Hello everyone! For those of you who don’t know, I am studying abroad for the entire 2014-2015 school year in Cambridge, and I’m back blogging again! I had a wonderful Christmas break in Cambridge, but I am really excited to get back into a routine with classes again.
As the title indicates, a new year and new semester have begun. The new Study Center group arrived last Thursday, and they have been getting settled and getting to know Cambridge for the past couple of days. It’s fun to watch people discover new things in the town. It was also a good conversation starter between the group and myself. If they had any questions about where to eat, where to shop, or anything of that nature, I could answer them.
On Friday, everyone took a guided tour of Cambridge. While everyone was taking their tour, I decided to take a tour of my own. I walked around the market, down past King’s College and Queen’s College, and then walked around the backs of the colleges. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining. Walking around on my own reminded me of why I chose to study here, and how even though I’m not new in town like the rest of the group is, I can still enjoy all of the culture and history I have around me.
The back of King’s College Chapel
The River Cam from the Clare College bridge
On Friday evening after their arrival, we went to see a pantomime (or panto, as they call it) of “Aladdin” at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. A panto is the British slapstick comedy play. They only run for a few months out of every year, so we were lucky to get to see one. These kinds of shows almost always feature a man in drag, and include a lot of audience participation. For example, the audience knows that when a character says, “Oh, no he didn’t!”, they yell back, “Oh, yes he did!”, and they boo and hiss at the villain. It also featured many songs pulled from all sorts of genres, including, “One Way or Another” and “Roar.”
Cambridge Arts Theatre presents “Aladdin”
For the most part, I think everyone enjoyed the play, and I know I thought it was funny. It was different from the Disney version of Aladdin we have come to know and love, with the setting in Peking, China, and Aladdin living with his mother and brother and running a laundromat. The night after the play, we all gathered around the TV to watch the “real” Disney version of Aladdin together.
Our next adventure is London this weekend, where we will have a chance to see the Tower of London and the play “Wicked,” which are two things that are on my bucket list. I can’t wait to travel with this group and spend some time in one of the greatest cities in Europe!
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