“Change to spare for a chap out of luck, do ya?”
“No, sorry sir” although had I heard this in America I certainly would have dropped some coin. Affirmative action is present, even in me.
Saturday was a day much like my others… spent running from Churchill to the City Center to obtain the necessary items of everyday life. My first trip included a visit to Lloyds TSB, a bank, in order to set up an account and deposit the money I’ve had precariously laying around over the last couple days. Curiously, Gates set something up there and we get to have Silver Accounts for no charge which entitles us to quite a bunch of hefty benefits… including British AAA (which is AA), European Travel Insurance, Mobile Phone insurance, Lost Wallet Insurance, and international money transfer cards. Who knew Bill had a way with money…
After setting up my bank account, I managed to get some stationary for my courses and acquire a cell phone/phone plan. Upon first inspection, the plan seems to be pretty reasonable. I paid £10 for a new Nokia phone, albeit a basic model, and £20 as a startup fee. For this amount I get £20 of talk time at 20p/minute and 600 free text messages, which I plan on using a great deal more anyways. Each month I “top off” my plan by paying £10 to gain £10 more of talk time and 300 free texts. As a side note, receiving international calls from phone cards does not detract from my minutes… so if you plan on calling me, please do so using a phone card. For those interested, my phone number is 0753-205-3291. I’m not yet quite sure the protocol for making a call to England, but I’ll ask Jeongmin how she went about it and relay it in the next post.
So, for the most part I’m quite setup here. The last, and perhaps most vital things I need to get are a bike and an umbrella. Unfortunately, no luck yesterday in obtaining a bike… but I’ve been told I can get one in reasonable order for about £40-£60. This really segues well into my explaining, geographically, how far I am from the City Center. Churchill College, which is perhaps one of the farthest colleges from the center is located in the Northwest of Cambridge. The college’s front gate is about a 20 minute walk from the center of the city (about 2 km) away. Unfortuntaely, my apartment is about 1 km away from the front gate of the college, making my entire trip nearly a 30 minute walk. Needless to say, a bike is my next big purchase. In my next post I’ll begin to load up some photos of my accommodations, college, and the city of Cambridge. Until then… “Change to spare for a chap out of a bike, do ya?”
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
For the sake of balance..
I am taking a short (I'll allow myself 3 mins) break from saving the world from unfinished grad problems sets to add some balance to what is supposed to be a joint bloggering endeavor. More specifically, everyone should remember that I also have journeyed to a distant, new location with corresponding interesting anedotes and wacky hi-jinks that I can't wait to share with you all. My Cambridge also has goofy accents, heaps of international food, and terrible weather as well. So stay tuned for more info on this side of the Altantic.
D-Day + 1
Having arrived around 4:30 on Thursday there wasn’t time enough for me to do much in the way of checking things off my list. Fortunately, because of my grossly inadequate ability to sleep, I woke up around 5 AM on Friday, wrote my previous blog entry, and was able to start taking care of business at 8 AM sharp. In addition to learning not how to order breakfast or dispose of my food tray I was able to obtain my university card (which won’t activate for another couple of days), register with a doctor… or as the British say “Register with a GP at the Surgery”, sign for my housing contract and internet contract…it may take a week to get internet in my room, go food shopping, and take a stroll around King’s College without having to pay a dime by flashing my impotent student card. This was quite satisfying as I waited to do it until a group of Korean tourists tried to pass through the main gate and were made to pay quite a hefty sum in order to enter the college grounds. I have my small victories.
If you hadn’t noticed by the status of my university card and internet contract, the British take quite some time to get anything done. My neighbor Simon put it best when he said, and I paraphrase, “It must be their tea time and subsequent siesta from all responsibility after around 2:00 PM which causes us to suffer”. Indeed it must be... but for the time it is quite enchanting how nothing here is serious and everyone is quite laid back…and nothing ever gets completely done. I, for one, would have lost all control had somebody at Rutgers told me I wouldn’t have internet for several days… this in spite of the fact that the only things that need to occur for me to gain access are my contract going from one office to another 10 meters down the hall, and a click of two or three buttons to recognize my machine’s MAC/IP address. Efficiency must be a word coined in America… or Canada, to give Simon credit.
I got home around 1:00 from my errands, ate, and took a four hour nap. I woke promptly for dinner at the dining hall, drinks at the MCR, and then went into town later to grab traditional late-night British food: Gyros and Souvlaki. Indeed, the British have done a nice job at spelling foreign food differently such that when I order I am thoroughly confused as to what it is I will be receiving. Thankfully, a large Yeros is a Gyro and Cheese Crisps are Cheese flavo(u)red chips. I’ve been told that as a foreigner, if I ever start calling “chips” as “crisps” I will be subsequently pariahed from the rest of the community. Thank god we’ve got self-respect in numbers.
So I write this early Saturday morning, a product of my well-adjusted sleep schedule. Today I hope to obtain a bank account… and if I’m lucky get a pay-as-you-go phone. I’ve heard they should be called Broke-as-you-talk in reference to the outrageous rates one needs to pay… so I’ll probably be registering for Skype-Out once I get internet in my room. In other words, I’ll be able to make unlimited calls to landlines in about 40 countries and cell phones in about 10 (US included). More on this when the British put down their tea cups and get to my paperwork.
If you hadn’t noticed by the status of my university card and internet contract, the British take quite some time to get anything done. My neighbor Simon put it best when he said, and I paraphrase, “It must be their tea time and subsequent siesta from all responsibility after around 2:00 PM which causes us to suffer”. Indeed it must be... but for the time it is quite enchanting how nothing here is serious and everyone is quite laid back…and nothing ever gets completely done. I, for one, would have lost all control had somebody at Rutgers told me I wouldn’t have internet for several days… this in spite of the fact that the only things that need to occur for me to gain access are my contract going from one office to another 10 meters down the hall, and a click of two or three buttons to recognize my machine’s MAC/IP address. Efficiency must be a word coined in America… or Canada, to give Simon credit.
I got home around 1:00 from my errands, ate, and took a four hour nap. I woke promptly for dinner at the dining hall, drinks at the MCR, and then went into town later to grab traditional late-night British food: Gyros and Souvlaki. Indeed, the British have done a nice job at spelling foreign food differently such that when I order I am thoroughly confused as to what it is I will be receiving. Thankfully, a large Yeros is a Gyro and Cheese Crisps are Cheese flavo(u)red chips. I’ve been told that as a foreigner, if I ever start calling “chips” as “crisps” I will be subsequently pariahed from the rest of the community. Thank god we’ve got self-respect in numbers.
So I write this early Saturday morning, a product of my well-adjusted sleep schedule. Today I hope to obtain a bank account… and if I’m lucky get a pay-as-you-go phone. I’ve heard they should be called Broke-as-you-talk in reference to the outrageous rates one needs to pay… so I’ll probably be registering for Skype-Out once I get internet in my room. In other words, I’ll be able to make unlimited calls to landlines in about 40 countries and cell phones in about 10 (US included). More on this when the British put down their tea cups and get to my paperwork.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Departure and Arrival
I’m now somewhat moved into my new quarters at Cambridge and am finally able to recount the last 48 hours of my trip.
My flight, departing from Philadelphia International Airport and destined for Heathrow, London, was originally scheduled to leave at around 9 PM, Wednesday (E.S.T.). Given that the flight isn’t all that long, yet England is 5 hours ahead of us, our touchdown was approximated at 9:30 AM London time (4:30 AM in the US). This would have been perfect given that both Michael and I had reserved $44.00 tickets on the National Express bus service for 11:00 AM. Alas, upon obtaining my boarding pass I was informed that there had been a complication with the flight and would be leaving two hours later than planned and that on top of this, I would be the honored recipient of what is acronymically referred to as S.S.S.S. This has been variously translated to me, my favorite interpretation being Super Secure Survey Scan. I wonder if they originally had planned to name it Secure Scan, but shirked at the thought of having to abbreviate it and the invasive implications it may hold. Anyway, the secure scan wasn’t all that complicated and entailed both Mike(he got it, too) and I going through normal security and then laying out all our carry-ons on a table while officers rooted through our belongings and took tissue swabs to be analyzed by an explosives residue machine. Looking back, I suppose it is suspicious that both Mike and I booked one-way tickets and registered simultaneously for emergency exit seats right next to the main evacuation door. With this in mind, when I return home (with dirty clothes), I don’t think it’s prudent to chance the Security Scan.
Anyway, our flight did eventually leave and we were able to reschedule our bus tickets to 1:05 PM when we arrived at Heathrow, for a small surcharge of course. A note on this, everything is well-anesthetized here… a small fee is 5 pounds, which doesn’t sound like much until you consider the fact that during our 7 hour flight, the exchange rate between the UK and US parted such that were I to exchange my money prior to leaving, I would have around 70 more dollars in my pocket as I write this. Then again, that’s only about enough to buy me dinner, an ice cream cone, and a long walk home to my residence.
We finally arrived in Cambridge around 3:45, at which point Mike and I parted ways. I’ve yet to hear from him but certainly hope he found his way and is doing well. I took a “taxi” to my college. I put taxi in quotation marks because it was clear that the vehicle, when not transporting people, was a delivery van for a Vietnamese Food restaurant at night. The trip from Cambridge City Center to Churchill College front gate took about 8-10 minutes and set me back about 16 bucks. I think he should stick with his day job.
When I arrived, I went directly to the Porter’s Lodge. Now, we don’t have Porters in American colleges… but they’re basically the guys who take care of the day-to-day tasks at Cambridge such as cleaning, mowing the lawns, expelling Asian tourists, fixing problems in residence halls, and losing important keys. From them I received a room key and trudged about half a mile to my college hostel. While walking on the sidewalk down the road, I passed the windows of a conference center where an industry lecture was going on and was asked to please make myself scarce as I was sweating while laboriously dragging two pieces of luggage and two bags. The gentleman was then kind enough to show me a more circuitous, and winding route to my residence.
I arrived, unpacked, met my neighbor Simon, and peppered him with questions. Simon is a Canadian Gates Scholar living on my floor (four rooms per floor). The housing is quite nice, although a bit out of the way. I have a large room, my own bathroom, a huge desk and more cabinet and shelf space then I know what to do with. The only downside of the room is my couch-bed. Think single, divided by two, with the option to fold into a couch (American size, divided by two). Needless to say, sleeping proved slightly more difficult last night than I would have hoped.
Prior to bed, however, I went to dinner with Simon and met about 10 other international Advanced Students (Cambridge calls “graduate students”, “post graduate students”, which Churchill College then insists upon calling “Advanced students”). They seem like a great group. We had 2 Marshall Scholars, 2 Churchill Scholars, and 2 Gates Scholars among us. We ate dinner and then went to the MCR (Middle Common Room). Think of this as a club house for graduate students. We have a not-for-profit bar (1 pound beers/ales), couches, a piano, a movie theater room, and some board games and a computer. I went home a bit early (10:00) to read through the welcome packet I received when I arrived and eventually went to bed.
That’s all for now. Today I’ll go do some paperwork at my college, followed by a couple hours walking around the city center.
My flight, departing from Philadelphia International Airport and destined for Heathrow, London, was originally scheduled to leave at around 9 PM, Wednesday (E.S.T.). Given that the flight isn’t all that long, yet England is 5 hours ahead of us, our touchdown was approximated at 9:30 AM London time (4:30 AM in the US). This would have been perfect given that both Michael and I had reserved $44.00 tickets on the National Express bus service for 11:00 AM. Alas, upon obtaining my boarding pass I was informed that there had been a complication with the flight and would be leaving two hours later than planned and that on top of this, I would be the honored recipient of what is acronymically referred to as S.S.S.S. This has been variously translated to me, my favorite interpretation being Super Secure Survey Scan. I wonder if they originally had planned to name it Secure Scan, but shirked at the thought of having to abbreviate it and the invasive implications it may hold. Anyway, the secure scan wasn’t all that complicated and entailed both Mike(he got it, too) and I going through normal security and then laying out all our carry-ons on a table while officers rooted through our belongings and took tissue swabs to be analyzed by an explosives residue machine. Looking back, I suppose it is suspicious that both Mike and I booked one-way tickets and registered simultaneously for emergency exit seats right next to the main evacuation door. With this in mind, when I return home (with dirty clothes), I don’t think it’s prudent to chance the Security Scan.
Anyway, our flight did eventually leave and we were able to reschedule our bus tickets to 1:05 PM when we arrived at Heathrow, for a small surcharge of course. A note on this, everything is well-anesthetized here… a small fee is 5 pounds, which doesn’t sound like much until you consider the fact that during our 7 hour flight, the exchange rate between the UK and US parted such that were I to exchange my money prior to leaving, I would have around 70 more dollars in my pocket as I write this. Then again, that’s only about enough to buy me dinner, an ice cream cone, and a long walk home to my residence.
We finally arrived in Cambridge around 3:45, at which point Mike and I parted ways. I’ve yet to hear from him but certainly hope he found his way and is doing well. I took a “taxi” to my college. I put taxi in quotation marks because it was clear that the vehicle, when not transporting people, was a delivery van for a Vietnamese Food restaurant at night. The trip from Cambridge City Center to Churchill College front gate took about 8-10 minutes and set me back about 16 bucks. I think he should stick with his day job.
When I arrived, I went directly to the Porter’s Lodge. Now, we don’t have Porters in American colleges… but they’re basically the guys who take care of the day-to-day tasks at Cambridge such as cleaning, mowing the lawns, expelling Asian tourists, fixing problems in residence halls, and losing important keys. From them I received a room key and trudged about half a mile to my college hostel. While walking on the sidewalk down the road, I passed the windows of a conference center where an industry lecture was going on and was asked to please make myself scarce as I was sweating while laboriously dragging two pieces of luggage and two bags. The gentleman was then kind enough to show me a more circuitous, and winding route to my residence.
I arrived, unpacked, met my neighbor Simon, and peppered him with questions. Simon is a Canadian Gates Scholar living on my floor (four rooms per floor). The housing is quite nice, although a bit out of the way. I have a large room, my own bathroom, a huge desk and more cabinet and shelf space then I know what to do with. The only downside of the room is my couch-bed. Think single, divided by two, with the option to fold into a couch (American size, divided by two). Needless to say, sleeping proved slightly more difficult last night than I would have hoped.
Prior to bed, however, I went to dinner with Simon and met about 10 other international Advanced Students (Cambridge calls “graduate students”, “post graduate students”, which Churchill College then insists upon calling “Advanced students”). They seem like a great group. We had 2 Marshall Scholars, 2 Churchill Scholars, and 2 Gates Scholars among us. We ate dinner and then went to the MCR (Middle Common Room). Think of this as a club house for graduate students. We have a not-for-profit bar (1 pound beers/ales), couches, a piano, a movie theater room, and some board games and a computer. I went home a bit early (10:00) to read through the welcome packet I received when I arrived and eventually went to bed.
That’s all for now. Today I’ll go do some paperwork at my college, followed by a couple hours walking around the city center.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Law and Order
Recently, I’ve been quantifying productivity by the number of Law and Order episodes I’ve watched on television that respective day. Today, having watched three episodes and read none of my required texts for Cambridge, I’ve scored among the top three most productive days I’ve had the last two weeks. You think I’m joking? Come look at my TIVO recorded list.
I’m about 50% packed for my flight tomorrow and have no plans of finishing tonight. It’s funny, every time I travel, I convince myself that I am somehow going to utilize my experience from the past to concentrate my luggage down to the essentials. I currently have two checked bags, a carry-on, and a lap-top bag. Among the items to be packed are radio alarm clock(s), mobile flossing/toothpick combinations, and a spectrum of ties, covering all colors except green and indigo. These are the essentials of a graduate student, rest assured.
These two endeavo(u)rs, Law and Order and packing luggage, have combined to form some of the most vivid dreams I can remember in a long time. Just last night I recall shadowing Logan (seasons 4 and 5) as we searched around several Radio Shacks and Best Buys for US-to-UK power adapters. Nothing beats interrogating employees over whether the converter stepped down from 220 V or just split the current. Naturally, we attempted to test the electrical transmission on his temples, just as Briscoe broke into the room with McCoy. A plea bargain resulted.
I’m not sure whether I’m more concerned about the functionality of my electronics or the loss of Law and Order as a stabilizing mechanism in my life.
I’m about 50% packed for my flight tomorrow and have no plans of finishing tonight. It’s funny, every time I travel, I convince myself that I am somehow going to utilize my experience from the past to concentrate my luggage down to the essentials. I currently have two checked bags, a carry-on, and a lap-top bag. Among the items to be packed are radio alarm clock(s), mobile flossing/toothpick combinations, and a spectrum of ties, covering all colors except green and indigo. These are the essentials of a graduate student, rest assured.
These two endeavo(u)rs, Law and Order and packing luggage, have combined to form some of the most vivid dreams I can remember in a long time. Just last night I recall shadowing Logan (seasons 4 and 5) as we searched around several Radio Shacks and Best Buys for US-to-UK power adapters. Nothing beats interrogating employees over whether the converter stepped down from 220 V or just split the current. Naturally, we attempted to test the electrical transmission on his temples, just as Briscoe broke into the room with McCoy. A plea bargain resulted.
I’m not sure whether I’m more concerned about the functionality of my electronics or the loss of Law and Order as a stabilizing mechanism in my life.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I'm not much for parting words
I’m not much for parting words. I never have been.
In two days time I’ll be leaving the greatest country in the world to “read” for my master’s degree at Cambridge. Folks like to ask me if I’m excited and tell me how great it’s going to be… to which I generally reply that “Yes, I am in fact excited and indeed plan on having a good time” somewhat hoping they’ll get my tone and interpret it as a dull answer to an already tiresome topic.
In fact, while I am a huge proponent of nostalgic remembrance and an occasional tall-tale (I’m quite well known for picking the dregs from between my teeth far after tea time), I have a great deal of trouble relishing something that has yet come to pass. It’s for the same reason that I really couldn’t take much joy out of all the publicity surrounding my selection by Gates (and in fact it was quite stressful). How can one be congratulated for being given the chance to do something? The late Dr. Randy Pausch said it best when he replied to his applauding crowd “Make me earn it”.
It must go hand in hand, my disapproval of goodbyes and excitation at future potential. Both suppose some happening (or lack thereof) and offer empty gestures as preemptive bookends. I’m not sure anymore if disapproving of goodbyes is any more a defense mechanism than pretending their inevitability.
Farewells are not my strong suit, nor do they suit me.
In other news, I have spent the last 4 days on house-arrest thanks to my dear old friend Streptococcal pharyngitis. I’ve nearly rested on having my tonsils removed, either by way of medical procedure or beheading. Furthermore, I have lost all grasp of irony after hearing, for the fourth time (and third doctor), that my tonsils, although technically part of the immune system, seem to be my primary host of bacterial company. How lucky for you, doctor, that you’re ability to attract the opposite sex was as equally negatively offset by your atrophied humor (assumedly from medical school) as it was positively by your enflamed, swollen, throbbing paycheck.
And finally, to establish a reoccurring theme, I am simultaneously jealous of doctors for getting paid what their knowledge is worth while being appalled by the profession and the indefatigable hubris many must have to be able to dress greed up in the church-clothes of compassion for the human condition (beyond their own).
More tomorrow, and hopefully over the next week Javier and I will have upgraded the aesthetics of the site slightly.
In two days time I’ll be leaving the greatest country in the world to “read” for my master’s degree at Cambridge. Folks like to ask me if I’m excited and tell me how great it’s going to be… to which I generally reply that “Yes, I am in fact excited and indeed plan on having a good time” somewhat hoping they’ll get my tone and interpret it as a dull answer to an already tiresome topic.
In fact, while I am a huge proponent of nostalgic remembrance and an occasional tall-tale (I’m quite well known for picking the dregs from between my teeth far after tea time), I have a great deal of trouble relishing something that has yet come to pass. It’s for the same reason that I really couldn’t take much joy out of all the publicity surrounding my selection by Gates (and in fact it was quite stressful). How can one be congratulated for being given the chance to do something? The late Dr. Randy Pausch said it best when he replied to his applauding crowd “Make me earn it”.
It must go hand in hand, my disapproval of goodbyes and excitation at future potential. Both suppose some happening (or lack thereof) and offer empty gestures as preemptive bookends. I’m not sure anymore if disapproving of goodbyes is any more a defense mechanism than pretending their inevitability.
Farewells are not my strong suit, nor do they suit me.
In other news, I have spent the last 4 days on house-arrest thanks to my dear old friend Streptococcal pharyngitis. I’ve nearly rested on having my tonsils removed, either by way of medical procedure or beheading. Furthermore, I have lost all grasp of irony after hearing, for the fourth time (and third doctor), that my tonsils, although technically part of the immune system, seem to be my primary host of bacterial company. How lucky for you, doctor, that you’re ability to attract the opposite sex was as equally negatively offset by your atrophied humor (assumedly from medical school) as it was positively by your enflamed, swollen, throbbing paycheck.
And finally, to establish a reoccurring theme, I am simultaneously jealous of doctors for getting paid what their knowledge is worth while being appalled by the profession and the indefatigable hubris many must have to be able to dress greed up in the church-clothes of compassion for the human condition (beyond their own).
More tomorrow, and hopefully over the next week Javier and I will have upgraded the aesthetics of the site slightly.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
This is a slightly longer test post
I'm trying to see how the text looks with a nice long post being put in. I'm experimenting with teh color schemes and I'm not too sure yet how I want it to turn out.
i'm feeling kinda sleepy.. worked too much on problems sets today. Glad to be filled with yummy Dim Sum though
Dirka dirka!
i'm feeling kinda sleepy.. worked too much on problems sets today. Glad to be filled with yummy Dim Sum though
Dirka dirka!
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