california : ucsc
So, UCSC is pretty neat. It is VERY different from U of T... starting with it is very separate from Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz itself only has a population of ~50 000, probably half of which are hipsters.
There are fewer hardcore stereotypical hippies than I expected, although there are currently some people squatting in redwoods in a parking lot that UCSC wants to turn into a building full of classrooms that have been there since september. I want to take a photograph of their platforms, but I haven't decided whether it would be considered ok or not. Interestingly, I haven't met a single student who wouldn't mind more infrastructure that's built mostly on an existing footprint at the expense of a small number of trees.
I went on a little walk on campus today and saw many interesting things. First was a room where five or six bras of varying styles were hanging in the window, followed quickly by a girl reading in her black lace lingerie with the window open on the ground floor! Sheesh! Kids today. Soon after this, I encountered the Library of Feminist Studies. They have a whole library dedicated to feminism! And after that I decided to take a walk through some fields and the woods where I encountered more ground squirrels (and their holes) than you could shake a stick at, and a lizard I can't identify. I was hoping for more deer so I could get a decent photo of them... there is a large herd that lives in the campus woods. The redwoods are absolutely breathtaking! There is a bridge that goes over a gully maybe 4 or 5 stories deep, and that only brings you halfway up their trunks! I have no ability at all to take photos that do that justice :(
All in all, a pretty cool place. I think I would need better access to the city for a long term engagement at a uni like that for graduate studies, probably by living in town and commuting in (a ~20 minute bus ride, and a transit pass is included with tuition) like the majority of grad students do. But certainly it is an eye opener for choosing where I'd like to live next!
There are fewer hardcore stereotypical hippies than I expected, although there are currently some people squatting in redwoods in a parking lot that UCSC wants to turn into a building full of classrooms that have been there since september. I want to take a photograph of their platforms, but I haven't decided whether it would be considered ok or not. Interestingly, I haven't met a single student who wouldn't mind more infrastructure that's built mostly on an existing footprint at the expense of a small number of trees.
I went on a little walk on campus today and saw many interesting things. First was a room where five or six bras of varying styles were hanging in the window, followed quickly by a girl reading in her black lace lingerie with the window open on the ground floor! Sheesh! Kids today. Soon after this, I encountered the Library of Feminist Studies. They have a whole library dedicated to feminism! And after that I decided to take a walk through some fields and the woods where I encountered more ground squirrels (and their holes) than you could shake a stick at, and a lizard I can't identify. I was hoping for more deer so I could get a decent photo of them... there is a large herd that lives in the campus woods. The redwoods are absolutely breathtaking! There is a bridge that goes over a gully maybe 4 or 5 stories deep, and that only brings you halfway up their trunks! I have no ability at all to take photos that do that justice :(
All in all, a pretty cool place. I think I would need better access to the city for a long term engagement at a uni like that for graduate studies, probably by living in town and commuting in (a ~20 minute bus ride, and a transit pass is included with tuition) like the majority of grad students do. But certainly it is an eye opener for choosing where I'd like to live next!