The Dashing White Sargeant

Here is a video I took at the ceilidh of a dance called  "The Dashing White Sargeant."  It was a very complicated dance (my opinion), but the students and staff handled it well (even after a few drinks -- some more than others!).

Musicians are Regents Park student David Purves (Spencer House) and his friends from Scotland: William Fraser, accordian, and Danny Sheldrick, drums.  William is also doing the calling.

Burns, Haggis and a Ceilidh



Regents Park student giving praise to the Haggis, which has just been brought to the table


In Scotland and parts of England, January 25 is the day traditionally set aside to honor the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns; the Burns celebration is called Burns Night.  In many of the Oxford colleges, Burns night was celebrated this week.  At Regents Park College, we were a few days late -- celebrating Burns Night on Friday, January 28, at Formal Hall.

The students and faculty/staff dressed up in their best attire (cocktail and party dresses for the women and tuxes and kilts for the men) -- looking mighty smart.  There were a lot of guests in the hall -- probably about 200.  The faculty/staff and their guests marched in to the music of a bagpiper.  Then we all sat down for our Scottish meal.

We had Cream of Leek soup for our starter.  After that the Haggis was brought in with a lot of fanfare.  The chef carried it steaming on a plate, with the bagpiper close behind.  It was placed before the college president for his approval, and a student read an ode to the haggis.  Haggis is a meatloaf type dish, made with many of the throw-away parts of the animal; traditionally, it was cooked in a cow's stomach.  It also has oatmeal added to it.  The haggis we had was very tame compared to the old version  -- it was actually pretty good!

 


The haggis is difficult to see.  It's just to the left of the lady in foreground's pinkie.

After this ceremony the college president said a traditional Scottish called the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae let the Lord be thankit.

Before the end of the meal there were tributes to Robert Burns, the lassies and the laddies.  After a dessert of some sort of whiskey mousse, we all filed out to the bagpiper's refrain.  Then the faculty and staff gathered for a malt whiskey tasting.  It's a bit too strong for my taste, thank you very much.

Following that was the beginning of the ceilidh (pronounced kale-y).  It simply means a social gathering, but this night was a gathering for music and dancing.  One of the Spencer House students, David (from Scotland), played the fiddle, and his friends William and Davey, played the accordian and drums, respectively.  Also William called the dances, which began with the Gay Gordons and the Flying Scotsman.  The students seemed to really enjoy this -- although it was harder than they expected (like square dancing, but more complicated).  The challenge was made more difficult due to the fact that some of them were a bit tipsy (the malt whiskey!). 

I cut out by 10:30 and took a taxi home; the kids didn't get back until much later -- way after midnight.  A good time was had by all.  See more pix below.

After the meal, filing out to the piper

One of the dances;
CSU student Tim in gray suit



Another dance





  

The Bodleian Library

Side door to the Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is the Mother of all university libraries.  It officially opened its doors in 1602 thanks to the generosity of Sir Thomas Bodley.  An ardent book collector, Bodley established the library using money he had obtained from his wife, the widow of a wealthy sardine fishing entrepreneur.  Many of the first books were directly from Bodley's personal library.  The first librarian was named Thomas James.

The quadrangle of the main Bodleian Library is currently being renovated, but the library itself is still open.  Today I went with another American librarian, Susan Martin from Georgetown College in Lexington, KY, to "Bodley" or "the Bod," as it is also known.  We mainly wanted to see if our Bodleian Library cards would get us in -- and they did!  We didn't actually go up to the reading rooms -- we just went through the gates and then came right out.  We also took a peek inside the Divinity School, one of the oldest rooms in the old library.  It has amazing ceilings (picture below).  Visitors have to pay to go in, but flashing our library cards, Susan and I went right in for free.  This card is supposed to get us into all kinds of places and events!  I feel very lucky to have it.  I can't wait to actually go sit in one of the old reading rooms -- and read!



Side of the main Bodleian Library





Divinity School Ceiling

 

Lunch in Summertown

Today I walked down to Summertown for some grocery shopping.  Needed to buy 3 chickens for Sunday night dinner at Spencer House.  We'll be having group meals on Sunday night, with everyone contributing a dish.  This Sunday I volunteered to do Spicy Chicken, a Cajun recipe; others will bring salad, rice, veggies, desserts, wine and bread.  Should be a lot of fun.

Before doing any shopping, I decided to treat myself to lunch.  There are no fancy restaurants on Banbury Rd. in Summertown, but there are some nice ones.  I decided against the cafe inside Marks and Spencer -- I've eaten there twice; it's okay, but over-priced.  I wanted to eat at a sandwich shop called Taylor's, but it was packed.  So I wandered across the street to try out the Greek Taverna.  I should have suspected something.  It was 1:30 and the place was totally empty.

I went in and was seated by the lone waiter.  Ended up having Moussaka and a diet coke.  It was okay, but a little boring, and it was 10 pounds with a tip -- that's about $15 -- for a medium-sized bowl of food and a meager pita (no hummus, no salad, no nothing else).  Learned my lesson there.

While I was seated in the taverna, looking out the window onto Banbury Road, a funeral passed by.  There was a white hearse carriage with glass sides, pulled by two white horses wearing colorful plumes.  I didn't have my camera, so I don't have a photo to post, but there's a good one at http://www.carlton-carriages.co.uk/20733.html

White funeral carriages are used for children's funerals and for more informal funerals.  Michael Jackson's body was actually pulled in one of these kinds of hearses...

The Omnibus

So I just wanted my readers to know that the new art work on my blog header is my daughter Tiff's work.  I don't think she was very impressed with the bus photo I was using -- I wasn't very impressed either!

She had already drawn a double-decker bus for a video she did for "The Bad Shepherds," a British band that's headed up by a guy named Adrian Edmondson.  He's married to Jennifer Saunders, the actress/comedienne who plays the main character (Eddie) on "Absolutely Fabulous."  Check out Tiff's video at http://www.myspace.com/crazygirlband/blog/477049641

An omnibus is a bus, but it also means a "collection" or "anthology."  That's the meaning I was going for with the title.  But the bus is a clever image for the header.  What would I use to symbolize a collection???

Oxford Colleges

Today 3 of the CSU students and I took a tour of a few Oxford colleges.  This was a 90-minute tour led by a guy named Stuart.  He was very personable and full of information.  There are 38 colleges in Oxford.  They were established beginning in the mid 1200s.  According to Stuart, English students used to study in Paris until the two rulers of those countries had a falling-out.  Then England began establishing its own universities.

In the early days, there was a lot of animosity between the Oxford college students and the town residents -- the town and gown controversy.  In one incident, about 38 college students were murdered by angry townspeople.  To protect the students, the colleges built gated communities with a porter at the gate who had to admit people to the college.  The students and the college fellows (teachers) lived and learned at the college, which was a foursided building with a "quad" (green) in the middle.  In addition to living quarters and study rooms, each college had a chapel, a dining hall and a library.

Here are photos of some of the colleges we visited on Stuart's tour.



Queen's College

   


The Shelley Memorial at University College

 


Trinity College

 

Formal Hall

On Friday night, at Regents Park College (and all the other colleges in Oxford), dinner is called "Formal Hall."  It is a formal meal, and the students and faculty get dressed up for the occasion.  Dress for male students is a dark suit; for females, it's a fancy dark dress.  Over their evening attire, they wear the short black robe called a "Commoner's Gown."  They also wear these robes during exams.  Faculty wear dark suits with an academic robe over it.  I wore black pants, a black top, a black suit jacket and the academic robe that was in my closet at Spencer House.

The students are seated shortly before 7pm.  The faculty gather in the Senior Common Room and sharply at 7 the principal (president) leads the group into the dining hall.  We sat at the raised table in the front of the hall.

Before the meal we gathered in the Senior Common room for wine and light snacks.  Our formal meal consisted of butternut squash soup (hot), which was very good; venison stew and mashed potatoes; white chocolate mousse and fruit.  A very tasty meal. After dinner, we went back for coffee, chocolate and conversation.

Being tired, at 8:45pm I decided it was time to go, and rather than take the bus, I treated myself to a taxi.  It was only 4.50 pounds -- plus a tip.  Very well worth it!

One of the waiters at Formal Hall took my camera up to the balcony and took these shots for me. The pictures didn't turn out so well because it was so dark in the room.  Afterall, we were having dinner by candlelight! 



The Covered Market



Oxford's Covered Market is an interesting assortment of shops house in an old building (resembling a livery or a garage) in the center of town.  The original market supposedly opened around 1774 (Wikipedia), but it definitely has the feel of the Victorian era.

There are all sorts of special boutiques -- from bakeries to plant nurseries -- butchers -- leather goods -- inported arts, etc.  Plus an interesting mix of eateries.

Today I had lunch at Brown's Cafe in the Covered Market.  It is a tiny little restaurant -- not fancy at all.  Probably what we would call a greasy spoon.  But, it was quaint and authentic and pretty cheap!  I had my favorite:  liver -- for a little more than 6 pounds.  It came with a jacket potato (i.e., baked potato), 2 pieces of bacon (British bacon is somewhat inedible), peas and the liver, of course.  Except for the bacon, everything was delicious.  It was also interesting to check out the customers -- most of whom were older working class folks -- along with some Chinese school girls and little ole' me.


Brown's Cafe in the Covered Market

Butcher shop in the Covered Market





Summertown

Summertown is the name of our neighborhood.  Just two or three blocks from the house is the main drag, Banbury Road.  The photo above shows the commercial area on Banbury where we do our grocery shopping.

Today I guided our two new students, Claire and Tim, down to the Summertown shopping area.  We decided to eat lunch in Marks and Spencer (aka M&S), which is a super nice ($$$) grocery.  So, we went to the little cafe inside, where I ordered a dish I had had on my trip to Scotland back in 1996:  baked potato with tuna salad on top.  This one actually had a little corn in the tuna mixture.  It sounds really weird, but it was mighty tasty!  Claire and Tim weren't so adventurous; they had sandwiches.

The amazing thing that happened in the cafe was that as soon as I sat down at the table, waiting for Claire and Tim to bring their food, I saw a couple walking by outside, and the guy looked very familiar.  I couldn't see the woman, but from the side the man looked amazingly like David Vaisey, the former director of the Bodleian Library, whom I had met through my former library ventures in Oxford.  David is also a friend of Kyle Spencer's.  So, I jumped up and dash out the door to see if it was really David -- and it was!   He and his wife Maureen were very surprised to see me.  We didn't chat long, but David did give me his emai,l and we talked about getting together soon.  What a nice surprise!

After lunch, Claire and Tim and I ventured down to Tesco's (a less expensive grocery store), where we each bought groceries.  I had brought the rolling cart, so I had plenty of room.  We also stopped at Boots (drugstore) where I finally found a curling iron for my hair!  Yay!  Maybe I can tame this awful mess.

So now we're back at home.  People are reading and napping.  They will head out for dinner at the college hall at about 6:30; dinner's at 7 (they have 10 meals a week that are paid for).  I'll just stay at home and eat some of this food I bought -- or, better yet, finish off the cottage pie.





Marks and Spencer
Grocery and Cafe



The Spencer House Fridge
My shelf is the one with the milk;
cottage pie is on David's shelf
(he's not here yet)





Cottage Pie

So today, around noon, I put together a cottage pie using a recipe I found on Jamie Oliver's website (jamieoliver.com).  I don't think he actually devised the recipe; one of his viewers did.  However it had a lot of good reviews.

I got the ingredients yesterday on my venture down to Summertown (our neighborhood).  I shopped at Marks and Spencer (a chain of department stores; this one is all groceries).  It cost 1 pound to get a shopping cart. Since I didn't have any money, I decided just to use the little-old-lady canvas-covered shopping cart that I had dragged along with me inside the store.

I found all the ingredients except the thyme.  When I asked the clerk, she said they were out of dried thyme (in a bottle) but they had some growing in pots so she went and got me some.  The cheapest item I purchased was a baguette, which was only 85 pence.  The most expensive was a can of L'Oreal hairspray that was 5 pounds and 50 pence!  Too expensive, but I was desperate to control my hair.

Anyway I made the pie around noon.  A cottage pie is made with minced (i.e. ground) beef; whereas a shepherd's pie is made with lamb.  Anyhoo you cook up the beef, then some onions, and a couple of chopped-up tomatoes.  You add chunks of carrot, some frozen English peas, some herbs (thyme and sage), beef stock and salt and pepper.  Let that cook for a while then pour it in a casserole dish and top with mashed potatoes that have been enhanced with cheddar and parmesan cheese -- and a dash of nutmeg.  Bake the casserole for about 30 minutes.  I used the AGA and it browned the potatoes nicely.

So far 4 of the students have eaten helpings and proclaimed it a success.  I also served them a tossed salad with toasted pine nuts and some of the baguette.  A couple of the group are in the kitchen now drinking tea and munching on the shortbread cookies I put out (dessert).

I am not providing food on a nightly basis, but I thought it would be good to have something hearty for the students to eat.  I knew they'd be too tired to go out immediately.  Some of them are going to a pub a little later -- after they've had a nap!

Here's what my pie looked like with a few servings removed.

Spencer House

Here are some photos of Spencer House in Oxford, which houses students from Columbus State University.  By next week we will have 5 CSU students living in the house.  They will be studying at Regent's Park College in Oxford.  We will also have 2 Regent's Park students -- one from Canada; the other from Scotland.  So, the house will have 7 students and me!




The front courtyard and door

 






The sideboard in hall with Spencer plaque

 


One side of the living room



The dining room



 

 


Callie's room

 





View out Callie's windows



Studio in the backyard