the excellent technique that I will have to work long and hard to pick up (along with 6 new dances - Viennese, Tango, Foxtrot, Samba, Rumba, Paso) next year. I better get cracking!
After the A team competition and lunch, much of the crowd dispersed. All that remained was a plethora of beginners and open competitions. Since Jenna and I were allowed to compete in the beginners competition, we did... with one significant flaw. Remember how we ramped up our routines for the varsity match? Well, we used intermediate steps, which aren't allowed in the beginners competition. Thus, we decided that we would more or less social dance in the afternoon. Consequently, owing to some bad leadership, we found ourselves knocked out of the first round of the beginners waltz! OOPS! haha. We only made it to the semifinals of the beginners quickstep... at which point we realized that we are, in fact, a better Latin couple than a ballroom couple. Indeed, we made the finals in both cha cha and jive, taking 5th in the former and winning the latter outright. Jenna and I both admired the symmetry in winning the jive in our first (see: Nottingham) and last events as beginners.
Aside from the sheer amount of fun we had over the course of the competition, the thing I am most proud about was totally unforeseen. Among the massive pile of trophies and ribbons handed out (oh yeah.. results... Oxford lost the A team match 1884-1896; we also lost the B team match 1700ish-2000ish), head coach Bruce started to introduce an award for the Oxford couple that makes a positive impact on their team; in his words, for bringing about "the most smiles." Admittedly, I didn't catch the beginning of the description (that's what I get for interacting with the team), but as I tuned in for the end of the description and then hearing Jenna and my name called, I was incredibly blown away. Without a doubt, it meant more to me to be recognized for such an honor than to place in a competition. For that, I am SO proud of my Partner - for the number of smiles she has brought to my face this year, for her positive leadership on the beginners team.... and of course for sharing a few baked goods along the way. And now... we have a massive bowl mounted on a wooden pedestal. It badly needs to be shined because it gets passed along from year to year, but I plan to take care of that as soon as I can get some silver polish... then of course I'm going to pass it back to my Partner for the duration of the term, all nice and shiny! :-)
CHAPTER XI
The competition itself was fantastic fun, but apparently it would not be complete without my third black tie occasion in a week: the Dancesport Ball. Jenna, thoroughly expressing her exhausted condition, barely had the will to even go to the ball. She promised that she wasn't going to dance at all, but deep down inside, I knew that the energy would come from somewhere. Yes, we arrived at almost 2100 owing to the lateness of the competition, but it did not bother me in the slightest since the sky was still bright with blue skies overhead, and the temperature quite mild. We immediately hopped in the buffet line, which consisted of a variety of salads and assorted cold cuts. There were some Yorkshire puddings as well, but by and large the meal was slightly unsatisfactory considering we had just finished dancing for the entire day.
Clearly, however, the highlight of this ball wasn't going to be the food. As we finished eating, we were graced with a demonstration by the British national champions, Mark and Olga Elsbury. Their set included a slow waltz, a Viennese waltz, a foxtrot, and a quickstep. It was remarkable how graceful they were while sweeping across the floor, making each spin and chasse seem effortless and refined. Something I particularly enjoyed was that each dance employed a lift; Mark would pick up his partner and spin around in such a smooth fashion. Naturally, it was quite a good show and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Finally, after the demonstration, the music turned to social dancing. The floor was packed, but I thoroughly loved that I was at a ball where everyone was dancing real moves to real music. Viennese waltz and quickstep were insane in the tiny space, but everyone accepted the fact that simple moves were best and collisions were unavoidable. I danced a variety of dances with various members of the beginners team, but of course my favorites were those danced with Jenna. I think our social waltz improved drastically from the beginners competition and she even taught me a few moves of American foxtrot. We also danced to a good deal of cha cha, and of course our absolute favorite: the jive. I loved the night of social dance and I imagine my Partner would say the same. The evening was as truly stellar as the group of friends I was with... I just wish that there were more opportunities for social dancing!
EPILOGUE
What an intense two weeks! So much so, that it has taken me over 8 hours to write this post. Oh, PS... in the mean time, I performed at MCR open mic night tonight with Luke and Vincent on guitar and banjo respectively and planned a birthday shindig for a couple weeks from now. Did I also mention that next Sunday is the cuppers match, an intramural style dance competition? And one more thing... MCR elections are also on the horizon, so I am starting to get on the campaign trail, seeing who will be available to fill committee positions. I love having a few things to do.
Wow. I topped 6100 words with this post. If you made it this far, please do send me a message! You deserve a trophy... a medal... or at least a batch of cookies. Thanks for reading!
To be continued...
A
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Research Meeting at Bristol
III. Harry Potter Experience
IV. Guys & Dolls Rehearsals
V. Varsity Try-outs
VI. Keble Ball
VII. Varsity Try-outs Reprise
VIII. Keble High Table
IX. Keble Black Tie Dinner
X. The Varsity Match
XI. The Varsity Ball
FORWARD
In memory of DMM: 1989-2012.
PROLOGUE
Sorry in advance for the tremendous length of this blog post, but it had to be done... Thankfully, I've brought it to you in novel format.
CHAPTER I
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
This has been the predominant philosophy I have had to adopt over the past two weeks because it has been an extraordinarily busy time. I would say that "you cannot do everything" should be my recent philosophy, except one can clearly tell from the Table of Contents that I don't actually believe that such a philosophy is true. It is Trinity Term, and that amounts to the land of opportunity when it comes to events and activities. In truth, many around Oxford have had to pare back their schedule due to the onset of exams, which run from fifth-ninth week of term. The students here seem to take their exams much more seriously than students in the US (and I reckon other UK schools as well), but that may be due to the significantly higher stake the annual exams have on each student's graduation. Nonetheless, since I do not have exams to prepare for, I say "carpe Trinity" and full steam ahead!
CHAPTER II
All the way back in seventh grade, I learned that every good novel has rising action, so this novel will be no exception. On 30 April, I joined my research supervisors in a day trip to Bristol. Aside from the mildly nerve-wracking experience of sitting on the left side of the car on the left side of the road with no ability to control the vehicle, it was a beautiful and pleasant drive. Arriving on campus, I realized it felt just like a US university. The buildings were clearly defined and campus was distinctly separated from the city. Students wandered to and fro like a colony of ants. Tourists were nowhere in sight. The roads and sidewalks were paved and uninterrupted by cobblestones. Yes, it felt like home. Thus, I am now convinced that there is, in fact, a real Oxford bubble, trapping the city in a surreal time and space.
We proceeded to the engineering building, where we met two faculty members from Bristol with their research student, as well as two faculty members from Nottingham University with their research student. After a few introductions over tea and biscuits (remember: not to be confused with scones), we settled down to begin talking research. Each group was to give a brief presentation or two on their work. My supervisor went first, so I went second. The presentation went well; my MATLAB work seemed to be well received. As the morning proceeded, however, I quickly realized that I was the junior member of the group: each of the other two students was within 6 months of completing their DPhils. Thus, I found myself spending the day doing a lot of listening and observing, and not particularly providing much input. While feeling inadequate (isn't that the life of a doctorate student?), the day was very insightful for me, and my supervisors and I were able to make some important decisions for my research.
CHAPTER III
On Wednesday, two days after my research meeting, Jenna and I played hooky in order to check out the Harry Potter Experience at the Leavesdon Warner Brothers Studios. This was no easy task. First, Jenna had to buy the tickets almost a month ago - such is the popularity of Harry Potter. Then, while Leavesdon is two-thirds of the distance from Oxford to London, the journey required an epic three hour journey. We took a bus from Oxford to Baker Street in London, walked to Euston Station, caught a train to Watford, followed by a 15 minute HP bus to the studios. Once inside the studios, however, it was quickly evident that the experience would be worth the trouble.
As I may have mentioned before, I began reading the HP series last summer, in hopes of finishing it before arriving at Oxford. It is unfortunate that I only made it to the fifth book, because I consequently failed to watch the movies. This, then, is an important plot point in my present novel because Jenna saw fit to prevent me from looking at anything in the tour having to do with books five, six, or seven. (Disclaimer: It wasn't all her doing - I was more than happy to play along... even when she told me to close my ears while she discussed an element of the sixth and seventh films with another tourist.) Thankfully, since I have seen the first movie (courtesy of Jenna over Easter Holiday), I still had a significant appreciation for the many props, costumes, and sets contained in the studio.
From the very beginning of the tour, the magic of the movies was in the air. The tour began with a walk through the Great Hall, used in all eight movies. The attention to detail was splendid, with the common room crests adorning the walls and fireplace. It was also fantastic to see in the Great Hall set the costumes of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Flitwick, Lupin, Snape, HP, Draco Malfoy, and many others. Even on faceless manikins, the costumes clearly embodied the characters to whom they belonged, each unique and distinct from the others.
Moving from the Great Hall, the tour passed into a warehouse style room full of sets and props. The Gryffindor common room was mere steps away from both the potions classroom and Dumbledore's office. From the characters' wands to the philosopher's stone, the griffin staircase to the Gringott's vault 713 door, Umbridge's office to the "Magic is Might" sculpture (oops... wasn't supposed to see that ;-) ), there were loads and loads of props to admire. They even had a giant green screen set up to show how the flying scenes were captured. It was truly incredible. As we headed out from the warehouse portion of the tour, Jenna told me to take a picture with her, imitating jumping into a green, brick-lined hole. "Trust me," she says. "You'll understand eventually." Gotta love my dance partner.
Moving outside, the tour took us via a butterbeer stand (i.e. cream soda with sickeningly delicious butterscotch froth) to a small courtyard containing the Knightbus, the Weasley's flying car, 4 Privet Drive, and a couple sets. We then proceeded into the next studio to understand a little bit of make-up magic before walking the length of Diagon Alley. Me: "Oooh, so Fred and George are successful in setting up their shop!" Jenna: "Ugh! You weren't supposed to see that either!" :-) The next two rooms - the last two - were decidedly my favourite of the entire tour. Unfortunately for you, my dear readers, Jenna has opted to use the literary element of the cliff hanger to (not) describe these rooms in her own blog. Thus, not wishing to ruin the element of surprise for any select mutual readership, I feel I must follow her lead and simply encourage you to visit the HP Experience yourself! Just know that I was totally stunned, amazed, and awe-inspired. It was glorious.
CHAPTER IV
I returned that evening just in time to head to my first rehearsal for Guys & Dolls. The musical will be put on from 31 May to 2 June, so it was due time for the pit orchestra to finally assemble. We have had four rehearsals in total since then, and - in typical ensemble fashion - only a spattering of musicians have shown up for each. I think it is really nice how the music is so much fun even with only a small group of musicians. I love musical music because it is relatively easy (aside from the ridiculous key signatures) and the harmonies are SO interesting. This show also promises to be interesting because it is going to be held in the Queen's College gardens... outdoors. What?! an outdoor show for three consecutive evenings in England? All it has done for the past month is rain rain rain! Well.. Friday blue skies returned for the first time in literally a month (I actually understand the Vitamin D deficiency thing now) but I digress... I am really looking forward to playing this show!
I'm going to stick a quick intermission into my novel (yes, I can and I will do that) for this week's CULTURE CORNER. Did you know that in the UK, they don't have the same musical note labeling system? I learned yesterday that they don't use the system of sixteenth, eighth, quarter, half, and whole notes like we use in the states! Instead, their notes are called semiquaver, quaver, crotchet, minim, and semibreve respectively. A sixty-fourth note is apparently called a hemidemisemiquaver! My worldview has been radically altered. Needless to say, I think the American system makes much, much more sense. I plan to stick with that.
CHAPTER V
Now even the aforementioned quantity of activity would be sufficient for the average superhero, but then one must also consider that because of the Varsity try-outs, every spare moment had to be filled with practice. I think in one stretch, I practiced for 9 consecutive days. It has been more intense than a camping trip. Anyway, Saturday morning was the day for the tryouts, so I shall now explain the format of the competition, hoping to then make the explanation of the try outs more understandable.
The varsity match is the competition between Oxford and Cambridge. Each university selects an A team and a B team of nine couples each. The A teams from each university compete against each other in the 'Varsity Match', and the B teams face off in the 'Challenge Match.' Thus, there are 36 couples competing. In each team, the couples are divided into three 3-couple pools. Thus, for the Oxford A team, there are pools A, B, and C, each with three couples; the Cambridge A team has pools D, E, and F. The heats are then a round robin format: A vs. D, A vs. E, A vs. F, B vs. D, B vs. E... etc. In each heat, the six couples (3 Oxford and 3 Cambridge) are ranked from best to worst and assigned points 6 to 1 accordingly. Then, the round robin is repeated for each dance, waltz, quickstep, cha cha, and jive (henceforth WQCJ). At the end, the points are totaled and a winner declared for each of the Varsity and the Challenge matches.
The morning of the try outs, everyone gathered at Iffley Gym, anxious to dance in hopes of gaining a spot on one of the teams. Naturally, the beginners were all dismissed during the determination of the A Team, so we just sat by and watched. Finally, after a good deal of dancing, the coaches were able to select all of the A Team and two-thirds of the B Team. That left three open spots for seven beginners couples to vie for. After seeing the beginners dance one of each style (WQCJ), the coaches deliberated for a few minutes before revealing their result: not to decide. We were too evenly matched. That's right, they opted to wait for the the week's practices to occur before making their decision. Ugh.
CHAPTER VI
Temporarily putting all matters dance behind me, it was time to shift gears and get into ball mode. My original plan was to return from the try-outs, pick up my entrance wristband, bake a cake, practice for the next week's MCR music night, help set up a gazebo for the ball, get ready to go, and finally head to the all-night ball. Mercifully, things did not go as planned. Instead, I picked up my wristband, grabbed lunch with Jenna at a sandwich shop, and returned to my room where I promptly fell asleep. I woke up in time for my music practice, and was delighted to learn that my assistance was no longer needed with the gazebo. Instead, Jenna came over to Acland to finish getting ready (better a 5 minute walk in a dress in the cold, windy evening than a 30 minute walk) and Ellie - one of my future housemates - provide the requisite girl-girl assistance for her. In the meantime, I nonchalantly donned a tux I had rented and assisted in the tying of a trio of bow ties.
I will say at this point that Jenna was absolutely stunning in the dress she picked out. According to her, she has never owned a full-length dress; she found this dress on a trip to Scotland with Keble Ball in mind. The dress was a brilliant dark blue hue with iridescent stones in the bodice. The cut of the dress was quite simple, yet seemed perfect on her. Feeling pretty boring in my plain black and white tux, I reached for my Keble lapel pin (ok... it's actually quite cool) and was content to simply stand next to Jenna for most of the evening, redirecting the stray compliments that got lost en route to her.
So at last 19:00 rolled around and the Acland core gathered to march on over to the college proper. The gents were actually quite dapper in their tuxes, although I had to laugh when Fabio came into the kitchen exclaiming that after 10 minutes, he had been unable to tie his clip-on bow tie. We had a good laugh at his misfortune before, at last, coming to his aid. Not only were the guys fancy, however, but the ladies looked amazing as well. Blue seemed to be the dress color of the night... fitting given that it was cold and breezy (though thankfully not raining for once!). It was fantastic to see everyone gussied up for the occasion; I'm sure we made a magnificent parade as we plodded our way to Keble.
Actually, one the biggest disappointments of the evening (though I'm sure Dave - another future housemate - would disagree) was that owing to the temperature, most people remained huddled under coats for a majority of the night. I gave a winter coat to Jenna before we left, and sacrificed my second one to Roos and Jorien before we made it into the ball. Furthermore, instead of wandering around the grounds merrily, most people spent the evening alternating between packed indoor spaces and freezing outdoor ones. There's no reason it should be 5C/41F in May.
We finally entered the Ball at around 20:00 and gathered in the magnificent Liddon quad for a champagne reception. The theme of the ball was Phantom of the Opera, so it seemed fitting that the reception entertainment featured a pair of dance acts and some opera. The consummate dancer, Jenna, wasn't particularly impressed, but I thought they were quite good given the chill. Huddled together like penguins - and having accidentally exchanged the Keble gang for the Dancesport gang - we waddled into the heart of the ball.
From this point, it is hard to recount the exact series of events given that it was an eight hour ball and we did a lot of wandering. There were arcade games - I won a penguin and Jenna a ducky - a Beyonce cover act, a bunch of bands, DJ'ed music, tons of food (I highly recommend the falafel wrap), desserts (chocolate cake balls on a stick = delicious!), plenty of alcohol (I barely drank, but many others - such as the bartender in Keble bar - definitely made up for me), and droves of people.
In fact, many aspects of the night were like hide-and-seek. Jenna and I played it routinely, usually on the same team. At first, one would think that you could never find someone else in a crowd of 1600, but I ran into lab partners, Kebleites, and dance people all night long. Actually, in fairness, if you were looking for someone specific it was like a needle in a haystack... but accidental encounters were frequent and enjoyable. As the evening progressed, the crowd started to dwindle. Eventually, a silent disco - where music is transmitted through some supplied headphones - was kicked off, but most of the rest of the ball had started to close down. Consequently, as I relaxed in the Pusey Room (a multi - purpose meeting room) talking to several friends and resting our feet, we looked around and noticed several people who had nodded off entirely. The clock passed 3:30, and at last I realized it was time to call it a night. Oh yeah... that was after Sam - another future roommate - came in ranting and raving about the poor quality of the silent disco. He was very funny about it. :-)
By the time Jenna had grabbed her stuff from Acland and I returned from walking her back to her room, the clock had struck 5. Many of the Kebleites were still at the ball, which formally closed by 6, but in my exhaustion from dancing and with the swiftly lightening sky, I crawled into bed.
Such was the beginning of a crazy week.
CHAPTER VII
In any given sport, art, political forum, or other social system, it thus transpires that the concerned individuals must analyze, reanalyze, and re-reanalyze every possible angle and motivation for why events happen the way they do. Such is certainly the case in Oxford Dancesport, as noted by the fast-flying discussion that ensued after the coaches opted to leave us hanging. To everyone's relief, Bruce, the head coach, decided to make his decision on Tuesday night at beginners practice. Having analyzed every shred of information about the five remaining couples (two couples were actually eliminated on Saturday), many beginners thought they knew who was going to be selected. In the end, however, a dark horse candidate made the team. It wasn't a particularly pleasant situation... but it never could have been with five evenly matched couples aiming for three spaces.
In any event, Jenna and I made the B team along with Felix and Naomi and Louis and Bizzy. Felix and Naomi have been particularly strong in ballroom this year while Louis and Bizzy are more of a four-dance couple like Jenna and me. Based on the other six B team couples, it seemed as if we were going to try to nab the match by our merit in ballroom.
Aside from a Wednesday private lesson, that was the last practice we would get before Varsity. We were good (enough) to go!
CHAPTER VIII
As you will hopefully recall, each college is divided into a JCR, an MCR, and an SCR. Each night at dinner time, the members of the JCR and MCR enter the hall and wait until the mystical (ok, not so much) Senior Common Room (SCR) enters and takes their place at the 'high table.'
Word of the Day:
high table. n. a table at the front of an Oxford dining hall where all the fellows and distinguished guests eat. Sometimes, as in Keble's case, the table is actually elevated as compared to the rest of the tables in the hall. Typically raised behind high table are the portraits of the college's founders and/or most distinguished fellows. (Think it sends a message that John Keble looks down over the Warden, who looks down over all the students? Yeahh...)
Well one particular benefit to being in the MCR is that four students get to sit at high table each Wednesday night of term. After missing the boat for the first two terms, I finally got a spot to sit on high table this week. So what's nice about high table? Well let me tell you.
A high table dinner begins with a drinks reception in the SCR (recall: MCR is both a room and a group of students; therefore SCR is both a room and a group of fellows). At first, I talked with the other students and the chaplain, Rev. Strawbridge (whom I had previously met when the Keble choir came to Washington DC last summer). The SCR is a tall room with old, lavish embroidered wall coverings, fine upholstered wooden furniture, a fireplace, and nice thick carpets. Talk about fancy!
At 7:10, the giant bronze bell clanged outside and we processed with the fellows up the stairs and directly into the Hall. As we walked in pairs, I looked around as the eyes of the grads and undergrads gazed up at us, blankly. At last, we reached the raised platform and stood behind our seats. The head tutor (standing in for the Warden that evening) banged a huge wooden gavel and the entire Hall clambered upward from their seats. After grace was given in Latin, everyone took their seats and the wait staff rushed forward to begin presenting meals.
Typically, high table is served slightly better food than the low tables (I wonder if 'low table' is an actual term... I'm going to go with it though), and I would say that was true on Wednesday. After a fancy salad, the main was a fillet of either trout or bass served over a bed of vegetables and potatoes. There was a light sauce as well. The pudding of the night was creme brulee. To be honest, however, I wasn't particularly paying much attention to the food placed before me. Instead, I was quite captivated by the conversation. At first, I talked with a law lecturer. I found it interesting that he gets the benefits of being in Keble SCR as a lecturer while simultaneously being a member of Wadham college MCR as a Law DPhil student. Indeed, he seemed relatively young, perhaps even my age. Then, we both started talking with the choir director/music lecturer in the college. I talked with him last summer when the choir came to DC, so it was particularly nice to reconnect and actually discuss a variety of things music. If all goes well, perhaps I will be able to examine the organ up close, get a reserved practice time in the chapel (yes! cello in the chapel!), and maybe even sit in on a lecture or two next year. It also seems like he is interested in having me play in a mass in the fall, but we shall see where that goes.
Since the SCR tend to dine at a leisurely pace, all the other students in the hall got up and left as they finished, perhaps a good 15 or 20 minutes before us. When we finally finished, we recessed back to the SCR for some post dinner coffee and tea. At that point, I struck up a conversation with one of the professors (a department head!) from engineering. His focus is in fluids, but he has a strong interest in the history of structures. Being also on the Keble grounds committee, I found plenty to discuss with him. In fact, our conversation was so interesting that it easily continued for almost an hour and a half, well after everyone else had left. It was a fantastic and exciting evening, and I really enjoyed having the chance to talk at length with a few of the fellows!
CHAPTER IX
Two formal evenings down and two to go. On Thursday evening I finally made it out to the MCR's termly black tie dinner. They always fall on Thursday simultaneous with Latin class, so I missed both the Michaelmas and Hilary term versions. This time around I put my foot down (in a non dancing sense), determined to make this final MCR formal. The evening began with the MCR's annual photo session. The formal picture (and a fun photo) will be framed and hung in the MCR for the annals of time. Maybe in 100 years, someone will look at the photos and laugh at how old fashioned our black tie attire looks. Who knows.
After the picture, we all headed into the (crowded) MCR for the obligatory champagne reception. I get the feeling that champagne is somehow synonymous with black tie in this city. Anyway, I schmoozed for a while, discussing a variety of topics with the likes of Madeleine, Roos, Dave, Liam (yet another future roommate), Ellie, Sam, and others. The crisps they served were also a nice snack before our official meal.
At last at 8 pm we proceeded up to the Hall to be seated for dinner. Since the occasion was so formal, we were arranged according to a predetermined plan, which had been organized via a seating ballot. It seems very technical, I assure you. As the ballot worked out, I sat with Fabio and his friend George to my left, Madeleine directly across from me, Jorien in the 2 o'clock position, and Roos on my immediate right. Next to them were Rebecca (the last future roommate) and Sarah; between the eight of us, we had a really nice dinner with some good conversation.
On a slight tangent, I really enjoy the company I have with the Acland crew. All the late night teas... the witty banter... pub quizzes... I realized it's going to be sad when the one-year students leave at the end of June and the rest of us split up into respective new homes. I am grateful for the many laughs we have shared this year and thankful that we still have five weeks left in term. But surely that time is going to fly. What can one do?
At the conclusion of dinner (which, for the record, was lamb... again, not particularly paying attention to the food given the quality of conversation), Tom, the MCR president, gave a few quick words of thanks to important people in the room. In addition - in typical formal dinner fashion - a toast was proposed to the Queen. This was met with limited enthusiasm at best. Half of the crowd barely managed to shift their weight from sitting to crouching as people weakly responded, "To the Queen," with a remarkable display of apathy. Following a subsequent dessert (pistachio cake with rich ganache frosting), everyone meandered back to the MCR for a night of conversation and dancing. Exhausted and busy, I remained only until half 11 (i.e. 11:30) before returning to Acland.
CHAPTER X
After a crazy Friday filled with work, failed spray tanning (ha! I'll have to try harder next year, I guess), practice for MCR music night, practice for Guys & Dolls, and practice for the Varsity match, the day of the match finally arrived. My Partner had a work shift until 2 am Friday night, so when I met her by Iffley at 8:30 am, she looked positively exhausted. Nonetheless, I think I had enough motivation and excitement for both of us, for it was Varsity match day!
Now our typical competition day routine is usually to show up, practice for a while, and then just relax and have fun. Perhaps we took that to an extreme for this competition because - while we had reasonably challenging routines - we had low expectations of our standing against the seasoned veterans. Having finished getting ready - Jenna in her orange team dress and I in my standard waistcoat and white bow tie - we essentially chatted with the other team members while throwing in an occasional stretch or dance. It was really nice to finally dance in the same competition as main team couples! I felt as if we were officially part of the group, no longer 'just beginners.' Altogether, the B team consisted of (in no particular order):
-Us, Felix & Naomi, Louis & Bizzy from the beginners team
-Henry & Helen (Helen might be the gentlest person on the team; she is always incredibly friendly. I look forward to getting to know both better next year!)
-Luke & Harriet (Luke has some incredible facial expressions while dancing... definitely embodies the word "nonchalant." Harriet - who is much less nonchalant - is also quite friendly)
-James & Kate (James was this year's team president. I haven't had the chance to talk to Kate much; hopefully next year!)
-Lukas & Alice (Lukas came up to a bunch of us beginners at a service station on our way to Blackpool just on his own accord, simply to see how we were doing and offer words of wisdom. Clearly a nice guy, though it's quite unfortunate that he won't be back in the fall (I don't think?))
-Tobias & Zoe M. (Tobias was the B team's unofficial ringleader, and possibly the most enthusiastic personality on the team. Zoe M and Zoe K were a girl-girl couple on the beginners team last year, proving that good things happen to those who wait... and how do you end up in a Zoe-Zoe partnership anyway?)
-Dean & Colleen (These sort of acted as dance 'parents' for the entire beginners team. I particularly connected with Colleen, who is from Georgia, loves Chick-fil-a, and is a huge Red Sox fan. We reminisce about the south a lot :-) )
And this was only the B team. As you can tell, there are a lot of people I need to get to know better, but it was fantastic to be given the chance to integrate with such an enjoyable group!
At last, the competition began. Jenna and I were in the Oxford A pool along with Lukas, James, and their respective partners. The spectating crowd was pretty big - it was nice having a group of my own Keble supporters - but when I walked out on the floor with my Partner, everything else disappeared. Overturn spin turn. Feather. Maneuver so as to avoid that Cambridge couple. Ease into a sway. Smile. Wait.... don't smile... have fun. With that, the pressure was gone along with the first-dance-jitters. Just Jenna and me, dancing. It was amazing.
Faster than I cared for, the competition sped from Waltz to Quickstep, through a quick break (we changed into some fantastic Latin outfits) to Cha cha and finally Jive. Within 90 minutes, a competition we've waited months for was essentially done. After a couple team photos, we changed and ran up to Sainsburys to grab a bite for lunch, then returned to watch the A team match. It was nice to watch the A team couples compete, analyzing their routines and their partner chemistry in particular. We think we could tell when one partner wasn't 100% in the zone with his or her partner; an amazing routine just doesn't snap in the same manner. Nonetheless, we were thoroughly impressed with their dancing, and I admired the excellent technique that I will have to work long and hard to pick up (along with 6 new dances - Viennese, Tango, Foxtrot, Samba, Rumba, Paso) next year. I better get cracking!
After the A team competition and lunch, much of the crowd dispersed. All that remained was a plethora of beginners and open competitions. Since Jenna and I were allowed to compete in the beginners competition, we did... with one significant flaw. Remember how we ramped up our routines for the varsity match? Well, we used intermediate steps, which aren't allowed in the beginners competition. Thus, we decided that we would more or less social dance in the afternoon. Consequently, owing to some bad leadership, we found ourselves knocked out of the first round of the beginners waltz! OOPS! haha. We only made it to the semifinals of the beginners quickstep... at which point we realized that we are, in fact, a better Latin couple than a ballroom couple. Indeed, we made the finals in both cha cha and jive, taking 5th in the former and winning the latter outright. Jenna and I both admired the symmetry in winning the jive in our first (see: Nottingham) and last events as beginners.
Aside from the sheer amount of fun we had over the course of the competition, the thing I am most proud about was totally unforeseen. Among the massive pile of trophies and ribbons handed out (oh yeah.. results... Oxford lost the A team match 1884-1896; we also lost the B team match 1700ish-2000ish), head coach Bruce started to introduce an award for the Oxford couple that makes a positive impact on their team; in his words, for bringing about "the most smiles." Admittedly, I didn't catch the beginning of the description (that's what I get for interacting with the team), but as I tuned in for the end of the description and then hearing Jenna and my name called, I was incredibly blown away. Without a doubt, it meant more to me to be recognized for such an honor than to place in a competition. For that, I am SO proud of my Partner - for the number of smiles she has brought to my face this year, for her positive leadership on the beginners team.... and of course for sharing a few baked goods along the way. And now... we have a massive bowl mounted on a wooden pedestal. It badly needs to be shined because it gets passed along from year to year, but I plan to take care of that as soon as I can get some silver polish... then of course I'm going to pass it back to my Partner for the duration of the term, all nice and shiny! :-)
CHAPTER XI
The competition itself was fantastic fun, but apparently it would not be complete without my third black tie occasion in a week: the Dancesport Ball. Jenna, thoroughly expressing her exhausted condition, barely had the will to even go to the ball. She promised that she wasn't going to dance at all, but deep down inside, I knew that the energy would come from somewhere. Yes, we arrived at almost 2100 owing to the lateness of the competition, but it did not bother me in the slightest since the sky was still bright with blue skies overhead, and the temperature quite mild. We immediately hopped in the buffet line, which consisted of a variety of salads and assorted cold cuts. There were some Yorkshire puddings as well, but by and large the meal was slightly unsatisfactory considering we had just finished dancing for the entire day.
Clearly, however, the highlight of this ball wasn't going to be the food. As we finished eating, we were graced with a demonstration by the British national champions, Mark and Olga Elsbury. Their set included a slow waltz, a Viennese waltz, a foxtrot, and a quickstep. It was remarkable how graceful they were while sweeping across the floor, making each spin and chasse seem effortless and refined. Something I particularly enjoyed was that each dance employed a lift; Mark would pick up his partner and spin around in such a smooth fashion. Naturally, it was quite a good show and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Finally, after the demonstration, the music turned to social dancing. The floor was packed, but I thoroughly loved that I was at a ball where everyone was dancing real moves to real music. Viennese waltz and quickstep were insane in the tiny space, but everyone accepted the fact that simple moves were best and collisions were unavoidable. I danced a variety of dances with various members of the beginners team, but of course my favorites were those danced with Jenna. I think our social waltz improved drastically from the beginners competition and she even taught me a few moves of American foxtrot. We also danced to a good deal of cha cha, and of course our absolute favorite: the jive. I loved the night of social dance and I imagine my Partner would say the same. The evening was as truly stellar as the group of friends I was with... I just wish that there were more opportunities for social dancing!
EPILOGUE
What an intense two weeks! So much so, that it has taken me over 8 hours to write this post. Oh, PS... in the mean time, I performed at MCR open mic night tonight with Luke and Vincent on guitar and banjo respectively and planned a birthday shindig for a couple weeks from now. Did I also mention that next Sunday is the cuppers match, an intramural style dance competition? And one more thing... MCR elections are also on the horizon, so I am starting to get on the campaign trail, seeing who will be available to fill committee positions. I love having a few things to do.
Wow. I topped 6100 words with this post. If you made it this far, please do send me a message! You deserve a trophy... a medal... or at least a batch of cookies. Thanks for reading!
To be continued...
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