Cambridge 2014

After finishing our last final at noon today (we had 24 hours to write two 1000 word essays!), there was a feeling of relief but also, the realization began to sink in that tomorrow we will be leaving Cambridge.  This summer has been awesome to say the least.  The first half of the trip was spent in many different pubs watching the intense world cup matches and enjoying pints of beer.  We had some serious bonding time on the trip to the Midlands with all the different field trips and bus rides we had over five days.  There was also plenty of independent traveling going around with people traveling all the way to Iceland and Italy, to Norway and the Netherlands, to Budapest and Ireland, the list goes on and on.  In Cambridge, we enjoyed frisbee games everyday, cricket lessons, yoga in the park, and plenty of down time at Hughes Hall.  We even found a cool karaoke hangout which our professor Nathan joined us at one night!  Looking back at this summer, I am very sad that it went by so fast.  I am looking forward to returning home, but I am also looking forward to reuniting with my fellow Cambridge crew when most of us return to Carleton in the fall and thinking back to the great time we all had this summer!

Nathan and Vince at Karaoke!

Adios Cambridge!

-Jesse Weaver

On August 14^th, 7 students went to the optional BMW Mini Plant tour in Oxford with Nathan. We first saw an exhibition of many cute MINI cars before starting our tour to the manufacturing factories where we observed the step-by-step production of MINI cars. When we arrived at the frame assembly line factory, we were all surprised at the large-scale production here. In the area that was as spacious as a train station, everything was basically being operated by many big “Transformer”-like robots while there were only a few human walking around checking on the monitor screens. Everything was so automatic; the timing and angle of each operation was very precise. Personally, this was our first time seeing such amazing high-tech production and we were indeed impressed about human intelligence and progress.

We only saw more and more human involvement near the end of the production process.  The cars snaked through the factory in a convey belt manner. In that way, each group of workers only had about 30 seconds to 1 minute to finish their task on each car before it moves on to the next group. Everything looked very efficient since workers did not have to change position but at the same time, the task seemed repetitive (and so a bit de-humanizing) because they had to do the same things for 8 continuous hours.

Through this trip, we saw the fruit of the amazing Industrial Revolution, which we have been studying in the program. We heard that more money would be invested for the improvement of technology in this plant. If we get the chance to come back in the near future, we will definitely look forward to seeing more Transformer-like robots here.

By Phuong Dinh and Shiny Choi

This past weekend Reed and I (Stephen) had the privilege to travel to Italy. We first started our travels in Pisa, Italy. We took some pictures at the leaning tower. Naturally we had to do all of the cliché photos that we ultimately failed at since we’re no photo experts. We did get some keepers though. After stopping at a local bakery where we got some exquisite pastries, we hopped on a train to Florence!

The train ride was under an hour and before 10AM we arrived in beautiful Florence, Italy. With no map or any knowledge of what exactly we should do we stopped by a church that I believe was Santa Maria or something all those lines, but the main destination was the Duomo. Did we ever DU the OMO. We finally got into the majestic church after some 30 minutes and met some “nice” foreigners in line. Then we purchased tickets to go under the Duomo where there were to ancients stones and what not. Afterwards we climbed the Campinile Tower. Following the tower we proceeded to get some grub from a hotspot, where we ordered the ham sandwich with truffle cream. Obviously we had to satisfy our sweet tooth with some gelato. Next on the menu was a panoramic view spot to capture the eye watering view of Florence (middle photo). After chit chatting at the hill spot, we stood in line to climb the Duomo for over an hour. Was it worth it? Meh, we both agreed that the tower or the Duomo itself would suffice in the future. The train station at Firenze (Florence) was in fact a “Frenzy” but we were able to catch a train.

Next up: Cinque terre! How would I describe the views of the Cinque terre? They were indescribable! Easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. On the first morning we toured all the villages except for Manarola (the second village from the south) and did the coast side hike from Corniglia (third) to the last or 5^th village Monterosso. It was absolutely stunning and the hike was pretty easy for two in-shape gentlemen like ourselves. (especially after our travels to the Scottish highlands…Read, Reeds post for the details). Anyway, we were able to get into the water a couple times the first day at Vernazza (fourth village) and Monterosso. The next day was focused on hiking as we started the day with a hike from our hostel in Biassa to Riomaggiore the first village which was around an hour. Then we stocked up on food and chilled, as us young folk say these days, at Vernazza. After bathing in the sun for an hour or so we were off on a hike to Manarola. Overall this took about three hours. As we approached Manarola, it seemed like we were literally dropping right into the center of the village. It was a steep decent into the village. We immediately headed for the water we bathed on a rock platform. While there we saw some people jump from a protruding rock in the sea. I immediately had to try it out. We estimated that the leap was about 20 feet or so. It was exhilarating and an experience and a half. Following the water activies we got some din and gelato and called it a day. On our last day we were all about relaxation. We soaked it up in the sun at Manarola for a few hours as well as take a couple of dips into the salt water. Then we ended our travels at Monterosso. We baked in the sun on the beach and after a couple of hours decided we should explore Monterosso a little more. We walked around for an hour and then got on a train that concluded our travels in Italy. Overall the weekend was as close to perfect as you could get. There was great food, serene views and beautiful Italian women that flocked to us constantly (joking).

Along the trip we were able to do some studying for our class on the trains and planes. It was a great way to conclude my awesome OCS program here at Cambridge. Looking back at all of our travels throughout the program both individually and as a group, this summer was unforgettable.

– Stephen Johnson

On Wednesday the 6th of August the Cambridge group met up with representatives of the Cambridge City Council and spent the day volunteering. We offered our help from 9am-3pm during the day. Once arriving at the location, we discovered it was homes/flats that were subsidized housing for the people of Cambridge who need a little extra help- some were elderly, some mentally ill, some just going through a rough patch in life.

We were split into four groups immediately. About 10 were sent to a garden to take down shrubs and trees that were overgrown near some of the housing that the city needed eradicated. Four were sent to make some tables for the elderly housing facility, three were sent to help a mentally ill tenant clean out his flat, and the remainder to paint a “summer house” (shed) that was outside the elderly home.

I was in the group that stayed at the home.  As our host-manager was showing us around and getting us settled in, he shoved us in an elevator (“lift”). After 11 people were in the lift, squished but not uncomfortable, I told him that I would take the stairs since I am quite claustrophobic. “No, no- hop in” he said. “I’ll walk” I replied. “Look, theres one more spot for you” he said again. Thinking that I would get in because I was holding up the elevator, I hoped in the last square foot space along with my 11 other classmates. The door closes, we start to rise and clunk clunk clunk the evaluator drops a bit, and makes a few banging noises, and repeats. Everyone starts to laugh and jokes start to circulate about being stuck in the elevator, meanwhile I start to panic. We push buttons to try and get the elevator back to the original floor, or up to the first. We try pushing the “door open” button, but nothing seems to be working. “In case of emergency, push alarm” the last button reads, and I go for it. Weeeoh weeeoh weeeoh weeeoh rang multiple times throughout the next few minutes, and eventually fifteen minutes later we were set free.

With the day off to an already interesting start, we began our assignments. I spend the first hour or so sanding and painting the summer house. Then, everyone who wasn’t a part of the apartment-cleaning team got asked to help with that particularly interesting job. It turns out that the tenant who had been living in the flat had been hoarding things in plastic bags for 22 years of his life in the flat, and never thrown any material goods away. The bedroom was full to the ceiling of neatly stacked bags, and then living room was half full. He was a serious hoarder. I was told at the beginning of the day, the kitchen and bathroom were hard to get to, and there were closets filled with old airplane models. The reason we had been assigned to this job was because his social worker was worried about his ability to use the kitchen and bathroom. It took us nearly the rest of the day for everyone to clear out 8 loading trucks full of this man’s possessions that he had stuffed into his tiny, 3rd story apartment. None of us had ever seen anything quite like it… we were all speechless as we saw how he had been living.

In the same way, at the end of the day we actually felt like something had been accomplished. If the social workers and city workers had to do it themselves, it would have taken them days and days. Due to our man power and sheer numbers, we got it done in about five or six hours total. It was something that needed to be done, even though it was painful to watch the tenant as he watched us excavate everything that was in his flat. We were completely bewildered at what we saw before the hours of work, but overall we all felt good about what we had done. After getting back to Hughes and taking an immediate shower, we discussed the days work and slept like babies knowing that the city of Cambridge was a little better off.

~Gabbi Stienstra

This past Friday August 8^th, we got the pleasure to stroll down to King’s college where we were guided up to the archives. Throughout this trip we’ve had a class titled Great Economists. We’ve discussed topics from the greats like Keynes, Machin, Schumpeter, and even a portion on the magnificent Grawe himself.  (Really though, he knows his stuff). We divided up into two groups and viewed the archives at separate times. On the way in it really struck me how special looking at these archives was, because we kept on getting hushed on the way up. Once in the archives I would not say the room exceeded my expectations, but it was pretty neat.

Laid out on one of the two tables in the room were various selections of work including a few by Keynes (A Cambridge alum, for those of you unfamiliar) Adam Smith (ever heard of him?) and the original marginal revenue curve explanation. It was rewarding to see some of the original thoughts of such great economists, not only because we’ve been studying their work here abroad, but also because we’ve studied them in almost every economics class. Unfortunately photos were prohibited so I cannot embrace you all with the magnificent and easy to read letter of Keynes. Also in the room were paintings and other works of course. The lady working there mentioned the oldest piece was from 1088 I believe. Although that’s older than the university she argued it connected with it. After a great 45 minutes it was time to depart.

– Stephen Johnson

Robert and I decided to go to Germany for midterm break. We took a bus from London all the way to Cologne and stayed there for one night. The tram ride from the city center to our hotel was about half and hour and to our dismay we got off in the middle of an industrial park, I guess that is what you get for trying to save money. Anyway a nice Spanish couple helped us call the manager since reception was closed. The next day we hopped a train to Nuremburg where we walked through the old city. We got to the imperial castle pretty late so we didn’t get to take a tour, but we did get to walk through the city. Martha Paas, another economics professor at Carleton, is correct that it feels like you went to the 15^th century. Fortunately in Nuremburg we did not have any trouble checking into our hostel. We woke up the next morning and saw the Nazi parade grounds and the Palace of Justice, where they conducted the trial of Nazi war criminals. We stayed at both museums for about 2 hours, but we could have easily spent more but we had to catch a bus to Berlin. After a good’s night rest we woke up and went to the Berlin Cathedral, and took an exciting bike tour of the city. On our last day in Berlin, Robert and I went to the history of German democracy museum. It reminded us of home, as it was one of the only places with air conditioning. We ended up getting back to Cambridge around midnight after a fun trip.

– Chad Stevenson

Stephen and I were feeling ambitious and decided to take a trip up to North Scotland to do some hiking for the weekend. Just after Thursday’s class ended at 1pm, we packed up and took a train to Glasgow. Six hours later and one more stop through London for Stephen and we had arrived. We spent our first night in Glasgow checking out the town. The Commonwealth Games were happening this weekend so there was a little more pizzazz the town than usual, but nonetheless it did not seem like the life of the party or a tourist hub.

Early morning- We woke up early and took a 2.5 hour train to the Falls of Cruachan to hike up Ben Cruachan. The peak is about 1200 meters high, which is the highest mountain I’ve ever climbed. The initial trail was very small through branches, mud, and leaves. When we reached the top of the trail about 90 minutes later, we were at the base of Ben Cruachan on a gorgeous bridge besides a reservoir. On the way up were beautiful views of Loch Awe.

After a long, steep climb on a questionable path we reached the top of Ben Cruachan climbing up hills of large rocks. On top, we were amidst the clouds which was a cool feeling. After reaching the summit, we traversed to 3 more tall peaks, including one more over 1,000 meters. After reaching the final peak, it was nearing 6 and we had to catch a 7:10 or 8:50 train to Oban. Unfortunately, we lost the path  on the way down by trying to avoid scary sheep. We ended up walking down the steep hillside for much of the hike down to the bridge over the reservoir. It was incredibly marshy land that felt very dangerous. My foot sank about a foot with a few steps. After about 30 minutes of panic descent, we found the path and hiked to the train station.

The next day, we woke up to take a 4 hour train to Fort William to hike up Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland at about 1400 meters. The trail was marked much better here than at Cruachan. We only ran into about 6 other humans at Cruachan whereas tourists were all over the place at Nevis. When we got about two-thirds of the way up, the wind and rain began to set in. After lunch, we set out to finish the hike. Unfortunately, my hoodie and shorts were not enough to handle the cold rain and wind and I had to turn back early. We later found out that it is usually 20 degrees colder at the top of the peak than the base. Stephen continued his way all the way to the top. After the hike, we hung out in the visitor center bathroom for an hour trying to stay warm and dry our stuff. Of the casualties was Stephen’s Britrail pass which stayed in his pocket on the hike. The time came though and the bathroom was closing which meant it was time to take a mad 2 mile dash to the Fort William station in the rain carrying our bags. The dash was all for none when we realized that a 22:14 train would not leave at 8:14 pm. We had to kill 2 hours at the restaurant across the street. All this time, Stephen was tending to his Britrail pass through continual downpour. Eventually, we made it to the hostel for the night.

Another early morning and another missed train: This time we looked up the wrong day’s train and thought we could leave Fort William at 7:45 am. Unfortunately it was Sunday and we couldn’t get on our way until 11:40 am. So back to the same hotel across the street. Eventually after 10 hours of trains, we made it back to Cambridge. All in all, a good time was had. We hiked up some big mountains and had plenty of train time to finish our papers.

– Reed Cammarota

One of the main advantages of this trip is getting to spend time with other Carls. As such, a lot of our down time here at Cambridge has been dedicated to outdoor group activities— frisbee and cricket!!!!

Right now we are going on six games of frisbee, which usually take place in the early afternoon sun as a midday break. On a typical day we can play teams of five on five in competitive ultimate frisbee. For those of you who are not familiar with Carleton’s frisbee tradition, Ultimate involves quite a bit of running and teamwork as each team takes turns passing the frisbee up the field towards the end zone. If the frisbee drops to the ground, the other team takes possession and starts towards the opposite end of the field. We have a wide range of ability (I am just starting to play, while others played in Carleton’s intramural teams last year). We are even planning on making a Cambridge Ultimate Team next year using shirts from a local popular fast food place as uniquely obscure uniforms!

On Wednesday we also got to expand our sporting horizons to include cricket. I will not be explaining the rules as one of the things I learned during this experience is that cricket is a very complicated game. Needless to say everyone was able to spend a relaxing afternoon together learning to change our throwing techniques and accidentally knocking over the wicket. We also got to see the Grawe family again one last time before they flew home.

Cambridge is a very pretty town, and it’s hard to beat an afternoon outside taking advantage of this!

-Maggie Humm

A few days ago we all visited the Bank of England for a presentation and a tour.  The presentation was on the history of the Bank of England, and it provided us with some background information before our tour.

This tour, however, wasn’t any ordinary tour.  Via some connections in Carleton’s economics department, we were able to get a tour with Ben Broadbent (Google him!).  As a high profile member of the Bank, I’m sure he is generally quite busy, so it was very nice of him to take the time to give us a tour.

During the tour, he showed us his office and the most extravagant rooms in the Bank.  One room he brought us to was the room where the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets.  The MPC sets the interest rate, and Dr. Broadbent was recently promoted to Deputy Governor within the MPC.

They did not allow us to take pictures within the Bank, but it was incredible meeting Dr. Broadbent, and the tour was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday we all tried the art of punting.  Punting takes place in a small flat bottom boat and is controlled by a person who stands in the back of the boat with a long pole.  It is very popular here, and provides great views of all of the different college greens.  I thought it was much harder than it looked.  The pole was very heavy which made it particularly hard to control the direction of the boat.  Sometimes the canal gets so crowded that it seemed a little bit like bumper boats between other boats and wall.  It was a fun experience, and a couple of it enjoyed it so much, we went back later that weekend to master the art!

 

-Jesse Weaver