The Cavendish Laboratory is located in the West Cambridge Site – the newer (modern!) buildings are located in this area. It is quite a distance from the City Centre, so we drove there on our car and parked at a road nearby. It wasn’t as crowded as in the previous venue, there were plenty of spaces to move around, and had arguably more interesting setups and experiments.
Here are snapshots on our second time at the Cambridge Science Festival:
March 21, 2009
West Cambridge Site
We are indeed privileged to be in Cambridge this year, just in time for its 800th Anniversary year. There are various events organized by the University throughout the whole year to mark the occasion. Additionally, there is also an annual event called the Cambridge Science Festival, which is held in March each year. The Science Festival held this month had over more than 160 events for all ages over two weeks, with the theme "Centuries of Science."
Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to expose my daughter to such events – hoping that she will get the impression that not only is science interesting stuff, but that it is also fun and engaging (and definitely not just for the geeks and nerds). I think it’s just wonderful that there are events like these where children and adults alike would get an exposure to science. There are several such events in Tsukuba, but we have yet to attend one (too lazy; Japanese language was too daunting; Aya was too young, yada yada yada). So one could aptly say that this was our first experience together. Not just us, actually, because Lola was also here to enjoy the festivities. Just imagine, my Mom, a senior citizen and who is not a science-person herself, having fun doing experiments with us! Kudos to the organizers and facilitators of the event — superbly done!
And just when we thought that it would never happen…
I love the way the snow reflected the blue color from the darkening skies.
Aya’s wish finally comes true. We made snowmen at our backyard!
On my way to the university. The whole scenery was simply breathtaking. 🙂
See more related photos at my Flickr album. 😉
Finally, I am now doing something which was rather unthinkable a couple of months back: driving my own car in Cambridge. I had to hurdle two main obstacles to achieve this. First was to justify my so-called need for a car. With our residence close to the city center, the university and Aya’s primary school, we really don’t need a car. On weekdays, that is. Weekend after weekend found me wanting to have a car so we can at least go somewhere farther than a 1-kilometer radius from our house. It’s great that I can just order my groceries online and have them delivered at home, but call me old-fashioned or whatever, I admit that I did miss the "joys" of going to the store and picking up whatever I wanted off the shelves. You know that feeling? Just go and grab something you want. If the veggies don’t look as fresh as you want them, throw them back in and grab something else. You can pinch and grope and inspect products at your whim, after all, you’re the almighty consumer! You feel like you’re in control of your shopping. It’s just different when you look at products online. And besides, what better reason is there than the fact that I do have a little girl with me, and I couldn’t just drag her across town to get groceries in close to zero degree weather! And let me not remind you about the rain in Britain!
The second hurdle was to actually find a car, one that is reasonably within my means and one that satisfies my criteria. I didn’t want to drive a manual-transmission type, so I looked around for automatic-transmission type cars. It took a while, but I finally found one. And I actually got a rather good deal: it even came with a GPS navigation system (or simply, sat-nav). So I just gotta have it! 😀 Of course, I didn’t drive the car all at once using the sat-nav (excited as I was). First I had to rely on a very good friend to help me figure out the roads during a joy-ride around town. 😉
But before driving is the teeny-weeny step of acquiring the car. Well, to my surprise, I found out that it was relatively hassle-free to acquire a car here in the UK, compared to that in Japan.
I was at the university’s health service the other day for some test required for all new equipment users. The woman at the reception desk took my details – name, date of birth, etc. Then she asked, "Are you a new PhD student?"
I stifled a laugh, but promptly replied, "No, I’m a visiting scientist." I wished that I didn’t have to say "scientist," for it seems to denote someone important, but that’s the official status I have in the department. "Oh," she said, while she gave me a quick look (as if to make sure) and a polite smile.
I found the incident funny, because it reminded me of the numerous times when other people would ask me about my reason for being in the university. I already lost count of the times when people mistook me for a student instead of ehem, someone older. Staff, postdocs and students alike ask me the same question: "Are you a new PhD student?"
The title above not only refers to the difference in convention of spelling adopted in British English as opposed to that adopted in American English.
I’ve just recently found out that here in the UK, not only are the recommended immunization schedules different from those in Japan, but there are also required vaccinations for diseases which are not required in Japan. I expected that there would some differences, of course, as conventions vary from country to country. It also depends largely on how old your child is.
However, I was surprised to know that in the UK immunization scheme, Aya is overdue for not just one, but several types of routine childhood vaccines necessary for living in the UK.
Public transportation in Cambridge is not very convenient for me. I live in a place where the city buses do not pass through, and the only way I can get on a bus is to walk about 15 to 20 minutes to the nearest bus station. Cycling would be much faster, but Aya doesn’t have a bicycle yet (and she hasn’t really perfected her biking skills yet). And I’m really not that ready to introduce my daughter to the big, bad world of cycling here in Cambridge. I’ve witnessed firsthand two accidents involving cyclists in my almost two months of stay here. The streets here are just too narrow and the cycling paths are right smack on the road.
Anyway, I’ve become quite a frequent customer of taxis-for-hire here. I just call them up to book a taxi, and within minutes of my call, the taxi will pick me up from wherever I am and take me to my destination.
Getting the taxi is fairly simple. The only problem is talking to the receptionist who takes the calls. Sometimes the person speaks with a very strong accent, I could barely understand what he or she is saying. I consider myself as a highly fluent English speaker, but sometimes I just have difficulty understanding their words, especially when spoken with a very heavy accent.
One time, I ordered for a taxi and instructed them to bring the taxi to the bus stop where we got off. The guy on the other line told me, "No, the taxi couldn’t come to the bus stop, that’s only reserved for buses. You’ll have to go to the playstation."
Sure, so there are no convenience stores around which are open 24/7. Sure, the grocery stores close at 7 pm or so on weekdays, even earlier on Sundays. And sure, I don’t have my own car here, so mobility could be a problem (particularly when the weather isn’t cooperating!).
I miss the conveniences of living in Japan, so at first it was a real pain to adjust to the style of living here in the UK. And I hate to admit it, but it was so darn inconvenient during our first few weeks of stay here.
(This is going to be a long post. So don’t say I didn’t warn you! 😉 )
It’s been more than a month since we arrived in the UK! You know, from Day One I’ve been itching to blog, to write down everything and anything I’ve experienced so far. But the first few weeks were really hectic. We were so busy with settling down and all, trying our best to make our lives here as manageable as possible and make the transition as smooth-sailing as possible.