An Ode to Pink Thunder(bird)

My first day in Cambridge I immediately sensed that there was something missing in my life. Something that would make life easier, something dependable and consistent, and most importantly, something that would make me feel less inferior to the speeding cars on the wrong side of the road.

That something, I soon discovered, was none other than Pink Thunder(bird), aka Pink.
My bicycle.
Originally known as the "stolen bicycle", Pink was discovered one day abandoned on the side of the road. Returned to the police station and waiting two whole weeks to be reclaimed, the owner sadly never turned up for Pink. Pink had, officially, been abandoned.

Locked into a tight garage space with 50 other bicycles, desperate for life to begin again, Pink finally found me through a friend, and we have had a beautiful relationship ever since.
The Day Our Relationship Began to Blossom

Pink's trusty basket holds my bag as I race to and from class each morning, the groceries that pile up after a weekly trip to Tesco and Sainsbury's, and Pink even pulls me through the cold and dark night to Cherry Hinton Road every Thursday for institute. Thanks to Pink, I roll up to class every day on time, and the rust adds a charm that swells others' eyes with envy.
Wherever I am, Pink is loyally by my side.
Even in the darkest and coldest of nights, I have Pink to guide me

Despite the abandoned, unloved and rickety look of Pink, I can assure you, there is nothing in this town that I appreciate, rely upon, and love, more than my Pink Thunder(bird).

Always faithfully waiting patiently for me to emerge from the classroom.

Tvillinger?

Dette bildet er for Stromme familien... to bring some good laughs.

Jeg synes att Berit og Ninni ser ut som tvillinger!

Punts, Gowns, and Big Ben

This past week has been loaded with activities. Somehow in between nighttime punting on the Cam, Matriculation (and activities to go along) and heading down to London, I also attended my first full week of classes and two law seminars. My international law professor figured we should start off the year strong. While my other Professors are holding off until next week to begin seminars, he decided to start off with a bang by squeezing two substantive seminars in one week.

I found them both to be fascinating, however, as we focused on the Great Belt Case (concerning Finland, Denmark, a very large bridge and a very large shipbuilding economy) as well as issues of self-determination pertaining to Somaliland, Kosovo and Chechnya. Coming from an international relations background and having studied these issues within an international relations theory framework, it was interesting to approach a contested issue like Somaliland from a purely legal perspective. Although also nuanced, the law in many ways simplifies and boxes things in a completely different way. From an IR perspective, there are issues of power-sharing, cultural dynamics and historical experience that could explain why Somaliland is not a recognized independent state. Legally, it could simply be argued that they used their right of self-determination once and staying strictly within the law, that is all that is allowed to them (by using self-determination they declared independence and subsequently chose to join Somalia). I think I am still working to figure out how to keep both tracks of thinking working without getting them confused!

Then, of course, I must touch on the "beyond the classroom" activities. The women and men of Maid's decided to kick off the week with a nighttime punting excursion on the River Cam. We began about 8 p.m. and punted until the dark and late hours of the night. It was cold, and dark, but also a new and different way to see Cambridge. We past several of the colleges from Queens', to King's, St. John's, and Magdalene, and saw them all lit up at night which was quite beautiful. Additionally, there is hardly any light pollution here so we had a very good view of the stars. Emily, Alex and Adit were on my boat and Ben was our trusty punter who pushed us through the water (though we each took turns at some point).

Although it is very advisable to first try punting in daylight, this certainly is a recommended activity once one is a bit more familiar with the river (hence Ben, as our trust punter). Also would make for great Halloween haunting. We finished off the night with a little gathering at Emmanuel College, courtesy of Lauren and her amazing Harvard-Cambridge Scholarship Room(s).

On Thursday I officially matriculated, becoming a permanent addition to the Cambridge University record books. Although the process itself is simply one of providing my John Hancock on a yellow slip of paper, we took formal gown photographs, attended a formal dinner with the President of Queens' College, and to round things off there was a cocktail party Friday night (though I chose London over cocktails...)

Maids Represents at the Matric photo (at least some of us).

The dinner was really the highlight of the entire event. Watch Harry Potter (in particular the dining hall scenes), and you basically have experienced Formal Hall at Queens' (sans the owls and brooms, naturally). We all had to wear our gowns (not robes - only the Queen wears robes), and they rang the gong prior to the President's entrance and exit. We also were not allowed to get up from the table at any point while the President and Fellows were seated at their table. They served us a three course meal, which included three courses of wine (which equaled a whole lot of orange juice on my part). They finished off the night with after eight chocolates with tea or coffee, a speech by the President, and last, but not least, a toast to the Queen herself. It was an experience in terms of ambiance, conversation, culture and food.

They had name cards for us with the Queens' Crest, Ben drove four of us Maids ladies to the dinner so we didn't have to bike in the cold ( a true gentleman), and a number of us gathered (again, Maids representation) at the "Q Bar" following the Harry Potter-esque meal.

Finally, mom returned from Poland this week and so on Friday I traveled with her to London where we met Tante Ninni and spent the day Saturday seeing a few of London's top sights. We walked from Leicester Square to Covent Garden, down to Trafalgar Square, Westminster and Parliament, then past St. James' Park up to Regent's Street and Piccadilly.

One of the absolute highlights (apart from spending a day with the Stromme sisters), was our dinner. We ate Indian food at this wonderful restaurant on a quiet street off of Piccadilly where Katie and I have been a number of times. Apart from the divinely delicious Indian food, it was fun to share with mom and Ninni the Indian restaurant that I have raved on about for about three years now.

I left mom and Ninni to dash around London for a few more days and caught the train (after passing Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross), back to Cambridge, the place I for now will call home.

Croquet

You may hear the word "croquet" and have a reaction similar to mine Saturday afternoon: last time I played that was when I was 5, without any rules, in my backyard. Or simply, that croquet as a sport is, well, dead.

I am here to tell you, with objectively verifiable proof, that this in fact, a grossly false perception of the sport that claims origins in both France and England and typically should be played with a rather large hat and petticoats to really look legitimate. That said, argyle sufficed for the day. There is competitive croquet, croquet clubs, and even the Prime Minister of England likes to take time off to dabble in the sport.

So, after reading hard for hours on Saturday, a group of us headed over to the Pembroke College grounds for a friendly (but also very competitive) croquet match. It quickly seemed to be a match of Harvard's best versus the rest, and teaming up with Anna and John, we came in at third, but not after what was a good 2 1/2 hours of working to get the balls through the wickets!

Taking the final shot for the team.

The ladies of Maid's Causeway take this sport seriously.

Well, Chloe does at least.

It provided a great break from the studying, and this past Saturday afternoon in Cambridge was absolutely divine. The sun was shining, the leaves changing, and the grounds at Pembroke are some of the most beautiful to be found in Cambridge. It was also great to meet some new people, and I am just blown away constantly at how small this world is. I am meeting people from places I have never heard of, but with whom I share multiple mutual friends.

By the time we finished croquet it was dark, and so we headed to the dining hall of Pembroke where those of us who are members of Queens' eagerly looked forward to comparing food quality (and price) between the colleges. Queens' is still better, price and quality. Ambiance, however, definitely goes to Pembroke.

Pembroke croquet grounds.

Although I know I am primarily here to study, sunny Saturdays in Cambridge are to be treasured as winter is rapidly approaching, and I certainly hope to participate in a croquet re-match very, very soon!

As Housemates, we are obligated to remain friends even after she won. Big time.

Overload

The past days have been filled with more fresher's activities on top of course induction and choosing my classes.

Yesterday was the official "Fresher's Fair" and can I say, Chariots of Fire, anybody? I felt as though I were in the 21st century version of the film where they arrive at Cambridge and shortly thereafter find themselves in a massive hall with all the societies from debate to choir, politics and cricket. All of these activities are open to anybody to join. I counted, and I found there are at least four separate ski vacations planned to France or Austria each year, there are at least three socialist societies, and even an archery society (who were very eager to find anyone to join).

The highlight, of course, were the free cadbury chocolates found at every booth, the free pens and other such delights. I ended up volunteering my name for the ski club, yoga club, sailing club, and graduate union (Debates, speakers etc.), but am likely to maybe only participate in one of those because...

I had my first set of lectures today, and the next year is going to be nothing less than super intense.

At this point I am probably going to stick to my original choices of War and Society, International Law and Middle East Politics, although I am also going to attend International Security and perhaps choose that as an alternative to one of the others.

The required reading is close to 1000 pages per week (all the classes combined) at minimum. Also, I am expected to be devoting 25% of my time to research already. Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming, but these are subjects that I also thrive on so I look forward to the challenge and all the knowledge I will hopefully gain.

Finally, yesterday after we had our "induction" (basically orientation), they had a luncheon for all the MPhil students in Politics and International Relations, and it was also a chance to meet our supervisors. Come to find out, James Mayall will only be supervising my thesis which is a bit intimidating but also very exciting. Some of you know that I was playing around with the idea of completely shifting my thesis subject (which would inevitably mean a new supervisor), but after only a brief chat with Dr. Mayall, I knew that if I changed my focus I would be missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I am actually still bubbling with excitement over the prospect of working with him. For a little background, he has worked in the British Foreign Service, London School of Economics, and is former Chair of the Centre of International Studies here at Cambridge (my department). His area of focus is North-South Relations, Africa, Nationalism, ethnic conflict (and other sources of conflict) post Cold War and more recently he has focused on post-9/11 international relations.

This is right in line with what I have focused on the past few years, and I have even turned to his work in much of my research on Somalia. So, as of now, my thesis will remain focused on intervention but rather than solely looking at Somalia, my plan is to step back, look at a broader framework of the relationship between human security and security/defense, and use Somalia as a case study of the failures and potential solutions to Western response.

It seems the days of simply being a tourist here in Cambridge have rapidly come to an end. Though this was quite a bit of information overload, on several different fronts, the bottom line is: I am so excited and ready for the academic year to begin!

Some More Photos..

Just some more photos from Kings, Queens', The Backs, and St. John's

Welcome to Cambridge, Queens', and "Maid's"

I am finally posting after arriving and settling in at "Maid's" (our token name for the house) in Cambridge. Although I had some intense jetlag and some serious errands to run to get everything in order, mom and I also had a chance to do some biking with her friends through the city. We ended with a delicious dinner of seafood and good company.

Lesson 1: biking is by far the best way to get around Cambridge.

Lesson 2: get the oldest bike possible. if not, it is only a matter of time before it is stolen

I am living with 16 other students (representing the UK, US, Greece, Austria, France) and have a very large room all to myself (visitors welcome)! They all have interesting and different backgrounds and we are already having a great time.

Apart from the numerous "Fresher's" activities well under way, both with Queens' College and Graduate Students, mom and I had a chance to walk to Grantchester where we took tea in the "Orchard." It is where Forster, Virginia Woolfe, and several others took their tea whenever it rained. The tea, clotted cream, scones (and even lunch food) was all phenomenal.

Sunday we had a rare opportunity to be special guests at King's College, thanks to Kina who works with the boy's choir. We attended the EvenSong service where we heard the King's College Boys and Mens Choir sing, and also saw four new members of the choir inducted. Before going to King's, we walked through St. John's, Trinity, Clare and Queens' Colleges through the "backs", which are essentially the gardens found behind several of the colleges and provides a beautiful and scenic walk in Cambridge.

Some other highlights since I arrived include attending the Queens' boat club "squash", where my friend Anna and I signed up to join the rowing team (as total novices, no less). I also learned the legal, technical difference between a "cake" "biscuit" and "cookie", learned the terms "fizzy drinks", "hub bub", and "nibbles", and was informed that pants are actually "Trousers". That last one is of particular importance.

I still feel like I am a living dream and am not sure if I will ever fully realize what a phenomenal opportunity I have before me to study here at Cambridge. Being surrounded by buildings that date back to before the Magna Carta (circa. 1200), is inspiring and humbling.

Queens' College Mathematical Bridge and Cloisters by the President's Lodge