I want to go to SCHOOL ...

... not a massive 9-month boarding school party that Cambridge is turning out to be.

Christmas Formals

Cambridge got into the Christmas spirit during its last week, even though term ended Dec. 4 (yeah. ridiculous.) ... so, formals left and right with holiday themes.

= GLORIOUS


Besides our very own Christmas bash, King's and iCUSU (International Cambridge University Student Union) had Christmas formals during the last week of term.

12/1/09 - iCUSU Christmas Formal at Churchill College


[King's contingency]


[Churchill hall]


[apple tart dessert]


[Alexa, me, Elian]


[Ola, Oscar, Victoria]


12/2/09 - King's College Disney-Themed SUPERFORMAL


[pre-formal, milling around in bar, ready to invade hall]


[extravagant King's hall decorated for Christmas]


[place settings, complete with Disney menu, cracker/party favor, mistletoe, and other holiday decorations]


[ladies in costume]


[meatiest meat dinner ever.]


[King's Choir boys perform Christmas carols during formal]


[... then Santa Claus came and visited each table with gifts!]


[happy children with gifts from Santa]


[King's bar, post-formal festivities]


[Halliki, me, Siyao, Nadia]


[Shayan and a very Nina-looking Santa bust out karaoke moves]


[post Christmas Superformal - King's bar - standard.]


Epic epic epic formal. Amazing job done by Sho and ents staff!

American Breakfast Sundays

Since the first American Brunch Sunday with CMEs who craved old fashioned American-style sweet breakfast food, we've started a brunch revolution.

I mean ... gotta make good use of this huge set/room I've got for this year and this year only :)

Therefore, brunch parties every weekend. Solid.
It's always potluck-style with ingredients - Alexa's getting bread, Jade's bringing juice, Chris has got eggs, etc.
and works amazingly well. Each time we end up having a bit of variation, although you can't really go wrong as long as you have bread, eggs, and some sort of fruit. Oh, powdered sugar and syrup is a must - until Alex and Anna introduced nutella and whipped cream into the equation. Now I've got an accumulating stock of King's cafeteria silverware/glasses, plus two jars of maple syrup, a box of powdered sugar, and three containers of nutella in my cupboard. Looks like brunch will be happening every weekend from now on ...



Sunday, 11/8




Sunday, 11/15




Saturday, 11/21




Sunday, 11/22










Saturday, 11/28


aw, we finally all fit around one table!

Holiday SPIRIT

Alexa, Michaela, and I, being Americans, have been raised in the overly-commercialized, Hallmark-monopolized, decorations-ridden, color-explosion world of HOLIDAY SPIRIT ... and WE LOVE IT.

So, when we come to Europe, we DO NOT let the lackluster "yay .. er .. Christmas .." (spoken in ~5dB) stop us from our (somewhat premature) festivities.


We could not WAIT to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we got a little headstart mid-November.
(oh, and Halloween too.)


PIES. Pies are essential. We have ovens. Why not make pies? They're easier than cooking an entire turkey. Plus, we'd been severely craving pumpkin pies since Halloween. So ... we embarked on our cooking adventure, the entirety of which ended up being a 4-hour endeavor. YESS.


[all the tasty spices ... smell the HOLIDAY SPIRIT!]


[making pumpkin pies ... from scratch]


[pumpkin pies, fresh out of the oven]


[pies, milk, whipped cream, roasted pumpkin seeds ... check]


[DELICIOUSNESS]


[festive pies with the Americans]


[PIE TIME]



[Market Square Cambridge city Christmas lights "Big Turn On"]


[11/15 lighting of Christmas lights in Market Square :D]


[Market Square with a ... sheet? of lights]


See, even people in overly-holiday-eager America would say 11/15 was a bit too early to light up the town with Christmas lights ... I say it's never too early.

In my book, the existence of each year is simply 10 months of waiting for October to roll around so we can start GETTING IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AGAIN!!!

My workload at Cambridge ...

... is truly pathetic.
I sat in the library today because I felt compelled to do work ... and I realized I had done all of it already.

Perhaps I should just work on the stuff due in 2 weeks' time ...

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November ...

... the Gunpowder Ttreason and Plot.
I know of no reason
why the Gunpowder Treason
should ever be forgot.


So, on Thursday 11/05, instead of doing work at the library, a bunch of us went to Midsummer Common after dinner for Guy Fawkes' Night celebrations. (Obviously Guy Fawkes Night >> working.)

First, fireworks.
Then, bonfire.
Plus, a carnival.
Ooh, rides.
And of course, carnival snacks.



["whoaaaaa guys .... check it out .. a carnival ..."]


[Burn, baby, burn.]


[Destruction. Peace?]


[Silhouettes.]


[Boom Boom.]


[POW.]


[Midsummer Common fireworks.]


[Carnival rides galore!]


[Spin-til-you-puke.]


[Cotton candy ("candy floss" HAHA) and candy apples = must-haves.]



All in all a well-spent evening. Gotta keep up with all the Brits' celebrations, after all ...