Sunday (yesterday) began the Chinese New Year with the year of the snake. On Saturday night, Kerry (my roommate) and I joined our kitchenmates and several of our friends for a massive Chinese New Year dinner at a local authentic Chinese restaurant. There were nineteen of us there and the meal lasted over four hours. A few of us had dined there the previous weekend, and it was nice to be back. I found I was a bit more confused this time around though with the traditional dishes of shark fin soup, squid, lamb, and a few whole fishes that I wasn't sure how to navigate, but it was a nice evening.
Once the meal arrived.
myself and Kerry
Everyone...I didn't mean to be hiding so deeply on the left side...I'm the sixth one in :)
The dessert was quite delicious! It was three rice balls filled with rich cocoa in a sweet and light broth.
After the dinner was very nice, too. A few of the dinner's attendees went to a couple of pubs, but as I was still recovering from a cold, I didn't feel much like drinking and headed back to the residence we all live in with a few of the others. We stayed up for several hours talking and laughing as those celebrating Chinese New Year called or skyped parents and extended family throughout the night. It felt very reminiscent of American Thanksgiving as the students from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China spoke of the enormous feasts and celebrations occurring at home for the New Year.
On Sunday I undertook quite the cleaning, re-organization and laundry before heading to the Whey Pat tavern in St Andrews for a Creative Writing social. There was a rugby match being broadcast at the Whey Pat, and it was comical and quit fun hearing local Scots cheering and screaming.
Afterwards, I attended the 5pm Catholic Mass and was so happy I did. I've written a bit about it before, but religion is something that is so personal and important to me and is something I search for everyday. The last few years I've struggled in my own religious identity and have thought seriously several times of leaving the Catholic church as I've struggled to accept the Church's views in a modernizing and changing world. This past fall I attended several Protestant congregations in St Andrews and weighed my options there, but also didn't feel as if I belonged. I was confused for a good while, but since the beginning of this semester, have found such a love and acceptance in both churches (The Church of England and the Catholic Church), saying to myself (quite embarassingly, by the way) "I belong everywhere!" rather than "I belong nowhere" Last night, the Catholic Mass was peaceful and reflective. I forgot about the hectic nature of the upcoming week (classes, essay planning, plenty of reading, appointments, a skype interview for a summer internship, a visa/border patrol check, commitments with friends, budgetting, food shopping, meal planning) the rugby match I had just witnessed, and the cleaning I had undertaken that morning and just felt so at peace and at home. I love receiving the Eucharist. I love kneeling to pray as soft music plays and exchanging the sign of peace. I love singing (very badly) in Church. At the end of Mass, I learned Ash Wednesday was in a few days and went into a semi-panic mode as I had just experienced a re-awakening of Catholicism without realizing the challenge that is the beauty of Lent would arrive so soon.
Then I woke up this morning to learn Pope Benedict XVI had resigned. I don't really have anything too distinct to say about that. Certainly shocking but it sounds as if it was the best decision for him and likely the church. I'm curious to hear who the new Pope will be and what direction the Church may go in. And in praise towards Pope Benedict XVI, the last seven years he has been Pope have certainly been tumultuous times for the Catholic Church and have occurred as the world has grown increasingly global through technology. I know he'll go down in history as the first Pope to have a twitter account. :)
I took these earlier today as I headed to the School of English for American Poetry.
I'm really enjoying American poetry. I can't name a dozen poets (or half a dozen) like the other students, but it's a nice course. The professor, John Burnside is also very humble and friendly, despite being quite well known. There are now fifteen to twenty students and two of us are American. He singles both of us out a bit, and made us laugh when discussing the vast geographic size of the U.S. and comparing Scotland as the size of the Yosemite parking lot.
Parts of today's class were challenging though. As the course focuses on American poetry from 1950 to the present, the Civil Rights era was the focus with several black American poets being studied. While I was well aware that the Civil Rights era and the racial injustices which occurred were arguably the ugliest and one of the most disgusting periods of American history, it was painful to read the poetic words of black poets describing the graphic lynchings, and physical torture occurring at the time. While the other American student and I were certainly not made to answer for our nation or feel bad in anyway, it was saddening and painful to read of and witness the horrible mistreatment of so many. Professor Burnside spoke of being a child in the UK in the sixties and learning of and not understanding the injustices occurring in the American south. Just as there have never been, their continue to be no words to explain any of it.
Tonight my friend Susanna and I attended a hat party that she had been invited to through her involvement with the university radio station. She just landed her own show which is quite exciting! I bought my hat earlier today for three pounds at Edinburgh Woolen Mill (the Scottish equivalent of a store like Burlington Coat Factory)and despite how strange I thought it looked, I found myself wearing it after the party while heading to the library and when walking back to my residence this evening.
These are both so very blurry, but Susanna and myself earlier tonight. :)
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