first entry
This post was written Friday, October 13:
I just got on a bus that’s going from Cambridge to Central London. It’s the first bus that I’ve been on that’s had free wireless internet -- a sign of the times I suppose. It’s my first trip into London and it so happens a friend of mine from elementary school is going to be there as well as a friend of mine from WMU, and a friend that I met while working in Washington, DC a few summers ago.
Tomorrow the Gates Scholars are meeting for our first semi formal event – a boat cruise down the Thames river. The Gates Trust is bringing the Scholars to and from London on a bus, so I decided to go a day or so early to see some of the sites and visit with friends in London and then hitch a ride back on the Gates bus after the dinner tomorrow.
This week has been busy. In fact the entire time I’ve been here (in England) I have been rather busy, but it has been a good mix of socializing, studying, and getting settled in my new home.
My new home is Wolfson Court, which offers predominantly graduate housing for members of Girton College. It is known for having some of the best food on campus and is not too far from most everything in Cambridge.
My department (Land Economy) is mostly housed in buildings that line the Cambridge River – a 5-10 minute ride from home. So far, the classes have been interesting – mostly focused on economics and law. One of my classes is in the impressive new Squires Law Building – a huge architectural marvel on the Sidgwick part of campus.
My classmates are a diverse, and friendly bunch. There is an even mix of male and female students, young and not so young, and there is a good representation from five continents (absent are representatives from Oceana and Antarctica). We have representatives from Nigeria, Brazil, Russia, Japan (2), China (4), Taiwan, the Netherlands, Italy, two other students from the United States (northeasterners), and a couple of students from the UK. I haven’t taken the opportunity to get to know all of my classmates yet, but my friend who completed the program last year said that she suspects we’ll become a close bunch (she’s doing a PhD at MIT now and says that although her new classmates are great, she can’t imagine having a better class than her Environmental Policy class at Cambridge).
My first week in Cambridge I became a lifetime member of the Cambridge Union Society – which claims to be the oldest and most prestigious debate society in the world. My membership provides me with free access to all of the events at the Union Society (including whiskey and wine tasting events, guest speakers, and of course the weekly Thursday night debates), as well as reciprocal rights to attend events at debate societies at Oxford, Harvard, Yale, and many others around the world. The Union is housed in an old building in the heart of town and runs one of the best bars in town, one of only a handful of full-size snooker tables in town (which members can use for free), and the Keynes Library which houses the largest private collection of fiction books in Cambridge.
This week at the Union I enjoyed a special guest lecture from Richard Dawkins (who discussed and read excerpts from his new book, “God Delusion”) and a delightful whiskey tasting event (hosted by a scotch whiskey expert from Glasgow who brought some of the Kingdom’s finest whiskies for a dozen or so Union members to enjoy). Last night, I attended my first debate. The proposition was, “The United Kingdom should scrap its trident missile program.” Six debaters including a British colonel and two members of parliament debated for an hour or so with intermingled comments and questions from audience members. Concluding the debate, the few hundred attendants (and the debaters) filed into the Union pub for a post debate drink and chat. There, a couple of other attendants and I debated the MPs (informally) and discussed the merits of the British nuclear weapons program.
Other highlights from the last few weeks include a pub visit to the Eagle (the oldest pub in Cambridge) where Watson and Crick chose to announce their discovery of the DNA double helix, a beer with another Gates Scholar and new friend who is one of only three PhD students working with Prof. Stephan Hawking, dining at my first ‘formal hall’ – a weekly [three to five course] formal meal open to all graduates, undergraduates, and fellows of each college and held at the college’s formal dining hall.
I still am not able to ride or walk through campus without being amazed by my surroundings – the architecture, landscape, and history that is omnipresent on Campus and around the city.
From the highways of England,
Tristan
I just got on a bus that’s going from Cambridge to Central London. It’s the first bus that I’ve been on that’s had free wireless internet -- a sign of the times I suppose. It’s my first trip into London and it so happens a friend of mine from elementary school is going to be there as well as a friend of mine from WMU, and a friend that I met while working in Washington, DC a few summers ago.
Tomorrow the Gates Scholars are meeting for our first semi formal event – a boat cruise down the Thames river. The Gates Trust is bringing the Scholars to and from London on a bus, so I decided to go a day or so early to see some of the sites and visit with friends in London and then hitch a ride back on the Gates bus after the dinner tomorrow.
This week has been busy. In fact the entire time I’ve been here (in England) I have been rather busy, but it has been a good mix of socializing, studying, and getting settled in my new home.
My new home is Wolfson Court, which offers predominantly graduate housing for members of Girton College. It is known for having some of the best food on campus and is not too far from most everything in Cambridge.
My department (Land Economy) is mostly housed in buildings that line the Cambridge River – a 5-10 minute ride from home. So far, the classes have been interesting – mostly focused on economics and law. One of my classes is in the impressive new Squires Law Building – a huge architectural marvel on the Sidgwick part of campus.
My classmates are a diverse, and friendly bunch. There is an even mix of male and female students, young and not so young, and there is a good representation from five continents (absent are representatives from Oceana and Antarctica). We have representatives from Nigeria, Brazil, Russia, Japan (2), China (4), Taiwan, the Netherlands, Italy, two other students from the United States (northeasterners), and a couple of students from the UK. I haven’t taken the opportunity to get to know all of my classmates yet, but my friend who completed the program last year said that she suspects we’ll become a close bunch (she’s doing a PhD at MIT now and says that although her new classmates are great, she can’t imagine having a better class than her Environmental Policy class at Cambridge).
My first week in Cambridge I became a lifetime member of the Cambridge Union Society – which claims to be the oldest and most prestigious debate society in the world. My membership provides me with free access to all of the events at the Union Society (including whiskey and wine tasting events, guest speakers, and of course the weekly Thursday night debates), as well as reciprocal rights to attend events at debate societies at Oxford, Harvard, Yale, and many others around the world. The Union is housed in an old building in the heart of town and runs one of the best bars in town, one of only a handful of full-size snooker tables in town (which members can use for free), and the Keynes Library which houses the largest private collection of fiction books in Cambridge.
This week at the Union I enjoyed a special guest lecture from Richard Dawkins (who discussed and read excerpts from his new book, “God Delusion”) and a delightful whiskey tasting event (hosted by a scotch whiskey expert from Glasgow who brought some of the Kingdom’s finest whiskies for a dozen or so Union members to enjoy). Last night, I attended my first debate. The proposition was, “The United Kingdom should scrap its trident missile program.” Six debaters including a British colonel and two members of parliament debated for an hour or so with intermingled comments and questions from audience members. Concluding the debate, the few hundred attendants (and the debaters) filed into the Union pub for a post debate drink and chat. There, a couple of other attendants and I debated the MPs (informally) and discussed the merits of the British nuclear weapons program.
Other highlights from the last few weeks include a pub visit to the Eagle (the oldest pub in Cambridge) where Watson and Crick chose to announce their discovery of the DNA double helix, a beer with another Gates Scholar and new friend who is one of only three PhD students working with Prof. Stephan Hawking, dining at my first ‘formal hall’ – a weekly [three to five course] formal meal open to all graduates, undergraduates, and fellows of each college and held at the college’s formal dining hall.
I still am not able to ride or walk through campus without being amazed by my surroundings – the architecture, landscape, and history that is omnipresent on Campus and around the city.
From the highways of England,
Tristan
posted by Tristan Brown | 9:46 AM
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