Taking over England (or wherever): The Churchill Matriculation Dinner Edition

So, our big night finally came...the much anticipated matriculation dinner for MCR students (MCR = Middle Common Room = the room(s) where grad students can hang out = the term they generally use in lieu of 'graduate').  Some quick highlights (please keep in mind that I'm blogging this without a safety net, i.e., I'm not typing into Word first...and I'm pretty much sloshed...more on that later...so I apologize in advance for any mistakes)...


-  In honor of the big occasion, Michelle and I dusted off our best attire.  It looked something like this...

Yes, she is that stunning...and that is my tennis racket in the background

In case you were wondering (and I'm sure you were), I went with a little number from the City Streets collection over top of a Calvin dress shirt...the bold blue tie was me being in your face (as usual).  Michelle was wearing Max Azria.

-  The night started out well...as we weren't on the dinner list.  I pretty much expected this since I shirked the traditional RSVP in favor of an email (that's how I roll).  They managed to squeeze us in somewhere.

-  While we waited for hall to be set up, they offered us each a glass of champagne (drink opportunity #1).

-  Once hall opened, we all found our assigned places and stood behind our chairs until they rang the gong (they love gongs over here...but who doesn't really).  Someone then said a brief prayer in Latin.

-  Dinner itself went something like this...white wine (drink opp. #2) with fish (or gruel for us vegetarians)...red wine (drink opp. #3) with lamb, sweet potatoes and broccoli (or a portobello mushroom cap with pasta and the rest)...lemon custard tart with mixed red berries...port (drink opp. #4)...claret (drink opp. #5)...cheese and crackers...grapes and celery...and mints.

-  Everything was pretty cool...picture Harry Potter, but even more awesome.  I sat next to a maths fellow (professor...basically) dressed in the traditional academic robes.  He was a good chap, but a bit of a stickler for passing the port in the proper direction.  In case you were wondering...we looked something like this at the dinner...

Yes, my eyes are a bit freaky...and my hair does look that good

-  As dinner was concluding, they rang the gong again...we all stood up...someone said a prayer in Latin... someone offered a toast to the Queen and Sir Winston...and we all sat down.  The Master then gave a brief welcome speech and told us how awesome we all are (I was grateful for this because (a) someone has to do it and (b) I get a bit tired of having to tell everyone how awesome I am all the time).  The aftermath looked something like this...

Yes, we were taking crunk to a whole new level

 -  All that was left from that point was to stumble home in the near 0 degree (Celsius) weather.  All in all, it was a night well spent.  Hopefully I'll be able to recover quickly, because I have to roll out of bed for a 4:30 pm class tomorrow.  Rough...