Introducing my college family! One of my favorite aspects of Cambridge so far is the college system, and one fun feature of the college system is the college family. Each fresher is assigned college parents in their second year, and the parents are all grouped together into families. I’m in Family A, and as I’m not really a fresher, I’m in the same year as my “grandad” (Michael), a year ahead of my “dad” (Seb) and “mom” (Plum), and two years ahead of my “brother” (George). It’s just kind of a fun way to help new students feel at home, like the Big-Little system in sororities. Michael, Seb, and George are all engineers! One of the differences I’ve noticed from MIT is that there is an obvious gender imbalance in the Engineering Dept - before I arrived, 9/10 Magdalene 3rd year engineers were guys.
This past week has been Freshers Week, which is essentially the same as Orientation Week at MIT (only the partying takes place in clubs and not frats). On Sunday night (top picture above) we met our families and the second years made us all dinner. Monday was Matriculation day, which I went over in my last post. Tuesday we ate sushi at Teri Aki (yes, I tried sushi, not really my thing though) and we all had white t-shirts to scribble all over in Sharpie. Wednesday I skipped out on the Freshers events, except watching about half of the Bake Off finale (it’s a strangely popular British TV show). I also met a bunch of the Magdalene 3rd years who invited me over for tea and scones, which was so sweet. In fact, everyone has been so welcoming, I’ve gotten facebook messages, and even a handwritten note slipped under my door, from people I don’t even know, inviting me to join in on various things. Thursday was my first day of lectures and that night was family swap night, which involved a bunch of families from Magdalene all eating out together. Last night (Friday), was the college “bop” with the theme “Acceptable in the 80s.” I had American flag leg warmers, fishnet fingerless gloves, a blue leotard, leggings, a scrunchie side ponytail, hair glitter, and plenty of blue eye makeup. It was great fun. Today I skipped out on Freshers Events, though I will be joining in on the Boat Club Scavenger Hunt tomorrow.
While I’m feeling a bit tired from the long week, I’m thrilled to have met so many lovely people with cool accents! Remembering all the names is going to be quite a challenge, but it’s nice to already see so many familiar faces around college. Though I miss everyone back in the states, it’s really already starting to feel like home!