Gregory Mulholland

Weather: Cold (in the 40s right now), might rain today

Sorry its been so long since my last post. Over the last week, I have finally begun my research. First though, a bit of congratulations:

Kelly was awarded a research position here with professor Alan Windle. While she isn’t exactly sure what her topic is going to be, nor where she is going to live, she does know that she will have a place to live AND a topic. We are both really excited that she is able to come. So far: she has published 4 papers, attended two conferences, and is now doing research at Cambridge. Not too shabby for an undergrad. It will be really nice to have her here.

So in the interest of playing catch-up, I have begun my research. It has, like all training, been rough going at first. I am still getting the hang of the processes here. Starting last Monday, though, I have been doing my own research. If something interesting comes of it, I will be sure to post. But for the most part, I have little glass slides onto which I am supposed to deposit Tin Oxide. Right now, I am getting something, but it is certainly not Tin Oxide. Thus is research.

Last night I attended a meeting of the Cambridge University Energy Network. They are the student group trying to work with energy issues globally. They are more about bringing speakers in than being activists. I prefer that I think. Activism and protests don’t seem to have much of an effect. They seem like their discussion groups could be interesting. My one concern is that the topic of their symposium for the summer is Clean Coal. I know that it could solve an immediate need and it is a good stopgap, but they are going to have to work pretty hard to convince me that pumping the CO2 emissions from a coal plant into an empty aquifer is a good idea.

Tonight is another Grad Hall, our formal halls for Grads only. We have a talk by a grad student who presents his or her research (so far all humanities and philosophy), then we have dinner in formal hall. It is usually a fun time.

Next week, my college’s boat club (of which I am in the top 4-man boat) will be racing in University IVs. We race at 2:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday. It is a bracketed system (like the NCAA tournament). You race head-to-head against another boat, if you win, you race the next day. If you lose, you are out. Even these races are not done side-by-side, though. Because the river is so narrow, we have to do one-on-one time trials and compare times at the end. It should be interesting.

Last week was very busy, so I am going to try to take the next couple of days to recap.

Weather: Not too cold, might rain today

We spent the majority of Sunday walking around Cambridge. We visited Trinity Hall and walked by a few other colleges. In general, we just spent the day walking and eating. A very good pair in Cambridge.

Monday, however, is when the real fun began. I had been told by some friends that the thing to do in Cambridge was to visit the Orchard. It is an orchard (who knew?) turned tea garden. The only problem? It is a good 3-4 mile walk from Cambridge City Center, and even farther from where I live. Undaunted, we decided to go to it. Unfortunately, our combined senses of direction took us about a half mile in the wrong direction at one point and made us double back. Needless to say, our feet were very sore by the time we got to the Orchard and enjoyed the amazing tea and scones there. The really nice part about the walk, though, was that it was mainly through English countryside. It was very peaceful and offered lots of nice photo ops.

Here is a picture of Kelly enjoying her scone with clotted cream (think somewhere between butter and cream, with extra fat, total decadence).

Click on the photo for more of the walk.

After that, we returned via bus (which is MUCH faster than walking), and went shopping around town.

The day was not too busy, but it was nice to go to the orchard. Tuesday, the London adventures began. A post on that to follow soon.

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Weather: Cloudy with a little sun, might rain today

Kelly arrived on Saturday. She was awarded a scholarship to attend the RITE (Reducing the Impact of Textiles on the Environment) conference in London on Tuesday. Thanks to some additional funding from the College of Textiles, she was actually able to make the trip and is staying for a few days before and after the conference with me. In addition to being really exciting for both of us to be able to see each other, she was one of only 20 students in the world awarded this opportunity. It is really a great honor for her.

On Saturday, I caught a bus from Cambridge at 2:40 AM that arrived at Heathrow at 5:00. There I waited for her plane to arrive at the international terminal. At 7:30, an hour after her flight landed, I saw a very tired Kelly walk through the doors. Her flight had been really turbulent, and she wasn’t really able to sleep. We returned to Cambridge and pretty much spent most of Saturday napping, with an excursion or two for food.

Sunday was our day to explore the city. We went to breakfast at the college. It wasn’t too terrible, but I think we are going to try a tea shop for breakfast another day. It just was not that satisfying. Next time I will stick with cereal. We took a few photos, and did some sightseeing and shopping. We even went to a great little Italian coffee shop on Parker’s Piece (a big green park) that served the most amazing hot chocolate. Then, we had some dinner with the UVA couple: Will and Jackie. We went to a really good South Indian Restaurant not too far from where I live.

Monday, we are going to do a little more sightseeing. I am also going to go by the Department of Mat Sci, and Kelly is going to try to drop in on her potential research adviser. We are also going to go to the Orchard. There, you can enjoy tea and scones in a beautiful orchard. It is apparently a Cambridge institution. I am really excited about it.

After the Orchard, I will upload more photos. Hopefully I will have a decent collection by then. I really need to get more trigger-happy with my camera.

Judging by some of your comments (thanks Donny and Saket!), I need to clear a few things up. First, I am a member of Trinity Hall, but I live on Trinity Hall’s alternate grounds. It is a little farther away from the main campus of the college, but that is okay for a graduate student. No grads in my college live at the main site, it is only for undergrads. The college is still my main social unit and location for delicious British fare.

Gown and formal dinner pictures are on their way, I just need to take some. Not to worry though, plenty of opportunities.

Cambridge University does not have a campus per se. The town existed first, then came the houses (now colleges), which banded together to form the University. As such, the oldest (and newer-richer) colleges have a place near to the town center. There are department buildings near the town center as well. The newest colleges and some non-central living sites (like where I live) are not particularly close to the town center. I definitely need a bike.

I am going to start including the weather in my posts, so you get an idea of what life is like here. Also, when I have visitors, I am going to invite them to write a guest post or two: mainly because I think you will get bored with my blathering quickly.

Also, please feel free to comment. I love to read you ideas and questions. And always feel free to email me.

Rowing on the Cam
Today I fulfilled one of my greatest dreams: rowing on the River Cam. Now, you must understand a couple things about British rowing — some that I have heard before and others I picked up today:
1. Most British rowers see American rowers as relatively hardcore. I guess I will find out how right they are pretty soon. As far as I can tell after one day, where we would usually start with tons of conditioning, they start with technique. Everyone here seems to be technically proficient, it is really nice.
2. Here 7:00 is a pretty standard time to start. Maybe a little earlier as the river gets busy. 5:30 is unheard of. Needless to say, this is really good news to me. I love rowing, but I do not love getting up super early. I’ll do it, but hey! if I don’t have to, so much the better. Its probably important to note that the reason practice starts late is that the sun doesn’t rise in the autumn until later because we are pretty far north.

Rowing was amazing. I rowed in a four with a relatively experienced cox. The river is definitely no more than about 30 meters wide. The coxswains here are very skilled in turning and run within inches of the barges that moor along the river. Today was a rather dodgy (as they say here) row. But none of us had rowed together, and we were in a temporary boat because the one we were supposed to row was being repaired by the boathouse manager. All in all it was a fantastic row. Also, rowing is very well supported here. The boathouse manager is a fulltime position. Wow. More rowing stories will follow I’m sure, since it is by far more interesting to talk about than Materials Science.

This weekend and next week I am breaking out the big camera to start taking pictures of colleges, boathouses, and Cambridge in general. If you have ever been to an old European town, you probably have an idea of what it is like here. If not, you will have pictures soon.

Also, I have added a link on the top bar called Cambridge that has a map (at Saket’s suggestion), that will let me point out locations so you can have an idea of the proximity of different things. If you want any new points added, let me know and I will do so.

Matriculation Dinner
At the beginning of each Michaelmas (Fall) Term, every college holds a formal matriculation dinner. It is a black tie event and everyone wears their gowns, and it really a fun time for everyone involved. All newly instated graduate students are invited. First, we took a picture on Latham Lawn of all the student, the master, and the graduate tutor. Then we went to the Master’s residence, which is a building on college grounds facing Jerwood Library. There, we had champagne with some of the fellows and the master himself. When I had a chance to talk to him and his wife for a while, he reminded me of Provost Nielsen at NC State. He was very easy to talk to and had a quick wit.

After that, the Head Waiter rang the bell for us to move to the hall for dinner. There, we were greeted with assigned seats and personalized menus. Dinner was three courses. First, we were served an artichoke soup and a white wine. Then we had pheasant, cabbage, and potatoes with a red wine. Finally, we had a raspberry sorbet with port and coffee. All the while, we were sitting with the Fellows of the College. Our assigned seats were done in a gradient sort of pattern. At the end of the table were the biologists, then physicists, then materials people, then chemists (at my table at least). This seemed to create great conversation, because everyone overlapped at least a little bit in their knowledge and so could have truly stimulating discussion.

It was a real treat. The night was fun. I got to wear my gown, which was definitely exciting. Every week we have a Grad Hall. They are not black tie, but they are similar in style to this one. Before Grad Hall, sherry is served in the MCR, then dinner is served. I haven’t mentioned yet that Trinity Hall has a staff of waiters that run the college meals. I guess they are like the Cambridge edition of cafeteria ladies, since normal meals are served cafeteria style. But when formal dinners and halls come around, they are the waitstaff. After dinner, the traditional port is served. In case you were wondering, it is customary to pass port to the left. I have also been told that it is also customary that everyone continue refilling their glass until the decanter is empty. At some dinners though, they refill the decanters, so that is a Sisyphean effort I would not encourage. I must say though, port does add to desert quite nicely. It is very palatable.

I think that is all about Matriculation Dinner. More posts to come soon.

Day 2 - Sunday - 30 Sept

On Sunday, I was able to meet up with another NCSU grad, Weldon, to go get bikes. Unfortunately, most things are closed or have severely reduced hours on Sunday in the UK. He and I walked several miles to the train station bike shop, where we were able to buy bikes for £90. They included baskets (a Cambridge must) and mudguards (for those rainy days). I was able to add on a headlamp and lock for a small increase. They will be ready on Wednesday, so until then we are both stuck with courtesy bikes. Not my own, but it is much better than walking.

After the bike hunt, Weldon and I grabbed a bite and parted ways. I went back to the room before a wine and cheese even for the MCR. It turned out similar to the previous night. Many people quite as lost as I am mingling for the first time. I think I have settled in better than many. At the wine and cheese event, I met a couple from UVA. It was a strange coincidence. They had just gotten married, and Will is beginning a study here in Vehicle Dynamics or some such thing. They are very nice.

That event lasted until about 11:30 or so. I made my way back to my house at Wychfield (no light on the loaner bike, so I had to walk). I finally got my computer up and running, so I was able to answer an email or two and get Skype up and running.

Day 3 - Monday - 1 October
So my official Cambridge business begins. Today, I set up my meal plan and turned in my paperwork to my college. At 11:30, there was a welcome coffee for incoming PhD candidates. I was invited. It was okay. I’m sure once I meet my advisor, I will be more comfortable. Until then, the Materials Science Department seems like a foreign place to me.

After that meeting, I was able to go and buy a college scarf and rugby shirt. If I am going to be here, I might as well look the part. Plus, it really is chilly and I can use the extra layers. So far so good though. It might rain today, but it hasn’t yet. Before lunch, I walked around the college a bit and grabbed some pictures like the one below of the gate to Trinity Hall.

The image is a link to a gallery of a few more photos of the college that I snapped as I walked through today. I will play tourist another day and get some more, but these are pretty cool.

The day is not yet over, so there will be most posts to come.

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