I'm Here!

Hi Everyone!

      So I just finished my first day of classes at Cambridge. Both of them are great! The professors are really brilliant. I'm taking a class on Shakespeare (we're reading The Merchant of Venice, Othello, King Lear, and Measure for Measure), which meets in the Old Labs in Newnham College, which is a short trek through a few gardens and some woodsy area which is really pretty. The other class is on Elizabeth I, which is nearer to the main campus area in the English building. 

 I'm still slightly jet lagged from the plane trip. I'm proud to say I got the most sleep of any of the scholars, racking up a powerful 3 hours with the help of good old drammamine. We arrived at the airport around 7am (which felt like 2am to our bodies) and boarded a bus which took us through London to Cambridge. It was a 3 hour ride, but London is beautiful. 

When we got to the area where we were staying in Cambridge (it's called Cripps Court), we got our keys at the Porter's Lodge, and headed up to our rooms. I haven't had a chance to take many pictures yet, but I will post some of my dorm. I got really lucky and ended up with a dorm that has two rooms, whereas most of the other rooms are only one.

Also last night we had our first meal in the dining hall, which, if you can imagine, looks basically like the dining hall in Harry Potter. There's three long tables, and a raised platform at the front, although there's no long table for the professors. The food doesn't magically appear, either, much to my disappointment. There were servers, and it was a three course meal, complete with chocolate mousse at the end.

 One of my favorite parts so far about Cambridge has been meeting all the students from different countries. When you walk into the dining hall, you can't choose your seat; you have to file in and sit with whoever you're walking next to, which might seem a bit annoying, but it's actually a great way to meet different people. Last night at dinner I met students from Tokyo, Athens, Cyprus, Amsterdam, and Zimbabwe. This morning I met a girl from Austria at breakfast. And last night at the Selwyn pub (yeah they have a pub on campus, and drinks are basically like £2.50, it's really nice), I got the chance to meet a couple of people from the area, including our resident tutor who lives in the floor below me.   

    It has been raining on and off every day. It will pour torrentially for, like, 10 minutes, then stop for an hour, then pour again. But Selwyn College is beautiful, and the town itself is gorgeous. There's tons of little shops, and plenty of clothing boutiques, although I have to keep reminding myself that the cost is deceiving, as it's basically double in dollars what it is in pounds.

Anyway, this first blog is a bit scatter-brained; I promise it will get more organized soon, and I will have some pictures, hopefully by the next post.  

    So, to wrap up, I'll post a couple of things I've learned in these last two days:

1. I look like an absolute idiot in a poncho

2. The rumor that British boys are ugly is just not true 

3. If you need to use the bathroom, don't ask for the bathroom or they will assume you want a bath, it's the "toilet" or the "loo." I learned this from first-hand experience.

4. Pub cider is not just cider, and it's absolutely delicious.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll try to keep these posts pretty regular, although it's sort of difficult as the only available computer lab is about a mile from where we're staying, in the town, and very out of the way. But my next post will be more exciting, I promise.