Tag: GW England

By bmlee18

Waking up at 6 o'clock in the morning... you could definitely call that a challenge. After futilely trying to dismiss the notion that my clock actually displayed "6:00," I pulled myself out of bed to get ready for the day. I hurriedly put on my long-sleeved training clothes, slipped on my green sneakers, and grabbed a banana to munch on for breakfast on my way to the boathouse.

This was my first day of rowing (crew) - a sport that seems to be a quintessential part of Cambridge. I had never done anything remotely close to rowing, never used an ergometer (rowing machine), and never personally witnessed a rowing race. But given the overwhelming popularity of the sport here (rowing seemed to be the focus of perhaps half of the conversations British students had), as well as my desire to experience something new and understand Cambridge's culture better, I signed myself up and somehow found myself walking through eerie alleys and splashing through muddy puddles at an ungodly hour of the morning.

The town was still deep asleep, shrouded by a pitch black veil. I trekked to the boathouse for a good 30 minutes, accompanied by my friend (another GW student), who was an experienced rower and thankfully gifted with an excellent sense of direction that guided us to the boathouse.

Soon after our arrival, we spent the next half an hour or so trying the ergs (short for ergometers), which was possibly the most confusing thing. You apparently needed to separate the movement of your arms, back, and legs to properly row, and consciously thinking about how my body should move only made me look all the more clumsy and awkward. "Legs, back, arms. Arms, back, legs. Now repeat. Ok... Why is my brain thinking one thing and my body doing another?"

...continue reading ""Row, row, row your boat, gently down the Cam…""

By bmlee18

Recently, I joined my college's soccer team, and quickly realized a few things:

1. My body has rusted after years of limited physical exercise, mostly contained to short, breathless sprints to lectures and heavy lifting of groceries. This probably explains the soreness that permeated my body and the injury to my ankle that I sustained after the very first match.
2. Despite this, the pure joy of challenging my stamina, celebrating the spirit of teamwork, and participating in what may very well be the greatest game ever invented.
3. The ample differences between British and American terminologies regarding the game, which I explain below.

Football vs. Soccer

Undoubtedly, the most conspicuous difference between the American and British understanding of the sport would be what constitutes its legitimate name. Is it soccer? Or is it football? I would have to say that the latter probably makes more sense, given that the entirety of the world knows the sport to be football. And as someone originally from outside of the US and the UK and fully cognisant of what makes sense when learning English as a second language, putting "foot" and "ball" together far outweighs "soccer" in simplicity and logic. Ironically, you can't really blame the Americans for refusing to call the game anything other than soccer, since the origins of the word points to the Brits as the perpetrators. The Brits had coined the term "association rules football" (which evolved to be "soccer") to distinguish from other forms of the game such as "rugby rules football." They later abandoned the term as it became too "American," and now the Americans think of football as a game requiring heavy padding and bulgy helmets, and an essential element to making legendary movies like Remember the Titans and The Blindside.

...continue reading "The Real Debate: Soccer or Football?"

By bmlee18

Right now, I find myself over at Cambridge, a quaint college town with breathtaking architecture, a deep history, and a multitude of traditions that date back to hundreds of years ago. And during my very short time here thus far, I thought that I could relay some of the observations that I made.

1. The magical world of Hogwarts may very well exist. This place makes me feel like a muggle who has somehow been miraculously transported to the magical world of Harry Potter. It's almost as if the train that I took from London King's Cross Station was like hopping on the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4. Perhaps last night was the best reflection of this sentiment. I attended a beautiful candlelit dinner at my college's dining hall, donning a black cocktail dress and a black robe that all students are required to wear. The only thing we were missing were our wands. We were served a delicious three course dinner, with a palate cleanser between our appetiser and main course, as well as drinks. The night was marked with a few quirky traditions unique to this experience, and I have to say that I fully enjoyed the excellent meal and the lively environment, surrounded by good company.

...continue reading "My Initial Observations"