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Jun. 30th, 2005 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaalaSo I was soaked to the skin by bicycling in the rain for the third time today. I suspect this is an experience I'll have to get used to.
Once again, much has happened but I haven't had the chance to write entries about it. Internet access is pretty infrequent at the moment. My house currently has no access whatsoever and if we do decide to sign up for something (which is by no means a certainty) it will only be dial-up. I'm writing this in EditPad for later upload.
Let's see... I attended the Cambridge LJ picnic on 11 June and sang with the Wolfson choir at a garden party on 19 June. Following three trips across town (two by bike), I finally got some prescriptions rewritten and filled. It all cost a helluva lot; the pharmacist was very surprised that I had to pay for everything because, "I thought we had some special deal with Canada."
The h2g2 radio show ended, much more pleasantly than the book Mostly Harmless but slightly too neatly for my taste. Fenchurch conveniently turning up as a waitress at Milliways? Still, I did get misty-eyed.
I saw the Cambridge Footlights (eee!) touring show on 24 June, and lo, it was truly surreal. My favourite sketch involved a couple in which the man's temperament changed drastically according to his physical proximity with the woman. When they were standing right next to each other, he was docile, obedient, sincere and caring; as they moved away from each other, he became progressively more obnoxious, puerile and sarcastic.
I attended (with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tea_cantata) an hour's worth of a ceilidh at Name-I-Can't-Remember College and had a grand old time, despite my annoyance at missing one dance because I was having a drink of water and couldn't find a partner fast enough. I've always loved circle/barn/square dancing, ever since I started learning them in ballet classes, at Girl Guide events and in Phys Ed class.
I ate several Real English Breakfasts while staying at the Cambride YHA hostel; this was handy because it meant I could save money by skipping lunch without too much discomfort. While at the hostel, I participated in or witnessed fascinating conversations with two girls from the North (don't remember where exactly) who were here for music therapy work experience, a male graduate student from the U.S. doing research, another young man from the U.S. doing an internship in London, a hostel employee who moved here from Trinidad, a bunch of cricket players from South Africa, and a very nice and very friendly middle-aged woman originally from Scotland and now living in Australia. The latter even invited me to visit her if I'm ever in Australia!
When the hostel was full on Sunday night, I stayed at a guest house/B&B (consuming another English breakfast) and oh! it was nice to have the use of a real pillow.
For my second luxury indulgence (i.e. another £6 ticket!), I attended a concert by the choral scholars of the King's College choir, performed on the river behind the college. They performed some lovely sacred works and madrigals but pop-ish stuff predominated. The fact that they sang "I Get Around" while being punted en masse down the river (by a Scudamore's employee) demonstrates the sort of mood they were going for. Fine musicianship was on display though not as polished as I think it would be indoors.
After searching through the phone book for churches to attend and compiling a list of possible candidates, I wandered through town last Sunday and entered the first church on my list that I encountered: the Unitarian Church! I was looking for someplace liberal and this, though obviously different from the United Church of Canada in many ways, looks like it may fit the bill. Though I got a good impression of the Unitarian Church, I'm also curious about the United Reformed Church, the Free Church and the Methodist Church. Can anybody tell me anything about those denominations?
After the service (while eating what was probably fair trade food, of course), I chatted with a couple of women in the congregation and--talk about a coincidence!--one of them used to live in Kingston, sang in the Choral Society and knew people in the Sydenham St. United choir. They both hastened to assure me that services would be quite different once the regular minister, a jazz bassist who is "quite the character", returns this week. To tell the truth, I hadn't minded the service that much, though it was depressing being guilt-tripped about a problem (poor treatment of migrant workers in Britain) about which I couldn't have previously been aware. But hey, we sang "We Shall Overcome"! (Pete Seeger!)
I moved into my house on Monday and have since bought some bed linens (from the Sally Ann) and groceries. I share the house with three other girls--an Australian and two Jamaicans--and a bloke whose nationality I don't know because he hasn't moved in yet. We're having fun comparing cultures. Drying laundry without a dryer is a bit of a catch-22 because the weather has yet to remain dry long enough for the clothesline to do its job. I think I'll have to buy an indoor clothes rack and some more (cheap) clothing so the rotation doesn't have to be so frequent.
Having withdrawn two-weeks' rent (£140) and £240 of the £280 room deposit over the space of three days, I can't get my damn TD Canada Trust bank account to let me withdraw anything more. I've checked it online and know for a fact that there is quite a bit more than £40 in there. Ridiculous. The most irritating thing is that ATMs here give one (or at least me) very little information or feedback. At least my NatWest account will finally become usable very soon.
tea_cantata convinced me (though frankly it didn't take much convincing) to attend Tuesday night ballroom dancing classes with her (run by the Cambridge Dance Club) and once the initial arrived-very-slightly-late awkwardness was over with, it was fun. The instructor explains things much more slowly than anybody at the Queen's Swing Club.
I have now worked four days with Scudamore's and I really need to start working more days per week soon; right now, I keep getting scheduled when I have other commitments and having to cancel. On that note: I have an appointment with the Department of Work and Pensions tomorrow to get a National Insurance number. As for the actual work, I generally enjoy it... aside from sweeping/scrubbing out the punts. My energy level, speed, endurance and--most of all--lower back pain threshold keep diminishing. As a) I enjoy the odd occasion when I get to transport punts short distances, and b) my favourite part of the Fort Henry job (aside from fifing) was giving tours, I hope to apply to be a punt tour chaffeur eventually.
I came here for immersion in another culture, so I'm doing my best to assimilate to some degree. It confuses North American tourists when I ask them (in a Canadian accent) if they want an "aluminium" pole. Heck, I even bought tomato relish, dried currants, English mustard and marmite at Sainsbury's today.
Once again, much has happened but I haven't had the chance to write entries about it. Internet access is pretty infrequent at the moment. My house currently has no access whatsoever and if we do decide to sign up for something (which is by no means a certainty) it will only be dial-up. I'm writing this in EditPad for later upload.
Let's see... I attended the Cambridge LJ picnic on 11 June and sang with the Wolfson choir at a garden party on 19 June. Following three trips across town (two by bike), I finally got some prescriptions rewritten and filled. It all cost a helluva lot; the pharmacist was very surprised that I had to pay for everything because, "I thought we had some special deal with Canada."
The h2g2 radio show ended, much more pleasantly than the book Mostly Harmless but slightly too neatly for my taste. Fenchurch conveniently turning up as a waitress at Milliways? Still, I did get misty-eyed.
I saw the Cambridge Footlights (eee!) touring show on 24 June, and lo, it was truly surreal. My favourite sketch involved a couple in which the man's temperament changed drastically according to his physical proximity with the woman. When they were standing right next to each other, he was docile, obedient, sincere and caring; as they moved away from each other, he became progressively more obnoxious, puerile and sarcastic.
I attended (with
tea_cantata) an hour's worth of a ceilidh at Name-I-Can't-Remember College and had a grand old time, despite my annoyance at missing one dance because I was having a drink of water and couldn't find a partner fast enough. I've always loved circle/barn/square dancing, ever since I started learning them in ballet classes, at Girl Guide events and in Phys Ed class.I ate several Real English Breakfasts while staying at the Cambride YHA hostel; this was handy because it meant I could save money by skipping lunch without too much discomfort. While at the hostel, I participated in or witnessed fascinating conversations with two girls from the North (don't remember where exactly) who were here for music therapy work experience, a male graduate student from the U.S. doing research, another young man from the U.S. doing an internship in London, a hostel employee who moved here from Trinidad, a bunch of cricket players from South Africa, and a very nice and very friendly middle-aged woman originally from Scotland and now living in Australia. The latter even invited me to visit her if I'm ever in Australia!
When the hostel was full on Sunday night, I stayed at a guest house/B&B (consuming another English breakfast) and oh! it was nice to have the use of a real pillow.
For my second luxury indulgence (i.e. another £6 ticket!), I attended a concert by the choral scholars of the King's College choir, performed on the river behind the college. They performed some lovely sacred works and madrigals but pop-ish stuff predominated. The fact that they sang "I Get Around" while being punted en masse down the river (by a Scudamore's employee) demonstrates the sort of mood they were going for. Fine musicianship was on display though not as polished as I think it would be indoors.
After searching through the phone book for churches to attend and compiling a list of possible candidates, I wandered through town last Sunday and entered the first church on my list that I encountered: the Unitarian Church! I was looking for someplace liberal and this, though obviously different from the United Church of Canada in many ways, looks like it may fit the bill. Though I got a good impression of the Unitarian Church, I'm also curious about the United Reformed Church, the Free Church and the Methodist Church. Can anybody tell me anything about those denominations?
After the service (while eating what was probably fair trade food, of course), I chatted with a couple of women in the congregation and--talk about a coincidence!--one of them used to live in Kingston, sang in the Choral Society and knew people in the Sydenham St. United choir. They both hastened to assure me that services would be quite different once the regular minister, a jazz bassist who is "quite the character", returns this week. To tell the truth, I hadn't minded the service that much, though it was depressing being guilt-tripped about a problem (poor treatment of migrant workers in Britain) about which I couldn't have previously been aware. But hey, we sang "We Shall Overcome"! (Pete Seeger!)
I moved into my house on Monday and have since bought some bed linens (from the Sally Ann) and groceries. I share the house with three other girls--an Australian and two Jamaicans--and a bloke whose nationality I don't know because he hasn't moved in yet. We're having fun comparing cultures. Drying laundry without a dryer is a bit of a catch-22 because the weather has yet to remain dry long enough for the clothesline to do its job. I think I'll have to buy an indoor clothes rack and some more (cheap) clothing so the rotation doesn't have to be so frequent.
Having withdrawn two-weeks' rent (£140) and £240 of the £280 room deposit over the space of three days, I can't get my damn TD Canada Trust bank account to let me withdraw anything more. I've checked it online and know for a fact that there is quite a bit more than £40 in there. Ridiculous. The most irritating thing is that ATMs here give one (or at least me) very little information or feedback. At least my NatWest account will finally become usable very soon.
tea_cantata convinced me (though frankly it didn't take much convincing) to attend Tuesday night ballroom dancing classes with her (run by the Cambridge Dance Club) and once the initial arrived-very-slightly-late awkwardness was over with, it was fun. The instructor explains things much more slowly than anybody at the Queen's Swing Club.I have now worked four days with Scudamore's and I really need to start working more days per week soon; right now, I keep getting scheduled when I have other commitments and having to cancel. On that note: I have an appointment with the Department of Work and Pensions tomorrow to get a National Insurance number. As for the actual work, I generally enjoy it... aside from sweeping/scrubbing out the punts. My energy level, speed, endurance and--most of all--lower back pain threshold keep diminishing. As a) I enjoy the odd occasion when I get to transport punts short distances, and b) my favourite part of the Fort Henry job (aside from fifing) was giving tours, I hope to apply to be a punt tour chaffeur eventually.
I came here for immersion in another culture, so I'm doing my best to assimilate to some degree. It confuses North American tourists when I ask them (in a Canadian accent) if they want an "aluminium" pole. Heck, I even bought tomato relish, dried currants, English mustard and marmite at Sainsbury's today.
