Cambridge University and the Festival of Ideas

As soon as one festival ends, another one begins! OK, the one I am thinking of now actually began 20 October, so it has been going on for a few days. And it's on until 4 November! It has a great name: Festival of Ideas. Isn't that wonderful? I just found out yesterday and today I booked a couple of tickets (it's free though!) for Saturday. I could go to these things just to get inside the beautiful buildings in Cambridge but these talks I actually think will be interesting. Violence against women: preventions and responses is at noon on Saturday and Are we being sold online? is at 3.30 pm the same day. The later one is about oversharing things on the internet. It might be a good thing for me since I tend to do that. See, I just shared with you my weekend plans. Alright, I don't really share too much, I don't think. But I am on a lot of places in the world of social media. 

I do kind of like it though.

Oxjam Cambridge Takeover

So the Oxjam festival wasn't exactly what we had hoped for. It was a bit unorganised and at the latino place they played music that was definitely not latino. It was still good, but not what we had expected. We had a good time though, we went to a restaurant for dinner and then we walked from place to place. One of the good things about the Oxjam Cambridge Takeover was this guitar duo that we walked in on:

 

If you see a pair of yellow tights walking in at the end, that's me.

Oxjam Cambridge

I have been living in the UK for a week now. And tomorrow I finish my first week at work as well.  Gosh! They usually have pub night at my job on Fridays but I don't know if there is gonna be one tomorrow. Either way, Friday is a good thing! I am planning to go to the Oxjam festival on Saturday. Info from the homepage: "Oxjam is Oxfam's month-long music festival. It runs all through October with hundreds of events around the UK, all organised by volunteers who know and love their local music scene, all raising money to save lives around the world." I mean, who doesn't want to save lives? I do. I haven't really been out partying in Cambridge yet but maybe this will be a good start. There is a list of band names on the site and I don't know any of them but I am sure some of them are good. Hopefully. There will be all kinds of music it seems – rock, acoustic, salsa, 80s, funk, house, electro, samba... Apparently Cambridge has a lot of things going on. And I am here, just enjoying the show.

First day at work

I started my new job today. I met some of the people from work at a party a few days ago, so there were some familiar faces. It seems like a nice place, my new job. I suppose not all of the assignments will be a blast but that's alright. The people are very friendly and I am loving the international atmosphere! So, I really do live here now. I have an everyday life with a job to go to and tonight I made a lunchbox for tomorrow. Very normal everyday stuff, isn't it? Am tired now. Will blog more another day.

I have explored enough for one day, I tell you

What I've done today: I walked, walked, walked, bought a very funny book, walked, went into Starbuck's for some internet and a latte (that did not taste of coffee unfortunately), walked some more, bought a SIM card for my mobile so I can live here properly, went to another Starbuck's for some more internet and a cappuccino (that did not taste of coffee unfortunately), made sure I had internet in mobile phone so I would not have to go into Starbuck's for bad coffee anymore, walked, got tired of walking, kept on walking, bought some stuff in Boots, went to the Rainbow Café for a nice goat cheese lasagne, walked some more, went for a cup of tea, walked some more, went to the Corpus Playroom and watched Macbeth, went to Sainsbury's and bought some food, got tired of walking, took a taxi home (and I knew the address this time).

Well, that was my day. My feet are quite tired now. How was your day?

Am here!

OK. Am in Cambridge now. Took taxi to new job and on the way I looked out at the city. Saw beautiful buildings! Classic black taxis! School uniforms! People driving on the wrong side of the street (it is confusing even to just watch, I'm telling you)! I was very amazed by it all. Met colleague at work and walked to house I am staying at. Relaxed at the house for a bit and decided to walk to the city centre. Looked at the map and since I don't have internet access on my phone I tried to memorize the way. I wrote down a few things. Right, Scotland Road to city centre. Got it! Went out. Was immediately lost. Later I understood that it was not that strange that I was lost right at the beginning, because I was not actually on Scotland Road to begin with. I realised this when I came back home. Yes, I actually made it back home because I took a picture of the street sign and showed the taxi driver. Am very clever.

I saw a flat tonight and it is just great. The flat is very cosy and clean and modern. It is not cold and it does not have carpet in the bathroom. The person I would be living with is also very nice. We went out for sushi and a glass of wine after her showing me the flat. People seem to think I was very quick on finding a flat and I suppose it has been rather quick, but I just couldn't help but starting to look while I was still at home in Stockholm. I also think I had a bit of luck. Hopefully the agent will accept me as well and then I'll move in, soonish.

Tomorrow I have two plans. One: getting a phone number. Two: seeing Macbeth. 

You and me

Jesus Christ. It is less than a week left now until I hop on a plane that will (hopefully) take me to England. I will be flying Ryanair since it is the only airline going from here to Stansted, the closest airport to Cambridge. This is sort of a challenge in itself since you never know if you are going to get to the final destination or not. Well, I am all for living on the edge so why not? (Will be knocking on wood though. Please please please take me to England!) 

To tell you the truth I sit here with a lot of emotions. I am very excited for the big move to Cambridge but on the other hand it does mean that I will be leaving people behind. Like my boyfriend. The bestest boyfriend in the world he is. He is like me – he loves to live in new places – so I know that he understands. He is very encouraging. But still. Even if I know that we will make this work, it is tough. Lucky for us, it is quite easy traveling between Stockholm and Cambridge. 

Bringing the big suitcase up from the storage and starting to pack it will be a stab at the heart. And at the same time it is the start of an adventure that is very much welcome.