2009 in review: Part 1 - In Cambridge
Jan. 1st, 2010 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jacquelinebSo...
I've been meaning for months to send an email to a lot of people with a general update. I started to write one...then decided the easiest way of doing it would be to make several blog posts here and link to them in the email. And this time, I'm actually going to do it (unlike my promise from a few months ago...)
So I'm going to do it thematically. First of, a little bit about my life in Cambridge thus far.
But to start, this needs to be said:
All the best wishes to everyone for 2010!
It occurs to me that I never posted on my trip with A. earlier this year to Tasmania. It seems so long ago now, and indeed it is almost a whole year. It was a good trip, which became somewhat more adventuresome than we anticipated after our car skidded off the road, up an embankment and into a tree. Luckily, we were fine. It gave the rest of our driving around the island state a rather tense edge, but we did manage to have fun. The highlight for me was our day in Port Arthur, the historic convict site. It has remained in the back of my mind as a possibility for a writing project...but not for another few years. Mainly because I was fascinated by the fact that it was an entire functioning community, and I'm intrigued to see how everyone living there (or perhaps rather imprisoned there) interacted and affected each other.
But I ramble. One day I'll get back to Port Arthur, one day.
That was February. In March I arrived in Cambridge, and in a very short (remarkably in many ways) I was safely ensconced in a share house and had a job lined up. The job was exactly what I wanted; three days a week, Tues-Thurs, though flexible to other days if need be, and at the University of Cambridge.
And I'm still there, and am likely to be for the foreseeable future. Don't ask me the specific length of time when I say 'foreseeable future' - at the moment it means 'at least till the end of this year and possibly the one after that' but that's about as precise as I can be right now. The job is a good one; relatively easy, quite interesting, and one I can leave at the end of the day and not worry about too much.
I happened to move into the house on 16 March, and with two Irish housemates, meant that the next night (St Patrick's Day) was spent barhopping and such. This evening set me up very well in terms of my social life, so am terribly grateful to my housemates P. and S. for that. Met people that night who I still see, and met others from events after that.
Amongst other things I've discovered a taste for cider, which has been the cause of many a pleasantly drunken night (and several days of lamenting in some cases...) So for those who worry I don't party enough (dad, I'm looking at you...;) ) there's been plenty of that. This included a night of dressing up in yellow, and more recently, R's Wizard of Oz themed birthday, where I went as a ruby slipper. My birthday night was spent at Salon Rouge, which involved a lot of feathers, stockings, garters and corsets and was all in all a great night. Have also started going to pub trivia semi-regularly with a group as well, a little place just around the corner called the Empress. (Also, having pubs tucked right in amongst residential houses has been a surprise. That there seem to be so many of them as well was another.)
As to the city of Cambridge itself; I'm still liking it very much. It's nice to be able to walk across Jesus Green and along the Cam at lunch time, or through the city up to King's Parade where several of the older and architecturally prettier colleges are. I like the fact that it is a smaller city, but also a hive of activity and that people are intelligent and interesting. The benefits of a university town, indeed.
I still need to practice riding the bike more. Perhaps once it warms up a little more, but it is apparently going to get colder in the next few months. The cold, I will admit, has taken some getting used to, but one thing I have loved about being here is seeing the seasonal changes, which has been particularly exemplified by the apple tree in our garden. Watching it change from bare, to being full of pink and white blossoms, then full of apples, to snow covered has been a real joy.
The garden when I first arrived
The garden in Spring
Apple blossoms on the tree
The garden in Autumn
Apples on the tree
The garden in Winter
Next entry...on dancing.
I've been meaning for months to send an email to a lot of people with a general update. I started to write one...then decided the easiest way of doing it would be to make several blog posts here and link to them in the email. And this time, I'm actually going to do it (unlike my promise from a few months ago...)
So I'm going to do it thematically. First of, a little bit about my life in Cambridge thus far.
But to start, this needs to be said:
All the best wishes to everyone for 2010!
It occurs to me that I never posted on my trip with A. earlier this year to Tasmania. It seems so long ago now, and indeed it is almost a whole year. It was a good trip, which became somewhat more adventuresome than we anticipated after our car skidded off the road, up an embankment and into a tree. Luckily, we were fine. It gave the rest of our driving around the island state a rather tense edge, but we did manage to have fun. The highlight for me was our day in Port Arthur, the historic convict site. It has remained in the back of my mind as a possibility for a writing project...but not for another few years. Mainly because I was fascinated by the fact that it was an entire functioning community, and I'm intrigued to see how everyone living there (or perhaps rather imprisoned there) interacted and affected each other.
But I ramble. One day I'll get back to Port Arthur, one day.
That was February. In March I arrived in Cambridge, and in a very short (remarkably in many ways) I was safely ensconced in a share house and had a job lined up. The job was exactly what I wanted; three days a week, Tues-Thurs, though flexible to other days if need be, and at the University of Cambridge.
And I'm still there, and am likely to be for the foreseeable future. Don't ask me the specific length of time when I say 'foreseeable future' - at the moment it means 'at least till the end of this year and possibly the one after that' but that's about as precise as I can be right now. The job is a good one; relatively easy, quite interesting, and one I can leave at the end of the day and not worry about too much.
I happened to move into the house on 16 March, and with two Irish housemates, meant that the next night (St Patrick's Day) was spent barhopping and such. This evening set me up very well in terms of my social life, so am terribly grateful to my housemates P. and S. for that. Met people that night who I still see, and met others from events after that.
Amongst other things I've discovered a taste for cider, which has been the cause of many a pleasantly drunken night (and several days of lamenting in some cases...) So for those who worry I don't party enough (dad, I'm looking at you...;) ) there's been plenty of that. This included a night of dressing up in yellow, and more recently, R's Wizard of Oz themed birthday, where I went as a ruby slipper. My birthday night was spent at Salon Rouge, which involved a lot of feathers, stockings, garters and corsets and was all in all a great night. Have also started going to pub trivia semi-regularly with a group as well, a little place just around the corner called the Empress. (Also, having pubs tucked right in amongst residential houses has been a surprise. That there seem to be so many of them as well was another.)
As to the city of Cambridge itself; I'm still liking it very much. It's nice to be able to walk across Jesus Green and along the Cam at lunch time, or through the city up to King's Parade where several of the older and architecturally prettier colleges are. I like the fact that it is a smaller city, but also a hive of activity and that people are intelligent and interesting. The benefits of a university town, indeed.
I still need to practice riding the bike more. Perhaps once it warms up a little more, but it is apparently going to get colder in the next few months. The cold, I will admit, has taken some getting used to, but one thing I have loved about being here is seeing the seasonal changes, which has been particularly exemplified by the apple tree in our garden. Watching it change from bare, to being full of pink and white blossoms, then full of apples, to snow covered has been a real joy.
The garden when I first arrived
The garden in Spring
Apple blossoms on the tree
The garden in Autumn
Apples on the tree
The garden in Winter
Next entry...on dancing.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 12:21 pm (UTC)Holy Crap...
Date: 2010-01-02 03:25 pm (UTC)Re: Holy Crap...
Date: 2010-01-02 07:08 pm (UTC)