Hi guys! I hope you are all having fun on your adventures!

Freshers’ Week has finally come to an end and it is safe to say Freshers’ flu has got me in its clutches. This past week has been full of adventures, parties, and meeting new people. Now I am stuck in bed watching Netflix, but it was worth it. Being here has made me an expert at public transportation. Everyone here uses it. Most of the English students didn’t even bring their cars with them to school because they don’t really need them. It is so interesting how different the views on public transportation are over here compared to in the U.S. Personally, I like the public transportation. I find it less stressful.

Over the past week I have made quite a few observations. The first is that everyone smokes all the time. It is a huge part of the social life here. People go out for a smoke in groups, hang out, chat, and meet new people. At any time of day I can walk outside my building and there will be anywhere from 3-10 people out there smoking.

Another thing I have noticed is that people here are just as fascinated by my American accent as I am by their English one. This makes total sense, but was still surprising at first. I have met countless people who think it is incredibly funny to try and speak like me. They watch a lot of American t.v. so many people are actually quite good at it. Others tend to go for either the Southern or “valley girl” way of speaking. I find it quite amusing.

Lastly, no one knows where Oregon is. If they do it is because they are studying geography. I cannot count how many times I have said this phrase in the past week- “Do you know where California is? It is the one right above that”. I have also had a lot of people ask me what is cool about Oregon or what there is for tourists to do there. Many of the people here want to visit the United States someday. Obviously, I always mention the beautiful scenery, but I have been unable to come up with much more. Any suggestions?

Classes start this week. Wish me luck!

My group for a photo frenzy thing we did on the “Harry Potter” bridge.

Greenwich (the first trip of the Social Programme)