High Table

Just got back from formal hall and I have to say that this is one of the true gems of Oxford. All of the colleges have an informal dinner every night but there are also formal hall dinners- a three course meal for which you have to make a reservation and wear your gown. But they are always so much fun because the act of making a reservation requires advanced planning and encourages you to get a large group together. Usually you try to invite friends from other colleges in exchange for an invitation to their dinner at a later date. And St. John’s is amazing because we have formal hall almost every night and it only costs 3.45GBP, which is at least half as much as most other colleges.

Tonight I barely made it since I was coming from rowing practice and had to be in my seat before the Latin grace or they wouldn’t let me in. I arrived with moments to spare and found a group of Rhodies staking out fully a third of the table. Often times these dinners are a culinary adventure with menus that read like a page in a French textbook, but tonight the menu was both intelligible and delectable. We started with minestrone, moved on to baked chicken with smoked bacon and mozzarella and topped it all off with blueberry cheesecake. During breakfast and lunch the clamor of hundreds of plates and bustle of students dashing to and from class can make the dining hall feel a bit like a cafeteria but during formal hall, the candlesticks and drape of black gowns makes you more aware of the vaulted ceilings and the portraits peering down on you. At one point, Luke and I were in the middle of a discussion about the challenges of living in a developing country like Jamaica where politicians literally buy votes with cows and pigs that people need to feed their families. The setting and the conversation were an odd juxtaposition of privilege and struggle and I remember looking up and thinking, “Wow, do people really live like this?” Apparently they do. But surely the privilege of this university experience merely makes us more aware of the inequity in the world and increases our debt to society. This train of thought was a bit heavy for an after dinner musing but I find that it typifies the social and intellectual roller coaster that is Oxford.