Playing Chardes

in high school, Georgia, USA
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The Man with the Golden Gun
Britney Spears
Titanic
Star Wars
Mickey Mouse

at University of Cambridge, England
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Ecclesiastes
A Tale of Two Cities
Much Ado About Nothing
Wuthering Heights
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tess of the D'urbervilles

Becoming a Cambridge student

Gonville & Caius College freshman Matriculation photo, all of one hundred eighty-something odd of us standing around the green court at 9:30am, half-hungover and chilly yet chatty and proudly wearing our blue college gowns.
multiples roll calls and assembly into alphabetical lines for the photo shoot
being able to walk on the grass for a few seconds!
To think, I will be forever captured in this matriculation photo as a true Caius freshman
Sitting in the dining hall at the front of the table, being welcomed by the Caius Master and Fellows formally into Gonville & Caius College and hearing their hearty congratulations, taking the ink pen and officially signing my name onto both the college and university matriculation forms... I look up at the enormous hall ceilings colored by stained glass lights with a sense of immense awe

Our first formal hall dinner, for freshman only, the Caius-definition of a three-course meal with our college gowns
walking in and realizing Stephen Hawking is attending our formal hall, a way of welcome into his college.
someone whispers Stephen Hawking and the name quickly passes down the long hall table from person to person and every head turns to look at the high table in wide-eyed wonderment
me craning my neck to try to figure out what his laptop is running on his wheelchair, some green text that was constantly changing against a black background, but I was too far away to make out anything
all wondering if he was going to say a few electronically created words but he never did

going punting again, this time a seasoned veteren, and with great weather
looking through the various university and college society fairs
meeting and finding freshmen to hang out with, finally feeling more integrated with my college and dorm
joining the Caius Army pub crawl, night before lectures begin :)

lectures are all about managing to find a not-crappy place to sit and scribbling down what the professor is saying and writing at the same time as fast and much as possible
then spending the rest of the afternoon going over each word and sentence to decipher it all
finally understanding that people actually use the library to do work, study, and read textbooks, wow

realizing that I am now a Cambridge student, and time will pass by before I know it

This is England.

I feel like I'm walking around in a quaint 18th century movie, ridiculously out of place.
I love the adorably nice old porters dressed in black suits and black trench coats who know everything under the sun and moon.
Punting along the River Cam and not falling into the water
Sundry of shops and trinkets along windy cobblestone roads
Gorgeous gorgeous green grass that only college Fellows may walk on
You can see stars. stars stars stars bright against the darkness, framed by the top of trees in my field of vision when I walk home alone the road with my face looking up.
Dancing to cheese reminds me of Singapore's Zouk Mambo Jambo.
Horrible, antiquated internet and network connectivity
Such an adventure to find edible cheap food everyday.
British girls and their old school fashion.
I like girls who appreciate good beer.
Unconsciously mimicking a British accent when talking too long to Brits
Not unpacking my room yet.
Freezingly drizzly cold cold yet bright and clear English sky
breathtaking architecture that we call home







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