King's College: Don't walk on the grass! |
The last three days have been incredible, and very, very busy!
On
Sunday we had registration and orientation - basically signing into our
respective colleges and letting the ISS (International Summer School)
staff know that we are present and ready to learn! Monday was the first
day of classes plus several introductory/welcome/ instructional talks, and today (Tuesday) was the first day of just classes.
The Cambridge University Press book shop: I spent a lot of money in here! |
I have met so many people from so many places in the last three
days. We've been told that there are representatives from 34 countries
here, and so far I have met:
A woman from Holland
An older gentleman from the Hague, also in Holland
A woman from India
Three people from Michigan
One woman from Texas
One woman from California
One man from Florida
One woman from New York
One man from Warsaw, Poland
One woman from Serbia
One woman from Brazil
One woman from Argentina
One woman from Guyana, who now lives in Florida
One woman from Sydney
Two men from Melbourne, one of whom studies in Canberra
One woman from Canberra
One man from Canada
One woman from Finland
One woman from the Netherlands
Several people from the UK
One woman from Cape Town, South Africa
One man from Tokyo, Japan who studies in America
One man from Italy (named Luigi!)
And I'm sure I will meet many more :-)
The classes have been fascinating, but also quite
challenging. They are very academic, highly intellectual, there are a
lot of very complicated philosophical and psychological concepts
explored in every class, in every piece of work we study. The special
subject course classes go for an hour and a half, and although we
discuss so much in that time, it often feels like we haven't covered a
quarter of what we could if we had the time. The plenary lectures so far
have also been very interesting, although sometimes they are so full of
complex ideas I have trouble following what's being said - it would
have helped if I had studied some kind of philosophy. Most of the people
I've met have done at least philosophy classes, even just in high
school, and they find the lectures a little easier to penetrate.
Other than that, we stay in a few separate colleges, although most
of the science and literature ISS students are staying at St Catharine's
college. We eat breakfast together and we eat dinner together, but are
responsible for getting our own lunch. The last two nights we have gone
to the pub closest to St Catharine's called The Eagle, which has been in
business since the 15th century. It's amazing to go to a pub that is
that old! Having said that, St Catharine's is about six hundred years
old, and the university is older still. I love how old everything is
here :-)
Punts on the river Cam for the tourists to go punting - I have not tried this yet! |
~ Jemimah
Jemimah Halbert is participating on our Cambridge Literature Summer School Program in the UK. Jemimah is currently in her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Arts at Edith Cowan University.
Jemimah Halbert is participating on our Cambridge Literature Summer School Program in the UK. Jemimah is currently in her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Arts at Edith Cowan University.