February 2009

Stephanie: February was a month of lots of working and classes started up again for me.  I am taking modules on Fantasy, Picture books, Publishing and Non-fiction for children this semester. Good stuff.

On Valentine's day, our friends hosted a Murder Mystery dinner.   Lots of fun!  There were eight of us and we had to act and dress as specific characters (I was a mysterious French socialite, Russell was a rough-around-the-edges, opportunistic Aussie).  Then we had to figure how who killed our host.  Turns out it was the Vicar. 

Seems like the 'Vicar' is the new the 'butler'--such a shame.

On February 26, we took a tour of the Abbey House (a former abbey), which is now the official residence of the Winchester mayor (for business purposes only though.  He lives somewhere else).  I have found a new dream career!  His or her main duties include attending official functions (i.e. ones with lots of good food) and acting as host for the city.  How awesome is that?  The mayor is elected from the city council and serves one year.  As Winchester is the ancient capital city, it shares a unique position with London's mayor: when the next coronation happens, they are the only two mayors invited (another reason it is a plush job!).  At the end of the tour, we got to rub elbows and chat with the former mayor and future mayor (the current one was unavailable--probably off at a fancy party :).