Freshers Fair

I've just returned to the house from our first formal hall dinner, freshers fair, and my meeting with my philosophy don. It's been quite a day. Dinner tonight was rather spectacular. For one, this is the first time we've had a chance to wear our robes. "Robes" however is a bit of a grand misnomer. As non-scholarship undergraduates, we wear "commoner's robes". They're black, about as long as a suit jacket, and sleeveless except for narrow streamer-like vestigial sleeves. As one moves up the ranks accumulating additional degrees and honors, your robe gets longer and sleeved. The next level up is for scholarship students (they're a little longer but still above the knee), grad students (longer still), and Doctorate holders (long and sleeved, like graduation gowns). Academic positions get additional accessories. For example, Dr. Archer once was provost of the University, which meant he got an ermine lined hood. The best gown goes to the chancellor, who needs a team of assistants to carry his train. Long story short, we ate dinner wearing glorified black vests. It was a step in the Harry Potter direction, but not quite there. Before dinner was served all the dons filed in in a bit of a procession to the high table on a dais and somebody read a prayer in Latin. We also got a soup course for the first time, which was nice.

After dinner there was a brief reception for UGA students, then it was next door to the Freshers fair. Anyone that's ever seen the Tate Plaza during activities fairs will know what it looked like. Each club and team had a table and was endeavouring to attract the attention and membership of the passers by. I signed up for the crew and ultimate frisbee mailing lists. We'll see if I have time for both, or either for that matter. Both assured me that it wasn't too much of a time commitment, but right now I don't really know how much time my tutorials are going to require. Speaking of, I met Dr. Peter King today, who will be teaching my political philosophy class.

Dr. King works at Pembroke College on the south side of the city. Seeing as the house is on the north side, it's a bit of a commute. Good thing I have a bike. We briefly discussed objectives for the term, and he assigned a paper due in our first class on Tuesday. He was very friendly, and the workload seems formidable but manageable. Before I worry about that though I have to finish my last paper for Dr. Archer. I got the last one back earlier this week. I got an A-, not a surprise since I didn't think this one was as strong as the last. That just means that I have to do well on this next one. I'm going to write it about witchcraft. And so, now I must go read about witches...