After orienteering around Cambridge, getting to know host families, taking English lessons, having a university lecture, joining a company workshop, and visiting a national trust site, we have come to the end of the first week, but it’s not over yet!
After the morning classes on Friday, we took a short bus ride to Grantchester. As we said in the previous post, we weren’t sure if this was going to happen because of the weather. Well, it seems that England/ the weather has decided to like us.
Grantchester is a famous apple orchard, and in fact, the town is currently the location of a TV drama. It is a beautiful place to sit outside and enjoy some traditional English scones and tea. We started off inside, but as we settled in, the rain stopped for us, giving the students time to head outside, go to the river, walk around the town and sit out and enjoy the area as it should be enjoyed – quietly reading a good book.
On Saturday, we were worried about rain again, but our luck continued as there ended up being wonderful sunshine all day. Brighton is an interesting place. It is a seaside resort, with a famous pier, a theme park, lots of cute little shops, and of course, some of the best fish and chips around.
But Brighton also has a lot of history. Probably the most striking example of this is the Royal Pavilion. The Pavilion was the home of King George IV. The outside looks Indian, but the inside is more oriental, with dragons and bamboo making up a large part of the decorations.
Queen Victoria, though, didn’t like the Pavilion and it was sold to Brighton city in the mid-1800s. The city used it for events and meetings. During the First World War, the Pavilion was used as a hospital for the Indian army.
After lots of tradition and history (as well as some relaxing and fun), Sunday was a free day for the students, and time to get on with their other projects. The weather today was the best we’ve had, and even though last week the forecast said it would rain every day next week, fortune has been kind and the new forecast says over 22C and sunny every day! Of course, if there’s one thing we have learned while we have been here – you can’t trust the weather forecast!