1. Spent longer than six weeks away from my family.
2. Been in a highly successful long-distance relationship.
3. Skydived.
4. Been on a cruise...incidentally, best holiday of my LIFE!
5. Had friends from soo many different countries.
6. Cried so much - from homesickness, from my friends leaving me, from happiness...
7. Been to an (American) football game.
8.Lived in a different country.
9. Been on a long-haul flight.
10. Got a really freaking good base tan.
11. Enjoyed singing along, and faux-grinding to Hip Hop.
12. Drank "Donny shots"....
13.... And Everclear....
14. ...And Jello shots.
15. Been asked on dates by American boys.
16. Been to a frat party.
17. Gone on a road trip (eleven hour journey hell YES!)
18. Danced on a bar.
19. Been asked if I'm from Australia.
20. Played Flip Cup...
21.... and Beer Pong.
22. Missed my friends, family and boyfriend SO much.
23. Skyped for hours.
24. Got Airmail letters... and parcels full of Galaxy (thanks Grandma and Mummy!)
25. Listened to soo much country music
26. Been terrorised by cockroaches in so many different places
27. Been truly, madly, in love.
28. Gone to a drive-through cinema.
29. Tried on hundreds of dollars worth of diamonds ( in St Thomas)
30. Slept on a church hall floor, and sang pro-trade union songs
31. Celebrated Thanksgiving,
32. Sunbathed in March
33. Felt like a real grown up.
34. Been to a real American State Fair.
35. Eaten raw cookie dough...
36.... And deep fried Pepsi....
37.... And Moe's (place of dreams)
38. Visited the place where Gone With the Wind is set
39. Gone to a rave, and been the only one NOT on Ecstasy.
40. Ran away from the police
41. Been 22 years old, from Mexico, and called Maria (or so my fake ID says....)
42. Spent so much money on Fro Yo.
43. Gone tailgating.
44. Seen real-life cheerleaders.
45. Been thrown in an outdoor pool fully clothed.
46. Shouted "COCKS!!" at the top of my voice, along with 90,000 other Gamecock fans.
47. Got in legit fist fights with men.
48. Been asked if us Brits don't have guns, how can we overthrow the government?
49. Spoken in " black" - Ohss daymn gurrrrl, holla, uh uh no you didhunt, etc etc
50. Learnt the Thriller dance.
51.Worn my hair in a topknot.
52. Used the words "Holla", "Y'all", "legit", and "fo sho" in day to day conversation.
52. Had so much fun.
53.Gone on so many adventures.
54. Grown up so fast.
Thank you to all the incredible people who made my year abroad the best year of my life so far... you inspire me, make me laugh, make me cry, are the best fun, you push my boundaries and make me feel at home, you are incredible listeners, and such amazing friends who I know I'll keep forever... You know who you are, and having you as friends makes me the luckiest girl in the world! I will never, ever forget being a Gamecock - it has changed me, and changed my life. I've done this, I can do anything - bring it on!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LONG overdue!!!
Wow.... my last post was on Feb 25th!! I am so sorry, blog, for abandoning you for so long, but I have been super busy! This post is going to be super super long, so I will split it up.....
SPRING BREAK baby!!!
So, as many of you probably know, I went on a Carribbean cruise with my lovely International friends for Spring Break... one of the best weeks of my LIFE, hands down. Apologies to Anna (annaleary.blogspot.com), whose blog I have been taking sneaky peeks at to remind me of what we did! Thanks love!
We began with an 11 hour drive to Florida...somewhere in our heads, we thought it would be a good idea to make the drive overnight. Good idea for me - I got about 8 hours sleep, mad love to Jai, who I pretty much crushed by leaning on her shoulder throughout the entire journey (apart from when she woke me up by dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies - bad pillow!!). Not such a great idea for the poor ladies who had to drive us - thanks Anna and Jor! I have never seen two usually well adjusted girls go so crazy from lack of sleep. But full of Burger King $1 hash browns and coffee, we boarded the ship... after a run-in with one of the men who was meant to be loading our luggage on... genuinely concerned our bags weren't going to make it onto the cruise! I was so overwhelmed when I got onto the ship - it was so beautiful, and HUGE, and my new home for a week. I could live on it forever - we had two nightclubs, two pools, six hot tubs, five restaurants, a beauty parlour, a gym, a running track, climbing wall, basketball courts, bars all OVER the place....though our bedroom was TINY! Rach's bed consisted of a fold down bunk, which the staff insisted on putting away, ladder and all, every day without fail. But the beds were the most comfortable I have EVER slept on, bizarrely! After a brief tour, we started off the cruise as we meant to go on; a huge lunch, followed by a nap and some sunbathing on the deck. Our first day was spent at sea, sunbathing on the deck (with gale force winds blowing, but with the reassurance of our Swedish captain that "vou vill burn in de sun viv the vind"), followed by a formal dinner in our best dresses, and a good dance in the nightclub... which ended in Kirsty and Anna disappearing for hours, drunk off their faces, and boys having to be taken back to their rooms in wheelchairs... waking them up at 8am to get onto the island was hilar!
Day 3 was spent in Samana, Dominican Republic - a Third World country, but still completely stunning. Kirsty, Jordan and I secured a ride on the back of a very old, decrepit and noisy motorbike taxi (the driver didn't speak a word of English - thank God for Jor's Spanish lessons!), down roads with no markings, or, apparently, driving code or regulations, with cars, bikes and people going down whichever side they please, at whatever speed, and up hills with no tarmac, full of pot holes, and passing people with no shoes. We spent the day on a stunning beach, with palm trees and white sand, and pure blue water. Luckily an all inclusive hotel on the beach meant we scammed free drinks all day, claiming we were hotel residents! We stopped by the open air market, full of fake gem stone jewellery and sarongs, before heading back to the ship on charter boats, and collapsing in a big pile on two beds watching Mamma Mia!
Day 4, we visited St Thomas, which was far more commercial and Western than Samana, being the US Virgin Islands - it even had a Hooters! But it was still stunning. We went on a two hour of the island in an open sided taxi, with a hilarious tour guide we dubbed "Mum". Coki Beach was beautiful - holiday makers were scuba diving in knee deep water because the tropical fish came in so shallow. We sampled lots of free, flavoured rum (chocolate being my fave, of course!) in the discount liquor stores, and browsed all the incredible duty free jewellery - Tiffany's half price, and beautiful huge diamond engagement rings for under $1000! We all agreed we would get our potential fiances to fly us out to St Thomas to choose our cut-price rings when he decides to propose! Take note, guys! In the evening, we had a blast at the deck party, dancing under the stars - in the middle of the ocean, with no lights in sight. It was completely beautiful. We all got very involved, doing the Cupid's Shuffle, and the Dollar Song... until the heavens open and we were treated to a tropical storm. But being die hard partiers, we kept on dancing, sopping wet, until Anna and I decided to jump into the outdoor pool fully clothed. Dripping wet, we had no choice but to hit the hay.
Day 5 I felt at home - British Virgin Islands, hell yeah! I had my nearest death experience to date this day. The taxi driver was a complete maniac... driving on the wrong side, speeding up sheer hills, nearly crashing, swerving done huge inclines and 180 degree turns... oh jeez. I get butterflies just thinking about it...but the beach was totally worth it. It was stunning, and boiling, BOILING hot. Pelicans were fishing, and there were little beach bars all the way along the shore, serving the most amazing drinks.... my favourite being the Bushwhacker (pronounced BOOSH-WACKA by our lovely Aussie, Kirsty :P ) - no clue what it contained, but we were drunk after two and it was stunning! We all got sun burnt, Jordan got yelled at by a Carribbean woman for moving her deck chairs, and we went for a walk along the beach, climbing on rocks and playing on rope swings.
Day 6 was another day at sea, spent mainly sunbathing, but also attending towel folding lessons (This sounds really odd, but each day our maids left an animal made out of folded towels, and they were so cool we wanted to learn how to make them! Though there were some scary housewives there with us, who for sure will actually make them, asking what starch to use, and feeling the towels and stuff.... Please god let that never be me!!), and line dancing class - which was absolutely hilarious, especially witnessing Kirsty shouting "YEEE -HAAAA!!" at the top of her lungs, completely out of time with the rest of the dancers! The evening was spent laughing harder than I've ever before - we played an 'adult game show', which was like a huge scavenger hunt, with about 200 people. We were Team 10, all girls - which would later prove to a bit of an issue, but we were helped out by a middle aged man sat behind us, who was accompanyied by his very disapproving wife and in-laws... they didn't seem very impressed, especially when he had to give his trousers to Kirsty, put Jai's bra on his head and let us apply lipstick on him! Two girls also had to kiss, we had to find shoelaces, an empty purse, men's shoes, tan lines.... and , the clincher, show the judge a tattoo that wasn't on your arm. NONE of us are tattooed!! So Kirsty took the initiative and flashed him a bit of breast, hoping he'd just go with it... unfortunately, our team was called up in front of the entire room, spotlight and all, for cheating!! It was so funny. I've never had so much fun... I think I nearly peed myself laughing at one point.
Day 7 ....I don't want to talk about it. We were MEANT to be spending a day in the Bahamas, swimming with dolphins and scuba diving, on a private island. Unfortunately, the sea was too choppy to send the charter boats out to the island, so we were stuck on the boat. (Rumour had it, that they sent the platinum (i.e. old) members off on a charter boat and couldn't get them off onto the island...or back onto the boat. So let Norwegian Cruise Line know if you see a boat of OAPs floating around the Bahamas.) So, the solution to our annoyance is, of course... to get really drunk. Made sense at the time. Kirsty and I had smuggled vodka onboard in mouthwash bottles, so after multiple trips to the breakfast buffet, we had enough glasses of orange juice to have a drink (or four). Anna decided to join in, and after a couple of hours, Kirsty and her bailed (wimps) and had a three hour nap together... during which Rach woke up, and decided she wanted to get in on the drinking too. Being the good friend I am, I had to keep swigging vodka oranges and cocktails with her... what else could I have done!? Unfortunately, the storm outside didn't make walking any easier... and it was seriously disconcerting watching huge lightening bolts when you were helpless in a ship! We ended up drinking strawberry daiquiris in a hot tub, with a marine and a Swede, in the pouring rain, followed by our final dinner, in the formal Summer Palace restaurant.
The cruise was incredible - the food, the entertainment, the boat. But the destinations were incredible - so different from anywhere I've been before. I really felt like I was on a commercial for a holiday/postcard. It was such a perfect break, relaxing, tanning, warm and full of cocktails and some incredible friends! It only made me get closer to the lovely bunch of ladies I went with, making our friendships even tighter... even if we all live thousands of miles apart! I love you girls! <3 It made me rediscover myself, fuel my appetite for travel and realise how incredibly lucky I am.
THE BRITS ARRIVE.
Only a week went by before my lovely British friends arrived - Bryony and Holly. It was SO lovely to have them here, show them all my favourite things and just have a really good chilled out week. We spent hours at the pool, sunbathing, visiting Walmart, watching Anna's little sister play soccer, eating Southern food, drinking Jello shots, teaching the girls how to play beer pong and flip cup, drinking Everclear slushies, making fake IDs and shopping. Unfortunately, a couple of nights out may have got a little out of hand... cue Bryony asleep in a bar, and a lot of Jello spew from Holly. Also, an addiction to Moe's (the BEST mexican food you will ever try) by the girls may prove hard to sustain after their return to Britain! But it was so awesome to see them - not only because we had so much fun but also because I had missed them SO much. Old friends are so good for the soul :) Thank you, you lovely ladies, for coming over! It was a blast... and it made me so excited to go back home to spend time with the girls who know me best! I <3 you both.
I also spent the weekend at Charleston with the USC ladies, sunbathing on Folly Beach and doing a bit of shopping in Urban Outfitters, and on Easter Sunday, the Global Community had a pot luck roast dinner - SO much food! I could hardly breathe! But soo good... and then a trivia, full of questions about the year - who'd hooked up with who, who'd been arrested etc etc. Good fun :)
ED HITS SC: TAKE THREE.
After two whole months of being apart, Ed returned to SC for the third and final time. It was so, so, so nice to see him. Being in a long distance relationship is SO freaking hard, but we only have three more weeks now, before we're back to being regular boyfriend/girlfriend! Yay! I actually can't wait. We had a very busy week...hanging at the pool, playing squash (and getting BADLY beaten by Ed, as usual!), and doing lots of eating and drinking! We went to see The Most Dangerous Man in America on Thursday, about the release of the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam war - it was so interesting, very well made, and inspired me to go do a bit of reading about the war when I got back! We followed it up with mexican food and sweet tea at Tio's. We hit up a house party on Friday, after FAR too much Crystal Light vodka, $5 entry for a cup (which I repeatedly filled with grape flavoured Everclear), where the rugby team and most of the international boys were auctioned off for charity - cue lots of bare chests and grinding! It was hilarious, but packed, so Ed and I went for a bit of dancing at Sharky's, and plenty of $1 jello shots. Then (made sense to our drunken heads), we had a sit down Chinese dinner at 3am... calamari to start and shrimp stir fry! Seemed to prevent a hangover though, so no complaints! Saturday night was spent at the drive-in movies with the girl, which was so much fun! I actually felt like I was in Grease. They even had the same cartoon ads for hot dogs they do in the background of "Stranded at the Drive in...." song! I got FAR too over-excited about that. We watched Clash of the Titans (shit), and Shutter Island (A-MAAAAAZING!!), stuffing our faces with Pringles, toffee popcorn, cherry coke and Rolos, under a blanket, looking up at the stars when we got bored. It was pretty cold but totally lovely, American and romantic! Sunday, we hit up Charleston - Ed's first time. We wandered around the city, took a bike taxi ride down to the battery to see Fort Sumter, and sat on the pier for a while, saw the stunning houses in Rainbow Ride, visited the open air markets, and went for a lovely seafood lunch at the Crazy Oyster, before meeting the girls for pizza at Mellow Mushroom. On Tuesday, Ed had a "fake birthday" (his actually being when he's in Cal, without me), so we visited the State museum, and acted like kids, digging archaeological finds from sand pits, playing on balance boards and looking at visual illusions. It was really fun and wet our tastes for the Smithsonians we'll be spending days in, in Washington in June! I cooked us both a three course meal in the evening and had a candlelit picnic - tapas, paella and cheesecake, with lots of red wine, listening to music and talking rubbish.
It was so lovely
... I could spend every day with Ed and never get bored, and somehow we manage to spend hours together doing nothing! It was horrible seeing him leave this morning, but I will be in Cali in 3 weeks tomorrow, so I can't really complain. This year apart has made us so much stronger, more independent and let us have some awesome experiences together, so it's all good.
So, as many of you probably know, I went on a Carribbean cruise with my lovely International friends for Spring Break... one of the best weeks of my LIFE, hands down. Apologies to Anna (annaleary.blogspot.com), whose blog I have been taking sneaky peeks at to remind me of what we did! Thanks love!
We began with an 11 hour drive to Florida...somewhere in our heads, we thought it would be a good idea to make the drive overnight. Good idea for me - I got about 8 hours sleep, mad love to Jai, who I pretty much crushed by leaning on her shoulder throughout the entire journey (apart from when she woke me up by dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies - bad pillow!!). Not such a great idea for the poor ladies who had to drive us - thanks Anna and Jor! I have never seen two usually well adjusted girls go so crazy from lack of sleep. But full of Burger King $1 hash browns and coffee, we boarded the ship... after a run-in with one of the men who was meant to be loading our luggage on... genuinely concerned our bags weren't going to make it onto the cruise! I was so overwhelmed when I got onto the ship - it was so beautiful, and HUGE, and my new home for a week. I could live on it forever - we had two nightclubs, two pools, six hot tubs, five restaurants, a beauty parlour, a gym, a running track, climbing wall, basketball courts, bars all OVER the place....though our bedroom was TINY! Rach's bed consisted of a fold down bunk, which the staff insisted on putting away, ladder and all, every day without fail. But the beds were the most comfortable I have EVER slept on, bizarrely! After a brief tour, we started off the cruise as we meant to go on; a huge lunch, followed by a nap and some sunbathing on the deck. Our first day was spent at sea, sunbathing on the deck (with gale force winds blowing, but with the reassurance of our Swedish captain that "vou vill burn in de sun viv the vind"), followed by a formal dinner in our best dresses, and a good dance in the nightclub... which ended in Kirsty and Anna disappearing for hours, drunk off their faces, and boys having to be taken back to their rooms in wheelchairs... waking them up at 8am to get onto the island was hilar!
Day 3 was spent in Samana, Dominican Republic - a Third World country, but still completely stunning. Kirsty, Jordan and I secured a ride on the back of a very old, decrepit and noisy motorbike taxi (the driver didn't speak a word of English - thank God for Jor's Spanish lessons!), down roads with no markings, or, apparently, driving code or regulations, with cars, bikes and people going down whichever side they please, at whatever speed, and up hills with no tarmac, full of pot holes, and passing people with no shoes. We spent the day on a stunning beach, with palm trees and white sand, and pure blue water. Luckily an all inclusive hotel on the beach meant we scammed free drinks all day, claiming we were hotel residents! We stopped by the open air market, full of fake gem stone jewellery and sarongs, before heading back to the ship on charter boats, and collapsing in a big pile on two beds watching Mamma Mia! 
Day 5 I felt at home - British Virgin Islands, hell yeah! I had my nearest death experience to date this day. The taxi driver was a complete maniac... driving on the wrong side, speeding up sheer hills, nearly crashing, swerving done huge inclines and 180 degree turns... oh jeez. I get butterflies just thinking about it...but the beach was totally worth it. It was stunning, and boiling, BOILING hot. Pelicans were fishing, and there were little beach bars all the way along the shore, serving the most amazing drinks.... my favourite being the Bushwhacker (pronounced BOOSH-WACKA by our lovely Aussie, Kirsty :P ) - no clue what it contained, but we were drunk after two and it was stunning! We all got sun burnt, Jordan got yelled at by a Carribbean woman for moving her deck chairs, and we went for a walk along the beach, climbing on rocks and playing on rope swings.
Day 6 was another day at sea, spent mainly sunbathing, but also attending towel folding lessons (This sounds really odd, but each day our maids left an animal made out of folded towels, and they were so cool we wanted to learn how to make them! Though there were some scary housewives there with us, who for sure will actually make them, asking what starch to use, and feeling the towels and stuff.... Please god let that never be me!!), and line dancing class - which was absolutely hilarious, especially witnessing Kirsty shouting "YEEE -HAAAA!!" at the top of her lungs, completely out of time with the rest of the dancers! The evening was spent laughing harder than I've ever before - we played an 'adult game show', which was like a huge scavenger hunt, with about 200 people. We were Team 10, all girls - which would later prove to a bit of an issue, but we were helped out by a middle aged man sat behind us, who was accompanyied by his very disapproving wife and in-laws... they didn't seem very impressed, especially when he had to give his trousers to Kirsty, put Jai's bra on his head and let us apply lipstick on him! Two girls also had to kiss, we had to find shoelaces, an empty purse, men's shoes, tan lines.... and , the clincher, show the judge a tattoo that wasn't on your arm. NONE of us are tattooed!! So Kirsty took the initiative and flashed him a bit of breast, hoping he'd just go with it... unfortunately, our team was called up in front of the entire room, spotlight and all, for cheating!! It was so funny. I've never had so much fun... I think I nearly peed myself laughing at one point.Day 7 ....I don't want to talk about it. We were MEANT to be spending a day in the Bahamas, swimming with dolphins and scuba diving, on a private island. Unfortunately, the sea was too choppy to send the charter boats out to the island, so we were stuck on the boat. (Rumour had it, that they sent the platinum (i.e. old) members off on a charter boat and couldn't get them off onto the island...or back onto the boat. So let Norwegian Cruise Line know if you see a boat of OAPs floating around the Bahamas.) So, the solution to our annoyance is, of course... to get really drunk. Made sense at the time. Kirsty and I had smuggled vodka onboard in mouthwash bottles, so after multiple trips to the breakfast buffet, we had enough glasses of orange juice to have a drink (or four). Anna decided to join in, and after a couple of hours, Kirsty and her bailed (wimps) and had a three hour nap together... during which Rach woke up, and decided she wanted to get in on the drinking too. Being the good friend I am, I had to keep swigging vodka oranges and cocktails with her... what else could I have done!? Unfortunately, the storm outside didn't make walking any easier... and it was seriously disconcerting watching huge lightening bolts when you were helpless in a ship! We ended up drinking strawberry daiquiris in a hot tub, with a marine and a Swede, in the pouring rain, followed by our final dinner, in the formal Summer Palace restaurant.
The cruise was incredible - the food, the entertainment, the boat. But the destinations were incredible - so different from anywhere I've been before. I really felt like I was on a commercial for a holiday/postcard. It was such a perfect break, relaxing, tanning, warm and full of cocktails and some incredible friends! It only made me get closer to the lovely bunch of ladies I went with, making our friendships even tighter... even if we all live thousands of miles apart! I love you girls! <3 It made me rediscover myself, fuel my appetite for travel and realise how incredibly lucky I am.
THE BRITS ARRIVE.
Only a week went by before my lovely British friends arrived - Bryony and Holly. It was SO lovely to have them here, show them all my favourite things and just have a really good chilled out week. We spent hours at the pool, sunbathing, visiting Walmart, watching Anna's little sister play soccer, eating Southern food, drinking Jello shots, teaching the girls how to play beer pong and flip cup, drinking Everclear slushies, making fake IDs and shopping. Unfortunately, a couple of nights out may have got a little out of hand... cue Bryony asleep in a bar, and a lot of Jello spew from Holly. Also, an addiction to Moe's (the BEST mexican food you will ever try) by the girls may prove hard to sustain after their return to Britain! But it was so awesome to see them - not only because we had so much fun but also because I had missed them SO much. Old friends are so good for the soul :) Thank you, you lovely ladies, for coming over! It was a blast... and it made me so excited to go back home to spend time with the girls who know me best! I <3 you both.
I also spent the weekend at Charleston with the USC ladies, sunbathing on Folly Beach and doing a bit of shopping in Urban Outfitters, and on Easter Sunday, the Global Community had a pot luck roast dinner - SO much food! I could hardly breathe! But soo good... and then a trivia, full of questions about the year - who'd hooked up with who, who'd been arrested etc etc. Good fun :)
ED HITS SC: TAKE THREE.
After two whole months of being apart, Ed returned to SC for the third and final time. It was so, so, so nice to see him. Being in a long distance relationship is SO freaking hard, but we only have three more weeks now, before we're back to being regular boyfriend/girlfriend! Yay! I actually can't wait. We had a very busy week...hanging at the pool, playing squash (and getting BADLY beaten by Ed, as usual!), and doing lots of eating and drinking! We went to see The Most Dangerous Man in America on Thursday, about the release of the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam war - it was so interesting, very well made, and inspired me to go do a bit of reading about the war when I got back! We followed it up with mexican food and sweet tea at Tio's. We hit up a house party on Friday, after FAR too much Crystal Light vodka, $5 entry for a cup (which I repeatedly filled with grape flavoured Everclear), where the rugby team and most of the international boys were auctioned off for charity - cue lots of bare chests and grinding! It was hilarious, but packed, so Ed and I went for a bit of dancing at Sharky's, and plenty of $1 jello shots. Then (made sense to our drunken heads), we had a sit down Chinese dinner at 3am... calamari to start and shrimp stir fry! Seemed to prevent a hangover though, so no complaints! Saturday night was spent at the drive-in movies with the girl, which was so much fun! I actually felt like I was in Grease. They even had the same cartoon ads for hot dogs they do in the background of "Stranded at the Drive in...." song! I got FAR too over-excited about that. We watched Clash of the Titans (shit), and Shutter Island (A-MAAAAAZING!!), stuffing our faces with Pringles, toffee popcorn, cherry coke and Rolos, under a blanket, looking up at the stars when we got bored. It was pretty cold but totally lovely, American and romantic! Sunday, we hit up Charleston - Ed's first time. We wandered around the city, took a bike taxi ride down to the battery to see Fort Sumter, and sat on the pier for a while, saw the stunning houses in Rainbow Ride, visited the open air markets, and went for a lovely seafood lunch at the Crazy Oyster, before meeting the girls for pizza at Mellow Mushroom. On Tuesday, Ed had a "fake birthday" (his actually being when he's in Cal, without me), so we visited the State museum, and acted like kids, digging archaeological finds from sand pits, playing on balance boards and looking at visual illusions. It was really fun and wet our tastes for the Smithsonians we'll be spending days in, in Washington in June! I cooked us both a three course meal in the evening and had a candlelit picnic - tapas, paella and cheesecake, with lots of red wine, listening to music and talking rubbish.
It was so lovely... I could spend every day with Ed and never get bored, and somehow we manage to spend hours together doing nothing! It was horrible seeing him leave this morning, but I will be in Cali in 3 weeks tomorrow, so I can't really complain. This year apart has made us so much stronger, more independent and let us have some awesome experiences together, so it's all good.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Home from home
Somehow, the first seven weeks of semester has slipped through my fingers and fallen behind me without my even noticing. It's odd for me, now, to look back at my first blogs, with all the excitement and awe in which I beheld my new home for the next year - now, against all my expectations, America seems as normal, everyday and un-intimidating as Skipton. It's crazy, but I feel totally at home here now, settled, happy and sorted with what I'm doing. But in some odd paradox, I am also a whole lot more home sick this semester. Maybe it's because I'm not being distracted by all these crazy, new experiences, or because going home over Christmas reminded me of all the things I'm missing out on back home. But at the same time, I feel like I'm handling the sadness and homesickness in a whole lot more mature manner than I did last semester, or I could've last year. It's not crippling and acute, but more an acknowledgement that yes, I miss a lot of people and places back home, but then I get out of bed, have a bowl of Bran Flakes and get on with my day. South Carolina is the same crazy place as last semester; lots of trips to Five Points, jello shots, epic (victorious) beer pong battles, countless Insomnia Cookies orders and highly temperamental weather - wearing flipflops in January one minute, and five inches of snow (the most SC's seen in 2o years) next. Ed came to visit two weeks ago - it doesn't feel like a month ago that he came East to SC in November! We had a lovely ten days of studying in coffee shops, take aways, drinking in the afternoons and sleeping until midday. On Valentine's, we had a field trip to the local zoo, which turned into quite the adventure. We had a lovely time watching the penguins, koala bears, elephants, and feeding the goats (Ed's favourite), and being effectively attacked by tropical birds after buying cups of nectar to feed them, with their response being total bombardment, sitting on our shoulders, hands and heads. Unfortunately, our attempts at returning to campus was slightly more of an issue. Somehow, between the two of us, we had no cash, no mobile phone and no taxi number. Unfortunately, the zoo did not aid this situation by having not only a broken ATM, but also a broken payphone. Bummer. After scamming a mobile phone off a staff member, begging taxi drivers arriving for others to return to collect us, and waiting for an hour, we were rescued by some friendly soldiers who were training to be ministers in the military, who let us have their taxi. So what if they shouted "Jesus loves you!" as we pulled away, I can take a bit of fundamentalism if they saved me from spending Valentine's night in a lion's den! We followed that up with an epic seafood dinner at a posh restaurant in the Vista, with calamari, scallops, fried flounder, crabcakes, tortilla slaw and seasoned french fries, with beautiful Key Lime Pie to finish. And, as usual, the portions were so massive that the meal fed me for the next two days! Bargain. Last weekend, I went to Tennessee with FMLA (Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance) for a USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops) conference. After driving for six hours across the Appalachian mountains, through the most hill billy towns I've ever seen, stopping at gas stations manned by hick women with strong mountain accents, and passing towns called 'Lonesome' littered with shacks and broken down pick up trucks, we arrived in Knoxville. We'd been told we were sleeping in a church. Now, I had two conclusions in my head; either we would be kipping in the pews, crucifix and stained glass windows bearing down upon us, or (ideally) it would be a misunderstanding and we would be escorted into a comfortable, but shabby room in university halls. Nuh uh. We arrived at the biggest church I have ever seen - four stories tall, with multiple massive rooms on each floor. And we were sleeping on the floor. Of the church hall. At least there wasn't any crucifixes. But there was upwards of one hundred smelly activists camped out on the floor, strongly giving off the appearance of a refugee camp. For the next three days, we ate countless sandwiches, lentil dishes and pizza, attended workshops on fund-raising, creative activism techniques, facilitating meetings, and talked about "collective liberation" and "preferred personal pronouns" (every time you introduced yourself to anyone) - apparently, one can "reject the gender binary" or label oneself a "sis-male". Which means a man who is comfortable with his gender. So, just a guy right?! We attended a rally against budget cuts at the university, and met some South American factory workers who produce university apparel. We sang trade union songs, fists aloft, trying very hard to keep a straight face. Sometimes, when the activism, worthiness, and general self-hatred of a bunch of white, middle class students got too much, we snuck off to buy Starbucks coffee and gorge on big greasy breakfasts of egg omelette and spinach sandwiches. We also had a couple of nights out on 'The Strip' of student bars filled with frat boys and barmaids in knee socks and pleated skirts. I threw a tantrum at the master of ceremonies at a karaoke bar who wouldn't let us sing Wannabe by Spice Girls immediately. We encountered a friendly (?) cab driver named Ron, whose window Sydney broke on entry to the cab, and seemed a little too over-enthusiastic on us calling him to take us back to the church when our night was over. We accosted people as to the whereabouts of Pita Pit (having secured Free Pita vouchers) and loudly abused the televising of women's curling in the bar, which we tried, and failed, to understand - either the rules, or the point of. I managed to evade the moonshine shots, but fell for the dollar beers...waking up three hours after this event for a day full of workshops and driving was not the best morning of my life, to say the least. The party the conference held for us got very out of hand (to our complete obliviousness) - urinating on drum kits, kicking at walls, drug and alcohol use inside the church, fireworks, and sexual assault. Let's just say we made a quick exit the next morning, stopping at Sydney's parents' house for spinach lasagne and strawberry pudding and some cuddles with her adorable cat and dog. Unfortunately, socializing with such un-washed hippies and camping out on the dusty floor of a haunted church, and only sleeping for ten hours over the entire long weekend gave me some kind of feminist-flu, and I've spent the whole week languishing in my flat, moaning, drinking tea and swigging cold medicine. Now I must sanitize my hands and watch Bridget Jones'.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Eating pecan pie and beating Clemson
Finally the festive season is upon us... and for those of us lucky enough to be living in the Land of the Brave, get to celebrate Thanksgiving before the consumer orgy of Christmas descends. Obviously, this is all of us Internationals' first ever Thanksgiving, which is held in celebration of the food that the Native Americans shared with the Pilgrims when they first arrived in America, enabling them to survive... to then go massacre the Natives. But we don't talk about that. Anyway, basically it's when everyone goes home and eats. Which kinda sounds odd, but it's now officially one of my favourite holidays...mainly because I like holidays, and I love food. So, Anna invited Rachael, Lucy and I to her family Thanksgiving which is held in Atlanta, at her uncle's house. So we borrowed her mum's 7 seater car and set off on the three and a half hour journey...which was largely uneventful, apart from when I started freaking out because I had seen a "genuine red neck!!!" He had a grey beard, camo peaked cap and jacket and was driving a filthy pick up truck, complete with mandatory Confederate flag on the licence plate. I felt like I was on the set of My Name is Earl. But aside from that, we passed the time quite nicely by listening to the radio, which seemed only to want to play about four songs on repeat, mainly Party in the USA, and Fifteen... both of which I now know pretty much every word to. We arrived in Atlanta in the afternoon, after a food stop at the most ghetto McDonalds I have ever come across - in one short Filet o' Fish based meal, I saw massively obese people, black guys in ghetto outfits, the American equivalent to chavs, a lot of tracksuits, and a couple of soldiers in full military gear. Gotta love the South! Atlanta is all very modern, as the Union forces burnt the entire city when they moved through it in the Civil War - and me and Rachael honoured Scarlett O'Hara by running through the streets shouting "Ashley! Ashley! The Yankees are comin'!", but the lack of columned white houses didn't help me get into character much. We wandered about downtown Atlanta, going to the Olympic Park, which had various statues and lots of flags (though no Australian one, much to Lucy's disgust), and a very bizarre set up of water fountains that shot out water at varying heights and arrangements in time to songs such as "Dancing in the Street". I didn't understand this at the time, and I am not going to attempt to explain it. It was dancing water fountains, and that is all. We looked at the Coca Cola factory and the aquarium from the outside (lack of funds), popped into the CNN centre, and then attempted to go to the mall just outside the city. Unfortunately, the directions given to us by a woman who worked in a pizza place sent us not to the mall, but to a row of strip clubs. Bummer. So we gave up and headed to Anna's 'Grandma Ginger's' house, where we met some cousins and an aunt, and ate green beans, chips, coleslaw, pork and chocolate chip cake. Then we headed off to Anna's aunt and uncle's house, where we would be staying. The neighbourhood was beautiful, full of massive detached houses, and covered in trees with their leaves turning orange, and a golf course and p
layground and a pool for the whole estate, which everyone drives around in their golf buggies instead of cars. (We even saw them parked in the car park in Walmart....). The next day was Thanksgiving day, so after waking up and being wished "happy thanksgiving" for the first time in my life, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. This is run every year by Macy's department store, and consists of hundreds of floats with massive, eight storey high inflatable figures on various themes - pilgrims, pirates, santa claus, dogs, Pokemon, disney characters, princesses, M and Ms, etc etc, with people singing and
dancing on the floats, and children riding on them waving, and marching bands with majorettes, dancers and cheerleaders. It goes through New York City, and it's very exciting and festive, and very American. And then finally it was thanksgiving dinner time... we went to Anna's cousin's grandparent's house (the whole extended family, about 20 of us, were there), which is beautiful, and all decorated inside with turkey figurines, autumnal themed tablecloths and leaves... and a ridiculous amount of food greeted us! After saying grace, us (being the honoured visitors) were allowed to dig in first. There was a whole table stuffed with green beans, mac and cheese, brocolli salad, two types of stuffing, sweet potato souffle, the biggest turkey I've ever seen, plus two other types of meat, two gravies, hard boiled eggs, redcur
rent sauce, bread rolls, cheese cake, angel food cake, brownies, pecan pie, and my new favourite thing in the world, strawberry pretzel cheese cake. Which consists of a layer of crushed pretzels mixed with butter, a layer of strawberry jelly with strawberries in, then a layer of whipped cream. I could eat it forever. And so we spent the next three hours just eating and eating and eating.... and then we napped on the sofa, when everyone else watched the NFL american football on TV, and then woke up and ate more, and then went back to Anna's aunt's, and ate cold leftovers whilst watching The Santa Clause. It was incredible. I could eat that food everyday and never get sick of it. I am bringing Thanksgiving back to England, I swear! The rest of our evening was spent in the outdoor hot tub, under the very starry and bright sky, seeing our breath in the cold air and drinking white wine and talking about anything that came into our heads. The next day we had to return to Columbia, as the big football game was the next day. The journey was uneventful except I had my first ever Taco Bell... and listened to the same songs over and over again! 
layground and a pool for the whole estate, which everyone drives around in their golf buggies instead of cars. (We even saw them parked in the car park in Walmart....). The next day was Thanksgiving day, so after waking up and being wished "happy thanksgiving" for the first time in my life, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. This is run every year by Macy's department store, and consists of hundreds of floats with massive, eight storey high inflatable figures on various themes - pilgrims, pirates, santa claus, dogs, Pokemon, disney characters, princesses, M and Ms, etc etc, with people singing and dancing on the floats, and children riding on them waving, and marching bands with majorettes, dancers and cheerleaders. It goes through New York City, and it's very exciting and festive, and very American. And then finally it was thanksgiving dinner time... we went to Anna's cousin's grandparent's house (the whole extended family, about 20 of us, were there), which is beautiful, and all decorated inside with turkey figurines, autumnal themed tablecloths and leaves... and a ridiculous amount of food greeted us! After saying grace, us (being the honoured visitors) were allowed to dig in first. There was a whole table stuffed with green beans, mac and cheese, brocolli salad, two types of stuffing, sweet potato souffle, the biggest turkey I've ever seen, plus two other types of meat, two gravies, hard boiled eggs, redcurrent sauce, bread rolls, cheese cake, angel food cake, brownies, pecan pie, and my new favourite thing in the world, strawberry pretzel cheese cake. Which consists of a layer of crushed pretzels mixed with butter, a layer of strawberry jelly with strawberries in, then a layer of whipped cream. I could eat it forever. And so we spent the next three hours just eating and eating and eating.... and then we napped on the sofa, when everyone else watched the NFL american football on TV, and then woke up and ate more, and then went back to Anna's aunt's, and ate cold leftovers whilst watching The Santa Clause. It was incredible. I could eat that food everyday and never get sick of it. I am bringing Thanksgiving back to England, I swear! The rest of our evening was spent in the outdoor hot tub, under the very starry and bright sky, seeing our breath in the cold air and drinking white wine and talking about anything that came into our heads. The next day we had to return to Columbia, as the big football game was the next day. The journey was uneventful except I had my first ever Taco Bell... and listened to the same songs over and over again! Saturday dawned with bright blue skies and sun, and Anna and I caught the bus at 9 45am (possibly the first time I've seen that time on a weekend in about a year) , dressed in our Gamecock colours, to go tailgating before the game. We wer
e playing Clemson, who are the other South Carolinian university, and our biggest rivals, who have beaten us for the past seven years, so the game was bound to be intense. We met up with Anna's friend from
high school, who took us to her family's tailgate, which was in a private, gated area, with proper toilets and speakers playing The Beatles (made me feel at home). We had mini muffins and fruit salad for breakfast, and drank mimosas ridiculously early in the morning, watching the pre -game on the two wide screen TVs they'd set up from the boot of their 4x4. And then it was game time... the atmosphere in the student section of the stadium was insane. There was 89,500 people in attendance and every single one was vocal, especially the
students. Everyone was chanting, singing, dancing to Sandstorm, making the gamecock hand sign, waving towels around and jumping up and down on the bleachers screaming. It was intense for the entire three hours the game lasted, and as it became more obvious that USC was going to win, we got even more over excited, to the extent that there were shoulder to shoulder police along the edges of the pitch to stop us rushing the field. Fans starting waving their keys at the Clemson fans (code for go home), and when we won there was fireworks, music, screaming and dancing on the bleachers, complete strangers jumping on each over, hi
gh fiving and hugging... it was amazing. It was so intense, so exciting and so much fun, I finally fell in love with american football! And the celebrations afterwards were equally good... some people from Clemson were over, crashing on our bedroom floor, and drinki
ng games, Pop's Pizza, and going downtown dancing ensued... I woke up on Sunday, walked into our living room, and saw four fully clothed (including shoes) students passed out on our floor, with Smirnoff Ice bottles, beer cans, half full cups of vodka coke, and empty wine bottles lined up along our counters and filling our sink. What a weekend.
45 important life lessons I have learnt this semester.
2. Americans really do have great teeth.
3. When you need to look sad, think of a bear...dying...eating another bear.
4. You miss the smallest things about home the most.
5. Vodka pineapple, Jagerbombs, Tiffany, a pack of cards and your crowd of rowdy International girls is all you need for a really good night.
6. I am actually very patriotic and proud of my country... who knew?
7. "Having the shits" means being annoyed in Australian... snigger.
8. Hill Billies really do exist - witnessed on the Interstate to Atlanta.
9. People really do think that if you live in England, you live in London. And think it's funny when you quote Forgetting Sarah Marshall , "it sounds l
ike you're from LUN-DUN!". No, I am not. And I am quite obviously not a cockney, either.
10. You can make some of your closest friends in the space of a few short months.
11. English skin can tan.
12. Skype has prevented me having a nervous breakdown.
13. The old adage "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone", is so, so true.
14. Sweet tea, raw cookie dough, Marble Slab ice cream, black bean burritos from Moe's, unlimited pancakes at IHOP, and Insom
nia Cookies make everything better.
15. I really, really, really love my family and my friends from home.
16. I actually enjoy watching American Football....
17.... but can't play it to save my life.
18. Thanksgiving is pretty much a holiday celebrating food. And therefore one of the best holidays ever.
19. I am pretty much married to my room mate Rachael. We argue over toilet roll.
20. Teenage girls are pretty much the same, regardless of which country they come from... and I love them all.
21. South Carolina has the most beautiful sunsets.
22. Porching is a great pastime.
23. I couldn't live without Ed. And our four hour long Skype chats.
24. It is perfectly acceptable to shout "COCKS!!!" at the top of your voice, as long as you're in the vicinity of William Brice Stadium.... or any Gamecock fans.
25. Frat boys really are exactly the same as in the movies.
26. Jumper = Babygro, pecan is pronounced pe KANN and aluminium is spelt differently.
27. When you're an underage drinker, whenever you see any police, at any time of the day, you immediately feel very guilty, and as if you should possibly jump behind the nearest wall.
28. I could live in San Franciso.
29. "Holla!" is a perfectly acceptable greeting.
30. I want to be a Hooters girl.
31. I have a lot of Tiffany's sisters.
32. They really use Solo red cups here... and play beer pong like it's their job.
33. American dollars are not Monopoly money.
34. I have made friends that I hope I keep forever.
35. Monsoon standards of rain is pretty average in South Carolina.
36. I love seafood...especially clam chowder and fried calamari and apricot sauce!
37.Americans really do say "y'all", "awesome" and "holla"... and now I do too.
38. I love sky diving.
39. American rap music is funny... strangely enjoyable.
40.I love all my new international friends
41. And my friends from high school
42. And from Warwick
43. And my family
44. And Ed.
45. I am the luckiest girl in the world.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Things I miss about England...
Bright blue, freezing cold sunny mornings.
My parent's roast dinner.
£1 Archers and Lemonade in Kasbah on a Monday.
My smelly dogs keeping my feet warm.
Eating M&S rocky road biscuits with Polly.
Pitchers of Frilly Tutu from Spoons.
The countryside.
Radiators....instead of air con.
Hot water bottles.
Watching crappy t.v. with my family in the front room.
Sitting in bed with Hetty on a Tuesday morning, swapping gossip from the night before.
Cold weather.
Proper vegetarian food.
The In betweeners.
Going shopping in Harrogate with my mummy.
Drinking legally.
Good dance music.
Not having people stare at me because of my accent.
Watching Top Gear with Rory. ..... and Sarah and Keiran.
Having insanely lazy days with Ed, watching t.v. and eating fatty food all day.
English accents on the t.v.
Hour long hot baths reading novels I've read three million times over already.
Indian takeaways.
F2.
Going running by Rootes lake... and being chased by canada geese.
Healthy food.
Having alcove days in Rootes with rose wine, Kettle Chips, chocolate and chick flicks.
Custard creams.
Lying in Jess's bed, distracting her from doing work, along with the rest of F2.
Having sleepovers in Grassington.. and Keighley... and Carleton... and Cononley.
And the people who know where these places actually are.
BAD KITTY.
Dr Who. The X Factor.
Seeing someone you know every time you leave the house.... whether in Skipton or Warwick.
Cuddles from my parents.
Having a bitch with my big sister.
Topshop. Primark.
Well dressed people.
Posh British accents.... and Northern accents too.
Public transport.
Being able to see the people I love by just getting on a train, not by an 8 hour flight.
Saying "babes" and "lol" and people knowing you're being sarcastic.
Words being spelt right.
Words being SAID right.
Heat magazine. And More.
Grumpy people.
My Yorkshire girls.
My F2 family.
My actual family.
Ed.
<3
My parent's roast dinner.
£1 Archers and Lemonade in Kasbah on a Monday.
My smelly dogs keeping my feet warm.
Eating M&S rocky road biscuits with Polly.
Pitchers of Frilly Tutu from Spoons.
The countryside.
Radiators....instead of air con.
Hot water bottles.
Watching crappy t.v. with my family in the front room.
Sitting in bed with Hetty on a Tuesday morning, swapping gossip from the night before.
Cold weather.
Proper vegetarian food.
The In betweeners.
Going shopping in Harrogate with my mummy.
Drinking legally.
Good dance music.
Not having people stare at me because of my accent.
Watching Top Gear with Rory. ..... and Sarah and Keiran.
Having insanely lazy days with Ed, watching t.v. and eating fatty food all day.
English accents on the t.v.
Hour long hot baths reading novels I've read three million times over already.
Indian takeaways.
F2.
Going running by Rootes lake... and being chased by canada geese.
Healthy food.
Having alcove days in Rootes with rose wine, Kettle Chips, chocolate and chick flicks.
Custard creams.
Lying in Jess's bed, distracting her from doing work, along with the rest of F2.
Having sleepovers in Grassington.. and Keighley... and Carleton... and Cononley.
And the people who know where these places actually are.
BAD KITTY.
Dr Who. The X Factor.
Seeing someone you know every time you leave the house.... whether in Skipton or Warwick.
Cuddles from my parents.
Having a bitch with my big sister.
Topshop. Primark.
Well dressed people.
Posh British accents.... and Northern accents too.
Public transport.
Being able to see the people I love by just getting on a train, not by an 8 hour flight.
Saying "babes" and "lol" and people knowing you're being sarcastic.
Words being spelt right.
Words being SAID right.
Heat magazine. And More.
Grumpy people.
My Yorkshire girls.
My F2 family.
My actual family.
Ed.
<3
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Homesickness and Hicks.....
So, the hot American weather finally decided to break and turn into something vaguely resembling regular Autumn weather. Unfortunately, for South Carolina this means a convincing attempt to mimic India during monsoon weather. Equally unfortunately, neither me or any of the other Brits thought it could get even slightly cold Stateside (at least in comparison to Northern England) so therefore left out essentials such as boots, coats, jumpers and umbrellas whilst packing. But we do have a lot of flipflops. And summer dresses. At least we have an almost valid excuse to not go to class on a Monday morning now...serious risk of drowning. But the temperature is still sub-tropical compared to good old England; at the moment it's still around 20 degrees during the day. I can't believe how fast I've adapted to this weather - at home that would be mid summer, and I would be in shorts... and now I'm whining that it's chilly, and wearing my Ugg boots! Pneumonia may well be actually a serious concern when I return to Yorkshire over Christmas...As well as the depressing weather, I have depressing amounts of studying. I have an exam every ten minutes on average (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration), and about three million papers (not an exaggeration....). Although the content is significantly easier than in England, it's the sheer volume they demand that's scaring me.... and also the fact that you are expected to learn pages of facts and regurgitate them, rather than learn a few then apply them in an essay exam. So whilst in theory it should be easier, it's just very different and hard to get used to! A nice diversion from the awful weather and the awful work though, was a trip to the state fair last week. I know I keep saying this, but it's actually true; everything in America is bigger! For those who have experienced the Skipton Gala (you poor things), you probably know what I class as a fairground. SC State Fair is not quite the same. It has probably about thirty full size fairground rides, and going on a hundred food and games stalls, all lit up with millions of neon lights. It is pretty much the epitome of Southern cliches; pure bred Hicks, with moustaches and chewing tobacco and checked shirts with hundreds of grubby children, big black women with cornrows, metal detectors you have to pass through to get in, and the encouraging sign assuring that anyone wearing "gang related clothing" or carrying concealed weapons will not be allowed. Thanks for the reassurance, guys. I don't even know where to start with the food; let's just say, I'm beginning to realise quite why obesity is such a problem here. Corn dogs are hot dog sausages, dipped in a batter made of corn bread crumbs, then deep fried. Elephant ears are flat dishes of deep fried pastry covered with cream, sugar and chocolate. Think deep fried Mars bars are gross? Here, you can get deep fried cookie dough, Oreos and even deep fried Pepsi - the latter being balls of deep fried batter with Pepsi injected into the middle and soaking through. My conclusion is that everything I tried from the above list tasted like variations of Yorkshire pudding. Elephant ears tasted like Yorkshire pudding with sugar on. Deep fried Pepsi tasted of Yorkshire pudding soaked in Pepsi. Unfortunately none of the international students had any idea what Yorkshire pudding was. But trust me on this one,they did taste like it. As well as State Fair shenanigans, we have been celebrating multiple birthdays in the past few weeks, mainly centering around going for a drink and a dance downtown, and also a trip to another, odd American oddity; the disco bowling alley. I.e., we went ten pin bowling, and at about 10 30pm, they switched on loud club music and disco lights and started to serve alcohol. Strange indeed. Another thing America does bigger than England is Halloween; this weekend we went on a search for our outfits, to the biggest, exclusively Halloween store I have ever seen. It was the size of the average Topshop but entirely Halloween orientated; wigs, outfits, tattoos, tutus, stockings, fake gravestones, eyeball bubblegum, transvestite shoes, dog dress up, baby outfits, pumpkin carving sets.... anything you could ever desire to celebrate October 31st, and for any sane person, far more than you would ever desire! But we secured some amusing outfits for Saturday; She wolves, convicts, go go girls, flappers, sailors and nurses. I feel sorry for the people of South Carolina when a large group of rowdy International girls hits them... and this time, in fancy dress! Now I've been in the States for ten weeks, this is officially the longest time I've spent away from home in my life...I'm definitely beginning to really look forward to going home in six weeks. I'm missing the home comforts of my parent's cooking, my dogs cuddling up next to me on the sofa and my own bed, as well as all my family and friends who are continuing on with their lives that I am no longer a part of! It's very weird... on one hand, I feel like I've been here for years, I fit in so well and have made so many great friends, but at the same time I can't believe I'm coming up to the home straight of my first semester already. As I get older, I begin to realise how fast life goes by...I'll be retired and a grandmother before I know it!
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