Newsletter (2017-2018) November 2017 Newsletter | Page 25

THE DELIGHTS
OF DURHAM
By Cheung Sing
“I don’t want to leave Hong Kong!” - Me before the
immersion program.
“Say no more. Just take me back.” - Me after the
immersion program.
See the difference? These statements may sound a
little bit stupid, but they really sum up my thoughts
and how I changed between these two time periods.
I am now studying in the Bachelor of Education
(English Language) program at the University. I had to
complete an immersion program in an English-
speaking country to graduate, and I am grateful that I
could go to Durham in the United Kingdom, which is a
wonderful place for college students (and a perfect
place for people to retire). I, together with 26
classmates, stayed in Durham for a total of 70 days,
living with a host family and taking some education-
related courses at Durham University. I was quite
reluctant to go on exchange, simply because I had
never gone on one!
The food there was without a doubt a highlight of the
program! I also instantly fell in love with the cuisine
and I never felt homesick because of that. There were
a great variety of cafés and restaurants in Durham.
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PHOTOS: Sing visiting the Durham Cathedral.
I swore to myself that I had to try every single one of
them before I left, and very unfortunately I could not
accomplish this, but I did manage to treat myself well
enough. As a proud coffee addict, two cups of coffee
per day were already the minimum amount of my daily
coffee intake. There were two cafés for which I could
not express my affection through words. If you have a
chance to visit Durham in the future, you definitely
shouldn’t miss them!
The first one is Vennels Café. My host parents brought
me there the second day after I arrived in Durham. It
was adorned with historic furniture and pleasant
sunshine, and the staff made me feel very welcomed
every time I went there. I tried their latte, cappuccino
and Earl Grey tea there, all of which were of really
great quality, and the aroma of coffee always wafted
towards your nose. You can’t risk not eating the cakes