Meeting other Georgians in Cambridge

So, being there in Cambridge, we believed that we were alone there, well, kind of, and there were just the six of us there, Georgians I mean, and we just didn’t expect anyone else there from Georgia. Well, guess what, we were not the only Georgians there. And I want to tell you that story about how we found each other and how it is important to notice people when you are abroad. And you will see how the world is very small, as they say.

You should enjoy being abroad

First of all, I want to tell you that being there and studying in Cambridge with Studio Cambridge and their staff, I realized how much I enjoy being abroad in a different country, with all those unfamiliar people in that unfamiliar streets and places. That is really something pretty strange and, at the same time, amazing and exciting. Everyone should go to foreign countries and be there for some time and socialize, of course. I mean, you should have some goal and purpose for being there, you know, like me - I had this 2 weeks course of English studies that I had to finish, and so otherwise it’s not that interesting there. In addition, while being there somewhere in any other country and socializing with people there, you really get to know that country better and better and the more you socialize the more knowledge you gain about that country and people living there and then, after some time, it’s like you’ve lived there, too. Trust me on that. I’ve experienced socializing and not socializing both and the first one is a better option.

So, what I’m saying is that you should not just grab your bag or a backpack or whatever and go wherever you want and just not notice anyone there around you. Instead, you should really enjoy your time and just meet people, tell them about yourself, ask about things, such as how they live in that place, what they do, what are some places you can visit, etc. Maybe you have already planned your visit and got all the information that you need, but the local people there know better! They have lived there probably their whole lives and they know those places pretty well, and they can advise you to do things there that you wouldn’t find on Internet or somewhere else. Their advices are worth considering and even if you have planned all the journey, remember, that spontaneity makes this life worth living! And, maybe you will ask why I’m writing all this stuff and talking about many things and writing a lot, but, you know, I think that this is some kind of useful information for people, especially students who go on exchange programmes and travel in foreign countries and stay there for a while.

So, these are my advices for you, and all the other stuff, too. And when I tell you about my journeys, I write about them so that you will understand what I did, how I did it and what was the result and so then you will decide whether or not you should do that stuff, because some decisions might have been right and some might have not and I didn’t realize that then.

How it all started

So, about us and other Georgians there in Cambridge. It was a nice sunny day when I woke up and got ready for school. I really looked forward to going to school every new day and every morning was a great feeling of doing something useful and I was really proud of myself, that I was there in Cambridge, my dream place, and I actually was studying there, not visiting it for just sightseeing or something. I went to school as usual and we had Jessica’s lesson and then the lunch and then Mr. Dermot’s lesson and then we were free and other guys gathered there in the library too and we just wanted to walk in the streets of Cambridge. Then someone suggested going shopping, and sightseeing and stuff. Turned out, that he wanted to buy some Scottish national clothes. Well, we didn’t really know where to find them, so we just decided to wander around in the streets with many shops and maybe we would get lucky and find something useful. So we went out. There was one of our new friends with us too. Her name is Alice and she’s from Switzerland and she’s a really nice person. And so we went shopping and stuff…

Then we went in some shop and guess what, there were all those Scottish things and it was like heaven. There was a wide range of clothing and those national dresses and some cool decorations. I was just shocked to see all of that. We were there for quite some time, and then one of our friends bought his desired Scottish dress and went outside.

Suddenly...

Then, of course, we got hungry and there was this large supermarket across the street and we just went there. It was really big and we all divided and went to different sections and looked for what we wanted to eat and stuff like that and we kind of lost each other. Then I heard one of us saying: “Are you Georgians? ” At first, I didn’t understand what he was saying, but then I realized he was mimicking someone. So, it turned out, that some girls asked him and another friend if they were Georgians and that was all. Boy, how could he not speak to those girls, I thought. Then these girls came to us and talked to us in Georgian and it was really strange, because for a week or so we had not heard a Georgian word from anyone but us six. I guess, they were kind of shocked, too.

Then one of the girls was telling us how they heard us talking something that they resembled Georgian and how they followed us just to be sure that we spoke Georgian and not some other language, and then they decided to take a step and talk to us and so on. So this was a great coincidence, I think, that we met there, in some street of Cambridge. Well, it’s said, that there are no such things as coincidences. And I remember this phrase that is in the film “The Dark Knight Rises”, when Gordon tells Blake that he is a detective now and that he is not allowed to believe in coincidences.

Eating pizzas in Parker's Piece

Anyways, I don’t know what it was, but it really was something good for us. Turned out, there was another Georgian there studying in Cambridge, too. And, in fact, him and one of the girls were studying just beside our building, in Sir Michael’s I think, or it was called something else. And can you imagine, all this time we didn’t meet any of them there and just when we were in some kind of a market we saw them there. So the other girl from the two lived in London and as it was a Friday or a weekend (I don’t really remember which day it was then) she just decided to visit the other one and just have fun and then go back to London. Well, as we met each other, and as they were more familiar with the places around, they suggested ordering some pizzas (and the one girl knew where they made a very delicious pizzas in Cambridge) and just take them to the Parker’s Piece and eat them there, as this Parker’s Piece was a great place for hanging out with friends and, at the same time, a perfect place for relaxation and being in some kind of nature.

So, we went there and we ordered pizzas and bought some snacks and drinks and just laid them on the grass like a picnic and sat there around. It was not that we were hungry or something, but who could turn down pizzas? So we ate them all, and they were really delicious, if you want to know the truth. They were not some pizzas made by amateurs and stuff like that. They were really great pizzas and I remembered their taste for a long time. Well, maybe I remember it, too, but I’ve tasted so many other pizzas since that, that I doubt that I remember their taste now. However, if you ask me, I think, that we don’t forget anything seen or tasted or whatsoever, they just precipitate into our memories somewhere deep…

While we sat there, chatting and eating and taking photos and stuff, the day just went and then there was this beautiful sunset on the tops of King’s College and the Great St. Mary’s Church and soon only their silhouettes were seen.

We took all our stuff and gathered them in plastic bags and looked for some garbage to put them in there. Well, we had to cross the whole Parker’s Piece just to find them, and, man, we had plenty of garbage in many plastic bags! I don’t know what we ate that it was so many of them.

Then we went wandering around. Well, actually, we didn’t really wander around, as one of the girls had to return to London and so she had to go to the other’s home to get her stuff. We were just fooling around in the streets while she was inside the house gathering her stuff. And then we all went to the Station Road _ that’s where our Studio Cambridge was, too. And so there at the end of the road was this railway station, where we saw her off.

So, the day lived up to our expectations and even more! That was a great day with a great ending. We had a lot of fun and, at the same time, we made new friends and we were happy that we weren’t alone in that big city of Cambridge.

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