Pomp and Circumstance

This was a weekend of welcome and of getting to know the full Harlaxton community better as the result of several key ceremonies that went on. Yesterday morning, the entire student body of 142 was gathered in the Long Gallery of the house for the Principal's Convocation Exordium and address. There was a grand procession of the faculty in their robes, the Vicar from St. Mary and St. Peter, Harlaxton, the Principal of the College, and the Dean led by a piper in full regalia and a drummer into the hall. The Dean introduced the faculty and the the Prinicipal gave his first formal address to the students at Harlaxton. It was quite something though the British faculty tended to roll their eyes at this effort to evoke the historical (but increasingly rare) traditions of Oxford and Cambridge. For the students, I suspect it was an impressive show, and for the faculty, it did make one feel a sense of pride in the work we came to do here. In the afternoon, most of the students and faculty grabbed the coaches for Grantham to see our first open market day. People sold all kinds of things here but interspersed with scarfs, small electrical appliances, and other sundries, were the farmers stalls. Once again, the tiniest, sweetest strawberries were on offer for L1.00 (about $1.63). There were lovely scones and baked goods, meat pies, and local honey and jams. It was almost too much to take in. We were all very hungry since we skipped the manor lunch (hot dogs!) and opted to find something in Grantham. The Relax Inn fish and chips shop was just the ticket serving lovely fried cod and haddock with wonderful chips wrapped in white blotter paper. It was cheap and delicious but we decided we'd only be able to stop there once a month or else we'd end up weighing a ton.

The evening back at the Manor was another bit of ceremony with a full introduction (our degrees, positions back home, scholarly work, etc.) of the faculty members at a formal reception at which the men were all in ties and coats and the women in black cocktail dresses. We were again in robes and introduced one by one before the piper returned to lead us all to a formal dinner. It was a lovely evening for everyone. The students naturally escaped as soon as possible to continue to explore the various ales at the local pub while the faculty adjourned to the Senior Common Room again for more cheese, wine, scotch, and lively conversation until midnight. I think getting back to the routines of teaching will be a good thing for everyone after all this.