Callouts!

Today has been one of those days where everything is going wrong! I have one class on a Friday (i used to have one on Friday afternoon aswell but the lecturer said that none of us would show up at 4.30pm on a Friday so now we have to do "online activities" instead haha.) Anyway, i planned to get my money out (thank you for paying me Charleston, it's very MUCH appreciated!) buy my text books and my ticket for the trip to Lake Michigan on Sunday. 

Firstly, i couldn't get money out because Halifax had frozen my account due to suspicious activity (i told them i was going to America!) After a handy Skype phone call with Geo (who rang the bank) i was able to get money out. So, i went straight over to the box office to get my ticket to Lake Michigan but they SOLD OUT an hour before i got there :( Then i walked over to the book shop and two of the textbooks i need were sold out too. It is very annoying because i am going to fall behind with my reading.

Yesterday was Callouts which is basically where they recruit you for clubs/frats/sororities. Every other stall was for a church club haha (side note: i just want to say i always feel so awkward when i say 'oh my god' in front of people in case they are religious - i know some Americans can find it offensive). So i think i'm going to join a few clubs, or at least go to the callouts (taster session). One person gave me a leaflet to join a fraternity so i should probably feel really offended because fraternities are for boys HAHA...awkward.

All of the stalls

There were loads of stalls everywhere

Most hilariously was a QUIDDITCH stall. I thought it was a joke so i was kind of laughing about it but the girl was so serious and told me that they play against other schools and everything. There were pictures of them running round with brooms between their legs. Too funny! I'm tempted to go just so i can say i've played Quidditch.

Quidditch Propoganda

It's been really hot here, i think the day before yesterday was 35-36 degrees aka melting weather. I have to say i'm slowly getting used to the heat though (still hate the humidity!) and i'm actually in the process of trying to get a tan which is going quite well so far. This is a pic of me when i first arrived and then the other one was taken yesterday.

There is a difference, i promise i don't look like a ghost anymore! Also, just an FYI that in most pictures i will be wearing a Purdue t-shirt just because it's the coolest thing to wear on such hot days and everyone wears them.

It is usually too hot to sit directly in the sun so a lot of the time everyone just sits in the shade.

Campus

Blue skies outside my window

Although, two nights ago there was a huge thunderstorm. I've never seen anything like it, i went off to have a shower and it was sunny outside with a bright blue sky. When i came back into the bedroom it was really dark outside and pouring down with rain. There was really loud thunder and huge bolts of lightening. 

This is a video of the thunderstorm i made on my iphone and for some reason it's flipped onto it's side (plus you can barely see the rain haha)

In the basement there is a gym which we can use for free, so yesterday i bought some sneakers and went at 6am this morning before class. I also bought a ton of healthy food, they have these amazing vegetable snack trays!

Carrots, green bean type things, tomatoes, pepper, celery and brocolli

My healthy shelf! Heather cracked up because i call it - the shelf of good choices!

Also, Heather's fridge finally arrived today and it's a BEAST haha. I am also planning to save really well and go and visit Ella in New York in December before i fly home. Hopefully that works out!

The beast

xxx

Classes Start

Classes started on Monday, i can't believe that was only a couple of days ago! I literally feel like i've been here forever and i've only been here just over a week. I'm quite shocked at how quickly i've settled in really. I get on well with Heather which is good, she's introduced me to amazing trash TV (Intervention and Hoarders - amazing shows!) 

Actually, first i should start off by saying i finally got my kitchen safety training on Sunday night (hooray for knowing that your head doesn't go inside an oven!) although i STILL haven't used the kitchen. We also had a floor meeting with our R.A. who is really nice and everyone (except one girl) was asian on our floor. We had to go around and say who we were, where we were from etc and everyone seemed really nice (and loved my accent haha). 

So anyway, classes started on Monday. I'm lucky because classes start as early as 7.30am and my earliest is at 10.30am. I am taking four subjects: Social Psychology, Neuroscience, Neuroscience: Sensation & Arousal, Advanced Statisitcs. My Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes are all the same, then my Tuesday/Thursday classes are all the same so my schedule is easy to remember. The classes are actually quite tough and there are 5 exams per subject, per semester (plus assignments and reading!) which is a bit of a shock to the system.

I've met a few nice people too so i have people to sit with in class. Heather and Trish (the girl who picked us up the other night and took us to the irish bar) are in my Neuroscience class aswell. Statistics is my least favourite, mainly because i hate maths and also there is only 6 of us in the class.

I also got caught in a rainstorm today, it was literally pouring down and everyone got soaked. So i did the only logical thing and decided to stand in the rain and wait for the bus to Walmart (i needed a kettle for my cup-o-soups etc.) By the way, the kettle was 30 friggin dollars (the last of my money!) Also, since i'm ranting about kettles, this was the only kettle available with a cord. The rest were kettles which you heat up on a stove and Heather said those were the ones most people use - what the hell is this...the middle ages!?

I also want to say i am loving Ranch dressing, mac & cheese and a drink called Mello Yello (aka all the unhealthy stuff!) I have also introduced a few of you to my new fave American song...SHOTS! hahaha. At the party the other night when everyone was drinking shots they played a song (appropriately named 'Shots' by LMFAO) and when the chorus played everyone went round one by one drinking their shot. I don't know why i found this so amusing but now it's my favourite song and will definitely become tradition when we are drinking back at Ewhurst!

Also quick side note: i am still unsure about whether to sign up for a trip to Lake Michigan on Sunday. It's $20-$25 and only for international students so i don't really want to hang around on my own, but then i really do want to explore the country as much as i can.

p.s. Sorry for lack of photos in this post.

xxx

Frat House/Party

I walked over to the health centre today to sort out my health insurance waiver and i also need to get a TB injection but it was closed because it's a Saturday. On my walk back i took a few photos. There are American flags everywhere, very patriotic.

This is the building i'm staying in, it's called Hawkins Hall and my window is actually in this photograph, i think it's either the second or third from the top on the far left side. It's a huge building and we are in the "west wing".

Right next door to our building is a Frat House. It's called Phi Delta Theta and there are loads of frat and sorority houses on campus (i've seen about 3/4 so far) and apparently there is a road which is completely full of them. I asked my roomate Heather what exactly they are (because i've seen them on tv/films but i wanted to know the purpose) and i think it's basically all about the exclusivity. There is apparently a frat for farmers haha.

I also went to my first American party tonight. Sort of. My roomate Heather had a friend who was turning 21, i think her name was Loryn (there were so many people, i can't really remember names!) and it was annoyingly humid outside again which meant that i was already melting by the time i got there (can't wait till it cools down!) Then a girl picked us up in her car (i forgot her name, but she was really nice) and took us to an irish bar/restaurant place and we all ate food. I ordered a chicken, salad sandwhich which i assumed would be grilled chicken in a sandwhich/bun but it was this weird chicken mayo and sultana stuff in a bun that literally looked like a croissant lol it was so odd. It was ok though. Me, Heather and the girl who drove us all got Strongbow which actually tasted so much weaker than it does back home.

Once we left the restaurant we went back to their house to drink (no red cups i'm afraid!). I think i came across quite quiet, i couldn't really help it though because they had all known eachother since they were freshman so a lot of the time i was like what the hell are you all talking about lol. Anyway, we were going on to a bar but it started raining and there was thunder and lightening so i decided to come back to my dorm. Everyone was nice but i think it will be better when i make my own friends, which will hopefully happen on Monday when class starts.

I have to say i actually really wish i had my own room too. It was quite nice at first but i really do regret sharing. Oh well, i'm off to bed.

xxx

So scratch that last post haha. My room mate Heather moved in today, she seems nice. Her dad helped her move in and the first thing they did was move the room around. So here is how the room looks now

My bed is on the left

She brought a microwave, a tv and a fridge will be arriving at some point. It just cracks me up how she brought so much stuff. I said to her my side looks like the person is homeless compared to her haha. Here are some more pics now she has unpacked a bit of her stuff. She is out shopping with her dad at the moment. She said her brother goes to Indiana University which means they are rivals lol.

I haven't really eaten a proper meal yet, i bought a loaf of bread and have basically been eating that, apples and cereal bars. I'm not allowed access to kitchen until i have my "safety training" on sunday night! Ridiculous! 

xxx

Tour of my room

Just thought i would give a quick tour of my room/campus so you could get a feel of how huge this place is. This is a map of the site, circled in red is my acommodation. The blue line is the main street and that's where i catch the bus to Walmart. Circled in pink is where all the restaurants and shops are (that's where i got my t-shirt and drink from). Circled in purple are the buldings where my classes will be. The map looks like everything is close but it's quite spread out.

I am on the eighth floor and luckily they have elevators. Downstairs there is the kitchen which i haven't had the "safety tour" of so i can't have a key haha. There is also a big lounge area with tables and sofas, vending machines, pool tables, table football etc. There is also a 24 hour reception and the staff are really nice.

Getting out of the lift

I made a little map of the way my room is set out cos it's quite confusing. The person next door has a door into our hallway and shares our bathroom. 

And then here are pics of the actual bedroom and bathroom.

Walking into my room

It actually feels bigger than it looks

I chose the bed on the left by the window

Two huge wardrobes, mine is on the right

My desk

The door out of my room into the hallway. So on the right is the front door. On the left is the bathroom, then in front is next door who shares our bathroom.

The bathroom. The bath is ridiculously shallow though.

This is the view from my room.

So it's quite a nice room, i still have a few things to buy like a lamp. They also told me to buy a fridge for the room because there is a sign on the fridge in the kitchen saying that all food will be disposed of within 24 hours which is actually ridiculous. It's so weird how they think it's normal to have a fridge in your room lol. So now i have to buy a mini fridge for like $70 so they don't chuck out my butter lol.

Roomate arrives today, i'm so nervous haha.

xxx

First Day On Campus

Today was a good day. It is SO hot and humid here and a lot of the buildings aren't air conditioned or if they are, the air con isn't on which is annoying. But it's nice to be in the sunshine!

I woke up at about 6am because i thought my foreign exchange student orientation was at 8am (it was actually at 8.45) and i also wanted to leave plenty of time to get to the building (it was actually just across the street) so i had about 7 hours sleep after my really long day. My straighteners didn't work (the world almost ended right there and then!) because of the voltage difference which meant my hair made a nice first impression haha. Orientation was quite boring, they basically explained what we need to do in order to keep our visas, health insurance etc. Then i had to queue in a line for about an hour to get my Purdue I.D. card. The woman at the desk was so hilarious, she loved my accent and told me to come back any time i wanted a chat!

my I.D. - vom!

I hadn't eaten since lunch time on the plane so i went to look for a supermarket or grocery store but they are literally all fast food/restaurants which is annoying. I went into a shop which sold clothes with Purdue University on the front and i bought a t-shirt. It was only $7.99 and it is so nice to wear something like that on such a hot day. 

 

Reppin my uni haha

They had some really cool stuff in there, i also bought a keyring because i have 2 front door keys so i thought that would be handy. By this point i was looking for somewhere to buy food/drink and i just walked into a random diner place and bought a cup like this for 66 cents and i could refill as many times as i liked as long as i didn't leave the shop. They had every fizzy drink you could think of and you just pump it out yourself but no water haha. EVERYONE on campus drinks out of these or starbucks cups, i've rarely seen people drink out of bottles. 

Huge drink!

I couldn't find any supermarkets and it was really hot so i went back up to my room at about 12.30pm and had a two hour nap. This is a pic i took walking back to my Halls which is just a bit futhur up the road on the left. I love this pic because it shows how American it looks here! (you know what i mean when i say that haha)

I think it's called State St.

 When i woke up i wanted to go to shopping so got onto the bus and went to Walmart aka the most amazing shop ever!!!!  I bought so many things like clothes hangers, pillow, straighteners, food, cups, plates, cutlery etc that i spent $80 and had to drag it all back onto the bus. Thank goodness the buses are air conditioned! I appreciate it now! The funniest thing about the buses is that people who have bikes actually hook them onto the front of the bus.

pic from google

By the time i got back to my room it was about 7pm (because i got off at the wrong place and had to wait for another bus to come!) I bought some ranch dressing and it is literally the best thing ever invented. I also bought Snack Packs just because of Billy Madison ("You know I like Snack Pack. Why can't you just give me a Snack Pack?" "I thought i was your Snack Pack" hahahaha)

I finally sorted my room/clothes out so i'm off to bed!

xxx

Important Announcement

Straighteners do not work here! 

Noooooooooo!

xxx

The Eagle Has Landed

Finally made it to my uni (thank god!) it only took a mere 18 hours from start to finish! I can't believe i am up writing this now, it's 10.30pm (so 3.30am really cos i'm still on uk time) and i'm not tired anymore. I'll just explain a bit about the disaster that was today...

Today was the definition of a FML day! I woke up at 3am and my dad picked me up at about 4 to go to Heathrow. Firstly we parked at the wrong terminal car park haha little did i know it was a sign of things to come! When i eventually got to the front of the queue at check in, my suitcase weighed 27 kilos (i was only allowed 23) so i had to unpack my suitcase, take some stuff out and put it in a new rucksack that my dad ran off to buy meaning i had 2 bulky bits of hand luggage! Annoying! I said goodbye to my Dad and Louise (i almost cried, but didn't). 

Farewell with the sis

I think at this point it was 7am and my flight was at 7.55am so i had to go through security where they singled me out (as per usual) for the pat down (haha that always reminds me of bob bob jumping into a star position as soon as she walked through the metal detector). ANYWAY, i was running so late but luckily i made friends with a girl who was going to Illinois uni and we were on the same flight and she got a man in one of those golf cart thingys to drive us to the terminal! Result!

The whole way there i was praying that i didn't have the middle seat but i did end up in the middle seat! Not only that it was in between two men and the one sitting in the isle seat was SO annoying and rude. The plane was delayed by half an hour but there were good movies, i watched Water for Elephants and Rio (no Jewel...) was also on which i didn't watch. There was also a really funny episode of 30 rock (the one with Jennifer Aniston). The food was really nice but the worst thing was the fact that i couldn't sleep because being in the middle seat was so awkward. I took this pic of me on the plane when everyone else was sleeping and it cracks me up because it's so dark and i look so creepy!

creepy cat

In the end i made friends with the man sitting by the window (i think his name was Anthony) who was told me about how he had just retired from the air force and he had just finished his last tour in Iraq. He was so nice! The flight (apart from the seating issue) actually went really well, there was only a bit of turbulence but i wasn't nervous at all. 

Then when i landed in Chicago it took me over an hour to get through customs and it was boiling hot too (queuing + heat = bad combo!) When i finally got through i had to collect my suitcase, re-check it in and then run to my terminal which had a huge queue for the security checks which i had to do again. Anyways to cut a long story short i missed my connecting flight to Indianapolis, so they sent me running (i use that term lightly because as if i would run) around the whole airport trying to get my flight re-booked. 

Waiting around in Chicago Airport

 I eventually got a later flight (thank goodness) which was actually not that great because there was a lot of turbulence and it was a very small aeroplane so it was very bumpy/scary. 

My new ticket to Indianapolis. I crossed some of the details out cos you never know what weirdos could be reading this!

Then i finally arrived in Indianapolis at 5.30pm (10.30pm your time)...

I was SO tired but i had to wait an hour for the bus which then took about an hour and a half to get us to uni. I love me a bit of air-con but the bus was FREEZING, and i never get cold so i sat there in my coat shivering and everyone else was wearing t-shirts and shorts. There was also a lady in front of me who had the funniest southern accent.

The campus is HUGE, literally can't describe how big everything is. Indiana looks exactly how i imagined it, there are long stretches of dry brown grass and then furthur into town it looks a lot like this...

I googled this pic btw cos i was too tired/getting hypothermia from the air-con so didn't take any pics myself.

Anyhoo, it's late so i'm off to bed! Orientation tomorrow eeeeeeeek. I'll also upload some pics of the campus (they should call it a town not a campus) and my room!

xxxx

Leaving Brighton

This is in completely the wrong order as i left Brighton about 2 weeks ago but i thought i would post my Ewhurst farewells on here. It was sad times leaving Brighton :( my room is all empty and bare for Caterina to move into for the four months i am away! I miss our house already!

 

Empty room!

I am obvi going to miss the housemates Carolineeeeee, Ella ella eh eh eh and Watermelondrea! It was a very civilised departure to begin with...

Ella and I

Me and Laurence

Until SOMEONE got a tad emotional and was BEGGING me to stay cos i'm obviously the best housemate ever! Or maybe because i'm the only person that would actually sing Ashlee Simpson lyrics with you (all my girls stand in a circle and clap your hands this is for you!) haha.
.

Sadly Carolineeee wasn't there on my last day because she was too busy listening to One Directions new song, but i'm pretty sure this would have been the scene that greeted me when i said goodbye...

Devastated Carol

Can't believe i won't see you/our house until 2012 :(

"Let's get fizzy with it" - Jon, 2010

xxx

See ya later

Last night with the lads (minus Lucy) until i'm back from America! :( We went to good old Harveys and ended the night at Suzy's with our pal Brooke Shields. As Rebecca Black would say...FUN FUN FUN!

"Punch and pie..."

xxx