When I arrived it was about 5:30pm and it was so misty you could only see about ten metres in front of you - it was a bit spooky really. Gem picked me up from the station and we walked to her College. It's pretty easy to see that Jesus is one of the more posh colleges here at the university. The grounds are beautiful and old and just lovely! On my first night we went to a formal hall, which is like a fancy three course dinner and everyone wears gowns (like graduation gowns) and drinks wine and has a grand old time. It was a kind of hilarious experience though. At the beginning of the meal one of the fellows said grace in Latin and then all of the students responded...in Latin...I was seriously like 'woah...so fancy!' Then everyone sat down and had their meals. After most people had finished eating the fellows stood, so everyone else stood too, and exited the hall. Before the last fellow left he turned and bowed to the students and a cheer erupted. I was so confused. Apparently it's tradition that if the students haven't been too rowdy one of the fellows is meant to bow to them before they leave. But if they haven't behaved well and they don't get a bow they're meant to throw forks at the fellows...I'm told that it hasn't ever actually happened - but I had this hilarious image of a headline in the student newspaper "Jesus College fellow chased by fork wielding students." accompanied by a picture of a terrified, middle aged man running away from Gemma and her friends.
The students also do this thing called 'pennying' at formal. If someone wants to 'penny' you they drop a penny into your glass of wine and you have to down it as quickly as possible. It's against College law and if you get caught doing it you get thrown out of formal...Gemma's a rebel though, so I did get to experience it.
On Saturday Ali arrived and the three of us went to Brunch at the College cafe. It was my first proper British fry up and it was amazing! Best breakfast ever. Brunch is usually only available on Saturdays, but during exam period the College puts it on every day. How great is that? ...how much do I want to go here instead of ANU...
Well, that was until I found out that Gem has to write three essays a week for her tutorials and they're not even worth anything...and then I found out that the students here have 30+ contact hours a week...I so wouldn't be cut out for this place!
After brunch Gem and Ali took me on a tour of Cambridge. It really is a lovely town...
 |
| King's College - the most posh College there is. It's so GRAND! But unfortunately this photo is a bit rubbish... |
 |
| Helpful signs. |
 |
| Pretty. |
 |
 |
| Also pretty. Gem and I outside Jesus. |
 |
| One of the courtyards at Jesus. You're not allowed to walk on the grass, but apparently when you graduate you're allowed to go out and touch the horse. Cool. |
We had a great afternoon that involved making banoffee pie (the BEST pie in the world, if you didn't know) and then going to a classical music concert that Gem was playing in. It was really nice and relaxing. We then returned to Gem's room, ate the entire pie and watched 'Mamma Mia'...which is a great film (partly because of how "yummy" Colin Firth is - Gemma's words, not mine :P)
On Sunday we went to see Harry Potter with some of Gem's friends. It was amazing! Really amazing. Gosh I love Harry Potter...I'd really like to have a massive rant about it right now, but shall restrain myself. I also found out that the guy who plays Edmund in 'The Chronicals of Narnia' films goes to Cambridge, which I thought was quite cool...then I found out that his name is Skandar and I laughed...poor guy. That night we went to to 'Life' - one of Cambridge's few clubs. It was an interesting experience. Very cheesy - it reminded me a lot of ICBM at home...but not as cool because it wasn't full of Dendies <3 It was a great night though.
Yesterday Ali and I were both meant to leave Cambridge...we decided that it really didn't matter if Ali missed a couple more lectures and I wouldn't be doing anything in London anyway, so we stayed another night. We cooked a fabulous dinner for Gem, to thank her for her hospitality, then watched The X Factor. The X Factor is HUGE over here...apart from Simon Cowell being a bit of a babe I really don't understand the appeal!
Sadly Ali had to leave this morning, but I'll be seeing her in Manchester in a few weeks. I'm off tomorrow to spend one night in London before flying to Paris to see my beloved Zoya and Melissa.
I've had the most amazing time here and it's all thanks to Gemma. I love you babe! LOVE!
That's all for now,
Love you all!
PS: Check out this T Mobile ad, it's amazing! I'll be visiting Heathrow next Wednesday (to pick up my gorgeous mother) and I'm a bit sad that this wont happen to me...
You've done it now! Expectations have been raised <3
ReplyDelete