Yes, we'll figure out sometime to get together - I'm still not very mobile (bike accident, knee injury etc), but we can set things up later!
The library world in Cambridge is...weird. Very cliqueish, and somewhat insular
Yeah, that was the impression I got. Unfortunately coming in as an outsider I never did get that foot in the door, and I felt pretty dejected after my three month stint as a temporary library assistant. (It was a tiny faculty library where the head librarian wasn't very good at anything people-related, and tried to keep the fact that they were cutting my contract a month short under wraps until they could go on vacation, so. Not the best experience.)
It does seem like it would be a fascinating place to work, though! Once you're in the system, it seems like there are plenty of networks and interest groups for various aspects of librarianship, which is something you don't really get in a public library in my experience. Plus some of the most amazing collections, of course - I've never done any rare book stuff, but just the fact that so many treasures exist right here is exciting to my nerdy little soul.
And to be fair to the library I mentioned, the fact that they let me go early is how I ended up with my current job, where I'm very happy! I've got an awesome line manager - she's totally a mentor-figure who looks out for me, and I learn a lot from watching her in action - and work with a great group of people in a role where I can develop a lot of useful skills.
Coming from Australia, which has terrible public transport (or indeed transport of any kind, unless you're flying between major cities), and where a trip to the coast with my friends necessitated an eight-hour bus ride, Britain's trains actually seem fantastic to me!
It's nice to put things in perspective! I suppose Britain does quite a lot better than for example the US in the public transport department - but then again, US roads are way more convenient (if less safe) than UK ones. The smallness of the country helps too - it's a haul with plenty of changes, but you can be in gorgeous places like Wales and Scotland in 5-6 hours of travel. It's just for short getaways that Cambridge is inconveniently located - I'm sorry, East Anglia, Wicken Fen is not an exciting destination, no matter how long it's been part of the Natural Trust. :/ As for Cambridge's immediate surroundings, it's just... very flat.
Ah, right now we're in the middle of getting my wife doctorskuld a spousal visa, so we're without passports. Which definitely doesn't help the feeling trapped!
Wow, what fascinating places to have lived in!
Thanks! Though I think Australia would be pretty cool too - I've never even been there. (We're sort of holding off until our relationship is legally acknowledged there.)
Really, the only one of those places I went to myself was Japan - my parents are Swiss and Swedish! We moved from Switzerland to Sweden when I was very young, but drove the 2000km down to Switzerland every summer to spend 6-8 weeks living there.
I first went to Japan on an exchange - my MLIS was a 2-year program, and as soon as I realized my University had an exchange with Japan I decided I had to go. A very close friend had done 6 months in Kyoto and loved it, another friend had been in Tokyo, and I had studied Japanese... It was brilliant.
I went to Kyoto, loved it, came home and finished my degree and then headed straight back to Japan because... why not? So all in all I lived there for three and a half years - one of which was the international exchange program (we had lectures in English and also studied Japanese). I returned to Japan to study at a language school for six months, and then I got a job as a conversational English teacher out in the countryside. I did that for a year, then worked as a teacher in an English-language preschool for Japanese kids near Osaka. I had a blast, and only returned to Sweden to work on my librarian resume as a step to moving countries to be with my then long-distance girlfriend (now wife).
It sounds like you've got the same feelings for Cambridge that I did for Kyoto! It's a wonderful thing to find a new place to make your home and belong, and find people to share that with. ♥
no subject
The library world in Cambridge is...weird. Very cliqueish, and somewhat insular
Yeah, that was the impression I got. Unfortunately coming in as an outsider I never did get that foot in the door, and I felt pretty dejected after my three month stint as a temporary library assistant. (It was a tiny faculty library where the head librarian wasn't very good at anything people-related, and tried to keep the fact that they were cutting my contract a month short under wraps until they could go on vacation, so. Not the best experience.)
It does seem like it would be a fascinating place to work, though! Once you're in the system, it seems like there are plenty of networks and interest groups for various aspects of librarianship, which is something you don't really get in a public library in my experience. Plus some of the most amazing collections, of course - I've never done any rare book stuff, but just the fact that so many treasures exist right here is exciting to my nerdy little soul.
And to be fair to the library I mentioned, the fact that they let me go early is how I ended up with my current job, where I'm very happy! I've got an awesome line manager - she's totally a mentor-figure who looks out for me, and I learn a lot from watching her in action - and work with a great group of people in a role where I can develop a lot of useful skills.
Coming from Australia, which has terrible public transport (or indeed transport of any kind, unless you're flying between major cities), and where a trip to the coast with my friends necessitated an eight-hour bus ride, Britain's trains actually seem fantastic to me!
It's nice to put things in perspective! I suppose Britain does quite a lot better than for example the US in the public transport department - but then again, US roads are way more convenient (if less safe) than UK ones. The smallness of the country helps too - it's a haul with plenty of changes, but you can be in gorgeous places like Wales and Scotland in 5-6 hours of travel. It's just for short getaways that Cambridge is inconveniently located - I'm sorry, East Anglia, Wicken Fen is not an exciting destination, no matter how long it's been part of the Natural Trust. :/ As for Cambridge's immediate surroundings, it's just... very flat.
Ah, right now we're in the middle of getting my wife
Wow, what fascinating places to have lived in!
Thanks! Though I think Australia would be pretty cool too - I've never even been there. (We're sort of holding off until our relationship is legally acknowledged there.)
Really, the only one of those places I went to myself was Japan - my parents are Swiss and Swedish! We moved from Switzerland to Sweden when I was very young, but drove the 2000km down to Switzerland every summer to spend 6-8 weeks living there.
I first went to Japan on an exchange - my MLIS was a 2-year program, and as soon as I realized my University had an exchange with Japan I decided I had to go. A very close friend had done 6 months in Kyoto and loved it, another friend had been in Tokyo, and I had studied Japanese... It was brilliant.
I went to Kyoto, loved it, came home and finished my degree and then headed straight back to Japan because... why not? So all in all I lived there for three and a half years - one of which was the international exchange program (we had lectures in English and also studied Japanese). I returned to Japan to study at a language school for six months, and then I got a job as a conversational English teacher out in the countryside. I did that for a year, then worked as a teacher in an English-language preschool for Japanese kids near Osaka. I had a blast, and only returned to Sweden to work on my librarian resume as a step to moving countries to be with my then long-distance girlfriend (now wife).
It sounds like you've got the same feelings for Cambridge that I did for Kyoto! It's a wonderful thing to find a new place to make your home and belong, and find people to share that with. ♥