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- a member for 19 years, 9 months and 7 days
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» Stupid Tourists
That's so sad... everyone should celebrate Thanksgiving!
A 'Merkin student who studied here in Oxford (Oxford, En-ger-land, that is) for a year asked me what we usually did for Thanksgiving. She was horrified to find that we "don't usually bother, actually"
The sad thing is, the same girl asked an almost identical question about Independence Day several months later...
(Thu 7th Jul 2005, 17:16, More)
That's so sad... everyone should celebrate Thanksgiving!
A 'Merkin student who studied here in Oxford (Oxford, En-ger-land, that is) for a year asked me what we usually did for Thanksgiving. She was horrified to find that we "don't usually bother, actually"
The sad thing is, the same girl asked an almost identical question about Independence Day several months later...
(Thu 7th Jul 2005, 17:16, More)
» Weird Traditions
Hooray for Eastern Europeans
I was discussing Easter with a very nice Czech girl I met once. As you would imagine, I was very interested to discover that it's a Czech tradition to chase girls around and whip them with willow branches every Easter. Why don't we have traditions like that?
(Fri 29th Jul 2005, 9:54, More)
Hooray for Eastern Europeans
I was discussing Easter with a very nice Czech girl I met once. As you would imagine, I was very interested to discover that it's a Czech tradition to chase girls around and whip them with willow branches every Easter. Why don't we have traditions like that?
(Fri 29th Jul 2005, 9:54, More)
» Stupid Tourists
Sorry, Minky Monkey...
: "Do you have any more Henges in England?"
: Yep, American.
Er, we do have a few, yes. Have a look on Google or Wiki for Seahenge, Woodhenge, Thornbury henges, or just "henge", although Avebury would have been a nice example to direct them to; it's only 20 miles from Stonehenge.
Clearly you don't have to be a tourist (or even an American) to make mistakes about British archaeological sites. Let's keep this to the stories that are actually funny, eh?
(Mon 11th Jul 2005, 10:23, More)
Sorry, Minky Monkey...
: "Do you have any more Henges in England?"
: Yep, American.
Er, we do have a few, yes. Have a look on Google or Wiki for Seahenge, Woodhenge, Thornbury henges, or just "henge", although Avebury would have been a nice example to direct them to; it's only 20 miles from Stonehenge.
Clearly you don't have to be a tourist (or even an American) to make mistakes about British archaeological sites. Let's keep this to the stories that are actually funny, eh?
(Mon 11th Jul 2005, 10:23, More)
» I just don't get it
Little Britain
This isn't a smug "I'm right and I think anyone who likes [x] is an idiot" comment like 90% of those below. I know I'm missing something, as I know plenty of people who turned their nose up at programmes like The League of Gentlemen and The Fast Show who seem to genuinely find it hilarious.
Actually, I think I feel the same way about The Office and The Royle Family - they're very well-observed, or whatever, just incredibly depressing.
(Thu 31st Mar 2005, 14:29, More)
Little Britain
This isn't a smug "I'm right and I think anyone who likes [x] is an idiot" comment like 90% of those below. I know I'm missing something, as I know plenty of people who turned their nose up at programmes like The League of Gentlemen and The Fast Show who seem to genuinely find it hilarious.
Actually, I think I feel the same way about The Office and The Royle Family - they're very well-observed, or whatever, just incredibly depressing.
(Thu 31st Mar 2005, 14:29, More)
» Weird Traditions
Actually rather nice...
First of all, I did my undergraduate degree at Oxford. I have never worn tweed, and most of the people I met there were a good laugh. However, if anyone wants to make some sweeping generalisation about Oxbridge, far be it from me to stop them.
Anyway, in 1845 a 'Merkin (I think he was from Kentucky) visited the college. He was horrified that when he tried to order a "mint julep" after dinner, the barman had no idea what he was on about. He consequently left a nice big endowment so that everyone in college could have a mint julep once a year.*
Consequently, every year on June 1st, several big trestle tables are set up outside the dinner hall and everyone gets a pre-dinner drink.
Two important things to note:
- there are two dinner sittings at this college
- the college staff have a few themselves while setting up, so they're unlikely to spot you coming round again. And again. And again.
By my second year, we'd discovered that if you rush early dinner, you can get approximately eight of these in before they clear up, which is useful knowledge indeed for a poor student such as myself.
Incidentally, the camp 'n' tweedy lot drank the endowment dry in the 1920's, but the college approached the descendants in the 80's and said "this was nice, everyone in England loved you guys because of it, why not renew the endowment?" and they did. Suckers!
* A mint julep is a mizx of bourbon, mint, crushed ice and sugary water. Depending on the mix it can be utterly foul or quite nice. And until I bothered looking for the linked Wikipedia article, I had no idea it had prompted the invention of the drinking straw. The silver/pewter cup bit is bollocks, though.
(/tweed)
(Thu 28th Jul 2005, 15:50, More)
Actually rather nice...
First of all, I did my undergraduate degree at Oxford. I have never worn tweed, and most of the people I met there were a good laugh. However, if anyone wants to make some sweeping generalisation about Oxbridge, far be it from me to stop them.
Anyway, in 1845 a 'Merkin (I think he was from Kentucky) visited the college. He was horrified that when he tried to order a "mint julep" after dinner, the barman had no idea what he was on about. He consequently left a nice big endowment so that everyone in college could have a mint julep once a year.*
Consequently, every year on June 1st, several big trestle tables are set up outside the dinner hall and everyone gets a pre-dinner drink.
Two important things to note:
- there are two dinner sittings at this college
- the college staff have a few themselves while setting up, so they're unlikely to spot you coming round again. And again. And again.
By my second year, we'd discovered that if you rush early dinner, you can get approximately eight of these in before they clear up, which is useful knowledge indeed for a poor student such as myself.
Incidentally, the camp 'n' tweedy lot drank the endowment dry in the 1920's, but the college approached the descendants in the 80's and said "this was nice, everyone in England loved you guys because of it, why not renew the endowment?" and they did. Suckers!
* A mint julep is a mizx of bourbon, mint, crushed ice and sugary water. Depending on the mix it can be utterly foul or quite nice. And until I bothered looking for the linked Wikipedia article, I had no idea it had prompted the invention of the drinking straw. The silver/pewter cup bit is bollocks, though.
(/tweed)
(Thu 28th Jul 2005, 15:50, More)