Cambridge - Churchill College Freshers Week
Yesterday I had the most amazing time here at
Churchill College thanks to the Beav and The Wife.
I became a "Fresher", a new student in UK parlance, and all it took was a wink and a nod, and a name-badge with my name scrawled across it. After splitting up into groups I followed our new leader "Betta", an Italian Bella studying Bio-Physics, down to our first hostel on our "Hostel Crawl".
We started by playing quarters (or 10p pieces here), launching coins into the wooden table trying to get them to bounce into a glass. The next hostel brought a new game, one where we threw bottle caps at the other person's crotch trying to knock the bottle cap off their cleverly placed beer bottle. Next we played beer pong where we tossed a dirty ping-pong ball at a group of beer glasses, forcing our opponent to drink the now soiled beer if our ball managed to find its way in. Finally we engaged in Beav's own "Beaver Game" - a game requiring all of our brain power combined, but unfortunately at that point we didn't have much of that in supply.
Sure there were rules and such but in the end it boiled down to drinking, having fun, getting to know your co-freshers, and drinking.
All the Freshers were very cool, especially my group, and I'm now painfully aware of why Beav is not itching quite so vigorously to return to Canada. Damnit, I'm considering getting a PHD in something, anything if it means I can hang out with all the cool peeps I now know.
There's Clay the cowboy, David the Guelphster, Chi the Bombayer (because he prefers that to Mumbai), Viviane the Invertibrate Paleontologist, Betta the Bella, Adam the guy that gets hammered from apple juice, Soon the Math3 guy who managed to knock my bottle cap off 3 times in only 4 throws!, and our game leaders Max, Justin, Jonathan, Rams, Rob, and Huwe (affectionately known as "not Rob") -- and that's not even mentioning Beav or The Wife, which have very thoughtfully let me stay with them this weekend.
Today I will join them for a Fresher's lunch, and ... well I'm really enjoying this weekend. It is some very much needed R&R considering how crazy this last week has been.
Having your laptop die on you while you are mid-project on-site and out of country is never good. The less said about THAT, the better.
Labels: business trip, Cambridge, UK
London - 97 Great Russell Street
Yesterday at 8:45pm (Greenwich Time) I arrived in London. London airspace at least. It took another 45 minutes before the plane had secured a landing slot at Heathrow and touched down. Some people clapped, I didn't really care anymore.
After a train ride to Paddington station, I took a cab with my manager to Great Russell Street, where my hotel is situated. It is actually a much nicer hotel than the place I stayed last time I was in London, and I think the oil paintings at the entry area are very cool and surreal. They look like old renaissance paintings except that the subjects face is unfinished.
I feel inspired to do something similar someday.
After trading my inflated Canadian currency for the doubly inflated British pound, I feel much poorer and breakfast (at 16.50 pounds!) alone cost me enough that I may think twice about it tomorrow. Actually I'm taking a train out to Winchester and then a taxi over to Hursley tomorrow so hopefully things are cheaper out there. At least they were last time I went.
Besides tea, crumpets and whisky, does England have something I should be bringing back with me?
Labels: business trip, London, UK
Winchester Cathedral
I walked from the Winchester Hotel last night, down Andover road, across City road to Jewry street, and then down High street and Little Minster street to arrive facing the beautiful structure shown in the photo I took above.
Winchester Cathedral, being one of the oldest in England, is over 800 years old. Of course they don't make things like they used to, but they don't usually spend hundreds of years on a single structure anymore either.
I was disappointed to find out that they had finished with their "Cracking the Code" exhibition for the day. They used the cathedral for some of the scenes shot in The Da Vinci Code, and I suppose if you show up before 5 pm you might be able to check it out for yourself. Make sure you arrive before June 21st though, because that's when the exhibition ends.
However, what I was able to participate in was an Evensong service. A quire of 20 or so men in white and red robes sang out in exultant praise to the holy trinity as I read along in the prayer book. I didn't know the customs of when to sit, stand, turn to the altar, and when to call out "Dear God" with the others. However it was quite an experience listening to the voices carry through the ribbed ceilings and in such beautiful harmony.
After the service, I headed down to The Royal Oak, which claims to be the oldest pub in Winchester. Of course what pub doesn't claim to be the oldest? Anyway it was a small little place stuck down a back alley beside "ASK", an Italian place I had eaten at earlier in the week. I tried a couple beers, "Leffe", "Champion" and "Speckeled Hen". Of those, I liked Leffe the most. Champion was a tough stout and not really my taste.
In 40 minutes my taxi will take me back to Heathrow to head back to Toronto. I don't know if I'll feel safe back in Canada. After all,
knives haven't been banned there yet.
Labels: business trip, UK
Hopback Summer Lightning
There is a major advantage to living in the UK, and I'm sure that this - as much as The Wife - is a huge part of Beaver's reason of sticking through the overpriced EVERYTHING else.
Yes I'm talking about BEER.
Today I went to a fine ale house called "The Dolphin" in Hursley - for lunch mind you - and tasted this liquid gold: Summer Lighting, a great beer from
Hopback.
A testimonial (from
someone else I don't know):
Hopback Brewery - Summer LightningUndoubtedly the best beer ever brewed and to be drunk by me. It wins awards, and for very good reasons: Post ride, this is better than water it is so so so so refreshing, light, a bit bitter and you can drink five and still feel good. The perfect ride would have Hopback pubs all along it, this stuff is on a higher level.
So grab a seat out back at The Dolphin and let's toast to the delicious brews that abound here.
I might see if I can get some bottles of the stuff, but I'm not sure if that will be possible or not. I don't see many liquor stores around - everyone just goes to the pub!
Labels: business trip, UK
From Stratford to Dick and Doms
Yesterday morning I took a bus to Stratford with Kirstin and Kathy where we explored the birthplace of William Shakespeare (or W.S. as he likes to be called by his homies), and the houses of his various relatives. Unfortunately his line has completed died out, no direct decendents exist. A shame really. We need more W.S. DNA don't you think?
After hanging out there, we took a train through Birmingham to London, and then to Cambridge. Arrived quite late to a KUI. Kevin under...
Today we'll probably "punt" around, whatever that means. I've been enjoying watching "
Dick and Doms" on the Telly this morning though. That show is seriously pure comedy gold. The best part had to be where they were having a crying contest. Whoever can cry tears first wins. To help get the right crying atmosphere, they started playing some sad orchestral music. Then they brought out a little kid who looked all sad walking with his Grandma. She looked REALLY happy, and was licking a big scoop of vanilla icecream in the cone. I guess the kid was sad because she took it from him? Well anyway then she DROPPED the icecream and then she and the kid looked all sad. THEN a little dog came up and started eating the icecream and they looked even more sad. Then to top it all off, a pitifully sad looking man starts walking on stage with a big hamster cage. Sticking out of the top of the cage is a piece of paper that says "My only friend". The camera zooms in and... in the cage is a big rat, but its dead. hAHAHhahaa HIS ONLY FRIEND IS DEAD... man I was cracking up.
Why don't we have shows like that here!?
Labels: business trip, Cambridge, UK
Yesterday I had the most amazing time here at Churchill College thanks to the Beav and The Wife.
