Day 28

Apparently some people, like the Brits, just don't get Thanksgiving. Honestly, what is there to not get? Sure, we could get into the whole Pilgrim-Indian feast -- although the traditional retelling that the Pilgrims were bringers of culture to the Indians is pretty un-PC and is frowned upon in many elementary schools. (Not to mention that the Pilgrims didn't actually wear buckles on their shoes and hats.) And I would venture to say that Thanksgiving, like Christmas, has become pretty commercialized and now largely serves to mark the day before Black Friday. But really, it's basically a holiday to do two things:

1) Spend time with family and friends.
2) Eat amazing food.

How difficult is this to understand? Sure, it's also a time to give thanks for aforementioned family, friends, and food, but the author of the article somehow doesn't get this. Does it matter what, specifically, we're thankful for? Besides, even if the tradition started out with being thankful for the Wampanoags' help in surviving that first winter, it doesn't mean that's on our minds every Thanksgiving. Plenty of traditions start out one way and then morph into something else that may or may not be entirely related. I mean, do people still think about the Germanic tribes' tradition of bringing a fir tree indoors to remind themselves that the shortest days of the year would end? We just put up Christmas trees and fight over where to put the ornaments.

The author also disparages Thanksgiving food. Okay, first of all, each family is very particular about their turkey day meal; everyone's got their own tried-and-true version of mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. And people tend to be pretty hard on other people's food... and I do agree that those green bean casseroles with the french-fried onions are gross. But everyone's got their traditions, and they feel very strongly about them. Also, the BRITS are criticizing OUR FOOD? This is from the country that brought the world shepherd's pie, fish pie, steak and kidney pie, and all the other non-delicious pies? A place that serves all their beef well-done? Once you get a culinary school, Great Britain, then you can start turning up your nose at others' meals.

In short: the author of this article is dumb. I taught about Thanksgiving in Germany, and even the fifth-graders got it.

Sometimes I think my computer knows too much.

After checking my email, which 'news' link should happen to show up but: Britain's Most Ridiculous Laws! I must remember not to wear a suit of armor or die in Parliament.

Observations

I figured I should probably write about the more mundane stuff in my life, to prove it's not all glamorousness, gowns and punting. Plus, I have no class today and am procrastinating all the errands I have to do: get new bed linens, get a new cable for my computer, exchange travelers' checks, buy lights for my bike, buy some food... heh. Anyway.

• This program is incredibly difficult. That sounds rather ridiculous for two reasons: (a) am I trolling for sympathy here?, and (b) it's Cambridge, it's supposed to be hard. But when you've got eight 2-hour-long lectures a week (plus two tutorials, which are also two hours long and a chance to practice/review stuff from two classes) and are supposed to be doing exercises and 50 to 100 pages of outside reading for each class (minimum), it's hard to keep it all straight. I've already forgotten to do some exercises for phonetics and had to fake it. Oops. It'll be extra interesting next week when we have to write an 8-page paper on top of all this.
• People here are über-competitive. Which surprises me a bit, because what happened to solidarity and the 'we're all going through this together' sort of attitude? Maybe that's how the Europeans do it: they don't show that they're confused/nervous/frustrated about a class, they don't ask questions (unless said questions are phrased in such a way to show off their vast knowledge) and they don't let on that anything is less than crystal-clear to them. Also, no one works together; everyone does the problem sets on their own, everyone has their own copy of the reading, and everyone bolts out of class at the end of the day without bothering to say goodbye. Seriously, I'm not going to take your place in the Ph.D. program away from you; you can at least say hello to me.
• I feel exceedingly stupid on a regular basis. Corollary to points 1 and 2 above.
• Biking on the left side of the road isn't as hard as I thought it would be. It's actually quite fun to bike around again. Except the other day, when it was raining. That was not so much fun.
• I tried yoga for the first time yesterday. I've always wanted to try it, but it took some convincing from a friend. It was okay; some parts were easier than others (hello, no upper body strength) but today my arms are killing me. Good thing I have a week to recover. Maybe by Monday I'll be able to lift my hands above my head without my shoulders hurting.
• Laundry is a giant pain. The house has no washer or dryer, and so you must schlep all your laundry to the College (whereby a 10-minute walk turns into a 20-minute walk because your stuff is so damn heavy and awkward) and THEN schlep your clothes (some of which are wet) all the way back. At which point your stuff is all wrinkled. My plan for next time is to steal a shopping cart from Aldi and become a cart lady.
• The British version of 'The Office' is awesome! However, it doesn't quite equal the greatness that is the American version. But maybe that's just me. Either way, it's still damn funny. Also, I've converted two people to 'The Office'. I am insidious.

All right, it's time to take a shower and get this show on the road. Yay for errands.

Three posts in four days: it's a blogging extravaganza!

We had our graduate student photo today at the College. (Doesn't it sound a little pretentious when I say things like that, particularly when it's spelled with a capital letter? That is really what people say, though. You can almost hear the capital letters.) It was rather cool to see everyone all dressed up, in their black robes (or 'gowns'). I get to wear a Master's gown, since I'm over 24, even though I don't have a Master's yet... ha! One advantage to being old! The sleeves are quite fun; you can probably hide all sorts of things in them. We also took a picture of people who live in my house, all dressed up...well, at least five of them; one seems to be missing in action. I might post that photo at some point.

Anyway, here's really what I wanted to share: After the photo, we had a barbecue on the lawn. I was very excited about the hamburgers; after days of pasta and frozen dinner, I was looking forward to real food. (Let's just ignore BSE for a moment.) We waited in line for about 15 minutes, finally got some food, I took a bite... and it was mushy. Apparently in Britain, 'hamburgers' are comprised of onion bits, flour or some sort of filler, and (oh yeah) beef. It was the worst hamburger I've ever had; I couldn't finish it. So now I'm considering cooking burgers for dinner tonight, just to get that taste out of my mouth. Blergh.

Moral: Do not eat hamburgers in England.