One of our lovely students wanted to share her experience and practice her English skills for our blog. Helen, Brazil studied at our Cambridge school this past summer, this is in her own words:
The heart of the world is Cambridge
July 28 The day I boarded a plane Cambridge. It was two hours from Cuiaba to Sao Paulo and another 10 hours from Sao Paulo to Madrid. Another hour flight to London. No internet, no battery on my cell phone, and pain in my knees from sitting, I landed on what has been a dream.
When I finally found out where the bus stop was with my terrible English (and of course, with the help of the Google translator), I discovered that I had missed the schedule and had to buy another ticket. After almost a 3 hour bus ride that stopped at all of the stations, I finally got to Cambridge.
In the center of the city and not knowing which way to go. I had the idea of getting a Uber. Besides being a little crazy, the driver left me in the wrong address, under rain, with my poor English and with the battery of the cell phone again almost finishing. Like an unowned dog, I thought, man, I can not believe I paid for this. But in the end, I found my way home after getting picked up by a taxi driver angel.
At first it was harder for the language barrier, but I loved everything from the beginning. The experience of being in Cambridge went way beyond studying English. It was the opportunity to meet other people, other countries, other beliefs and customs.
In addition to learning more English (which I had already considered a lost case), how exciting it is to see students gathered, without prejudices about nationality, religion, gender and social class. Here we are all equal, of course each with person with peculiarity, but I did not see exclusion.
Why does not the planet follow Cambridge's example? It is so easy, and so natural to respect the next person. Why waste energy with conflicts, wars and competitions that lead nowhere but suffering and discord? At Stafford house, the teachers, and all the staff certainly have an essential role to play in this harmonious and loving atmosphere. Great professionals.
But I will confess. Now that I am home, another thing that I miss, is the couple of swans of the lake of jesus green. I love seeing the swans every day when I go to school and when I go home. I will also miss the river and its boats, the houses with bricks and their impeccable gardens. I'll miss Cambridge food too. And to finish what I can say is that a little bit of my heart has been scattered around the world, where my new friends live.
Thank you for sharing Helen! Come back and visit us in Cambridge anytime and let us know how you are doing in Brazil.