Keep off the grass

It is impossible to describe how incredible it is here. Today before dinner, as I was sitting at my desk looking down on the River Cam, I thought about Nick and Sarah doing their research at PC and realized that being here is absolutely surreal. This is what every university should be like. It is the most conducive environment to learning there could possibly be as long as you are very self motivated and not too easily distracted by the river, punters, fantastic food and incredibly gorgeous buildings that are centuries older than America. I live in Bodley's Court which is the only place in King's College where you are allowed to sit on the grass. It is a courtyard right on the River Cam and it is simply perfect.

I love the beauty and history that Cambridge has to offer, but there is one thing that I love more. There are signs that say "Private" all around King's and I love being able to ignore them and walk right through. When the college grounds are closed to tourists for the day it is an absolute thrill to walk up to the gate where tourists are trying to get inside or to take pictures from outside the gate, show my Cambridge University card to the porter and walk right in. It really gives you a sense of honor and pride to think that, though it is only for two months, King's is my college and I am a Cambridge student. It is a fantastic feeling.

It's also really enjoyable to sit on the benches in Bodley's Court (which is also private) and watch punters taking pictures of my building.

Today was my first day of classes as a Cambridge student. We had orientation in the morning in the Cambridge Union Society Debating Chamber. We are members of the Cambridge Union Society (CUS) for the next two months. The CUS was founded in 1815 when some students got fed up with the University telling them what things they could and could not discuss. The CUS is independently owned and operated by Cambridge students and any Cambridge student can become a member. It is essentially a haven for free speech and many famous individuals have spoken there including Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama and, my personal favorites, Ronald Reagan and Stephen Hawking (apparently he addresses the Union every other year). After this we had another short orientation in the Great Hall at King's and then had a library induction which everyone must attend before they are allowed to use the libraries. The King's library is beautiful and I'm hoping that I can sneak a picture of it despite the very large "No Photography" signs. After that we grabbed lunch at EAT (my new favorite sandwich shop) and ate by the river and then I took a tour of the city which was pretty unnecessary since I already knew where just about everything they showed us was located. After that I headed back to the CUS for my first class- Gothic Architecture. It was a pretty good class but the room was stifling and I was ready to fall asleep. We have seminar for that class tomorrow and we are visiting a few churches in Cambridge and next week we take a trip to Ely Cathedral. I have the first session of my Europe 1890-1990 class tomorrow and I'm really looking foward to it. We also have our first Formal Hall tomorrow night...5 course meal by candlelight and we get to walk on the grass before dinner! There are signs everywhere telling you to "Please keep off the grass" unless you are accompanied by a senior member of the college although I'm not sure who that would include. Of course all these signs make you want to walk on the grass even more. Plus it is perfectly manicured so you just want to run across it or lie down on it so everyone is looking foward to walking on it tomorrow (and maybe planning a covert nighttime operation to run across it when nobody is around). Here are some pictures for those of you who haven't seen them on Facebook.

My living room

View from my desk in the living room

My bedroom

The view from my bedroom