One of the biggest cultural shocks that I have experienced so far would be the life of people on the streets. The very first day that I walked through the streets, my impression was somewhere along the lines of, “this is so adorable!”. The streets are narrow but the buildings are cute, and there was much life on the streets.

At first I was mesmerized by how different a typical “street” was. Considering that Cambridge is a pretty big city I expected it to be somewhat similar to Chicago which I am fairly familiar with – lots of cars, tall buildings, a lot of people walking, homeless people, and mostly: many honking cars. However, Cambridge was pretty much the opposite of everything that I listed above. Everything, thats is, besides a lot of people walking.

I realized that the people of Cambridge get to point A from point B, primarily by walking. You see many people walking down the streets in suits and business attires which is quite similar to Chicago. This part I was familiar with. The thing that I wasn’t familiar with though, was how many people used biking as their method of transportation. I’m used to seeing a few people here and there riding bikes, but here, there are quite a few. And they like to ride their bikes pretty darn fast. I have learned that in England, the drivers have the primary right of way, then bikers, then pedestrians. This is very different from the US system of pedestrians always having the right of way. This means that bikes and cars can go pretty speedy even in areas of people walking and they aren’t too afraid to knock you over. This was a surprise to me since growing up in the US, I assumed that it was natural for me to always be the priority on the streets if I was walking. This is definitely something that I need to become accustomed to.

 

Another different aspect of the streets at Cambridge is the buildings. In Chicago I always have to crane my neck to see the top of the buildings and most of them are all new and shiny. The buildings on the streets in Cambridge are fairly short and definitely not new and shiny. Most of these buildings have been around for hundreds of years. I especially love this because although I’m not such a history whiz, I very much enjoy seeing old buildings that are filled with history. The thought of people living here and having such different lives here many, many years ago is so thrilling to me. It’s hard to describe in words though. But I am sure these buildings have seen so many people come and go and every person having their own stories. Sometimes I wish I could invent a time machine and go back in different times and observe people and their lives then…although that sounds a little creepy. But overall, the buildings are the symbols of the deep and long history that Cambridge holds.

Something that was similar but different are the homeless people of Cambridge. There are a few homeless people on the streets begging for money just like Chicago. However the difference is that none of these homeless people have signs explaining why they are homeless and need the money. But the bigger surprise to me was that almost every single homeless person I saw in Cambridge had a dog with them. This was something that broke my heart. I have a soft spot in my heart for dogs (especially because I own an adorable dog that I miss very much!) and seeing the dogs looking sad and poor made me feel worse for them than for the people, to be quite honest. I’m not sure if that is their technique to make money but it is possibly something that I will find out during my stay here.

The last difference I noticed (but there are probably many more out there), is how less noisy the city is. The one thing I dislike about Chicago is how noisy it is with people honking their cars ALL the time. In Cambridge though, and English people in general, I have noticed that they are somewhat more patient and tolerant. I hear hardly any cars honking at each other and typically the English don’t have conversations with each other in a very loud tone. That is probably why the Americans are knowns as being very loud. Typically, the city seems to be a peaceful place.

Street life is something that is right outside the door of our centre and it is amazing to see how much it’s different. Of course there are similar things like the language we speak, what kind of music they listen to, but when it comes to culture, something can be so different – even if we are all living on the same planet. This leads me to expand my thoughts on the differences of culture. If I am surprised at how the English street system is compared to the US one, how different is it going to be in other countries such as Russia, or India, or South Africa? It is just endless thinking about it but it also brings awareness to myself and how many different cultures are out there. Hopefully one day I will be able to expose myself to many other cultures and countries. But for now, I am looking forward to be able to travel to see the nearby European countries!

By Aya Takahashi, more blogs to come soon!