One of my housemates, Misha, hails from Serbia.
As all good history students know, the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches eventually yielded different religious calendars - Julian for the former, Gregorian for the latter. Thus, for all those Eastern Orthodox Christians out there, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
And for the holiday, the house is hosting many of Misha's friends, along with some tag-alongs supplied by myself and Marcella (Steve, Emory, Zach, Grainne), for a (second?) Christmas dinner. It's continuing as I speak. My house is full of Eastern Orthodox Christians!
The whole ordeal has just been hilarious: with travel stories supplied by Marcella and Grainne (who were, respectively, trying to fly back to Seattle from Houston and New Orleans - became horribly delayed by the "snowstorms"), posture anecdotes from Emory, and lessons in Southern charm from myself and Marcella, the gathering has indeed been a memorable one. Traditional Serbian food abounds - and Misha, Marcella, and I exchanged Christmas gifts before the guests arrived. Marcella knows a true dork when she sees one - while in Houston, she got me a t-shirt from the Johnson Space Center. My Reaction: "This is sooooo COOL! I wanna wear it now!" Misha apparently also knows a true dork when he sees one - as shown by the classical music CDs he gave me. Ah, presents!
And thankfully, celebrating this Eastern Orthodox Christmas has served as a mild distraction from the most awkward schism of all:
My parents went to court in Illinois today and officially "dissolved" their marriage of thirty-five years.
Posted by James at January 7, 2004 10:58 PMGood afternoon James. We should go out for coffee sometime. All these conversations on the bus would play out better if there were more time.
Posted by: Travis at January 8, 2004 03:34 PM