Holly Jolly Yale

I am sitting at work right now trying to blog about the holiday time at Yale. It's difficult right now because it is sixty degrees outside and there's no sign of snow anywhere. Exactly a year ago I had to wade through mountains of snow coming back from Thanksgiving. Well not today. Today I walked out of Stiles in a coat and felt self-conscious. Global warming? Maybe. All I know that it will be nice to lounge on Old Campus for an hour, close my eyes, and pretend it's fall. In December.

Holiday time for me starts the minute I throw my door open and luggage down after my flight back from Turkey Day. I would like to make a disclaimer first. This blog will deal heavily with Christmas, because I personally celebrate Christmas. The great thing about Yale is that even if you celebrate one holiday, you still get to experience different holidays, like the delicious latkes next Tuesday from Yale Hillel. The worst thing about holiday time at Yale is that you are only back for two weeks between breaks. This condenses the revelry and holiday cheer into a short time.

Two of eight of the boxes I am allowed to store at college are filled with Christmas decorations. This includes two trees, eight strands of lights, two advent calendars, wall and door hangings and boxes of ornaments. It's a lot of trouble at the end of the year, but so worthwhile when I open the box in December. The decorations are not only for my room, but for a hopeful takeover of the hallway and maybe the Stiles courtyard.

My trees are cute and all, but the tallest one measures in at a measly two feet. For a hardened Christmas veteran, there is something really special about a tall tree. For the past two years, a small group of Stilesians have gone to a nearby Christmas tree farm and dragged an eight foot tall tree up four flights of stairs. It is decorated beautifully for a month or so and then with no other option, tossed magnificently from the window (we checked for passerbyers below).

Our residential colleges pull out all the stops for decorating and holiday spirit. A visit to a dining hall reveal twinkling lights, decorated trees, bows and baubles. At some point Trumbull College will offer gingerbread house decorating or Branford will have a station for Christmas Cookie decorations. The Saturday before reading week will be the annual holiday dinner, where the dining halls will offer special dinners and the freshmen will go to the Feast of Comestibles in Commons. This is a parade of delicious food sculptures, desserts and even buckets of freshly cooked lobsters. It was one of the most over-whelming feasts I have ever encountered my freshman year.

The reason I keep checking for snow is that the first major snowfall of the year means a giant snow fight on Old Campus. With everyone divided into residential colleges, the competition can get really fierce. Snow forts pop up and trash cans are filled with snowballs ready for battle. This snow fight can last the entire day. People are either in the frosty spree or cowering in their rooms apprehensive of emerging into the melee.

I am going to take in Christmas in New York over reading week. A group of my friends and I are going to hop on a train and walk around Fifth Avenue, Central Park and other Christmas-saturated venues like we do every year. It's a fun difference from time at Yale and New York is magical in the winter. I feel that it can be a cliche that I explore the same places every year, but how can you avoid ice skating at Rockefeller Center or the windows at Henri Bendel's?

Although it is finals times and I have so much work to do, it's a tough struggle of choice between holiday time and everything I have to accomplish. My plan is to stay focused on my goals but still take time to help at a soup kitchen, stick out my tongue for snowflakes and hug my friends in an ugly Christmas sweater. I wouldn't miss this time of year, even with the stress, for anything.

Get Your Troosers Off the Fleur

We got to adventure through Scotland for a weekend. The title of the blog is my attempt to imitate a Scottish accent. I got to see Hadrian's Wall, Fountain's Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel as well as the city of Edinburgh.


The second day we went on a hike through the Trossachs, literally just climbing up the side of a mountain. It took about an hour to get to the top. Of course when we got there, the view was beautiful. They are part of the Scottish Highlands.


This is a view of a loch. From really high up.


The first night we were there was the fourth of July. The English and Scottish don't have Salvation Armies, but they have stores called Oxfam, which are just thrift stores. A group of girls and I decided to thrift in Edinburgh and buy really cheap Fourth of July outfits. Below is a picture of all of us heading to a BBQ. However, the name BBQ was misleading. They served mushroom stroganoff. That doesn't count. I really missed the Taste, fireworks, grills and just my country in general. We got to try Kaylie dancing, which is sort of like Scottish jigging as a social dance. There was a great one where the guys linked arms and girls put their arms around the shoulders. The guys spin really fast and the girls legs fly up. I'll have to show everyone when I get home.



Here I am standing with Erica and a man getting ready for his bachelor party or as they say in the UK, a stag party. Women have a hen party. We helped to pick out his outfit, including the corset. Men here like to dress up in costume and devote a whole weekend to their bachelor party, including the Highland games, a series of Scottish competitions where you throw logs and such. He was having his stag party in July but his wedding was in September.


Edinburgh Castle. Very excited to have gone to a castle.


You run into a lot of bagpiper street musicians.



The last night, I had gotten my phone stolen by a crazy Scotsman, so we wanted a calmer night. We had visited the Trossachs and wished we had jumped in the loch. I remembered that Edinburgh was on the North Sea, so I found two buses that would get us to Portobello Beach. We assumed it would be a pile of rocks. Danny joked that we would find a boardwalk and casino. Well he was right, and we actually watched the most beautiful Northern sunset on a sandy beach. It was beautiful, especially drinking our cheap wine out of Pizza Hut cups.









To top off the weekend off, on the way back, we saw a full rainbow. I loved Edinburgh and it was definitely a successful trip.

Punting

Punting is a British tradition where one takes a pole and pushes a boat along on a shallow river. It is complete with umbrellas and a little picnic of strawberries and wine. So far, I have punted three times.

1. I hopped in the first time with my friends, Danny, Johnny and Drew. We started at 7 and got back at 9. This is technically 19-21 but I am not good at that time. We literally explored everything. Danny and Drew like to stand and pretend they are Washington crossing the Delaware.

2. I think it is so fun because everyone, young and old, can punt. I thought that it would be complicated or heavy, but it is rather easy to get your pole out of the mud. I also found that the whole steering thing is super easy when you have been a coxswain in a past life. I was about to go do homework when the punting trip distracted me. Suddenly I was in a boat. We got to travel up the River Cam and past all of the colleges. I had punted with the guys, but this time I actually tried it. We also had a fiasco where two of the punts tried to race (its like watching snails) and my friend Matt fell into the water. This is also something that happens in punting.

3. This was after the first formal dinner. We get five total formal dinners at Cambridge where everyone dresses up and gets served by waiters. After dinner, we daringly decided to go night punting. We put seven people in this tiny boat and it did rock a bit. However, the funniest moment is when this big guy Drew does not see a low bridge in front of him and wipes out in the water. He was our punter, so we had to rescue the stick later. This is unfortunately where my phone landed in a boat puddle. I am on my third phone. One to punting, two to a raving drunk Scotsman thief and now I protect the final one with my life.

Elle in England

Hey everyone at home! I thought that I might add some of the photos I have taken and try to write a little as well. I know it's been a week but I wanted to get settled in.

I was also feeling inspired because I received 8 pieces of mail today. All of the TAs think that I am very popular. I especially liked the hair dryer unit transformer because it officially works!
No bad hair days anymore.

When I got on the plane I was used to Southwest. Imagine my surprise when I discovered complimentary meals and movies. Everything was very stimulating but I made myself go to bed at around 11 Central Time so I could wake up at 9 in London without jet lag. I am happy to say that it worked. I got to Heathrow and it took two seconds to get through the airport.



The picture above is where I am staying. It is called Webb's Court because I am right across from the library. I am in King's College which means that I have all the classes in the same complex.

My room is big enough and I have a fridge and sink in my room. I woke up one morning at five and tried to find the toilet and it was almost impossible. It was hidden outside of the building in the exterior entryway area. At least I have a kitchen on my floor. The showers are concealed two entryways down in the basement. It is very tricky.

We had a formal welcome the first night and the dining hall looks very similar to what Yale imitates. It was in King's Hall.



After dinner, I met some Yale guys, Danny and Johnny and we explored the local pub life.

Another funny thing is that in all the pictures of this college, there are these beautiful lawns. Well it is actually illegal to step on the grass. So they are just pretty to look at.

Bulldog Days Welcome Video

Yale Cribs, Part 1

When I applied to colleges, where I lived was very important to me. For some reason, trying to study for my future biology exam or write a twenty page paper in a cinder block box of a room lacked a certain appeal. However, the classic college dorm is viewed as a rite of passage for every university co-ed. It is the delectable combination of linoleum floors, fluorescent lighting, bunk beds and shower caddies.Some of them even were reminiscent of prison cells:















For many of the schools I had applied to, I knew that the dorm room mentioned above would most likely be my fate.

This is why I was happy to find the Yale Cribs page on the Yale Admits website once I was accepted. This was after I had ordered my free t-shirt, checked out all of the other Illinois students and generally jumped up and down in front of my computer. Yale Cribs painted a world for me where college students live in spacious rooms with picture windows, and dare I say sometimes fireplaces? I showed Yale Cribs to my mom, my friends, the mailman and anyone else I could find.

This semester, I struggled with one issue I had with Yale Cribs. The last time I checked, Cribs is an MTV reality show that films celebrities walking through their expansive mansions. The show works because video captures so much more of the personality than photos can. I decided that it was time for Yale Cribs to segue into the digital video age.

So, dear Class of 2013 (I will assume you will all matriculate of course), this post is a collection of video clips featuring authentic, real deal Yale rooms and the quirky personalities that inhabit them. There are handmade chandeliers, Audrey Hepburn posters, and color schemes abounding. Remember, your room at college is where you will sleep, chat, eat, laugh, cry and potential any other action verb that you can imagine. I will be uploading one featured room per blog.

Kevin, 2012, Morse College- Durfee Hall
Architecture













Note: This is Kevin's single. It is in a suite with a common room, bathroom, two doubles and one other single.


Chandelier fashioned from pipe and spare glass bottles:











































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