My Wonderful Year | Page 6

drawers,
a desk chair, a desk, a bookcase, a lounging chair, a tea table, a mirror,
and a throw rug. A large clothes closet extended from the floor to the
ceiling and another closet contained a bowl with hot and cold running
water. My room was No. 10 A located on the first floor and was
assigned to me when I sent in my application. I knew that I was going
to be afraid to sleep on the first floor, but in England our first floor is
called the ground floor, and accordingly the second floor is called the
first floor. I spent about an hour one night trying to turn on the ceil*-
ing light and the desk light at the same time, finally despairing and
thinking how very stupid I had become since my trip across the
Atlantic. I learned later that the switch is so fixed that only one light
can be used at a time. This is much better than having the housemother
scold every month about the enormous light bill. There is a maid who
takes care of the room. The service one received with the room
included the privilege of setting one pair of shoes outside of the door
each night and the next morning taking in a brightly shined pair. Not
asking if two pairs could be polished at a time, I set out two pairs in the
hall one night, only to find that one pair was shined the next morning.
The plumbing arrangements in England are quite different from those
which we have in America. The bath tub and the lavatory are never in
the same room, thus the bathrooms are much smaller than ours. The
bathtubs are longer and higher as well as narrower, being made for the
slender Englishman and not for the plump American.
The dining room of College Hall was located on the below-ground
floor. Breakfast which was served from the hatch cafeteria style
consisted always of orange marmalade and the regular breakfast menu
including ham or eggs and bacon or eggs, not ham and eggs and bacon
and eggs which Americans hold inseparable, very lean sausages, and
herring which I fear I never learned to eat properly. The favorite lunch
dish was steak and kidney pie. And tea, for which England is noted,
was served from four to five at which hour not only large quantities of
tea were consumed, but brown bread and butter, white bread and butter,
delicious preserves, cake, and scones as a rare treat. I soon became as

one to the manner born, and at four o'clock I had to have my tea. India
tea is used almost exclusively, but usually it was too dark and strong
for me, and I found myself using about two or three tablespoons of tea
and a half cup of hot water. The Englishman does not use lemon in his
tea ; at breakfast he may use milk, but at tea time it is drunk plain.
Many a four o'clock since my return from England have I longed for a
delicious cup of hot tea.
English table etiquette differs from ours. The fork is always used in the
left hand, the knife being used in the right hand to place such foods as
peas, potatoes and gravy on the back of the fork. Dessert is always
eaten with a spoon and a fork, which are not placed on the side of the
plate, but at the top of the plate. Dinner was a very enjoyable meal. One
always dressed for it. At the ringing of the 6:55 bell the girls came
down stairs and stood at their accustomed seats, ten girls being seated
at each table. At 7 o'clock at the ringing of the second bell, the
administrative staff came down, each one of the four being
accompanied by a girl from the floor that was designated to sit at the
high or head table that night. There were six floors at College Hall ; so
once each week each girl had the privilege of sitting at the principal's
table. On Sunday night those girls sat there who had not found a place
earlier in the week or who chose to sit there. After grace was said by
Miss Alleyne, the principal, everyone sat and the maids began serving.
Roast beef without any fat is the favorite meat, brussel sprouts the
favorite green vegetable, white potatoes are a part of the daily diet,
lentil the favorite soup, lettuce, tomato, and egg the favorite salad, trifle
the favorite dessert, horse radish mustard the favorite condiment, and
custard the accompaniment of all desserts. Three nights a week after
dinner, coffee was served in the large common room. It was sweetened
with a kind of sugar called demerara, which looks