Congratulations!

While i was busy taking (failing) 2 exams my cousin Kayley got married! 


So i just wanted to say

Congratulations Kayley and Darren! These were just a few of my favourite pictures that Geo showed me! You looked AMAZING! Also i saw you're speech too uncle Mike if you're reading this it was really sweet and funny! Wish i could have been there!

Luckily i managed to pop into the wedding for a minute or two...

Very natural looking, and pure coincidence that Geo and I wore the same thing!
Deffo one for the wedding album.

xxxxxx

Random Pictures

Just a random blog post with pictures i have from random events.

I'm off to my first football fame with Cassie and Kara on Saturday and i'm really excited because everyone goes in fancy dress and there is a cookout (BBQ) before it too. The weather has changed SO dramatically in one week. It is really cold here now (which i actually love - i'm cracking out the coats and hats already). Today it was rainy and freezing (dropped down to 10 degrees celcius!)


Tomorrow there are so many things i want to go to but they are all at the same time. Improv Comedy Club (obviously to watch, not to join in!), pumpkin carving and Psychology Club game and movie night.


Two other random points: 1) i tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich today and it was actually really nice. 2) I've started to sit in the Forensics lectures because i'm a nerd and find it interesting.



Also, just a random funny story. There is a girl on the same floor as me in my building and we became friends (or should i say stalker and stalkee) a few weeks ago and Heather keeps cracking up because she is constantly knocking on our door and spent 4 hours in our room telling me about her online boyfriend who doesn't fancy her. HAHA she always pops up out of nowhere, like when the elevator doors are about to close she will quickly appear in the elevator, or when i'm washing my dishes she will randomly start washing hers. So funny. Her stalkerish ways are actually quite useful because she is my gym buddy so i actually have to go or she will hunt me down (literally!) haha.

Anyway, random picture time...

Me, Nicola and Tim in Chicago. This was in the Piano bar.

Jessica, Me, Nicola, Tim and Sophie.

Me by Lake Michigan looking moody (it was SO hot!)

Tricia, Heather and I during the first week.

Random 'fun night' outside our Halls. This was a bungee trampoline.

Making Tie Dye Tshirts

GLOW STICK wooo

Listening to a live band.

A little info about this video. Basically, it was about 3am and the girl in the room next to Heather and I was on the phone or something and screaming at the top of her voice. It was so loud and we were cracking up because we couldn't believe that she was shouting that loud at 3am.

xx 

Nine weeks to go - Random Blog

Just a random pic i took by the river.

I can't believe i only have nine weeks left in America. I feel like i've been here FOREVER but it's actually only been eight weeks so i'm not even half way through my stay. How weird. We just had fall break, which was only two days off. It has really made me excited for Thanksgiving. I managed (after MUCH difficulty) to book my ticket to New York where i am going to meet Ella. Not looking forward to that 22 hour coach journey but it was less than half the price of a plane. But i am beyond excited to go! Side note: Can i just say i resent giving Greyhound Buses my money because they are the worst company in existence! But anyway...

I thought i would just write about what classes are like because i haven't really talked about them on here. I have really found the classes here difficult, mainly because of the teaching style and the fact that there are a billion exams. I have always been bad at exams and the fact that i have midterms every other week does not bode well for my transcripts when i return home. I have gone from A's and B's at Sussex to D's here (which i was told was to be expected, but it still sucks). 

As most of you know i HATE my statistics class with a passion, there are only 4 of us in the class which says it all really. To get into the advanced statistics class (the one i am in now) you were supposed to have taken "Introduction to Statistics" which i haven't; so while everyone else is whizzing through the course i sit there wondering what the heck is going on. I also think i hate being the dumbest in class, i'm just not used to being the thicko which sounds really big headed now i think about it haha. But here is an example of the questions we get on our lab assignments. It's not just me right? That is difficult..?

1.      a. Given the following information, perform a one-way ANOVA.

= 4.2                       = 3.6                       = 5.0

n_X = 16                 n_Y =  16                   n_Z = 16

MS_X = 2.2         MS_Y = 2.0        MS_Z = 2.4

b.       State the null and alternative hypotheses.

c.      Is there a significant treatment effect at the .05 level of significance^*? Justify your answer (make sure to state the critical F statistic and the calculated F statistic).

d.       Is there a significant treatment effect at the .01 level of significance^*? Justify your answer (make sure to state the critical F statistic and the calculated F statistic).

I hired myself a tutor because i knew i couldn't get through the class without someone actually going through things step by step and i feel much better having her help. 

The other classes aren't so bad. I think the main reason i am not doing so well is because of the exams. I never thought i would say this but i MISS coursework and essays. I asked one of my friends in class if she has written an essay at Purdue (she is in her third year) and she said no which i think is crazy. It's like being back at school.  

Also can i just point out that we sit in those desk/chair combo things. How American is that? haha.

From google.

BUT I love living in America, and i'm so glad i came to study here. If i were to do it all over again the only thing i would change is the location. As much as i love Purdue i would probably choose to go to a university in a city just because you can feel a bit trapped if you don't have a car in Indiana. Going to Chicago really made me realise how much of a city gal i am haha.

xx

Chicago, Ohio and Kentucky

Firstly, here are some more pictures from Chicago from the Sunday. I visited 'The Bean' which is basically... a giant silver bean and a huge toursit attraction. It's actually really funny how it is just inbetween all of these huge skyscrapers.

Me underneath the bean

It was really rainy that day so everyone was huddled under the bean taking photos of themselves in the reflection. Thought i might as well do the same! I also went to the Museum of Science and Technology which was so much fun, even though i felt like a right nerd by myself!

Watched the chick on the right hatch! SO cute. I know they look dead but they aren't i promise. They had all just hatched.

I thought these were pretty cool, old fire engines.

They created a tornado inside.

I thought this LED dress was perfect for Kayleys wedding dress!

My legs grew while i've been here

Their space section was really cool

 I think i actually spent about 5 hours there in total, it was a huge place and really interesting. It was also really cool seeing stuff like WWII from their perspective. It was a hugely expensive weekend but totally worth going (and i'd love to go back!) I ended up back in Indiana quite late, but to end my nerdy day i popped into the cinema to watch The Lion King 3D on my own... but it was THE LION KING and 3D damnit, it had to be done. Sorry if i used the word cool a lot, i should probably say awesome since i'm an American gal now.

Skipping foward a week or two...


I was going to wait to post this part until i stole some pictures off of facebook (because i didn't take many!) but it's fall break and i don't want to hassle people to upload pictures. Once i get the pictures i'll add them to this post.
 

 Last weekend i went to Ohio and Kentucky with Zoo Club and had a blast (see, my expressions are becoming more American!) I wasn't planning on going because i had a stats exam on Monday and two science exams on Tuesday but since i had already paid the 40 bucks i decided to go. On the way there i sat with two girls called Cassie and Kara, we clicked straight away and they are so much fun. It was a 180 mile trip which took about 3 1/2 hours. I originally had two seats to myself which was perfect because we left at 7am sharp and i managed to get some sleep, we had a pit stop about 2 hours in and when i got back onto the coach a girl called Ashley took my seat (yes, i still have a grudge!) so i was perched on the edge for an hour and a half because she stretched her legs across my seat. Anyway, we got to Cincinnati Zoo at about 10.30am and were told to split off and meet at the coach at 4.30pm. It was freezing by the way! The first thing Cassie, Kara and I decided to do was get our faces painted at the kids stall, haha we got weird looks all day. It was a really amazing zoo, they didn't have cages for any of the animals, just railings and big ditches filled with water so the dangerous animals didn't get too close. My favourite animals were the elephants. We went to a cheetah show where they attached something to a piece of string to show us how fast they run. It was so cool. 

We had some lunch and there was a country band playing while we ate. Cassie and Kara asked me to teach them how to speak in an Irish accent and for the rest of the day we talked in "Irish accents". No, seriously from about 12.30pm until we went to bed, we spoke in Irish accents haha. 

Just hanging out with the rhinos

When we got on the coach we were told to split into groups of four for the hotel room. Ashley decided to take my seat again (grudge!) so we invited her to stay in our room and she said yes. We had dinner at a buffet and at this point i think Ashley hated us because we wouldn't stop talking in Irish accents lol. I had a lovely steak and jacket potato if anyone is wondering. 

That night Cassie told us some personal stuff and to cut a long story short Ashley walked into the room when we were all crying and thought we were such freaks so we were laughing and crying at the same time because we must have looked like psychos. Poor Ashley!!! I think she regretted sharing a room with the face painted, irish speaking, crying weirdos! But Cassie and Kara have basically become really good friends now.

Cassie and Kara + amazing face paint!

On day two we went to an Aquarium in Kentucky, but i can't remember what it was called. On the coach there i realised i had left my iphone at the hotel (which luckily they send back to me!!) so i didn't manage to take any photos. It was really cool though, we got to touch crabs, starfish and there was a huge tank with sharks which we got to touch. 

Touching the sharks

They also had those really cool tunnels which you walk through and the sharks and fish are swimming all around you. 

Walking through the tunnel

My favourite bit was actually the jellyfish, we sat there and watched them for about 20 minutes. 

Hanging with the frogs

There were penguins there too and we got to watch them being fed. We also went into this place where you can buy bird food and go into this enclosure and feed it to the birds. One climbed on my hand and shoulder, Kara has a video which i'll try and get off her because i look so scared haha. 

Feed the birds

 We went and had lunch in a shopping mall next door and looked around an art gallery. We found a photo booth as well and took photos in there haha.

Kara is on the left and Cassie is in the middle. We kept singing that song from The Hangover ("we are the three best friends that anybody could have") and decided to make a wolf pack but called it the lion pack haha that's what the first photo is all about.

We made it back to Indiana at about 6pm that evening. I'm SO glad i went because i made 2 great friends from it and i got to travel to two different states. 

Oh and..

P.S. We got tattoos. Sorry dad!!!! Don't worry it's hideable!!!

xx