By bmlee18
This past week has been a whirlwind, but it may have very well been one of the most memorable (and hectic) weeks I've had thus far this semester. It was my last week before the term ended, which meant that I had to finally submit the dissertation that I had been working on since the beginning of my studies here. At the same time, I was blessed with the company of my two friends who flew all the way from DC to visit me during their spring break. I was able to share with them some of my favorite aspects of life at Cambridge, as well as attempt new activities together that I had yet to experience.
Punting was one of these new experiences. Now, normally, when you row a boat down a river or some body of water, you have oars to do the task. Not with punting, however. To make life unnecessary challenging, punting requires you to move your boat with one very long steel pole. Basically, you have to use the steel pole to push off the base of the river to move and turn your pole left or right to steer the boat to your desired direction. Punting is perhaps one of the most quintessential (and not to mention quirky) elements of Cambridge that almost all visitors do before they are able to proudly and rightfully declare that they've been to the city.
Ironically, despite having lived here for the past two months, I had actually never been punting before my GW friends came to visit. I had the acceptable excuse of blaming this on the cold winter weather, but I had no reason not to go out on the river the past week, given the absolutely beautiful weather that finally announced the coming of spring. I thought that I was being smart and thrifty by choosing the self-hire option, rather than the guided tour option, which required the three of us to punt our own way down the college "backs." The folks who punted the guided boats made the task look so painless and easy that I thought to myself, "Well, how difficult can this actually be?"
Oh dear, I was terribly wrong. In fact, the moment all three of us stepped onto our boat, and one of my friends took hold of the steel pole, we knew that we had made a mistake. Despite the fact that I had taken up rowing (crew) this term and that one friend had been a coxswain in high school, we had so much trouble getting away from the pier with the current going against us that a random construction worker who was munching on lunch and chatting with his colleagues climbed onto our boat and helped us get a start. People who were walking along the river and tourists contrastingly sitting comfortably in the guided boats were also clearly amused by the show we were putting on.
Despite almost losing my balance and one of my friends exasperatedly joking that she preferred to swim down the river and move the boat that way, we eventually got the hang of the art of punting. Making our way down the river, we passed by the beautiful King's College Chapel and St John's College, as well as passed under and brushed our hands against the numerous famous bridges along the backs.
With the sun shining brightly down on us, the sheer challenge of punting, and the sense of gratification we felt after finally coming back to the pier after an hour and thirty minutes of confusion and much toil, I have to say that this experience was one of my favorite moments of the week. We definitely had some other highlights to the week such as exploring the grounds of the magnificent Windsor Castle, realising the wonders clotted cream does to scones, taking phenomenal photos with 500-year-old Cambridge architecture as the backdrop, and staring across the Thames at the foot of the London Eye to see Big Ben ticking away. But perhaps that additional physical challenge of punting and the teamwork we exhibited made that particular moment all the more memorable and rewarding. Being able to spend time with friends whom I had not been able to see for the past year was truly special, and I can only say that their company was an excellent way to wrap up my first term abroad!