A Year at St Andrews...

I'm back in London now and counting down the days till I'm back in California (I almost wrote "till I'm back in St Andrews", I miss it so much).

I spent the first half of this week visiting a friend in Wales. I hadn't seen her in over five years so it was great to meet her again. We had a really nice time. The first couple days were really warm and we went to Barry Island Beach on one of those days. The weather was perfect for it. There was a theme park there as well and

Exams are on. My last one is on Tuesday (ie tomorrow). Well, what am I doing here then, you ask? Why, procrastinating, of course!

Yes, I know, I really should get back to studying. But, I only have a few days left in St Andrews, isn't it cruel that I have to spend them studying? Especially when the weather is so nice outside and the sun doesn’t set till 10!

Ahh… I really wish I was staying here for the summer. Not that I don’t want to be back in California, because I do. I miss my friends and family terribly and I can hardly wait to see you all again. See… then I think about all these things, and I wonder what it's going to be like when I get back, and I get distracted. It's so much nicer to wander in dreamland than to study.

Gah! anything's better than studying. I've already taken a million facebook quizzes today, and there must be approximately two left that I haven't taken. I've signed up for my classes for fall quarter in Davis and it just hit me that I'll have to get used to Davis all over again. If you're wondering if I've changed at all, I don't think I have. But I'll leave it for you all to judge when I get back.  *sigh*

Alright, alright, I'll get back to studying. Mitochondria play a role in controlling apoptosis…

Last Thursday, I was invited to High Table. High Table is a St Andrews tradition where select students are invited to dine with the Warden, sub-Wardens and a special guest or two. In the Days gone by, High Table occurred at least once a week. Now a days it happens rarely, even less than once a month. There are other events where the residents get to meet the wardens, like the tea and biscuits receptions or the more formal wine and cheese receptions that take place throughout the year. These two are more common than high table.

For High Table, the selected students come dressed formally and in their red gowns. Before dinner there is a sherry reception where the students, guests and wardens get to mingle. The guest who was at high table this time was Miss Gemma Coughlan, an artist who created a new painting for University Hall.  All other students come to dinner as usual, but they are allowed to bring wine or beer with them if they wear their gowns. After the sherry reception, the wardens, guest(s) and selected students process into the dining hall while everybody else stands. The Warden says grace in Latin before everyone sits down. Then the meal is served to the students at High Table, by the Wardens, as a three course dinner. There is usually wine as well. Somehow even though we were eating most of the same things we've eaten at dinner before, it tasted a whole lot better at high table. After dinner, there is a wine reception for the High Table guests.

It's a lovely tradition, but it's held fewer times each year due to budget cuts and the need for all Halls to be the same. Older halls that have been around for longer tend to hold on to these traditions, but the newer ones usually don't have them. I guess I'm lucky to be in University Hall.

The weather rigth now is lovely. We've had warm sunshine for the past two days! But before that it was terrible and included fog, cold and wind.  I like that spring is here. It's so lovely to see eveyrthing bursting into life: flowers springing thought teh grass, trees with new leaves and longer days with beautiful sunsets! Too bad I can't just play oustside all the time.