MCR dinner

On November 10th, it was my first MCR dinner in Oxford. On the day, late afternoon, since I was able to confirm that my current method of sample preparation won't work at around 6pm, I went to MCR a bit late at 7pm. My first impression of the dinner was that the people were relatively calm and peaceful probably because the people more energetic and keen for socializing were screened by the swap dinner with St John's College. Thanks to the swap dinner, I was able to meet non-fresher graduates in the college.

I hadn't been to the MCR, and my first impression for the MCR was small, cozy and mess like other ordinary MCRs. As a person who speaks English as the secondary language, it's not very enjoyable having a chat with someone who I don't know much about in a crowd. With said that, the idea of social connection through MCR is unique, and one of the best advantages of Oxford and Cambridge. Mixing up with people from different academic fields and backgrounds sometimes creates a distance in human relationship because they have less chance to professionally get connected. But, right before the dinner, and with a glass of wine, an engineer may find it quite interesting to know what a economist or a pianist is doing in Oxford.

In my college, MCR dinner does not take place at main hall, which is a bit disappointing in that the hall is quite beautiful and cool. Another surprising point was that there was no seat plan, which means you can sit anywhere. This could be good or bad, depending on individuals. As for me, it was not bad.

During the dinner, I met a fourth year Chinese DPhil studying physics. Actually, I cannot imagine how it would be like being a fourth year DPhil student. Needless to say that under massive pressure for thesis, and almost chaos due to job hunting or applying for postdocs. It's been just one-and-a-half month since my DPhil started, and still it's extremely difficult to judge the nature of DPhil. It seems to me that I am having more spare time, and enjoying what I am doing, but at the same time, it seems to be impossible to feel satisfaction and achievement from work. Sometimes, it seems like I am just working as an employee in Oxford ltd, but it requires academic depth. 

MCR dinner is definitely expansive, and I guess it's because of wine. Having a wine or not should be optional, and if the dinner price could be under 7 or 8 pounds, I would like to sign up for the dinner everytime.