The Transition to Cambridge University on Study Abroad

The transition to Cambridge has been a rather interesting one and most definitely a work in progress. Before I comment on Cambridge though, I should mention that I much miss you all, and I hope you are enjoying IAP to its fullest back at MIT.  I am trying to avoid reading too many of the forum emails, so I have the filter to only let me see emails with the word “kitchen” in them. But in any case, I’ll try to recap some of the interesting aspects of transitioning to Cambridge.

To my slight dismay, life here largely revolves around drinking. In speech, “goodbye” is replaced by “cheers” and most social life does exist within the pubs. This would not really be a problem, but I would most accurately describe myself – in British terms – as a “teetotaler.” This has presented much more of a hurdle than I had imagined.

For instance, the dorms here do not have social lounges. At iHouse (and at all MIT dorms) we have large lounge spaces to socialize, study, eat food and the like. Instead of having large lounges, Cambridge has large singles. My room (one of the nicer conference style rooms) is about the size of iHouse’s dining area, complete with a personal shower, toilet and deck. The amenities are very nice, but socially speaking, the architecture is not suited for community bonding in the same way as MIT.

Most important to a dorm is of course the residents, and I must say that my particular placement is slightly ironic. I am living in the most rambunctious, party-loving living quarters on campus. To put it in perspective, my fellow MIT-Cambridge Exchange companion and I (both living in the same “staircase”) took the rooms that were left vacant after the college virtually expelled the two residents from the term before. Nonetheless, the slightly wild culture remains and this staircase has a reputation by the whole college. [I assume other people at the college are not this wild.]

Perhaps I’ll transition to academics. Apparently, I miscalculated my math ability. You must understand that Cambridge is far more math intensive than MIT. For some reason I had really been excited about math. But as an unexpected result, I have had the pleasure of learning about all of 18.06 in the last few weeks, starting over Christmas break. It’s still a work a progress, and it’s a lot to take in ever so quickly. I am strongly considering taking an ASE (advanced standing exam) upon returning to MIT just to see how much I’ve had to learn.

I also may have mathematically “errored” when I decided to exchange one semester at MIT for two trimesters at Cambridge. One half does not equal two-thirds. On the bright side, this means that I have achieved obtaining more of an educational opportunity for the same price in tuition. However, it also means that I get to possibly work more for the same credit. The exact transfer credit is still a work in progress.

There are just a few more things I think I’ll mention before going back to try to study. The first is that I’m mighty content with myself for having gone to a school dance (here called a “bop”), as I don’t think I’ve been to a dance since middle school. I liked the bop. It was slightly strange that I was recommended not to show up until at least an hour after the said start time. My fellow MIT-Cambridge Exchange student actually was invited to be the DJ (who did a fantastic job) and he was instructed not to even show up until half an hour after the said start time.

So I showed up to the bop almost exactly one hour after the said start time, and sure enough almost nobody was there. But it really didn’t matter because all I wanted to do was juggle. So the room was set up like a rave with disco lights in time to the music, and I juggled with my light-up juggling balls for the good majority of the next two hours. I wouldn’t call it really social – not even when I had the slightly intoxicated people try to juggle, but it was different. Sorry – I didn’t get footage.

In summary, I do miss you guys at iHouse; have a great retreat and good luck on your ID projects. I am much appreciative for all the cards and notes you guys wrote me. Thank you very much for that. As a closing note, I also miss my Razor scooter. It’s the same distance from dorm to centre campus for iHouse as it is here at Jesus College. However, here I am walking all 1.5 miles in the cold snow, marching through historical mystery, transitioning slowly but surely to the other Cambridge.