it's november ✨

Hey everyone,

It's been a busy busy last week of half term with most of the same things I've been doing every week - reading, writing, teaching. You've heard it all before so I'm going to change the format a bit this time. Rather than describing my week I'll just talk about a few topics :)

I've never really been that into Halloween but I enjoyed it this time around! Of course, my Halloween began earlier than usual because of the costume party a couple of weeks ago, and then pumpkin carving last weekend. As for this week, it was very atmospheric and dark - because the clocks went back an hour last Sunday, it now gets dark an hour earlier in the evenings. Bad for our vitamin D levels but great for the spooky vibes.

I also dropped by the bookshop in the Quaker Friends House on my way into SOAS on Monday morning and stumbled upon a short book about the Green Man, an English mythical being, which was a very topical and enjoyable read for Halloween week! I've seen some things about the Green Man in my British folk culture-related interests but I never actually learned about his story. As it goes, a royal man gets lost on a hunting trip into the forest and goes for a swim in a lake. When he returns, he finds his horse and clothes have been stolen, and so he is forced to find leaves to cover himself with. Once he comes face to face with the forest he realises he has no desire to return to the world of kings and castles, so he goes wild - until another man gets lost and he steals back his clothes and horse and leaves the forest, but as a changed man. The book also talks about the echoes of the Green Man throughout history via Robin Hood, enclosure (aka how British land was stolen from commoners and parcelled up for lords in the Middle Ages), Merlin, conscientious objectors, and modern-day fights for ecological justice.

I find it an interesting story because it's about a man, and not a heroic man who triumphs against evil but one who learns to be a better man by embracing wildness. So many folkloric things are linked to women as being mythically in tune with nature or whatever but here is a man going wild. It's also fascinating because the Green Man is everywhere if you know where to look (garden ornaments, church gargoyles, even the invitations for King Charles’ coronation) but I didn't even know the story. I definitely recommend this book!

On Halloween itself I had a looooooong day of work, but I tried to make my tutorials a little spooky. We discussed the ‘haunted’ historical/societal baggage behind concepts like the ‘cost of living crisis’ and why it's important to be critical about the concepts we use to explain things (e.g. is it really a crisis if it's a result of long term structural problems?). I also wore a witches hat for the entire time 🧙‍♀️ and got my students to pick topics for discussion out of a little bat shaped trick or treating bag. They seemed to enjoy it especially when I handed out sweets at the end!

In the evening I had a talk about animism in Japan, which is definitely one of these haunted concepts since the word ‘animism’ (the belief that nonhumans are inhabited by spirits) was coined by an anthropologist, Edward Tylor, who put humans on a scale of primitive to enlightened with animism at the bottom and Christianity at the top. Yikes. Another yikes is the kind of Japan supremacy that often accompanies attempts to reclaim ‘animism’ by arguing that Japanese culture is uniquely close to nature and holds the answers to the ecological crises of the modern era despite the Japanese government lacking any meaningful action against climate change. Thankfully my supervisor Fabio spent his 10 minutes’ presentation thoroughly picking apart the concept. What was spookiest of all though is that I was at this talk until 8:30pm. On Halloween night 🥲

Instant album of the week, it's SO good and so spooky. Every song smashes it out of the park. I'm really happy to see whimsical Florence back, harp and all. And on Halloween!!!

I went to the Alexandra Palace fireworks with my housemate Kirstie and some of her friends. It was great - the fireworks weren't as good as the beautiful Japanese ones I saw in the summer, but it was accompanied by a very British musical soundtrack (Oasis, Mike Oldfield, Amy Winehouse, that kinda thing) which brought me great joy. There was also a giant bonfire and randomly a huge tent with a band covering 90s dance music. Also very fun. But they were clearly trying to do Halloween and Bonfire Night at the same time with some drones making spooky shapes in the air and graveyard decorations at the bottom of the bonfire, which was a little confusing. I think generally the timing of the weekend this year has smushed Halloween and Bonfire Night together a little too much.

If any non-Brits are wondering why we have fireworks outdoors during one of the most miserably cold and rainy times of the year - it's to commemorate a man called Guy Fawkes, whose plot to blow up Parliament (specifically the House of Lords, our unelected upper chamber) with barrels upon barrels of gunpowder was foiled back in 1605. The bonfires sometimes have Guy Fawkes effigies on them which is obviously anti-Guy Fawkes, but whether or not the fireworks are goading him about his failure to follow through or celebrating his legacy is up to the reader.

Anyway, after the fireworks I was persuaded by Kirstie to go to the pub, where we found a dancefloor full of people in Halloween costumes singing along to Chappell Roan, Abba, and every hit in between. Obviously I stayed until 1am ✨

I met my lovely Mum for lunch and a catch-up on Friday between my tutorials and the talk in the evening - much needed!

Then today, despite being a teensy bit hungover, I went on a slightly impromptu trip to Cambridge to see some of my uni friends! We started with brunch at Jesus College (you could say I have a friend in Jesus - thanks Joanna), which was very needed and also surprisingly cheap. I think the cost of the train tickets was basically free when you consider how much a London brunch would cost. We walked it off along the river while chatting about rowing drama and the joys (/s) of academia and teaching. Then another pit stop at Kerb Kollective, a fabulous little coffee stand with even more fabulous cinnamon buns. After that we headed to Liza and Richard’s for some quiet time, and then after a delicious dinner we ended up getting totally and joyfully sucked in to Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer. It's almost certainly playing on all our insecurities as renters unable to decorate to our hearts’ content, but it was a lot of fun trying to meet the silly briefs of fictional characters. Especially when we ended up making the ultimate lesbian dreamhouse for two “roommates” (they were matching pink characters, they definitely were more than just roommates).

It was honestly just so nice to hang out in a chill way, knowing that I'll see everyone again soon, rather than spending the whole time wondering when the next time will be like I was last year when I was heading back to Japan. It's lovely to be back ❤️

Ok it's late and I'm tired, so I think that will be all for now. Hopefully after a break from teaching I emerge rejuvenated and ready to write something a bit more engaging! (Or perhaps not, as I have 6000 words to write this week. Wish me luck…)

Have a lovely week,

Stella x