A difference

Walking through Killian Court, staring at the dome, gives me a sense of awe...  Wow, I am at MIT, this place of legends.

But then I remember the other Cambridge: dining in Trinity Hall, climbing St. John's tower, studying in Caius Library... An immense sense of grandeur, this place of incomparable history.  

the last time I went to Island Hopper

it was just southeast asian fusion food to me.

this time, I have eaten every staple dish on the menu in its native country: China+Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam.

=)
 

it's the little things

that remind me I'm back in the States after 15 months:

getting in the left side of the car, looking right when crossing the street (the obvious ones)

thinking the 0.25 currency denomination is weird and not useful (seriously what other country uses 0.25 over 0.50 coins?)

no longer feeling a natural behavior to tip in restaurants -- rather, an obligation, because this is America

forgetting to throw away my own food at fast food restaurants (oops)

queueing up

meeting at X:00 and waiting around as people arrive ~X:10

seeing a Visit Vermont tourism sign, and for a split second, thinking 1) Vermont is a country 2) "whoa how did Vermont get an advertisement here" ......then realizing, "oh wait, Vermont is a state in the US. and I'm in the US. fail."

Cambridge vs MIT retrospection

Goodbyes are never what we picture them to be ~
regardless, farewell Cambridge <3

[-- Academic (Maths) --]

Maths at Cambridge Uni: all the first years take the same 8 lectures; second years pick from ~6 lectures per term and focus on some for the final exam; the final exam (Tripos) contain questions from every lecture offered (16) but you can only answer a limited number of questions, so you obviously only focus on lecture you have studied. The Tripos and the grading/ranking system is confusing at hell.

Math at MIT: how many math courses are offered per term, ~70? There are natural course progressions, but students choose their own classes and math track they want. Plus we have to take other non-math classes. Obviously extremely different from maths at Cambridge.

Cambridge is very impressive in theoretical maths, the track is more focused and rigorous than MIT. However, Cambridge's definition of "applied maths" seems to equal "physics." My classes: Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Special Relativity, Fluid Dynamics... And I hate physics, therefore I did not like maths at Cambridge very much this year. My favorite was Optimization, but I sorely missed the 18.300 series. Plus I started missing my course 6 programming and algorithms too! wow >.< style="font-weight: bold;">[-- Social --]

UK Legal drinking age of 18 means you quickly get used to having alcoholic drinks around, no big deal. Hang outs are at college or local pubs; there are very few common areas like MIT. Each college has a room or bar area with pool table/etc., the amount of play things dependent on the college. (Caius wasn't that great..) Contrast to MIT where each dorm floor if not suite/hall has a common space with TV, Xbox, Wii, Playstation, etc. plus the dorm itself has movie and game collection for rental at least. The lounges are next to your room, so they're good to just eat, do your work there, and talk to other people walking by. Socialize without drinking *nods*

Cambridge going out = local clubs on weekdays (Brit Cheese music, ew..), college bar/bops on weekends to avoid the townies
MIT going out = fraternity parties on weekends, Boston clubs/bars for the 21+ people

Bottom line: Cambridge legal drinking = good, MIT free alcohol & good music at frat parties + common lounges = better


[-- Technology & etc. --]

This one is easy: Cambridge colleges have bandwidth limits (Caius is 5gb a week!) (with ridiculously high fees for excess!), almost no wireless at all, and printing fees. Plus have we are issued three different passwords for various university systems, wtf?

Bottom line: All free at MIT: damn fast wireless, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited Athena printing and paper-taking. We at MIT have it sooooooo good.

[-- And so.. --]

One extremely redeeming quality of Cambridge? the students. Almost 30% international (altho most studied A-levels in UK, not a fresh-off-the-boat type of international, ya know? :P), compared to 10% at MIT. Just more diverse, different sorts of people, and in greater quantities, than you'ld find at MIT or an American university.

Friends make any place better. *hugs*

All in all, I'm glad to go back to MIT for one more year, kinda missing Boston now. Spending one year abroad was perfect. I think, for me at least, if I liked Cambridge maths more, I would really love staying here.

<3>

since so many people have asked me

I really need to write down a "What I like and dislike about Cambridge" blog entry after my exams. A very very long entry I predict.

Cambridge Easter Term late post

Finally posting an overview of Easter Term. I had some pictures on Facebook, but I don't have the gorgeous Mayball pictures from the Nikon D700 yet, so those are still forth coming....







International students formal at
Galin's fall into the Cam
BBQ on harvey court balconies
drinking on punts
the regular hang outs in Hao's room, but for the last few times
Last Caius superhall -- heh this is where I first met Justin and you guys, sad it wasn't sooner...
fast forward time because we're all sort of busy studying until......
lots of post exam punting!

Wow those are all the pictures I have on Facebook, but I missed a lot... in no particular train of thought, from Cambridge to London:

May bumps
hours and hours of hotpot
May ball ticket scavenging
Dota practice
Soul Tree Friday nights
weekend brunch
more Dota talk
Peterhouse hang outs
Jesus College hang outs
did I mention Dota?
guitar songs
midnight punting tour
liqueur chocolates
eating out as much as possible
Bicester madness
gorgeous afternoon tea at the Ritz
celebrity spotting at Gucci and etc.
Murado chef's table and autographed menu
Midsummer Night dinner
walks along Sloane St and Bond
Louis Vuitton VIP
Hermes shop-hopping
search for the Hermes cat
visiting LSE, <3 girls
birthday bottle of Krug
conveyor belt sushi

as if these make any sense to another reader? but nevermind. tis sweet nostalgia for me, and perhaps you gives an inking of all the sensations I experienced ~~