I’ve reached the end of my first semester at Bath, and I’ve landed in Canada to spend Christmas with my partner. Things are all very well. Right now I’m in the early part of my 14 day quarantine, we’re holed up in a cabin on the shore of Kananaskis Lower Lake, in the shadow of Mount Sarrail. Travelling was as weird as to be expected at the moment, with relatively empty airports and flights about two thirds full. It’s pretty heavenly out here. There’s no internet, so nothing but books and pdfs saved on my laptop to keep busy with. We’re playing a lot of games as well, I’m getting no better at darts yet but I’m determined to keep practicing.

In the last week I managed to get all of the necessary assignments in. Feels quite odd to be already a third of the way through my year at Bath. I need to start thinking in earnest about what I might focus on for a dissertation. Unfortunately, I haven’t got to the classes that sound really interesting yet, so I’m waiting to see what they spark in the new semester.

While I’m resting I’m running through some more mathematical materials to get ready for the new term. Taking a look at Donald Knuth’s The Art of Computer Programming, or at least making a start on Volume 1. I also need to revise some of the simpler advanced maths for a course on cryptography. None of the courses have been too challenging so far, but I feel that’s probably because I came in on the higher end of the expected skill range, not already able to program exactly, but knowing my way around the terminal and familiarity with some basic data structures and algorithms. I’m expecting the new year to push me a lot more.

It’s so nice to be cut off out here. Great to get beyond the reaches of cell service to take some time out. Feeling very lucky, as always.

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