Cambridge: More English than England

I think in Australia, we have this idea about England and the English. Of course, some of those assumptions relate to basic loutishness, reality TV/tabloid style ideas. But there are others, and here are some of them:

Old buildings
People on bicycles
Rain
Cold
Politeness
Educatedness
Knowledge of things like Chekhov and where David Livingstone is from
Playing board games
Drinking tea
Roast lunches on Sunday

Well, Cambridge is like that. I had a conversation with someone I met in church a couple of weeks ago. He had moved to Cambridge around the same time that I had, only he had moved from somewhere in the north (Sheffield? For the sake of narrative flow, let's say Sheffield.) In the midst of, How do you like Cambridge? etc he said, "You do realise that England isn't actually like this?"

It's true - England is not like Cambridge. Cambridge (and I imagine Oxford as well) is its own little thing. The people here, by and large, are very educated - a lot of them have gone to Cambridge University and stayed on, or they work at Addenbrooke's (the biggest hospital in the UK, I believe) or they are attracted to one of the white collar jobs you can get here. And so things that wouldn't exist anywhere else are just normal here. For example:

• Going to a bonfire night party with home fireworks, where there is also a choir that sings a few songs and then gets the rest of the party to join in
• Sunday roast lunch
• Knitting club with young people in it
• Having a conversation with someone about how much we both love Steinway pianos
• Having a conversation with someone about civilian morale in WWII
• Mentioning David Livingstone to someone who knows where in Scotland David Livingstone is from (this shows me up, because I didn't know he was Scottish and the reason I had brought him up was that I'm related to him. Fail)
• Eating bacon sandwiches in a fellow's rooms in Pembroke College (that was just cool)
• Bike theft being the biggest crime issue
• Walking past someone in academic robes and a bowtie outside Starbucks

Needless to say, I like Cambridge. In fact, everyone in Cambridge is like me - only more so. Will the novelty wear off? Perhaps. But for now, it makes it much easier to make friends and fit in. It's nice to join a choir and a knitting club, and have no one bat an eyelid.