Cambridge and London

London and Cambridge were really cool. I can’t decide which I liked better, but maybe it’s unfair to compare them because they’re both such different experiences. Cambridge seemed busy but obviously that’s nothing compared to London. Cambridge is about an hour away from the school. Once we got out of the buses we got sorted into different groups and given tour guides. Ours wasn’t the best. He was French, randomly, and a little hard to understand. I also felt like he rushed through a bit, so unfortunately I can’t remember a lot of the details and some of the buildings I couldn’t tell you what they’re called. I did like hearing about the history and the long-running battle between “town and gown,” or the locals and the students at the school. I also liked hearing about the pranks students have played, such as taking the gold scepter from a statue and replacing it with a chair leg, and putting a toilet seat on top of one of the college towers.

The buildings were really grand and beautiful, and the streets were full of fun shops, which unfortunately I couldn’t explore. After our tour guide finished we had 4 hours to do whatever we liked, so I went with my K-State crew and some awesome Canadians we met and wandered to a street market where I got a Jamaican jerked chicken wrap, which was really good. Then we signed up for a boat tour of the River Cam, from which point you can see a lot of the colleges. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable and told some interesting stories as we passed Trinity College and the other colleges visible from the river. I felt bad for the poor guy, though; he was clearly freezing and getting wet as he punted us along the river (can that be used as a verb? Oh well, it can now). After punting we went to King’s Chapel, which was beautiful, and then wandered around the gardens. Then we walked for a bit, found the Fitzwilliam Museum randomly, and explored it since it was free (it’s huge and full of art and artifacts from all different eras—Greek, Egyptian, etc.). By that point it was time to go. I think the boat tour was my favorite part. Our guide was very cheeky and that made it amusing, but we still got to hear a lot of cool stories.

On Sunday we visited London. I didn’t do a lot of the things I’ve wanted to do there, such as visit the Tower of London, but it didn’t bother me since it’s close enough that I know I can return. Our buses dropped us off near the River Thames, in sight of the London Eye and Big Ben. A bunch of the student guides led us in a circuit, so it wasn’t really a tour so much as…walking. There were a lot of buildings and sites I would have liked to hear about, but I guess that can wait for another time. We walked through St. James’ Park, saw Buckingham Palace, and ended at Trafalgar Square. After goofing off there for a while (we watched a street performer who put his entire body through a tennis racket…really not as interesting as it sounds like it would be), we headed toward Leicester Square, but stopped to have lunch at a place called the Brewmaster, which was very quaint and traditional. I had the fish sandwich with chips or fries and a Guinness, because hey, I was in a pub and it seemed like the thing to do.

Then we hit up Oxford Street and walked around the shops, none of which I could’ve afforded anything in, I’m sure. I did go to a souvenir shop to buy some postcards. Then we met up once again with the Canadians—Mike, Jen, and Katie—and wandered around together. Mike wanted to go to a sports pub because a team he knew was playing. He advised us not to mention Manchester United because a lot of people in the area hate them, which is unfortunate because that’s really the only football team I know. Mike navigated on his iPhone and took us through some detours, one of which was filled with some shops of a questionable content so I guess I got to see a lot of different sides to London. Anyway, after asking a local we found a pub and squeezed into the very back. It was actually a pretty tame group in there—only some yelled swearwords at the screen now and again. After that we had to race through London to get back to the Victoria Embankment in time. I did have to stop a couple times to take some pictures as evening fell over London—it was so pretty, almost prettier at night than in the day. As we were hurrying through Trafalgar Square a bagpiper started playing. It was sort of surreal but very cool. I hope I get to come back to London soon and take some tours of the area so I can hear more about the history.

I started classes on Monday, which was interesting. I’m taking History of the English Language, Romantic Poetry, Becoming a Writer (a creative writing workshop), and Writing in Britain Since 1945. Classes are set up very differently here. Each class—or module, as they say here—has a one-hour lecture with a pretty big class, and from there the class gets split up into seminar groups to allow for discussions. So you go to your lecture and then you go to your one-hour seminar an hour or two later. One of my seminars yesterday for History of the English Language only had four people in it! Luckily all my teachers—or “tutors” as they say here—seem nice so far. I only have one class I haven’t been to yet, Writing in Britain, which is tomorrow. The good thing is I should have Thursdays and Fridays off! It's starting to get busy here (busier, anyway) but I will update when I can!