High and Lows: Cambridge & London

Here is another cheeky little Highs and Lows blog post about my time spent in London and Cambridge with Amanda!

Canadians in Cambridge

Luckily enough, I got to go visit Amanda in Cambridge, England! It was super cool to be able to see where she had been living these past six weeks and to share some of our crazy adventure, exchange, culture shock, and other silly stories with one another. As she is the only Canadian exchange student at Anglia Ruskin University this semester it was nice for her to get to laugh about things only Canadians would miss whilst being abroad in the UK. Peanut butter is a big deal back home, okay?! And yes we have dreams about poutine and Kraft Dinner, what's wrong with that?!

Cambridge is a really beautiful English town just a bit North East of London. The town was gorgeous and Cambridge University truly took my breath away!

One thing to remember if you visit Cambridge - you really need to look out for (pedal) bikers! I swear I almost got flattened at least ten times.

The Tube

The tube (subway or underground) is such an efficient way to get around London, Amanda and I were constantly weaving our way through the underground to ensure we made it to all the places on our list! I would recommend to anyone traveling in London to get the all day travel card which is valid on the bus, tube, trains, anything (well not quite anyyyything) but it makes exploring so easy! Amanda is honestly the tube Queen as she can navigate that thing like a complete pro - I just followed behind her and nodded my head the whole time.

'Mind the gap!'
'Bloody hell!'
I think I offended lots of people whilst on the tube in London because I was sooooo so so excited to hear British people speaking that I kept repeating everything they were saying in my attempted accent! Oops! It was just so cool to hear someone say 'aw bloody 'ell!'

I have a confession though, I do honestly prefer Scottish people and their accent to those of the Brits - oops!

London

I loved London! I am so so so happy I managed to make the trip to the largest city in the UK. I managed to spend two days trying to see as much of the city as possible - and we did quite a lot in those two days. Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, King's Cross, Platform 9 3/4, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street, Charring Cross, Green Park, Trafalgar Square, China Town, and more - in just two days!!

London was amazing, the city is constantly buzzing and spinning with people, excitement,  and activity. Honestly though I am very, very happy I am on exchange in Glasgow, Scotland.

I was absolutely exhausted afterwards. I think sometimes it's hard to listen to your body and really realize you need a week of sleep and relaxation - which I did upon returning to Glasgow.

Glasgow is just such a fun and vibrant city, I do really love it here. Don't get me wrong, I loved my time in Cambridge and London, England but I was looking forward to going back home to my little tiny dorm in Caledonian Court after such a busy weekend! It's weird, how somewhere can become your home so easily, without you even really being consciously aware of it. 

I never thought you would hear me say I miss my wee single bed with the springs that stick out into your back - but after a weekend of sharing a single bed with Amanda I couldn't wait to get back to my own bed! Haha looooooove you Amanda!!!

Rum & Cheese Thief

Unfortunately we had a sneaky rum and cheese thief steal some of our prized possessions the first night I arrived! Amanda and I were in the kitchen fixing up some pasta when someone snuck into her room and jacked our quart (litre as the Scots would say) of Captain Morgans and Amanda's bag of shredded cheese. Oddly enough they left Amanda's laptop, my iPad, our purses, a quart of Vodka, and everything else alone - but stole our rum and cheese!

WHO DOES THAT?!

We. Were. So. Pissed. 

Haha I keep hearing Amanda's voice in my head saying 'I can understand the rum, but seriously, MY CHEESE?!' 

Maybe the rum thief was trying to spare Amanda from another night of looking after Captain Meagan? 

Amanda and I ended up having a get together at her dorm room with her exchange friends from France and Germany. Our evening consisted of drinking rum (finally!) and dancing so it did end up being an awesome night filled with many jokes involving the rum and cheese thief. 

The picture below is the last time we saw our rum before it got stolen - so we know it really did exist and were not completely crazy! We put it in the freezer we swear!

Seriously, who steals cheese?

There is one really important thing that I have learned whilst being abroad and I think it is something that everyone should remember. 

Throughout all walks of life, no matter how successful, wealthy, exciting, or exhilarating someone's life may appear to be, everyone, and I mean everyone, still experiences highs and lows throughout their experiences.

You just have to learn how to cherish and appreciate the highs and how to laugh off and get out of the lows.

Cheers,

Meagan