I have to apologize for not blogging with greater regularity over the previous two weeks, but the end of my first term at Cambridge has been filled with fun, assignments (Yes, I actually do work), and more bicycle accidents (Yet, I submit that this accident was not my fault either). So, I will work my way through an eventful few weeks where the university meets the mighty Cam.
Sunday, November 20
For fans of college basketball, I have been playing for the combined college team of Clare College and Trinity Hall; however, this day is fresh in my mind as I suffered through the first tie ever in the game of basketball. In the UK, you can in fact tie a basketball game. I found it worse than losing; however, I have rediscovered my love of basketball, partially because I it breaks up the monotony of running and particularly because I am much better than I was in high school. Coordination and strength really do matter. However, I find it disappointing that there are only about 5 courts in all of Cambridge which are shared with other sports like indoor ultimate Frisbee, netball, badminton, and volleyball. Basketball is second-tier.
Monday, November 21
I attended the tremendous March Rotary Club with Mona and Jenny, my two able Rotarian mentors. As one member of the March club put it: "You must make terrible trouble given that you have two chaperons for this evening. What have you done?" March is in the marshy, Fenlands area which was made arable by a significant drainage system. In fact, the town used to be a de facto island. The town is about 29 miles north of Cambridge. By coincidence or by design, it was "Ladies' Night" at the all-male club, so I had to be on my best behavior. I could not have asked for a better crowd of people. The meeting was an evening long event, commencing around 7 with cocktails followed by a delicious 3-course dinner. In one corner, they had displayed the Stars and Stripes with the Union Jack, but I was assured that the Jack was larger than the Ensign. The club asked if I would speak for 30-45 minutes. Given the magnitude of this engagement, I prepared an epic 80 slide PowerPoint. I started with the following line: "When I was asked to speak for 45 minutes, I thought to myself: Where does one begin? So, I decided to start at the beginning of history. July 4, 1776 (Flashing a picture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence). My humor had its desired effect: I was jeered. For the people of Kinsman, Clarence Darrow was a recognizable character. When I spoke of the Scopes-Monkey trial, one Rotarian quickly asked if he was the inspiration for Spencer Tracy's role in Inherit the Wind. The PowerPoint was quite massive (83 pictures), but the March Club was up for the challenge even after dinner. I had been forewarned that many questions would follow. True to form, I was aggressively questioned, which was a welcome change. In the question and answer session, I spoke about the Somali pirates, economic development strategies in Ohio, the future of the VSTOL F-35 or "jump jets," and the future of my role in Rotary. At the conclusion of the evening, it was already 10 pm, but I would gladly have stayed another hour visiting with the Rotarians of March and if they are willing, I would gladly ride out to them for lunch when the weather warms as I found them to be both friendly and engaging.
Thursday, November 24 (Thanksgiving)
For the first time in my life, I went to lectures on Thanksgiving Day and for the first time in 5 years, I only had one Thanksgiving dinner. Given that I did most of the cooking on Wednesday, I had a relaxing day of preparation. I spoke with all of my family en masse and updated my Great Aunt Joyce on England. I also prepared a feast for 15. While I could have invited strictly Americans, I decided to invite my diverse group of friends and introduce them to a 12-pound turkey (with a bacon garnish on top), 1-kilo of my mother's cranberry salad, 10-pounds of mash potatoes, sweet potato casserole, 2-kilograms of corn, two pumpkin pies, and two loaves of bread worth of stuffing. It was a taste of home, having stolen the recipes from my mother. For my first time cooking for so many, I was truly surprised. Dinner was set for 6:30 and I had filled the table by 7 pm. All in all, we had individuals from Pakistan, Croatia, Ghana, Belgium, United Kingdom, Romania, and Mexico. For many, it was their first go at Thanksgiving and they were surely up for the task. During dessert, I had everyone go around the table and tell what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am of course grateful for all of them as I could not have asked for a better group of friends who could make my first Thanksgiving away from home quite wonderful. They even did the dishes!
Friday, November 25 (Black Friday)
Since the Christmas season and decorations appeared before Halloween, Black Friday was just like any other day. In the evening, I attended formal hall, which was followed by Ceilidh (pronounce kay-lee), which is a traditional form of Scottish dancing. Fortunately, it was quite vigorous dancing and even a novice like me could quickly get up to speed because each song was preceded by instruction. The dancing is so vigorous that I was sweating profusely; however, I hydrated well on ginger ale (alcoholic). If line dancing and square dancing is half as fun, I may take it up as a hobby.
Saturday, November 26
Playing the late basketball game, we took on Jesus College and smashed them, 51-11. Playing with a short rotation (2 on the bench), I was worried. 40 minutes of basketball is a lot without a real half time or substitution. Our victory allowed us to end the season at 3-1-1 and allowed us to move up into the premier division for the spring term. While I am home, I will most definitely require a pair of high-top shoes. We also finished with the number one defense in the entire league.
Sunday, November 27
I have very fond memories of grandfather, John Semenuk, and perhaps, I should capture his story on the blog at some point. For those of you who know him, his story is inspirational. His tireless work ethic, his patriotic fervor, and his selfless pursuit of a better tomorrow for everyone that he loved was contagious. While he passed away in 2007, his spirit lives-on and was instilled within his daughters (my mother and aunt) and his 5 grandchildren (a lawyer, 2-teachers, a nurse, and myself). While some people teach you lessons and values, my Pop-Pop, as I affectionately called him, taught me a hard-nosed way to live life. He taught me to outwork others and that this in itself would yield success. He never had to verbalize this message. It was evident in his entire life through every action.
Wednesday, November 30 (My Birthday)
I decided to go for a walk on my birthday, and I found myself on Parker's Piece, where the national public sector, pension-strike rally was in full gear. Unfortunately, they would not allow me to make a birthday speech, but their passion was evident, if not radical (Che Guevera flags/ Hammer and Sickle Flags were in abundance). I found this quite unique and ironic as these were professional civil-servants from teachers to paramedics to nurses (healthcare is fully nationalized) to secretaries. These symbols of "the people" represent repression rather than freedom. While each entity has an independent union, they all converged. I have to admit that my exposure to such combined action is limited, but I can see how violence can erupt. Anger and frustration begets more anger and frustration. When the order to march was given, I departed as the police converged on the area. Fortunately, on this day, no violence erupted. In the evening, I organized 9-holes of pub golf, which proved to be quite fun and successful. Each of the 9-pubs had a specific drink and a par (the number of sips required to finish that drink). Even on my birthday, I was badly beaten. We started with a group of 6, but we soon grew to 25 or so as we approached holes 4 and 5. Given that it was St. Andrew's Day, golf seemed quite appropriate. I also received awesome birthday wishes from my beautiful girlfriend and niece.
Thursday, December 1
I attended my first Christmas party of the season at my English friend's home. It was all quite fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the mince pies and mulled wine as well as the company of quite a few Brit's. Mince pies unlike the American equivalent are individually made, about an inch in diameter and are filled with raisins and a wonderful caramelized sugar. I much prefer them to the full slices of mince pie that I sampled in the states. Blah! Mulled wine is heated and spiced wine, which was quite delicious given the condition of my stomach from my birthday night. I also discovered "Christmas Crackers," which contrary to their name are not actually edible crackers. Instead, they are toilet paper tubes, covered in wrapping paper, that are then pulled apart to create a loud "cracking sound." Each one contains a small "toy" and Christmas crowns.
Friday, December 2
My fun continued with a wonderful Romanian dinner cooked by my good friend Gruia, who I will be visiting in Romania in the coming days. The meal was stupendous and filled with great conversation. I look forward to many more dinners with my dear friend, both in the UK and in Romania. Afterwards, I went to a "From Russia with Love" themed poker party, complete with white-Russians (a drink) and black-tie. Ironically, we played Texas-Holdem. The event was hosted by my friend Ali Digby at the Queen's College President's lodge, which was quite historical and beautiful. It is the oldest building (1460) on the Cam River. (You can see pictures of the evening under the photos tab). While I was only intending to stay a few hours, I played until 3 am, splitting the pot with a Londoner and knocking out Baron Eatwell, the President of the College.
Saturday, December 3 (Mill Road Winter Fayre)
As part of the Cambridge Rotaract, I helped set-up and work the booth for the Mill Lane Winter Fayre. While the Rotaract Club is a fledgling organization, its most dedicated members James Sheard and Rachel Peters put a lot of work into the organization. In combination with the Siena Rotaract Club, the club is working to raise 500 pounds, 800 dollars, for a shelter-box, which is a box utilized in disaster relief operations. Each box contains a tent for ten people, sleeping bags, mosquito netting, tools, water treatment tablets, water collection bags, ponchos, and various other necessities. With our friends from Sienna, we sold cookies (biscuits in the UK) and handmade beaded jewelry from the UK and Italy. All in all, we raised 300 pounds in donations and sales, which was quite the feat given our non-central location. I was complemented by the Italians for aggressively pursuing every passer-by. Eye contact has a way of inducing guilt and social responsibility. The fayre (Yes, it is spelled in Old English) reminded me of the Portobello Road scene in
Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Street performers, street side vendors, international foods, and community organizations were all active participants. The road was closed for over a mile. I enjoyed some Tamales on my quest for quality Mexican foods. It was delicious, but I regretted it later.
Sunday, December 4
I attended a 3-course luncheon at the Varsity Hotel in honor of the Sienna Rotaract Club. I quite enjoyed their stories and experiences and very much look forward to visiting their club in the coming year. I was also fortunate enough to witness (as signatory) of the twinning agreement between the two clubs, which joins the two entities and encourages both visits and joint ventures. Fortunately, they were all adept English speakers. Nonetheless, my Spanish allowed me to decipher the roots of many words, which made me feel less inadequate, given their command of my native language. The friendships that evolved give me access to a new world, Tuscany and its cultural centre of Sienna. I look forward to visiting and continuing to build this unique bond.
In the coming days, I will be visiting Romania with my friend Gruia. While my initial plans fell through, I am grateful for his invitation to visit and explore his country. Tomorrow morning, I fly to Timisoara, a city in Western Romania near the Serbian border. From Timisoara, I will travel via train to Craiova in Southern Romania, near the border with Bulgaria, and then onto Bucharest, the capital. From there, I will join Gruia and his tourism students on a trip into Transylvania to visit Old Saxon villages. We will then return to Bucharest and hopefully visit Constanta on the Black Sea before I return to the UK next Thursday.
I will be back in Ohio and Rotary District 6650 from December 17 to December 30 before I return to the UK.
