Canterbury Christmas
This week has been a flurry of essays and carol services. Monday, we had choir practice in a gorgeous little church that's over 900 years, it still has frescos on the walls! We're preforming there on Friday so I'll bring my camera along for that one. Tuesday, was the CU carol service in St. Dunstans, just down the road. I love that Christmas jumpers are so popular here, everyone has and wears them regularly. So far my favourite is one guy's "Merry Christmas ya Filthy Animal" one (from Home Alone) and there's also plenty of Star Wars ones walking around. It's really hard to explain to people that in Canada the only time we really wear them is to 'Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties' and not sound insulting.
Sunday was Canterbury Vineyard's carol service, the gym was all decorated and lighted. Our group did O Holy Night and Good News, both of which I had a solo in, and it went quite nicely if I do say so myself. It's the first carol service I've been to that's had a banjo. The choir had a Christmas party at Leoni's house afterwards where we received the announcement that we are finalists in Top Choir Kent! We placed our entry about a month back so now we'll be competing in March.
Monday, Chiara and I walked down Eliot footpath, with the postcard view of the glowing Cathedral before us. We serendipitously met up with Amy, Abigail, Alexis, Kelly, Matt, and Esther along the way as we headed to the university carol service. People had already started lining up at the giant gates, huddled under umbrellas when we got there. They have their life sized nativity scenes set up looking all serene and creepy. Maybe it's just because I've seen too many Doctor Who Christmas Specials but I don't trust life sized decorations of anything anymore. Chiara and I slipped around the side and took our spots in the multi-lingual choir.
Every year they have a group of students sing Silent Night in various languages; German, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and an African language, so I signed up for the German one. The German guy beside us complimented me on my great english, I felt bad when I had to clarify. I had thought sniffing and blowing your nose in a quiet library was embarrassing - it has nothing on having to in a massive cathedral - very echoey. Fortunately, it abated before the service actually started. We were lined up along the walls, facing inwards, so I was staring into Emily's lovely face - which in turn was making faces back at me while everyone else got seated. We had a beautiful view of the cathedral and as everyone's candle was lit the lights went out.
It was so serene, two thousand little points of light flickering and the angelic voices of the girls choir grew and filled the space. We didn't have the candles on the whole time, mainly for fire safety reasons. As it was, when I blew out my candle a bit of the wick flew onto the guy in front of me's jacket and I had to quickly flick it off, no harm done. The rest of the service was lovely, with singing, readings, an offering for a refugee camp in Calais, and in true church tradition, a lot of standing up and sitting down. The service ended with re-lighting of the candles and taking our light into the world, just not very far as it was windy and raining so most lights died shortly after the door.
Our whole group met up and headed to the Unicorn, cause apparently I only go to pubs named after mythological creatures now. It's my new favourite place it the world. Only a few of the patrons were hanging around so we just sank into a corner for a drink and some fish and chips till close.
