Friday, December 5, 2008
London

It was a relatively uneventful day. But for the fact that I waited all day for the TV repairman to show up, I was very relaxed. I meant to go and see the Cabinet War Rooms this morning but decided that I have too much grading to do. I have taken on additional grading work for students writing a paper on ‘Issues in Contemporary British Politics and Culture’ and since I attended so many of the Monday evening talks on these subjects at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, I was keen to see how much our students took out of them.

As it turned out, the papers were very readable and brought up some relevant facts gleaned from the talks, newspaper articles and their own observations of London life. I enjoyed their perspectives and was amazed at how observant they are about their environment and how varied are their views, depending, of course, on whether they are themselves conservative or liberal in the own outlook.

I spent a while cleaning too–my bathroom and my kitchen. I also fixed myself some sandwiches for my breakfast tomorrow (I will be on a Ryanair flight on which no food is offered and I know I will be starving by 7 am.).I also spent a long while downloading pictures from my camera, editing and captioning them, making a backup CD and charging my camera for my trip to Ireland. All of that took an enormous amount of time, but I am delighted to see that my pictures have come very good indeed and capture rather well my last month in this country. I also started to pack for my trip to Ireland.

After lunch, I set a Final Exam paper for my Anglo-Indian course and having finished grading the British Issues papers, I set out for campus in order to hand them in as I will only be back on Wednesday, December 10 and these papers are due in on December 9. Since I was making the trip to campus, I decided to get my final exam papers printed out and photocopied as well as print out two of my Anglo-Indian interviews. Talk about multi-tasking! I made a To-Do List this morning as I wanted to stay organized and on track and make sure I did not leave anything unfinished.

So, despite my staying home all day, the TV man did not show up and when I called Virgin Media at almost 4 pm, they assured me that he had rung my bell at 12. 10 pm. I said that was impossible as I hadn’t stirred out of the house all day. Finally, after I insisted I speak to a supervisor, a lady called Carol came on the line, apologized and offered to send someone in tomorrow. When I told that I would be away for a few days, she apologized again, then set an appointment for me again with an engineer next Friday.

Then, just as I was leaving my building to get to campus, I ran into my concierge Arben. I asked him if a TV technician had come to my flat around noon. He said that he had seen no sign of anyone, but he volunteered to take a look at my TV himself. Ten minutes later, my TV was fixed and I had full reception again. It turned out that my cable box had frozen. When Arben disconnected a few wires at the back, it rebooted itself and, presto, everything was back to normal!

At campus, all went well. Having returned my papers, I did the printing and photocopying I wanted, then made my way to Lambs Conduit Street where Karen told me that a Christmas Fair was being held. The weather had turned surprisingly mild; but then just as I got to the venue, the drizzle began and it turned chilly again. So, I was delighted to find a stall selling fruity mulled wine for just 1. 50 pounds a glass. I bought some of it, sipped it gingerly (as it was rather hot) and found it to be absolutely delicious. It was richly spiced with loads of cinnamon and cloves and flavored marvelously with citrus. It was just what the doctor ordered on this weepy evening and I clasped the glass tightly allowing the heat to warm my fingers.

Back on the bus, I headed to the Tesco Express at Holborn Viaduct to pick up some goodies for my Christmas party for my students next Thursday. Since they have never eaten a Christmas Rich Fruit Cake and we had read an essay about it in class by Dolores Chew (from The Way We Were: Anglo-Indian Chronicles edited by Margaret and Glen Deefholts), I decided to buy one. I also bought a pack of Christmas crackers as I thought I should introduce my American students to a British tradition. With bottles of fizzy wine (mock champagne) and a box of Indian appetisers (samosas, bhaji and aloo tikki), I think I am set for my contribution to the party. I am sure we will have plenty of food and wine and a truly fun evening and as I am all ready for it now, I don’t have to stress about getting organized for it after I get back from Ireland.

I will be in Belfast for a few days where the weather is dreadfully cold and snow is threatening to make my trip a rather challenging one. But I am not allowing it to dampen my enthusiasm. I am expecting the worse but hoping for the best…and that is the only way to be!

My next contribution to this blog will be on Thursday, December 11, 2008.