Hello all,

This week has been a bit less exciting, but still wonderful. At the beginning of last week I spent some time in Central exploring Buckingham Palace and the stuff nearby and then met up with a friend for dinner. (Note: the guards/police here look really scary but are actually incredibly friendly and are always happy to take a selfie with you.) Most of the rest of the week was spent with school and partying. We had an international students dinner Friday and then went to a bar afterward. Saturday was social programme. Sunday was spent with one of my flat mates exploring Hyde Park and then grabbing some dinner in Central.

As I said, Saturday I had social programme and this week we went to Cambridge! It was stunning. In England each individual university is made up of some number of colleges. The one I am studying at has four, while Cambridge has 31! Most of the colleges were closed but we were able to tour one. I felt like I was in Harry Potter. All the walks were cobblestone, the buildings were all brick, and there was an adorable canal running right through the middle. Many of the students at the uni spend the weekend punting to make extra money. This is a way of pushing a boat in which you dig a large pole/stick into the ground over and over again to make your way along the canal. Tourists pay to be pushed around in these little boats and that’s how they make their money. Although I did not ride in one of the boats, I did spend quite some time watching.

My sleep schedule is a complete mess. I usually go to bed around 2-3am and then don’t wake up until mid afternoon. I keep telling myself that I need to get this under control but it is so hard. Everyone here stays up late and a lot goes on at night. I think it is part of the culture as no matter where you go, public transportation is always busy late at night no matter the day of the week. A friend and I were joking that we will be on fairly normal sleep schedules when we return home, except me a day behind and him a day ahead (he is from Australia).

This upcoming weekend is my first trip out of the UK and I am SO nervous as I will be spending half of the trip traveling solo. Next week is reading week which means we do not have any classes, so I figured it was the perfect time to do my first trip. I am going to Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam and Berlin. I will be gone for six nights. I am really looking forward to seeing more of Europe and experiencing life outside of London. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that traveling alone ends up being not as scary as I am imagining. Wish me luck!

Cheers, Mackenzie

Buckingham Palace

China Town- where we had our international students dinner

Cambridge. The people standing on the back of the boat are doing the punting.