Cambridge, finally.
I'm finally making a post, summing up Cambridge. It's been long overdue and it's hard to realize that it's been over an entire month since I've left. Anyway, here it is in a quasi-chronological order since my last post.
This is the cake that some of my friends made for me on my birthday.
Basically, we got in trouble for all the mayhem caused on the night of my birthday. The morning after, an e-mail was sent out to all the students in the program and this is a screen shot of the best part.
This is the Pembroke College dining hall. I ate my meals here on a daily basis. I would sometimes eat out or in the King's College dining hall when someone would swipe me in. The King's dining hall is a lot bigger and more Hogwarts-like, but I liked Pembroke more since the food was better and I knew more people there.
This is punting, one of the main tourist attractions in Cambridge. I actually didn't make any time to go punting until the last two weeks of the trip, where I went three times. It would probably be best if I explained what punting is. A punt is a small boat, much like a skiff. They vary in size. The punter stands behind the boat and uses a long rod which hits the bottom of the river to push the punt forward and to steer the punt. Apparently at Oxford, the punter stands at the front and pulls the boat along. It's not particularly complicated, but it does take a while to get used to. I also found it very inefficient, since paddles are a lot faster and make it easier to steer. The punts also have a habit of getting stuck and causing the punter to fall in. Luckily, it never happened to me and I got the hang of it by the time of my last punting trip. The first picture shows Kaitlin punting, which she was VERY bad at. The second picture was taken on a different punting trip. That time the punt and the rod weren't locked up, so a few of us decided to go out at night, get drunk, and steal one. It was a pretty fun night.
You're not allowed to step on the grass at King's College unless you're a fellow. However, while I was drinking at the college pub one afternoon, the fire alarm went off so we all had to gather on the grass so I couldn't pass up the opportunity of taking a picture on it.
On one of the rare weekends that I actually stayed in Cambridge, I accompanied a bunch of people to a chalk quarry where they all went swimming. I didn't swim because I actually hate the water, so I got beer instead with my friend Raj. According to the others, Raj and me bringing back the beers was a triumphant sight. The day was also funny because Brandon, who went to Amsterdam with me, was already at the quarry when we got there and hanging out with naked hippy chicks.
According to the English, this summer was the wettest that they have had in the past few years. I'm seen here walking out in the rain without an umbrella. I had one too, but I always forgot to bring it.
Formal dinners would be an excuse for everyone to get wasted. After formals, most people would go out clubbing or end up at some after party, as in the picture at the top. The second picture shows me with a can of Carlsberg, which was my beer of choice during my stay in England. All three of these pictures are courtesy of John Yang, who I have a picture with in the last picture. He just graduated from UCLA. He always takes great pictures, probably since it was his hobby and he carried around a $1,000 digital SLR.
I think this picture was taken that same night while waiting to get into a club. Isn't Kaitlin just the cutest thing?
This is me and 2-Pint Patty. I gave her the nickname because the night after this picture was taken, she threw up after two pints. The nickname was actually pretty popular and stuck with her for the rest of the program, much to her dismay.
This is the wonderful Bora Kim and myself. I travelled with her after the program and she was a lifesaver during my financial crisis. I've decided that I'm going to marry her one day.
These pictures were taken on Fitzwilliam Street. I lived at the end of Fitzwilliam Street where it hit Tennis Court Road. A lot of other people that I hung out with lived on Fitzwilliam, so it was actually pretty cool. It was nice being able to walk around the corner and find someone out on the street or just going up to the different windows and yelling peoples' names. The street also has some historical value, since the Fitzwilliam Museum was at one end, Charles Darwin lived on the street at some point of his life, and Watson or Crick (I forgot which one) lived in Tennis Court Road.
Playing pool in the King's pub was one of my favorite ways to avoid studying.
This is Larissa and myself. She goes to UCI, but I don't remember what her major is. She's a pretty funny gal and knows how to party. Hopefully I'll be seeing her again sometime soon.
This is me and Anne. She was one of the two Yale kids that actually hung out with non-Yale kids. She's a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, and she basically died when I told her that I've read all eight of the novels.
This is me with a group of girls that lived in King's College. At the far left is Monica. She's from Queen's College in Canada. She majors in English and we had a few intellectual debates about Shakespeare, which was pretty cool. Anne is to my left and to my right is Madeleine, the other Yale girl that branched out. To the far right is Freya. She went to UCSB but transferred to UCLA this year. I actually have plans to go out for lunch with her and Bora sometime this week. At the bottom, there's Laurel and Larissa. Laurel goes to UCSB and I have no idea what her major is.
From left to right, there is Ara, myself, Madeleine, and Kelly. All three of these girls lived on Fitzwilliam Street and go to UCLA. I also randomly saw them in Paris after the program.
This is me and Livy. Livy is one of the TA's in the program. She just graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Environmental Studies. She was my favorite TA since she was such a hippy. She let me crash at her place in Brighton before my flight back to the U.S.
So these two pictures show the people that I probably grew the closest to during the program. From left to right in the top picture, there's me, Julia, Suleena, Kaitlin, and Stephen. I think that I've described most of them in some way in previous posts. In the second picture, there's me, Emma, Richard, Maya, Chanel, Raj, Paul, Caroline, Ryan, Angelica, and Brandon. Most of the people in this picture go to Berkeley, except for me, Emma who goes to school in Boston, and Raj and Brandon who are both at Santa Cruz. Worth mentioning is that Kaitlin was my best friend for the whole program and Emma was a close second. Mike, who I was really close to, should have been in the second picture, but wasn't found in time to be in it. I've actually seen all of the people in both these pictures since I've been back in the U.S. except for Emma and Stephen because they go to school outside California. I guess that's the end of the pictures that I'm posting with for now. There's more on facebook though.
It was a fun time. In the short two months that I was there it became a place that I could call home. It's actually sad that I may never see some of the people that I've met again. Anyway, I've spent way too much time and have smoked too many cigarettes writing those post. I'll try to muster enough energy to make another post tomorrow that will cover my travels after the program, but for now, I'm off to smoke one more cigartte before I go to bed.
-Joseph
This is the cake that some of my friends made for me on my birthday.
Basically, we got in trouble for all the mayhem caused on the night of my birthday. The morning after, an e-mail was sent out to all the students in the program and this is a screen shot of the best part.
This is the Pembroke College dining hall. I ate my meals here on a daily basis. I would sometimes eat out or in the King's College dining hall when someone would swipe me in. The King's dining hall is a lot bigger and more Hogwarts-like, but I liked Pembroke more since the food was better and I knew more people there.
This is punting, one of the main tourist attractions in Cambridge. I actually didn't make any time to go punting until the last two weeks of the trip, where I went three times. It would probably be best if I explained what punting is. A punt is a small boat, much like a skiff. They vary in size. The punter stands behind the boat and uses a long rod which hits the bottom of the river to push the punt forward and to steer the punt. Apparently at Oxford, the punter stands at the front and pulls the boat along. It's not particularly complicated, but it does take a while to get used to. I also found it very inefficient, since paddles are a lot faster and make it easier to steer. The punts also have a habit of getting stuck and causing the punter to fall in. Luckily, it never happened to me and I got the hang of it by the time of my last punting trip. The first picture shows Kaitlin punting, which she was VERY bad at. The second picture was taken on a different punting trip. That time the punt and the rod weren't locked up, so a few of us decided to go out at night, get drunk, and steal one. It was a pretty fun night.
You're not allowed to step on the grass at King's College unless you're a fellow. However, while I was drinking at the college pub one afternoon, the fire alarm went off so we all had to gather on the grass so I couldn't pass up the opportunity of taking a picture on it.
On one of the rare weekends that I actually stayed in Cambridge, I accompanied a bunch of people to a chalk quarry where they all went swimming. I didn't swim because I actually hate the water, so I got beer instead with my friend Raj. According to the others, Raj and me bringing back the beers was a triumphant sight. The day was also funny because Brandon, who went to Amsterdam with me, was already at the quarry when we got there and hanging out with naked hippy chicks.
According to the English, this summer was the wettest that they have had in the past few years. I'm seen here walking out in the rain without an umbrella. I had one too, but I always forgot to bring it.
Formal dinners would be an excuse for everyone to get wasted. After formals, most people would go out clubbing or end up at some after party, as in the picture at the top. The second picture shows me with a can of Carlsberg, which was my beer of choice during my stay in England. All three of these pictures are courtesy of John Yang, who I have a picture with in the last picture. He just graduated from UCLA. He always takes great pictures, probably since it was his hobby and he carried around a $1,000 digital SLR.
I think this picture was taken that same night while waiting to get into a club. Isn't Kaitlin just the cutest thing?
This is me and 2-Pint Patty. I gave her the nickname because the night after this picture was taken, she threw up after two pints. The nickname was actually pretty popular and stuck with her for the rest of the program, much to her dismay.
This is the wonderful Bora Kim and myself. I travelled with her after the program and she was a lifesaver during my financial crisis. I've decided that I'm going to marry her one day.
These pictures were taken on Fitzwilliam Street. I lived at the end of Fitzwilliam Street where it hit Tennis Court Road. A lot of other people that I hung out with lived on Fitzwilliam, so it was actually pretty cool. It was nice being able to walk around the corner and find someone out on the street or just going up to the different windows and yelling peoples' names. The street also has some historical value, since the Fitzwilliam Museum was at one end, Charles Darwin lived on the street at some point of his life, and Watson or Crick (I forgot which one) lived in Tennis Court Road.
Playing pool in the King's pub was one of my favorite ways to avoid studying.
This is Larissa and myself. She goes to UCI, but I don't remember what her major is. She's a pretty funny gal and knows how to party. Hopefully I'll be seeing her again sometime soon.
This is me and Anne. She was one of the two Yale kids that actually hung out with non-Yale kids. She's a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, and she basically died when I told her that I've read all eight of the novels.
This is me with a group of girls that lived in King's College. At the far left is Monica. She's from Queen's College in Canada. She majors in English and we had a few intellectual debates about Shakespeare, which was pretty cool. Anne is to my left and to my right is Madeleine, the other Yale girl that branched out. To the far right is Freya. She went to UCSB but transferred to UCLA this year. I actually have plans to go out for lunch with her and Bora sometime this week. At the bottom, there's Laurel and Larissa. Laurel goes to UCSB and I have no idea what her major is.
From left to right, there is Ara, myself, Madeleine, and Kelly. All three of these girls lived on Fitzwilliam Street and go to UCLA. I also randomly saw them in Paris after the program.
This is me and Livy. Livy is one of the TA's in the program. She just graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Environmental Studies. She was my favorite TA since she was such a hippy. She let me crash at her place in Brighton before my flight back to the U.S.
So these two pictures show the people that I probably grew the closest to during the program. From left to right in the top picture, there's me, Julia, Suleena, Kaitlin, and Stephen. I think that I've described most of them in some way in previous posts. In the second picture, there's me, Emma, Richard, Maya, Chanel, Raj, Paul, Caroline, Ryan, Angelica, and Brandon. Most of the people in this picture go to Berkeley, except for me, Emma who goes to school in Boston, and Raj and Brandon who are both at Santa Cruz. Worth mentioning is that Kaitlin was my best friend for the whole program and Emma was a close second. Mike, who I was really close to, should have been in the second picture, but wasn't found in time to be in it. I've actually seen all of the people in both these pictures since I've been back in the U.S. except for Emma and Stephen because they go to school outside California. I guess that's the end of the pictures that I'm posting with for now. There's more on facebook though.
It was a fun time. In the short two months that I was there it became a place that I could call home. It's actually sad that I may never see some of the people that I've met again. Anyway, I've spent way too much time and have smoked too many cigarettes writing those post. I'll try to muster enough energy to make another post tomorrow that will cover my travels after the program, but for now, I'm off to smoke one more cigartte before I go to bed.
-Joseph