I had hoped to avoid the royal wedding, by dint of being in China. It seemed a fairly good bet, given other side of the world, foreign language, communist disdain for monarchies...

No such luck - it is being broadcast live on Chinese news, and my host mother is glued to every second of it, and needs my assistance for such weighty issues as who Elton John is. Ah, well. Not like the dissertation proposal is due in tomorrow or anything.