We'll always have Cambridge.

So earlier today, I woke up and took all my belongings out of my room in the P staircase that I have come to known as home, and onto a train for King's Cross. I parted ways with the girls, who were headed towards Heathrow and took a taxi on my own to the hotel that my mother and I are staying at here in London.

I'm so incredibly sad that the Cambridge chapter of my life has come to an end. The last five weeks seem like an incredible blur of new experiences, people, and just insanity! This blog consists of numerous written words and pictures, but no combination of words and no single picture can depict what I've just been through. To my new friends Katie, Erika, Alexandria, Rina, Mike, Blake and Rebecca, thank you for everything and I will miss you all. Have fun wherever you may be and I hope to see you soon! To the PAs Heather, Anna, Rachael, Calum and Luke- thank you for all that you have done, these five weeks wouldn't have been nearly the same without your hard work. So thank you for going above and beyond for us silly Americans! To Andy and Charlie, you are both hilarious and I am so glad to have met you both. Thank you for your endless patience and hilarious conversation, I will miss you! This wave of emotion has been coursing through my mind and body for the past few days. It's always hard to say goodbye, and things just won't be the same. I mean, yes you might get to see some of these people back at UCI, but the context is so different. You see these people everyday, eat with them at every meal, live with them on trips and get to know so well that it's going to be different when you see them casually on campus. Some people don't go to UCI and I very much hope to see them again!

My last day was such a bittersweet one. We went punting for the last time where I pretty much failed and simply spun our boat around in circles. After a delicious lunch at a noodle cart in the middle of the Cambridge marketplace, I did some last minute souvenir shopping and went back to Pembroke. I finally visited the College Chapel on campus, which was gorgeous and took some pictures in the beautiful library. Basically, I spent most of the day packing and getting ready to leave this wonderful place. After a dinner on the Pembroke grass (shh!) and a nap (thank Benadryl) the girls congregated to say our last goodbyes to Rebecca, Rina and Blake, which was quite sad. Then it was off to hang out in Luke's F9 room for the last time. There's never a boring day.

Still, I never went back to the Fitzwilliam Museum like I wanted to, or to the Archaeology Museum. But that just means that the next time I go to Cambridge I know what to do! This whole experience has been amazing and I can't wait to come back again. Thank you all and much love!

Sorta-ish Last Day.

TECHNICALLY, today is the last day for all us UCSS kids are Pembroke College. We have all our finals and little things going on so it is a bit frantic at the moment. Our documentary called "Observing America" is going to be shown with all the others at 6:15 tonight. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of our group and our little film. We put a lot of work into it and I believe that anyone can enjoy it.

I've just been very sad today but trying to be positive about it. I wish this program was longer but I've had the time of my life since I've been here so I don't mind so much. It has certainly taught me a lot and awakened my desire to see more of the world and experience new cultures. I think I take after my dad in this aspect. He loves to travel and I can see why now. I'll always be grateful for this experience, thank you mom and dad!

My last "final" starts in about fifteen minutes and by final I really just mean that our British Documentary Film making class has to write an evaluation about our films. Nothing too difficult. The only thing that was stressing me out was the paper we had to write for The Science of Crime and Criminal Justice, but it was actually a bit interesting to write since I chose to write about Serial Murders.

Tonight is the last formal dinner and then some group shenanigans. Some of these people I'll most likely never see again and some I'll see around UC Irvine. It's amazing how fast five goes by.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Panic.

Today is the first of September. Which means that today is the last full day of classes. Tomorrow is Finals and the LAST Formal Dinner and then Friday is a free day. Saturday we leave in the morning and then it is all over. I'm ridiculously sad. This program has been such an amazing experience and I am going to miss it all when I leave. I do wish that this program was longer and I feel like I haven't gotten to know everyone yet! There is too much to do, too much to see!

Today we took a tour of the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge which was very relaxing and beautiful and there were many people simply lounging about and having a picnic. There were two random cats just strolling around, which surprised me because it was so casual.

On Monday, we had a barbecue for the program, which was super fun and we got to eat burgers and "hot dogs", which were really sausages, and just relax and enjoy each others company. Afterwards a lot of the program played some "Rounders", which is basically like Baseball, but with just a few different rules. There was a lot of intense rivalry going on, some cheating by one of our PAs, and just loads of good fun. Yesterday, a group of us decided to go to a restaurant/bar down the street called Revolution, where we may or may not have gotten into some shenanigans. It was all in good fun! I definitely had a great time and I also finished most of my paper before going out, so I felt pretty responsible as well.

Tonight we are headed out to the Panton Arms, which is a pub well known for their fish and chips. So excited! Afterwards I'll probably be boring and just finish my paper. Wah wah wah. I'm going to try to make the most out of the few days so good luck to me!

Formal Dinners.

Here are Cambridge we have very special nights called Formal Dinners where we all dress up and meet on the Lawn for drinks (except the last few times it has been raining) and we are actually permitted to walk on the grass! Formal dinners are quite a big deal here because it is a sign of respect for the college and if the Fellows are present, we are not allowed to be seated until they are seated first. However, the Fellows have not dined with us mainly because they are all on holiday or are busy with their research. The meals are complex three course deliciousness with accompanying bread and white/red wine.

However, I will say that some students take it too far. The problem with American students is that they are not watchful of others. During formal dinner, you are not exactly supposed to stand up at any time, but the American students have not noticed that. They also don't understand that the wine is supposed to accompany the meal and is not supposed to be chugged down like a shotgunned beer. This has caused a little bit of a problem and is often quite embarrassing. My advice is to be respectful, especially when it is a formal occasion.

Anyways, back to the good part of Formal Dinners. Basically, the food is absolutely amazing. Something you would eat in a 5 star restaurant and involves multiple knives and forks and all these complex mechanisms. It's been a great learning experience and I've enjoyed it all. Here are some accompanying pictures. Try not to drool all over the screen please. Thanks!

P.S. There was a bit of a fiasco with the pork belly. The skin was so crisp that it was impossible to cut through but I still tried and it basically flew off my plate. While I was seated across from one of our program directors. Lovely.

Visit to Oxford.

This past weekend I spent a day at Oxford, which was a beautiful city that was bigger than Cambridge but let me just say right now: CAMBRIDGE > OXFORD. Even though I'm not a legitimate student here at Cambridge, I definitely have that Cambridge pride.

We started off the day by gathering at the back gate, where much to our surprise, a gigantic group of Japanese students who were also studying here but part of a different program, showed up. Our PA Luke had gotten a text the night before saying that "a few more students were coming". Let me just say right now, that text lied. Our little UCSS group was easily dominated by the Japanese group. So we went on the public bus to Oxford and our driver was NOT happy about our gigantic group (blame the Japanese) and was also angry that none of us had the right change. The bus is supposed to pick up people and drop some off on the way to Oxford but the bus left with literally only one spot open. Not ideal, that's for sure. It was a long three hour and twenty minute journey and we all arrived very hungry. Naturally we went to the open market square, where we ate some delicious baguette sandwiches. I got some postcards to send and some fun baby recipe books. Then we were off! We strolled the streets of Oxford and Luke was actually FROM Oxford but unable to tell us the names of all the colleges. Oxford Fail. We went into St. Mary's Church, which was beautiful and very lovely. Then we were off to the Natural History Museum, which was AMAZING. Let me just say, I am a huge dinosaur and rocks & minerals (mainly minerals) gal. There were these huge blocks of quartz and pyrite (fool's gold) and a skeleton of a T-REX! RAWRR! Quite a bit of fun. Then it was off to the Bodleian Library, where we got an hour tour of the place. Did you know that they actually filmed part of Harry Potter there? In one of the main rooms (which is breathtakingly gorgeous) they filmed the infirmary for the Harry Potter movies in there. Naturally, I freaked out just a little bit. Or maybe not a little bit. We also got to go into another room where two previous kings had sat in this little wooden throne. SUHWEET. Okay this post is getting childish. Ranting about rocks and dinosaurs and Harry Potter? People are going to think I am twelve years old!

Anyways, we had dinner at a very popular pub named The Turf Tavern. It's quite hidden and you have to go through this creepy alley to get there. At first I thought Luke was trying to lead us into a death trap. Hey, you can't blame me for being too cautious. I was going to go the healthy route and get chicken but Luke persuaded me to get the steak and ale pie because it is such a traditional British meal. So I did. And it was quite delicious. They call their mashed potatoes here simply "mash". It had chives and an accompanying delicious gravy with peas on the side. Yum. I might have gained 10 pounds by eating it, but hey it's like they say here in England, We're on holiday!

Speaking of holiday, today is a national holiday here in the UK. It's Bank Holiday. I'm not sure what it means but I've been told that no, it is not related to banks. Or at least not directly. I think.

Back to Oxford. So we were also informed that the movie The Golden Compass was also filmed in the streets of Oxford near the Bodleian library. I'm a huge fan of Philip Pullman's series, but the movies were a bit of a disappointment for me. Still pretty excited to be part of it all somehow! After some trolling around town, we went back to the bus stop because the bus was about to leave. It was all a tiring day but oh so fun. There was a sailing trip to Norfolk planned on Sunday but due to the winds and terrible England weather (typical!) it was canceled. I did however, get to enjoy a hot brunch, which made up for everything. I miss hot breakfast. Did I mention that the British eat baked beans as part of their breakfast? As well as tomatoes and mushrooms. No joke. They also generally don't eat scrambled eggs, but prefer them poached or hard boiled. It's quite interesting.

This is my last full week here in Cambridge and it breaks my heart. Today is my last Monday here and while it is Bank Holiday, all the students here still have class and are scrambling to finish their papers. Last night we went to watch Inception at the movie theatre, which was pretty cool to see. I had already seen the movie but wanted a reason to procrastinate and was also curious to see what the British cinema was like.

I'm going to try to make the best out of my last week here and I know that I will miss it with all my heart when it is time to leave. Some of these people don't go to UCI or have already graduated so I will be very sad because I will no longer get to see them everyday. Still, this has been such a great experience and I don't regret a single thing!

Except maybe bringing so much here because now my luggage have the weight of a full grown adult and they will charge me ridiculous fees to bring it back. Shucks.

People Watching

I love to watch people and I especially love characters. If that sounds a bit creepy or odd, I apologize and I only have the best intentions! One of my friends here thinks its weird so I try not to bring it up around here. Anyways, here is my "collection".....

A Weekend in London.

London was very different than what I expected just because I hadn't realized that the city was so VAST and full of things to see and things to do! Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but when you are walking everywhere and have a time limit, then it becomes a problem.

We stayed at a hostel called Clink 78 which was pretty decent and it was very close to King's Cross, which was the most important thing. Our room was BRIGHT ORANGE no joke and shall we say, very intimate. On Saturday we took a tip based walking tour that lasted about 2 and a half hours and was very informative. We hit a lot of the buildings such as Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, etc. but I would like to go back to see more of the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace. For a late lunch we went to a restaurant called The Verve where I had fish and chips with mushy peas. We also went to the National Galley, which made me so happy because there is a room literally filled with Monet paintings, such as "The Thames Under Westminster", which was absolutely gorgeous. Also, I had never been a fan of Pissaro before but a couple of his paintings changed my mind. That night we had dinner at a random English pub and then we were off to the Absolut Ice Bar which was AMAZING. The drink containers were made of ice, the seats were made of ice, EVERYTHING! We had to leave a bit early because the tube stopped running at 12:30 and we had to go back to King's Cross station. When we got back to the hostel, nobody was particularly tired but this random Frenchman named Phil chatted us up because he couldn't sleep and was bored so my friends did that while I went out with a couple other friends for late night food and some bonding chat.

Sunday we woke up early (well I did at least to shower) for the free breakfast aka toast and cereal provided by the hostel. Then we were off to find Abbey Road before the traffic got too bad, but stopped to pose with pictures at Platform 9 & 3/4. The Harry Potter geek in me rejoiced. Oh and by the way? Platform 9 & 3/4 is not actually between 9 and 10. Abbey Road is actually pretty far away and is in a residential neighborhood. We stopped by the studios but of course we are not allowed in so we opted to reenact The Beatles cover of Abbey Road. It was quite fun because there were lots of cars whizzing by and we would have to run out into the road. After, we stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant and did some good ol' shopping. Then it was off to the NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. We honestly did not have enough time there. The line for the dinosaur exhibit is gigantic, but worth it! I like to think about the world when dinosaurs ruled the lands. But I spent most of my time in the Aquatic mammal section, learning about how whales get beached and how there are Narwhals can be born with two tusks and that happens in about 1 out of 500. Neat eh? I also saw the Commerson dolphin, but recognized it as so before I even read the sign. Oh. Yeah. Hardcore sea creature fan right here! After we went to Piccadilly Circus to do some souvenir shopping and some of the group wanted to eat at Hard Rock Cafe but I personally had to finish my essay for my Criminology midterm (whoops) so I headed back early with the boys. We picked up some Chinese food from a little hole in the wall restaurant that was so yummy. I miss Asian food. I think I will probably go crazy when I go back. Actually, I know I will.

So...that was the extent of my weekend in London, give or take a few details and stories.