Punting!

Went punting for the first time today on the River Cam. After class (which was interesting but seemed very long because the professor likes to repeat himself a lot) a group of us went with the TAs and gave it a shot. Punting is really similar to a gondola; it's a long flat boat with a platform on which the punter stands on. Then that punter uses a long, heavy pole, pushing on the river bottom to propel the boat.

It was really difficult, but I hear we can go every week, so I hope to get better at it. My group volunteered me to go first and since I had no idea what I was doing I just did my best. Since I'm short and the pole is long and heavy I had a hard time lifting it. We took turns punting, and the views of Cambridge from the river are very idyllic, postcard-perfect. I have a few pictures posted in the album, none of me punting though, since other people took pictures of me on their cameras. When I get those emailed to me I will post them too. What a workout, definitely good for the upper body and especially the biceps and triceps!

The Buttery (cafeteria) was closed for dinner tonight for graduation celebrations, so a group of us went to a Thai restaurant, which they thought was delicious but I thought was mediocre. Sabieng's in Santa Cruz is by far much better! We sat at our table for a long time waiting for the check and found out that here in England the check is not brought to the table, but instead you have to go up to the register and ask for it. Interesting.

We leave for the north tomorrow morning for 5 days. We're going to go see Hadrian's Wall, a couple of medieval abbeys, and then stay in Edinburgh. I'm excited to go to new places but I'm not looking forward to the 10 hour bus ride. We just got to Cambridge and just got settled...now we have to travel again. Of course I will post lots of pictures when I return.

I miss everyone a lot and hope everyone is doing well. For some reason I got a little homesick today. I've made a lot of new friends but it's not the same as hanging out with people you know and love. I'd love to hear how everyone is doing and thanks to those who have emailed me already, it's so nice to see mail in my inbox, I really appreciate it.

Take care everyone, cheers! Jo

First Real Day of Class...and More!

Hi all, today was awesome. It's 2 in the morning over here though, and it's been a long day. I have class at 11 AM today, but I couldn't sleep before I shared what I did today. Still loving it over here.

- Had our first breakfast in the dining hall here, which they actually call the Buttery, or the Servery. Very good food. We eat in the Hall, which is just as majestic as it sounds (same place we have the Formal Hall, which I'll talk more about later), so it was quite an experience.

- My class was really interesting and the professor is not what I expected. I had corresponded email with him before coming here and for some reason or another I thought he would be relatively old, since he does have his Ph.D and everything. Coming into class today, though, we all mistook him for another student, or at least a TA. He's just turned 30 and he dresses really sharp, he was wearing a colorful striped dress shirt, skinny jeans and Puma sneakers. But don't get me wrong, the man is quite intelligent, guess he's written several books already. We basically had an overview about proto-novels in the 18th century as a lead in to 19th century "novels." (The whole course and what we will be talking about is very problematic, but I won't go into detail here, you're probably not interested). Definitely looking forward to the lectures and reading the books.

- After class a lot of logistical things happened, what they call "induction" here. We had a library induction to learn how to use the resources, got a more practical tour of Pembroke (i.e., where the laundry can be done, pay phones, etc.), and the got a practical tour of the town (where the post office is, best pubs, etc.).

- The best part of the day was the evening. We had our first Formal Hall, which is a big sitdown dinner with everyone in the program, and a 4 course meal. It was UNBELIEVEABLE. The Hall was nicely set up, with silver candlesticks and china. It seemed like a fantasy. We got all dressed up for the event (there is one Formal Hall a week), and then at 7PM, prior to the Formal Hall we had cocktails outside in the garden. White wine, sparkling water, orange juice. We mingled for about 30 mins and then proceeded to the Hall, where we filed in and ate gazpacho with bread, grilled chicken with roasted vegetables and jus, lemon tart with raspberries, and finally coffee and mints. It was completely surreal, and actually, midway through dinner I spaced out and found myself staring out the window at the chapel steeple and the reality of all this finally hit me. It's hard to explain, but even though I'm here I have been feeling very detached, as if this wasn't real. I have finally come to terms with the enormity of this trip and I'm so excited, even more than I was before. I'm trying to savour every moment.

- Post-Formal Hall, the TAs announced that they were planning on going to a club to dance, and anyone who wanted to come along could. Not being very fond of, or very good at dancing, I passed and happily found out that the group of people I had been eating dinner with didn't want to go either. We decided instead to go to The Eagle (as recommended by many locals, students, and Ehren, thanks!), an old historic pub. I'm really glad I didn't go to the club, a bunch of people who weren't sure of what they were going to do asked where we were going and said they might meet up with us. Those 3 people ended up coming to hang out with us because the club was mediocre and it was awkward dancing with strangers.

We hung out at the pub for several hours, half the group playing Texas Hold-Em and the other half of us just got to know each other better. Of course we all drank, and I have found a new favorite beverage: Pimms (a sort of fruit flavored liqueur) and lemonade. It was probably the best time I have had so far, just hanging out. It's funny, I'm not that much of a frequent drinker at school, but the whole concept of going to the pub after dinner to have a drink and relax is very enjoyable.

- After last call for drinks, we left and headed back to the college common room and decided to play Mafia (that game with cards...). It was a good time. Perhaps it doesn't seem as exciting as going out on the town, but I'm really enjoying meeting lots of fun, new people.

Now I'm updating and should really get to bed. We leave for our 5 day trip to the North on Wednesday morning, and I'm looking forward to seeing more sights. I'm NOT looking forward to the long bus ride (it was only a couple of days ago I spent 10 hours on a plane and 3 more on a bus getting here...). Please don't forget to take a look at the new pictures I put up from today, johannadeleon.myphotoalbum.com

Hope all is well in California! Cheers - Jo

Cambridge is AMAZING

I'm here and finally settled, after a few bumps in the road. First my flight out of SFO got delayed twice, and then because of those delays I had 5 minutes to catch a connecting flight in a different area of the airport. Needless to say I was sort of freaking out, but after sprinting to the gate I made the flight right as the gate was to be closed. WHEW.

Other bump in the road was that when I landed at Heathrow airport, my name was called over the intercom because, apparently, my luggage had gotten left at LAX. Wonderful. It ended up working out, though, because it was delivered to me in Cambridge, so I didn't have to carry it on the bus or through the cobblestone streets.

So this is my second day here and I am completely in love with this place, it is completely amazing. I arrived at 4 PM on Saturday and was tired but excited to look around. I can't believe I'm going to school here. This place is just so charming and chock-full of history. What I love most are the details on the buildings and all the quiet little spaces for repose: benches, gardens, even spiral staircases. Seeing much of the current architecture in California lean towards bland beige palettes and steel and stucco constructions, the iron, glass, and bricks are old-fashioned yet refreshing in comparison.

Spent the rest of the evening 1) marveling at the the gorgeousness of the architecture at both my college (Pembroke) and the city and other colleges in general and 2) walking around the city trying to figure out my way around. Cambridge is pretty big.

The food here is pretty good too, contrary to what people have told me. Then again, it's also only the first week, so maybe I'll get tired of it. For dinner I found a relatively cheap place called The Copper Kettle and had a full english breakfast for £4.75, and when they say "full", it indeed means full: 2 sausages, a ham steak, beans, 4 slices of toast, an egg, tomato, orange marmalade, and tea. MMM. Gotta get the most for my money around here, the pound exchange is a killer on the wallet.

After dinner just wandered and took LOTS of pictures while I waited for my luggage to arrive (which it did, eventually, at around 10 PM). I wanted to post the pictures to this blog, but the software I use to do it is on my laptop, which I'm not allowed to connect to the network. Foiled! If you want to see my pictures, go to: johannadeleon.myphotoalbum.com (don't put "www" before it, or else it won't work)

Actually, just remembered I put a link to it right up there in the LINKS sidebar ^

Today, (Sunday), I woke up early to eat breakfast (went back to The Copper Kettle and had a huge scone with jam and tea for £1. Sweet!) and to catch Holy Communion at the Corpus Christi College Chapel (If it's not clear, the way Cambridge works is that there are different colleges within the university, each one in a different area of the city but self-enclosed). The chapel had beautiful stained glass and an intricate altar (this city has a million different chapels, all absolutely stunning). The service went well, mostly similar to an American Catholic one, with some different wording. I was still a little nervous though, since there were only 10 of us total (and 5 of them were Cambridge students wearing their black robes...a little intimidating, very Harry Potter), with me being the only non-Brit. Especially when it was communion time, because what happens is that we all go up to the altar, kneel on these special cushions, and the priest goes up to you that way. It was just different and I didn't want to screw it up.

Official check in for the program was to start at 2 PM, so I went and wandered some more. Found a huge, gorgeous park called Christ's Pieces, looks like a good place to run or read. Went to each of the other colleges, King's college being the oldest and most stunning. I think my favorite one (besides Pembroke, of course) would have to be St. John's College. It seemed more medieval than the others and had 4 courtyards and a bridge over the Cam river right in the middle of it.

Checked in at 2, met a few people (a lot of the students are mostly from UC San Diego and Irvine and know each other already, and thus are being very clique-y, but I found a bunch of friendly individuals to talk to). Since I came a day early, my stuff is already unpacked and I'm settled into my room (which by the way is quite large, almost the size of a typical double room in Santa Cruz!) and most everyone else is unpacking right now, so I figured it was a good time to do an update. Tonight is completely free, we have orientation tomorrow morning, as well as our first class meetings.

On a final, sort of amusing note, I've met a lot of locals already because the places I've been eating are sort of crowded and so I have to ask to share a table. The ones I've met are really friendly and eager to tell me what their favorite eateries and sights are, but for whatever reason they have all thought that I was Japanese. And then when I tell them that I'm Filipino, they think I'm from the Philippines. It has been difficult for them to understand that I'm Filipino but live and was born in America. Interesting. I didn't think I looked Japanese...

I don't think that what I've said here does any justice to this place. Go take a look at the pictures I took. I miss you and and wish you could be here and see/experience all of this with me. More again soon, hope all is well. Cheers!

Pre-Trip Explanation and Getting Ready to Go...

From June 25 to July 31, I will be at Cambridge University in England studying abroad through the UC Irvine Summer Session Program. When I started college at UC Santa Cruz, I knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to study abroad at some point. However, the ball really got rolling when my buddy Katie told me late last year that she was planning on going to Australia this summer through the International Student Volunteer program. If Katie was going somewhere, I wanted to go somewhere too! Long story short, my roommate Monique gave me a pamphlet she found about this program, along with the knowledge of how to obtain a coupon of $25 off the admission fee; I applied, got in, my generous parents told me this would be my 21st birthday gift, and now here I am getting ready to go.

I will be taking a course called "The Development of the English Novel in the 19th Century" with Dr. Bharat Tandon, and we will be reading Jane Austen's Emma, George Eliot's Silas Marner, Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, and Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. I will be living at Pembroke College, and during the 5 week programme we will be going on various trips, including one to Scotland, one to the city of Bath, and another to London to see The Tempest played at the Globe.

After the program is over, I will spend a week in London.

At this point, I'm both excited and scared: excited about traveling and studying, but scared about the impending unfamiliarity of the experience, catching my planes and buses on time, and traveling alone. I have no doubt this will be an amazing experience, though. I'm hoping to use this blog to convey the details of this trip, and if we're lucky it will be supplemented with many pictures. I leave on Friday...Bon Voyage to me!