Thursday I was at my internship all day working on my final project, so afterwards I met up with a friend in Trafalgar Square for the lighting of the tree. Every year for about 62 years now, I believe, Oslo has donated a tree from their forest to London as a sign of thankfulness for Britain's help in the war. There were a choir and a band there for carols before the ceremony, and then numerous people including the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the mayor of London (Boris Johnson), and the mayor of Oslo gave speeches.
Boris Johnson lived up to his reputation, saying something about "all those hedge fund managers who have made millions in shorting to get us in this crisis are wondering when it will be okay to go out and start flashing all their money as they walk down Oxford and Regent Street... well, the lighting of this tree is a signal that it's okay to go." What a guy...
The mayor of Oslo made a very sweet speech in English, including a few jokes that I'm sure made sense before the translation, and then pressed the button to light the tree.
It was a cute ceremony, and there were a surprising number of Oslonians (?) there as well, including two very tall ones in front of my friend and me. Here's an example of me just holding up my camera and hoping for the best:
And here, the Christmas tree after the ceremony:
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