Eastern Europe Pictures Part 2

Cambridge, England

Finally catching up a bit! Click here for pics from second half of Eastern Europe trip.

Soon...very soon

Cambridge, England

I still don't have Internet in my room but was planning on posting a long blog entry tonight. Unfortunately, the computer lab at this fine institution closes at 10 PM. (everything else seems to close at 5 PM, except the pubs -- 11 PM).

Coming soon...hopefully with some pictures and fun stories!

Money in the Bank

Cambridge, England

A few notes worth mentioning at the beginning of this entry.

First, congratulations to my great friends Robby and Lauren Hayes, who got married today in Jackson, Mississippi!

Second, I will be updating the blog in the coming days to reflect the current status of my adventures. Alas, this means that much of the Eastern Europe lagniappe will disappear. But I wanted to mention (before his picture goes away) that Adam Newcomer has finally joined the European adventure. Although he was not able to join me in Eastern Europe, he is currently in England travelling with Sarah and will meet up with me in Cambridge next week.

My personal update is rather uneventful. I arrived in London last weekend and spent a few days with Sarah and a few other friends from UT. Then it was on to lovely Cambridge to settle in before orientation started on Thursday. To make a long story short, after originally being placed in a house infested with mice poop, I was able to switch to another place which is conveniently a lot closer to my department. I have my own room with a (pathetic) bathroom en suite and a shared kitchen (between seven). The David Gedding house is pretty nice, and basically a house that has been converted into dorm-style living for grad students. I say "dorm-style" because my room really does look like a dorm room at a US university. I suppose the only mystique of my place is that the first floor is a nice little coffee shop and 24-hour grocery. This kind of gives the pad a big-city feel.

Orientation started on Thursday for my programme, so that has eaten up much of my time thus far in England. After meeting my new classmates - 28 in total, 4 Americans (all studied undergrad in Cambridge, MA but me), 6 Brits, and a multitude of other nationalities - over tea on Wednesday, we were off to London on Thursday to take an insightful behind-the-scenes tour of Parliament (Westminster Palace) and meet with members of the Office of Science and Technology. On Friday, we took another field trip. The first stop was at Renewable Energy Source (RES), which is a company that installs wind farms throughout the world. The neat thing about that stop: RES has a zero-emission corporate headquarters that operates using wind power as energy. I'll post some cool photos from that stop. The second visit of the day was spent at a coal power station. Didcot is the largest of its kind in the UK, and it was quite interesting to see the contrast of "old school" vs. "new school."

I've tried to settle in but have been met with miserable success. First off, it seems near impossible to create a bank account here. Incredible! You would think that a guy (or gal) that shows up at the bank with a rather large check would be able to create a new account at the bank. Oh, but not here - I've gotta have a note from the president, my mom, and more. To even get an appointment with the bank, I've got to bring a letter from my college stating that I am legit. To get a mobile phone, I'm supposed to have lived in the UK for the past 3 years. The other big project to finish: finding a bike. The free market system is in full effect here. Remember in microecon when you drew all those S and D curves? Then you would be presented with some peculiar situation in which the demand suddenly increased, resulting in a shortage. Welcome to the bike market in Cambridge. Welcome to an increase in P. I'm talking about a junk bike for 50 pounds at the cheapest (about 100 US). The only other problem in settling in is that there does not seem to be a good one-stop store like Target or Wal-Mart. The result: lots of walking around town and searching at random little shops for random items like a laundry basket or toothpaste or a lamp.

All this is fine though. It has been awesome being here thus far. I really like this college-town. My only true complaints:

1) It's already getting cold! I've been sporting a polarfleece the past few days. I'm just not used to this type of weather in September.

2) Cambridge is quite expensive. Basically, the prices of most things (food, clothing, transportation, etc.) are the same number of pounds as the number of dollars that you would pay in the US. So a Big Mac costs 2£ vs. $2 in the US. Of course, 2£ does not equal $2. So the bottomline is that most things cost twice as much here. Fun.

I am currently in the Fitzwilliam College - don't worry, I'll explain the college system of Cambridge soon - computer lab listening to the Auburn vs. Tennessee football game. Yes, it's nearly 4 a.m. here. But I'm an Auburn Tiger. War Eagle.