It truly begins...

Well, I'm coming up to the end of my first week here. I have been slowly discovering all sorts of things. In the lab, I've been learning RNA isolation and cDNA formation, as well as QPCR and sundry other things. More generally, I have been discovering the British way of doing things. Some things I never realised, like the fact that keyboards here are rather different. Others are just annoying; my pin (without which I can have neither a mobile phone plan nor internet on which I may use skype legitimately) still not having been sent for my card after a week... Or that it being light until 10:30pm really plays havoc with my sleep patterns...

Yesterday evening I went exploring around some of the Homerton grounds, and of course I took my camera:

Field with rabbits (sorry about the bad photo; I need a longer lens):

Some photos of the sunset:

Some interesting creatures I found in the gardens (I can't wait until I buy my macro lens!):

Tomorrow will be another 8-6(:30) day, I think, but at least I will get to relax somewhat on the weekend. Hon is coming to visit on his way to the US of A, and therefore I will have the opportunity to do some more exploration of Cambridge, along with buying a much-needed bike, taking photos, and (fingers crossed) getting my phone/internet sorted out. As always, the weather is highly unpredictable, but it has cooled down a lot; something for which I am very grateful. I do notice how little UV there is here, though. Even at midday on a bright sunny day, my glasses take a good half hour before they are even slightly dark, and never get very dark no matter how long I am in the sun (for reference; on an overcast Melbourne morning they are fairly dark within 10 minutes). No wonder English people end up red and blistered after half a day in Australia! I wonder how anyone here gets vitamin D...

One last thing; for anyone interested, I have posted a very short photo guide to where I am living on facebook. I will go around and take photos of the Great Hall and everything later, but this is just to give an idea of what my accommodation is like. It's apparently the worst accommodation in the college, but it is more spacious than my first-year JCH room, plus someone comes in here and vacuums, washes and changes my bedsheets and towels, and generally tidies up once a week. And there's no college duty! Yay! :D