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a general day as a pembroke scholar
so today was a typical day as a student here in pembroke college. my day started off with a dreadful push of the snooze button. i woke up at 9:30 for my 10:25am class, and dressed as comfortably as possible. I have no one to impress here in cambridge anyways, so jeans and a tee it was. i was looking forward to wearing my rainboots again because i read there was going to be flashfloods the next few days. to my surprise, the sun came out.
the weather here in the UK has been quite sporadic. it gets really annoying having rain for 15 minutes, then the sun shines for a few hours, and then the wind picks up and clouds cover the sky. at least the temperature remains a bit constant (at a cool low 70ish degrees or a mid to high 60s).
i arrive to my seminar in a sleepy state, listening to the professor teaching us about portfolios and excel. i sit in my seat and just listened, watched, and took notes since i had no laptop to work on. yes, i’m still very much saddened by the loss of a computer… i don’t think i can stop talking about it. it’s practically my life, and all my photos! ack. but i should really stop drilling on and on about it since i rather not seem annoying..
anyways, a friend and i walked to the pub to grab a sandwich and coffee for lunch. i sat and drank by latte as i tried to wake up a bit more. i need the energy for my 3:25 class.
after lunch, it’s to the computer lab to check messages, work on my finance class, and print slides out for the next lecture. yep.. nothing but an ordinary day.
hopefully this week will pick up some steam throughout the week. time goes by so slowly when there’s not much to do and nothing really to look forward to. there’s port and wine tasting tomorrow, and a probable trip to Oxford this saturday.
here’s to hoping for things to look up during the week.
cheers
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out of commission
well i suppose my posts for this will be out for the remainder of my trip in cambridge (unless some miracle happens and my comp is fixed for free). my computer somehow disconnected itself from the HD or something, therefore it cannot boot up completely. sigh.. i guess the last two weeks here in cambridge will be spent without my precious laptop. we’ll see how i manage.. so far.. it’s been going by too slowly :(
good thing there’s a 24 hour computer lab on campus. the downside? it has this constant buzzing noise in the background, its cold, and somewhat far from my room :( o well. whatever it takes to keep in contact with the world (and do my work too i suppose..)
until the next time.
cheers
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Bath and Stonehenge
All i have to say is.. WOW! these places are amazing sites to see. Bath was actually quite beautiful, however, very dull after 6pm. All shops practically close by then, and kitchens actually close around 5pm. whattheheck!? how are we supposed to grab any dinner if it’s not even available? :( The girls and I landed ourselves in a pastry shop where we ate puffs, tarts and drank tea to calm our stomaches down since we were to be not having dinner that night. So, by the end of the night, our meals consisted of chips and cake. yay!
The location of Bath itself is rather small. It reminds me somewhat of Paris (from what I’ve heard/seen in films) because of the outdoor cafes and lampposts with flowers on them. We were able to walk around as i ate my ice cream before we needed to meet for our tour around 430.
The tour was actually quite long (a 2 hour walking tour). this one was a bit different because than edinburgh because the tour guide wasn’t as playful with the audience, and Bath just doesn’t have as much to see (architecturally). after the tour, we just aimlessly walked around again until 830 for our Roman Bath tour (i was super excited for this one).
The long day’s way was just absolutely worth it to see the bath up close. it was so beautiful, and much of it was preserved to have it’s original architecture. i tried imagining myself there, with the romans enjoying the steam. i’ll let the pictures speak for itself :)
the night ended with a bunch of girls in our room, snacking and talking. that was rather fun :) then off to bed i went for the next day!
we woke up at 715 to have our continental breakfast at 8, and left for Bath again at 9. Nothing was opened (not surprised), and most things were going to open around 10/1030.. so all we did was wander around, looking for the location of the Fashion Museum. The museum finally opened at 1030. It was worth the 6.25 because of the fact that I got to see the Princess Diana dresses! I was quite sad i couldn’t photograph them, but i was able to photograph the outside of it (or so i think :))
we were able to grab some lunch from Sainsbury’s and headed back to the bus for another ride to the Stonehenge.
When we arrived, the weather was actually quite hot and there were many tourists waiting to take photos with the stones. As i was taking a picture of Peter (the Anteater), a random lady came up and placed her stuffed sheep (Diego) next to mine and took a photo with it. She had the same idea i had - taking photos of traveling stuffed animals. hahaha.
The stonehenge was a magnificent site for the pure fact that it brings up so many curiosities. “How did it get there? How did they build it? Why did they build it?” I was just so amazed that i actually SAW one of the world’s 7 wonders (or whatever amount of wonders).
The bus ride back was tiresome and long.. now i’m back in my comfy dorm, all nicely showered and ready for bed (after chatting up a storm of course) :) That’s all for now!
Cheers!
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Stratford-Upon-Avon and my new discovery
so yesterday, we left cambridge at 1:30 to head over to Stratford-Upon-Avon (supposedly the birthplace of Shakespeare). the group and i only managed to see his birthplace and a few gift shops before finding a restaurant for dinner at 5. Man, that restaurant was NOT worth the 7.50 pounds i paid for. first off, the waitress asked us for what we would like to drink, so we all ordered water (mind you, there are six of us). She returned with THREE waters. what are we going to do with three waters? share them? we had to ask again for more waters after she came back to take our orders 5 minutes later. i ordered the mushroom stroganoff with high hopes that it’d be really creamy and good. when it came, it was basically mushrooms in tomato sauce over plain, white, chinese/asian rice.. to my disappointment, it didn’t taste all that great either. oh well. i suppose you win some, you lose some. at least it wasn’t completely bland, but maybe it was the salt and pepper i added to it before taking my first bite that made it better…
one thing i have to say Stratford: lots of asian tourists. SOOO many asian tourists were bombarding all the stores and taking photos in front of the supposed “birthplace of William Shakespeare” I don’t know about everyone else, but i’m getting somewhat tired of seeing so many asian tourists every where i go. hopefully, the touring will decrease within the next few weeks. i’m thinking the Europeans aren’t liking all these tourists around anyways.
the rain started to pour as it neared our meeting time of 6:45. The group and I waited inside the theater for the PA’s to arrive with our tickets to see the show. Once luke was outside giving away tickets, i grabbed 6 for our group but only to find out that the 6 i grabbed had 5 seats sitting in a row, and the last ticket in some other obscure place. i was rather sad that i was the odd one out. but looking at this half-glass-full, i quickly made friends with the girls that sat next to me. i was quite lucky to have such friendly neighbors!
the play we watched from the Royal Shakespeare Company was called “A Winter’s Tale.” I was quite excited since i was watching my FIRST shakespearian play (not counting anything that i watched that was produced by schools). no, i’m talking about professional stages and sets with professional actors. this was rather cool! in the beginning, i was quite tired so it was hard to focus. plus, there was a lot of old english dialogue to interpret to understand what was going on. Good thing i read the synopsis on the play’s handout before it started. as soon as the play was nearing the middle, it started getting good. the sets changed into a wintery forest within seconds just by two large bookcases that collapsed, causing pale blue books to fall and pile on the floor. the fog began to role in, and somehow, a paper bear raged out of the cave created by the bookcases, and dragged a man into his lair. i have to say, that paper bear was pretty amazing.
anyways, you probably have to read the summary of A Winter’s Tale to figure out what happened. I just wanted to admire the set because it was just pretty damn cool.
oh! now onto my new discovery of the day… i went to Marks and Spencer to find out what it was all about and saw that it was somewhat of a market + department store. i walked around to grab some snacks and decided to pick up some chips, cookies and more cookies. haha. so what’s the big deal within all of this? CURRY CHIPS. oh-my-god. they taste reallllly good (especially since i’ve been in a curry-craving mood for the longest time). it’s rather reallllly good. i’m wondering why we dont have these in the states! so yes.. my new discover: curry potato chips. YUM!
That is all i have for now since today was any ordinary school day (other than my discovery).
Cheers!
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my feet are killing me :(
so today wasn’t very eventful until later at night. i just went through two rounds of econ and then rested in my room since 5pm. actually, my dinner wasn’t half bad (tilapia). oh! i also did some shopping before class started. i bought a new pair of rainboots and a hat. i’m HOPING i have enough room to pack all this stuff back home >< if not.. then goodluck to me on september 3rd!
tonight, there was a bubble party at the Fez. i had no idea what to expect (especially since bubble can either mean bubble or foam). if it was anything like the foam party at UCI, id be out. i dont want to get too gross and dirty! but the free shot of vodka that came with our entrance was very enticing. a lot of people from UCSS2 went to the club tonight, actually. entrance was only a pound, but there wasn’t enough free vodka shots for all of us :( o well. i just gulped down my cider and danced away.
post pictures up soon :) promise. as of now, i’m tooo pooped :(
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back in cambridge..
so today was the first day back in cambridge since edinburgh. it was a sleep deprived day.. i only had 6 hours of sleep plus a bit of tossing and turning because of the coldness of the room. when i awoke, i was dreadfully tired and cold, and unwilling to wake up for class. i managed to get up and head over to the classroom, only to find out that the professor was late! an hour late to be exact… if we were at UCI, we’d leave by the 15 minute mark. nonetheless, i thoroughly enjoyed drawing in class today. we drew multiple objects and i attempted drawing with charcoal for the first time! (hopefully i can post pictures of drawings once i bring my portfolio back home :))
it was raining on and off today; sounds like cambridge weather. i went with some friends to the cambridge shop to finally buy myself a cambridge university sweater but the ones i liked were sold out. damn tourists…
after dinner, i went to a pub with a few friends and uni mates.
mmmm :) i usually dont like beer, so i had cider instead. this one was so gooood. i wouldnt mind drinking that with everything :)
the girls (minus ying)
yeah.. now i’m stuck in my room doing nothing again since this city pretty much dies after 6pm.. sigh
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Day 3
so today i went punting for the first time. i’m literally exhausted…. i’m hoping to finally get a good night’s rest today. class was quite interesting, but rather exhausting as well. i managed to get about 5 hours or less of sleep last night, so it was hard to keep up with everything that was happening. i’m hoping to go shopping around town tomorrow or something. if no one’s up for it, maybe i’ll take a good personal day trip alone :D
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Homesick..
I attempted to sleep tonight but failed miserably. I landed myself in bed by midnight, but somehow, after much tossing and turning, i fell asleep for probably an hour until i woke up at 2:30. My phone tricked me. I thought it was 3:30.. at least if it’s an hour ahead, i’m closer to my wake up time than an hour behind..
i couldn’t help it. i kept sweating and the heat woke me up. but, i’m not comfortable in the room yet so i can’t seem to bring the covers down. i can’t stop my mind from racing and thinking. it’s tough being away from home without any secure comfort :(
it was nice to have met new friends so far. i’m really excited for things to come. it’s just the nights that bother me.. i don’t always want to bother my family or boyfriend due to my insomnia, but they’re my only link to a secure comfort at the moment. gosh.. i miss home..
i think when i look back on this post in a month, i must think i’m being silly. hopefully by then, i’m used to the local time and don’t want to leave england. we’ll see in a month..
as of now, i’m still sweating and unable to sleep.. i also have to use the restroom but it’s too creepy to walk down and use it at the moment. :( i just want to be home..
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Day 1
boy, was that a long day. so i arrived at LAX at 615AM-ish and then headed to check in alone. I was quite nervous because it was my first time flying alone, but I kept telling myself to brave it through. so i head to my gate and sit.. that’s all you do at airports anyways - wait. it’s time to board and to my surprise, they served cereal and milk as my morning snack! i was really pleased with that selection since i looooove cereal.
i just love how the land looks like a motherboard when you’re so high above in the sky. is that nerdy of me to say? texas is a lot different from california - very green and LOTS of trees. even within the highly populated areas, i saw small forests growing in between homes.
so i rest for a few hours in texas, and onto my next connecting flight to london. this is the one i’ve been dreading.. 9 hour flight? ugh.. i get antsy enough with a 5 hour flight. my solution was to take dramamine and knock out. sadly, it wasnt enough to knock me out for the entire duration of the flight, only halfway :(
finally, after 3 movies and a 3 hour nap, i land in london. wow! you sure can tell the difference between the US and Europe from high above. Europe has these cute little homes everywhere. i guess i can’t explain why it’s just so different, but when i looked out the window, i just KNEW i wasn’t in the states anymore.
One good thing that the travel study program came up with is the handy neon yellow luggage tags. i was able to spot someone with one when in line for customs and we were able to venture out together to cambridge. let me tell you.. it was a long and confusing journey. we sorta got lost, and even though i was going to try and meet the people from terminal 1, i was just too confused and lost to go anywhere. i just decided to stay where some yellow tags were and wait for the bus to come and take me to cambridge. ah… 9:30 rolls around and i take the bus to cambridge, knocking out yet again. this time, it was super cold and uncomfortable, but i’m not going to complain. at least i’m off the plane.
so my new friend and I ventured by foot to the school after being dropped off. it wasn’t that bad of a walk. luckily, i had a map with me to navigate us around. we made it to the UCSS registration/check in on accident. we met some of the coordinators and they showed us to our rooms. wow, i feel so unprepared. i realllly need an adaptor. i didn’t know why i didn’t pick one up at the airport (owell). this means i have to venture out into the city to get some :D yay! pictures to come.
the room is quite spacious for a single. i’m rather lonely though :( it’s going to be somewhat scary trying to be here alone.. but i know i’ll manage (hopefully). currently, i’m very homesick. But i’m thinking that will change in time.
