Happy Thanksgiving!

Santa's Grotto on Briggate in the city centre--it's been up for weeks

Rowhouses between my place and Kirkstall Road

Graveyard at St. Michael's


St. Michael's (Church of England) in Headingley

We got our feedback on our first essays & were assigned our dissertation supervisors this week, so that was good. I was really happy with my essay and expected a fabulous mark. The grading system here is so different, but luckily this time I knew how it works. When I was in Bath, the first essay I got back was a 60 and I cried, thinking it was a D. That's not how it works in England. A 50-59 is a pass, a 60-69 is a high pass, and a 70 and above is a distinction. I got a high pass, but not close to a 'distinction'. Still, it's only the first essay, and at least now I have a better idea of what the prof wants.
My dissertation supervisor seems like a nice guy--haven't talked with him yet, but I've seen him at the Wednesday night lectures and the intro session at start of term. He's American, which I thought was funny--I come all this way to study in England and I end up working with an American. His area of research is just what I need, though--international broadcasting, crisis reporting, etc.
Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, marking the second year in a row that I'll be missing out on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, egg nog, and cranberry sauce shaped like a can. Last year I had a turkey-cranberry pasty that was a pretty fair substitute. I haven't had a pasty since I've been back, but I should check that out tomorrow for lunch. I have class at 5, and we usually go to a pub afterwards, so it looks like I'll be drinking my Thanksgiving dinner (but at least I won't be alone). Unrelated to food, one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the kick-off to the Christmas season: watching Macy's parade in my pajamas while drinking egg nog for breakfast, catching "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" just afterwards, and seeing toy ads all over television. Strangely enough, though, I don't really miss that here--we've been in Christmas mode since before Halloween.
Hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving!