Manny Road Christmas Party

Next up in my final amazing week of my time in Oxford was the Manny Road Christmas party. As with every Saturday this year, I went to watch the men's team (with Kim) and got to enjoy a win in my last game as the number one Manny Road supporter. After showering and changing I met up a bunch of the guys and Kim at the Uni Club for a drink before heading over to the Cape of Good Hope where the party was being held.

 We got to the Cape a bit early because Simon was in charge of the event and needed to make sure everything was good. Once we were allowed upstairs we were greeted by Christmas decorations and costumes, including a lovely pair of reindeer antlers. Adam put them on my head and then told me that I couldn't really pull them off so of course I spent the rest of the evening trying to prove that I not only pulled them off but can do so with aplomb.

 The buffet food was really good and as we were eating we were watching the Army-Navy (American) football game and were enjoying watching Army keep up with Navy in the first few quarters. Once the Classico (game between Barcelona and Real Madrid) started we switched over to that and watched in bits and pieces as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-1 after giving up a goal in the 21st second of the match. Apart from the television entertainment it was great to just get to chat with the mens teams, the women's team, and friends of the club. I'm so glad I've been a part of this great club over the past year and a half.

 At one point in the evening Simon got on the microphone and thanked everyone for coming and talked about the season so far. He then called me over and embarrassed me by talking about me and saying goodbye on the behalf of the club. Completely unbeknownst to me, everyone had signed a card and the girls had gotten me a Manny Road t-shirt that had Southern Region League Champions and a list of all the players on the back. It was really sweet and it made me feel incredibly appreciated.

After we were kicked out of the Cape we went on to the Half Moon and hung out there for a while longer. All in all it was a great night, it was nice to see all the football people one more time before I left, and at final count, the score for "pulling off the antlers" versus "not pulling them off"was 12-1 so take that Adam, I win!

Varsity Rugby 2011

Last year my first real introduction (apart from a few Sunday night indoor football games) to the amazing boys of OUS was the Varsity Rugby match and ball. If you want to read my recap of last year's match/night you can find it here: http://roniyadlin.blogspot.com/2010/12/varsity-rugby.html.

I had an amazing time last year and, considering how close I'd grown to these guys over the course of the year, I was even more excited for the match this year! Britta came along this year as well (unfortunately Bonnie couldn't make it) and when we showed up at the Oxford train station to go into London I was really stoked for the day ahead. Oh yeah, add on the fact that I had turned my thesis in the day before and therefore had absolutely no work related stresses, it was bound to be an incredible day.

The trip out was much better than last year because the train didn't break down somewhere between Reading and Twickenham. Our huge group (myself, Britta, Matt, Leon, Tommy, Danny, Jack, Andy, Sarah, Abi, Phil, Rupert, Harriet, Indi, did I forget anyone?) sat together on the train and then got a drink and some food outside the stadium before heading in for the game.

 

The game was really good and ended with a resounding Oxford victory! The first half was pretty even and included an epic fistfight between the two number 8s (resulting in the Oxford captain needed stitches and having the most amazing black eye I've ever seen) and a controversial penalty try awarded to Cambridge. The score at halftime was 13-10 but Oxford took over in the second half, ending the game with a final score of 28-10. Any time an Oxford player was down injured we would give a little cheer as Gemma (who was working physio for the game) would run onto the pitch to do her thing.

After the game we took the tran into London (everyone made it on to the correct train this year), and walked from the tube station to our hotel in Chelsea, getting some drinks along the way. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and then got ready for the ball. Perhaps the greatest thing that happened pregame was this incredible display by the one and only Jack Meeks. I only with I could have witnessed it in person!!

After a few drinks at the hotel, we jumped into some taxis and drove over to the Clapham Grand, the club where the ball was held. It was, in my opinion, much better than last year because it was a bigger place, much cheaper in terms of drinks, and a more laid back atmosphere. The DJs weren't great but regardless of where it was and what was happening, getting to hang out with the amazing people I was with would have made the biggest dump enjoyable.

After we were kicked out of the club we went back to the hotel where, on the way in, Matt ran into a delivery guy from Ringo's Pizza. Despite the fact that none of us truly wanted pizza, we ordered some and then proceeded to wait what felt like hours (was probably only about 30 minues) for Ringo's pizza to arrive. This was punctuated by Matt calling Ringo every 5 minutes to complain about how hungry we were and offer everything from thousands of pounds to his firstborn child just to get us some food.

The next morning (everyone in various states of disrepair) we had breakfast in London before getting back on the train and heading back to Oxford. On the whole another great day and night with an incredible group of people. I'm so blessed that these guys welcomed me into their circle with open arms and truly made me feel like a part of the family. Hopefully this won't be my last Varsity and I'll be able to figure out a way to make it to another one in the near future!!