Summer 2011 at Cambridge University: Move-in Day

Woke up to a hearty English breakfast delivered to my room at the hotel (this is one food-related thing the English really do right!), and then attempted to take a taxi to the Porter's Gate at King's College, except the street was closed due to a Relay For Life marathon. The cab driver was courteous enough to take a five minute walk to the gate to help with my bags, and then refused to take any fare for his trouble. I am already struck by how courteous people are here in comparison with the US.

I then moved directly into my accommodation in Bodley's Court, Entry X, Room 3. The room is extremely spacious with tons of shelves, its own sink (that worryingly proclaims "Do not drink the water!"), and two chests of drawers, though the furnishing is plain (and looks completely empty thanks to my light packing). The best part is the view - I am on the first floor looking straight out over the River Cam, with punts passing ten feet below my window every minute at least. There was even a punt with a freezer and Ben and Jerry's awning selling to tourists on the water! Punting seems to be the major attraction in Cambridge during the summer, and on the street you will be accosted many times by eager companies apparently attempting to get every single person in Cambridge into a punt before nightfall.

After moving in and meeting two girls in my entryway, we took a walking tour of important sites in town, including the Cambridge Union Society building where classes are held, the pharmacy, and the student supply store. After the tour Partow, Natalie, and I had a cream tea at Aunties Tea Shop. We then went to try to buy notebooks and groceries for tomorrow, but it turns out that on Sundays all the shops close at 5 pm. That will take some getting used to! I'm finding that culture shock in England is more like looking in a funhouse mirror than being thrown in a totally new environment. Everything is deceptively similar - language, brand names, classes - but the many small things that are different have a cumulative and sometimes overwhelming effect. The narrow twisting streets rather than broad straight avenues (in fact, sometimes everything seems in miniature), subtly different road signs and street markings, having to look the other way when crossing the street, constantly watching for cars due to the loose relationship between sidewalk and street, the need to plug everything into an adapter and use an ethernet cable to access internet on a college campus, an accent sometimes hard to understand when spoken quickly, a chain hanging from the ceiling to flush the toilet, unusually small and fussy door handles...even notebooks with two or four holes punched in the paper, not three!

The Welcome Dinner in the King's College Dining Hall was decent, but extremely hectic (way too many students for the hall's capacity) and it was hard to hear the programme director's announcements. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow at our formal Welcome Speeches!

More beautiful pictures of food, King's College, Cambridge, and my room below and on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnahorning/sets/72157627107325586/