This half-month experience in Britain can't be summarized by an easy trip or a deliberate arrangement for an anniversary.
What is left is more insight into schools, education, friends circle, British life, and the input of first-hand information without any processing. Most importantly, and most unexpectedly, I can deepen my understanding after a trip. Of course, I don't rule out the persecution and layer-by-layer analysis of Xiao Jing. I was going to finish it all, but unfortunately my incomplete memory is no longer reliable, and I can only leave part of my trip to Cambridge.
City:
Let's talk about Cambridge, the longest stronghold, except Mabel at the beginning.
There is a vague impression (data from Zhihu and The Theory of Everything), which is a pure blank for any other element in Cambridge. Even a little image can only reflect a little Gothic architecture in my mind, which is very general.
This time, the impression of Cambridge should be established from punting.
make a bet
Well-fed from Robinson College.
Breakfast should be around 9: 00 a.m. 10, and the tour groups haven't swarmed in yet. The whole of Cambridge is also after the end of the semester, and no one is necessarily there. Xiaojing rented a wooden boat (I don't know what this boat should be called) to personally support Artemisia. Except mallard duck and a swan washing feathers, we are the only boat wandering in the whole Jianhe River. Although the air is not sweet, the sky is really light blue. The long-lost bright sunshine is like this, white.
King's College
After the Sigh Bridge, Newton Math Bridge and King's College, it seems that the reflection in the water can be confused with the truth.
You can ignore everything. If someone punts along the way, you are responsible for enjoying the quiet scenery and feeling the temperature of the sunshine you can touch. When I can't help admiring the sunshine and leisure you usually enjoy, you will emphasize again and again that all I see is Cambridge.
First, this season is the best in Britain, and windy and cloudy weather is the most common in Britain; Second, what I see is only a beautiful surface, and I have never experienced the painful side of students' study.
But it doesn't affect my wandering. How carefree I would be if I were a student in Cambridge. At this time, I didn't compare my school with Cambridge at all, but completely forgot to compare it. I may forget that this is also a university, not just a scenic spot.
organ
Another impressive place is the King's Restaurant.
University church, the first time I entered the church, I was lucky enough to see such a shocking building. When I entered the church, organ music was still playing inside, probably using the echo of the building. The sound of the organ sounds particularly ethereal, but it doesn't float at all, but it has a strong feeling. Maybe these two words are contradictory, but it did sound like this to me at that time.
Colored glass
The stained glass in the building is very bright, especially blue and red, as thick and pure as undiluted paint, as it should be described.
Church lifts are usually very high, and this time is no exception. You need to look up to see the umbrella roof at the top. In this respect, the church in Bath is very humanized, providing a mirror that can directly reflect the above situation.
But Bath Church is already a relatively complete scenic spot, belonging to the king.
The college church is still part of the school.
The church has a large space, with many little churches of Notre Dame and prayer rooms. Ignorant, I know for the first time that the stone tablet in the church and the figurine embedded in the floor tile are both tombstones, and behind them represent people who have made contributions and influences to this church or this place.
I carefully try to avoid stepping on the stone tablet on the ground, on the one hand out of respect, on the other hand out of traditional fear.
It took more than 200 years for the church to be finally built. The stone tablets inside are probably well-informed, and the handwriting of many engravings has faded.
I remembered a sentence that Xiao Jing said. In Cambridge, time seems to be eternal. No matter what happens outside, how long will it take you to come back? This place is the same as hundreds of years ago, and it hasn't changed at all.
It must be said that religion is not only a belief, but also brings a lot of cultural and artistic inheritance. This kind of place where you can get peace is really rare in my current knowledge.
Finally, it was written at Cambridge University. In a week or so, I passed Robinson.
The university got to know Cambridge. This is how Xiao Jing introduced me. The school is divided into two independent parts, one is a college and the other is a college. The college is responsible for teaching, and the college is responsible for everything except teaching.
Generally speaking, undergraduate teaching will have colleges to take care of students' lives, while graduate students need to take care of themselves, but Robinson
College is a special case, which can not only enjoy the treatment of undergraduates, but also feel the education of college.
It was the end of the term when I went. There were no courses and not many people, so I could only piece together the daily life of Cambridge through general hardware facilities.
The first is the impression of the dormitory, or it is not a dormitory at all. Obviously, it is a small villa garden, and six people share a big kitchen (the kitchen well here has cooked four meals for me, including snail powder, braised pork, beef Flammulina velutipes, braised chicken home-cooked version, not to mention breakfast). Everyone has a domestic standard space for six people to sleep, with very good lighting, windows facing the small garden and good scenery, and there is one every week. I used to complain about why I gave international students separate bedrooms, such good conditions and balconies. Now I understand seven or eight points.
Personal space stayed, of course, you can enjoy life, but the feelings with your roommates are really ordinary and polite. After all, you don't spend much time together. What I like best is the big window in the quiet room. After opening it, I can jump out (I rubbed it off) and go to the big grass in the back. From time to time, you can see big squirrels and fat pigeons, and crows take a leisurely walk on the grass.
I have to say that the pigeons here live a paradise, because all the pigeons here in Britain belong to the Queen, so no one can disturb and hurt them. Naturally, they are not afraid of people, but will come and ask for food. (I'm writing here for the time being today, and I'm dizzy with hunger. )
Drinking red wine at midnight
In the evening, I encouraged him to take out the sheets, a bottle of red wine and some chocolates from the rice cooker and spread them on the lawn of their college to watch the stars. He downloaded an APP that can identify the constellations in the sky and saw Vega, but the stars in the real sky were not as bright as those in the mobile phone (Xiao Jing said that I would go under a darker tree, so I was a little timid, so forget it), but I managed to find Beidou-6 myself.
Until now, sitting in front of the screen, I can still remember the angle I took pictures of the bottle and the feeling of humid air. It's beautiful and intoxicating, and another romantic scene has been unlocked by us! However, as a result, the sheets became more and more wet, so I had to go back to the dormitory to rest. . .
The first breakfast in England was in the university cafeteria. From the dormitory to the canteen, we should first cross a road, that is, come out from the dormitory area, then cross a gravel road and pass a small garden. When I went there, flowers were still growing there. A few steps, through a small bush, you can reach the small wooden bridge of the college, with large lawns on both sides (it didn't feel very big at that time, maybe.
I seem to shake out all the folded space when I play ball.
After walking out of the lawn, turn right and pass a small porch. Porter is upstairs in the small porch.
The room, because it is called, their letters are placed in a row of Little Square against the wall. Sure, Potter.
Sitting in the opposite office, the folding bed borrowed from Xiaojing Dormitory came from here, so this place is closely related to students' lives. It is said that this porter is particularly interesting, and a story about eating paper is buried here first.
Well, you can reach a clearing around their college building directly through the small porch.
Well, I'm lost in my mind. Maybe I should go upstairs to the canteen in the small corridor. Anyway, I stayed in Cambridge for a week or so, and it was only in the last day or two that I learned something about the surrounding space.
In short, when we arrived at the canteen, the small mushrooms and baked tomatoes were really not delicious, so we missed the "English breakfast" of Grand Hyatt.
Of course, their canteen is not big, because each college has its own canteen, and only one aunt is responsible for serving food every day. The food for breakfast is also very fixed every day, and the menu will be announced in advance for dinner, but according to Xiao Jing, it is not delicious. Maybe it's really because there are few people, so I don't feel like I'm in the cafeteria at all, but I have the illusion of being in a small restaurant. Life will be better if you switch to soybean milk and fried dough sticks! )
Of course, apart from the breakfast here, formality is more exciting for me. I first attended May and June 16.
Ball, eat formal directly, but Xiao Jing is very considerate and wants to take me to practice first. Just in time for 15 to eat the last church choir activity of the college before the official, naturally I can't stay curious.
Because we have been looking for a place for a short time, we started to go in and felt very guilty (as it turns out, this is where we are! )
First of all, the bishop who presided over the activity (I don't know the specific name) gave us a piece of paper when we went in, which wrote the contents of today's service, including the poems of the choir and the contents of the Bible we read later.
To tell the truth, the moment when the choir started singing really shocked me. The sound is so close that I didn't even feel so many people singing together. Of course, it is an artistic shock, and religion is not a feeling.
After all, I am a staunch atheist and strive to be an excellent activist in joining the Party. ) I don't remember the tune at all now, but I vaguely remember the solo behind me.
Motorized yacht
The tone of the Lord, really, do they think they are talking to God Jesus?
I can't tell whether the choir is religious or not, but through their chorus, I think we can judge their usual cooperation. As far as this practice is concerned, except for domestic art students, I can't think of any other students who have devoted so much effort to their hobbies. It's not that we don't love enough, but that good students become numb after working for a long time, and only study and college entrance examination are left in their minds.
Turning the subject back, other people who come to church are still very religious. At the last prayer stage, they really closed their eyes sincerely, and the girl sitting in front of us prayed with her hands around her neck.
I closed my eyes like them. I don't know what to say to their master. It was about 6: 45, so we left early. To tell the truth, it was rude, but we misremembered the time and thought it was officially 7 o'clock that night. Later, it turned out that we had the wrong time, but it was actually 7: 30.
Before entering the formal restaurant, we will get together and chat in the small bar of the college. Actually, there is a special word, which I can't remember clearly.
Entering the hall is a two-story space with several long tables. Although not as big as Harry Porterie, it was a bit shocking to see such a scene for the first time. Seats are optional, but you can't sit. Don't sit down until you hear the gong.
formal
In general, there are tables for teachers and teachers' guests. Students can't leave before they leave, but there were no "special guests" on the day I went.
We chose an adjacent seat by the side so that Xiaojing could teach me western etiquette (in fact, he didn't know as much about etiquette as I did, but only taught me the procedure of eating and how to use a knife and fork).
One thing is different from what I thought. The atmosphere is really noisy. You have to speak louder to communicate.
While waiting for dinner, I looked around. There are some huge oil paintings of celebrities and deans hanging on the wall. British schools and museums especially like to hang all kinds of paintings on the walls, with many portraits and landscapes. Perhaps the photos can't satisfy their elegant pursuit, but I think they are particularly pursuing a sense of formality, which is probably the difference between nobles and civilians.
After sitting down, you can see several sets of tableware around the front plate. When eating, you can take it from outside to inside in turn. This is really not a meal, but an elegant training. First, there will be bread before dinner. Cut a small hole with a knife, then cut it in half and butter it. Xiao Jing said it was because she was afraid of not having enough to eat. What? He's skeptical.
cod
The main course is cod, which tastes ok. I didn't taste the fishy smell. All the fish are good. According to Xiao Jing, the chefs here are all star chefs of Michelin restaurant, and they have a new respect for food.
dessert
The last dessert was just so-so. At that time, my stomach was not good, so I couldn't eat cold food. There might be a deviation.
The second place to go is also the shortest place-London. Originally, there was a two-day trip to London on the itinerary, but on the first day, a fire broke out in a building in central London, which was quite serious. It is inevitable that people will not think of terrorist attacks, so the two of us stayed in Cambridge.
Missed my trip to Windsor Castle.
The trip to London takes the London Eye-Westminster Abbey-St James' Park-Buckingham Palace as the main line.
(especially that day was really lucky. There were many people around, and I was curious and waited for two minutes. I saw the queen's car flying by, and the blue suit contributed a lot. )
queen
Lobster Burger-Sir-MM's Store-China City.
Of course, the London Eye is just a distant view and a close look. There are so many people waiting in line to buy tickets that they can't buy them online. I just miss the American delegation.
That's all. The rest is scattered in my memory.