For many Americans, Independence Day was full of drinking, BBQs, fireworks, beaches, and happy USA-ing all over the country. Plus those little perks like no work or school (if in summer school). I still had class and it was the most uneventful July 4th I have ever had (not surprising though when I have celebrated Independence Day in Newport Beach).
In the morning after class Sam and I went to have tea/coffee at a local shop. It was a really great away to start of the day and I felt very English (even though it was an American holiday). There was even a man next to me reading a very old-fashioned book while sipping his tea. So British!
In the afternoon I had another class and I also got lunch with Kate and All One Bar. We were able to eat for just £6, which was cool. Lunch was closed at the college today, so we had to eat out of it.
The Program Assistants put on a BBQ for us at dinner which was great. There wasn't any real hot dogs though, which I was sad about, so I just had a burger. It was pretty good and I devoured it because I was hungry. They also had £1 drinks and had American beer, BUDWEISER! I had one and it reminded me at home.
After that we all went to the Anchor again (a pub we went to the first night) and it was fun because we sat outside. No one was really celebrating (obviously) but it was still kind of fun to go out for a bit for Independence Day!
5 JUL, TUESDAY:
Having class everyday isn't just abnormal for the average UC student, but we have class everyday here. Actually, I have class at 9:00 everyday for the rest of the session. Today though I was able to 'sleep in' and have class at 10:25. What is nice though is that there are only 2 classes and they are far enough apart in time that I have time to do a lot of things during the day, like go into town or hang out with friends.
I had lunch and dinner on campus today, which was great. At lunch they had herb encrusted salmon, which was crazy to have at a college cafeteria!
I also cleaned my room, which was really nice. I'm able to post pictures of what my room looks like now! :P
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| My clean room! |
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| View from my window! |
6 JUL, WEDNESDAY:
I started studying at the Pembroke Library. This place is so cool! I've actually never gotten so much stuff done and I'm reading real books instead of looking up articles online. I am next to a head bust that Kate and I have deemed the inspiration to do well here at Pembroke.
We decided to name him Sir Edward Wiseman, but we call him Eddie. It was one of the most productive times in a library and I loved how everything was so old. There were also seats specifically reserved for Fellows who want to work at certain places... It made me want to become one!
Today I also went to the Vue Cinema to buy my Harry Potter ticket. Kate, Danny, Sam2 and I were able to get VIP seating (leather recliner seats) for only £9.50 each. What's great about British cinemas is that they also learned to do assigned seating so inside the theater it won't get so crazy.
7 JUL, THURSDAY:
I noticed that our Harry Potter tickets seemed to be off. Instead of saying 00:15 on Friday July 15, it said 00:15 on Saturday July 16. I thought this was strange and that it must had been a mistake on the computer or something... who would want to go see the Harry Potter movie 24 hours after the midnight premiere?
Kate and I went for Sam and Danny to get it sorted (they had class) at the cinema. Turns out, the person who helped us out so easily really messed things up for us. It turns out the tickets really were for 00:15 on Saturday and it wasn't even 3D. The guy who helped us this time was really really nice to us and tried to help us out the best he could. We weren't able to get VIP seating because it was sold out, but we got pretty decent seats and we are seeing it in 3D. We also got 4 complimentary tickets that we can upgrade to 3D and VIP for free. Danny's birthday is next week so we will go see Transformers 3(D) which the boys are obviously stoked about.
The food here is getting a bit better. I get scared of cafeteria food, but so far it's turned out pretty good. I just miss some American stuff like yellow mustard, lemonade, and regular sandwiches without mayo already on it. Such as life.
8 JUL, FRIDAY:
I had my first seminars with my professors this week. Seminars are just a smaller version of our classes, but it was pretty good. Dr. Sian Pooley (my Intimacy and Morality in Britain professor) already knew most names and she was really helpful in figuring out our 2500 word paper we will have to turn in by the end of the program (not that long from now!).
In my other seminar (Spooks & Spies) we watched a very old but cool video about World War I espionage in Britain and Germany. We have a 1500 word essay due next Tuesday and that will help us out.
This day I also got an ear ache and that was really disappointing. :( It got better throughout the day, but today was also the day we were leaving for London.
Overall, a pretty good first full week at Cambridge. I explored the city, went to all my classes and had a fun week. I didn't go out in the night though because I have class everyday at 9:00! It's very early, but I do enjoy the classes so it's worth it :)
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