Delay

Hullo all, I know I'm quite behind. Unfortunately, In the last week or so of Cambridge I had to work on my essay. That's what I've been doing during the break in the blog, however, I'm catching up.

Stay tuned as this blog comes back up to date.

The Wheels

Sunday was a follow up day when it came to touring Cambridge. A bunch of Mason students and I got tickets for the Hop on Hop Off bus tour, which runs a number of large double-decker red buses around the Cambridgeshire area. The attraction of the bus was that along with giving a tour of the area (free ear-buds let you listen in on the auto narration) you can get on and off at as many stops as you like, and the ticket lasts the whole day.

The bus tour was great, it took us all over the place, including a number of places in the Cambridge area that, because of their distance from St. Cat's, we had never had the opportunity to check before, including an open air swimming area. (You can see the green outer perimeter just below)

There were a number of other interesting sights as well, and the tour narrated them quite well.

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We then hopped off for the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. The gardens were very nice, though it offers no real contest to my home's Bronx Botanical Gardens (then again, what is?).



We stopped by a smallish, but interesting, greenhouse before we headed out. The group had to pause on the way to the exit, the girls had gotten distracted by a (apparently) stray cat that was wondering around. We had to wait a bit to catch the next bus (they came every 20 minutes).

We then headed over to the American Memorial that was on the edge of town.


The memorial was very serious, and very pretty. I had been surprised to learn that there even was such a memorial here on foreign soil and I was even more surprised to find just how elaborate it was.




On our way back, we got a nice view of the Cambridge University Library, a copyright Library, one of three in the UK that can get a copy of every published book. Also, according to our tour, it is notable in having a full collection of Playboy Magazines! ;-)

Saturday: Finding Kate

Saturday was a recovery day, I finally got a full eight hours of sleep, and it felt good.

After all that sleeping though, it was straight into a walking tour of the colleges of Cambridge.

We started off with our own chapel here at Cat's.


Then heading towards King's College


We then went to St. John's, where we saw the apple tree that was planted under Newton's window.



The tour continued through St. John's


Passing by the new Library,


Over the Bridge of Sighs


And we ended the tour, going out the Backs


The walking tour and entrance to St. John's which we organized independently of the Summer School program was only a mere 6 pounds and well worth it. You can find the rest of the photos here.

As we were leaving, we saw people setting up on the cricket green for a Shakespeare performance. From the beginning to the end of our stay, by lucky coincidence, there is a Shakespeare festival here at Cambridge. Four plays, each performed on the green, each at a different College. Those of us from Mason decided to pack a picnic and head over to the performance of The Taming of the Shrew at St John's. We stopped over at Marks and Spencer to pick up some very tasty, and fairly inexpensive picnic supplies. We got vegetables, cheeses, sandwiches, wine, crackers, and some other things. We got to the garden quite early (10 pounds admission with student discount) and set up right up front, with only one thin line of people separating us from the actors on a beautiful day. The performance went right up into the evening, with lights coming own as the sun went down. The play performance was hilarious, very traditional, and very well done.

I found it heartening to see such an excellent performance. It makes me feel better to know that all this deep and extensive reading that I'm doing is worthwhile. I always wondered why, despite all the other plays we do at Mason, we don't really do Shakespeare, it seems a shame.

Rising [Literature] Bollards

It seems like it has both been far shorter and far longer, but yesterday was, in fact, Friday. There was the usual classes, me reading more Shakespeare (I'll be dreaming with thous and thees by the end of the month), and a fairly good dinner at the end of the line.

In-between the end of classes for the week and dinner the Mason folks, among others, headed over to the opening gathering for the bookstore Heffers. Once there, we were plied with crisps, wine, and a 10% discount on all books in the store. On my Novel's professor's recommendation I picked up a novel called White Teeth by Zadie Smith. I also thought about buying The Satanic Verses by Rushdie. It might even have had some extra value, as I suspect the next printing will have a Sir attached to the front of his name. I didn't get it (mostly because I really didn't like Midnight's Children, one of his other books, that much). I was somewhat surprised to discover that it was some pretty fantastical fiction (at least that was my impression from reading the summery on the back) that had gotten Rushdie banned from his own country.

After dinner and the evening lecture on Macbeth, at the invitation of the Mason professor who is our supervisor here, most of the other Mason students, a few others, and I headed off to The Anchor [Photos to come] for a sort of second dinner. We met up with a Mason alumni, one of the (only just) alumni who works here at Cat's, and the Cambridge summer school equivalent of RAs for Cat's. We had some interesting talk, ranging from guilty music pleasures, to American and British TV, to tax, to the specifics of the English higher education system, and beyond. Most interesting is the fact that all schools in England are played for by the country, essentially, they are all public schools (though an attempt is being made to change that). Surprising.

Also… free national healthcare. Man, I am definitely the citizen of the wrong country.

Also, we did a great deal of talking about the British grammar rules and how they apply to our essay. There are some minor differences (besides the spelling) that are very interesting and quite different from our American tendencies.

Finally, though it was earlier in the day, I want to note a conversation I had with one of the other students here (from the Ohio area) about how they teach Shakespeare here in Cambridge. Essentially (and I later noticed myself doing this unconsciously) we read in to Shakespeare our own present day politics and meanings. In a sense American schools teach us to read Shakespeare in order to pull out what we see as our own ideas reflected in the Bard's writing, reinforcing ourselves and our opinions. When you think about it, it's a very stereotypical American way to look at it. Here in GB, and I think it is a far (far? :P) better thing they do. They read the works of Shakespeare with an eye and mind towards what the Bard might have been experiencing at the time of the play. So we look at the political landscape and the natural landscape that Shakespeare experienced and how it is expressed in his work.

Perhaps it is a way of looking at things that we Americans might be better off applying, lest we find ourselves caught on the Rising Bollards of our own literary egotism.

The Tale of Two Faucets

Today's plenary lecture was "Charles Dickens and the idea of evidence." It really made me realize just how little of Dickens I've read. He's on the top of my list when I get home now. The content was quite interesting, as I had never realized just how much large the British legal system figured into Dickens' writings until now. I got lunch today over in Cat's dining hall. For lunch we had to pay, but compared to other offerings outside of the school, it was very very inexpensive. A full meal and drink was under 3 pounds.

After another fascinating novel class (this one covered The Untouchable, a story based on the life of one of Briton's famous traitors) which left me in a good mood, I headed out back to Cat's. I ended up meeting with a student from Florida, and one from Canada. We headed out, first around the corner from Cat's where, hidden between two buildings beyond these two very traditional red phone boxes, was a small blue-door shop for Cambridge students with some very good prices.

After that we walked around some areas I had not been in before. Below are some nice photos.



After dinner, it was back to the Bard. I did make a discovery though. In my bathroom (in fact in most of the bathrooms I've been in since jumping the puddle) there are two faucets. I've been darting my hand back and forth from hot faucet to cold when I wash my hands. I figured it out; I'm supposed to plug the drain, fill the sink, and wash my hands that way. Learn something new every day eh?

Finished off another play and a half. Also, picked out my question from the list for my essay. I'm going to look at Shakespeare's use of nature to express human characteristics. Fun stuff eh?

A Night of the Word

The front lawn of Cat's, the college in which I'm staying.

The plenary lecture was especially interesting this Wednesday. The subject was "C.S. Lewis, Anglo-Irish critic." You may not know Lewis beyond his best known books, the Chronicles of Narnia. However, Lewis is quickly gaining recognition in the United States for his writings on Christianity as well. The speaker, one Dr. Stephen Logan, presented a view of Lewis that seems entirely unknown by the public in the states. Lewis was, aside from his extensive fantasy and sci-fi writings, a frequent literary critic. Lewis had always wanted to write poetry, explained Logan, something he did not do very well in, which colored a number of his other writings and reviews.

Most interestingly, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Logan after the lecture and asked him what he thought about the sudden resurgence of Lewis's Christian-based writings in the US. He explained that Lewis colored his critiques and written works with his Christianity, and was outspoken in arguing that a loss of bible study meant a loss of understanding of a number of references based in religious texts. As well, Lewis was well known for criticizing non-Christian critics for their writings against Christian texts. However, Logan continued, Lewis, who was widely believed to have lived in (what some might call) sin with the widowed mother of his war buddy, was hardly the figure many Christians in the US seemed to see him as. In fact, Logan told me, it was most likely that Lewis would be against the religious groups in the US who follow his work most reverently. Lewis would be, in fact, against the more extreme and fundamentalist versions of Christianity.

Something to think about eh?

All this was followed by lunch on the Sidgwick Site, at the inexpensive, though merely ok, Buttery cafe. After that was the second subject course. Then I hit up some gift shops and book stores, picking up a few things back home. I have yet to visit the really interesting bookstores, instead having checked out Boarders and a large British chain. However, I intend to remedy that. Afterwards we visited a bar for drinks before dinner. This one was distinguished by it's two large parrots.

After dinner, I headed back upstairs and worked on Shakespeare, I'm finally catching up, so I'm pumping a bit more time into it. I reinforced myself via Tea from the sorta-kettle that had been included with the room.
It smelled a little odd, I think due to the heating element; but it got the job done. I was awake long enough to finish a good chunk of the Bard.

As You Like It

The usual classes, which continue to be quite interesting, occurred. The plenary lecture this time 'round was "Shakespeare, Skepticism and Belief." Which had some interesting philosophical points, but was overall a bit towards the boring side, though that could have been my lack of sleep as well.

For lunch we ended up over at the Eagle, a pub. The food and drink wasn't too overpriced, and it was delicious. No one had any complaints about their food, beyond the large size of the portions. I decided to go traditional and order fish and chips (and an ale). My decision was rewarded by a meal both filling and delicious.

After a later subject course it was shopping time. We hit up St. Andrews Street again and then it was off the large Market Place. I stopped by Boots (a CVS like store) to pick up some essentials. Also of special note - Marks and Spencers, which is a popular superstore selling a remarkable range of items from food to clothes, had a manned kiosk that changed money without charging commission; and at a descent rate too!

Dinner was followed by an evening lecture on Cambridge and the Colleges, a sort of historical look at the structure and origins of the University. The lecture was not exactly what I expected, but the speaker was humorous and it was pretty good. I ended off in the bar in St. Catharine's, which had a good beer selection and was inexpensive. I ended off the night with a bit of Shakespeare.

The Problem With Pickles

Meet Monday. Thankfully, though I have heard reports of one or two below expectation professors, mine, and as I hear it, most of the others, are excellent. However, let us not get ahead of ourselves...

It has been a full day, not only have I had the regular classes; but orientation lectures have been squeezed in as well. The day started off with breakfast at the Saint Catharine's College dining hall.

Let me tell you, I'm not sure I can stomach the typical English breakfast. It seems they enjoy beans, lots of meats, and mushrooms in the morning. I can't stand any of that stuff before noon myself.

Afterwards we ran through the classes, my first subject course was Shakespeare's Natural History (Part 1). After that was a somewhat interesting plenary lecture reviewing the general theme of the future plenary lectures, Fiction and Reality, via the experiences of Don Quixote.

After all this: lunch break. Yesterday I had headed down to the Mapalm(sp?), which is the main local electronic store, in order to pick up a laptop adaptor. They hadn't had one, but it was fortunate that they didn't because, by walking farther down St. Andrews Street, I stumbled on a small convenience store (or News Store as they call them here) which carried the same item for less then it would have been at the more tourist-targeted Mapalm. The upside is that I was able to help out my fellow Mason students by leading them to the same store to pick up electronics-related supplies of their own.

We picked up lunch on our way back. Unfortunately, everything is expensive, and when you do the conversion from pounds back to dollars, you have to practically double the price. We looked around though and were able to find a little coffee shop stuck between an office and a church. We were able to have sandwiches and drinks for about four pounds, which around here is a very good price.

When we got our sandwiches I spotted a "Pickle Platter" on the Menu. I ordered it but, much to my surprise, what I got was anything but. I had thought that I'd be getting a side dish with some sliced pickles on it to stick in the sandwich, but instead I got a square condiment container filled with something purple with chunks of something in it. I'm not really sure what we'd call it in America, (perhaps chutney?) but it was most certainly not pickles. I liked it anyway though, even if it was unexpected.

Afterwards, was the second special subject course, The Novel Today: Re-Writing History. The most fascinating of the courses so far. It's very interesting because the British modern novels don't really reach us in the US, and it was a lot of fun to have the opportunity to read through them. It's somewhat heartening to my inner English major to see the plain and effusive enthusiasm the British have for their novels. I noted on the train ride in that there were more ads along the walls for novels than for anything else. Indeed, it is no wonder, the British love their writers, even having included some on their currency. It was only as I was walking out of the lecture, thinking forward to tomorrow's examination of The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, that I realized the significance of the pickle. [Ha, bonus points if you can catch that reference.]

In Roy's novel (as in Rushdie's Midnight's Children which I read for a spring semester class) there is a constant mention of pickles and their creation. The novel goes on for quite a bit about mango pickles, the secret recipe for creating them, and the long process that goes into them. I had never quite gotten it, what was up with all this effort? Suddenly, I understood. That purple stuff was what they were talking about. Ahha! Now everything clicks.

Anyway, we ended off the classes with a short lecture about how we should write the essay that Cambridge would be grading. Then it was off for a welcome reception in the main courtyard of St. Catharine's (aka Cat's) with some fairly decent wine. Dinner was served in the dining room and wasn't half bad.

Afterwards, the Mason-ites gathered and headed off to the first large looking bar in sight. This one happened to be a vodka bar named Revolution. As bars go, this one wasn't too bad. They certainly had a lot of vodka, of many different types and flavors (which ranged in quality). Also, Guinness, cold, on tap. It was delicious. Unfortunately, once people started leaving the menu, the prices started to skyrocket and the quality of the mixed drinks to fall, though I eventually switched to the simple (and cheap) supplement of JD; one person's Long Island cost the equivalent of over 22 USD. It was fun, but for some on the expensive side.

A quick note, don't try and tip the bartenders. They get insulted.

The View From This Afternoon

So, getting through the seven hour flight was the easy part. England's train system, while expansive, can be a little confusing, even to a seasoned train rider like myself. However, I was (with a little help) able to plot a course and find a machine that would take my debt card. I left Gatwick and hit up King's Cross. There I had to sort through a long list of trains. Then, I had to hunt down my own, making my way through a large and grandly old station.



If you were wondering, after the Harry Potter incident, they now have properly labeled platform 9 and 3/4.


Finally, after one unlabeled train, a pleasant trip, and an unexpected bus transfer due to rail issues, I finally arrived for Check-In (Approx. 12:30, without my cell, I have no portable way to tell the time), at Lady Mitchell. The walk from the Hall, around which our classes are held, to the St. Catharine's College residence hall is about five minutes, but the walk is filled with quite a bit of scenery.




Finally, I made it to my room. Fantastic, I think I'll stay here forever. It has a goodly amount of closet space, a whole bunch of shelves, a closet, a nice bed and work area, A complementary water heater... oh and a full bathroom, including a rather large bath. This is what is outside my window:




Pretty nifty eh? Let me tell you, I think I should stay here forever. Think Mason will let me extend my class schedule to stay here for the rest of my education. But then again, perhaps I'm speaking to soon... classes start tomorrow.


Oh and Breakfast is at 7:45... so... early...

Round 1: Me vs JFK Airport

What better place to start a travel blog then while waiting in the boarding area for your flight? Admittedly, though I am writing this while sitting at Gate 12 of New York's JFK International Airport, the actual posting won't happen until later. Newark (New Jersey) may be a hellhole of an airport, but at least they didn't have the nerve to try and charge me 10 bucks to try and connect to the internet. Unfortunately, I've discovered that that it's not the only rip-off… they tried to charge me a dollar and nine cents for a box of tic tacks.

Ok, time to leave all that behind for a moment and do the obligatory introduction. If you've been keeping track of my posts over at the Broadside Blog, you can probably skip this paragraph. My name is Aram Zucker-Scharff. I'm a Junior at George Mason University, majoring in English and Information Technology. I'm male, Jewish, liberal. Oh, and a New Yorker. I think that covers all the labels.

I'm going to be spending the next month (give or take a few days) in the United Kingdom, living around the London area. I'm here for four weeks of lectures at Cambridge University's International Summer School (Literature section). After that the program with Mason includes a London Week: a week spent in Chelsea in a flat during which we are free to basically do whatever we want, within the whole contract thing I signed with the Center for Global Education at Mason.

And that's the deal.

Now, I have to get back to my books. We were supposed to have done all the reading for the classes beforehand, and I'm not quite done. ;)