So it's my third official day at Cambridge, and it's been a rather trying experience. I am doing the Global Summers Program (GSP) that Yale established in partnership with Cambridge and 10 other universities around the world. My specific program is called "Cambridge Connections" and the purpose to allow you to make "connections" between different fields. I was doubtful of the concept behind the program at first because, well you know, would I really extract something from science that could be applied to my research on Hegel. Now I am fully convinced that the whole program is just random and does not achieve the goal it's set out to because there's absolutely no connection to be made at all! Well, even if there's something out there in science that Hegel relates to, Cambridge has not shown me that. The program is rather disorganized, and only superficial attention is paid to the students of GSP. Our lecture schedules were not made at all despite the fact that we had to fill out lecture preference grids twice prior to our arrival at Cambridge. Our supervisions are coordinated haphazardly despite the fact that we had to turn in a research proposal before they picked our supervisors. I think this would have been a nice program to do when I was a freshman or sophomore but definitely not as a senior since I am already focused on a specific field in political theory. Cambridge was supposed to provide me with some insight and guidance in terms of my academic pursuit, but rather, the program has only thrown random things in my way.
Second of all, our accommodation is rather ghastly - dark shower rooms (yes, only one dim light for all four stalls (two of which are bathtubs and which no one uses) with no where to put your shampoo/etc, sinks with only burning hot water or super cold water (they don't come out of the same faucet), and internet-less rooms. The dorms do not have internet and it's trying me nuts. Thank goodness that England is rather chilly even during the summer so the computer room downstairs do not get burning hot with all the computer fans.
But nevertheless, Cambridge is beautiful, even with 8 showers per day. It reminds me of a even greener Yale where the concept of trimming trees does not exist. British people are just lovely with their accents, dressy attires, and willingness to help you out. I love the people in my program, who are all international students from China, Australia, Japan, Iran, Singapore, just to name a few. I found a pair of running shorts for 2 pounds, which was also a big boast to my day. They also gave me a library card, which made my day even better. I haven't had time to explore Cambridge a bit, but I will make sure that's taken care of once my essay is done tonight (388/2000 words.. keep on going....)
