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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The tour went well yesterday. I took the guys to the New Library first where I showed them the different reading rooms. Then we went into the non-reader areas, starting with the stacks, where they got to see where all those millions of books are stored. They seemed pretty impressed by the volume and organization of it all - and it is quite impressive. Unfortunately, there was some attempted touching of the books (even though I told them not to!) which is B-A-D and could get me and them in trouble. Surprisingly, I also had some difficulty keeping the four of them all together and caught up with me. Next time I think I'll make it a tour for two people instead of four.

After the New Library and the stacks, I showed them the conveyor system (Jon seemed particularly taken with this) and took them through the tunnel to the Radcliffe Camera - picturesque landmark of Oxford. I showed them the below-ground reading room (another surprise for Jon), and the two main reading rooms (upper and lower).

After that we went to the old building where I showed them the Divinity School, Convocation House, Duke Humphrey's Library, and the Upper Reading Room.

They seemed to enjoy the tour, although Rich and Jon skipped out a bit early to continue their schoolwork (they'd already seen the rest of the stuff I was going to show them). The only problems we ran into were a few seemingly annoyed gnomes (library staff who work the stack) who seemed to feel a bit violated (although I was careful to keep the group quiet and tried my best to keep them from getting too close to the books).

One porter also seemed a bit put out and I got teased about being a tour guide this morning at work - almost (but not quite) accused of doing something against the rules by giving my friends a tour. Then I explained that I had done everything by the book. I did have official permission for the tour and followed the procedures exactly - got permission, carried my permission form along with me on the tour, signed the visitors in to the delivery bay, had them wear badges, and signed them out. I kept them out of areas that are restricted to tours (J floor and D floor). So I did my job properly and gave a nice tour. Some people just have to have something to complain about, I guess.

After the tour I chilled out in the tea room for a little while and then headed home to change for the chapel service. We arrived at the chapel at about 5:30 and enjoyed hearing the choir finish their rehearsal. Simon ran us through the game plan for the night. Our main duty was to help the congregation light candles about half way through the service. We had good seats reserved for us so, once we got the candle-lighting plan done with, we helped monitor the door so nobody got in before the choir was finished rehearsing and assembled outside. Then we, along with several others, greeted people as they came in. I helped pass out candles. Andrew held the door and helped pass our order of service booklets.

At 6, just before Simon and the choir entered, we took our reserved seats. The music was lovely, as expected, and the bible readings were also very nice. Like Rich had told us, several traditional hymns were sung to different tunes here, so that was a bit strange and made me giggle a bit while I tried to keep up.

At the designated point, we went up to the altar, lit our candles, and spread the light around. Another chapel ward turned off the electrical lights and it was really nice. Simon did the rest of the service - including songs, readings, and his message (sermon) - in the candlelight. Very cool.

After the service we helped collect the candles and tidy up the chapel. We were going to go with Rich and the rest of the choir to dinner. It was the JCR's Christmas Dinner last night, so there was no regular dinner served at the hall and those choir members who aren't in the JCR were hungry, as were we. After following the choir around a bit, it became apparent that it was going to be difficult to find a restaurant that could accomodate such a large party without reservations (about 15 people - the restaurants were crowded with large parties of undergraduates having dinner parties). So the three of us - Andrew, Rich and I - broke off. After a fair amount of walking up and down the streets of the city centre, we finally settled on Chutneys, an Indian restaurant where we had all eaten before.

We had a really, really lovely time at dinner with Rich. It was so interesting hearing him talk about his family. He has two older sisters who sound really cool. His dad is an Episcopal minister and his mom is an elementary school librarian. He comes from a really good family of very, very smart people (himself included). Like the vast majority of the people we have met here, he is not arrogant or snobby in any way, although he is very intelligent, good looking and kind. He's quite humble, actually, giving his sisters and parents more credit for being smart than himself. He's super nice and an excellent listener. It was great talking to him about our various families and siblings, and getting to hear a little bit about what it was like for him growing up in Rhode Island. I for one would love to go out with him again some time and chat more.

Today I awoke tired as always (mornings = yuk!). I had the good fortune of being assigned my second favorite point to work today - the Divinity School. It was very slow this morning with only two visitors coming in before my 10:15 break, but after my tea break it picked up and several large tour groups came in, so by the time I left we'd had 175 visitors. I did get some more writing done - about 6 pages today.

Tonight we will attend the final MCR event of the term - the Christmas dinner. It's not black tie, but "smart dress," which means nice. Since most of our friends are either travelling or returning home for Christmas, it may be the last time we see them for several weeks. We do have a few friends who'll be here, though, so we can have group outings if we want. We still haven't decided exactly what we're doing for Christmas. We're considering going to London, York, Edinburgh, going out to eat in Oxford, or just spending it at home. Another couple from Hertford have invited us to their home if we are around, so if we stay in Oxford I am sure we'll visit them on Christmas.

This isn't the first Christmas or Thanskgiving Andrew and I have spent away from home. When we lived in Tallahassee I worked retail and so did Andrew for a while, so there were several times when we went to friends' houses or just stayed at home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I certainly don't mind a quiet Christmas with Andrew. There are much worse ways to spend a day than with the guy you love.

I want to wish a great big "Break a Leg!" to all the BHS drama kids who are attending IE's this weekend. These are my former students and they're finally going to the competition I BEGGED them to attend last year. When their current teacher took over I asked her to please try and get them to go. She's a tremendous teacher and of course was able to get kids to go to the event. I know they'll have a great time and learn a lot. Keep your eyes open, guys. Watch the other performances and learn from them. You'll be great!

Posted by Erin at December 5, 2002 01:14 PM