Cambridge: Local Living
Local living in Cambridge is much different than studying abroad in a large city. Cambridge is basically a college town. Because I’m here over the summer, most of the “locals” (read: students) are gone. So meeting the locals then is meeting my professors, people who work or own stores in town, and any grad students stuck here over the summer desperately finishing work. But there is something about that atmosphere that is comforting. One of the complaints I hear from people studying abroad is that there is so much to do in their city, that it’s always going and there’s always something to do, but, with their studying, they don’t have time to do it all. Not that Cambridge doesn’t offer a lot of great things to do, but the mood is much more conducive to studying. No FOMO if some classmates and I decide to spend a night in the library.
The city over the summer, though, is pretty populated – but by tourists. King’s College (one of the colleges that hosts my program) is a huge tourist attraction with its beautiful chapel and gardens. Midday is especially hectic around King’s College. Tourists have to pay to get onto the grounds, and we students have to flash a badge to get in, so getting through and getting to class can take a little while. It is kind of fun to be able to skip the line and flash a badge for free access to one of the U.K.’s most famous sights.
