(no subject)
Jul. 5th, 2011 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardToday I saw an eleventh-century church, or at least the tower was eleventh-century, which was another case of OMGWHAT? There's been a lot of that going around, along with, "The Old Court predates GLASS and CHIMNEYS? What the hell." Although, heh, the pelican is on Corpus's crest too. (It's on the state flag of Louisiana, along with being all over Tulane. Although our pelican looks more like an actual pelican, while this one looks just like some random big white bird.)
And then we got our first lecture, which was mostly our syllabus, which got a lot of attention because we ended up going, "Wow, this is a lot more work than we expected," and, "No, you did not actually tell us that," on some things. (No, you did not tell us to bring hiking boots, which is why everyone is freaking the fuck out, because good hiking boots are really expensive in the U.S., never mind in the UK when you consider the fact that the dollar is around half the pound. You told us to bring close-toed shoes, which is what we brought. Also, those of us who were planning on doing this course not for credit would like to know if we actually have to take the exam and write the essay, like the website said.)
I confessed to our student rep that for a really long time I wasn't actually convinced that the program was legit, which several other people chimed in on as well, which made her go rather green. Well, obviously we were convinced enough that it was real and not a scam to actually shell out all the money past the deposit + the plane tickets and actually show up. I like our student rep, she's nice. (Her name starts with E. I know so many people with the first initial E...) She's a Cambridge grad who's going off soon to do her grad work at the University of Capetown in South Africa, which is pretty cool.
Right now Cambridge is buzzing with (a) tourists and (b) summer groups like mine. Presumably there are also (c) staff/faculty/whatever they call 'em in England and (d) actual Cambridge students. Presumably also (e) residents.
Other mindfucks in town: King's College, which, how is something like that even real? (It is just so fancy. It's right across the street from Corpus Christi College, so I see it basically all the time.) And the Corpus Clock, which, okay, pictures cannot convey the weirdness of that clock. It's...a giant cockroach on a clock, and it...does things...at odd intervals...and stuff. Also, the thing about not walking on the grass. ("Those birds must be fellows. They're on the grass!")
I am considering if I want to buy an electric kettle, because I have never gone so long without tea and I know I'll use it if I have it, but then again, I'd only be able to use it in the U.K., as it seems kind of ridiculous to buy a UK-US transformer just to continue using it in the U.S. On the other hand, there are people here who have bought cell phones that they can only use abroad. Eh, maybe I'll just see how much an electric tea kettle costs.
And then we got our first lecture, which was mostly our syllabus, which got a lot of attention because we ended up going, "Wow, this is a lot more work than we expected," and, "No, you did not actually tell us that," on some things. (No, you did not tell us to bring hiking boots, which is why everyone is freaking the fuck out, because good hiking boots are really expensive in the U.S., never mind in the UK when you consider the fact that the dollar is around half the pound. You told us to bring close-toed shoes, which is what we brought. Also, those of us who were planning on doing this course not for credit would like to know if we actually have to take the exam and write the essay, like the website said.)
I confessed to our student rep that for a really long time I wasn't actually convinced that the program was legit, which several other people chimed in on as well, which made her go rather green. Well, obviously we were convinced enough that it was real and not a scam to actually shell out all the money past the deposit + the plane tickets and actually show up. I like our student rep, she's nice. (Her name starts with E. I know so many people with the first initial E...) She's a Cambridge grad who's going off soon to do her grad work at the University of Capetown in South Africa, which is pretty cool.
Right now Cambridge is buzzing with (a) tourists and (b) summer groups like mine. Presumably there are also (c) staff/faculty/whatever they call 'em in England and (d) actual Cambridge students. Presumably also (e) residents.
Other mindfucks in town: King's College, which, how is something like that even real? (It is just so fancy. It's right across the street from Corpus Christi College, so I see it basically all the time.) And the Corpus Clock, which, okay, pictures cannot convey the weirdness of that clock. It's...a giant cockroach on a clock, and it...does things...at odd intervals...and stuff. Also, the thing about not walking on the grass. ("Those birds must be fellows. They're on the grass!")
I am considering if I want to buy an electric kettle, because I have never gone so long without tea and I know I'll use it if I have it, but then again, I'd only be able to use it in the U.K., as it seems kind of ridiculous to buy a UK-US transformer just to continue using it in the U.S. On the other hand, there are people here who have bought cell phones that they can only use abroad. Eh, maybe I'll just see how much an electric tea kettle costs.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-05 09:31 pm (UTC)Yes, get yourself a kettle, silly woman. Thrift stores!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-05 10:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-05 10:34 pm (UTC)As someone who's been on a fair number of hillforts; I'd say that, during the summer months a good pair of sensible shoes or sturdy trainers should do you just fine. If it's been raining heavily, you may get wet feet and you'll have to tread carefully in case of ankle-deep mud and so forth, but as long as you don't go running down hillsides, you should be safe.
As for the pelican: it's been a heraldic bird for a very long time in Western culture due to various religion-related myths and icons; and so some of the representations of them in old Western coats of arms can be pretty rudimentary.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-05 10:53 pm (UTC)In Cambridge, they're Fellows (apparently), but most other universities use a less formal/outdated term.
In July? They've all gone down for the summer, that's why the summer schools can run.
I didn't know this until today, discussing it elsewhere, but we don't use tea kettles over here, we use hot water kettles to boil the water, then make tea separately, either in a pot or in a cup with a teabag. I say we, but frankly I find tea disgusting, but I know how to make it because, well, I'm English.
Buy a cheap kettle and a box of one cup tea bags, I doubt you'll find a cheap tea kettle as, well, I've never seen one (or indeed heard of one until today). Our electricity supply is substantially more powerful, so boiling a kettle is a lot quicker, thus everything is done differently. Little differences, weird.
(network browsing BTW)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 12:06 am (UTC)Hmm...I'd have to find one. (I'd also need to buy a a mug, but that won't be a problem. I desperately want one of the ones with Christopher Marlowe plastered on it.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 12:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 12:14 am (UTC)*considers shoes* I mean, I don't really have a problem wandering around in my tennis shoes; they're the shoes that I wear when we go walking around the lake at home, although I'd wear actual hiking boots for actual hiking, but as I don't have actual hiking boots here...eh.
Right, the myth about the pelican bleeding itself to feed its young; we've got that on the Louisiana state flag as well, and there's a particularly nice example in the big auditorium on Tulane's campus. Aww, continuity, it's cute. (I'm a little loopy right now, ignore me if I'm getting wacky.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 02:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 08:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 08:05 pm (UTC)Ah, see, someone yesterday told me that that's what the word 'kettle' is used for in the US, but yeah, cheap electric kettle should be easy to get.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 08:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-06 10:23 pm (UTC)Not so, actually.
(Also found you via my network BTW,
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-08 09:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-08 11:34 pm (UTC)