And so it is the weekend. Truth be told, it feels like the weekend begins on Thursday, because I know that I don’t have any interactive session commitments from then onward, and all of the 24-hours belong to me, to use, to read, to spend how I desire. However, I think that’s just us on the postgraduate side of this University. The undergraduates definitely look for the weekend I think. Their week is divided up between lectures and supervisions for academics, and all of the socializing they do. Which means weekend time is Sports time at the University – and you can really see it.
The river is filled with Boats, every Commons (field) and Park and Playing Field is filled with people. All the Sports Clubs are occupied.
Naturally, the libraries are a good place to be on the weekend.
All of this however is just the University side of things.
It’s easy to forget that Cambridge is a city, a town. So the weekend is when it really comes alive, and into its own. The marketplace is swarming with cityfolk picking up their produce and shopkeepers meeting their regulars, King’s Parade has a market too, people busk and play music on sidewalks – things are very bubbly. In a lot of ways the marketplace reminds me of Bengaluru’s MG Road area. You could transplant that setting, the weather, and suddenly, Cambridge would be home.
It’s when the town bursts into life that you remember there’s local clubs that play on the weekends. Cambridge United in Football League Two, for example (the stadium is 15 minutes away by cycle). You also realize, very quick, that the town has accepted students – in a way that there’s very little divide. You can go into town but not tell the difference between a local, a family of locals who have been here for years, and a student who currently calls the city their adopted home.
That’s very comforting to me.
Tejas Rao 