My Semester Abroad

"Keep off the Grass" signs spot the King's College campus everywhere. So really, how could I resist?

Cambridge, about a two hour bus ride from London, is a little stone gothic town with a handful of colleges peppering the boarders of downtown. I went with a small group of friends and we spent the whole day wandering in and out of pubs, overpriced shops, outdoor markets and different college campuses.

A little river called the Cam circles the downtown area and dozens of tourists attempt to go punting. It's a like a gondola but not as romantic, with one person standing on the end of a little flat boat and propelling it forward by plunging a large pole into the water and pushing it off the bottom of the river.

BIBO XU / SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE TIMES

Geggel in front of La Mimosa with people punting in the background, Saturday, Feb 4, 2006.

We listened to an all boys choir (whose voices could go surprisingly high) in a church at King's College commissioned by Henry VIII that was originally Catholic until he brought on the Reformation 10 years later and started beheading all of his wives. The vaulted ceiling amplified the music- it was so beautiful. We all snuck out before the service began, since we were all either Jewish or Buddhist- though I'm sure it was lovely.

So this past week I had my first Chaucer essay due. Everyone in the English department at University College London is assigned a tutor (who is sometimes a professor or a lecturer) who meets with you to discuss two of your four papers in the English Department per semester. I worked for a week on this paper- 2,000-4,000 words! I had met with him briefly before, and, as I perceived it, my rough draft was due Monday and the final draft due the next Monday.

And since I had the extra week, I decided to not quite finish my paper (I already had a good nine pages) but attach my outline, which was really detailed, to the end of it so my tutor would know I had done the prep work and knew where I was going with my argument. So I hand it in at 10 a.m. and meet with him at 12:30 noon. Quick turn around!

"I was very interested in the outline you placed at the end," he said

"Oh yeah, well I'm going to complete it for the final draft that's due next week," I said

He looked really surprised. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "It's due today."
Which is when I started to freak out. No way! He said it was due next week! Last time I met with him, and the e-mail he sent in response to my question....

It turns out I misinterpreted the e-mail. He would never send the impression that he had time to meet with students twice to discuss their papers, he said.

LAURA GEGGEL / SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE TIMES

The King's College Campus in downtown Cambridge, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006.

But he was genuinely concerned because I was so upset! Luckily I had worked really hard on my current 9 pages, and he really only expected it to be 5-6 pages, so I was fine. (The pages here are longer than the American 8.5 by 11"). What a relief! For the next hour he quizzed me about my views about this and that- things about my paper and other things I would maybe want to include. It was pretty cool to have a one-on-one situation like that. Usually professors just write you that note at the end with a grade instead of meeting with you for an hour.

He actually wouldn't tell me my grade, but he said I did a good job and I shouldn't worry about it. Phew!

I made a brief appearance at China Town to see the Chinese New Year celebrations. The streets were jammed with people watching dragons and lions catching cabbages from store owners as the men under the dragon and lion danced to the rapid drum beat. Apparently "cabbage" in Chinese sounds like "fortune," so it's actually a food pun meaning, "Have a fortuitous year!"

We tried going out for dim sum, but every restaurant had a waiting list, so we had Turkish food instead.

Oh Seahawks. It was fun watching the game at least- I got all of these Brits to root for us! Then some of them got bored and started playing rugby next to the couches, which was quite entertaining until they almost broke a lamp and the guy who manages the front desk came down to yell at them. Not the most orthodox Superbowl experience, but I'm more of a Frisbee/badminton/ping-pong/baseball type of girl, so maybe we'll do better next year.

The other night I learned the virtues of not accepting candy from strangers. After one of our Washington University in St. Louis dinners (every couple weeks all the Wash U kids get together for a dinner at a random restaurant in London) I went with some friends to Starbucks, which really is taking over the world by the way, God bless. Halfway through our conversation this older man approached us and started talking Italian to me, of which I understood none, of course (I only speak Spanish!) I tried to tell him that, so he paused for a moment and then launched into a language that sounded like Russian. I looked at both my friends and they shrugged their shoulders.
"I have no idea what you're saying," I said.

Though through his gestures, I think he was trying to say something about my red hair. He left but came back a minute later and offered me a piece of unwrapped chocolate, and, when nobody made a move to take it, placed it on the table before he left the cafe. How odd! Nobody touched the chocolate- we just left it on the table for those hardworking Starbucks employees to deal with. Hey, I don't tip them for nothing.

Today was entirely spent at the Tate Modern, which is an amazing museum on the Thames that looks like a giant warehouse. One room was filled completely with pyramids of white painted boxes. I'm sure it represented the complexities and sameness of life or something. But I got to see lots of cool paintings by Picasso, Dali, Rothko and Pollack. Even Monet's water lilies! I could look at Monet all day; his paintings are so vibrant and soothing.