ahoy weekend!

It has been an absolute whirlwind the last couple days, and it's only now that I have a chance to take a breather, unwind, and of course blog. Class is over for the week, and this weekend should be accordingly fun! But first, a recap of what's been happening:

Wednesday we spent most of the evening at the Selwyn pub, but I was again persuaded to go out with Emilio, Jeff and Rex. We went to a different club that night, The Fez, which had a cover and expensive drinks, but was still really fun for the short time that I ended up spending there. It was foam party night too, which was kinda gross. Thus continued (and still does) my trend of not getting enough sleep, but whatever... rest is for the weak, especially when you're in Europe.

Yesterday, a group of us wandered into town for a couple hours, and I finally got my jacket back! We wandered around the open-air marketplace for the better part of an hour. One of the many things I love about Cambridge is that it's such the idyllic little college town, where you walk everywhere, and it's just so comfortable and cute.


We also went to church at the Kings' College Chapel, which besides from being the first Anglican service I've ever been to, also houses a legendarily good choir, they were seriously good. The chapel itself, like everything else here, is spectacular. Later that evening, after dinner, a bunch of us went to the Ceilidh, which was arranged by the Cambridge program. It was an Irish riverdancing lesson, and we had so much fun being silly and attempting to dance. It got really hot and sweaty since the room was poorly ventilated, and we had to leave early because of it, but it was seriously one of the most fun things I've done in a while.

Last night a huuuge group of us went out again. After convening at the Selwyn bar, we headed out and arrived at another bar in town, Ta Bouche, which is actually really close to The Fez. I didn't buy anything there because drinks are really expensive at bars, the cheapest you get are at Selwyn. We actually went back to Revolution, which I think might become our hotspot because there's no cover, and the drinks are the cheapest, especially since we now have at our disposal a discount card that cuts the prices even more. Some pics from last night of me and Lindsay (yea Helenes!), and me, Nick, and Valerie (OG Sunday crew):



So this afternoon I finally went running (trying to burn off all the carbs I'm consuming here!) and I feel a million times better. In a little bit, I'm going to a garden party with my friend Chase and some other USC people- I guess his professor is hosting it for his class, and he's allowed to bring guests, which is pretty sweet. Then tonight might be more low-key, we're going to the evening lecture on A Midsummer Night's Dream by Simon Browne, one of the lecturers that my friends have and say is really great. possibly going to the mall center in town or seeing a movie, but then again I keep saying that I'm going to take it easy and look what happens, haha. Tomorrow morning we are going on a walking tour of Cambridge, although we've already seen a lot of the city, I hope that we get to explore parts that we haven't yet really uncovered. Then we're punting again in the afternoon- I think it's a tour, but I really want to try it ourselves, so that is for sure going to happen in the next 3 weeks!

PS- It just started raining like 5 minutes ago, so I'm super glad I went out jogging earlier while it was still sunny! This Cambridge weather is so unpredictable, but I love it!

Did I mention that I love this city?

Because, um, I absolutely do. I actually know that I've said it here already, but it bears repeating, several times. Cambridge is seriously freaking amazing, and I've already realized that 4 weeks is going to go by so so quickly.

I know that I said that last night would be an earlier night for me, but it turns out that I am a pushover who can be convinced to go out without too much difficulty. We started at the college pub, which incidentally, is convienently located right next to our dormitory building. This pic is of Jessica, me and Melissa (2 of the FL-ians) with Strongarm ciders! However, the bar closes at 11, and instead of retiring for the night, a group of us ended up at Revolution again, the club wasn't open but the bar was, so we hung there for an hour. We did get back home at a slightly more reasonable hour and I was able to catch a couple more hours of shuteye than I had the prior night.

This morning I was still pretty tired in my first class, so I went back to my room and took a quick nap. BTW, realized that I never posted pics of my dorm. It's really spacious, with a large sitting room and smaller bedroom. It's bigger than any of the other peoples' rooms I've seen. I also have 5 chairs total, lol. Please disregard the somewhat messy state of affairs (although anyone who's ever roomed with me or has observed the way I maintain my living space should hardly be surprised):

Both of my classes went really well today, the professors are engaging and I find the subject material of both to be really interesting, so I'm enjoying the actual studying experience as well (which I'm sure is a relief to my parents who are footing the bill in the name of education!). After class, I went into town on my own for the first time, I still don't have a map but was able to navigate myself fairly well (after a couple days I've gotten more of an intuitive layout of the city). It was drizzling the whole time I was walking, which I actually don't mind: everyone here is complaining about it but I really love this kind of weather, as long as it's not frigidly cold or pouring rain I really enjoy the rain. Plus, I think it makes Cambridge that much prettier. I took this pic while standing in front of Kings' College, it's the road that runs right in front of it, and I think it's incredibly picturesque.

I finally met up with KHUSHBOO then!! I found out why her program is way different than mine in terms of lodging and where her classes are; it's because she's enrolled at Kings instead of Selwyn. Makes sense. We visited her flat(!) which I thought was super neat. Then we walked around the marketplace a bit, I had my first Cornish pastry (delicious), and I bought myself a Cambridge sweatshirt (super cozy), some postcards, and a bag of groceries (I didn't want to shell out £1.50 everytime I wanted a 250ml soda, but at the grocery store Sainsbury I was able to buy 2.50 litres for the same price!!) I also bought some apples (I'm trying to be healthy), a sandwich (tomorrow's lunch- trying to be cheap) and a Cadbury bar (ok, I couldn't resist). I dropped Khushi off at her flat before walking back through Kings' College to Selwyn. I don't think I can emphasize enough how incredibly gorgeous everything is here.

Now I'm back in my room unwinding a bit until dinner. Our USC group had a meeting with our program director, Kimberly, which was pretty straightforward. I'm now trying to plan a bit ahead with travelling and such- next weekend we are seeing King Lear at The Globe(!) in London, and some of us are arranging to either stay the night there, or even get to London two nights before (that's our 3-day weekend, so we might as well spend it in London, right?) Also, the next weekend is absolutely open for us, so Lindsay and I were talking about flying out to either Dublin or Stockholm (where my uncle lives, and it would be great to see him!) At this point, booking a flight would be kind of expensive, but hey, you're only young once right?

P.S. I was able to get my rail ticket from London to Paris at the original time and (cheaper) price, so that was exciting! Although I've been spending so much, it's probably nigh time to check the status of my bank account...

P.P.S. My internet randomly shut down in the middle of typing this post, which would have been devastating were it not for autosaved drafts. Thanks blogger!

P.P.P.S. It's come to my attention that more people are reading this than I realized, since only like 4 have commented on my posts. If you happen by this page, please leave a reply-- it's great motivation for me to keep documenting everything I'm doing over here! :)

first day of class

Hello hello! Updating from the Selwyn computer lab, since I was trying to print some documents, but I can't figure out how to use the printer, so until I figure that out I figured I'd update. (No pictures sorry, my camera battery died and it's recharging right now.)

Last night I finally found the USC contingent. I already knew Lindsay and Emilio, and met Corbin (who I'd talked with online prior to the trip) along with Kevin, Katherine, Rex, Jeff, Meredith, Ning, and Tammy. Luckily, I ran into them while with the Floridians, so they got to meet each other right away. We went to the bar before and after dinner and the assimilation of the two groups happened much more naturally than I could have hoped for, which makes me really happy- I didn't want to abandon the FL-ians, but didn't want to blow off the SCers either, so it really is the best of both worlds this way! A bunch of us from both groups went to a club last night in town called Revolution, as we figured it would be the best night to do it before we have any real class obligations. Needless to say, we stayed out rather late. I lost my jacket and it was raining when we left, so the walk/run back was rather unfortunate. Luckily (and randomly) some girls that my friend met at the bar called him last night and mentioned picking up the jacket offhand, so he'll be able to get that back for me, haha.

I didn't get much sleep last night, but still didn't have a problem getting up early and was ready for class! My A block, Imperialism in the Ancient World, is great, I really like the professor and I think the material's going to be fascinating. It really piqued my intellectual curiosity and makes me consider taking some Classics courses once I'm back at USC... it's probably to late for me to consider a double major, but possibly a minor? Anyway, I'm going to really enjoy that one. My B block, A History of the Scientific Revolution, is also interesting, but I think the professor slightly rubbed me the wrong way- he was a little bit condescending during lecture, but he doesn't seem too bad, I'm willing to give him another chance. Thankfully I also find the material interesting, so hopefully I will also like this class. I was able to meet people in each of my classes, and Tammy from USC is actually in A with me, which was a pleasant surprise because I'd looked at the roster earlier and thought I didn't share classes with anyone from SC. But some people I know have already started their research, or even writing their papers, which is kind of pushing me to get on top of that.

After class I had lunch at the Buttery (basically the Cambridge equivalent of Trojan Grounds) with John, Taylor and Jessica, and then went into town with USC kids, including Emilio and Lindsay, and Nick came along as well. I bought a replacement travel umbrella (for £5, i cringed but had to bite the bucket since I seriously could not locate the one i brought with me ANYWHERE!) and then due to some miscommunication, I and a couple others were separated from the main group, but we all found our way back to Selwyn and straightened it out then, haha. So now I'm just killing a little bit of time before we all meet up for dinner again, and afterwards we'll either go to the bar again or maybe attend the evening lecture (or perhaps both). One thing's for sure, it'll definitely be an earlier night for me- I need to catch up on sleep!

I'm also trying to be conservative about money, as I feel like I spent way too much yesterday (£6 for lunch, and probably about £8 combined at the bar and club). Today lunch + umbrella = £8, so I'm allotting myself £5 for drinks tonight (enough for a pint and one other drink should I choose to have another). I just made my hostel reservation for the place I'm staying in London with Thea, which will cost me £68 for three nights (which is actually super reasonable). However, the Chunnel prices have gone up since I've last looked at them, so I'll be spending at least $20 more than I'd anticipated on that. But I'm going grocery shopping with Lindsay tomorrow after class, and I figure that'll be cheaper than buying lunch everyday at the Buttery. Plus, I think I'll finally be able to meet up with Khushboo in town!!

dipping my toes...

While settling in I met a girl named Melissa and she helped me lug my ginormous suitcase of doom up two flights of stairs (I’m on the third floor), so we met up and went down for dinner together at the Selwyn Dining Hall. It was a buffet style since it was Sunday, but normally dinner is served formally. I met some other people who had also arrived early, mostly comprised of a large contingent from Florida (including Melissa, and some others: Nick, Taylor, Jessica, and John) and one girl, Stina, from Denmark. After dinner I would have been interested in exploring, but a lot of things around Cambridge are closed Sunday night, and the Floridians had a separate orientation by their program director, so I ended up back in my room, started unpacking and organizing my life. I meant to stay up a little later but ended up falling asleep around 10 pm last night accidentally, waking up at 1 am still in my jeans and t-shirt. (I guess I wasn’t as over the jet-lag as I’d thought…) I then changed and got a couple more hours sleep before awaking again at 7:15 am.

Went down to the Full English breakfast at 8 and found my same group. I was surprisingly adventurous, trying the marmalade (on my croissant) and tomatoes (with my egg, potatoes and sausage) and enjoying them considerably. Next steps for me are the beans and Marmite, haha- I wasn't that daring yet. Met the Resident Tutor for my and Melissa’s building, Mark, who is the same age as me and a student at Cambridge. After breakfast, I went to the Summer Schools library, which is a really misleading name- it’s one tiny room with maybe 6 or 7 bookshelves. But they had all of the books I needed for my classes, so I can’t complain too much.

Then I met up with the Florida group (as we were still pretty much the only ones to have arrived, most people were registering that day) and we went out to explore the city! One of the FL directors kind of gave us an immediate tour of the buildings where our classes would be, and then we ventured westward and decided that, despite the probability of rain, we were going to go punting! So we went on the tour and it was very informative. The river goes past many of the principal Cambridge colleges so we got to learn a lot about their history, and some amusing stories associated with each one. Since it was a tour, we didn’t actually get to punt, but I’m hoping to actually try it Saturday.

After that we grabbed lunch at a pub right next door, The Anchor. I had minestrone soup and my first pint, of Stronghold- a cider that’s kind of sweet. It was also the first legal drink I’ve purchased ;) yeah UK! We wandered about some more afterwards, went to a drugstore and I bought an English chocolate bar that is really good. I’m determined to sample every kind of British sweet possible while I’m here. It was sprinkling on and off, sometimes heavily, and of course I didn’t have my umbrella because I’ve lost it in my room somewhere and can’t find it, which is rather inconvenient, but luckily we tended to huddle anyway. I was wearing my khaki capris, but it turned out to be a good idea because it wasn’t that cold, and the bottoms couldn’t get soaked like when you wear jeans when it’s raining and have to walk through puddles. Also peeked into Kings College, which only students have access to, which was really neat. There are tons of gorgeous gardens and courtyards here, but Kings is one of the most spectacular. We looked around for good Cambridge name gear, but I couldn’t decide on any one item so I’m going to wait that one out a bit.

So I’m back in my dorm now, and our group is going to meet up in a bit before dinner tonight. My dorm has two rooms, one larger area with a desk, a chest of drawers, bookshelves and a huge closet- I definitely won’t need all that room! Then there’s the bedroom, with a twin bed, a sink and another larger chest of drawers. I also have like five chairs total in the dorm, which is good I guess if people are hanging out here. Melissa’s room is smaller and more like a studio, which is bizarre that they would have different room styles in the same building, but whatever, I’m happy with mine. My windows directly face the courtyard and is right across from the Selwyn chapel. Here's my view: pretty, no?

The showers are not en suite, there’s two to a floor , and only one has a shower (the other has a bathtub!?) which might be a little bit awkward, but oh well. On my way back from the shower I actually saw people moving into my hall, which is a promising start I suppose. Still haven’t run into any USC people yet, or Khushboo, which will hopefully happen later tonight! There is an orientation session at 8:30pm, so I expect I should run into those I have not yet encountered. But this first taste of Cambridge has already been tantalizingly good, I'm eagerly anticipating what comes next!

Touchdown in Londontown...

Hey hey from the other side of the pond! Yes, I arrived in the UK sans incident. The flights were not too bad, albeit long- 3 hours to Dallas, and 9 to London. I was able to sleep a decent amount on the red-eye, which is definitely a good thing as I think I'm mostly adjusted to UK time by now. It was so exciting to land in London!! I was so fascinated by the layout of the city as we were flying directly over about to land, the River Thames, all the neat bridges and buildings and gardens. The weather is lovely, high 60s/low 70s, and it's been drizzling on and off all day. After landing, I went through customs with nary a problem, got my luggage, and was again disappointed at the lack of wireless available in the airport (shame, Heathrow...)

I located the Heathrow Central Bus Station without too much difficulty, and boarded the one heading for Cambridge. It was a little under 3 hour drive, and it gave me a great chance to see more England sights outside of central London (which I'll get plenty to do later with Thea!). I was mesmerized by the city planning, which is entirely backwards for me, with the roads and drivers on opposite sides, not to mention to numerous roundabouts scattered all over the British streets. It seems dangerous to me, but I guess the experienced Brits can navigate them well. When we entered Cambridgeshire, I was awed at how beautiful and historic everything looked. It really is the idyllic university setting.

Having been dropped off in Cambridge, I had a map, but couldn't locate where the bus station was in relation to where my registration and lodging were taking place. Fortunately, I found two other similarly situated fellows. One of whom was also a girl from Sac(!), the other dude from Germany, and both are doing different programs than me so I don't know if I'll see them again. But we collaborated for a taxi and found our respective ways.

I registered a day early (most people in my program are arriving tomorrow) and got all the necessary college literature, before going to the Porter's Lodge for my residence hall, Selwyn College. It is absolutely gorgeous- see for yourself:

I received my keys and found the USC program director, Kimberly, there as well, so it was good to see one familiar face. Now I'm all situated in my AMAZINGLY large dorm room- which is also a single! And I have my first university dinner in an hour. No one seems to have much faith in my affinity for English food, but I am determined to prove them all wrong. Tomorrow: exploring Cambridge, hopefully meeting up with Khushboo (who is already here) and Lindsay (who should be arriving), buying books, and pics of my room and the view from it. I'll let you know, it is spectacularly beautiful...