Christmas party and a wedding

Friday evening as I was returning home, I saw fireworks.  I think the local pub was celebrating winter solstice.  I would celebrate it as well.  The lack of sunshine has been hard.  But I have been able to keep busy.

One afternoon we had our office Christmas party.  We went to the home of  a supporter, ate goodies, drank mulled, pulled crackers and reveled in the excellent company.  I even gave a fairly good rendition of Rudolf, which was caught on film.  
We had a secret Santa gift exchange.  I ended up with a warm woolen scarf.  Anja added hilarity to the activity.

Friday evening I helped prepare for a wedding. I had not been able to do any Christmas baking, so I helped make the desserts for a young couple from church.  He is the local Christian Union staff member here at Oxford and she teaches school.  We made fruit salad, apple crisp and banoffie.  It was great fun.

The wedding was not Church of England, but the Brits do take the marriage ceremony more seriously that we do in the states.  Before the bride enters the church the registrar, the government official who is required to witness the wedding, asked her questions to make sure she is the person listed on the license and that she is marrying of her own free will. (Britain has seen several forced marriages within the communities of their former colonies.)  Then the minister must ask if anyone knows of any reason why the couple not be married. In addition the couple both have to declare that they are not a ware of any reason why they cannot be married. (I have heard of a marriage called off by the registrar when the bride playfully said that she might be able to think of some reason.) Then the registrar and church role are signed during the ceremony.  This couple entertained the congregation with a ribbon dance during this time.

The reception commenced immediately after the ceremony with hot mulled apple juice and munchies.  The groom is the young man standing

After a very good meal of roast pork, (I have a photo of the pig on the spit. Email me if you would like to see it.) the festivities continued with a barn dance.  The bride is in white.  I left shortly after the dancing started, having been with people for nearly six hours and anticipating an evening of carols the next night.

Sunday evening I went to the Carol Service at my church.  They do not necessarily sing the same carols here, and a couple of the tunes are different.  One that I find most theologically suspect is Once in Royal David's City. The first verse rightly proclaims the coming of Christ, but by the third and fourth verses children are admonished to be like him, meek and obedient.  I am not sure that he was necessarily meek and it does bother me that a Christmas carol is used to get children to mind their parents.  Then the final verse tells of the Christians all in white waiting in heaven.  Our future clothing style is not mentioned and the assumption is that the by that time the waiting will be over.  The service was enjoyable though.