It's Christmas in Edinburgh University Housing!

Well, kids, the papers are done, the laundry is being washed, and the packing is about to begin. That can only mean one thing: it's almost Christmas! I head home tomorrow, and I cannot wait, but I can't neglect to tell you about some of the Christmas festivities that are going on here in Edinburgh. The first I want to mention is our dorm Christmas party. A couple of weeks ago, our house warden organized a lovely little get-together to decorate the house common room. It came complete with mulled wine, mince pies,

and a British Christmas tradition that, until now, I only knew from Harry Potter: Christmas crackers!

For those of you who have never encountered Christmas crackers, here's the deal: two people each hold one end of this paper device and pull. As it comes apart, it makes a loud "cracking" sound, and goodies fly out! Huzzah! According to my RA, you usually get some kind of toy and a hat. Here's what I got:

You can see that I am wearing a very stylish paper crown. I also got a toy dinosaur and a piece of paper with a joke on it.

DE-lightful. By the way, did you know that in pre-historic times, there were forests of giant pies? 

Michael Crichton isn't going to tell you that kind of stuff.

Well, that's all for this post. But fear not! I have plenty more Edinburgh Christmas festivities to tell you about when I return to the States. So stay tuned!