So yesterday was Ascension Day-the second Bank Holiday of May (the first being May Day). This day is also known as "Good Thursday" and is traditionally the 40th day after Easter- marking Christ's ascension into heaven. Lincoln College has a special Ascension Day celebration where they open up their courtyard to the public and give out free pints of cider. As I walked up Turl Street I saw that the college had draped the front of their entryway with medieval looking banners splashed with the various symbols representing Lincoln College.
The big event of the day, however, was the “hot penny toss” Traditionally on Ascension Day the heads of college would invite all the young Oxford children to come to the Lincoln quad and they would throw scalding penny’s down at them which they ran to collect, but when their hands were burned when they tried to pick up the pennies they were supposed to learn that “greed” is a bad thing.
Now a days the JCR board go up to the tower and throw 3,6000 pennies down at the children (not scolding) and the kids go around picking up money. It was so funny because the pennies were throw in the sky and it would block out the sun and then there would be a pause and an occasional scream from the frightened/excited children as they waited to get pelted by money and collect it as well.
Its moments like these that I think "Yes- I am ACTUALLY in Oxford- and only in Oxford would something like this happen!"
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