Of Robes, Methodism, and Such...

A few weeks ago, during the seventh week of term, I went to an event called "formal hall."  This is a formal dinner at your college where everyone wears academic robes and is served a nicer meal than the usual dining hall food.  I hate to say it, but the best analogy I can give is a scene in the Great Hall from a Harry Potter film.  Formal hall dinners at Oxford look a lot like that, except for the floating candles, the magical ceiling, and all the other non-muggle happenings at a Hogwarts dinner!

Academic robes, by the way, are not worn every day.  You don't wear them to class or tutorials, although full-time Oxford University students do need to wear them when they sit for exams! Also, each level of student wears a different type of robe.  Below I'm wearing the typical undergraduate robe.  You can see that it's short and doesn't cover much. Robes tell a lot about a person at Oxford - robes associated with higher degrees are progressively longer and cover more of the person.  Here's a picture of me wearing a standard undergrad robe for formal hall dinner:

Last week I went back to London for a bit and this time, I nourished the religious historian and nerdy Methodist side of me by visiting some of the John Wesley/Methodist sites in the city!  Across the street from Westminster Abbey is a place called Methodist Central Hall.  In their lobby they have a life-size statue of John Wesley, so I had to pose with him for a picture!

Look at that: I'm a little bit taller than John Wesley was.  Just shows that short people can do good things!

Then, I headed over to Wesley Memorial Chapel for a visit to a church that both John and Charles Wesley preached at. The marble columns lining the sides of the church were donated by several different sects of Methodism from across the world, including the American denominations of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

In the back of the churchyard, they have John Wesley's grave. Joe Eldridge, my boss at the Kay Center at AU, told me I needed to see his grave while I was in London.  Joe, these pictures are for you!

A view from the front of the church... I wish I had gotten a picture of myself in front with the statue! (I guess that means I'll have to go back!)

I didn't just see Methodist sites on my second visit to London, but I'll post more later.  Right now I need to get some sleep because tomorrow some friends and I are taking our first major trip of spring break: we're going to Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon!  Nine days on the warm Iberian Peninsula... a nice break from cold and rainy England!