Walking Around Cambridge

I woke up this morning and was determined to make this a "good" day. So after giving myself plenty of sleep and time to get ready, I then ventured out into the unknown. I walked around the main city centre for a couple of hours with the sounds of Mumford & Sons, the xx, The Avett Brothers, Tegan and Sara, and Iron & Wine streaming through my headphones. I didn't know where I was going, but luckily enough it is pretty much a straight path from St. Edmund's to the main city centre.

While I was strolling along the cobblestone paths, I stopped in some familiar shops like Waterstones, where I picked up Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower in the off chance that I have time for an outside free reading book. I also ran some errands and found the post office and a place where I can top up my mobile. Unfortunately since I had to pack for a whole year in two bags I didn't have room to pack one of the essentials for England, an umbrella. Have no fear, I know where a Cath Kidston store is so I bought an adorable umbrella covered with pink roses. When I was done with my errands I began to walk down small side streets (not too many to get myself all turned around and lost) and passed some of the better known colleges of Cambridge.

When most people think of Cambridge University they think of old, tall, pointy castle-like buildings like the ones in the Harry Potter films (yes, some scenes from Harry Potter were filmed in Cambridge). I passed by some of those old, tall, pointy castle-like colleges which are King's College and Trinity College. The architecture is beautiful, stunning. Rivers run just on the side of these colleges as well and since it was a nice sunny day today, there were many punters out. And for those of you who don't know what punting is, essentially it is the British version of an Italian gondola ride. Apparently there is a huge competition between Oxford and Cambridge punters during the spring time in London; hopefully I will be able to go.

This evening I went to Eddie's Bar which is our school's bar located in the building just across from by dorm. A girl I met earlier today while walking back through campus suggested that I go so I met up with her and chatted with a few other people she met. I talked to a girl from Australia, a girl from South Africa, and a boy from Ireland who once caught a salmon in Ballina. St. Edmund's truly is the most international college out of all the colleges here.

Move-in Day

Yesterday I moved into St. Edmund's College, Richards Law Building, room 33. When Annie and I first arrived I checked into Reception and got my key and a map of the school's layout (which consists of the dorm buildings, a small library, a small gym, combination room, dining hall, and chapel) and that was it. During the whole applications/acceptance process I have barely received any information from Cambridge; I thought it would get better once I arrived at school, but no, doesn't look like they are very good at communicating...EVER.

Annie and I went straight to my room to check out the basic lay out. My room is quite spacious with plenty of shelves, closet space, and water basin. We then made our way to the city centre to pick up some groceries, new bedspread, and some things to make my room a bit more home-y. After Annie left I had a minor major breakdown. I called my mom crying because I realized how alone I was. I mean this is what I have always wanted, to be back in England. So why am I freaking out and having major moments of doubt? As my friend Elo said, I am allowed to have sad days, but I have to make sure that I am responsible for also having good days. So here's to good days. Things can (hopefully) only get better.

Return to England

Since I don't know what my school schedule will be like, whether I will have some sort of a life or whether I will be stuck in the library day after day, I decided to spend the day in London while I had the chance. My friend Jenny, who studied abroad in London with me during the 2008 academic school year, is currently studying at the Pepperdine London house with the law program. When I left my aunt's house to catch the National Rail into London I realized it is going to take me a bit longer to adjust to the cold weather, especially since California was having an abnormally hot fall when I left. Going from 85+ F to 7C is quite an adjustment. And why oh why did America make everything difficult by changing its metric system? I always have to calculate celsius to fahrenheit by typing it into Google.

Anyways...I met Jenny at the South Ken tube station around noon and then we made our ways toward Southwark to spend some time at the Tate Modern. The museum had a whole filled with several Rothko paintings. We also saw numerous works by Picasso, Matisse, and Turner. After the museum we made our way through the pouring rain to Wagamama's for a late lunch.

Our next stop was St. John's Wood to see Abbey Road because Jenny had never been. We signed the wall outside of Abbey Road Recording Studio before crossing the infamous Abbey Road crosswalk. Then it was on to the Pepperdine house where I met some of Jenny's law school friends.

It stopped raining for a bit so we decided to walk through Hyde Park. The pathways were filled with puddles but we managed to jump over each one. We saw the Peter Pan statue before making our way to dinner at the Churchill Arms. We used to go there sometimes for surprise group dinners. It is actually a pub, but in the back there is a Thai restaurant.

After dinner I said goodbye to Jenny and made my way back to Luton. After walking around in the cold rain all day, it was nice to change into dry clothes and put my feet up.