Big Bellies and Cheer

Christmas has been and gone and our stomachs are now looking and feeling considerably bigger than a week ago. The crispy Yorkshire puddings and bread crumb sauce were just irresistible, not to mention the juicy traditional Christmas turkey! On a more positive note, our hole ridden socks have now been replaced with brand new ones thanks to Father Christmas' recent visit.

So, it's now time to turn our heads to the New Years Eve celebrations. The man without a plan is frantically scrolling through his mobile phone contacts list to see if there are any parties he can crash, while the ones who already have a plan are hoping it won't be an anticlimax.

Here at OISE Oxford, we wish you all a happy New Year and hope that it is filled with much love, good health and prosperity! We hope this little poem puts a smile on your face:

New Year, Cheers!

The season's tidings have brought much cheer
But the time has come for a brand new year.

2012 has flown by so fast,
At OISE Oxford, we've had a blast.

As we all think of how to best progress,
We wish you all joy and happiness!

Britons of the Year

At this time of year there are many end of year reviews featuring in our newspapers and on the television. One such review in The Telegraph is considering 'Britons of the Year'.

Telegraph writers and editors have chosen 25 notable Britons of 2012. "Whether celebrities or grassroots campaigners – or a horse – all of them have left their mark on the year". Today, The Telegraph have released the first 15 profiles, see below the named 15.  

Margaret Rhodes - the Queen's hard working cousin
Charles Walker - the MP who confessed to OCD
Michael Moritz - Oxford University very generous benefactor
Sheridan Smith - 2012's most notable blossoming actress
Sam Mendes - film director and James Bond reviver
Frankel - a horse champion
Clare Balding - an outstanding sporting presenter
Sir Michael Darrington - campaigner against high pay
Adrian Evans - the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant Master
Damian Lewis - British actor who has wowed America
Pamela Greener - vocal Budget VAT protester
Robert Halfon - MP and fuel tax rebel
Paul Adcock - champion of small businesses
Mary Berry - baking and fashion icon
Darcey Bussell - Mistress of Dance

Who do you consider the Briton of the Year?

Mary Berry

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9766599/Britons-of-the-Year.html

The modern joys of Christmas past

Happy Christmas Eve!  At OISE Oxford we all hope everyone is enjoying the festivities.

On this festive day many may question who invented Christmas? The typical answer is “The Victorians”, or if not that, then “Coca Cola”. However Britons have been celebrating Christmas for at least a thousand years. The western Church adopted December 25 as the official date for Christ’s birth in the fourth century and the term “Cristes Messe” crops up in Old English two decades before 1066.

By the Middle Ages it is very clear that Christmas was a thriving popular holiday, which had combined pagan and pre-Christian traditions, bound them together with the story of the Nativity and come up with a festival of hymns and games, worship and gluttony, which still endures today, when virtually every other Christian feast day except Easter has slipped into obscurity.

In 'The Telegraph' there is an interesting article examining the modern joys of Christmas past.  The Middle Ages hold the beginnings of many familiar rituals:

Timing 

If you feel that Christmas has already been going on for months, rest assured that at least your complaint is not new. The idea of Christmas as a seemingly long festival stretches back more than a thousand years. In 829 AD, at the court of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks, festive celebrations began at Martinmas (November 11) and were still going on at Epiphany (January 6).

Carols 
Here your medieval Christmas comes alive. The carol was once among the most popular forms of song. Plenty of carols, especially from the 15th century onwards, still survive, such as Adam Lay Ybounden.

Clothes 
The geometrically patterned Christmas jumper is a modern creation, but a medieval approximation may still be found.

In 1322 Thomas Earl of Lancaster – the cousin and nemesis of King Edward II – ordered two new scarlet suits for himself and a “cloth of Russet” for the Bishop of Anjou. Lancaster’s household trimmed their Christmas best with miniver or ermin, and wore purple hoods. All of this sounds not dissimilar to the modern “Santa Suit”.

Decorations 

Christmas in the Middle Ages adopted many folk traditions and pagan rituals that had been rife before Christianity. These include the ancient Yuletide custom of hanging up holly, ivy and – if you are too idle to do anything but raid the kitchen storecupboard – bay sprigs.

Food 

Christmas has always been about feasting.  However, a Middle Ages Christmas dinner would be void of the traditional turkey. There were no turkeys in England until they were brought back from Mexico after the 1520s. Before then, the classic Christmas dish was boar’s head – served, as one carol went, “bedeck’d with bays and rosemary”.

Presents 

Sadly, there is no place for Father Christmas in a medieval Christmas. In the Middle Ages, gifts were exchanged not at Christmas but at new year – the “yeresgive”, as it was called.

Merry Christmas!

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/9764194/The-modern-joys-of-Christmas-past.html

Druids having a whale of a time at Stonehenge

Stonehenge, a monument located 60 miles (100 km) south of Oxford, is one of the UK's most popular tourist attractions. Every year it draws in a startling 800,000 tourists.

If you have never been or heard of Stonehenge, picture in your head 'thirty upright stones (sarsens, each over ten feet tall and weighing 26 tons), aligned in a circle, with thirty lintels (6 tons each) perched horizontally atop the sarsens in a continuous circle. There is also an inner circle composed of similar stones, also constructed in post-and-lintel fashion.'

'Archaeologists believe that they were placed at this site between 2000 and 3000 years BC, and were once used as a burial ground. The Druids then used Stonehenge as a temple, and the large stone lying in the center was their alter. the Druids were thought to be the Priests of the ancient Britons and Stonehenge was an ancient British temple.'

Druids still exist to this day, and "well over 5,000" of them made their way to Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice earlier today, and what a celebration it was! A solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice each year as the Sun reaches its highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Click on the image below to read more.

Who's the most popular cookie on Google?

Have you ever wondered who is more famous out of David Beckham and Lionel Messi, or Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay? 

While looking through OISE Bristol's blog, I stumbled across an article by the School Principal about a website called Google Fight, that can compare the popularity of keywords searched for on Google. Click on the image below to give it a go!

Does anyone really care about the British Royal Family?

1,141 years ago King Alfred (the 32nd great grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II) became the first effective King of England. Since then we have had a healthy supply of Henrys, Georges, Williams, Arthurs, a few more Charles, and a sprinkling of Elizabeths and Victorias. One cannot deny that the royal family have been around for a very long time. For better or for worse, it doesn't look as though this will be changing any time soon. Just the other week we heard news of our precious princess Katie soon to deliver the next of kin.

This is all well and proper, but many people do not understand what the point of the Monarchy is. Ok, they bring tourism and publicity to the UK economy, and probably overall the money that this brings in is more than the gastranomical amount of public money spent on polishing their silver spoons. But could these funds not be invested more efficiently elsewhere?

What are your views on the British Royal Family? I pose this question to my OISE Oxford colleagues and got some mixed responses:

Office worker 1: "On the one hand the Royal Family seem fairly pointless as they do not have much political influence and it doesn't seem very democratic for someone to be born into power. However, they do raise a lot of money for charity and bring in a lot of money through tourism which is obviously an advantage. We should count ourselves lucky that we do not have a corrupt Queen. She is so inoffensive at the moment that people aren't too bothered about getting rid of her but once she's gone, who knows how long the monarchy will last."

Office worker 2: "I do not see a point of the Royal Family at all! I don't understand the political system where there is a government and a monarchy. Those two should not exist simultaneously. We either chose our leaders or we don't. The monachy doesn't bring much to society, if anything they eat up too much of our public funds."

Office worker 3: " From a rather uninformed standpoint, I believe that the Royal Family is a positive feature of modern Britain. For many people in Britain and from abroad they are inspirational figureheads and offer huge amounts of goodwill and support to a wide range of charities and other organisations. The Queen has been a central and steady influence on British society for 60 years. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year were a time of great fun and provided a boost to international opinion on the UK. In many ways could the royal family provides the great in Britain?"

Office worker 4: "In politics, you never know what you're going to get Politicians have so much to prove.. The stability that our Monarch has brought to our country over the last 60 years is immense. 2012 has been a terrific year with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, a Royal wedding, and a future heir on the way. What is there not to be proud of?!"

Interestingly today marks the first time that a monarch has attended a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in over 200 years. Whilst this might be interpreted by some as an attempt by the Queen to re-assert her political authority, it seems the real reason for her attendance is the announcement that a portion of Antarctica is shortly to be named after her in celebration of her Jubilee; perhaps not the most pressing matter on the political agenda.

English footballer, Joey Barton, who recently appeared on Newsnight, is known to have some pretty controversial views. Click on the image below to read his article about the pros and cons of the Royal Family.

The art of British cocktail making

Blue Lagoon, Mai-Thai, Singapore Sling, Last Mango in Paris, Negroni, Woo Woo, Sex on the Beach, Mojito, White Russian, Black Russian, Raging Bison, Cosmopolitan, Margarita, Martini (shaken, not stirred), Long Island Ice Tea, Strawberry Daiquiri  Yes, you've guessed it, these are all names of alcoholic cocktails that are widely consumed throughout the UK the rest of the world.

There are no shortages of cocktail bars in Oxford, either, and there is one bar in particular that deserves a special mention. Raoul's Bar, located 10 minutes walk north of the city centre, has been independently voted as one of the world's top 50 bars of 2012 (Sunday Times Newspaper), and the staff have won a splatter of awards for their expertly made cocktails. One factor that separates them from a lot of other cocktail bars is that they only use fresh fruit rather than artificial purees. This makes all the difference!

The space itself is a bit squashed, but one cannot deny that the cocktails are simply sublime! So, if you are in Oxford, and over the legal drinking age of 18, it's definitely worth a visit. 

Will it be a white Christmas?

For many of us, snow is synonymous with Christmas. Christmas cards, songs and films all portray a 'white Christmas'.

However, unfortunately for most parts of the United Kingdom, Christmas is right at the beginning of the period when it's likely to snow. Wintry weather is more likely between January and March than December. Snow or sleet falls on average five days in December, compared to 7.6 days in January, 6.8 days in February and six days in March.

White Christmases were more frequent in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Climate change has also brought higher average temperatures over land and sea and this generally reduces the chances of a white Christmas. However, the natural variability of the weather will not stop cold, snowy winters happening in the future.

We can accurately forecast if snow is likely on any given Christmas Day up to five days beforehand.  So next Thursday we will start to have a more accurate idea.  In terms of the statistical likelihood of snow based on climatology, we know that a snowflake has fallen on Christmas day 38 times in the last 52 years, therefore we can probably expect more than half of all Christmases to be a 'white Christmas' in this sense.

Snow lying on the ground on Christmas Day - as we would expect from typical Christmas scene - is much rarer. There has only been a widespread covering of snow on the ground four times in the last 51 years.

Do you want a white Christmas?  Do you have any particularly memorable white Christmases?

Source: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/snow/white-christmas

Census reveals changing face of UK

Following yesterday’s publication of the 2011 census results, a number of fascinating facts about the evolution of life in England and Wales have emerged. For those of you interested in British society and culture, here are a handful of the most interesting snippets of information gleaned from the news:

1. 1 in 8 residents are born outside the UK
Other than the UK, India, Poland and Pakistan are the most common countries of birth for residents of England and Wales. White British people are now in a minority in London, constituting 45% of the population.

2. A quarter of the population declare themselves to be of ‘no religion’
The number of Christians has decreased by over 4 million since 2001 but Christianity remains the largest religion in England and Wales, followed by Islam which is on the up.

3. Married couple households are in the minority for the first time 
The number of married and civilly partnered couples now make up 47% of all households whilst the number of single adults has risen by 3 million since 2001.

4. Women outnumber men by more than 1 million
This is thought to be due to a longer life expectancy amongst women but also due to women being more likely to fill out the forms!

5. Those in the Lake District work the longest hours
Over a fifth of inhabitants in this stunning, rural area of Britain work more than 49 hours, primarily due to it being a low-wage farming economy where many people have multiple jobs.

Sources: www.guardian.co.uk and www.bbc.co.uk/news

December - the perfect month for a swim?

While most of us are piling on the layers at this time of year, others have been stripping off this weekend for the so-called ‘December Dip’ at the Parliament Hill Lido in North London. Hundreds of brave bathers gathered on Saturday for the Outdoor Swimming Society’s 6th annual swim and having just shaved off his Movember moustache, my husband felt this was the ideal opportunity for a new sponsored challenge! The atmosphere was buzzing with a brass band playing cheery tunes as the daredevil bathers (some sporting tinsel trunks) psyched themselves up for the plunge. Since water temperatures at this time of year are barely above freezing, swimmers are advised to take cold showers in preparation for the event to prepare their body for the shock. On Saturday, the water was 3˚C (not quite as painful as 2010’s 0.1˚C when there was snow on the ground!) but most could only manage a couple of widths before their limbs gave up the ghost. The organisers claim that the icy dip can result in a high that lasts for days due to the release of pain-killing endorphins. My husband was not so convinced - “They said that it would feel great afterwards. They lied.” I can’t say I envied him as he nursed his numb extremities.





If you fancy taking the plunge, visit the Outdoor Swimming Society’s website for more details:
www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com 

Dogs drive me round the bend!

Do you have a driving licence? How difficult is it to pass the driving practical test in your country? It is rumored that it is particularly difficult to pass your test in the UK. It takes an average of 2.3 attempts for someone to pass their test. Out of the European neighbours, the Portuguese and the Spanish are notoriously dangerous drivers. 

So what about dogs? Do you know any that can drive? Would you say they are safe drivers?
Take a look at the video below to hear about a driving school for dogs. Apparently there is a Facebook page for our canine drivers, too.

The greatest pop band in the history of Mankind

Some of you may remember that a good few blogs ago we had a look (and listen) to some of Oxford's homegrown musical talent. While Oxford has indeed produced some truly excellent music, the true kings of British pop music arrived to the scene in 1960. Four Liverpudlian men with floppy hair took the world by storm and began to pelt out some of the greatest songs ever made. Girls adored them and would cry and faint with excitement when they strutted onto the stage. Of course we are talking about no other than the Beatles!

What was particularly astonishing about this band wasn't just the sheer number of quality songs that they produced, but the range of musical ability that they had. It would be impossible to group their music into one type of genre as there are many different elements (and instruments) involved. For example, George Harrison's passion for Indian culture brought in instruments such as the sitar (see photo below). They were a breath of fresh air to the music industry.

Their popularity has far from faded. When the remaining live Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Star, finally gave their permission in 2010 for their music to be downloaded on Apple's Itunes, in the first week alone 2,000,000 individual tracks were sold.

To conclude this post I would like to play you one of my personal favourites, 'Sexy Sadie' - enjoy!

Mega Monday Madness! (All I want for Christmas...)

As we have now entered the festive month of December, the argument of when is an appropriate time to start talking about Christmas is now well and truly something of the past. The hubbub, hustle and bustle is now underway as shoppers are officially on their mission to find the perfect little Christmas present for their husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers etc.

Today is a particularly significant day in the shopping calender as it is the first Monday in December (dubbed Mega Monday). 'It has become the trading high point of the year for online operators because it is normally the first opportunity for shoppers to open their wallets and get out their payment cards after the arrival of the last pay packet before Christmas.'1

So what are you waiting for? Get your credit cards at the ready and head to the high street for an evening of shopping, frenzy and frolics!

The UK's 10 Best Christmas Markets

You may think that Germany is the home of the Christmas Market and to some extent you would be right. But if you are planning to come to the UK over the festive period, why not check out one of the best Christmas Markets the UK has to offer. List courtesy of Independent Online.

1. Leeds Christkindelmarkt
Until 18 December, leeds.gov.uk
Leeds' Millennium Square turns into a little bit of Germany with 40 visiting German traders, and there's even an authentic bierkeller.

2. SouthBank and London Eye Christmas Market
Until 24 December, xmas-markets.com
Pay a visit to Santa in his grotto-cum-chalet or marvel at the illuminated London Eye.

3. Belfast Christmas Continental Market
Until 19 December, belfastcity.gov.uk
Stalls from 27 countries transform the city hall's grounds into a chocolate-box Christmas scene.

4. Caerphilly Medieval Market
10 and 11 December, christmasmarkets.com
Experience a medieval Christmas, complete with castle jester, while roaming around 150 craft stalls.

5. Manchester Christmas Market
Until 21 December, manchester.gov.uk
Mooch around chalet-lined Albert Square and a small forest of plants, and sample the multicultural fare.

6. Gateshead Christmas Market
Until 11 December, newcastlegateshead.com
This is a winter fantasia of carol singers, mulled wine stalls and a whole host of food stalls.

7. Frankfurt Christmas Market, Birmingham
Until 23 Dec, birmingham.gov.uk
The Frankfurt market has German foods and trinkets, as well as local handmade stocking-fillers.

8. Bath Christmas Market
Until 11 December, bathchristmasmarket.co.uk
Possibly the prettiest of all the markets, between Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, with 120 gift stalls.

9. Winchester Christmas Market
Until 21 December, winchester-cathedral.org.uk
This showcases local painters, glass-makers and textile artists.

10. Edinburgh German Christmas Market and Fair
Until 24 December, edinburghschristmas.com
A German market with sausages, crêpes and handmade gifts

Sadly Oxford's application for a Christmas market was turned down this year but I have been reliably informed that it looks set to return next year. Grab a mulled wine and a mince pie or two and enjoy the festive fun!

Source: 'The 10 Best Christmas markets', Independent Online

British Wedding Fever Hits France

The Kate-effect is taking France by storm

An unexpected trend is emerging in the land of l’amour. Today’s French couples are increasingly ditching the wedding traditions of their homeland for the Anglo-American customs of tiered wedding cakes, bridesmaids and bigger budgets. The so-called ‘Kate effect’ has taken France by storm and French designers have been inundated with requests for bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses inspired by the royal wedding. Not only that but the popular period drama, Downton Abbey, is said to be partly responsible for the craze, triggering an increase in the popularity of veils and gloves. Favours (small gifts given to guests at a wedding) are another element of the British wedding that are said to be catching on on the other side of the Channel. And the traditional French wedding dessert, the ‘croquembouche’, a towering pyramid of profiteroles is being exchanged for tiered sponge cakes.

But what is it about British-style weddings that appeals? Some think it is the effect of films like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, whereas others see it as a move towards modernity. Parisian TV director Celia Riviere explains, "British style is seen here as fun and a little bit quirky, not so traditional," she says. So is the traditional French wedding at risk? Riviere doesn’t think so. "I guess British-inspired weddings are very much the style of my generation. I can see them remaining popular. But I don't know if our children will also choose these fashions."

Read the full article at www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20411273

Keeeeeeeeeeep Dancing!

The favourite: Denise Van Outen with dance partner James

As the cold winter nights roll in, there’s no better way to to pass a Saturday evening than to tune in to one of Britain’s most popular reality TV shows, BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. The show started back in 2004 and has gone from strength to strength. It now attracts a whopping 10 million viewers every Saturday evening!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show ,(where have you been hiding?) , it is a ballroom dancing competition where professional dancers are paired with well-known British celebrities. The professionals train the celebrities and perform with them on live television every Saturday night. They perform the Waltz, Cha Cha Cha, Quickstep, Rumba, Tango, Jive, Foxtrot, Paso Doble, Samba and many more. Each celebrity and professional pair is then given a score by a panel of judges, all of whom are ballroom dancing experts. Finally the public vote for the pair they would like to stay in the competition, as one pair is eliminated each week. This year the show has had a great variety of celebrity contestants, including two British Olympic medalists, two pop stars and an ex - English cricketer.

Of course the popularity of ballroom dancing goes all the way back to the early 1900’s in Britain. However, as the years went by, its popularity dwindled and it is only since the arrival of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ onto our screens that its appeal has skyrocketed, with many fans of the show taking classes to learn the steps they see being performed every Saturday. Many of our students are familiar with the show before they arrive in Britain, as the show now has versions in over 40 different countries. And of course the show is a great inspiration to language learners, as one of the judges is Italian. Bruno Tonioli is a great model of a non-native speaker who has a achieved a great level of English, an inspiration to all language students.

The competition is now reaching a climax, with only seven celebrities remaining. Denise Van Outen is the clear favourite, having topped the judges leader board for the past few weeks. However, as we have seen in previous years, there is no telling what will happen in the coming weeks. One slip or sprained ankle could mean the end for any of the couples. It is because of this excitement that ‘Strictly’ has become a global success story and will continue to be the hot topic of conversation here in the OISE Oxford office every Monday morning in the lead up to Christmas.

The Falkland Islands - Who Should They Belong To?

Most of our blog posts until now have been rather lighthearted. We have written at great lengths about British food, the weather, English language learning and a touch of sport. While trying to keep the British theme in tact, today's blog is about a slightly more sensitive subject that is very close to the hearts of many - the Falkland Islands (also known as Las Malvinas).

The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic, 350 miles off the Southern tip of Argentina. The weather is cold and the Falkland Islands are quite barren, supporting more sheep and penguins than people, with around 2,300 inhabitants.

The Islands have been colonised many times since they were first sighted in 1500 by a Portuguese voyage, but they have been under British ruling since 1840. Argentines claim that the British abandoned the Islands in the 1770's, and are, mainly due to their close proximity, part of Argentina. This debate has caused much tension between the two countries.

Simmering tensions between Britain and Argentina reached its climax in 1982 resulting in the Falklands War, but the debate of who the Islands should belong to continues to be very topical in the British press. According to the British government, as well as being rich in oil and having an excellently positioned military base, it's the fact that the island's inhabitants themselves feel British and do not want to be governed by Argentina that makes them reluctant to hand them over.

Argentine Oxford University lecturer, Esteban Hubner, expert in International Relations and Political Science, asked his students their views and whether they could think of a solution. The majority argued that the British people living in the UK do not feel passionate about the Islands and simply see them as a distant far off land. Some felt that 'the Argentines have as much right to reclaim the land as the Romans have to claim back England'1, while others were adamant that they should be returned. 

After the students had discussed a number of different solutions, there was one that was narrowly voted as being the best. That was to make the land autonomous, for it's inhabitants to have two passports and three flags.


What are you views on this debate? Do you think there is a better solution?

Rugby vs. Football = Man vs. Boy?

History of the sports

Football (AKA soccer) has been around for a very long time. According to our most "reliable" source, Wikipedia, the first evidence of an activity resembling football was documented between the 3rd and 1st century BC, in China!

'Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.[2][3] The influence and power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread'.

The first evidence of an activity resembling rugby came quite a few years later, in 1883. It's invention was credited to William Webb Ellis while he was a student at Rugby School, a private boarding school situated in the north of England. It was during a game of football that William decided he would break the rules by picking up the ball and running with it. The rest was history!

Man vs. Boy?

What is funny about these games is that nowadays an Englishman is either an avid follower of football or rugby. It is not very common to meet an Englishman who's a fan of both sports. Rugby fans argue that rugby vs. football is like man vs. boy.

In the north of England there are certainly more rugby supporters than in the south. It's probably also true to say that a lot of rugby's fanbase went through the English private school system. Private boarding schools in England tend to prefer rugby as their main sport and consider football to be a game for the working classes (though they'd never admit this, obviously!).

Do they play both sports in your country? If so, which game do you prefer and why? 

When is an appropriate time to start talking about Christmas?

(NOTE: Please listen to this song while reading this blog post)

The office staff at OISE Oxford are torn. Half of us are adamant that we simply cannot start discussing Christmas festivities until at least the beginning of December, while the other half are finding it hard to suppress their bubbling excitement. 

Some of the dangers of starting Christmas too early:

• Too many mince pies can lead to a sharp increase in body mass
• Christmas tunes can lead to acute irritation with everyone around you
• By the time Christmas day arrives, you have already had enough of it all

Personally I can't get enough of it all. The more Christmas related chat, the better. Bring it on, ho ho ho. This Friday the Christmas lights will be turned on in Oxford, and there's an evening of festive cheer to follow. Get your crackers and stockings out and let's have a good time!

The image above is of a character called Scrooge from Charles Dickens' famous novel, A Christmas Carol. Click on the image to read more!

Nerds and Geeks are making a comeback!

Let's start by looking at some definitions of the word "nerd" and "geek", which both basically mean the same thing.

Nerd:
An intelligent, single-minded expert in a particular technical discipline or profession

- source: Wikipedia

Geek:
a peculiar or otherwise dis-likable person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.

- source: dictionary.com

Were you a "nerd" at school, or just a little bit "geeky"? I was never either I don't think, but I remember clearly the people that were. Back in my day to be called a nerd or a geek was considered to be a little bit of an insult. These words would generally refer to:

a. Kids who would be more interested in reading the latest Lord of the Rings book than playing with their school mates (often because their mates were few and far between).
b. Completing the last level of Tetris on the hardest setting
c. Working out how to crack the school computer system

It wasn't just acting like a geek that gained you this rather unpleasant title, you had to look the part too. It wouldn't be unusual for the a so-called geek to wear glasses and wear clothes that were clearly different from their peers.

My colleague Jo rather reluctantly admits that she too was a little geeky. She argues that it was only a phase, though. The less forgiving types would say that once a geek, always a geek - Sorry Jo!

But it appears that geeks are now making a comeback, and this is largely thanks to our international superstar, Harry Potter. Click on the picture below to read more.