My First Two Days in Cambridge

I'm here. And after frying 2 £7 power converters (plugged a power strip into them....bad idea), buying a gown (among other strange and varied items), and running around a whole lot, I'm finally starting to get my bearings.

Cambridge is gorgeous. I've never seen so many 600-year-old buildings in such close proximity to one another. There are also a whole lot of ENORMOUS, yet pristine lawns that nobody is allowed to walk on under penalty of death. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can connect my laptop to the internet.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck using the computer clusters this week because Caius College requires everyone to submit their computer to a virus scan before allowing them onto its network. And they don't trust you to do it yourself! Today I had to bring my laptop to the "computer officers" at a designated time so that they could scan my system for digital herpes. To make matters worse, they're probably not actually going to "approve" my IP address until next Wednesday.

Freshman (or "freshers") orientation just began last night. There are orientation events here like any other college, but they all involve drinking because 99% of the Freshman are over the legal age! All in all it's very bizarre. If colleges in the states had similar events, people would probably end up dead.

Brits have a more relaxed attitude toward drinking. They don't really "binge" like American college students do. Sure, a few people end up stumbling home at the end of the night, but nobody ends up passed out in a pool of their own...well...you know...

Also British keyboards are weird!

DC, Boston, NYC, Boston again, the SF Bay Area, then Boston one more time

Ideally, I'll be updating this blog more often once I'm in England. I'm just trying to keep it "on topic", and not very much England-y stuff has happened in the last month. I was busy though.

Getting all my stuff from Washington, DC to Boston ended up being somewhat challenging. (Who knew that three 90 lb. bags would be difficult to manage as carry-ons on Amtrak?) Additionally, as the last one (of 4 roommates) out of my room, I inherited the arduous task of throwing away a summer's worth of accumulated trash and rotting food in order to avoid a hefty fine from George Washington University.

When I got to Boston, I did absolutely nothing for 3 days. It was wonderful. Then, I paired down the entirety of my worldly possessions to the contents of a couple suitcases by putting some things in storage and giving/throwing away everything else.

Applying for my student visa was mostly hassle free until FedEx lost the package containing both the visa and my passport on its way back from the British Consulate. Fortunately, I own a Dell laptop (it breaks down constantly), so I know how to deal with customer service people. I usually try to say, "Do you have any idea who I am?!" as many times as possible. Also, no matter who I'm talking to, I ask to speak with their manager almost immediately. Then, when I finally get what I want, I demand a discount or a voucher if they've kept me on the phone for more than 10 minutes. My time is extremely valuable . . . . . HAHAHAHA!!!

I spent a week and a half as a counselor for the Freshman Arts Program, went to New York City for a few days, then came back for the first half of MIT fraternity rush.

Right now, I'm enjoying a few relaxing weeks at home (San Francisco Bay Area) before heading back to Boston again for a one week "communications seminar". I have absolutely no clue what that will entail.