A lifelong month in Cambridge

A trip to remember

Have you ever travelled to a different country with a purpose to study rather than sightseeing or simply spending your holiday? I have, and this was probably the best time of my life which I didn’t approach to write about until now. I was 14, and for the first time of my life I was flying all alone to the country I loved incredibly – United Kingdom. The point of final destination was Cambridge, the city well-known for its quality education, tiny beautiful streets of medieval age, punting on the river Cam, beautiful University of Cambridge itself and that magical spirit of true England that can’t be found in the industrial and modern London. What was I supposed to do there, you would ask? I came to a summer school to learn and improve my English only, but eventually ended up fallen in love with the city, culture, people and everything that I had a chance to experience during my stay there.

Where did I live?

Actually, when coming to any sort of summer schools in England (and probably in most of other countries) you have two options: to live in a local family or to live in a residence in shared apartments with other students. As I was about to spend one month in Cambridge, I split my staying: two weeks in a family and another two weeks in the residence.  

Although I imagined myself living in a typical British family, eating fried eggs and bacon in the mornings and hearing the family members speaking with that perfect British accent (I always melt like a jelly on the sun when I hear this sound or perfection), my expectations didn’t turn into reality. I knocked on the door, and after a couple of seconds a woman of Indian appearance opened it, smiling brightly to me. I was surprised at first, but then felt even more curious and forward-looking to what I was going to experience. A mixture of two different cultures in one house – what could sound more attractive?

The family members were extremely open-minded and nice, even the little boy, Benjamin, who loved asking me “Ana-stasia, could you play with me and Timmy?” (Timmy was a puppy Labrador, astoundingly funny, playful, always trying to lick every inch of my skin). The whole atmosphere was very warm and welcoming – I got adjusted to new place and people acutely fast, having felt home-sick only on my first night there. All in all, I was spending only mornings and evenings there, as all the school lessons and activities took the major part of the day. And yes, I loved trying new Indian dishes, which were made with love and care. Seriously, I could taste it.

Going to school on 1st of July? Yes, please

I had never been to any of British schools before Cambridge, but I suppose they all look pretty much the same. Four small three-storeyed buildings with grey brick walls, convex white windows and blue doors, each of the four saying England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland respectively – this is how my school looked like. The first morning, all future students crowded together in the courtyard waiting for teachers to welcome them to their first studying day. After being invited inside, we were asked to pass a test to measure our English level to help sort us in the right groups. I was more than glad with my Upper-Intermediate result at that time, and so, next I was sitting in a classroom, 10 more students sitting there as well, of different nationalities, appearances and personalities, which I was about to discover a bit later.

The staff members were all super kind, unbelievably gregarious and always up to a joke. The one, however, immediately became everyone’s favorite - Alex. He wasn’t actually a teacher, rather a student office manager, but we didn’t care. The person who could suddenly burst into the classroom, start playing guitar and singing, or crack jokes in the corridor just to make everyone laugh – we all know that sort of extremely charismatic people, who you get attracted to for reason you can’t actually explain, you just know that this person is COOL.

What we did apart from studying

Our summer school offered a great variety of afternoon and evening activities, and everyone had a chance to try them all during their stay. Punting on the river Cam is truly exhilarating, being located in a picturesque place with beautiful willows and unexpected bends of the river. It somehow reminds of rowing a gondola in Venice, but more people are allowed to sit in the boat. Punting is really fun, especially if you have no idea how to row the boat properly – be ready to crash every tree on your way then! (exactly what we did).

Quite a lot of activities took place on Parker’s Piece - this place has its own sort of magic, attracting both locals and foreigners who are staying in the city. It is an enormously huge square of green grass, where people mostly enjoy themselves under pleasant and warming sun. We’ve played football, rounders (British version of baseball), watched teachers playing, watched Alex playing (or shall I call it rather “performing”?), we have relished the dawns and sunsets, we laughed, we simply lay on the grass… I don’t think there’s anything else needed to fall in love with a particular place in a city.

Cambridge has a beautiful city centre, with medieval architecture, cobblestone roads, tiny narrow streets between the buildings, and of course market place. There you can find nearly everything, from food and souvenirs to clothes and home stuff. What we liked in particular was the softest ever fudge – traditional Scottish sweet. If you climb to the rooftop of St. Mary’s Church, located right behind the market – by saying climb I don’t mean it literally, there’s a spiral staircase inside – you will get a chance to admire an astonishing panorama of Cambridge. Also, back down from St. Mary’s Church, only 20 steps away you can find a small and cozy Italian gelatery, whose ice-cream always made us feel like we are somewhere in Rome.

Second home got found

The list of truly awesome and memorable things about Cambridge is endless, but these are ones that still make me smile and go back in 4 years time from now. Is it an experience of a traveler, who came to the beautiful city of Cambridge? Not really. It’s an experience of someone who cherished every minute of studying, cracking jokes with teachers and friends, waking up early to get some morning coffee from Costa before the lessons, laying on Parker’s Piece grass and sniffing the air, having fun while having got lost in the city…Anyway, I hope that you, reader, has caught the spirit and dived into the atmosphere that I tried my best to convey.